《Nidoume no Jinsei wo Isekai de》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1: It seems it was a Peaceful Death Author Note: Its recommended to skim over this in a carefree manner. Pan-pa-ka-pan, Congratulations ! You have been given the right to reincarnate into a different world ! This is such asuper rare thing to happen, one could compare it to winning a lottery ! Youre happy, right ? Right ? Yeah,its been decided that you are, indeed, happy ! Everyone,prepare the crackers ! (???) Eh ? (Renya) All of a sudden, something appeared in front of me. A little girl with blonde hair that was excited for somereason. Abunch of beautiful blonde girlswith a pairs of white wings surroundedme. Those blonde girls were, for some reason,wearing an unpleasant expression. In their hands, they wereholding a somewhat larger version of crackers used for parties. They tooka stance in unison. Do it ! (???) On the little girls order, they pulled the strings simultaneously. I dont know what the hell these blonde girls are, yet,these crackers weremaking a thunderous roar as itshookthe ground. I fall on my butt. Cracker released ! Music Squad, Equip Instruments ! The Clapping and Singing Squad, begin preparations! (???) Despite the unpleasant look on the girls, the little girlgave the orders with high tension. Half of the girls took music instruments out of nowhere while the rest of them began to clap their hands together and brought them to their chest inpreparation to sing together. This is really dangerous!Renyas brain alerted him. Even those crackers had already caused such a big roar. Now, there were music instruments and songs ? What in the world would happen !? Renya decided that his eardrums and heart couldnttake anymore. Hes now thinking of how to get out of this situation. Song of celebration, readyhuhnugya- !? (???) Without further thinking, Renya got up and mercilessly launched a perfect frontkick to the little girl shouting off commands. The little girl never thought that she would get attacked. She tookthe kick to the face and began rolling onthe ground. (TL Note : LOL !) After it had happened, he began to realize that all of the girls were taking orders from this little girl. This meant that she was the commander. Of course, he looked around because nobody should have missed what he did just now. Yet, no one was moving. Renya thought that these girls might not be able to move without orders. However, he then saw a number of girls smirkingand laughing. Some of them even gavehim a thumbs up gesture. He immediately changed his previous thoughts. It seems that they are reluctantly following orders. There wereeven some girls that were secretly waving their hands to him. W-what are you doing!? (???) The little girl on the floor began toslowly stand as sheprotested to him. Though Renya didnthave any intentiontopoint it out, seeing a girl that was wearing only aKantoui(simple cloth with only 1 hole for head) tumbling on the floor, he averted his eyes as he attempted to notsee somethingthat he must not see. (E Note: Could barely find anything on the net for Kantoui.) Youre so noisy !The crackersearlier werealready as noisy as hell! If youlot begansinging now, my eardrums would break, you know !? (Renya) Thats not a reason to kick a little girls face ! (???) I dontdiscriminate against age ! (Renya) Im a girl you know !? (???) My principle is that girl and boys are equal ! (Renya) Renya declared that proudly. There wasa slightcommotion, yet, there wasalso some applause coming from the crowd. Why areyou guys applaudinghim !? (???) The little girl yelled at the other girls, yet,the girls somehow averted their faces in unison, as if they had already planned it in advance. While Renya was questioningwhat kind of group was before him, the girl turned towards Renya once again. Geez, I chose the wrong personnel. (???) What are you talking about ? Or rather, where am I ? (Renya) As far I can see, this place is flooded with withgirls that havewings. When I look up, I dont see a blue sky. Its like a thin white light thats spread across the horizon. This is the land of god. (???) Oh~ (Renya) Renya responded lazily towards the little girl with the thin chest. Kunugi Renya-san, you have died. (???) Heh~ (Renya) You died by the age of 94 because of aging. Cool, right ? Long life Banzai ! (???) Though she had declared it so, Renya still couldntbelieve it. According to the little girl, he died at age94 not because of illness or accident, but because he hadreached his lifespan. He had no recollectionof such a thing. Well, because its troublesome to face an old man, I set your state back to when you were 18 years old. (???) Hearing this, a small blue vein popped up on Renyas head. Oi (Renya) In fact, using a Loli appearance with those mature words, I findthatgap moe or whatever is called disgusting. Id prefer to call you Loli-Baba or Shota-Jiji. (???) Oi, cutit out. (Renya) Certainly, its dangerous to speak whatever I want to this little girl.I tried to interrupt her, but it seems that this girl hasno intention onstopping. I dont really care but, keep such talk about your disposition towards minorities inthe trash. (???) So whyd you bring it up ? Renyas tsukkomi was ignored. Back to the topic, you have beengiven the right to be reincarnated into a different world. (???) Dont need it. (Renya) The little girl frozeat such an unexpected line. Ignoring the girls reaction, Renya continued. Somehow, it sounds like a pain. Furthermore, it seems exaggerated. Not to mention, Ifeellike you are trying to hide something from me. (Renya) I-I wonder what are you talking about (???) Renya continues to applypressure in his voice as the little girl averted her gaze. If you say that my previous life was a peaceful death, there supposed to be no lingering feelings or regrets. Well, asI cant recall anything, its not like I can attest to that.It might be that after I got sent to heaven or hell, I might just forget it, right ? Though I dont really want to be sent to hell. (Renya) T-Thats right ! If you refuse this, you will be sent to hell ! (???) Of course, it was apparent that this was just made up on the spot. It was as suspicious as hell. Following this, Renya began to inquire. What are mycharges ? (Renya) Charges !? ECEhm Ah ! Thats right ! Murder ! (???) Hm, I died peacefully due to old age, right ? Does that mean I didnt get caught until the day I died ? (Renya) The little girls face became strained. A-Ah, you died in jail ! (???) Oh, I surprisingly committed a crime at such an old age, huh ? Even if it wasnt at that age, how many people did Ikill ? Since, I apparently died due toold age in prison. So? How many did i kill ? (Renya) A-Ah, thats right ! Peopledepriveothers of lifeto maintain theirown ! Basically, youre one of those sinners ! (???) If that was the case, then that means theres no Heaven ? Are all worlds just Hell ? Those who practice religion sure are insane. (Renya) I-If they were vegetarian (???) I see,so youre one of those people who think that vegetationdoesnthave life. Or are you one of those people that arbitrarily place a large or small value on eachlife ? Are you one of those that think its bad to eat whales because they have intelligence, but still eat cows and pigs hypocritically ? Are you one of those people that can make friends with dolphins, yet cant be friends with chickens ? (Renya) (E Note: Damn it. Translating this was annoying) Renya thought that none of them werecorrect though. Even though Renya stopped there, if his opponent wanted to object again, he couldstill continue thispointless discussion. Most likely, in this girls head, the value of life was equivalent to a spec of dust. Im sorry. I will apologize so, would you please listen to my explanation? (???) The girl prostrated herself in adogeza. It was unknown whether the girl was aware ofwhat Renya was thinking or not. (E Note: Renyas an Skudos.) Applause came from the girls. Ugh, why do you guys clap when I meet such a terrible fate !? (???) The little girl stood up asall the other girls purposefully avoided her gaze. She was glaring at the girls while grinding her teeth. Following this,Renya madea small cough, makingthe little girl look at him again. I will listen properly since you intend to clearly explain it. After that, whether I agree or not is a different matter, though. (Renya) Mu, I guess its fine. First, I am the being recognized as God. These erotic girls are what you call Angels. (God) sfx: Booing (E Note:Boos, jeers, complaints, etc.) As jeers filled the crowd, the little girl simply gave a single glare, causing the commotion to die down. You girls are definitely erotic ! Who were the ones thattried to make kids with humans and performedyuri to the extent that they somehow got a virgin pregnant, huh!? (God) Upon hearing the little girls voice, quite anumber of the girls looked of into the distance with an expression that said I knownothing. Seriously, you girlsre only good at complaining (God) That doesnt matter. Please continue the explanation. (Renya) Eh ? No tsukkomi this time ? (God) Suprisingly, the little girl said that. Well, people are free to name themselves anyway. Then, which god are you ? Jesus ? Buddha ? (TL Note : It actually written asϟoʤ , Lets assume its buddha.) Or, pay-back(TL Note :ä귵 i dont know X_x) god ? (Renya) (E Note: Not sure either. Any suggestions would be appreciated.) Please stop. Dont compare me tosomething that humans created. (God) The girl frowned. I am me. No oneelse. I am the one who creates and controls all. (God) Wow, so cool. Nowthen, why did Kami-sama bother to appear before one person ? (Renya) AsRenya spokewith asarcasticallyhumble tone, the little girl frowned You didnt believe me right ? It doesnt matter though. I have a clear reason to show myself in front of you. Thats because I have a request for you. (God) Does it have anything to do with the right of reincarnating into another world ? (Renya) That was the request itself. Basically, I want you to go to that world. (God) The little girl said thuswhile quietly looking up atRenya. Chapter 1: It seems it was a Peaceful Death Author Note: Its recommended to skim over this in a carefree manner. Pan-pa-ka-pan, Congratulations ! You have been given the right to reincarnate into a different world ! This is such asuper rare thing to happen, one could compare it to winning a lottery ! Youre happy, right ? Right ? Yeah,its been decided that you are, indeed, happy ! Everyone,prepare the crackers ! (???) Eh ? (Renya) All of a sudden, something appeared in front of me. A little girl with blonde hair that was excited for somereason. Abunch of beautiful blonde girlswith a pairs of white wings surroundedme. Those blonde girls were, for some reason,wearing an unpleasant expression. In their hands, they wereholding a somewhat larger version of crackers used for parties. They tooka stance in unison. Do it ! (???) On the little girls order, they pulled the strings simultaneously. I dont know what the hell these blonde girls are, yet,these crackers weremaking a thunderous roar as itshookthe ground. I fall on my butt. Cracker released ! Music Squad, Equip Instruments ! The Clapping and Singing Squad, begin preparations! (???) Despite the unpleasant look on the girls, the little girlgave the orders with high tension. Half of the girls took music instruments out of nowhere while the rest of them began to clap their hands together and brought them to their chest inpreparation to sing together. This is really dangerous!Renyas brain alerted him. Even those crackers had already caused such a big roar. Now, there were music instruments and songs ? What in the world would happen !? Renya decided that his eardrums and heart couldnttake anymore. Hes now thinking of how to get out of this situation. Song of celebration, readyhuhnugya- !? (???) Without further thinking, Renya got up and mercilessly launched a perfect frontkick to the little girl shouting off commands. The little girl never thought that she would get attacked. She tookthe kick to the face and began rolling onthe ground. (TL Note : LOL !) After it had happened, he began to realize that all of the girls were taking orders from this little girl. This meant that she was the commander. Of course, he looked around because nobody should have missed what he did just now. Yet, no one was moving. Renya thought that these girls might not be able to move without orders. However, he then saw a number of girls smirkingand laughing. Some of them even gavehim a thumbs up gesture. He immediately changed his previous thoughts. It seems that they are reluctantly following orders. There wereeven some girls that were secretly waving their hands to him. W-what are you doing!? (???) The little girl on the floor began toslowly stand as sheprotested to him. Though Renya didnthave any intentiontopoint it out, seeing a girl that was wearing only aKantoui(simple cloth with only 1 hole for head) tumbling on the floor, he averted his eyes as he attempted to notsee somethingthat he must not see. (E Note: Could barely find anything on the net for Kantoui.) Youre so noisy !The crackersearlier werealready as noisy as hell! If youlot begansinging now, my eardrums would break, you know !? (Renya) Thats not a reason to kick a little girls face ! (???) I dontdiscriminate against age ! (Renya) Im a girl you know !? (???) My principle is that girl and boys are equal ! (Renya) Renya declared that proudly. There wasa slightcommotion, yet, there wasalso some applause coming from the crowd. Why areyou guys applaudinghim !? (???) The little girl yelled at the other girls, yet,the girls somehow averted their faces in unison, as if they had already planned it in advance. While Renya was questioningwhat kind of group was before him, the girl turned towards Renya once again. Geez, I chose the wrong personnel. (???) What are you talking about ? Or rather, where am I ? (Renya) As far I can see, this place is flooded with withgirls that havewings. When I look up, I dont see a blue sky. Its like a thin white light thats spread across the horizon. This is the land of god. (???) Oh~ (Renya) Renya responded lazily towards the little girl with the thin chest. Kunugi Renya-san, you have died. (???) Heh~ (Renya) You died by the age of 94 because of aging. Cool, right ? Long life Banzai ! (???) Though she had declared it so, Renya still couldntbelieve it. According to the little girl, he died at age94 not because of illness or accident, but because he hadreached his lifespan. He had no recollectionof such a thing. Well, because its troublesome to face an old man, I set your state back to when you were 18 years old. (???) Hearing this, a small blue vein popped up on Renyas head. Oi (Renya) In fact, using a Loli appearance with those mature words, I findthatgap moe or whatever is called disgusting. Id prefer to call you Loli-Baba or Shota-Jiji. (???) Oi, cutit out. (Renya) Certainly, its dangerous to speak whatever I want to this little girl.I tried to interrupt her, but it seems that this girl hasno intention onstopping. I dont really care but, keep such talk about your disposition towards minorities inthe trash. (???) So whyd you bring it up ? Renyas tsukkomi was ignored. Back to the topic, you have beengiven the right to be reincarnated into a different world. (???) Dont need it. (Renya) The little girl frozeat such an unexpected line. Ignoring the girls reaction, Renya continued. Somehow, it sounds like a pain. Furthermore, it seems exaggerated. Not to mention, Ifeellike you are trying to hide something from me. (Renya) I-I wonder what are you talking about (???) Renya continues to applypressure in his voice as the little girl averted her gaze. If you say that my previous life was a peaceful death, there supposed to be no lingering feelings or regrets. Well, asI cant recall anything, its not like I can attest to that.It might be that after I got sent to heaven or hell, I might just forget it, right ? Though I dont really want to be sent to hell. (Renya) T-Thats right ! If you refuse this, you will be sent to hell ! (???) Of course, it was apparent that this was just made up on the spot. It was as suspicious as hell. Following this, Renya began to inquire. What are mycharges ? (Renya) Charges !? ECEhm Ah ! Thats right ! Murder ! (???) Hm, I died peacefully due to old age, right ? Does that mean I didnt get caught until the day I died ? (Renya) The little girls face became strained. A-Ah, you died in jail ! (???) Oh, I surprisingly committed a crime at such an old age, huh ? Even if it wasnt at that age, how many people did Ikill ? Since, I apparently died due toold age in prison. So? How many did i kill ? (Renya) A-Ah, thats right ! Peopledepriveothers of lifeto maintain theirown ! Basically, youre one of those sinners ! (???) If that was the case, then that means theres no Heaven ? Are all worlds just Hell ? Those who practice religion sure are insane. (Renya) I-If they were vegetarian (???) I see,so youre one of those people who think that vegetationdoesnthave life. Or are you one of those people that arbitrarily place a large or small value on eachlife ? Are you one of those that think its bad to eat whales because they have intelligence, but still eat cows and pigs hypocritically ? Are you one of those people that can make friends with dolphins, yet cant be friends with chickens ? (Renya) (E Note: Damn it. Translating this was annoying) Renya thought that none of them werecorrect though. Even though Renya stopped there, if his opponent wanted to object again, he couldstill continue thispointless discussion. Most likely, in this girls head, the value of life was equivalent to a spec of dust. Im sorry. I will apologize so, would you please listen to my explanation? (???) The girl prostrated herself in adogeza. It was unknown whether the girl was aware ofwhat Renya was thinking or not. (E Note: Renyas an Skudos.) Applause came from the girls. Ugh, why do you guys clap when I meet such a terrible fate !? (???) The little girl stood up asall the other girls purposefully avoided her gaze. She was glaring at the girls while grinding her teeth. Following this,Renya madea small cough, makingthe little girl look at him again. I will listen properly since you intend to clearly explain it. After that, whether I agree or not is a different matter, though. (Renya) Mu, I guess its fine. First, I am the being recognized as God. These erotic girls are what you call Angels. (God) sfx: Booing (E Note:Boos, jeers, complaints, etc.) As jeers filled the crowd, the little girl simply gave a single glare, causing the commotion to die down. You girls are definitely erotic ! Who were the ones thattried to make kids with humans and performedyuri to the extent that they somehow got a virgin pregnant, huh!? (God) Upon hearing the little girls voice, quite anumber of the girls looked of into the distance with an expression that said I knownothing. Seriously, you girlsre only good at complaining (God) That doesnt matter. Please continue the explanation. (Renya) Eh ? No tsukkomi this time ? (God) Suprisingly, the little girl said that. Well, people are free to name themselves anyway. Then, which god are you ? Jesus ? Buddha ? (TL Note : It actually written asϟoʤ , Lets assume its buddha.) Or, pay-back(TL Note :ä귵 i dont know X_x) god ? (Renya) (E Note: Not sure either. Any suggestions would be appreciated.) Please stop. Dont compare me tosomething that humans created. (God) The girl frowned. I am me. No oneelse. I am the one who creates and controls all. (God) Wow, so cool. Nowthen, why did Kami-sama bother to appear before one person ? (Renya) AsRenya spokewith asarcasticallyhumble tone, the little girl frowned You didnt believe me right ? It doesnt matter though. I have a clear reason to show myself in front of you. Thats because I have a request for you. (God) Does it have anything to do with the right of reincarnating into another world ? (Renya) That was the request itself. Basically, I want you to go to that world. (God) The little girl said thuswhile quietly looking up atRenya. Chapter 2 Chapter 2: It seems I shouldnt have asked Again, why me ? (Renya) Renya voiced an all too obvious question. The little girl spoke to Renya who had thought that there was no way he would be the cliched chosen one. Thats because you are the chosen one ! (God) Ah ? (Renya) Im sorry. I lied. I apologize so please dont hit me. (God) Seeing Renya clenching his fist with grim expression, the little girl bowed her head and apologized. A small applause couldbe heard You bastards! You got aproblem with me !? (God) Everyone heavily nodded in unison in responseto the screaming girl. I guess their frustrations accumulated into a grudge, huh ?(Renya) He saw the little girl crumble to her knees. Ugh, fine. I will explain the rest so you guys please go somewhere else. The conversation is not having any progress and my heartis probably broken (God) (TL Note : Hug the God ! *hugs* ) (E Note: As opposed to Renya being an Sis the god an M?) This god seems topretty much have weak mental strength, eh ?(Renya) The girls smiled atRenya and waved while their bodies begandisappearing. The sight of people fading awaymadeRenya doubt whether this wasreality. : You have acquired the . Eh ? What the hell is this ?(Renya) Renya tilted his head as hesaw the little girl standup and turn towards him. Ehm, I lied about you being the chosen one. However, not everything wasa lie. Not everyone can pass the wall between worlds. (God) So, basically, I can go through those walls ? (Renya) Yes. Since you have trained your body to a certain extent, there seems to be nothing wrong with you for the most part. In addition, you dont seem tohave any lingering feelings towards your world. Since I died peacefully, isnt itobvious that I dont have any lingering feelings ?(Renya) For now, Renya decided to remain silent. So, I technically dont have any problem, right ? (Renya) As Renya hadkicked this God a earlier,she shook her head. Even though the kick was unexpected, it was nothing. Atheists are not rare. Im not even agitated by the fact that you kicked my little girl figure away. Equality of gender is not a bad thing too. (God) For future reference, can I ask what is bad then ? (Renya) Im pretty sure its destroying, raiding, and killing. Well, basically anyway. (God) Fuahahahahahahahaha (God) A creepy laugh couldbe heard. Renya beganshivering. It would be perfect if she had whitepaint on her face. (Renya) What are you trying to accomplish by sending me to another world ? (Renya) Nothing at all~ (God) As soon she declared that, Renya knocked her head. There were quite a sound there. The girl squealed as sheput her hands on her head. Dont play with the dead if you dont have any business ! (Renya) You sure are fast to declare yourself as a deadman~ (God) I have lived for almost a century. Isnt it long enough ? Though I dont have any memory of it, I think its enough. (Renya) Though I think tellinga person that just finished one life to do another is cruel, can you listen to my request ? It would make me happy, you know. (God) I thought we dont have any business ? (Renya) When Renya asked the suddenly humble little girl, she nodded. Seeing this, Renya could only clenchhis fist. Realizing this, the girl speak again. I have a clear reason to ask you to go, you know ? Thats why, please stop hitting me ! (God) What do you mean ? I want answers. (Renya) I want you to go because the world you are designated to go is low on resources. (God) Though she did explain it slightly, Renya did notunderstand anything. Thus, he continued to press her. It cant be helped, huh ?(God) That was really the reason though, ugh, how should I say this. (God) With a troubled expression, the girl spread both of Renyashands in front of him. Suddenly, a transparent window appeared before his eyes.Renya couldnthide his shock. The window in front of him was projecting some kind of map. At least, itwas a map whichRenya had never seen. Asits scale was reduced, Renya couldntunderstand anything.There were four lands that formed theshape of a four-leaf clover. The intersection of the four lands respectively created areas in thenorth, west, east, and south. If the maps upper part is north, then..but.. (Renya) Relax, I have translatedthis to matchyour knowledge in yourprevious world. Makeno mistake, the maps upper part is north. (God) Is that so ? But, this is the first time Ive seenthis kind of geography. What map is this ? (Renya) Its the continent of Eldra. Its a unique continent in the world that I want Renya-san to go to. As for the size, that clover thing could probably be compared to the size of Eurasia. (God) (TL Note : It was written`ɥ) What !? (Renya) Having said so, Renya once again looked at the map. (TL Note : From this point on, i will refer to our God (Little Girl) as Chibi, since its troublesome to write little girl all the time.) If what the chibi said wastrue, then this is a hugecontinent that is 2 times larger than Eurasia in both height and length. Ridiculous. (Renya) It is the truth. Theres no need to be overwhelmed. (God) To see a star that is ridiculously larger than earth.. How many are there !? (Renya) Its not a star though. (God) What !? (Renya) She opened another window. There, Renya saw a waterfall that was massive inboth height and length. He had never seen this before. He couldsee the largebody of water clearly. Can you see this ?In this world, atthe end of the world, theres always a waterfall that falls into nothingness. (God) As the Chibi said thus with a serious face, Renya stood dumbfounded for a straight 5 minutes. What era is this? (Renya) Even though it seemslike anEarth visioned by old-fashioned theorists, this is the reality of this world. If you go beyond the waterfall and fall down, you will disappear. Theres no turning back. (God) Who is the fool that created this world !? (Renya) In reality, this wasRenyas genuineopinion. This time, the girl responded with a loud voice. This God in front of you ! Who the hell are you calling stupid !? (God) Arentyou stupid, though ? What did you eat that made you want tocreate such a thing!? (Renya) Isnt it obvious that its because the sea is surrounding the continent !? (God) What the hell is this world ? Is there even a circulation of water here!? (Renya) Of course, theres no way that exist you idiot ! Dont lumpthis worlds logic together with yours ! (God) The lack of resources is because of thisstupid system, right !? (Renya) It might be because of the harsh intonation, or because she was called stupid, or possibly because Renya had previously used violence on her, the chibi realized her defeat asher face grewpale. Anyway, because theres no circulation, theres gotta be some kind of power that keeps supplying it, right ? Even if theres gotta be some water that evaporated afterit fell intothat place. If this continues forever, without such a water supply, wont iteventually dry up? (Renya) T-T-Theres no way such thing happens, you know ? (God) Oi, chibi. Look me in theeyes and say it clearly. (Renya) I-I Swear ! I-Its really not ! Iadmitthat I used power pointlessly, but this and the request are not related ! I swear to God ! (God) (TL Note : Right.. A god swear to god ~_~) (E Note: Does that mean gods have gods? Do those gods have gods? Is there an entire hierarchy of omnipotent beings out there?) Oi, arent you the God ?Is what Renya wanted to tsukkomi, yet,refrained from doingso. Renya stared at the chibi, however,the chibi completedaverted hergaze. Oi. (Renya) I will continue the explanation. Eldra, as you can see, is divided to five regions. (God) (TL Note : The fifth is the center) The chibi continued the explanation as loud as possible. He could have continued to apply pressure, however, seeing the chibi had already beencornered, he urged himself to let her continue. North, south, east, west, and Center, huh.. (Renya) Thats right, North, south, east, and west is controlled by a singularrace. These are theHumans, Elves, Demi-humans, and Dragon Races respectively. And the center ? (Renya) Demon Race. (God) (TL Note : Magic Race are demons) (E Note: Kanji is Magic Race. Read as Demon Race.) According to the chibis explanation, the continent wasdivided into five. Well, I cant give too detailed an explanation. This world is basically turning into a harsh environment. To put it simply, war often breaks out. (God) Amazed by the chibi, Renya tried to ask something obvious. Why ? (Renya) Though I thought that the related parties didnt realize this, there are 5 warlords in each race. They seem to be starting warsto kill some time. (God) S-T-O-P-T-H-E-M ! (Renya) W-Wait ! Dont strangle me ! My neck ! Why are you aiming precisely at my arteries !? Ill die ! Ill die !!! (God) On the edge of death from being strangled, the chibi fell awayfrom Renya. Not willing to let go, Renya chased the chibi. Depending on heranswer, he was planning on breaking her neck. By the way, the difference is, he wasnt trying to cut off herrespiratory system (choke her). He was trying to break her neck. Dont fuck with me ! Because of you, wars are breaking out ! (Renya) I understand what you are saying, but I cant do anything ! (God) The girl wasdesperately trying to escape, her expressionfull of fear. You are God, right ? (Renya) Since I already transferred the management right of this world, its impossible ! Though I can take it back forcefully, theres a consequence, you know ? So, basically- (God) While trying to protect her neck, she keptrunning a little while longer. Following this, she stood still while thinking and said. If Ican make 80% of the continent sink, then I might be able to do something about it. (God) Denied. (Renya) Then, I cant do anything. Although, if we can make the warlords there return the management right, then it would be a different story.(God) Having declared so, Renya stopped his chase. Because of them, the death and life cycle in this world has stopped. (God) What do you mean ? (Renya) After confirming that Renya had pausedhis pursuit,the chibi turned around and continued herexplanation. Although souls that died normally from disease or old age is fine, what about those who did not meet a normal end. Those who got captured and killed on the battlefield, those who got slashed into pieces, those who got eaten by dragons, those who died in raids by goblins or orcs. Do you think thosesouls will want to return to such an environment ? (God) Well, thats probably be impossible. (Renya) Thats right. Thus, souls that reject such a world begin toaccumulate. (God) The chibi spoke with an exasperatedexpression. Even if it came from the neck that Renya had tried to break a short whileago, somehow, he couldsympathize with her. I tried to persuade the warlords, presenting the benefits the rejected souls possess to their world. I had tried plenty of things, all of which were fruitless endeavors. (God) So youve at least tried something, huh ? (Renya) Yeah, once. However, not only was it fruitless, I was blamed by the inhabitants. I, at the very least, planned to allowmyself to get strangled. (God) Because I was from another world, she denied to get strangled by me, huh..(Renya) Renya urged her to continue. Thats why, because they get reincarnated to another world, this worlds resources began to decline. (God) Isnt it fine to destroy such a world ? (Renya) Not only do the warlords have no intention of properlymanaging things, the population continues to drop in such anenvironment. Even if left alone, such a world would probablyget destroyed soon anyway.(Renya) That might be okay, but thinking about the souls that will be lost, it cannot be allowed to be destroyed. (God) Even if wecan recreate it again, the angles and I willdie from exhaustion. (God) Its technically impossible. There will be lot of souls that got reincarnated without my knowing. The number of souls that reject reincarnation into the other world are too scarce. (God) Souls with with more than certain quality consume the resources of the world that they are originally made from. Following this, the souls use even more of this worlds resources in order to immigrate to another. Those souls that got reincarnatedto another world are slightly but surelyreducing this worlds resource. That was quite a complex story, huh.. (Renya) Yes, we need to somehow persuade the lords, and then getthe worlds order back to normal. Its very time-consuming. Basically, what Im asking is- (God) I want you to go there to stall for time and preserve the worlds resources.. Am I right ? (Renya) Ifit was onlybringing me resources, I wouldntneed to ask you. However,just like how a fileattached to an email and the file itselfare completelydifferent things, youll have to attach somethingto someones soul. (God) Something like a file attachment software ? (Renya) It might be worthy to create it if theres someone to take it, but I cant since the warlords dontknow and denied my interference. (God) Even if you can send something, its meaningless if theres no one to receive it. If they realize that their world is going to be destroyed, things would have been different. But they dont. They onlythink that my interference is unnecessary.(God) God spoke with a wry smile. Can you explain the current situation? (Renya) I got rejected. (God) Its obvious that its the warlords fault. (Renya) There wasnt even a reply. (God) Watching the chibi hangher head, Renya sighed. If he didnt hear such a story, he couldjust ignore their troubles. However, now that he knew, he couldntpretend that it wasnthis problem. Actually, Renya didnt want to get involved with this sort of trouble, yet,he haddecided. I got it. Lets team up. (Renya) Chapter 2: It seems I shouldnt have asked Again, why me ? (Renya) Renya voiced an all too obvious question. The little girl spoke to Renya who had thought that there was no way he would be the cliched chosen one. Thats because you are the chosen one ! (God) Ah ? (Renya) Im sorry. I lied. I apologize so please dont hit me. (God) Seeing Renya clenching his fist with grim expression, the little girl bowed her head and apologized. A small applause couldbe heard You bastards! You got aproblem with me !? (God) Everyone heavily nodded in unison in responseto the screaming girl. I guess their frustrations accumulated into a grudge, huh ?(Renya) He saw the little girl crumble to her knees. Ugh, fine. I will explain the rest so you guys please go somewhere else. The conversation is not having any progress and my heartis probably broken (God) (TL Note : Hug the God ! *hugs* ) (E Note: As opposed to Renya being an Sis the god an M?) This god seems topretty much have weak mental strength, eh ?(Renya) The girls smiled atRenya and waved while their bodies begandisappearing. The sight of people fading awaymadeRenya doubt whether this wasreality. : You have acquired the . Eh ? What the hell is this ?(Renya) Renya tilted his head as hesaw the little girl standup and turn towards him. Ehm, I lied about you being the chosen one. However, not everything wasa lie. Not everyone can pass the wall between worlds. (God) So, basically, I can go through those walls ? (Renya) Yes. Since you have trained your body to a certain extent, there seems to be nothing wrong with you for the most part. In addition, you dont seem tohave any lingering feelings towards your world. Since I died peacefully, isnt itobvious that I dont have any lingering feelings ?(Renya) For now, Renya decided to remain silent. So, I technically dont have any problem, right ? (Renya) As Renya hadkicked this God a earlier,she shook her head. Even though the kick was unexpected, it was nothing. Atheists are not rare. Im not even agitated by the fact that you kicked my little girl figure away. Equality of gender is not a bad thing too. (God) For future reference, can I ask what is bad then ? (Renya) Im pretty sure its destroying, raiding, and killing. Well, basically anyway. (God) Fuahahahahahahahaha (God) A creepy laugh couldbe heard. Renya beganshivering. It would be perfect if she had whitepaint on her face. (Renya) What are you trying to accomplish by sending me to another world ? (Renya) Nothing at all~ (God) As soon she declared that, Renya knocked her head. There were quite a sound there. The girl squealed as sheput her hands on her head. Dont play with the dead if you dont have any business ! (Renya) You sure are fast to declare yourself as a deadman~ (God) I have lived for almost a century. Isnt it long enough ? Though I dont have any memory of it, I think its enough. (Renya) Though I think tellinga person that just finished one life to do another is cruel, can you listen to my request ? It would make me happy, you know. (God) I thought we dont have any business ? (Renya) When Renya asked the suddenly humble little girl, she nodded. Seeing this, Renya could only clenchhis fist. Realizing this, the girl speak again. I have a clear reason to ask you to go, you know ? Thats why, please stop hitting me ! (God) What do you mean ? I want answers. (Renya) I want you to go because the world you are designated to go is low on resources. (God) Though she did explain it slightly, Renya did notunderstand anything. Thus, he continued to press her. It cant be helped, huh ?(God) That was really the reason though, ugh, how should I say this. (God) With a troubled expression, the girl spread both of Renyashands in front of him. Suddenly, a transparent window appeared before his eyes.Renya couldnthide his shock. The window in front of him was projecting some kind of map. At least, itwas a map whichRenya had never seen. Asits scale was reduced, Renya couldntunderstand anything.There were four lands that formed theshape of a four-leaf clover. The intersection of the four lands respectively created areas in thenorth, west, east, and south. If the maps upper part is north, then..but.. (Renya) Relax, I have translatedthis to matchyour knowledge in yourprevious world. Makeno mistake, the maps upper part is north. (God) Is that so ? But, this is the first time Ive seenthis kind of geography. What map is this ? (Renya) Its the continent of Eldra. Its a unique continent in the world that I want Renya-san to go to. As for the size, that clover thing could probably be compared to the size of Eurasia. (God) (TL Note : It was written`ɥ) What !? (Renya) Having said so, Renya once again looked at the map. (TL Note : From this point on, i will refer to our God (Little Girl) as Chibi, since its troublesome to write little girl all the time.) If what the chibi said wastrue, then this is a hugecontinent that is 2 times larger than Eurasia in both height and length. Ridiculous. (Renya) It is the truth. Theres no need to be overwhelmed. (God) To see a star that is ridiculously larger than earth.. How many are there !? (Renya) Its not a star though. (God) What !? (Renya) She opened another window. There, Renya saw a waterfall that was massive inboth height and length. He had never seen this before. He couldsee the largebody of water clearly. Can you see this ?In this world, atthe end of the world, theres always a waterfall that falls into nothingness. (God) As the Chibi said thus with a serious face, Renya stood dumbfounded for a straight 5 minutes. What era is this? (Renya) Even though it seemslike anEarth visioned by old-fashioned theorists, this is the reality of this world. If you go beyond the waterfall and fall down, you will disappear. Theres no turning back. (God) Who is the fool that created this world !? (Renya) In reality, this wasRenyas genuineopinion. This time, the girl responded with a loud voice. This God in front of you ! Who the hell are you calling stupid !? (God) Arentyou stupid, though ? What did you eat that made you want tocreate such a thing!? (Renya) Isnt it obvious that its because the sea is surrounding the continent !? (God) What the hell is this world ? Is there even a circulation of water here!? (Renya) Of course, theres no way that exist you idiot ! Dont lumpthis worlds logic together with yours ! (God) The lack of resources is because of thisstupid system, right !? (Renya) It might be because of the harsh intonation, or because she was called stupid, or possibly because Renya had previously used violence on her, the chibi realized her defeat asher face grewpale. Anyway, because theres no circulation, theres gotta be some kind of power that keeps supplying it, right ? Even if theres gotta be some water that evaporated afterit fell intothat place. If this continues forever, without such a water supply, wont iteventually dry up? (Renya) T-T-Theres no way such thing happens, you know ? (God) Oi, chibi. Look me in theeyes and say it clearly. (Renya) I-I Swear ! I-Its really not ! Iadmitthat I used power pointlessly, but this and the request are not related ! I swear to God ! (God) (TL Note : Right.. A god swear to god ~_~) (E Note: Does that mean gods have gods? Do those gods have gods? Is there an entire hierarchy of omnipotent beings out there?) Oi, arent you the God ?Is what Renya wanted to tsukkomi, yet,refrained from doingso. Renya stared at the chibi, however,the chibi completedaverted hergaze. Oi. (Renya) I will continue the explanation. Eldra, as you can see, is divided to five regions. (God) (TL Note : The fifth is the center) The chibi continued the explanation as loud as possible. He could have continued to apply pressure, however, seeing the chibi had already beencornered, he urged himself to let her continue. North, south, east, west, and Center, huh.. (Renya) Thats right, North, south, east, and west is controlled by a singularrace. These are theHumans, Elves, Demi-humans, and Dragon Races respectively. And the center ? (Renya) Demon Race. (God) (TL Note : Magic Race are demons) (E Note: Kanji is Magic Race. Read as Demon Race.) According to the chibis explanation, the continent wasdivided into five. Well, I cant give too detailed an explanation. This world is basically turning into a harsh environment. To put it simply, war often breaks out. (God) Amazed by the chibi, Renya tried to ask something obvious. Why ? (Renya) Though I thought that the related parties didnt realize this, there are 5 warlords in each race. They seem to be starting warsto kill some time. (God) S-T-O-P-T-H-E-M ! (Renya) W-Wait ! Dont strangle me ! My neck ! Why are you aiming precisely at my arteries !? Ill die ! Ill die !!! (God) On the edge of death from being strangled, the chibi fell awayfrom Renya. Not willing to let go, Renya chased the chibi. Depending on heranswer, he was planning on breaking her neck. By the way, the difference is, he wasnt trying to cut off herrespiratory system (choke her). He was trying to break her neck. Dont fuck with me ! Because of you, wars are breaking out ! (Renya) I understand what you are saying, but I cant do anything ! (God) The girl wasdesperately trying to escape, her expressionfull of fear. You are God, right ? (Renya) Since I already transferred the management right of this world, its impossible ! Though I can take it back forcefully, theres a consequence, you know ? So, basically- (God) While trying to protect her neck, she keptrunning a little while longer. Following this, she stood still while thinking and said. If Ican make 80% of the continent sink, then I might be able to do something about it. (God) Denied. (Renya) Then, I cant do anything. Although, if we can make the warlords there return the management right, then it would be a different story.(God) Having declared so, Renya stopped his chase. Because of them, the death and life cycle in this world has stopped. (God) What do you mean ? (Renya) After confirming that Renya had pausedhis pursuit,the chibi turned around and continued herexplanation. Although souls that died normally from disease or old age is fine, what about those who did not meet a normal end. Those who got captured and killed on the battlefield, those who got slashed into pieces, those who got eaten by dragons, those who died in raids by goblins or orcs. Do you think thosesouls will want to return to such an environment ? (God) Well, thats probably be impossible. (Renya) Thats right. Thus, souls that reject such a world begin toaccumulate. (God) The chibi spoke with an exasperatedexpression. Even if it came from the neck that Renya had tried to break a short whileago, somehow, he couldsympathize with her. I tried to persuade the warlords, presenting the benefits the rejected souls possess to their world. I had tried plenty of things, all of which were fruitless endeavors. (God) So youve at least tried something, huh ? (Renya) Yeah, once. However, not only was it fruitless, I was blamed by the inhabitants. I, at the very least, planned to allowmyself to get strangled. (God) Because I was from another world, she denied to get strangled by me, huh..(Renya) Renya urged her to continue. Thats why, because they get reincarnated to another world, this worlds resources began to decline. (God) Isnt it fine to destroy such a world ? (Renya) Not only do the warlords have no intention of properlymanaging things, the population continues to drop in such anenvironment. Even if left alone, such a world would probablyget destroyed soon anyway.(Renya) That might be okay, but thinking about the souls that will be lost, it cannot be allowed to be destroyed. (God) Even if wecan recreate it again, the angles and I willdie from exhaustion. (God) Its technically impossible. There will be lot of souls that got reincarnated without my knowing. The number of souls that reject reincarnation into the other world are too scarce. (God) Souls with with more than certain quality consume the resources of the world that they are originally made from. Following this, the souls use even more of this worlds resources in order to immigrate to another. Those souls that got reincarnatedto another world are slightly but surelyreducing this worlds resource. That was quite a complex story, huh.. (Renya) Yes, we need to somehow persuade the lords, and then getthe worlds order back to normal. Its very time-consuming. Basically, what Im asking is- (God) I want you to go there to stall for time and preserve the worlds resources.. Am I right ? (Renya) Ifit was onlybringing me resources, I wouldntneed to ask you. However,just like how a fileattached to an email and the file itselfare completelydifferent things, youll have to attach somethingto someones soul. (God) Something like a file attachment software ? (Renya) It might be worthy to create it if theres someone to take it, but I cant since the warlords dontknow and denied my interference. (God) Even if you can send something, its meaningless if theres no one to receive it. If they realize that their world is going to be destroyed, things would have been different. But they dont. They onlythink that my interference is unnecessary.(God) God spoke with a wry smile. Can you explain the current situation? (Renya) I got rejected. (God) Its obvious that its the warlords fault. (Renya) There wasnt even a reply. (God) Watching the chibi hangher head, Renya sighed. If he didnt hear such a story, he couldjust ignore their troubles. However, now that he knew, he couldntpretend that it wasnthis problem. Actually, Renya didnt want to get involved with this sort of trouble, yet,he haddecided. I got it. Lets team up. (Renya) Chapter 3 Chapter 3: It seems I got a Cheat Author Note: If were talking about someone from another world, were talking about cheats. You could say that if there is no cheat, the story cant start. Im truly sorry to involve you in this predicament. I truly appreciateit, Renya-san. (God) The chibi bowed her head deeply. In times like this, it was hard to directly look at the chibi. Renya feltreally bad since he didnt mean any harm. Its fine already soplease raise your head. (Renya) There was a little bit of impatience mixed in Renyas words. Hearing this, the little girl slowly raised her head. Im truly sorry to cause trouble foryou. If you were to reject this, I would have tolookfor another compatible person. (God) Asthis appeared to be a significantmatter,Renyas interest was piqued as he began to ask. By the way, whatre the chances of finding a compatible person ? (Renya) 1 in 5, 630, 000, 000 people. (God) (TL Note : Thats it. LUK Stats is over 9999) (E Note: About 0.00000000002 %. Good luck with that, Kami-sama) Renya swallowedupon hearing thus. From the number itself, it seemedlike the chances were just one person in the entireearth. Then, how will you send me there ? Dont tell me, reincarnation ? (Renya) Renya said thus as heimpliedthat he wanted to be spared from such a fate. Even though Renya agreed to help, reincarnating into ababy again feltlike too much of a pain.Also, if he were to become a baby with this mental state, he would die from embarrassment. If I were to use the reincarnation system, theres a chance that the warlord there can repel it with their management right. So, I wont be reincarnating you. Since you will return here again if you die, we have to plan before the next reincarnation. (God) Even if he was sent, it didntmean that heonly hadone chance. Renya feel relieved as it lookedlike it wouldnttake too much time. For the family register stuff, since there are tons of lost people that inhabit this world, there should be no problem. (God) What do you mean ? (Renya) Theres a quite number of people that came from other worlds there, you know ? Since the world itself is not stable, there are lots of occurrences wherepeople get transferred there. (God) What happened to the requirement of having a good aptitude that you mention earlier !? (Renya) It will be troublesome if you failed to cross it, you know. (God) The chibi lifted her little finger and made another window appear in order to continue her explanation. Since once you are there, you will have to live there for a few decades. I, the God, will be giving you a present ! (God) Hearing such strange intonation, Renya hit the Gods head. Oh yeah, youre a god, arent you ? (Renya) D-O-N-T-F-O-R-G-E-T-I-T ! Thats the most important thing, you know !? (God) Since you are wearing such an outfit, you are far from divine. (Renya) The chibi began to pout upon hearing thus. Renya began to feel thathe shouldnt have said that. Then, the chibi muttered. I thought that I couldlure his lust with this gorgeous feminine body, but to think that it would have the opposite effect (God) Dont make assumptions! (Renya) Receiving Renyas cold gaze, the girl clenched her fist and spoke.It cant be helped, huh.. Humans can never see beauty beyond superficialappearance. If anIkemen hugged a girl, they would hardly raise any problems. Yet, when it comes to a geek or a nerd, theywould deem itas sexual harassment, right ? Thats the reality. (God) Even though thats true, thats not the point! You saidyoull give me a gift, right ? Youll give me something, right ? (Renya) Since it seems that it would diverge intoa very unappealing topic,Renya interrupted her. Following this,the girl clapped her hands. Oh, thats right ! To start with, my first gift to you is, ! (God) I will be forever young (Renya) (E Note: Really, ELYSION? Really?) That is . (God) From Renyas point of view, even though she said thus, it felthard to believe. It is ! You, the 94 years old gramps, will be able to live ina spanking new 18 year-old body thanks to my power ! (God) Even if I got sent in my 94 year-old body, shouldntit fine ? I would still come back here again when I die anyway. (Renya) Since he was only goingfor the resources, he didnt feel the need to be able to live long over there. Renya thought that it would be more efficient this way. Beside, I dont have anything else to do there, right ? (Renya) T-Thats true.. But that world is onewith magic and swords, you know ! You can buildfameeasily as an adventurer ! Not to mention,you couldalso create a Harem ! Isnt that every guys dream !? Why are you saying such a line that smells like a rotting geezer !? (God) (TL Note : You know your stuff loligami 8) (E Note: Yep. Although lets hope he doesnt become a Loli Killer) Well, I am a geezer though. (Renya) Chibi is dumbounded. Oh ? Eh.. Hm.. (God) While running her hand in the window she just opened, she began tothink. Although it was slightlytransparent, Renya couldntsee what waswritten there. After a while, the chibi found what she had beensearching for and, with sparkling eyes, turned to Renya. Actually, Renya-san, in that world, theres a lot of delicious food thats not on Earth, you know ? (God) (TL Note : HIIRO !? IS THAT YOU !?) (E Note: If it is, Ill bet hell get trapped by food again.) Hoh ? (Renya) It seems that the chibi was looking for information about my life to see whether she couldpersuade me. Since I dont have any memories, it seems that somehow, I cant resist the persuasion. I guess it means that I was pretty much food-lover, huh ?(Renya) Of course, theres cheap delicious food and theres also food that is expensive and super delicious. To buy such a food, it would beimpossible for a 94 year-old gramps to earn the money. (God) Fine, fine. Ill go with the new body. But, I wont forgive any more secrets. What are you planning ? (Renya) I assume that it will take several decades for the scattered Resources to cling with Renya-sans soul. They are not something that can just be taken. Since resources wont diffuse themselves into corpses, this God would bevery grateful if Renya-san can live a long life. (God) Surprisingly, the chibi easily told the truth. It looks like she has realized that lying would notbe beneficial. Ehthats not really agift, aint that something necessary ? (Renya) Ugh.. even though you just thanked me for making you 18 again.. (God) She said such cunningwords with teary eyes. Since you said you wouldgive me a gift, at least give me an appropriate one. In order to live and do my duty, isnt that a given ? (Renya) Ugh, then, what kind of gift do you want ? (God) Renya skillfully reversed Gods plan and began toask for favors. My gift will be, . (God) Gold. (Renya) Renya immediately responded with seriousness. And then, an absolutely safe home, and great combat ability. (Renya) (TL Note : This guy.. Definitely the embodiment of GREED !) (E Note: Hiirofumi?) Give me a break. Before the resources arelost, the world would be destroyed due tothe imbalance. (God) The chibi started to kneel in adogeza, and of course, Renya somehow felt bad. Though it would be cool if you can do it, I guess its impossible, huh.. (Renya) Its not that I cant make a mountain of gold, its just that the worlds balance would break. Attaining power to destroy a country alone would obviously have anegativeoutcome. And if I made such a home, the duty would be (God) Well, I just wanted to try and say it once. Dont cry. (Renya) The girl quickly stands up. (TL Note : She cried because she already promised.) For now, since I will have a young body, I want . (Renya) Since Renya didnt want to waste any more time in this awkwardness, he tried to come up with something essential. O-Oh, huh ? (God) Since it seems I was a drinker, I think I will need a strong stomach and liver. (Renya) I see. Alcohol resistance and Gluttony right ? (God) (TL Note : NAOFUMI DETECTED !) (E Note: Pretty sure Ren had Gluttony butHiirenfumi?) Also, since I need to make money, I would like some sort of ability. Since its a world with magic and swords, fights are inevitable, right ? (Renya) Thats right. You need some combat ability.. (God) The girl took something like a memo out of nowhere and wrote down all of Renyas wishes.Renya thought it was strange for her to use such a thing as she couldmake a window appear out of nowhere.Following this,Renya continued. Also, I would like to try to make some things. For some reason, Im interested in black-smithing. (Renya) Fumu, fumu. Renya was a dan in Kendo in your previous life by the way. (God) Is that so ? I cant remember. (Renya) Your body should remember it though. (God) I also want to try magic. I wont be asking to be omnipotent, but I would like to excel in one area. (Renya) I see. By the way, does Renya-san prefer power or control ? (God) Of course, control. (Renya) There was once a proverb, its useless no matter how powerful one isif they didnt hit their mark. Okay, I will add that as a reference. (God) Also, I wont be asking to become the strongest at once, but I would like to be able to grow as I train. (Renya) I see. Do you have any wish regarding your look ? (God) After asking, the girl continues. Since your body isin a coffin back atEarth, Ill be creating a new body for you. Thats why. (God) I see. (Renya) I can change it up as much as you like. I can create it so that every girl will fall for you at first sight, and every boys heart would somehow skip beat near you. Leave it to me ! (God) Can I even change my gender? (Renya) Since Im creating it from scratch, yes. (God) Renya knewthat they werea guy. Even though theyhadno such memory to support them, even from their name, it was hard to think that it belonged to agirl. Renya was thinking which one would bebetter. The person them selfknew that there was no turning back with this. After thinking for a while, they decided. (E Note: Purposely used gender neutralpronouns. Cause their gender has now become undecided) Make it a male. Average looks is fineas long as its not ugly. (Renya) Ok ! The appearancewill be decent, at the level that its not repulsiveto look at. (God) (TL Note : LOL !) After writing everything in the memo, she ripped it out and began torollit up . From her small lips, she breathed onto the memo, causing ittoburnfuriously. Renya wonder why she burned a memo she had written. Then, just like when the angels faded away, a message appeared before him. INFO> : You have acquired | | | | | | | | | | | | | ! (TL Note : 棺塹؏͡ƾԡࢡұggħgmԣLoԁٳgʽKӡL޽ͻơaZȡäޤ Please help with the naming ) (E Note: With Judgement, Alternative Trans are: , , ) Whats this ? (Renya) Think of it as something like a skill in games But, now that I think of it, a 94 year-old gramps wouldnt have played games, huh.. (God) Its alright. I know that much. (Renya) Even though he didnt have any memory of playing a game, he understood the chibis analogy. Is that so ? I guess I donthave to explain it. For now, I have granted Renya-san skills that Renya-san wished for. Please remember them and use them. Also, I cant promise the skills will always be active. Ill permit you to use a hotline to me once a day. Though, please understand that I cant always answer. You should be fine if you imagine using the skill in your head. (God) Is that so ? Then, when will I leave ? (Renya) We can go as soon as you are prepared. (God) Beside the chibi, a glowing portal appeared. Renya somehow understood that he needed to enter that in order to proceed. Then, Ill be going. I wonder how many years will pass before our next meeting. (Renya) If you suck, it will be soon. If you are average, a few decades. If youre good, maybe we wont meet again. (God) I dont think immortality exists there, though. Well, if I like that world, maybe Ill spare some time to look for it. (Renya) Although I cant answer that, its probably worth searching for it. (God) Doesntthat mean it exists ?(Renya) While thinking thus, Renya continued to walk towardsthe portal before stoppingto take a glance at the chibiagain. Well, here I go. (Renya) Once again, we apologize for the trouble. We wish you a good life. (God) While saying that, the girl bowed. When Renya passed through the gate, words appearedhis head. : You have acquired ! Thus,Renya lead his second life that he didntexactly ask for.He walked towards the new world. Author Note: To preserve my writing, Ill drop things bit by bit. (E Note: Hard to translate but this is the basic message.) Chapter 3: It seems I got a Cheat Author Note: If were talking about someone from another world, were talking about cheats. You could say that if there is no cheat, the story cant start. Im truly sorry to involve you in this predicament. I truly appreciateit, Renya-san. (God) The chibi bowed her head deeply. In times like this, it was hard to directly look at the chibi. Renya feltreally bad since he didnt mean any harm. Its fine already soplease raise your head. (Renya) There was a little bit of impatience mixed in Renyas words. Hearing this, the little girl slowly raised her head. Im truly sorry to cause trouble foryou. If you were to reject this, I would have tolookfor another compatible person. (God) Asthis appeared to be a significantmatter,Renyas interest was piqued as he began to ask. By the way, whatre the chances of finding a compatible person ? (Renya) 1 in 5, 630, 000, 000 people. (God) (TL Note : Thats it. LUK Stats is over 9999) (E Note: About 0.00000000002 %. Good luck with that, Kami-sama) Renya swallowedupon hearing thus. From the number itself, it seemedlike the chances were just one person in the entireearth. Then, how will you send me there ? Dont tell me, reincarnation ? (Renya) Renya said thus as heimpliedthat he wanted to be spared from such a fate. Even though Renya agreed to help, reincarnating into ababy again feltlike too much of a pain.Also, if he were to become a baby with this mental state, he would die from embarrassment. If I were to use the reincarnation system, theres a chance that the warlord there can repel it with their management right. So, I wont be reincarnating you. Since you will return here again if you die, we have to plan before the next reincarnation. (God) Even if he was sent, it didntmean that heonly hadone chance. Renya feel relieved as it lookedlike it wouldnttake too much time. For the family register stuff, since there are tons of lost people that inhabit this world, there should be no problem. (God) What do you mean ? (Renya) Theres a quite number of people that came from other worlds there, you know ? Since the world itself is not stable, there are lots of occurrences wherepeople get transferred there. (God) What happened to the requirement of having a good aptitude that you mention earlier !? (Renya) It will be troublesome if you failed to cross it, you know. (God) The chibi lifted her little finger and made another window appear in order to continue her explanation. Since once you are there, you will have to live there for a few decades. I, the God, will be giving you a present ! (God) Hearing such strange intonation, Renya hit the Gods head. Oh yeah, youre a god, arent you ? (Renya) D-O-N-T-F-O-R-G-E-T-I-T ! Thats the most important thing, you know !? (God) Since you are wearing such an outfit, you are far from divine. (Renya) The chibi began to pout upon hearing thus. Renya began to feel thathe shouldnt have said that. Then, the chibi muttered. I thought that I couldlure his lust with this gorgeous feminine body, but to think that it would have the opposite effect (God) Dont make assumptions! (Renya) Receiving Renyas cold gaze, the girl clenched her fist and spoke.It cant be helped, huh.. Humans can never see beauty beyond superficialappearance. If anIkemen hugged a girl, they would hardly raise any problems. Yet, when it comes to a geek or a nerd, theywould deem itas sexual harassment, right ? Thats the reality. (God) Even though thats true, thats not the point! You saidyoull give me a gift, right ? Youll give me something, right ? (Renya) Since it seems that it would diverge intoa very unappealing topic,Renya interrupted her. Following this,the girl clapped her hands. Oh, thats right ! To start with, my first gift to you is, ! (God) I will be forever young (Renya) (E Note: Really, ELYSION? Really?) That is . (God) From Renyas point of view, even though she said thus, it felthard to believe. It is ! You, the 94 years old gramps, will be able to live ina spanking new 18 year-old body thanks to my power ! (God) Even if I got sent in my 94 year-old body, shouldntit fine ? I would still come back here again when I die anyway. (Renya) Since he was only goingfor the resources, he didnt feel the need to be able to live long over there. Renya thought that it would be more efficient this way. Beside, I dont have anything else to do there, right ? (Renya) T-Thats true.. But that world is onewith magic and swords, you know ! You can buildfameeasily as an adventurer ! Not to mention,you couldalso create a Harem ! Isnt that every guys dream !? Why are you saying such a line that smells like a rotting geezer !? (God) (TL Note : You know your stuff loligami 8) (E Note: Yep. Although lets hope he doesnt become a Loli Killer) Well, I am a geezer though. (Renya) Chibi is dumbounded. Oh ? Eh.. Hm.. (God) While running her hand in the window she just opened, she began tothink. Although it was slightlytransparent, Renya couldntsee what waswritten there. After a while, the chibi found what she had beensearching for and, with sparkling eyes, turned to Renya. Actually, Renya-san, in that world, theres a lot of delicious food thats not on Earth, you know ? (God) (TL Note : HIIRO !? IS THAT YOU !?) (E Note: If it is, Ill bet hell get trapped by food again.) Hoh ? (Renya) It seems that the chibi was looking for information about my life to see whether she couldpersuade me. Since I dont have any memories, it seems that somehow, I cant resist the persuasion. I guess it means that I was pretty much food-lover, huh ?(Renya) Of course, theres cheap delicious food and theres also food that is expensive and super delicious. To buy such a food, it would beimpossible for a 94 year-old gramps to earn the money. (God) Fine, fine. Ill go with the new body. But, I wont forgive any more secrets. What are you planning ? (Renya) I assume that it will take several decades for the scattered Resources to cling with Renya-sans soul. They are not something that can just be taken. Since resources wont diffuse themselves into corpses, this God would bevery grateful if Renya-san can live a long life. (God) Surprisingly, the chibi easily told the truth. It looks like she has realized that lying would notbe beneficial. Ehthats not really agift, aint that something necessary ? (Renya) Ugh.. even though you just thanked me for making you 18 again.. (God) She said such cunningwords with teary eyes. Since you said you wouldgive me a gift, at least give me an appropriate one. In order to live and do my duty, isnt that a given ? (Renya) Ugh, then, what kind of gift do you want ? (God) Renya skillfully reversed Gods plan and began toask for favors. My gift will be, . (God) Gold. (Renya) Renya immediately responded with seriousness. And then, an absolutely safe home, and great combat ability. (Renya) (TL Note : This guy.. Definitely the embodiment of GREED !) (E Note: Hiirofumi?) Give me a break. Before the resources arelost, the world would be destroyed due tothe imbalance. (God) The chibi started to kneel in adogeza, and of course, Renya somehow felt bad. Though it would be cool if you can do it, I guess its impossible, huh.. (Renya) Its not that I cant make a mountain of gold, its just that the worlds balance would break. Attaining power to destroy a country alone would obviously have anegativeoutcome. And if I made such a home, the duty would be (God) Well, I just wanted to try and say it once. Dont cry. (Renya) The girl quickly stands up. (TL Note : She cried because she already promised.) For now, since I will have a young body, I want . (Renya) Since Renya didnt want to waste any more time in this awkwardness, he tried to come up with something essential. O-Oh, huh ? (God) Since it seems I was a drinker, I think I will need a strong stomach and liver. (Renya) I see. Alcohol resistance and Gluttony right ? (God) (TL Note : NAOFUMI DETECTED !) (E Note: Pretty sure Ren had Gluttony butHiirenfumi?) Also, since I need to make money, I would like some sort of ability. Since its a world with magic and swords, fights are inevitable, right ? (Renya) Thats right. You need some combat ability.. (God) The girl took something like a memo out of nowhere and wrote down all of Renyas wishes.Renya thought it was strange for her to use such a thing as she couldmake a window appear out of nowhere.Following this,Renya continued. Also, I would like to try to make some things. For some reason, Im interested in black-smithing. (Renya) Fumu, fumu. Renya was a dan in Kendo in your previous life by the way. (God) Is that so ? I cant remember. (Renya) Your body should remember it though. (God) I also want to try magic. I wont be asking to be omnipotent, but I would like to excel in one area. (Renya) I see. By the way, does Renya-san prefer power or control ? (God) Of course, control. (Renya) There was once a proverb, its useless no matter how powerful one isif they didnt hit their mark. Okay, I will add that as a reference. (God) Also, I wont be asking to become the strongest at once, but I would like to be able to grow as I train. (Renya) I see. Do you have any wish regarding your look ? (God) After asking, the girl continues. Since your body isin a coffin back atEarth, Ill be creating a new body for you. Thats why. (God) I see. (Renya) I can change it up as much as you like. I can create it so that every girl will fall for you at first sight, and every boys heart would somehow skip beat near you. Leave it to me ! (God) Can I even change my gender? (Renya) Since Im creating it from scratch, yes. (God) Renya knewthat they werea guy. Even though theyhadno such memory to support them, even from their name, it was hard to think that it belonged to agirl. Renya was thinking which one would bebetter. The person them selfknew that there was no turning back with this. After thinking for a while, they decided. (E Note: Purposely used gender neutralpronouns. Cause their gender has now become undecided) Make it a male. Average looks is fineas long as its not ugly. (Renya) Ok ! The appearancewill be decent, at the level that its not repulsiveto look at. (God) (TL Note : LOL !) After writing everything in the memo, she ripped it out and began torollit up . From her small lips, she breathed onto the memo, causing ittoburnfuriously. Renya wonder why she burned a memo she had written. Then, just like when the angels faded away, a message appeared before him. INFO> : You have acquired | | | | | | | | | | | | | ! (TL Note : 棺塹؏͡ƾԡࢡұggħgmԣLoԁٳgʽKӡL޽ͻơaZȡäޤ Please help with the naming ) (E Note: With Judgement, Alternative Trans are: , , ) Whats this ? (Renya) Think of it as something like a skill in games But, now that I think of it, a 94 year-old gramps wouldnt have played games, huh.. (God) Its alright. I know that much. (Renya) Even though he didnt have any memory of playing a game, he understood the chibis analogy. Is that so ? I guess I donthave to explain it. For now, I have granted Renya-san skills that Renya-san wished for. Please remember them and use them. Also, I cant promise the skills will always be active. Ill permit you to use a hotline to me once a day. Though, please understand that I cant always answer. You should be fine if you imagine using the skill in your head. (God) Is that so ? Then, when will I leave ? (Renya) We can go as soon as you are prepared. (God) Beside the chibi, a glowing portal appeared. Renya somehow understood that he needed to enter that in order to proceed. Then, Ill be going. I wonder how many years will pass before our next meeting. (Renya) If you suck, it will be soon. If you are average, a few decades. If youre good, maybe we wont meet again. (God) I dont think immortality exists there, though. Well, if I like that world, maybe Ill spare some time to look for it. (Renya) Although I cant answer that, its probably worth searching for it. (God) Doesntthat mean it exists ?(Renya) While thinking thus, Renya continued to walk towardsthe portal before stoppingto take a glance at the chibiagain. Well, here I go. (Renya) Once again, we apologize for the trouble. We wish you a good life. (God) While saying that, the girl bowed. When Renya passed through the gate, words appearedhis head. : You have acquired ! Thus,Renya lead his second life that he didntexactly ask for.He walked towards the new world. Author Note: To preserve my writing, Ill drop things bit by bit. (E Note: Hard to translate but this is the basic message.) Chapter 4 Chapter 4: It seems that I Immediately got into Trouble Author Note: Although the setting of another world having two suns are used often...Doesn''t the idea of two light sources seem dazzling?Renya: Ah, this is one of those, isn''t it. Saying that This is truly not your original world, they provide me with a gimmick in order to make me understand it quickly and effectively. This might be one of those great things.After diving into the gate of light that appeared beside the little girl proclaiming herself as god, Renya, after practically no time lag, noticed himself standing somewhere in a forest, near a path that seemed to be well-tread on.As the sides of the road became a deep forest, one could only see trees. However, above the road, the sky was clearly visible. Renya realized that where he was underneath that blue sky was a completely different place to the 94 years that he had spent his life in. This was instantly understood as two suns emitted a blinding light as they shone.As the reality of there being two suns in the sky resulted in Renya receiving a large shock, as the color of the sky was the same blue color as the one from his memory, it simultaneously gave Renya a slight sense of relief.As the color of the sky in a different world could equally have a chance of being, say, purple, either Renya would accept the reality before his eyes, or his spirit would become abnormal. Such an unwelcomed chicken race between which of the two would occur first may have been planted.Thinking such thoughts, Renya began to survey his surroundings. Even though Renya was ignorant about tree species, he noticed that things such as the trees hue would not change so drastically with his original world.It had been determined that to some extent, Renyas common sense was still valid. Learning such was something significant for Renya.Although his memory had been cleanly and refreshingly initialized, the experience ingrained into his body and his common sense was not so easily discarded.On his body were short, clean white clothes and pants as well as modest shoes. He noticed that he was not wearing any kind of armaments.Speaking of which, I didn''t check how dangerous the designated world was.While he thought thus, Renya contemplated whether it was quite dangerous for him to remain in his current attire in the middle of the woods. As he wondered thus, the word Inventory appeared before him.As his line of sight selected it, a semi-transparent window, similar to the one with the world map shown to him by the little girl, opened before Renyas eyes.The window was partitioned by 15 squares both horizontally and vertically. Within the mass, images that resembled small icons were being displayed.Among them, Renya touched a money-like icon with his fingertip, causing information to flow into his head.Currency: 10 Gold CoinsIt appeared to be as it seemed. It was money.He somehow understood that this was a parting gift from God. Wondering what the other icons contained, Renya continued to check through each of them one by one.Cycling through his inventory window, Renya discovered that he had 10 gold coins, 12 packages of portable food, 6 Basic Wound Medication, 3 rolls of bandages, 1 Shinai(1), 1 set of leather armor, and 1 canteen which he could fill with water.Although I can understand the leather armor, why a Shinai?Wondering thus, Renya touched the icon, causing the description to flow into his head.Shinai: Grade 10 Artifact | Indestructible AttributeWondering what in the world an artifact was, Renya tilted his neck.An answer immediately came.INFO: Help Initiated. An Artifact is a lost handicraft. It refers to something whose quality cannot be intentionally created by the hand of man. All artifacts have their classification become Grade 10Renya admired his body as it had become so convenient.Apparently, such a mere Shinai boasted performance that would make it seem as if belonged to the realm of the gods.Wondering whether the leather armor was the same, he tried to touch it.Leather Armor: Grade 2 | Commercially AvailableAs far as he could tell, this was a very ordinary item.It would''ve been nice if it had the indestructible attribute. Then Id be invincible.As Renya thought thus disappointedly, he lightly double tapped the inventory icon. As the item retrieval dialogue box emerged, Renya unhesitatingly chose the two equipment items.As the Leather Armor icon disappeared from the inventory, Renyas body slightly began to glow.When the light settled, armor that protected the body appeared above his clothes. In addition, gloves that covered his arm from his elbow to his wrists were equipped onto Renyas body.This seems to be a set.Although Renya was dissatisfied due to his head and lower being unprotected, he convinced himself that, since it was something given to him, he could not expect too much as he began to equip the Shinai.There was no spin on this one. This was without a doubt the Shinai that existed in Renyas knowledge.It was 3 foot 8 inches(2)long, this length being referred to as Sanpachi. Although it was a size that was usually used by large people, the Shinai was considerably longer than average. Even so, it was light and could be swung around easily enough. Renya thought that it would probably be more useful if it was longer.Even so, as Renya held it, he felt unsatisfied with the explanation for some reason. Following this, another message flowed into his head.INFO: Help Initiated. Although I was supposed to give you a bladed weapon, as the weapons attributes were all Grade 10, the Angels rejected every single one. As you had experience with Kendo when you were alive, I thought youd skilled at it, thus it was decided that the Shinai is something that would be passed to you. From God Rather than a Help function, isn''t this just a normal mail?(3)Although Renya suspected thus, after reading it again, he somehow consented that it was a description due to the wording.In the first place, the question of why there was a Shinai in the kingdom of God still remained.As Renya knew he would not receive an answer right away, he pushed it out of his mind. In exchange, his mind plunged into the matter of what he should do from now.The Little Girl, that is to say God, gave him a request, which he was supposed to fulfill as he was sent to this time in another world.Although he wasn''t sure why, he was apparently granted a body in order to leisurely spend about a few decades wandering around, spreading things that would become resources in order to clear his mission.As such, it was necessary for him to gather important items in order for him to live the next several decades as fun and as carefree as possible.Renya: First things first, unless I find some human habitat, I wont be able to get started.Although he was shown a map of the world before he was sent, Renya was forcibly sent to this location. The person in question had no idea where he was. For the time being, however, as there was a road, Renya determined that no matter which way he followed it, he would undoubtedly be lead to civilization if he single-mindedly advanced.If there was a problem, it would be the point of which way should he advance in order to reach civilization sooner.Looking at his inventory, even if Renya minimized his consumption, he believed that he would barely last a few days.Above all, as his water supply was only one bottle, it was quite severe.If he restricted this water for drinking only, then he would be unable to use the water for other purposes. For example, there would be no water for him to wash his hands and face or wipe his body.For Renya who was inherently Japanese, this was an extremely dire predicament.Renya: I guess theres no choice but to put up with it. I kinda wanted to be dropped in a more convenient place. Shes completely thoughtless, the Loli bitch...It was probable that he was dropped down in a remote location due to concerns about witnesses. Although this was easily imaginable, Renya still couldn''t stop curses coming out of his mouth.After cursing at the little girl for a while, Renya decided that it couldn''t be helped as he regained self control. Following this, he picked up an appropriate twig on the ground and stood it upright on the road.Renya: Ill entrust it Bootaoshi(4), although this is a pretty overused saying, huh.As he would be walking in the direction the stick fell in, his fate would be decided by the gods.However, as Renya had just recently witnessed the little girl that claimed to be god, he suddenly became very reluctant to hand his fate over to said gods as he began to reconsider his actions.Renya: Now then, I wonder which way it will fall.As Renya tried to remove his hand from the stick, it happened.Within the silence of the surroundings, Renyas ears captured the faint voices of people.While he braced himself, he turned towards the sound. The stick that his hand released fell in the opposite direction that Renya was facing.It was the road that Renya had chosen. Between the two, the result was that he was to go in the opposite direction of the voices.Renya: What are the chances(5)If he were to act upon his initial decision, he would begin to walk in the direction that the stick had fallen in.Yet, the sound that Renyas ears caught was almost undoubtedly the scream of people.Although heading to see what had happened would not cause him to lose much time, Renya still hesitated.The fact that he heard screams meant that there was trouble in that direction.If he were to ignore this completely and walk off in the other direction, Renya thought that this would be synonymous with running away.However, as Renya had just came to this world, he did not have any sort of relationships. He had no reason, nor duty to take action in response to such screams.Even so, after a short while, Renya started to run towards the direction the scream was raised.If asked why he took such action, even Renya himself had no answer. However, should he be forced to give an explanation, rather than it being a question of good and bad, it was because the scream was proof that someone was thereIf there was someone there, he would be able to ask them for directions to the nearest city.If worst comes to worst, he would just shut his eyes to what had occurred at that spot.As he thought to this extent, Renya decided to head towards the direction of the voice.Upon his decision, the time for him to transfer his intention into action was quite fast.As he armed his Shinai in his left hand, Renya took off with light feet as he focused his eyes.Regardless of him having no memory, and regardless of his body being rejuvenated thanks to the little girl, Renya was a soul that was largely content with his death at the age of 94.From the remaining information implanted somewhere in his memory, Renya was told that he has never run so lightly and quickly in his lifetime.Even being able to experience this, Renya contemplated whether or not there was some meaning in answering Gods request.As he was thankful towards his body that did not run out of breath, Renya ran as he was able to immediately discern the current situation that caused the scream he had heard.Upon viewing the scene from a long distance, he saw several men with dark skin in leather armor. He saw a woman with blonde hair wearing a priests(6)outfit. Behind said woman was a female protecting her back while brandishing a long sword. The female had long black hair, done up in a ponytail. She also had metal plates covering key body parts. The female was dressed in an attire referred to as partial armor(7).Upon seeing the situation, Renya revised his thoughts immediately.This is not a scene where I can just avert my eyes. If he were to truthfully state it, he could not remain on the sidelines when faced with such a situation. Of course, Renya didn''t voice this.Who cares about them?Such thoughts crossed Renyas mind. At such a rarely seen situation, no one would be in a position to blame him if he were to carefully observe. Such thoughts naturally came to him.As Renya himself had died at age 94, he thought that it would be alright to just walk between life and death just a little longer.The figure of Renya approaching at a considerable velocity seemed to be immediately noticed by the people on the site.Although the surrounding men grew slightly wary, their expressions immediately became slack as they scoffed.The surrounded women had slightly smiled, yet, their expressions immediately turned to those of disappointment.Although Renya headed towards the site, it suddenly turned into a pity-fest for Renya. However, as it was too late to change direction, Renya continued running.Renya could understand their expressions to some extent.Concerning the men, they were vigilant for a moment as they thought their enemies may have increased. Yet, upon seeing Renya, they soon determined that he was not enough of a threat.On the other hand, the women saw a sign of help. However, upon seeing Renya, they presumed that the chance of them being saved was low.As he was in poor leather armor and held a sword made of bamboo, Renya comforted himself by saying that such thoughts were unavoidable.Renya noticed that there were more pressing issues than such a thing. He came to a halt a short distance from the men and women, lightly clearing his throat as he raised his voice.Renya: E-e~to(8). Can this be resolved by discussion, huh?Man in Black (Armor): What dya want? Dressed like that, are ya a fugitive soldier that fled from the battlefield?To Renya, who had spoken in a nervous voice, one of the men answered.What Renya had been worried about, was whether or not conversation in another world could be established.Among the various skills that Renya obtained from the little girl, he remembered that Another Worlds Language was one of them. Even so, he was still anxious as the fact that he had yet to actually use it remained.In the event that he couldn''t use another worlds language, as Renya did not know a single otherworldly word, it would look like he would be unable to establish conversations in this world. Thus, he spoke quite nervously. However, to his surprise, the meaning of Renyas words seemed to have reached them.This was because the words that came out of his mouth, were words that Renya had never heard before.Even so, as he was able to learn and use the language, he was able to discern and understand what the other person was saying.In contrast, as Renya attempted to pronounce words from his previous world, he was surprised as he realized they wouldn''t come out of his mouth.It seems that this effect was most likely caused by the skill Another Worlds Language.Whether this was convenient or not, Renya could not properly judge at this time. Yet, for the time being, as he did not have to concern himself with his word use, he felt that this was a good result.Man: Oi(9), the hell? Shutting up like that, did ya wet your pants?Renya had silently sank into deep thought after he had burst in with tremendous momentum. The men, determining that Renya had become intimidated by the surrounding situation, all raised rowdy laughter.Renya: Ah~, well~, about that. Wait a bit.Not giving a damn about such laughter, Renya began to observe the women who were surrounded.Both were women of peerless beauty that would never be seen in his original world.The woman in the priest outfit had gently wavy hair with large, green eyes that emitted a slightly droopy feeling.What covered her whole body was an outfit based on black, very similar to the clothing worn by those with the occupation of Sisters in Renyas original world. However, as the clothes had no adornments, it felt like gentlemens desires were stuffed into it. The expression of hour-glass body(10)came straight to mind when looking at her body, and the interior of the clothes seemed to strain the body as it was quite tight.No matter how you look at that, isn''t it about one or two sizes off?Renya couldn''t help but think as such.The woman who protected the sister from behind was also a beauty.Her sharp eyes were slightly angled with black pupils. She wore her jet black, long hair on a high position atop of her head.Compared to the figure of the beauty behind her, she was inferior in terms of volume. Yet, she possessed features that richly stood out, even if a bit rough. She wore a something similar to a red hakama(11)with a black shirt. She was also dressed in iron-like shoulder pads and chest armor, along with her gloves.His line of sight shifted towards the men.However, Renya immediately stopped observing.Looking at these men is boring.Renya muttered thus under his breath. Either way, the men uniformly had dark skin and, although they had a better build compared to Renya, he confirmed that they only equipped leather armor similar to his own.Yet, oddly enough, Renya did not feel that they were armed.All of them were barehanded.Although theyre six of them, wouldn''t the armed, black-haired woman be able to do something about this?Although Renya had thought thus, the following words from the woman served to deepen Renyas concerns.Hakama Woman: I dont know who you are, but run away! These guys are uncontrollable!Renya: Eh, is that so?Hakama Woman: These guys are soldiers of the Mercenary Kingdom! Dont worry about us! Run away!Although such an explanation obviously made sense to the woman, as Renya had no grasp on this worlds common sense, he could not follow such reasoning at all.Man: Oi, you. Were busy. As thered be no meaning in taking those pitiful clothes off your back, if you just turn around now, Ill pretend you were never here.Renya: Nn~(12), although thatd be fine, do you really think that Id be such a person whod just turn away from here right now?To help complete strangers without understanding their circumstances. Although it seemed that he resembled a protagonist from a story, Renya thought that this conduct was more synonymous with a dim-witted Hero.Renya: Ah~, right. I guess you guysd be fools with lewd minds.Man: The hells this guy saying? Youre jealous so youre trying to mingle? If you want, Ill give you a shot?As the men frivolously laughed, the women averted their gaze.Itd be a pain if they looked over this way.As Renya thought such, he spoke the fatal words towards the men.Renya: What do you think you can do with such broken rods? Wont they break the moment you touch them?(13)Man: Ah!?Oh dear, what should I do?Renyas previous expression that seemed to express thus, completely changed as it was replaced with a shade of murderous intent.Although Renya would claim that he spoke such words on impulse, in actuality, he emitted those words as they had uttered something that he could not forgive.Man: I dare you to say that again!Renya: Whats your problem? Wouldn''t such pitiful rods break after a single touch?Suddenly, Renyas voice had chilled. Although the men dominated him in numbers, Renya simply repeated the words he had previously spoken.Renya gripped his Shinai in silence as he pointed it towards the man.Man: The hells this, you bastard!?Renya: Ill let grab it. Ill thoroughly beat you to a pulp afterwards so prepare yourself.As Renya fired of those words coldly, the men answered in laughter.Man: Are you a fucking idiot!? As if that stick would be a match for us!? And you said that youll let us grab it? Do you really think you can beat us up after were done with you?(Another) Man: Has this guy lost it?Man: Being stupid is amusing! Alright, Ill grab it so start regretting your stupidity.The man the tip of the Shinai was pointing to clasped it casually with his right hand.Man: There you go, I grabbed it!Perhaps the man was going to forcefully pull the Shinai he was holding in order to launch an attack on Renya.However, Renyas actions exceeded the mans expectations.The moment the Shinai was grasped, Renya quickly twisted the handle with both hands.In the first place, the handle of the Shinai is thicker than its tip.Renya and the man were holding the thick and thin side of the Shinai respectively. Even if both sides exerted force strongly onto the Shinai, it was natural that the advantage would belong to the one of the thicker side.As long as there was no compelling difference in force, the Shinai would continue to rotate.As the Shinai began to rotate within the mans hand, Renya immediately pulled it backwards.What Renya had performed was simply twisting and pulling the Shinai at the same time. However, that was enough to be able to rip the Shinai from the mans grasp.Man: Eh?It was likely that the man had considerable confidence in his strength.Yet, as he had the Shinai easily taken away from him, he could not comprehend the spectacle that had occurred before his eyes.Renya was not such a kind person as to wait for the mans understanding to catch up with reality.As he withdrew the Shinai, Renya sharply and thoroughly thrust the Shinai towards the mans throat.The tip of the Shinai rushed forward as it possessed the weight force of one person. As the man stood stunned, the Shinai pierced the mans throat, sending him flying backwards.As the surrounding onlookers could only stare without comprehending what had just occurred, Renya remained wary as he poised his stance. His low voice resonated.Renya: This is a sword, not a stick. It doesn''t matter what its made out of.Man: Bastard, this...The man who kept calling Renya bastard was clutching his stomach and choking on his drool while rolling on the ground.They had not understood at all.The fact was, they were within Renyas killing range.Renya rushed towards the remaining, immobile men that were taken aback.As he counterattacked, Renyas Shinai tore through space at a speed that did not even give them a chance to defend. Between the eyebrows, the throat, the solar plexus, the bottom of the nose. As he pierced these vital points cleanly and quickly, it did not take much time for all of the mens eyes to be covered in white.Renya: Im not sure if you can even hear me now.As he maintained unrelaxed alertness, Renya spoke as he placed the Shinai neatly on his left hip.Renya: Even though it looks like this, it is a weapon. This has the proper capabilities to kill. The reason the thrust techniques is prohibited up until a certain age is not just for show.Whether it was in fencing or Kendo, the move possessing the most killing power is the thrust technique.Even though Japanese swords would have their sharpness grow dull after slicing several people, the thrust was so powerful that it could kill dozens of people without its power falling.Even if such power was translated to a Shinai, it still had the hidden potential to kill a man during a match.Renya: For the most part, I was wondering how you guys were gonna try and hit me but, to think there were actually idiots who would fight barehanded against someone with a light, non-bladed weapon. Before belittling people, you guys would be better off if you just thought a little.As Renya thought they would not hear him, he spat out these words.Renyas thrusts were not of the average technique. As he thrust, he slightly twisted the Shinai, increasing the feeling of penetration force.In addition, although Renya was unaware, he was targeting vital points of the opponent that were capable of being destroyed. When hit with the Shinai, which possessed the indestructible attribute, no matter how much the opponent trained, it would be worthless as the Shinai possessed the power to unilaterally destroy anything that was breakable.I wonder how many died?As Renya noticed he might have committed the act of murder, he noticed that his feelings were completely undisturbed.Renya: ...I might just wither up in a place like this.Without even batting an eye, Renya overlooked the six men. Renya simply shrugged his shoulders as he thought his way of thinking was amusing.Author Note:The paragraph about the Shinai was knowledge learnt a long time ago when I learned Kendo.If the tip of the Shinai had a splinter when doing this, the palm would be covered in blood...The Thrust Technique is really dangerous.Its so dangerous that one is prohibited to use it until high school.Although there are brutes that gleefully pick up the technique as soon as they become a high school student...the reality is, they use it in places without armor, though Note: (Disclaimer: I am describing the terms used above as best as I can describe them. Youre probably better off checking with Google. With that said, please dont quote me as I am not a professional.) ^Shinai:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinai^TL Note: Why? I use the metric system so why are you doing this to me? Doesnt Japan use the metric system?^TL Note: Mail here is in katakana. This use of mail in Japanese often denotes an email or text message. I left it as is because the others dont really fit the context well (not that mail does either).^Baotaoshi: Literally meansPole Collapse.^TL Note: The phrase used here isYori ni mo yotte| ˤä.^TL Note: This is misleading. The Japanese used for Priest Clothes isSofuku| ɮ.^TL Note: Literally Partitioned Armor | z. Any better translations are welcome.^Eto: Um^Oi: Hey^TL Note: The Phrase used here isbonkyubon| ܤ󤭤ܤ.^Hakama:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakama^Nn: Hmm^TL Note: No. You are not misreading it. He is actually talking about the subject of their performance. Chapter 4: It seems that I Immediately got into Trouble Author Note: Although the setting of another world having two suns are used often...Doesn''t the idea of two light sources seem dazzling?Renya: Ah, this is one of those, isn''t it. Saying that This is truly not your original world, they provide me with a gimmick in order to make me understand it quickly and effectively. This might be one of those great things.After diving into the gate of light that appeared beside the little girl proclaiming herself as god, Renya, after practically no time lag, noticed himself standing somewhere in a forest, near a path that seemed to be well-tread on.As the sides of the road became a deep forest, one could only see trees. However, above the road, the sky was clearly visible. Renya realized that where he was underneath that blue sky was a completely different place to the 94 years that he had spent his life in. This was instantly understood as two suns emitted a blinding light as they shone.As the reality of there being two suns in the sky resulted in Renya receiving a large shock, as the color of the sky was the same blue color as the one from his memory, it simultaneously gave Renya a slight sense of relief.As the color of the sky in a different world could equally have a chance of being, say, purple, either Renya would accept the reality before his eyes, or his spirit would become abnormal. Such an unwelcomed chicken race between which of the two would occur first may have been planted.Thinking such thoughts, Renya began to survey his surroundings. Even though Renya was ignorant about tree species, he noticed that things such as the trees hue would not change so drastically with his original world.It had been determined that to some extent, Renyas common sense was still valid. Learning such was something significant for Renya.Although his memory had been cleanly and refreshingly initialized, the experience ingrained into his body and his common sense was not so easily discarded.On his body were short, clean white clothes and pants as well as modest shoes. He noticed that he was not wearing any kind of armaments.Speaking of which, I didn''t check how dangerous the designated world was.While he thought thus, Renya contemplated whether it was quite dangerous for him to remain in his current attire in the middle of the woods. As he wondered thus, the word Inventory appeared before him.As his line of sight selected it, a semi-transparent window, similar to the one with the world map shown to him by the little girl, opened before Renyas eyes.The window was partitioned by 15 squares both horizontally and vertically. Within the mass, images that resembled small icons were being displayed.Among them, Renya touched a money-like icon with his fingertip, causing information to flow into his head.Currency: 10 Gold CoinsIt appeared to be as it seemed. It was money.He somehow understood that this was a parting gift from God. Wondering what the other icons contained, Renya continued to check through each of them one by one.Cycling through his inventory window, Renya discovered that he had 10 gold coins, 12 packages of portable food, 6 Basic Wound Medication, 3 rolls of bandages, 1 Shinai(1), 1 set of leather armor, and 1 canteen which he could fill with water.Although I can understand the leather armor, why a Shinai?Wondering thus, Renya touched the icon, causing the description to flow into his head.Shinai: Grade 10 Artifact | Indestructible AttributeWondering what in the world an artifact was, Renya tilted his neck.An answer immediately came.INFO: Help Initiated. An Artifact is a lost handicraft. It refers to something whose quality cannot be intentionally created by the hand of man. All artifacts have their classification become Grade 10Renya admired his body as it had become so convenient.Apparently, such a mere Shinai boasted performance that would make it seem as if belonged to the realm of the gods.Wondering whether the leather armor was the same, he tried to touch it.Leather Armor: Grade 2 | Commercially AvailableAs far as he could tell, this was a very ordinary item.It would''ve been nice if it had the indestructible attribute. Then Id be invincible.As Renya thought thus disappointedly, he lightly double tapped the inventory icon. As the item retrieval dialogue box emerged, Renya unhesitatingly chose the two equipment items.As the Leather Armor icon disappeared from the inventory, Renyas body slightly began to glow.When the light settled, armor that protected the body appeared above his clothes. In addition, gloves that covered his arm from his elbow to his wrists were equipped onto Renyas body.This seems to be a set.Although Renya was dissatisfied due to his head and lower being unprotected, he convinced himself that, since it was something given to him, he could not expect too much as he began to equip the Shinai.There was no spin on this one. This was without a doubt the Shinai that existed in Renyas knowledge.It was 3 foot 8 inches(2)long, this length being referred to as Sanpachi. Although it was a size that was usually used by large people, the Shinai was considerably longer than average. Even so, it was light and could be swung around easily enough. Renya thought that it would probably be more useful if it was longer.Even so, as Renya held it, he felt unsatisfied with the explanation for some reason. Following this, another message flowed into his head.INFO: Help Initiated. Although I was supposed to give you a bladed weapon, as the weapons attributes were all Grade 10, the Angels rejected every single one. As you had experience with Kendo when you were alive, I thought youd skilled at it, thus it was decided that the Shinai is something that would be passed to you. From God Rather than a Help function, isn''t this just a normal mail?(3)Although Renya suspected thus, after reading it again, he somehow consented that it was a description due to the wording.In the first place, the question of why there was a Shinai in the kingdom of God still remained.As Renya knew he would not receive an answer right away, he pushed it out of his mind. In exchange, his mind plunged into the matter of what he should do from now.The Little Girl, that is to say God, gave him a request, which he was supposed to fulfill as he was sent to this time in another world.Although he wasn''t sure why, he was apparently granted a body in order to leisurely spend about a few decades wandering around, spreading things that would become resources in order to clear his mission.As such, it was necessary for him to gather important items in order for him to live the next several decades as fun and as carefree as possible.Renya: First things first, unless I find some human habitat, I wont be able to get started.Although he was shown a map of the world before he was sent, Renya was forcibly sent to this location. The person in question had no idea where he was. For the time being, however, as there was a road, Renya determined that no matter which way he followed it, he would undoubtedly be lead to civilization if he single-mindedly advanced.If there was a problem, it would be the point of which way should he advance in order to reach civilization sooner.Looking at his inventory, even if Renya minimized his consumption, he believed that he would barely last a few days.Above all, as his water supply was only one bottle, it was quite severe.If he restricted this water for drinking only, then he would be unable to use the water for other purposes. For example, there would be no water for him to wash his hands and face or wipe his body.For Renya who was inherently Japanese, this was an extremely dire predicament.Renya: I guess theres no choice but to put up with it. I kinda wanted to be dropped in a more convenient place. Shes completely thoughtless, the Loli bitch...It was probable that he was dropped down in a remote location due to concerns about witnesses. Although this was easily imaginable, Renya still couldn''t stop curses coming out of his mouth.After cursing at the little girl for a while, Renya decided that it couldn''t be helped as he regained self control. Following this, he picked up an appropriate twig on the ground and stood it upright on the road.Renya: Ill entrust it Bootaoshi(4), although this is a pretty overused saying, huh.As he would be walking in the direction the stick fell in, his fate would be decided by the gods.However, as Renya had just recently witnessed the little girl that claimed to be god, he suddenly became very reluctant to hand his fate over to said gods as he began to reconsider his actions.Renya: Now then, I wonder which way it will fall.As Renya tried to remove his hand from the stick, it happened.Within the silence of the surroundings, Renyas ears captured the faint voices of people.While he braced himself, he turned towards the sound. The stick that his hand released fell in the opposite direction that Renya was facing.It was the road that Renya had chosen. Between the two, the result was that he was to go in the opposite direction of the voices.Renya: What are the chances(5)If he were to act upon his initial decision, he would begin to walk in the direction that the stick had fallen in.Yet, the sound that Renyas ears caught was almost undoubtedly the scream of people.Although heading to see what had happened would not cause him to lose much time, Renya still hesitated.The fact that he heard screams meant that there was trouble in that direction.If he were to ignore this completely and walk off in the other direction, Renya thought that this would be synonymous with running away.However, as Renya had just came to this world, he did not have any sort of relationships. He had no reason, nor duty to take action in response to such screams.Even so, after a short while, Renya started to run towards the direction the scream was raised.If asked why he took such action, even Renya himself had no answer. However, should he be forced to give an explanation, rather than it being a question of good and bad, it was because the scream was proof that someone was thereIf there was someone there, he would be able to ask them for directions to the nearest city.If worst comes to worst, he would just shut his eyes to what had occurred at that spot.As he thought to this extent, Renya decided to head towards the direction of the voice.Upon his decision, the time for him to transfer his intention into action was quite fast.As he armed his Shinai in his left hand, Renya took off with light feet as he focused his eyes.Regardless of him having no memory, and regardless of his body being rejuvenated thanks to the little girl, Renya was a soul that was largely content with his death at the age of 94.From the remaining information implanted somewhere in his memory, Renya was told that he has never run so lightly and quickly in his lifetime.Even being able to experience this, Renya contemplated whether or not there was some meaning in answering Gods request.As he was thankful towards his body that did not run out of breath, Renya ran as he was able to immediately discern the current situation that caused the scream he had heard.Upon viewing the scene from a long distance, he saw several men with dark skin in leather armor. He saw a woman with blonde hair wearing a priests(6)outfit. Behind said woman was a female protecting her back while brandishing a long sword. The female had long black hair, done up in a ponytail. She also had metal plates covering key body parts. The female was dressed in an attire referred to as partial armor(7).Upon seeing the situation, Renya revised his thoughts immediately.This is not a scene where I can just avert my eyes.If he were to truthfully state it, he could not remain on the sidelines when faced with such a situation. Of course, Renya didn''t voice this.Who cares about them?Such thoughts crossed Renyas mind. At such a rarely seen situation, no one would be in a position to blame him if he were to carefully observe. Such thoughts naturally came to him.As Renya himself had died at age 94, he thought that it would be alright to just walk between life and death just a little longer.The figure of Renya approaching at a considerable velocity seemed to be immediately noticed by the people on the site.Although the surrounding men grew slightly wary, their expressions immediately became slack as they scoffed.The surrounded women had slightly smiled, yet, their expressions immediately turned to those of disappointment.Although Renya headed towards the site, it suddenly turned into a pity-fest for Renya. However, as it was too late to change direction, Renya continued running.Renya could understand their expressions to some extent.Concerning the men, they were vigilant for a moment as they thought their enemies may have increased. Yet, upon seeing Renya, they soon determined that he was not enough of a threat.On the other hand, the women saw a sign of help. However, upon seeing Renya, they presumed that the chance of them being saved was low.As he was in poor leather armor and held a sword made of bamboo, Renya comforted himself by saying that such thoughts were unavoidable.Renya noticed that there were more pressing issues than such a thing. He came to a halt a short distance from the men and women, lightly clearing his throat as he raised his voice.Renya: E-e~to(8). Can this be resolved by discussion, huh?Man in Black (Armor): What dya want? Dressed like that, are ya a fugitive soldier that fled from the battlefield?To Renya, who had spoken in a nervous voice, one of the men answered.What Renya had been worried about, was whether or not conversation in another world could be established.Among the various skills that Renya obtained from the little girl, he remembered that Another Worlds Language was one of them. Even so, he was still anxious as the fact that he had yet to actually use it remained.In the event that he couldn''t use another worlds language, as Renya did not know a single otherworldly word, it would look like he would be unable to establish conversations in this world. Thus, he spoke quite nervously. However, to his surprise, the meaning of Renyas words seemed to have reached them.This was because the words that came out of his mouth, were words that Renya had never heard before.Even so, as he was able to learn and use the language, he was able to discern and understand what the other person was saying.In contrast, as Renya attempted to pronounce words from his previous world, he was surprised as he realized they wouldn''t come out of his mouth.It seems that this effect was most likely caused by the skill Another Worlds Language.Whether this was convenient or not, Renya could not properly judge at this time. Yet, for the time being, as he did not have to concern himself with his word use, he felt that this was a good result.Man: Oi(9), the hell? Shutting up like that, did ya wet your pants?Renya had silently sank into deep thought after he had burst in with tremendous momentum. The men, determining that Renya had become intimidated by the surrounding situation, all raised rowdy laughter.Renya: Ah~, well~, about that. Wait a bit.Not giving a damn about such laughter, Renya began to observe the women who were surrounded.Both were women of peerless beauty that would never be seen in his original world.The woman in the priest outfit had gently wavy hair with large, green eyes that emitted a slightly droopy feeling.What covered her whole body was an outfit based on black, very similar to the clothing worn by those with the occupation of Sisters in Renyas original world. However, as the clothes had no adornments, it felt like gentlemens desires were stuffed into it. The expression of hour-glass body(10)came straight to mind when looking at her body, and the interior of the clothes seemed to strain the body as it was quite tight.No matter how you look at that, isn''t it about one or two sizes off?Renya couldn''t help but think as such.The woman who protected the sister from behind was also a beauty.Her sharp eyes were slightly angled with black pupils. She wore her jet black, long hair on a high position atop of her head.Compared to the figure of the beauty behind her, she was inferior in terms of volume. Yet, she possessed features that richly stood out, even if a bit rough. She wore a something similar to a red hakama(11)with a black shirt. She was also dressed in iron-like shoulder pads and chest armor, along with her gloves.His line of sight shifted towards the men.However, Renya immediately stopped observing.Looking at these men is boring.Renya muttered thus under his breath. Either way, the men uniformly had dark skin and, although they had a better build compared to Renya, he confirmed that they only equipped leather armor similar to his own.Yet, oddly enough, Renya did not feel that they were armed.All of them were barehanded.Although theyre six of them, wouldn''t the armed, black-haired woman be able to do something about this?Although Renya had thought thus, the following words from the woman served to deepen Renyas concerns.Hakama Woman: I dont know who you are, but run away! These guys are uncontrollable!Renya: Eh, is that so?Hakama Woman: These guys are soldiers of the Mercenary Kingdom! Dont worry about us! Run away!Although such an explanation obviously made sense to the woman, as Renya had no grasp on this worlds common sense, he could not follow such reasoning at all.Man: Oi, you. Were busy. As thered be no meaning in taking those pitiful clothes off your back, if you just turn around now, Ill pretend you were never here.Renya: Nn~(12), although thatd be fine, do you really think that Id be such a person whod just turn away from here right now?To help complete strangers without understanding their circumstances. Although it seemed that he resembled a protagonist from a story, Renya thought that this conduct was more synonymous with a dim-witted Hero.Renya: Ah~, right. I guess you guysd be fools with lewd minds.Man: The hells this guy saying? Youre jealous so youre trying to mingle? If you want, Ill give you a shot?As the men frivolously laughed, the women averted their gaze.Itd be a pain if they looked over this way.As Renya thought such, he spoke the fatal words towards the men.Renya: What do you think you can do with such broken rods? Wont they break the moment you touch them?(13)Man: Ah!?Oh dear, what should I do?Renyas previous expression that seemed to express thus, completely changed as it was replaced with a shade of murderous intent.Although Renya would claim that he spoke such words on impulse, in actuality, he emitted those words as they had uttered something that he could not forgive.Man: I dare you to say that again!Renya: Whats your problem? Wouldn''t such pitiful rods break after a single touch?Suddenly, Renyas voice had chilled. Although the men dominated him in numbers, Renya simply repeated the words he had previously spoken.Renya gripped his Shinai in silence as he pointed it towards the man.Man: The hells this, you bastard!?Renya: Ill let grab it. Ill thoroughly beat you to a pulp afterwards so prepare yourself.As Renya fired of those words coldly, the men answered in laughter.Man: Are you a fucking idiot!? As if that stick would be a match for us!? And you said that youll let us grab it? Do you really think you can beat us up after were done with you?(Another) Man: Has this guy lost it?Man: Being stupid is amusing! Alright, Ill grab it so start regretting your stupidity.The man the tip of the Shinai was pointing to clasped it casually with his right hand.Man: There you go, I grabbed it!Perhaps the man was going to forcefully pull the Shinai he was holding in order to launch an attack on Renya.However, Renyas actions exceeded the mans expectations.The moment the Shinai was grasped, Renya quickly twisted the handle with both hands.In the first place, the handle of the Shinai is thicker than its tip.Renya and the man were holding the thick and thin side of the Shinai respectively. Even if both sides exerted force strongly onto the Shinai, it was natural that the advantage would belong to the one of the thicker side.As long as there was no compelling difference in force, the Shinai would continue to rotate.As the Shinai began to rotate within the mans hand, Renya immediately pulled it backwards.What Renya had performed was simply twisting and pulling the Shinai at the same time. However, that was enough to be able to rip the Shinai from the mans grasp.Man: Eh?It was likely that the man had considerable confidence in his strength.Yet, as he had the Shinai easily taken away from him, he could not comprehend the spectacle that had occurred before his eyes.Renya was not such a kind person as to wait for the mans understanding to catch up with reality.As he withdrew the Shinai, Renya sharply and thoroughly thrust the Shinai towards the mans throat.The tip of the Shinai rushed forward as it possessed the weight force of one person. As the man stood stunned, the Shinai pierced the mans throat, sending him flying backwards.As the surrounding onlookers could only stare without comprehending what had just occurred, Renya remained wary as he poised his stance. His low voice resonated.Renya: This is a sword, not a stick. It doesn''t matter what its made out of.Man: Bastard, this...The man who kept calling Renya bastard was clutching his stomach and choking on his drool while rolling on the ground.They had not understood at all.The fact was, they were within Renyas killing range.Renya rushed towards the remaining, immobile men that were taken aback.As he counterattacked, Renyas Shinai tore through space at a speed that did not even give them a chance to defend. Between the eyebrows, the throat, the solar plexus, the bottom of the nose. As he pierced these vital points cleanly and quickly, it did not take much time for all of the mens eyes to be covered in white.Renya: Im not sure if you can even hear me now.As he maintained unrelaxed alertness, Renya spoke as he placed the Shinai neatly on his left hip.Renya: Even though it looks like this, it is a weapon. This has the proper capabilities to kill. The reason the thrust techniques is prohibited up until a certain age is not just for show.Whether it was in fencing or Kendo, the move possessing the most killing power is the thrust technique.Even though Japanese swords would have their sharpness grow dull after slicing several people, the thrust was so powerful that it could kill dozens of people without its power falling.Even if such power was translated to a Shinai, it still had the hidden potential to kill a man during a match.Renya: For the most part, I was wondering how you guys were gonna try and hit me but, to think there were actually idiots who would fight barehanded against someone with a light, non-bladed weapon. Before belittling people, you guys would be better off if you just thought a little.As Renya thought they would not hear him, he spat out these words.Renyas thrusts were not of the average technique. As he thrust, he slightly twisted the Shinai, increasing the feeling of penetration force.In addition, although Renya was unaware, he was targeting vital points of the opponent that were capable of being destroyed. When hit with the Shinai, which possessed the indestructible attribute, no matter how much the opponent trained, it would be worthless as the Shinai possessed the power to unilaterally destroy anything that was breakable.I wonder how many died?As Renya noticed he might have committed the act of murder, he noticed that his feelings were completely undisturbed.Renya: ...I might just wither up in a place like this.Without even batting an eye, Renya overlooked the six men. Renya simply shrugged his shoulders as he thought his way of thinking was amusing.Author Note:The paragraph about the Shinai was knowledge learnt a long time ago when I learned Kendo.If the tip of the Shinai had a splinter when doing this, the palm would be covered in blood...The Thrust Technique is really dangerous.Its so dangerous that one is prohibited to use it until high school.Although there are brutes that gleefully pick up the technique as soon as they become a high school student...the reality is, they use it in places without armor, though Note: (Disclaimer: I am describing the terms used above as best as I can describe them. Youre probably better off checking with Google. With that said, please dont quote me as I am not a professional.) ^Shinai:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinai^TL Note: Why? I use the metric system so why are you doing this to me? Doesnt Japan use the metric system?^TL Note: Mail here is in katakana. This use of mail in Japanese often denotes an email or text message. I left it as is because the others dont really fit the context well (not that mail does either).^Baotaoshi: Literally meansPole Collapse.^TL Note: The phrase used here isYori ni mo yotte| ˤä.^TL Note: This is misleading. The Japanese used for Priest Clothes isSofuku| ɮ.^TL Note: Literally Partitioned Armor | z. Any better translations are welcome.^Eto: Um^Oi: Hey^TL Note: The Phrase used here isbonkyubon| ܤ󤭤ܤ.^Hakama:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakama^Nn: Hmm^TL Note: No. You are not misreading it. He is actually talking about the subject of their performance. Chapter 5 Renya again investigates the defeated men in the surroundings. It would be troublesome if they were pretending to be dead and retaliated while he was distracted, but the fallen men had their consciousness completely stolen. As such, there was no indication that the men wouldbe waking up any time soon. The first and the middle two men, whose throats he had hit, had the bones in their neck broken and the necks cut, although Reyna did not feel guilty, because he was somewhat in a rush. I wonder if there is a concept of something like a legitimate defense in this world? Ano* Upon hearing this voice, he turned around to see the priestess coming closer together with the armored woman. Upon a closer look, it looked likethe two people would be best described as beautiful girls rather than beautiful women, according to their ages. In comparison to the girl wearing armor, who gave off an air*of outright caution, the girl wearing priests clothes showed her sincerity by bowing deeply to Renya. Thank you for saving us. Well it might have been unnecessary, says Renya, as he lookedtowards the girl wearing armor. When I jumped in to help, from the fact that I was told to run away, it might have been possible that in that situation that girl alone might have been able to do something. The unruly words said by these guys had been missing the subject, that mine and yours will greatly vary the story.[Ĥ֤ؓʤȤ~ˤZiƤ˽ΡȡǰΡȤǤϴԒäƤ] (E: Neither of us really know what to do with this sentence.) Did she guessRenyas thoughts? Nevertheless, remaining cautious, the girl wearing armor did so only lightly, but still bowed her head. I am thankful for your help, I am afraid that I alone would not have been able to do anything. Even if there were 6 guys, these guys were barehanded, you know. All of the enemies had been defeated in a completely one-sided battle, hence Renya posed such a question. The girl wearing armor looked slightly surprised and answered with a smile. Do you not know about the soldiers of the Mercenary Kingdom? These guys are experts in fighting with bare hands. They can defeat armed soldiers and experts in grappling. It does not seem like it.While thinking this, Renya drops his gaze towards the fallen men. Certainly, the body had been fairly disciplined, but you would not think that they would have been able to fight equally with properly trained and armed soldiers. But, if the residents of this world think so, perhaps they have some means to fight. I wonder. A challenging expert barehanded solider.Thinking this, Renya was amazed, and to a degree, the air of caution faded from the girl wearing armor. You are a somewhat strange person. It can be helped if you are cautious; I am Oh, yes, someone who you might call a wanderer. If identified as such, somehow one might be able to understand his circumstances,thought Renya while remembering what the little girl had said. The expressions on the faces of the two changed from being surprised to interested. So, a wanderer? I have heard of lost people, before but its my first time meeting one. If you are a wanderer, certainly its not unreasonable for you to not know about the mercenary kingdom. More importantly than convincing you, I am called Kunugi Renya. Relaxing his mind that the little girl did not lie, Renya gave his name to the two girls who were easily convinced with the situation. Panicking a little, the two girls lowered their heads. Sorry for the delay, I am Monk apprentice Rona Chevalier. [TN: Louiss daughter??] (E: Must make ALCOHOL JOKE) Swordsman apprentice, Zion Femme Fatale. (?ե?ե`Ԥ) Is Kunugi-dono alright with you? Uh my name is Renya, without the -dono, Renya is fine. For the time being, shall we change the location? Because four of these guys are still alive, and I have no ideawhen they will wake up. With serious faces, the two girls in an undertone were mumbling, Ren Nya? Lenya? Re re nuya? While saying these things repeatedly and attempting to pronounce his name, the two immediately nodded to Renya proposal. Thats right, lets head out towards the forest at once. What do we do with these guys. Its alright with the two dead guys, but is it alright to leave the 4 who were unconscious? Renya questioned, and Rona carelessly answered, In this forest, even if they were left for just 10 minutes, they wont have any life left. This place is the Eastern Continents Miasmatic Forests westernmost part. It is a treasure-trove of monsters, and this is still a shallow location. People do not know this, but plants that eat people also grow here. What! Thats scary,Renya thought. Was it really okay, even if hearing this from the two people who, without even glancing at the fallen men, started walking? Somehow, Renya felt intimidated knowing that they were going to die, and that one wrong move and he would be the one laying there. He pressed his hands together to pray for their souls. Wanderer Renya-san, how long has it been since you came here? While walking, I replied promptly to Rona. Only just now. So you just came here? Thats amazing, you know. Even when showered with words of admiration, Renya had no idea what was so amazing. While he thought this, he watched the backs of the people in front of him and hurried to catch up. Zion turned her head around and gave a compliment. Normally when lost people come here, its mostly out of confusion. But to defeat to defeat soldiers who had been trained in movements and such, that point is whats amazing, is what Ro is saying. Ro? People who are close to me call me as such. Rona told me while smiling.. I see; so Rona-san and Zion-san, why are you in such a place? Predictably not using the nickname, Renya inquired of Rona who had a surprised look. Ara, after listening that much, you still call me by that name. I am not so arrogant that I would call a woman I just met by her nickname or without any honorifics. Well, showing courtesy is an obvious thing to do. In contrast to Zion, who said this while nodding, Rona was somewhat disappointed. Their state is far too defenseless. Is it really alright for these girls to be so fluttery (furafura) in a place like this?worried Renya. I have never quite been called by a guy in such a manner. I do not want to die yet. Rona did not understand Renyas answer. While Rona was tilting her head Zion who was besides her was impressed, and answered. A good guess. From what Renya saw, these two people had a pretty good relationship, which could be immediately seen from the fact that Zion called Rona by her nickname. Renya went further, and deduced that Zion had a specific standing of being Ronas guardian. For a while now, the one who has done most of the talking is Rona, while Zion only sometimes pipes up. Rona tries to roughly keep the conversion onto herself. This is because Rona is less cautious, and would easily trust Renya on the basis that he had helped them, and as such didnt havea dangerous personality. Zion, on the other hand, had a strong sense of caution and was still thinking of Renya as a suspicious person, or so he thought. When thinking this way, the answer to who was the guardian and who was being protected will come naturally. If he went on with a horribly saucy attitude, most likely what would await him would be a tough blow from Zion, was what Renya thought, hence the exchange earlier happened. Both of us belong to the Adventurers Guild of the Trident Principality. We came here at the request of the guild for the investigation and suppression of the goblin settlements. Perhaps knowing that Renya was a human who understood his own standing, Zion spoke on her own. We received a report that in a village of settlers just outside the forest, the damage caused by goblins had increased. Since he was catching words he had never heard before,Renya tried to organize things in his head. It seems that Trident Principality is the name of a country somewhere, and also the place where these two people live. Renya was not quite able to imagine the said words, Adventurers Guild. According to his knowledge, a guild was where people with similar profession gathered to form a mutual aid organization. If this knowledge was applied, the organization has asked these two to work in the form of a request. He had no idea what the word goblin referred to, but he had the help function he had gotten from God, whichworked very conveniently to give him the information. The Goblin is a humanoid monster standing tall at 1m, the color of its skin is a variable shade of green. Has a very ugly appearance. Almost no hair. Although they live in groups of 20, they have no such thing as culture. Almost no females, usually breed by mating with females of other species with high fertility rate. Can mate with all humanoid species other than Elves. Are omnivores. Sometimes an individual with high Intelligence is born and maylead a population of up to 100. That said, its common knowledge for those who play games, yo. by That last line was unnecessary. The number of times I am going to hit you when we meet again has increased by 1,Renya vowed in his heart. I hope I am wrong, but a goblin is a monster that creates groups, right? That is so, their individual combat is very low, but they become troublesome when they group together. This investigation with only two people? That would be reckless,Renya thought. Moreover, if you look at its description, one would know that this monster has a downright troublesome nature to abduct females of other species. It was not a request that could be received by a party of only two females. That was what Renya thought. When he looked at them, their expressions were pale. Originally it was a party of 8. On hearing Zions answer Renya performed simple calculation 8-2=6. In other words 6 people were somewhere else. Earlier the number of men he had crushed was 6 was it a coincidence. As you might have guessed, those people earlier had received the same request. 6 people, all of whom were soldiers from a country called the Mercenary Kingdom. Renya recalled what Zion had said. In other words,from the start, the 6 people were comrades. This time, Zions group had joined them because of the request. In a dim forest away from human eyes, the people who were comrades were the men, while the two beautiful girls were not. The simple thought of doing something dirty to them was easily understood by Renya. Such misfortune. I really, really think so. At Renyas words of comfort the two nodded wholeheartedly, But looking from Renyas point of view it was not impossible to understand the thoughts of those men. If one looked closely one would find that two beautiful girls, one who was trained and had style while the other was [muchimuchi] and [purinpurin.]* (äΤפפǤ){TL note: I have no idea what English words to use here} (E: Theyre at the bottom of the doc now.) It was precisely because I was walking behind that I knew. When looking from the back it seemed like something with tremendous sense of weight was shaking, up and down, left and right with a [boing boing] effect, and of course, as a man, several hundredevil thoughts were bound to appear. But to act upon them was a different matter altogether. So, where do you plan on going? Renya said this while being careful not to look at a key area. We plan on returning to the village, which we were asked to use as our base. Actually, the place we need to return to is the Principality, but it takes two days on horse carriage to go there, and another two to return. As expected, it would be impossible for two people to subdue the goblin population.While thinking this, Renya was met withsurprising words from Zion. I ask that Renya stay at the village and wait for the next carriage. Although suppression is now impossible, we need to at least investigate. Otherwise, we would not be able to return, even if we wanted to. No! Thats too reckless. Rona was dressed in a priests grab which was not suited for quick movements. Zion wore fighting equipmentfor the time being, but it did not seem suitable to Renya for a light investigation. Although it is reckless, returning without producing results will hinder us in future. You are dead if you underestimate the adventurer profession. 6 out of 8 people were strangers. To come up with such a setting, doesnt the problem lie with the Guild? Renya tried to say this by Zion shook her head from side to side. Certainly, it was the Guildsoversight to not do a prior investigation, but I will not wait two days just to report it. If in that time the damage caused by goblins increased, the people of the village will be injured. That is certainly so. Still, their own death was like putting the cart in front of the horse. Put dying aside, if they were captured by Goblins and used in helping to increase their numbers, it would not even be a funny story,Renya thought, but looking at their determination, Renya had no choice but to give up on changing their minds. Okay then, can I help out? Renya called out, expecting that he was most likely going to be rejected, but it would leave a bad taste in his mouth if he were to abandon them, or pretend he didnt know anything. The two girls whispered to each other for a while, and then Zion asked Renya. Is it alright? We will survive,but you do not belong to the Guild, so things like a reward will not be given. Its alright. I really dont care, but in exchange, if you could teach me various things about this world, it would be very helpful. As a reward for life threating work, doesnt that soundcheap? Once again Zion had that auraof caution around her again. Just earlier, such a thing had happened. It is obvious that she would be alertwith a man travelling with them. Renya sighed. Well, its like that but Information is what people who have find cheap and minor,while people who dont have it find it to be valuable. Towards Renya, who had given such an unbelievable, reason Zion was still suspicious while Rona, laughing unceremoniously , said, Its alright, Renya-san is surely a good person. To the laughing Rona, the unsatisfied Zion said, Really! I guess I have to accept to repay the favour. Even when he got his proposal accepted, Renya thought,wanting them to trust me might be impossible,and looked up at the sky. Renya again investigates the defeated men in the surroundings. It would be troublesome if they were pretending to be dead and retaliated while he was distracted, but the fallen men had their consciousness completely stolen. As such, there was no indication that the men wouldbe waking up any time soon. The first and the middle two men, whose throats he had hit, had the bones in their neck broken and the necks cut, although Reyna did not feel guilty, because he was somewhat in a rush. I wonder if there is a concept of something like a legitimate defense in this world? Ano* Upon hearing this voice, he turned around to see the priestess coming closer together with the armored woman. Upon a closer look, it looked likethe two people would be best described as beautiful girls rather than beautiful women, according to their ages. In comparison to the girl wearing armor, who gave off an air*of outright caution, the girl wearing priests clothes showed her sincerity by bowing deeply to Renya. Thank you for saving us. Well it might have been unnecessary, says Renya, as he lookedtowards the girl wearing armor. When I jumped in to help, from the fact that I was told to run away, it might have been possible that in that situation that girl alone might have been able to do something. The unruly words said by these guys had been missing the subject, that mine and yours will greatly vary the story.[Ĥ֤ؓʤȤ~ˤZiƤ˽ΡȡǰΡȤǤϴԒäƤ] (E: Neither of us really know what to do with this sentence.) Did she guessRenyas thoughts? Nevertheless, remaining cautious, the girl wearing armor did so only lightly, but still bowed her head. I am thankful for your help, I am afraid that I alone would not have been able to do anything. Even if there were 6 guys, these guys were barehanded, you know. All of the enemies had been defeated in a completely one-sided battle, hence Renya posed such a question. The girl wearing armor looked slightly surprised and answered with a smile. Do you not know about the soldiers of the Mercenary Kingdom? These guys are experts in fighting with bare hands. They can defeat armed soldiers and experts in grappling. It does not seem like it.While thinking this, Renya drops his gaze towards the fallen men. Certainly, the body had been fairly disciplined, but you would not think that they would have been able to fight equally with properly trained and armed soldiers. But, if the residents of this world think so, perhaps they have some means to fight. I wonder. A challenging expert barehanded solider.Thinking this, Renya was amazed, and to a degree, the air of caution faded from the girl wearing armor. You are a somewhat strange person. It can be helped if you are cautious; I am Oh, yes, someone who you might call a wanderer. If identified as such, somehow one might be able to understand his circumstances,thought Renya while remembering what the little girl had said. The expressions on the faces of the two changed from being surprised to interested. So, a wanderer? I have heard of lost people, before but its my first time meeting one. If you are a wanderer, certainly its not unreasonable for you to not know about the mercenary kingdom. More importantly than convincing you, I am called Kunugi Renya. Relaxing his mind that the little girl did not lie, Renya gave his name to the two girls who were easily convinced with the situation. Panicking a little, the two girls lowered their heads. Sorry for the delay, I am Monk apprentice Rona Chevalier. [TN: Louiss daughter??] (E: Must make ALCOHOL JOKE) Swordsman apprentice, Zion Femme Fatale. (?ե?ե`Ԥ) Is Kunugi-dono alright with you? Uh my name is Renya, without the -dono, Renya is fine. For the time being, shall we change the location? Because four of these guys are still alive, and I have no ideawhen they will wake up. With serious faces, the two girls in an undertone were mumbling, Ren Nya? Lenya? Re re nuya? While saying these things repeatedly and attempting to pronounce his name, the two immediately nodded to Renya proposal. Thats right, lets head out towards the forest at once. What do we do with these guys. Its alright with the two dead guys, but is it alright to leave the 4 who were unconscious? Renya questioned, and Rona carelessly answered, In this forest, even if they were left for just 10 minutes, they wont have any life left. This place is the Eastern Continents Miasmatic Forests westernmost part. It is a treasure-trove of monsters, and this is still a shallow location. People do not know this, but plants that eat people also grow here. What! Thats scary,Renya thought. Was it really okay, even if hearing this from the two people who, without even glancing at the fallen men, started walking? Somehow, Renya felt intimidated knowing that they were going to die, and that one wrong move and he would be the one laying there. He pressed his hands together to pray for their souls. Wanderer Renya-san, how long has it been since you came here? While walking, I replied promptly to Rona. Only just now. So you just came here? Thats amazing, you know. Even when showered with words of admiration, Renya had no idea what was so amazing. While he thought this, he watched the backs of the people in front of him and hurried to catch up. Zion turned her head around and gave a compliment. Normally when lost people come here, its mostly out of confusion. But to defeat to defeat soldiers who had been trained in movements and such, that point is whats amazing, is what Ro is saying. Ro? People who are close to me call me as such. Rona told me while smiling.. I see; so Rona-san and Zion-san, why are you in such a place? Predictably not using the nickname, Renya inquired of Rona who had a surprised look. Ara, after listening that much, you still call me by that name. I am not so arrogant that I would call a woman I just met by her nickname or without any honorifics. Well, showing courtesy is an obvious thing to do. In contrast to Zion, who said this while nodding, Rona was somewhat disappointed. Their state is far too defenseless. Is it really alright for these girls to be so fluttery (furafura) in a place like this?worried Renya. I have never quite been called by a guy in such a manner. I do not want to die yet. Rona did not understand Renyas answer. While Rona was tilting her head Zion who was besides her was impressed, and answered. A good guess. From what Renya saw, these two people had a pretty good relationship, which could be immediately seen from the fact that Zion called Rona by her nickname. Renya went further, and deduced that Zion had a specific standing of being Ronas guardian. For a while now, the one who has done most of the talking is Rona, while Zion only sometimes pipes up. Rona tries to roughly keep the conversion onto herself. This is because Rona is less cautious, and would easily trust Renya on the basis that he had helped them, and as such didnt havea dangerous personality. Zion, on the other hand, had a strong sense of caution and was still thinking of Renya as a suspicious person, or so he thought. When thinking this way, the answer to who was the guardian and who was being protected will come naturally. If he went on with a horribly saucy attitude, most likely what would await him would be a tough blow from Zion, was what Renya thought, hence the exchange earlier happened. Both of us belong to the Adventurers Guild of the Trident Principality. We came here at the request of the guild for the investigation and suppression of the goblin settlements. Perhaps knowing that Renya was a human who understood his own standing, Zion spoke on her own. We received a report that in a village of settlers just outside the forest, the damage caused by goblins had increased. Since he was catching words he had never heard before,Renya tried to organize things in his head. It seems that Trident Principality is the name of a country somewhere, and also the place where these two people live. Renya was not quite able to imagine the said words, Adventurers Guild. According to his knowledge, a guild was where people with similar profession gathered to form a mutual aid organization. If this knowledge was applied, the organization has asked these two to work in the form of a request. He had no idea what the word goblin referred to, but he had the help function he had gotten from God, whichworked very conveniently to give him the information. The Goblin is a humanoid monster standing tall at 1m, the color of its skin is a variable shade of green. Has a very ugly appearance. Almost no hair. Although they live in groups of 20, they have no such thing as culture. Almost no females, usually breed by mating with females of other species with high fertility rate. Can mate with all humanoid species other than Elves. Are omnivores. Sometimes an individual with high Intelligence is born and maylead a population of up to 100. That said, its common knowledge for those who play games, yo. by That last line was unnecessary. The number of times I am going to hit you when we meet again has increased by 1,Renya vowed in his heart. I hope I am wrong, but a goblin is a monster that creates groups, right? That is so, their individual combat is very low, but they become troublesome when they group together. This investigation with only two people? That would be reckless,Renya thought. Moreover, if you look at its description, one would know that this monster has a downright troublesome nature to abduct females of other species. It was not a request that could be received by a party of only two females. That was what Renya thought. When he looked at them, their expressions were pale. Originally it was a party of 8. On hearing Zions answer Renya performed simple calculation 8-2=6. In other words 6 people were somewhere else. Earlier the number of men he had crushed was 6 was it a coincidence. As you might have guessed, those people earlier had received the same request. 6 people, all of whom were soldiers from a country called the Mercenary Kingdom. Renya recalled what Zion had said. In other words,from the start, the 6 people were comrades. This time, Zions group had joined them because of the request. In a dim forest away from human eyes, the people who were comrades were the men, while the two beautiful girls were not. The simple thought of doing something dirty to them was easily understood by Renya. Such misfortune. I really, really think so. At Renyas words of comfort the two nodded wholeheartedly, But looking from Renyas point of view it was not impossible to understand the thoughts of those men. If one looked closely one would find that two beautiful girls, one who was trained and had style while the other was [muchimuchi] and [purinpurin.]* (äΤפפǤ){TL note: I have no idea what English words to use here} (E: Theyre at the bottom of the doc now.) It was precisely because I was walking behind that I knew. When looking from the back it seemed like something with tremendous sense of weight was shaking, up and down, left and right with a [boing boing] effect, and of course, as a man, several hundredevil thoughts were bound to appear. But to act upon them was a different matter altogether. So, where do you plan on going? Renya said this while being careful not to look at a key area. We plan on returning to the village, which we were asked to use as our base. Actually, the place we need to return to is the Principality, but it takes two days on horse carriage to go there, and another two to return. As expected, it would be impossible for two people to subdue the goblin population.While thinking this, Renya was met withsurprising words from Zion. I ask that Renya stay at the village and wait for the next carriage. Although suppression is now impossible, we need to at least investigate. Otherwise, we would not be able to return, even if we wanted to. No! Thats too reckless. Rona was dressed in a priests grab which was not suited for quick movements. Zion wore fighting equipmentfor the time being, but it did not seem suitable to Renya for a light investigation. Although it is reckless, returning without producing results will hinder us in future. You are dead if you underestimate the adventurer profession. 6 out of 8 people were strangers. To come up with such a setting, doesnt the problem lie with the Guild? Renya tried to say this by Zion shook her head from side to side. Certainly, it was the Guildsoversight to not do a prior investigation, but I will not wait two days just to report it. If in that time the damage caused by goblins increased, the people of the village will be injured. That is certainly so. Still, their own death was like putting the cart in front of the horse. Put dying aside, if they were captured by Goblins and used in helping to increase their numbers, it would not even be a funny story,Renya thought, but looking at their determination, Renya had no choice but to give up on changing their minds. Okay then, can I help out? Renya called out, expecting that he was most likely going to be rejected, but it would leave a bad taste in his mouth if he were to abandon them, or pretend he didnt know anything. The two girls whispered to each other for a while, and then Zion asked Renya. Is it alright? We will survive,but you do not belong to the Guild, so things like a reward will not be given. Its alright. I really dont care, but in exchange, if you could teach me various things about this world, it would be very helpful. As a reward for life threating work, doesnt that soundcheap? Once again Zion had that auraof caution around her again. Just earlier, such a thing had happened. It is obvious that she would be alertwith a man travelling with them. Renya sighed. Well, its like that but Information is what people who have find cheap and minor,while people who dont have it find it to be valuable. Towards Renya, who had given such an unbelievable, reason Zion was still suspicious while Rona, laughing unceremoniously , said, Its alright, Renya-san is surely a good person. To the laughing Rona, the unsatisfied Zion said, Really! I guess I have to accept to repay the favour. Even when he got his proposal accepted, Renya thought,wanting them to trust me might be impossible,and looked up at the sky. Chapter 5.5 Lord, what kind of person was Kunugi Renya? In response tothe sudden question posed to me, I diverted my attention from work and looked in the direction of the voice. The most troublesome things are those that are generated one after another, where if you crush one problem, another issue shows up, which results in feeling like you are playing a continuous game of Whack-a-Mole. What I was doing now was, in a world where the Hero and his party truly believe that they can change the world with the strength of their willpower.Their power really is exceeding that of the Administrator, thusthey are in a situation where they can truly change the world. I received a help request from the Administrator there, so for the time being I gave the administrator there some more power and I also had to work to increase the power of the Demon Lord to the pointthat when the Hero and co. confront the Demon Lord, they do not die, but have their hearts feel miserable to a breaking point. To this idiot who had pointlessly increased my work, I wont even bother to raise my hand to punish him, but instead Ill have him continue his work for another 1000+ years. Ofcourse, the one who lent the Demon Lord power was me. By now, the Demon Lord himself must be wondering and looking for an answer as to how he was able to fight off the Hero and his party. If you look at it normally, by now the Demon Lord should have been defeated by the Hero, and the Hero should have returned triumphantly to the kingdom. But I think that this scenario not happening is theseverity of reality. To create a world where everyone gets along is indeed a great idea, but a world is something which is made thanks to someone crying somewhere and wanting to be something. Someone somewhere once said that being an Administrator is like having the misfortune to give work to an indefinite number of people. If the world could be made with ideals, an existence such as myself would not be needed, and thered be no need for me to endlessly continue to work and adjust the world. Even though I say that, if the Hero and his party is wiped out, another Hero will be needed to maintain an equilibrium. Somehow, not wanting to increase my work, I compromised and only weakened the party. people pray to God for help, but I am God. Who am I supposed to offer my prayers to? Even then, what should I pray for? (E: That was an intense monologue, oh God why do you do this to me [hehe], translating these must be an even deeper ring of Hell than editing them) De, what were we talking about? Lord, exactly where the hell did you derail to? I saw the tired face of the blonde beauty. I derail where I want. Please return to the main point. The blonde beauty retorts back coldly. This pissed me off, and I was thinking about to changing her into a frog, or making her reincarnate into an insect but stopped, as its would only increase my workload. Hence there is no meaning in doing this and I will only get pointlessly tired. Okay, okay, alright, I will return to the main point, just let me concentrate on my work, as I wont be able to come back from the main point for the next 360 billion seconds. (11,415 years for reference.) Anyway, why are you telling me to get back to the point when you want to talk, but you do not even remember that? I wonder whats wrong with the way of education. 24 sec had gone by while I was thinking about such things. Now I have lost approximately 0.000000006%. What a waste, I dont even want to care. AGH! So troublesome. Lord. Like I said, WHAT!? eh? Ah, Kunugi oh. That old man. (E: Lives for thousands of years, calls 94-year-old old man. Godlogic) After yelling and saying a few words, I finally understood who she was talking about, and stopped my work for a while. If its about that old man, I dont know. Eh? His cause of death was quite straight forward when his soul was extracted, As to what type of person he was, I did not look into it. I did look at some of his data, though. It seems that he was a gourmet. (E: Or was he a gourmet bastard? kek) If there was no data, I would not have known how to persuade that old man to go to the other world. He might have had some regrets in his previous world, so I cleared his soul, but now I am reflecting on it, as sometimes it might be good, but it can also be bad. Was it really alright to send him to another world in such a situation? Is there a reason not to? With a serious expression on her face, subordinate A is loss for words. I have no idea what is so shocking. Just like how a pebble thrown in the sea wont cause a tsunami, what is such a big deal in sending him without investigating? Well, since I am responsible for sending him, help me investigate a bit. What do you mean, help? If you were to search for his history, wouldnt It come up immediately? Ah! thats also an option. All I need is to pull up the history on his soul. Kunugi Renya Human race , Age:94 Current resource file number: 9201-0846-2525-4985 former world number: 8190975314143878 No special events mentioned 14th family head of kunugi one sword flow style. Anaccomplished kendoist since childhood, at the age of 13 he takes up swordsmanship, hence allowing his talent to bloom.At 15 years old, moved to mainland China for warrior training by taking partin the underground society.He killed a large number of people using a single sword, hence was called by the nickname of sword demon (T: ken no oni)The number of people he killed in the underground society activities capsat 912 people in five years.Then, he served in World War II. The number of people he killed during the war period of four years was 3712 people. The number of people he killed during the war period of four years with his blade alone was 3712 people.Hence the name,Blade ogre. After the war, became the next family head of Kunugi one sword flow style, spent time training and learning other sword styles.Carried out performances of swordsmanship through demonstrations in various places, and quickly made the Kunugi one sword flow style widely known which lead to having 49 dojos in japan and abroad. In His later years became a swordsmith, having the inscription of ka Ren(lotus petal), was known as the human national treasure.Alsowas aknown gourmet, had a high affinityfor cuisine.lived to the age of 94 yearsand 127 days, and died of old age.Life Kills, 5730 people. (TL: WOW thats some record) (E: Holy shit, this guys a badass.) . real cheat kita?* Why are you talking like that, Lord? Raising my line of sight from the window, which displayed the written information to me, I denoted itin a surprised manner and my subordinate droppeda tsukkomi* immediately.Im sure that right now, I must have a very blank look. Whats this!? In spite of being chosen appropriately, its a ridiculous life, isnt it!? To kill five thousand or more people with only a sword, but it impossible!? T-teka*, he must have killed about four digits from celebrating the end of the war, this man! It must have been exceptionally well-concealed. Come to think of it, the data had no disclaimer of him being a criminal! Information was to be displayed witha special note if one had a criminal record.By the way, the crime record, which is displayed here, is according to the law of that world. If it is not done so, every human will have a criminal record for killing countless lifeforms. Because this persons original world had several billion human beings, the killing of about five thousand people would not have much influence in the world. However, hewas sent to a place where the worlds population is, at best, around 10 million.*A person that can kill 5,000 people with his own skills, plusI gave further cheat-like skills to the one I sent. Instead of a pebble, that was a nuclear bomb! A tsunami is most likely going to occur. To subordinate A, who leisurely replied, I sent murderous intent.But stopped, as it might end up hurting, and my work would be delayed, and it would also be troublesome becausethe amount of time I need to spend working would increase. Subordinate A, your name? It is not set, but? hmm fix your appearance. Afterwards, I will give you a name What? What on earth is Opening the settings window of the panicking Subordinate A, I start making changes. (E: Prepare to go from Extra to Lead. Scariest change ever. So many more lines to recite.)First of all, I wonder why the subordinates are all blond women.Certainly, initially I was making them with a certain degree of difference, but it started becoming troublesome as it continued, and I decided to mass-produce copies based on a template.Butit somehow seemed the old man did not like blond women,so I will change the hair to black, with the hairstyle of tails, somewhat conservative, age setting of around 18 years old, and Ill change the voice a bit. From today onwards you will be Girieru (gi-ri-e-ru), because you are an archangel. Go to that world and serve as Renyas archangel and continue as normal. (E: I am become Girieru, destroyer of blondes) Eh? Please do not increase my work. The revised SubordinateA replied with a genuinely unpleasant face. The angel I named Girieru settled down when I glanced at her, and asked me reluctantly. But is it really okay? All of theAdministrators of that world will not like it, you know. To send an angel is not a problem. And, because it is only to give refuge to individuals, they cant complain, nor can they get in the way If that is so, wouldnt it have been better to send an angel to get the resources? To Girieru, who came up with the bright idea, I jumped anddropped a fist on her head.Since I changed the form of the girl, the height difference is somewhat of an inconvenience, but because another figure is particularly hard to think of, I am going to leave it as it is. But you angels will not be able to reside on the ground! Oh, that is also true. Quickly go, without nitpicking! Give that old man some help, and do not be unreasonable! If you areunreasonable and reckless I will stop you! All right? I will act accordingly. The reply was missing the excitement, but it cant be helped if my subordinates lack motivation C since I, as the one who made them, also lacked motivation. But still, she lowered her head, indicating that she will go as ordered. Incidentally, I added another order. And that shinai* C at a proper time, change its shape to that of a sword (katana). Timing and reason is very important, I see. I will try my best I resumed my work after seeing the angel off. FT: Quite long for an interlude. Or maybe thats just the Monologues from Hell?. * C 1: This is what it says untranslated. * C 2: A Tsukkomi is pretty much just a smartass remark. i.e. sass. * C 3: I dont even know. * C 4: OK, lets see, the US population can be rounded to 306,675,000, and the square mileage of the contiguous US + DC gets to 2,959,064.44 mi^2. This is about 104 people to a square mile. For this entire world to have the same population density, it would be only 94,339.6226 mi^2, which is comparable to the size of Oregon, only 2 thousand or so miles short. Within this there are 5 territories, and each would have to be about 19,000 miles, if not a bit less. Basically, put New Hampshire and Vermont together 5 times. Thats not even half of the size of Ohio. And its the entire world. Put that into perspective. * C 5: A shinai is a practice sword made from a bundle of bamboo. Well, really, its a *practice practice sword* being used for sport in Kendo. A real practice sword is a bokken, which is just a wooden katana, usually without a tsuba (comparable to a hilt, or a minimalistic hand guard). Lord, what kind of person was Kunugi Renya? In response tothe sudden question posed to me, I diverted my attention from work and looked in the direction of the voice. The most troublesome things are those that are generated one after another, where if you crush one problem, another issue shows up, which results in feeling like you are playing a continuous game of Whack-a-Mole. What I was doing now was, in a world where the Hero and his party truly believe that they can change the world with the strength of their willpower.Their power really is exceeding that of the Administrator, thusthey are in a situation where they can truly change the world. I received a help request from the Administrator there, so for the time being I gave the administrator there some more power and I also had to work to increase the power of the Demon Lord to the pointthat when the Hero and co. confront the Demon Lord, they do not die, but have their hearts feel miserable to a breaking point. To this idiot who had pointlessly increased my work, I wont even bother to raise my hand to punish him, but instead Ill have him continue his work for another 1000+ years. Ofcourse, the one who lent the Demon Lord power was me. By now, the Demon Lord himself must be wondering and looking for an answer as to how he was able to fight off the Hero and his party. If you look at it normally, by now the Demon Lord should have been defeated by the Hero, and the Hero should have returned triumphantly to the kingdom. But I think that this scenario not happening is theseverity of reality. To create a world where everyone gets along is indeed a great idea, but a world is something which is made thanks to someone crying somewhere and wanting to be something. Someone somewhere once said that being an Administrator is like having the misfortune to give work to an indefinite number of people. If the world could be made with ideals, an existence such as myself would not be needed, and thered be no need for me to endlessly continue to work and adjust the world. Even though I say that, if the Hero and his party is wiped out, another Hero will be needed to maintain an equilibrium. Somehow, not wanting to increase my work, I compromised and only weakened the party. people pray to God for help, but I am God. Who am I supposed to offer my prayers to? Even then, what should I pray for? (E: That was an intense monologue, oh God why do you do this to me [hehe], translating these must be an even deeper ring of Hell than editing them) De, what were we talking about? Lord, exactly where the hell did you derail to? I saw the tired face of the blonde beauty. I derail where I want. Please return to the main point. The blonde beauty retorts back coldly. This pissed me off, and I was thinking about to changing her into a frog, or making her reincarnate into an insect but stopped, as its would only increase my workload. Hence there is no meaning in doing this and I will only get pointlessly tired. Okay, okay, alright, I will return to the main point, just let me concentrate on my work, as I wont be able to come back from the main point for the next 360 billion seconds. (11,415 years for reference.) Anyway, why are you telling me to get back to the point when you want to talk, but you do not even remember that? I wonder whats wrong with the way of education. 24 sec had gone by while I was thinking about such things. Now I have lost approximately 0.000000006%. What a waste, I dont even want to care. AGH! So troublesome. Lord. Like I said, WHAT!? eh? Ah, Kunugi oh. That old man. (E: Lives for thousands of years, calls 94-year-old old man. Godlogic) After yelling and saying a few words, I finally understood who she was talking about, and stopped my work for a while. If its about that old man, I dont know. Eh? His cause of death was quite straight forward when his soul was extracted, As to what type of person he was, I did not look into it. I did look at some of his data, though. It seems that he was a gourmet. (E: Or was he a gourmet bastard? kek) If there was no data, I would not have known how to persuade that old man to go to the other world. He might have had some regrets in his previous world, so I cleared his soul, but now I am reflecting on it, as sometimes it might be good, but it can also be bad. Was it really alright to send him to another world in such a situation? Is there a reason not to? With a serious expression on her face, subordinate A is loss for words. I have no idea what is so shocking. Just like how a pebble thrown in the sea wont cause a tsunami, what is such a big deal in sending him without investigating? Well, since I am responsible for sending him, help me investigate a bit. What do you mean, help? If you were to search for his history, wouldnt It come up immediately? Ah! thats also an option. All I need is to pull up the history on his soul. Kunugi Renya Human race , Age:94 Current resource file number: 9201-0846-2525-4985 former world number: 8190975314143878 No special events mentioned 14th family head of kunugi one sword flow style. Anaccomplished kendoist since childhood, at the age of 13 he takes up swordsmanship, hence allowing his talent to bloom.At 15 years old, moved to mainland China for warrior training by taking partin the underground society.He killed a large number of people using a single sword, hence was called by the nickname of sword demon (T: ken no oni)The number of people he killed in the underground society activities capsat 912 people in five years.Then, he served in World War II. The number of people he killed during the war period of four years was 3712 people. The number of people he killed during the war period of four years with his blade alone was 3712 people.Hence the name,Blade ogre. After the war, became the next family head of Kunugi one sword flow style, spent time training and learning other sword styles.Carried out performances of swordsmanship through demonstrations in various places, and quickly made the Kunugi one sword flow style widely known which lead to having 49 dojos in japan and abroad. In His later years became a swordsmith, having the inscription of ka Ren(lotus petal), was known as the human national treasure.Alsowas aknown gourmet, had a high affinityfor cuisine.lived to the age of 94 yearsand 127 days, and died of old age.Life Kills, 5730 people. (TL: WOW thats some record) (E: Holy shit, this guys a badass.) . real cheat kita?* Why are you talking like that, Lord? Raising my line of sight from the window, which displayed the written information to me, I denoted itin a surprised manner and my subordinate droppeda tsukkomi* immediately.Im sure that right now, I must have a very blank look. Whats this!? In spite of being chosen appropriately, its a ridiculous life, isnt it!? To kill five thousand or more people with only a sword, but it impossible!? T-teka*, he must have killed about four digits from celebrating the end of the war, this man! It must have been exceptionally well-concealed. Come to think of it, the data had no disclaimer of him being a criminal! Information was to be displayed witha special note if one had a criminal record.By the way, the crime record, which is displayed here, is according to the law of that world. If it is not done so, every human will have a criminal record for killing countless lifeforms. Because this persons original world had several billion human beings, the killing of about five thousand people would not have much influence in the world. However, hewas sent to a place where the worlds population is, at best, around 10 million.*A person that can kill 5,000 people with his own skills, plusI gave further cheat-like skills to the one I sent. Instead of a pebble, that was a nuclear bomb! A tsunami is most likely going to occur. To subordinate A, who leisurely replied, I sent murderous intent.But stopped, as it might end up hurting, and my work would be delayed, and it would also be troublesome becausethe amount of time I need to spend working would increase. Subordinate A, your name? It is not set, but? hmm fix your appearance. Afterwards, I will give you a name What? What on earth is Opening the settings window of the panicking Subordinate A, I start making changes. (E: Prepare to go from Extra to Lead. Scariest change ever. So many more lines to recite.)First of all, I wonder why the subordinates are all blond women.Certainly, initially I was making them with a certain degree of difference, but it started becoming troublesome as it continued, and I decided to mass-produce copies based on a template.Butit somehow seemed the old man did not like blond women,so I will change the hair to black, with the hairstyle of tails, somewhat conservative, age setting of around 18 years old, and Ill change the voice a bit. From today onwards you will be Girieru (gi-ri-e-ru), because you are an archangel. Go to that world and serve as Renyas archangel and continue as normal. (E: I am become Girieru, destroyer of blondes) Eh? Please do not increase my work. The revised SubordinateA replied with a genuinely unpleasant face. The angel I named Girieru settled down when I glanced at her, and asked me reluctantly. But is it really okay? All of theAdministrators of that world will not like it, you know. To send an angel is not a problem. And, because it is only to give refuge to individuals, they cant complain, nor can they get in the way If that is so, wouldnt it have been better to send an angel to get the resources? To Girieru, who came up with the bright idea, I jumped anddropped a fist on her head.Since I changed the form of the girl, the height difference is somewhat of an inconvenience, but because another figure is particularly hard to think of, I am going to leave it as it is. But you angels will not be able to reside on the ground! Oh, that is also true. Quickly go, without nitpicking! Give that old man some help, and do not be unreasonable! If you areunreasonable and reckless I will stop you! All right? I will act accordingly. The reply was missing the excitement, but it cant be helped if my subordinates lack motivation C since I, as the one who made them, also lacked motivation. But still, she lowered her head, indicating that she will go as ordered. Incidentally, I added another order. And that shinai* C at a proper time, change its shape to that of a sword (katana). Timing and reason is very important, I see. I will try my best I resumed my work after seeing the angel off. FT: Quite long for an interlude. Or maybe thats just the Monologues from Hell?. * C 1: This is what it says untranslated. * C 2: A Tsukkomi is pretty much just a smartass remark. i.e. sass. * C 3: I dont even know. * C 4: OK, lets see, the US population can be rounded to 306,675,000, and the square mileage of the contiguous US + DC gets to 2,959,064.44 mi^2. This is about 104 people to a square mile. For this entire world to have the same population density, it would be only 94,339.6226 mi^2, which is comparable to the size of Oregon, only 2 thousand or so miles short. Within this there are 5 territories, and each would have to be about 19,000 miles, if not a bit less. Basically, put New Hampshire and Vermont together 5 times. Thats not even half of the size of Ohio. And its the entire world. Put that into perspective. * C 5: A shinai is a practice sword made from a bundle of bamboo. Well, really, its a *practice practice sword* being used for sport in Kendo. A real practice sword is a bokken, which is just a wooden katana, usually without a tsuba (comparable to a hilt, or a minimalistic hand guard). Chapter 6 There was no one opposing Shions suggestion to return to the village for now.Because they were in a forest Renya had lost his track of time. If they were to keep searching the sun would set upon them which would be dangerous according to Shion as Goblins were nocturnal.Animals and Monsters were all nocturnal which was astonishing new information to Renya. However, Shion asserted this to be common knowledge. Nevertheless I will act during the daytime.said Shion while searching the luggage left in the rented house which was used as operational base.The luggage of the six mercenaries who were left behind in the forest contained an considerable amount of items. Returning to the village, the villagers were surprised to see the number of adventurers to have dropped by six people. Shion told them that after they got separated on the way their whereabouts were lost.We cant really tell them that they got beaten up and left behind in the forest after having attacked us, now can we? (Shion)Will you report this to the guild in the same fashion? (Renya)When Renya asked this, Shion immediately denied this.I cannot lie to the guild. I will report the truth to them. (Shion)Wont I be treated as a criminal then though? (Renya)asked Renya worriedly regarding treatment of murder in this world.His concern was not so much about being a criminal though but more regarding the troublesome restrictions being treated as one.However, Shion simply rejected his worries.No problem. Because Ro and I will act as witnesses. The testimony of those accompanying when the incident took place while acting on the request is regarded as the strongest evidence. (Shion)Because these kind of people usually conduct themselves badly, one gets acquitted immediately if the circumstances are explained properly. (Rona)Rona interjects while still rummaging through the contents of the luggage. Judging by the way she is talking, this seems to be restricted to a certain degree, causing Renya increasingly to look dejected.At any rate, these fellows I cant find any weapons in these. (Shion)It is impossible to use anything from this. Since the changes of cloth are useless at this point too, lets just burn everything. (Rona)The fireplace was lit up and the two threw the unnecessary luggage into the burning fire.Towards this too appropriate treatment, Renya silently prayed for the 6 people who very likely departed this world already. Are you looking for something? (Renya)Renya asked while watching the luggage burning down to ash mercilessly.Proper money and goods. I thought we need this and Renya should have a proper weapon. (Shion)Although this is completely the way a thief talks, Shion drew a blade lightly. Renya pointed to his shinai but Shion discarded his motion simply.I do understand your hesitation but you should still use a weapon with a proper blade, Renya. (Shion)While it may be a complete change of style compared to using the shinai for Renya, Shion claimed it to be foolish to rely only on thrusting attacks in combat.If your attacks are limited to only stabbing, your attack range will be rather narrow. (Shion)But with his kind of movement I dont think he will have any problems. (Rona)responds Rona towards Shions argument. However Shion denied this right away.Using only piercing attacks is problematic. Combining it with slashing attacks will make fights easier and give him more options. Therefore he should change his weapon. (Shion)Well, such a way of thinking is possible too. (Rona)Hey, is there no other option than me passing Renya my spare weapon? (Shion)Umm .. well .. there will be no problem with him using it, I think. (Rona)Rona somehow judged after taking a moment to decide. Shion didnt seem to mind it either as she took out a longsword from her bag and passed it to Renya. Upon receiving the longsword from Shion, Renya drew the blade from its sheath. Levelling the longsword horizontally in his right hand with a firm grip, Renya focussed his attention on the blade.After assessing the edge for a while, Renya returned the sword into its sheath. One could see that his hands were fully accustomed to the action of drawing and redrawing a sword.How is it? (Shion)Well, the sword is sufficient enough. (Renya)Renya answered Shions question flatly.Truthfully he was very dissatisfied with the quality of this longsword though.The blade was crude without any decorations trimmed only towards its practical use. The iron used for the blade was of inferior quality devoiding the blade of any feeling of life within it.The edge of the sword was sharpened only to a certain degree. Making one doubt whether cutting anything with it was possible at all.Renya remembered that weapons were used for crushing rather than slicing when paired up against full plate armour in the medieval times on earth.It is very likely that the crafting skill advanced only this far resembling this motion and thus there was no other way than using the sword similarly.In contrast to the poor blade, the quality of the hilt was magnificent.Because useless decoration on the hilt only leads to inconvenient handling, only thin tanned leather stripes were wrapped around the hilt.The sword guard displayed two intertwined dragons using respectively gold and silver to depict them, having them face each other in the centre of the guard serving as crest.Part of the hilt looks to me remarkably expensive. (Renya)Though the blade was broken several times, the hilt portion was handed down as legacy. I am no match for your discerning eye. (Shion)Shion admits wearing a slightly mortified expression. Even though Renya was still somehow dissatisfied with the sword he accepted Shions sacrifice to lent him something precious. Not using the sword would be rude thus he stored his shinai in the inventory.Oh, how enviable to possess [Inventory]. (Rona)Thats true. It is a skill which causes requests to carry payload to flood in with only that. (Shion)The two women raised their voices in admiration seeing the shinai disappearing into the void.As Renya didnt comprehend their excitement he looked at them with a questioning look. Shion then explained.Just now that weapon was put away in empty space, right? It is a skill called [Inventory]. There are very few possessing this skill. (Shion)Rumors say the amount of items that can be stored away is limited. Still it an enviable skill as it totally disregards weight restrictions. (Rona)Renya looked down on the luggage spread on the floor.At first it was planned to finish investigating before the next regular carriage arrives in two days, thus the amount of luggage for two people was reasonable making it possible to simply shoulder it.Small tools for maintenance, food, water, ointments and equipment were particularly visible. Most likely the rest of space not visible was used up by changes of clothes and similar.Considering that these two were moving around a lot to different places it was easily understandable that possessing a skill which allowed them to not carry the luggage all the time was indeed enviable.To return by foot, do you two want me to carry your luggage using [Inventory]? (Renya)That would be very helpful as it would save us some of the faring expenses. (Rona)The fare expenses for using the carriage seem to be decided by the weight including the luggage rather than the number of people boarding. Rona might say that but it is not like everything is measured exactly.The carriage driver decides the price by the equipment worn and the additional baggage included.That is an easy task. But before that we have to finish investigating safely. (Renya) Thats true. Our opponents may be goblins, nonetheless one has to be careful. (Shion)Since the terrain is unfamiliar to us. (Renya)Although it was vaguely called an investigation, but as there are no maps available for the area, it is mostly wandering aimlessly through the forest until the goblin settlement was found by a stroke of luck. Shion explains the basic outline. Alternatively one could follow goblins who were hunting for food, using them to calculate the position of the goblin settlement, it seems. Without a map of the forest deriving the location from accumulated information might be quite difficult though. To confirm the situation once more Renya started to open his mouth but suddenly he felt a chill down his neck making him stiffen his back. Rubbing his neck with right hand, Renya approached the window.The crafting technology to produce glass seemed to have developed in this world. Although its quality was not comparable to earth, rather the glass here was murky and uneven. Nevertheless one could still see the outside with this degree of transparency. Through the window you could see that it would be very soon night as the red glow of the sunset had faded already and it got dusky.The rented house was facing towards the outskirts of the village. The defensive wall which was set up had approximately the same height as the trees. Not too far away from the wall the black silhoutte of the forest was slightly visible. Even though Renya strained his eyes, he couldnt see anything within that dark mass. But if Renya was to trust his intuition there was something definitely there.Whats wrong, Renya? (Shion)Shion inquired, noticing his grim face as he was watching intently at the forest.I am not sure but there is something in the forest. (Renya)Is this another of your skills? (Shion)Shion walked next to Renya taking a look outside towards the forest. Tilting her head looking doubtfully she asked Renya.After a short while of pondering over the matter Renya shook his head.It is no skill but more of a feeling. (Renya)Intuition, huh? (Shion)Ah, Im pretty sure about it though. (Renya)Even if his memories were wiped by god, his acquired senses were not. Renya was determined to believe in his intuition.I dont sense nor see anything but if Renya says so, it may be worth to check it out. Ro, can I entrust it to you? (Shion)Yes, no problem. (Rona)Shion asked Rona turning around to her. Rona nodded and folded both hands in front of her chest.This pose caused her bountiful chest to be pushed up emphasizing it furthermore. Realising this, Renya shook his head lightly as now was not the time to think about that.Renya carefully watched Rona as she fluently recited the spell words.I beseech you.In my belief to our holy Lord.Identify the being disturbing our peace. (Rona)Renya perceived a powerful wave spreading from Ronas folded hands. Like the sonar of a submarine it quickly spread over a wide area and converged just as fast back into Ronas clasped hands.As the wave converged Rona looked up to Renya.There is something hostile within the forest for sure. Even more so there is quite a number of them. Probably 50 or more though I am not quite sure. It seems there are quite a few outside the perception range too. (Rona)This is ? (Renya)Even though it was clearly visible, Renya didnt understand what happened.It is the magic practised by priests who serve a god. If there is someone with malicious intent in range of the spell the caster will be able to tell. Still 50 or more? What the hell is going on (Shion)There is miasma gathering in the forest which causes this many of them to crowd together. (Rona) This is bad. There is a commander leading the goblins, huh? (Shion)Upon Shions words Renya remembered the information he had seen in the Help before returning to the village.It said that sometimes there are rare cases of monsters born with high individual ability who would gather a large group.For now, Ro, please hurry to the village chief. Those able to fight have to prepare while the women and children have to be evacuated. (Shion)Right away. (Rona)Rona answered while starting to run.Seeing Rona off Shion turned around to Renya. Our bad luck seems to continue. Will you help out too? (Shion)You could feel from the questioning tone that there was no room for refusal.Renya could pretty much tell that the situation was quite bad.Do you think they will attack? (Renya)Renya asked which Shion confirmed right away.With a number of 50 or more gathered, the possibility of a scouting party is non-existent. If they are working under a commander even more so. (Shion)Whats the degree of difference in military power? (Renya)The current population of this village is slightly over 50 people. From those only 10 young man would be able to fight. This leaves us at pretty disadvantageous odds of 13 against 50 including us.Moreover the men of the village have not received any combat training if the situation becomes one versus many in contrast to one versus one fights. (Shion)And if we loose? (Renya)I dont want to imagine it. (Shion)Shion replies making a bitter face.Once the village is taken over, those guys will consider humans as fodder. The young women if not dead by then will wish they were considering the things they will experience. (Shion)Yahoo, a future with many children is waiting. The AV development is deep blue too. (Renya)(T/N: Not quite sure, but I guess deep blue = Rape/Netorare, oh and AV = Adult Video.)Renya uttered in jest, not meaning it earnestly though. Although one might say thats the way life goes. I dont think there is AV in this world though.But, however you might put it, it left a bad taste from the bottom of the heart.Please dont joke about it, it is not very funny. (Shion)Is that so? Hmm, I guess so we can ponder about whats to come afterwards once its over. (Renya)Somehow the tension has become weird, hasnt it? If you (Shion)Shion raises her voice lightly being astonished while taking a long hard look on Renyas face.Why Are you laughing? (Shion)Unconsciously Renyas corners of the mouth were raised which he covered with his hands after it being pointed out. Certainly, it seems I am aware of myself smiling.Even so, you cant say it was a good smiling face.Why? You ask. How to put it (Renya)After thinking for a moment what to say, Renya continued.After all, the fight is interesting because it is disadvantageous, isnt it? (Renya)(T/N: evil smile) There was no one opposing Shions suggestion to return to the village for now.Because they were in a forest Renya had lost his track of time. If they were to keep searching the sun would set upon them which would be dangerous according to Shion as Goblins were nocturnal.Animals and Monsters were all nocturnal which was astonishing new information to Renya. However, Shion asserted this to be common knowledge. Nevertheless I will act during the daytime.said Shion while searching the luggage left in the rented house which was used as operational base.The luggage of the six mercenaries who were left behind in the forest contained an considerable amount of items. Returning to the village, the villagers were surprised to see the number of adventurers to have dropped by six people. Shion told them that after they got separated on the way their whereabouts were lost.We cant really tell them that they got beaten up and left behind in the forest after having attacked us, now can we? (Shion)Will you report this to the guild in the same fashion? (Renya)When Renya asked this, Shion immediately denied this.I cannot lie to the guild. I will report the truth to them. (Shion)Wont I be treated as a criminal then though? (Renya)asked Renya worriedly regarding treatment of murder in this world.His concern was not so much about being a criminal though but more regarding the troublesome restrictions being treated as one.However, Shion simply rejected his worries.No problem. Because Ro and I will act as witnesses. The testimony of those accompanying when the incident took place while acting on the request is regarded as the strongest evidence. (Shion)Because these kind of people usually conduct themselves badly, one gets acquitted immediately if the circumstances are explained properly. (Rona)Rona interjects while still rummaging through the contents of the luggage. Judging by the way she is talking, this seems to be restricted to a certain degree, causing Renya increasingly to look dejected.At any rate, these fellows I cant find any weapons in these. (Shion)It is impossible to use anything from this. Since the changes of cloth are useless at this point too, lets just burn everything. (Rona)The fireplace was lit up and the two threw the unnecessary luggage into the burning fire.Towards this too appropriate treatment, Renya silently prayed for the 6 people who very likely departed this world already. Are you looking for something? (Renya)Renya asked while watching the luggage burning down to ash mercilessly.Proper money and goods. I thought we need this and Renya should have a proper weapon. (Shion)Although this is completely the way a thief talks, Shion drew a blade lightly. Renya pointed to his shinai but Shion discarded his motion simply.I do understand your hesitation but you should still use a weapon with a proper blade, Renya. (Shion)While it may be a complete change of style compared to using the shinai for Renya, Shion claimed it to be foolish to rely only on thrusting attacks in combat.If your attacks are limited to only stabbing, your attack range will be rather narrow. (Shion)But with his kind of movement I dont think he will have any problems. (Rona)responds Rona towards Shions argument. However Shion denied this right away.Using only piercing attacks is problematic. Combining it with slashing attacks will make fights easier and give him more options. Therefore he should change his weapon. (Shion)Well, such a way of thinking is possible too. (Rona)Hey, is there no other option than me passing Renya my spare weapon? (Shion)Umm .. well .. there will be no problem with him using it, I think. (Rona)Rona somehow judged after taking a moment to decide. Shion didnt seem to mind it either as she took out a longsword from her bag and passed it to Renya. Upon receiving the longsword from Shion, Renya drew the blade from its sheath. Levelling the longsword horizontally in his right hand with a firm grip, Renya focussed his attention on the blade.After assessing the edge for a while, Renya returned the sword into its sheath. One could see that his hands were fully accustomed to the action of drawing and redrawing a sword.How is it? (Shion)Well, the sword is sufficient enough. (Renya)Renya answered Shions question flatly.Truthfully he was very dissatisfied with the quality of this longsword though.The blade was crude without any decorations trimmed only towards its practical use. The iron used for the blade was of inferior quality devoiding the blade of any feeling of life within it.The edge of the sword was sharpened only to a certain degree. Making one doubt whether cutting anything with it was possible at all.Renya remembered that weapons were used for crushing rather than slicing when paired up against full plate armour in the medieval times on earth.It is very likely that the crafting skill advanced only this far resembling this motion and thus there was no other way than using the sword similarly.In contrast to the poor blade, the quality of the hilt was magnificent.Because useless decoration on the hilt only leads to inconvenient handling, only thin tanned leather stripes were wrapped around the hilt.The sword guard displayed two intertwined dragons using respectively gold and silver to depict them, having them face each other in the centre of the guard serving as crest.Part of the hilt looks to me remarkably expensive. (Renya)Though the blade was broken several times, the hilt portion was handed down as legacy. I am no match for your discerning eye. (Shion)Shion admits wearing a slightly mortified expression. Even though Renya was still somehow dissatisfied with the sword he accepted Shions sacrifice to lent him something precious. Not using the sword would be rude thus he stored his shinai in the inventory.Oh, how enviable to possess [Inventory]. (Rona)Thats true. It is a skill which causes requests to carry payload to flood in with only that. (Shion)The two women raised their voices in admiration seeing the shinai disappearing into the void.As Renya didnt comprehend their excitement he looked at them with a questioning look. Shion then explained.Just now that weapon was put away in empty space, right? It is a skill called [Inventory]. There are very few possessing this skill. (Shion)Rumors say the amount of items that can be stored away is limited. Still it an enviable skill as it totally disregards weight restrictions. (Rona)Renya looked down on the luggage spread on the floor.At first it was planned to finish investigating before the next regular carriage arrives in two days, thus the amount of luggage for two people was reasonable making it possible to simply shoulder it.Small tools for maintenance, food, water, ointments and equipment were particularly visible. Most likely the rest of space not visible was used up by changes of clothes and similar.Considering that these two were moving around a lot to different places it was easily understandable that possessing a skill which allowed them to not carry the luggage all the time was indeed enviable.To return by foot, do you two want me to carry your luggage using [Inventory]? (Renya)That would be very helpful as it would save us some of the faring expenses. (Rona)The fare expenses for using the carriage seem to be decided by the weight including the luggage rather than the number of people boarding. Rona might say that but it is not like everything is measured exactly.The carriage driver decides the price by the equipment worn and the additional baggage included.That is an easy task. But before that we have to finish investigating safely. (Renya) Thats true. Our opponents may be goblins, nonetheless one has to be careful. (Shion)Since the terrain is unfamiliar to us. (Renya)Although it was vaguely called an investigation, but as there are no maps available for the area, it is mostly wandering aimlessly through the forest until the goblin settlement was found by a stroke of luck. Shion explains the basic outline. Alternatively one could follow goblins who were hunting for food, using them to calculate the position of the goblin settlement, it seems. Without a map of the forest deriving the location from accumulated information might be quite difficult though. To confirm the situation once more Renya started to open his mouth but suddenly he felt a chill down his neck making him stiffen his back. Rubbing his neck with right hand, Renya approached the window.The crafting technology to produce glass seemed to have developed in this world. Although its quality was not comparable to earth, rather the glass here was murky and uneven. Nevertheless one could still see the outside with this degree of transparency. Through the window you could see that it would be very soon night as the red glow of the sunset had faded already and it got dusky.The rented house was facing towards the outskirts of the village. The defensive wall which was set up had approximately the same height as the trees. Not too far away from the wall the black silhoutte of the forest was slightly visible. Even though Renya strained his eyes, he couldnt see anything within that dark mass. But if Renya was to trust his intuition there was something definitely there.Whats wrong, Renya? (Shion)Shion inquired, noticing his grim face as he was watching intently at the forest.I am not sure but there is something in the forest. (Renya)Is this another of your skills? (Shion)Shion walked next to Renya taking a look outside towards the forest. Tilting her head looking doubtfully she asked Renya.After a short while of pondering over the matter Renya shook his head.It is no skill but more of a feeling. (Renya)Intuition, huh? (Shion)Ah, Im pretty sure about it though. (Renya)Even if his memories were wiped by god, his acquired senses were not. Renya was determined to believe in his intuition.I dont sense nor see anything but if Renya says so, it may be worth to check it out. Ro, can I entrust it to you? (Shion)Yes, no problem. (Rona)Shion asked Rona turning around to her. Rona nodded and folded both hands in front of her chest.This pose caused her bountiful chest to be pushed up emphasizing it furthermore. Realising this, Renya shook his head lightly as now was not the time to think about that.Renya carefully watched Rona as she fluently recited the spell words.I beseech you.In my belief to our holy Lord.Identify the being disturbing our peace. (Rona)Renya perceived a powerful wave spreading from Ronas folded hands. Like the sonar of a submarine it quickly spread over a wide area and converged just as fast back into Ronas clasped hands.As the wave converged Rona looked up to Renya.There is something hostile within the forest for sure. Even more so there is quite a number of them. Probably 50 or more though I am not quite sure. It seems there are quite a few outside the perception range too. (Rona)This is ? (Renya)Even though it was clearly visible, Renya didnt understand what happened.It is the magic practised by priests who serve a god. If there is someone with malicious intent in range of the spell the caster will be able to tell. Still 50 or more? What the hell is going on (Shion)There is miasma gathering in the forest which causes this many of them to crowd together. (Rona) This is bad. There is a commander leading the goblins, huh? (Shion)Upon Shions words Renya remembered the information he had seen in the Help before returning to the village.It said that sometimes there are rare cases of monsters born with high individual ability who would gather a large group.For now, Ro, please hurry to the village chief. Those able to fight have to prepare while the women and children have to be evacuated. (Shion)Right away. (Rona)Rona answered while starting to run.Seeing Rona off Shion turned around to Renya. Our bad luck seems to continue. Will you help out too? (Shion)You could feel from the questioning tone that there was no room for refusal.Renya could pretty much tell that the situation was quite bad.Do you think they will attack? (Renya)Renya asked which Shion confirmed right away.With a number of 50 or more gathered, the possibility of a scouting party is non-existent. If they are working under a commander even more so. (Shion)Whats the degree of difference in military power? (Renya)The current population of this village is slightly over 50 people. From those only 10 young man would be able to fight. This leaves us at pretty disadvantageous odds of 13 against 50 including us.Moreover the men of the village have not received any combat training if the situation becomes one versus many in contrast to one versus one fights. (Shion)And if we loose? (Renya)I dont want to imagine it. (Shion)Shion replies making a bitter face.Once the village is taken over, those guys will consider humans as fodder. The young women if not dead by then will wish they were considering the things they will experience. (Shion)Yahoo, a future with many children is waiting. The AV development is deep blue too. (Renya)(T/N: Not quite sure, but I guess deep blue = Rape/Netorare, oh and AV = Adult Video.)Renya uttered in jest, not meaning it earnestly though. Although one might say thats the way life goes. I dont think there is AV in this world though.But, however you might put it, it left a bad taste from the bottom of the heart.Please dont joke about it, it is not very funny. (Shion)Is that so? Hmm, I guess so we can ponder about whats to come afterwards once its over. (Renya)Somehow the tension has become weird, hasnt it? If you (Shion)Shion raises her voice lightly being astonished while taking a long hard look on Renyas face.Why Are you laughing? (Shion)Unconsciously Renyas corners of the mouth were raised which he covered with his hands after it being pointed out. Certainly, it seems I am aware of myself smiling.Even so, you cant say it was a good smiling face.Why? You ask. How to put it (Renya)After thinking for a moment what to say, Renya continued.After all, the fight is interesting because it is disadvantageous, isnt it? (Renya)(T/N: evil smile) Chapter 7 The invasion started at sunset. Leaping out from the shadows of the dark forest was a flood of figures who appeared to be goblins. Within that darkness the countless fiery red eyes shone threateningly reflecting the little light that was left. Their numbers were so plentiful that one could not understand how Rona could have only mentioned a meagre 50. Opposing them was the side of the pioneers village. Inside the fortress those on defensive duty were spread around several watch fires which illuminated the vicinity guaranteeing them sight within the deep night. Shions group was positioned as vanguard while the young men of the village, who were equipped with arms such as axes and bows, laid in wait behind them. While the darkness of the night supported the attacking demons, the humans had no such advantage. Thus it was decided for Rona to cast Illumination magic once the battle began to shed light upon the battlefield. However it was uncertain whether this would cover the entire battle field. The weaponry used by the villagers were things such as hunting bows, carpenter hatchets and lumberjack axes as they were not expecting a real battle at all. And while those weapons certainly were powerful in the hands of young men, none of them had received any combat training, making them complete amateurs at mortal battle. All in all their entire combat force consisted of 12 amateurs and Shions group. This small group of able combatants also had to protect the 40 elders, women and children. By now there was no point in discussing how to use their combat force in battle but rather how to escape the assault without incurring significant damage. However there was no safe refuge available even if one considered escaping. It is in the nature of a pioneers village to be constructed in a remote region in the first place. Usually soldiers were hired as guards, but since this was a newly built village there was no chance for soldiers to arrive yet, even if they were dispatched already. This was yet another drip of misfortune in the already full casket. The distance to the nearest town was two days by carriage. Considering the women and children who were unable to fight, this was no distance one could easily traverse. For example, even if some villagers would be able to somehow escape by sheer luck, the majority of the villagers would end up as prey for the pursuing goblins. Uwaah I feel like running away. (Renya) Holding the loaned longsword in the right hand and gripping an axe he picked up somewhere in the left hand while swinging it around lightly, Renya watched the approaching horde of goblins emerging from the forest. In contrast to the grumbled words which emitted his feeling of how bothersome this whole ordeal was to him, his mouth formed a smile that gave off a strong aura of certain victory. Whereas the expressions of Shion and the young men were pale and terrified at the approaching menace, his face showed no distress or worry at all exuding a relaxed composure. Renya, you seem to be used to such situations? (Shion) Shion inquired in a strained weak voice. While the voice of the responding Renya on the contrary could only be described as flabby. (T/N: funya~ funya~) Nnn I wonder~ The memory of it seems to have been erased, I guess? But, oh well some way or the other we will manage to do something about this mess, dont you think? (Renya) Re-Renya somehow you are quite composed desu~ (Rona) Even though Rona stated this, Renya denied it flatly. No such thing. However, it cant get any worse than me dying. (Renya) Because I already died once after all, he could have said. But he swallowed those words. Those two wouldnt understand it even if he told them. There was neither meaning nor significance in mentioning it either. Rather than that, wont we enter the range of bows soon? (Renya) Muuu~ Archers fire away! (Shion) Though some of the villagers began to shoot their arrows towards the advancing goblins by Shions command, the amount of archers being four was low and thus the amount of arrows sent flying was low as well. Having the strength of hunters, some of the arrows pierced the goblins at the front of the approaching pack. But the resulting effect didnt amount to any more than a mere droplet of water in a desert. Well then see you later in case we survive this. I am going to attack them. Keep the arrows coming. (Renya) Ehhh !? (Rona & Shion) Renya glanced at Shion and Rona who both raised their voices in shock. Then he started suddenly to run while holding the sword and axe loosely in his hands. Some of the villagers raised their voices exclaiming his charge to be too reckless, but Renya continued to run without minding them at all. In the first place, the difference in numbers was too far from expected. No matter where, there was no escape to begin with no matter how reckless he was. Thus he decided to jump in by himself to fight as efficiently as possible utilizing his full strength. But even then he was aware that confronting this many goblins alone could be called suicidal. The weapons of the goblins were crude spears made out of tree branches and crumbling edged tools. The vanguards of the goblins hurried to set up their spears aiming for the approaching Renya. Renya waited for the moment they thrust their spears at him. Keeping his body low and sliding along the ground, he evaded the incoming spears. Passing below the outstretched spears, Renya kicked one goblin down and stood up while slicing with both weapons, sword and axe, the legs off the goblins on the right and left side. Dealing with a large crowd of spear holders the most problematic issue is getting past the line of the attacking of spears. Once you enter close combat the spear becomes unsuitable and very difficult to use. Furthermore, brandishing the spear within a large crowd is impossible. Thus the spears have to be abandoned in favour of swords and axes. The goblins whose legs were cut off were thrashing around on the ground trying to recover from their sorry state. Meanwhile the other goblins threw their spears down to prepare other weapons. Using this opening in defence to hack away at both parties, Renya dispatched several of the goblins quickly. In response to the slaughtering ensuing, dark red liquid sputtered all around. While basking in the crowd that tried scattering away from him as they were mowed down, Renya confirmed one fact. I do love fighting. (Renya) He couldnt stop to laugh. Turning his eyes looking for the next target to attack, he didnt even bother looking at the result of his previous one. A ball of gleaming white light ascended into the sky. Renya realised, that Rona had used her Illumination magic which could only mean that the villagers had started their battle now too. By its nature, it was not possible to stop such a large crowd with the charge of just one person. The amount of victims was limited to a few, but that was to be expected. Thus Renya continued killing. Every passing second there were even more of them. Repelling a small rust-covered sword with his long sword, he stroke his axe into the upper body of a goblin. The blade of the axe bit deep into the flesh. Since it was too difficult to pull out the axe, he simply tossed the dying body at another goblin. Pressing on, he mercilessly crushed the goblins who tried to escape from him as they stumbled about. Whether it was a head, a belly or an arm, he relentlessly crushed them. Driving the axe into a screaming mouth while chopping off the hand trying to help with the long sword. He didnt care about weak counter-attacks to the degree of only grazing him either. Choosing to repel only those attacks that were dangerous, he returned the favour by swinging his axe at the attackers. Midway the longsword simply snapped. Renya adjusted the way he was holding it from an ordinary hold to a backhanded grip1, using the the hilt with its remaining part of blade to exchange a few strikes. However as the blade failed soon afterwards, he tossed the hilt into the [Inventory]. Leaving him with only the axe, thus he grasped it with both hands. No matter how sturdy and thick the blade of a axe might be, if it is used against countless demons at full power repetitively, it will certainly slowly chip and be destroyed in the process. The axes handle was designed to endure chopping at hard wood and thus it wouldnt break quickly, which served Renyas purpose well enough. In the first place, he didnt plan on cutting with the axes blade anyway. All he required was a solid part to strike with, thus there was no impediment accomplishing his goal without the axes blade part. Wooden bucklers, leather armour and arms brandishing weapons in defence, were utterly useless in front of Renya. Without a care using all his strength, he continued to strike in a mood as if he was working on a lump of iron. Whether breaking or being broken lost all of its relevance. After all it were only bodies made of flesh and bones he was facing. After a short while his own leather armour was torn at several places as scratches had accumulated all over. As it was only an hindrance at this point, he tore it off and tossed it carelessly away. In a corner of his mind, he registered that it was a gift from Kami-sama originally. But that was only a passing thought as he focussed his concentration on the battle in front of him. With his body screaming in pain from the accumulated cut and stab wounds all over due to becoming defenceless, his mind started to loose its rational bounds and shifted towards the edge of insanity. It was an intoxicating pleasure. Loosing himself more and more in the rising madness. Enjoying the feeling of crushed flesh which was transmitted to him through the axes handle. Revelling in the sweet melody of bones being crushed. Desiring to bath his body in the lukewarm blood of his enemies, he was looking for the next victim. Watching the ugly face of a demon distorted in agonizing terror, he was truly happy. The face which was crying and pleading for help was an interesting sight to him. Judging escape to be impossible, the frantic expression as the deadly strike descended upon it, appeared to him as adorable. The throbbing wound of the light cut by a blade felt comfortable to him. The striking impact to the numb body about to puff the candle of life was irresistible. What kind of feeling will he experience with the next one? What kind of show will he watch with the next one? What kind of taste will he savour with the next one? As one would expect, the strain on the axes handle took its toll in the end. As he crushed another demon who didnt understand what was happening in front of its eyes, the handle broke. He stabbed the remaining sharp splinter into the face of a nearby goblin and thus parted with his last weapon. At last Renya was empty-handed causing the goblins to grab this chance to rush upon him. But there was no sign of panic on Renya countenance to be seen. Grabbing a wrist holding onto a weapon in order to steal it from its owner, he rammed his elbow into the face of the goblin snatching its weapon away, just to use it to crush another goblins head. The weapon was of low quality and not maintained at all, thus it broke after just one swing. But Renya didnt care at all and simply stole another weapon from a different goblin. This is not satisfying enough at all, you lot! (Renya) Stepping on a goblin that fell to the ground and crushing it, Renya spread his arms widely and declared thus threateningly. How weak! The enemy who kills your comrades stands here! The enemy you should kill is right before you! Whats wrong? Come and get me! (Renya) Renya shouted in front of their eyes. A remarkably huge goblin appeared in from of him. Renyas figure couldnt even begin to compare to its tremendous size. Gripping a longsword in its hand and donning a chain mail, one could tell at a glance, that this goblin was a different kind of breed in comparison to the goblins standing behind him. In a corner of his mind left untouched by his madness he realised that this was the goblin commander Shion mentioned before the battle started. Thats the goblin leader! You have no chance without weapons. Run away! (-) A voice exclaimed from a very far and remote place. Although unlikely Renya considered it to be Shions voice but disregarded such thinking right away. Whether the enemy had a weapon or was bare-handed didnt matter to Renya. This was a battlefield after all. And he wouldnt escape from it either way. Though his entire body was riddled with bruises from the fighting, Renyas speed didnt drop at all. However the speed of the goblin leader brandishing his longsword couldnt be compared to the other goblins he fought before at all. How slow, is what Renya thought nevertheless. Stepping in quickly Renya delivered a front kick with his left foot. As was expected of the goblin leaders physique, the kick was limited to only stopping it for a moment instead of sending it flying. Switching the foot stance from a kick to a step, Renya closed in on the goblin leader, using a palm strike with his right hand to pommel the wrist holding the brandished longsword. This attack caused the goblin leader to let go of the longsword. Continuing on, he rammed his right shoulder with deadly force into it. Even though their physique couldnt have been any more different, the goblin leader was knocked down on the ground. As it tried to stand up again, Renya quickly wrapped both arms around its neck. However he didnt intend to use such a half-hearted method as suffocating it. To avoid the other goblins attacking him in the back, he used the huge body as a shield. Channelling tremendous force into his arms, he pressed his back against the ground breaking the neck of the goblin leader. With the dull sound of the bone breaking, he used his palms to push off the limp body of the goblin leader. Without confirming its death, he leaped towards the longsword that was laying on the ground picking it up and grasping it tightly. The feeling it emitted was slightly heavy as it had a rather thick blade. Though he didnt understand where it procured such weapon, he doubted the goblin leader was able to use any sword skills (Kenjutsu). However it was a sturdy longsword and most likely wouldnt break even if he was to use his full strength, thought Renya. Well, I guess I was able to resupply myself with a weapon again, huh? (Renya) Turning around to the surrounding goblins, Renya smiled radiantly. The faces of the goblins who saw this became frozen stiff. Shall we continue then? (Renya) It was not possible to suppress him even if they assaulted him in numbers and their leader had been slain as well. There was no way left for the goblins to defend against Renyas attacks. While the goblins were screaming in terror, he waded through them leisurely as if he was taking a walk. The place called battlefield immediately changed into a slaughterhouse. Something like this happening daily he was imagining. He was looking forward to it. Translation Notes 1C Imagine switching from an ordinary sword stance to using the sword like a dagger holding it backhanded like a shinobi. The invasion started at sunset. Leaping out from the shadows of the dark forest was a flood of figures who appeared to be goblins. Within that darkness the countless fiery red eyes shone threateningly reflecting the little light that was left. Their numbers were so plentiful that one could not understand how Rona could have only mentioned a meagre 50. Opposing them was the side of the pioneers village. Inside the fortress those on defensive duty were spread around several watch fires which illuminated the vicinity guaranteeing them sight within the deep night. Shions group was positioned as vanguard while the young men of the village, who were equipped with arms such as axes and bows, laid in wait behind them. While the darkness of the night supported the attacking demons, the humans had no such advantage. Thus it was decided for Rona to cast Illumination magic once the battle began to shed light upon the battlefield. However it was uncertain whether this would cover the entire battle field. The weaponry used by the villagers were things such as hunting bows, carpenter hatchets and lumberjack axes as they were not expecting a real battle at all. And while those weapons certainly were powerful in the hands of young men, none of them had received any combat training, making them complete amateurs at mortal battle. All in all their entire combat force consisted of 12 amateurs and Shions group. This small group of able combatants also had to protect the 40 elders, women and children. By now there was no point in discussing how to use their combat force in battle but rather how to escape the assault without incurring significant damage. However there was no safe refuge available even if one considered escaping. It is in the nature of a pioneers village to be constructed in a remote region in the first place. Usually soldiers were hired as guards, but since this was a newly built village there was no chance for soldiers to arrive yet, even if they were dispatched already. This was yet another drip of misfortune in the already full casket. The distance to the nearest town was two days by carriage. Considering the women and children who were unable to fight, this was no distance one could easily traverse. For example, even if some villagers would be able to somehow escape by sheer luck, the majority of the villagers would end up as prey for the pursuing goblins. Uwaah I feel like running away. (Renya) Holding the loaned longsword in the right hand and gripping an axe he picked up somewhere in the left hand while swinging it around lightly, Renya watched the approaching horde of goblins emerging from the forest. In contrast to the grumbled words which emitted his feeling of how bothersome this whole ordeal was to him, his mouth formed a smile that gave off a strong aura of certain victory. Whereas the expressions of Shion and the young men were pale and terrified at the approaching menace, his face showed no distress or worry at all exuding a relaxed composure. Renya, you seem to be used to such situations? (Shion) Shion inquired in a strained weak voice. While the voice of the responding Renya on the contrary could only be described as flabby. (T/N: funya~ funya~) Nnn I wonder~ The memory of it seems to have been erased, I guess? But, oh well some way or the other we will manage to do something about this mess, dont you think? (Renya) Re-Renya somehow you are quite composed desu~ (Rona) Even though Rona stated this, Renya denied it flatly. No such thing. However, it cant get any worse than me dying. (Renya) Because I already died once after all, he could have said. But he swallowed those words. Those two wouldnt understand it even if he told them. There was neither meaning nor significance in mentioning it either. Rather than that, wont we enter the range of bows soon? (Renya) Muuu~ Archers fire away! (Shion) Though some of the villagers began to shoot their arrows towards the advancing goblins by Shions command, the amount of archers being four was low and thus the amount of arrows sent flying was low as well. Having the strength of hunters, some of the arrows pierced the goblins at the front of the approaching pack. But the resulting effect didnt amount to any more than a mere droplet of water in a desert. Well then see you later in case we survive this. I am going to attack them. Keep the arrows coming. (Renya) Ehhh !? (Rona & Shion) Renya glanced at Shion and Rona who both raised their voices in shock. Then he started suddenly to run while holding the sword and axe loosely in his hands. Some of the villagers raised their voices exclaiming his charge to be too reckless, but Renya continued to run without minding them at all. In the first place, the difference in numbers was too far from expected. No matter where, there was no escape to begin with no matter how reckless he was. Thus he decided to jump in by himself to fight as efficiently as possible utilizing his full strength. But even then he was aware that confronting this many goblins alone could be called suicidal. The weapons of the goblins were crude spears made out of tree branches and crumbling edged tools. The vanguards of the goblins hurried to set up their spears aiming for the approaching Renya. Renya waited for the moment they thrust their spears at him. Keeping his body low and sliding along the ground, he evaded the incoming spears. Passing below the outstretched spears, Renya kicked one goblin down and stood up while slicing with both weapons, sword and axe, the legs off the goblins on the right and left side. Dealing with a large crowd of spear holders the most problematic issue is getting past the line of the attacking of spears. Once you enter close combat the spear becomes unsuitable and very difficult to use. Furthermore, brandishing the spear within a large crowd is impossible. Thus the spears have to be abandoned in favour of swords and axes. The goblins whose legs were cut off were thrashing around on the ground trying to recover from their sorry state. Meanwhile the other goblins threw their spears down to prepare other weapons. Using this opening in defence to hack away at both parties, Renya dispatched several of the goblins quickly. In response to the slaughtering ensuing, dark red liquid sputtered all around. While basking in the crowd that tried scattering away from him as they were mowed down, Renya confirmed one fact. I do love fighting. (Renya) He couldnt stop to laugh. Turning his eyes looking for the next target to attack, he didnt even bother looking at the result of his previous one. A ball of gleaming white light ascended into the sky. Renya realised, that Rona had used her Illumination magic which could only mean that the villagers had started their battle now too. By its nature, it was not possible to stop such a large crowd with the charge of just one person. The amount of victims was limited to a few, but that was to be expected. Thus Renya continued killing. Every passing second there were even more of them. Repelling a small rust-covered sword with his long sword, he stroke his axe into the upper body of a goblin. The blade of the axe bit deep into the flesh. Since it was too difficult to pull out the axe, he simply tossed the dying body at another goblin. Pressing on, he mercilessly crushed the goblins who tried to escape from him as they stumbled about. Whether it was a head, a belly or an arm, he relentlessly crushed them. Driving the axe into a screaming mouth while chopping off the hand trying to help with the long sword. He didnt care about weak counter-attacks to the degree of only grazing him either. Choosing to repel only those attacks that were dangerous, he returned the favour by swinging his axe at the attackers. Midway the longsword simply snapped. Renya adjusted the way he was holding it from an ordinary hold to a backhanded grip1, using the the hilt with its remaining part of blade to exchange a few strikes. However as the blade failed soon afterwards, he tossed the hilt into the [Inventory]. Leaving him with only the axe, thus he grasped it with both hands. No matter how sturdy and thick the blade of a axe might be, if it is used against countless demons at full power repetitively, it will certainly slowly chip and be destroyed in the process. The axes handle was designed to endure chopping at hard wood and thus it wouldnt break quickly, which served Renyas purpose well enough. In the first place, he didnt plan on cutting with the axes blade anyway. All he required was a solid part to strike with, thus there was no impediment accomplishing his goal without the axes blade part. Wooden bucklers, leather armour and arms brandishing weapons in defence, were utterly useless in front of Renya. Without a care using all his strength, he continued to strike in a mood as if he was working on a lump of iron. Whether breaking or being broken lost all of its relevance. After all it were only bodies made of flesh and bones he was facing. After a short while his own leather armour was torn at several places as scratches had accumulated all over. As it was only an hindrance at this point, he tore it off and tossed it carelessly away. In a corner of his mind, he registered that it was a gift from Kami-sama originally. But that was only a passing thought as he focussed his concentration on the battle in front of him. With his body screaming in pain from the accumulated cut and stab wounds all over due to becoming defenceless, his mind started to loose its rational bounds and shifted towards the edge of insanity. It was an intoxicating pleasure. Loosing himself more and more in the rising madness. Enjoying the feeling of crushed flesh which was transmitted to him through the axes handle. Revelling in the sweet melody of bones being crushed. Desiring to bath his body in the lukewarm blood of his enemies, he was looking for the next victim. Watching the ugly face of a demon distorted in agonizing terror, he was truly happy. The face which was crying and pleading for help was an interesting sight to him. Judging escape to be impossible, the frantic expression as the deadly strike descended upon it, appeared to him as adorable. The throbbing wound of the light cut by a blade felt comfortable to him. The striking impact to the numb body about to puff the candle of life was irresistible. What kind of feeling will he experience with the next one? What kind of show will he watch with the next one? What kind of taste will he savour with the next one? As one would expect, the strain on the axes handle took its toll in the end. As he crushed another demon who didnt understand what was happening in front of its eyes, the handle broke. He stabbed the remaining sharp splinter into the face of a nearby goblin and thus parted with his last weapon. At last Renya was empty-handed causing the goblins to grab this chance to rush upon him. But there was no sign of panic on Renya countenance to be seen. Grabbing a wrist holding onto a weapon in order to steal it from its owner, he rammed his elbow into the face of the goblin snatching its weapon away, just to use it to crush another goblins head. The weapon was of low quality and not maintained at all, thus it broke after just one swing. But Renya didnt care at all and simply stole another weapon from a different goblin. This is not satisfying enough at all, you lot! (Renya) Stepping on a goblin that fell to the ground and crushing it, Renya spread his arms widely and declared thus threateningly. How weak! The enemy who kills your comrades stands here! The enemy you should kill is right before you! Whats wrong? Come and get me! (Renya) Renya shouted in front of their eyes. A remarkably huge goblin appeared in from of him. Renyas figure couldnt even begin to compare to its tremendous size. Gripping a longsword in its hand and donning a chain mail, one could tell at a glance, that this goblin was a different kind of breed in comparison to the goblins standing behind him. In a corner of his mind left untouched by his madness he realised that this was the goblin commander Shion mentioned before the battle started. Thats the goblin leader! You have no chance without weapons. Run away! (-) A voice exclaimed from a very far and remote place. Although unlikely Renya considered it to be Shions voice but disregarded such thinking right away. Whether the enemy had a weapon or was bare-handed didnt matter to Renya. This was a battlefield after all. And he wouldnt escape from it either way. Though his entire body was riddled with bruises from the fighting, Renyas speed didnt drop at all. However the speed of the goblin leader brandishing his longsword couldnt be compared to the other goblins he fought before at all. How slow, is what Renya thought nevertheless. Stepping in quickly Renya delivered a front kick with his left foot. As was expected of the goblin leaders physique, the kick was limited to only stopping it for a moment instead of sending it flying. Switching the foot stance from a kick to a step, Renya closed in on the goblin leader, using a palm strike with his right hand to pommel the wrist holding the brandished longsword. This attack caused the goblin leader to let go of the longsword. Continuing on, he rammed his right shoulder with deadly force into it. Even though their physique couldnt have been any more different, the goblin leader was knocked down on the ground. As it tried to stand up again, Renya quickly wrapped both arms around its neck. However he didnt intend to use such a half-hearted method as suffocating it. To avoid the other goblins attacking him in the back, he used the huge body as a shield. Channelling tremendous force into his arms, he pressed his back against the ground breaking the neck of the goblin leader. With the dull sound of the bone breaking, he used his palms to push off the limp body of the goblin leader. Without confirming its death, he leaped towards the longsword that was laying on the ground picking it up and grasping it tightly. The feeling it emitted was slightly heavy as it had a rather thick blade. Though he didnt understand where it procured such weapon, he doubted the goblin leader was able to use any sword skills (Kenjutsu). However it was a sturdy longsword and most likely wouldnt break even if he was to use his full strength, thought Renya. Well, I guess I was able to resupply myself with a weapon again, huh? (Renya) Turning around to the surrounding goblins, Renya smiled radiantly. The faces of the goblins who saw this became frozen stiff. Shall we continue then? (Renya) It was not possible to suppress him even if they assaulted him in numbers and their leader had been slain as well. There was no way left for the goblins to defend against Renyas attacks. While the goblins were screaming in terror, he waded through them leisurely as if he was taking a walk. The place called battlefield immediately changed into a slaughterhouse. Something like this happening daily he was imagining. He was looking forward to it. Translation Notes 1C Imagine switching from an ordinary sword stance to using the sword like a dagger holding it backhanded like a shinobi. Chapter 8 The sun rose slowly. Step by step the darkness of the night retreated steadily narrowing down its area of influence. Gazing at the sky which started to be tinted in a red color, Shion had a feeling she saw something she didnt actually want to see. It was almost morning, a refreshing one. If that only was the case it would be nice, Shion thought. If she tried to accurately describe her mixed up feelings this morning, she wouldnt be able to do it satisfactorily. Her whole body felt heavy. She was sore from running around all night. Until now she couldnt count the times she had to wield her weapon. Additionally half of that weariness was due to her listless nature. Here and there she was injured. Because of the bleeding her stamina was depleted which additionally caused an intense exhaustion. Although she didnt receive a fatal wound, the deep cuts at who-knows-how-many places took their toll in their own way. Putting her own affairs aside, the question why they were still alive simply didnt vanish. Originally she should rest on a bed or the ground. Her body was entirely wrapped up in bandages. Her wounds had been sewn shut making her appear like an old rag. Had it not been for Ronas healing magic, she would have used up all her strength midway assuming she was lucky enough to not be killed in battle before that. Although the medical treatment of her wounds had already finished, replenishing the blood she lost with Healing magic was not an option as curing the wounds of an patient caused twice the exhaustion on the practitioner. Her feelings were heavy, too When she closed her eyes, she was vividly reminded of the scene of the approaching horde of goblins emerging from within the darkness which was burned into her sight. She couldnt recall just how many of that crowd she had slaughtered. At the beginning she intended to keep count of it, but before long she stopped it as she didnt comprehend the reason to do it any more. Brandishing her weapon attempting to strike at the opponent similar to a free-for-all fight, there was no margin left to think about other matters. The damage sustained by the villagers was severe, too. After all it was only ten-odd defenders intercepting the charge. It was impossible to restrain the pack of goblins and thus they were allowed to invade the village center. Villagers who couldnt fight, locked their houses and secluded themselves in the basement where the crop was stored. The majority escaped the danger. Unfortunately it was discovered that 10 people had become desperate and tried to leave resulting in their death. As for the villagers who helped as defenders, most of them had died. There were merely two survivors. Those two each lost an arm and had their eyes injured. Returning back to the old life with such injuries wouldnt be possible any more. Most likely it has been decided to close down this village temporarily, Shion judged with a gloomy mood. The workers were almost completely annihilated. Thus it would be unreasonable for the remaining villagers to continue staying here. Going by the nature of the guild, it was almost certain that the accepted request will be judged as failure as well. Surviving in perfectly good health was absolutely necessary and only that would be deemed acceptable. Thinking about the cleanup of the incident, Shion was plunged into a whirl of dark emotions not knowing how deep she would fall. In the end, the horde of goblins gushing out of the forest approximately exceeded an amount in the three digits by several counts in total.1 Moving ones sight from the village towards the forest, the ground up to the forest was turned into an area that was completely covered with innumerable corpses of goblins scattered about. A figure of a person could be seen weaving through the gaps and slowly walking. It was Renya. He walked holding a knife drenched in reddish brown liquid in his left hand and dragging along the corpse of a goblin in his right hand. If one wondered what he was doing: He was in the process of collecting the magic cores from the defeated goblins bodies and gathering the unnecessary corpses in one place. The magic core was an unusual crystal placed within the body of every monster. Generally it could be found either above the heart or inside the head. The strength of a monster changed depending on the size of the core. As for goblins, the magic core could be found above their heart, however its size wasnt very big. Within that core mana2was stored. It is used for magic crafting and as a power source to use various devices in cities and the like. Furthermore the different magic cores themselves can be examined to determine from which monster it originated. Thus it also served as proof for subjugation requests of the guild. Summarized, bringing them back turned them into money. When Renya was taught this by Shion, he borrowed a knife from her after the battle and began to silently dismantle the corpses that were littering the field. The corpse which was in the right hand of Renya was thrown away. The corpses of goblins who had already been dismantled had grown into a hill. But there were still many more untouched corpses. Thus Renya immediately walked towards the next corpse. Good grief, what kind of stamina does that man have, Shion sighed. The appearance of the returning Renya shortly before dawn after the battle had ended had been quite terrible. Most of the leather armor he wore had been destroyed and his upper body was completely naked. The trousers were worn-out and cut in several places. He had been injured with a countless number of cuts and bruises all over and was also bleeding severely. Furthermore, on top of his body he was covered in the spurts of goblin gore. Basked in blood the rest couldnt be described as a solid body any more but rather as a lump of blood and flesh taking the shape of an essence resembling a human. Moreover, because he was basked in the blood and flesh of goblins, he emitted a staggering stench. Shion resigned herself quickly to the task of wiping off the gore with a cloth. Then she dragged him by his hand walking towards the well of the village in order to dump masses of water on him to somehow get rid of the remaining filth. When the dirt finally came off, Rona ended up screaming at first as she saw his whole body riddled with countless injuries. As soon as she had decided, Rona glossed over the persistently clinging stench with her own personal perfume, while frantically applying healing on his battered body. The person himself had from the beginning until the end worn an annoyed, not complying expression. At any rate, how absurd, Shion thought. Yet, though his charge was extremely reckless and shocked her into astonishment, he not only returned alive but also produced the majority of corpses of the subjugated goblins lying on the battlefield by himself. Moreover, after receiving treatment he immediately went on to move the corpses of the deceased villagers. And then he started on his operation to collect the magic cores from the dead goblins and to dispose of the dismantled corpses. If you left the corpse of a monster as is, it would turn into something that is called undead which harms humans. It was a troublesome being as the evil dwelling within continued to exist resenting humans for its death. But that was inevitable as monsters were such kind of creatures. Therefore it was a rule that the corpses of subjugated monsters had to properly be disposed of then and there. The predominating method of disposal was to burn the corpses to cinder. As the amount this time was quite numerous, the chance of a corpse turning undead while the magic cores were collected existed. The unusual and inefficient action of crushing the head, which Renya performed after collecting the magic core and carrying it to the mountain of discarded bodies, was owed to this. Due to this bloody work, his body became dirty again. Nevertheless, Shion had a problem with him doing his work in a half-naked state and thus requested a villager to prepare mens clothing for him to wear. Renya refused telling her that it would just get dirty again anyway. Thus now he was working being naked above the waist only wearing his torn trousers, which made one shiver considering the coldness of such appearance. That being said, his judgment was correct though. Shion firmly made up her mind to make him wear the requested clothes this time after washing off the dirt with water and perfume once his work was finished. Renya pulled up the corpse of a goblin, gouged out the magic core from its chest and crushed the head with the handle of the knife. What a tough person, thought Shion. On top of going through such a long battle, he continued afterwards to do this seemingly endless work. There was no adventurer of his kind to be found in the guild. At least Shion herself had no motivation to stand up and move even one step from the place she was resting at. Although he said he was a Lost3, it was the first time for Shion to see one herself. They were ignorant to the common sense of the world, yet they possessed strange knowledge. Furthermore in general they were capable swordsmen, magicians and manufacturers. That was the extent of Shions knowledge of the Lost. Generally they were good people as almost none of them were cruel criminals. The degree of frequency of their appearance widely varied. Especially if the world was heading towards a crisis, occasionally they would appear in a dashing heroic manner and among them a reasonable number carved their names and deeds into history. It is passed on that those figures were the existences known as the Lost. In other words, you could say they were an extremely ambiguous existence that couldnt be called neither a good nor a bad omen. Even so, Shion had a hunch that Renya was a Lost who in some way differed from the Lost as she had heard in rumors. The hearsay on the Lost was limited to the knowledge that their common point was them coming from somewhere beyond this world. This pattern was something they left behind as confirmed story after inquiring on it. However the case of a Lost introducing himself as such was as far as Shion knew something that hadnt happened in the past. To begin with, the meaning of the word Lost itself wasnt something a person afflicted by this state should simply know about. Thus calling yourself like this was not possible. If thats the case, the only reason Renya knows about the meaning of the word Lost was because someone else had taught it to him. However, Renya emerged from that forest. Very likely that was not a lie, Shion asserted. Although they were associated with each other for only a little while now, Renya didnt appear to be a person who was good at lying. Incidentally he showed no hesitation when he declared his name either. Within the forest there is no one who could have taught Renya the word, Shion believed without a doubt. Then, who the heck taught Renya that word? Thinking about it is pointless (Shion) Shion judged that she wouldnt get an answer to that question. Renya himself might tell her if she inquired him about it, but Shion hesitated whether it was a good idea to step into the core of the matter to such an extent. Therefore I will put aside the question concerning such matters for now, thought Shion as she watched Renya continuing his work. Gradually the corpses which still had to be dealt with started to change into things that were going to become an undead. However, Renya casually crushed them underfoot with hard kicks wearing an annoyed expression while continuing the processing of the corpses. Putting the various issues that cant be comprehended aside, that tough and sharp fighting technique is simply amazing. Furthermore not judging Rona as detestable is another big point. While he was ignorant of this worlds situation, it could be said he was able to accept various instructions and escaped the battle without harm. After going through the trouble with the soldiers from the mercenary kingdom, Shion now had too many hard feelings towards the various problems that could occur to a party of just two women. She had decided to choose an additional party member once they returned to town, but one couldnt make a mistake with such an excellent article before their eyes and thus she wouldnt let him get away. Shion was convinced that the degree of persuasion needed wouldnt be such a troublesome matter either. However, Renya still held onto that bamboo weapon which the soldiers of the mercenary kingdom mockingly called a stick. As a matter of fact he can be considered stubborn or rather be unyielding at times or more precisely he possessed typically difficult personality traits, she guessed. So in the situation of only inviting him it was still possible that he would get angry and abandon them by cutting their ties, too. Im not a very sociable person, Shion sighed while scratching her head. Its alright. I have a feeling that Rona will be able to flawlessly follow-up on me, she decided optimistically. That Rona was in the midst of her work of throwing firewood and oil one after another on the mountain of goblin corpses that Renya had amassed. I should help out over there too, Shion sighed while heading over. The stench is terrible. You should light the fire already, shouldnt you? (Rona) Rona said when she realized that Shion had come over. The smell the pile of corpses emitted was certainly unbearable, Shion nodded as she approached. To keep the burning fire alive this strange fuel was provided as an addition. We should start the fire, I think. (Shion) Can I ask you to do it? (Rona) She pleaded and Shion again nodded her approval. Although Rona was an apprentice, she was still fairly skilled at using the magic of a priest. However for that reason skills related to different kinds of magic were almost entirely no good to the degree that you could say she was incompetent at it. Being able to easily use magic of the water system meant that your affinity with magic of the fire system would be a hopelessly bad match. Even simple magic like was impossible to be cast. Shion herself was no magician and thus she wasnt able to use magic of a certain degree. However in consideration of the common daily life she had studied elementary magic. Thus it was usually her role to ignite a fire to boil water when they occasionally camped outside. In accordance to my authority: Dance, red dwarf!4(Shion) Putting power into the words, a part of the piled mountain is ignited by fire. could be called the most basic magic spell of the elementary magic in the fire system. It created no more than a tiny spark of magic. Because it was that convenient, not only adventurers but also common citizens usually utilized it. As long as one cleared the condition of not having a bad affinity with the system, like Rona had, almost everyone could learn this magic. By just paying a few silver coins, you could learn it in any slightly bigger town. Being widespread to this degree, one would expect the citizens to gather together and teach the skill to their fellow companions. Strangely though, unless you accepted the teaching by a magician you wouldnt be able to use it. While gazing at the flame extending itself along the firewood and oil, Shion judged it absolutely necessary to introduce Renya to a magician once they returned to town. Translation Notes 1tˤƣ򳬤뤯餤餷C I think I got it right but it sounds a bit odd. Please correct me, if I am wrong. 2Those who read my notes on Hachinan 26 know what comes next;) the author uses the term maryouku which is magic power as per translation. However magic power is a measurement of quality in my eyes and used as such occasionally. To differentiate to the usage as measurement of quantity, in other words magic energy, I will use the term mana. 3Translation would be person who lost his way/hesitating person but that seems confusing as it is not the characteristic attribute thats meant here. Thus I will go with the term Lost to reflect towards the fact they were transferred to this world and appear as lost to inhabitants of the world. 4तС˨C red dwarf sounds a bit odd but thats what the spell incantation is in the end.:) The sun rose slowly. Step by step the darkness of the night retreated steadily narrowing down its area of influence. Gazing at the sky which started to be tinted in a red color, Shion had a feeling she saw something she didnt actually want to see. It was almost morning, a refreshing one. If that only was the case it would be nice, Shion thought. If she tried to accurately describe her mixed up feelings this morning, she wouldnt be able to do it satisfactorily. Her whole body felt heavy. She was sore from running around all night. Until now she couldnt count the times she had to wield her weapon. Additionally half of that weariness was due to her listless nature. Here and there she was injured. Because of the bleeding her stamina was depleted which additionally caused an intense exhaustion. Although she didnt receive a fatal wound, the deep cuts at who-knows-how-many places took their toll in their own way. Putting her own affairs aside, the question why they were still alive simply didnt vanish. Originally she should rest on a bed or the ground. Her body was entirely wrapped up in bandages. Her wounds had been sewn shut making her appear like an old rag. Had it not been for Ronas healing magic, she would have used up all her strength midway assuming she was lucky enough to not be killed in battle before that. Although the medical treatment of her wounds had already finished, replenishing the blood she lost with Healing magic was not an option as curing the wounds of an patient caused twice the exhaustion on the practitioner. Her feelings were heavy, too When she closed her eyes, she was vividly reminded of the scene of the approaching horde of goblins emerging from within the darkness which was burned into her sight. She couldnt recall just how many of that crowd she had slaughtered. At the beginning she intended to keep count of it, but before long she stopped it as she didnt comprehend the reason to do it any more. Brandishing her weapon attempting to strike at the opponent similar to a free-for-all fight, there was no margin left to think about other matters. The damage sustained by the villagers was severe, too. After all it was only ten-odd defenders intercepting the charge. It was impossible to restrain the pack of goblins and thus they were allowed to invade the village center. Villagers who couldnt fight, locked their houses and secluded themselves in the basement where the crop was stored. The majority escaped the danger. Unfortunately it was discovered that 10 people had become desperate and tried to leave resulting in their death. As for the villagers who helped as defenders, most of them had died. There were merely two survivors. Those two each lost an arm and had their eyes injured. Returning back to the old life with such injuries wouldnt be possible any more. Most likely it has been decided to close down this village temporarily, Shion judged with a gloomy mood. The workers were almost completely annihilated. Thus it would be unreasonable for the remaining villagers to continue staying here. Going by the nature of the guild, it was almost certain that the accepted request will be judged as failure as well. Surviving in perfectly good health was absolutely necessary and only that would be deemed acceptable. Thinking about the cleanup of the incident, Shion was plunged into a whirl of dark emotions not knowing how deep she would fall. In the end, the horde of goblins gushing out of the forest approximately exceeded an amount in the three digits by several counts in total.1 Moving ones sight from the village towards the forest, the ground up to the forest was turned into an area that was completely covered with innumerable corpses of goblins scattered about. A figure of a person could be seen weaving through the gaps and slowly walking. It was Renya. He walked holding a knife drenched in reddish brown liquid in his left hand and dragging along the corpse of a goblin in his right hand. If one wondered what he was doing: He was in the process of collecting the magic cores from the defeated goblins bodies and gathering the unnecessary corpses in one place. The magic core was an unusual crystal placed within the body of every monster. Generally it could be found either above the heart or inside the head. The strength of a monster changed depending on the size of the core. As for goblins, the magic core could be found above their heart, however its size wasnt very big. Within that core mana2was stored. It is used for magic crafting and as a power source to use various devices in cities and the like. Furthermore the different magic cores themselves can be examined to determine from which monster it originated. Thus it also served as proof for subjugation requests of the guild. Summarized, bringing them back turned them into money. When Renya was taught this by Shion, he borrowed a knife from her after the battle and began to silently dismantle the corpses that were littering the field. The corpse which was in the right hand of Renya was thrown away. The corpses of goblins who had already been dismantled had grown into a hill. But there were still many more untouched corpses. Thus Renya immediately walked towards the next corpse. Good grief, what kind of stamina does that man have, Shion sighed. The appearance of the returning Renya shortly before dawn after the battle had ended had been quite terrible. Most of the leather armor he wore had been destroyed and his upper body was completely naked. The trousers were worn-out and cut in several places. He had been injured with a countless number of cuts and bruises all over and was also bleeding severely. Furthermore, on top of his body he was covered in the spurts of goblin gore. Basked in blood the rest couldnt be described as a solid body any more but rather as a lump of blood and flesh taking the shape of an essence resembling a human. Moreover, because he was basked in the blood and flesh of goblins, he emitted a staggering stench. Shion resigned herself quickly to the task of wiping off the gore with a cloth. Then she dragged him by his hand walking towards the well of the village in order to dump masses of water on him to somehow get rid of the remaining filth. When the dirt finally came off, Rona ended up screaming at first as she saw his whole body riddled with countless injuries. As soon as she had decided, Rona glossed over the persistently clinging stench with her own personal perfume, while frantically applying healing on his battered body. The person himself had from the beginning until the end worn an annoyed, not complying expression. At any rate, how absurd, Shion thought. Yet, though his charge was extremely reckless and shocked her into astonishment, he not only returned alive but also produced the majority of corpses of the subjugated goblins lying on the battlefield by himself. Moreover, after receiving treatment he immediately went on to move the corpses of the deceased villagers. And then he started on his operation to collect the magic cores from the dead goblins and to dispose of the dismantled corpses. If you left the corpse of a monster as is, it would turn into something that is called undead which harms humans. It was a troublesome being as the evil dwelling within continued to exist resenting humans for its death. But that was inevitable as monsters were such kind of creatures. Therefore it was a rule that the corpses of subjugated monsters had to properly be disposed of then and there. The predominating method of disposal was to burn the corpses to cinder. As the amount this time was quite numerous, the chance of a corpse turning undead while the magic cores were collected existed. The unusual and inefficient action of crushing the head, which Renya performed after collecting the magic core and carrying it to the mountain of discarded bodies, was owed to this. Due to this bloody work, his body became dirty again. Nevertheless, Shion had a problem with him doing his work in a half-naked state and thus requested a villager to prepare mens clothing for him to wear. Renya refused telling her that it would just get dirty again anyway. Thus now he was working being naked above the waist only wearing his torn trousers, which made one shiver considering the coldness of such appearance. That being said, his judgment was correct though. Shion firmly made up her mind to make him wear the requested clothes this time after washing off the dirt with water and perfume once his work was finished. Renya pulled up the corpse of a goblin, gouged out the magic core from its chest and crushed the head with the handle of the knife. What a tough person, thought Shion. On top of going through such a long battle, he continued afterwards to do this seemingly endless work. There was no adventurer of his kind to be found in the guild. At least Shion herself had no motivation to stand up and move even one step from the place she was resting at. Although he said he was a Lost3, it was the first time for Shion to see one herself. They were ignorant to the common sense of the world, yet they possessed strange knowledge. Furthermore in general they were capable swordsmen, magicians and manufacturers. That was the extent of Shions knowledge of the Lost. Generally they were good people as almost none of them were cruel criminals. The degree of frequency of their appearance widely varied. Especially if the world was heading towards a crisis, occasionally they would appear in a dashing heroic manner and among them a reasonable number carved their names and deeds into history. It is passed on that those figures were the existences known as the Lost. In other words, you could say they were an extremely ambiguous existence that couldnt be called neither a good nor a bad omen. Even so, Shion had a hunch that Renya was a Lost who in some way differed from the Lost as she had heard in rumors. The hearsay on the Lost was limited to the knowledge that their common point was them coming from somewhere beyond this world. This pattern was something they left behind as confirmed story after inquiring on it. However the case of a Lost introducing himself as such was as far as Shion knew something that hadnt happened in the past. To begin with, the meaning of the word Lost itself wasnt something a person afflicted by this state should simply know about. Thus calling yourself like this was not possible. If thats the case, the only reason Renya knows about the meaning of the word Lost was because someone else had taught it to him. However, Renya emerged from that forest. Very likely that was not a lie, Shion asserted. Although they were associated with each other for only a little while now, Renya didnt appear to be a person who was good at lying. Incidentally he showed no hesitation when he declared his name either. Within the forest there is no one who could have taught Renya the word, Shion believed without a doubt. Then, who the heck taught Renya that word? Thinking about it is pointless (Shion) Shion judged that she wouldnt get an answer to that question. Renya himself might tell her if she inquired him about it, but Shion hesitated whether it was a good idea to step into the core of the matter to such an extent. Therefore I will put aside the question concerning such matters for now, thought Shion as she watched Renya continuing his work. Gradually the corpses which still had to be dealt with started to change into things that were going to become an undead. However, Renya casually crushed them underfoot with hard kicks wearing an annoyed expression while continuing the processing of the corpses. Putting the various issues that cant be comprehended aside, that tough and sharp fighting technique is simply amazing. Furthermore not judging Rona as detestable is another big point. While he was ignorant of this worlds situation, it could be said he was able to accept various instructions and escaped the battle without harm. After going through the trouble with the soldiers from the mercenary kingdom, Shion now had too many hard feelings towards the various problems that could occur to a party of just two women. She had decided to choose an additional party member once they returned to town, but one couldnt make a mistake with such an excellent article before their eyes and thus she wouldnt let him get away. Shion was convinced that the degree of persuasion needed wouldnt be such a troublesome matter either. However, Renya still held onto that bamboo weapon which the soldiers of the mercenary kingdom mockingly called a stick. As a matter of fact he can be considered stubborn or rather be unyielding at times or more precisely he possessed typically difficult personality traits, she guessed. So in the situation of only inviting him it was still possible that he would get angry and abandon them by cutting their ties, too. Im not a very sociable person, Shion sighed while scratching her head. Its alright. I have a feeling that Rona will be able to flawlessly follow-up on me, she decided optimistically. That Rona was in the midst of her work of throwing firewood and oil one after another on the mountain of goblin corpses that Renya had amassed. I should help out over there too, Shion sighed while heading over. The stench is terrible. You should light the fire already, shouldnt you? (Rona) Rona said when she realized that Shion had come over. The smell the pile of corpses emitted was certainly unbearable, Shion nodded as she approached. To keep the burning fire alive this strange fuel was provided as an addition. We should start the fire, I think. (Shion) Can I ask you to do it? (Rona) She pleaded and Shion again nodded her approval. Although Rona was an apprentice, she was still fairly skilled at using the magic of a priest. However for that reason skills related to different kinds of magic were almost entirely no good to the degree that you could say she was incompetent at it. Being able to easily use magic of the water system meant that your affinity with magic of the fire system would be a hopelessly bad match. Even simple magic like was impossible to be cast. Shion herself was no magician and thus she wasnt able to use magic of a certain degree. However in consideration of the common daily life she had studied elementary magic. Thus it was usually her role to ignite a fire to boil water when they occasionally camped outside. In accordance to my authority: Dance, red dwarf!4(Shion) Putting power into the words, a part of the piled mountain is ignited by fire. could be called the most basic magic spell of the elementary magic in the fire system. It created no more than a tiny spark of magic. Because it was that convenient, not only adventurers but also common citizens usually utilized it. As long as one cleared the condition of not having a bad affinity with the system, like Rona had, almost everyone could learn this magic. By just paying a few silver coins, you could learn it in any slightly bigger town. Being widespread to this degree, one would expect the citizens to gather together and teach the skill to their fellow companions. Strangely though, unless you accepted the teaching by a magician you wouldnt be able to use it. While gazing at the flame extending itself along the firewood and oil, Shion judged it absolutely necessary to introduce Renya to a magician once they returned to town. Translation Notes 1tˤƣ򳬤뤯餤餷C I think I got it right but it sounds a bit odd. Please correct me, if I am wrong. 2Those who read my notes on Hachinan 26 know what comes next;) the author uses the term maryouku which is magic power as per translation. However magic power is a measurement of quality in my eyes and used as such occasionally. To differentiate to the usage as measurement of quantity, in other words magic energy, I will use the term mana. 3Translation would be person who lost his way/hesitating person but that seems confusing as it is not the characteristic attribute thats meant here. Thus I will go with the term Lost to reflect towards the fact they were transferred to this world and appear as lost to inhabitants of the world. 4तС˨C red dwarf sounds a bit odd but thats what the spell incantation is in the end.:) Chapter 9 In the end 116 magic cores were collected. Most of them were as small as the fingernail of a pinky finger. According to Shion their value supposedly was 3 silver coins per piece. After selling all of them, it would amount to 348 silver coins in total. As Renya didnt know the currency used in this world, he asked Shion to show him some coins that were circulating as currency. There was copper coin, big copper coin, silver coin, gold coin and platinum coin. Apparently the same currency was used on the entire continent. The exchange rate was: 10 Copper coins -> 1 Big Copper coin 10 Big Copper coins -> 1 Silver coin 100 Silver coins -> 1 Gold coin 100 Gold coins -> 1 Platinum coin After being troubled for a little while, Shion also explained their respective value. Generally one bread or one drink cost 10 copper coins. Given that kind of explanation, Renya considered and conjectured from his own knowledge that 1 copper coin equaled approximately 10 Japanese yen in his original world. In other words, one could think of it as follows: a Big Copper coin is 100 Japanese yen, a Silver coin is 1000 Japanese yen, a Gold coin is 100000 Japanese yen and a Platinum coin is 10 million Japanese yen. Based on this calculation Renya considered the value of money to be obviously very high. Generally you wouldnt need to use more than silver coins to live an ordinary life. Gold and platinum coins were stored away and sometimes used by adventurers to buy expensive tools and equipment. That was the approximate run-down Shion taught Renya. Looking at the spoils from the recent battle, 3 gold coins and 48 silver coins had been procured. Defining it in the currency of his original world, it would be 348000 Japanese yen. As a result it couldnt be helped that Renya had a feeling of it being very little considering how close to death he had been in the battle. Apart from this, the reward for the subjugation all together was 2 big copper coins for each goblin. 116 were defeated, thus it was 232 big copper coins or 23200 Japanese yen. Really not worth it,was Renyas thought. Still, according to what Shion taught him, for eating a reasonable set of meal 5 big copper coins were required and for staying one day and night at a typical inn including 2 meals cost 3 silver coins. As a matter of fact, Renya noticed that the spoils from the recent battle didnt cover any more than three months of living expenses. Thus he changed his way of thinking and simply recognized this to be the way it was. For slaying 1 goblin, you got 2 big copper coins for the subjugation and 3 silver coins for the magic core. Pondering about it, it wasnt even sufficient enough for one day of food and lodging expenses. You couldnt really call that appropriate. In the first place, it is quite rare in itself to encounter a crowd reaching a count in the 3 digits. This time could be counted as rare case. It cant be helped that it wasnt worth it, either, Renya agreed to himself. Renyas wallet in his [Inventory] held 10 gold coins. Roughly calculated, this amount of money would cover 10 months of living expenses. In this case it was a situation where he could surprisingly splurge. Next time he met Kami-sama he would need to express his gratitude. Or rather, I will be a bit more gentle while dealing with her, Renya decided. From the goblin leader which Renya defeated the loot was slightly larger, a magic core with a size to the degree of a thumbnail. (T/N: xD) The reward for the subjugation was 5 silver coins and it seemed that the magic core would bring him 10 silver coins. Although he thought that it was rather abrupt for the reward to rise this sharply, Shion and Rona concluded that it was due to the considerable degree of danger in finishing the goblin leader off. There was no choice but to accept this exception. Even if he was concerned about the reward, it was pointless worrying about it, as he couldnt hand it in, if he didnt venture to the closest town first. This was a problem, too. Above all, even though the next regular carriage would certainly arrive, all of the villagers will be eager to board it. Naturally there was no way the capacity of the carriage would be sufficient. After the villagers fought against the goblin raid, they pretty much lost everything. The current condition of the village was similar to a bare plot of land. Abandoning this place by themselves to return to town was not feasible for Renyas group either. For escorting the villagers back to town it was necessary to employ soldiers. It would be wise to send a letter along with the carriage to the guild, so they could put up a request for this task. Thinking about this, it would be another difficult voyage. Ten days after sending the letter, about 10 soldiers along with 3 empty carts arrived at the village. Renya couldnt comprehend at all what was going on with this situation. Shion explained it to him like this: After the letter reached the guild, the guild contacted the town mayor about it. It was very likely that the town mayor wasnt able to dispatch a satisfactory number of soldiers with the authority he possessed. Thus the mayor now had to talk to the feudal lord governing the area about the situation. Then the feudal lord likely contacted the central government about it. And then the central government refused the dispatch of soldiers. This sounded like a quite cruel story, but for starters the central government might have seen this as trivial matter allowing them to not concern themselves with it.You caused the situation, so deal with it yourselfseemed to be the extent of awareness towards the whole situation. Accordingly the feudal lord and the town mayor reluctantly split the task of dispatching soldiers and carts. Furthermore, heading towards the village could actually be called time consuming and hard labor, which was the reason why they arrived only now. Considering the reported damage, the amount of soldiers is insufficient. Although it was stated that this was the limit, this amount of carts is nowhere near enough either. (Shion) Shion displeasedly stated. Even if close to half the number of villagers went to town, there would still be 30 villagers left in the vicinity. In order to transport all the luggage, three carts were totally insufficient. It was decided that the luggage which didnt fit on the carts would be discarded unless it could be carried in the hands. Therefore the villagers examined which luggage held too important property to be thrown away. To be asked to go ahead and throw it away just like that, it was unthinkable that they would easily say Yes, right away. Naturally the villagers started to quarrel between themselves causing even the guards to be influenced by the disputes. Unable to just watch, the soldiers coldly drove away the desperately petitioning villagers. Shion consulted in Renya to offer a solution but he declined it. Anticipating the current situation, Renya had already finished putting Shions and Ronas luggage into the storage of his [Inventory]. More or less there was still some space left inside, but that could only be called little. Granting the wish of the villagers was not possible no matter how you looked at it. In the end the amount of luggage will only increase. Then the villagers complaints will merely turn our way, dont you agree? (Renya) The storage of [Inventory] certainly was convenient. But because the other people didnt know the upper limit, by Renyas estimation the villagers very likely wouldnt be able to comprehend the situation as soon as the storage was full. Such complaints as Come on, you can carry a lot more, cant you would certainly be directed towards them and as soon as Renya would decline it, they would turn their dissatisfaction towards his two female companions. Even if I say so myself, thats a little cold-hearted, isnt it, Renya thought to himself while still wearing a rejecting expression. And yet, Shion still persisted. Abandoning our luggage would be alright as well though. (Shion) That would only allow a little bit more to be added. It doesnt solve the fundamental problem at all. Besides I dont really know anyone properly, thus I want to prioritize Shion and Rona whom I am indebted to. (Renya) That is I am thankful, but (Shion) Shion, please leave it at that. (Rona) Unexpectedly such follow-up was brought up by Rona. Because of her appearance and her occupation, Renya had thought that she would definitely support Shion on this matter. However with a calm countenance and gentle expression Rona called out to Shion and placed her hands on Shions shoulders. Furthermore clinging to Shion trying to hold her back. If circumstances would allow it, Renya would be sure to help with everyones luggage, too. But unfortunately thats not possible. Since not all of it can be taken with us, there is no way to avoid choosing which will be. This choice will give birth to unfairness, which may potentially be dangerous to Renya-san and us, and become apprehensions towards Renya-san. Therefore the option of not telling them about the [Inventory] can be called the best choice. (Rona) Are you okay with that, Rona? (Shion) Shion asked while understanding the reasoning but apparently not quite accepting it. Rona expressed a slightly awkward smiled. Even though things may appear to be this way, I am still a priestess. If it was possible, I would want to help them. However, in the current situation that would be called something unreasonable. Speaking of not wanting to help would be very unbecoming of a priestess. (Rona) That is I hate it, but (Shion) Shion was unable to give up and withdraw. Well, they definitely are good people,Renya admired although he couldnt put it in better words. He noticed Rona looking at him as if she wanted to say something while he was ruminating. Even though Rona could say the necessary words, she wanted him to do it by himself. It was such a feeling. Although Renya wasnt able to remember his own past. One could probably tell from his facial expression, that his ability to understand the emotions of others in relation to his perception could be called rather low. This is completely different from the ability to predict an opponents next move from their behavior and look in combat, it is a profoundly more complex ability, thought Renya. For this reason, while he was able to keep showing a delighted smile in combat, he had no ability to read the mood or in other words he was ordinarily disconnected without questioning or thinking in depth. His 94 years of experience didnt help him in any way in grasping the heart of others. Thus he was frantically trying to read Ronas expression and at last he succeeded in doing so. Then, what in the world do you want me to say here? It surely isnt even more severe words of refusal, Renya thought. Speaking of proper words for the sake of settling this situation somehow to make Shion, who doesnt want to give up, accept following If the usage of the void storage were to be seen, we would be liable to unjust suspicion for being able to carry even more. (Renya) While slowly building up his words, Renya was pondering whether he somehow got the wrong idea. For a fraction of time he threw an inquiring glance at Rona seeking direction as he continued to talk. However, as for helping to carry the luggage, as anyone can see it is easy to understand that there is a limit to carrying luggage. (Renya) Un ? (Shion) Shion was puzzled about what Renya wanted to say. As for Rona, her smiling expression didnt crumble for an instant at all. Since it didnt seem like he made a mistake with the direction his talk was headed, Renya continued. Fortunately our luggage has already been stored away in the void storage causing us to be lightly equipped. Also, the villagers are not aware of the fact that I am a possessor of the ability called void storage. (Renya) Un (Shion) To enable the carriage to deliver the letter faster, filling it up with luggage had been postponed, only the important luggage had been loaded. I am certain that all villagers will be able to cooperate this way. (Renya) That is (Shion) Before Shion could say something, Rona clapped a hand on her chest. *pan* I see, if thats the case this unreasonable situation will calm down and disappear, too. All the villagers will be eager to cooperate with us since the method is easy to understand. (Rona) Although it might be cunning, I still suggest this as a compromise. What do you think? (Renya) Even though the words were directed at Shion, they were directed at Rona simultaneously as well. Rona didnt lose her smiling expression, whereas Shion suddenly brightened up. I-Is that so? Certainly, if thats the case, the villagers will be able to accept that this unreasonable situation is unjustified. And although its just a little, the villagers wont get accustomed to always getting help. I will go discuss this with the village chief for a little while. (Shion) Finally showing a smile on her face, Shion jogged away heading towards her destination. *pata pata* While seeing her back off, Renya muttered without changing his line of sight, May I consider this way of removing her hard feelings to be to your satisfaction? (Renya) Yes, I shall offer you a perfect passing grade. (Rona) Hearing the sound of applause, Renya shifted his view towards Rona. Rona was clapping her hands in front of her chest *pachi pachi* while she was smiling. *niko niko* Because he couldnt judge the situation in any way, Renya cocked his head in puzzlement while pondering the matter in his mind thinking about the words that were spoken. You dont really think that I followed-up properly, do you? (Renya) Going by the appearance and conclusion, it was in tune with Shions opinion, no? (Rona) With no feeling of tension, Rona answered without changing her tone being somehow carefree. And yet, even if it was just a little, Renya felt that the mood she emitted had obviously changed. Because I am a priestess, Im not a reasonable realist and unfit to be one in this situation, too. (Rona) I thought that priests always rely on the name of god in situations where it is convenient. (Renya) Ah haha It seems to be necessary to have a proper discussion soon, isnt that so, Renya-san? (Rona) Feeling the slight provocation, Renya picked up on the little amount of anger mixed in Ronas words. However she immediately returned to her normal calm voice. There is a god. The works of god are entirely real, too. However, after all, people themselves are not really ready for the words of God. While it may be true that I am studying Healing magic, there still is an innumerable amount of people I cant save. (Rona) A shadow darkens Ronas expression. Most likely she had experienced something in the past which caused her current expression. Renya waited for her to continue. The number of people who can be saved is limited. Priests are pious, sacrificing themselves for their doctrine. Thus they cant devote themselves to just one thing. It is absolutely necessary to be able to conduct oneself to demarcation. (Rona) I have a feeling thats not all there is to it. (Renya) Renya said while scratching his cheek with the index finger. Rona stared at Renya with a slightly astonished expression. That facial expression was immediately remade into the usual calm expression from before. Even so, Renya had plenty of time to notice the change in her expression. And, what do you mean by that? (Rona) No, nothing, since my intuition wont work any further than that. Without a foundation, saying anything else feels like stepping in too deep. Or would you tell me, if my conjecture was right or wrong? (Renya) Hmm, what should I do? (Rona) In addition, that is. (Renya) Renya inserted jokingly into her words while considering how to continue. Although I dont know who said it, but I heard that a woman having a few secrets makes her more beautiful. (Renya) Being attacked in an unguarded moment, her expression visibly went blank. And then instantly her whole face floated a smile towards Renya and she retorted. Mind your own business. Even without secrets, Shion and I are beautiful women. (Rona) Indeed, I was in the wrong. (Renya) Renya said while blushing as he had slipped with his words. Without loosing her smiling face, Rona nodded. *kokukoku* (T/N: Thats one dangerous woman fufufu) In the end 116 magic cores were collected. Most of them were as small as the fingernail of a pinky finger. According to Shion their value supposedly was 3 silver coins per piece. After selling all of them, it would amount to 348 silver coins in total. As Renya didnt know the currency used in this world, he asked Shion to show him some coins that were circulating as currency. There was copper coin, big copper coin, silver coin, gold coin and platinum coin. Apparently the same currency was used on the entire continent. The exchange rate was: 10 Copper coins -> 1 Big Copper coin 10 Big Copper coins -> 1 Silver coin 100 Silver coins -> 1 Gold coin 100 Gold coins -> 1 Platinum coin After being troubled for a little while, Shion also explained their respective value. Generally one bread or one drink cost 10 copper coins. Given that kind of explanation, Renya considered and conjectured from his own knowledge that 1 copper coin equaled approximately 10 Japanese yen in his original world. In other words, one could think of it as follows: a Big Copper coin is 100 Japanese yen, a Silver coin is 1000 Japanese yen, a Gold coin is 100000 Japanese yen and a Platinum coin is 10 million Japanese yen. Based on this calculation Renya considered the value of money to be obviously very high. Generally you wouldnt need to use more than silver coins to live an ordinary life. Gold and platinum coins were stored away and sometimes used by adventurers to buy expensive tools and equipment. That was the approximate run-down Shion taught Renya. Looking at the spoils from the recent battle, 3 gold coins and 48 silver coins had been procured. Defining it in the currency of his original world, it would be 348000 Japanese yen. As a result it couldnt be helped that Renya had a feeling of it being very little considering how close to death he had been in the battle. Apart from this, the reward for the subjugation all together was 2 big copper coins for each goblin. 116 were defeated, thus it was 232 big copper coins or 23200 Japanese yen. Really not worth it,was Renyas thought. Still, according to what Shion taught him, for eating a reasonable set of meal 5 big copper coins were required and for staying one day and night at a typical inn including 2 meals cost 3 silver coins. As a matter of fact, Renya noticed that the spoils from the recent battle didnt cover any more than three months of living expenses. Thus he changed his way of thinking and simply recognized this to be the way it was. For slaying 1 goblin, you got 2 big copper coins for the subjugation and 3 silver coins for the magic core. Pondering about it, it wasnt even sufficient enough for one day of food and lodging expenses. You couldnt really call that appropriate. In the first place, it is quite rare in itself to encounter a crowd reaching a count in the 3 digits. This time could be counted as rare case. It cant be helped that it wasnt worth it, either, Renya agreed to himself. Renyas wallet in his [Inventory] held 10 gold coins. Roughly calculated, this amount of money would cover 10 months of living expenses. In this case it was a situation where he could surprisingly splurge. Next time he met Kami-sama he would need to express his gratitude. Or rather, I will be a bit more gentle while dealing with her, Renya decided. From the goblin leader which Renya defeated the loot was slightly larger, a magic core with a size to the degree of a thumbnail. (T/N: xD) The reward for the subjugation was 5 silver coins and it seemed that the magic core would bring him 10 silver coins. Although he thought that it was rather abrupt for the reward to rise this sharply, Shion and Rona concluded that it was due to the considerable degree of danger in finishing the goblin leader off. There was no choice but to accept this exception. Even if he was concerned about the reward, it was pointless worrying about it, as he couldnt hand it in, if he didnt venture to the closest town first. This was a problem, too. Above all, even though the next regular carriage would certainly arrive, all of the villagers will be eager to board it. Naturally there was no way the capacity of the carriage would be sufficient. After the villagers fought against the goblin raid, they pretty much lost everything. The current condition of the village was similar to a bare plot of land. Abandoning this place by themselves to return to town was not feasible for Renyas group either. For escorting the villagers back to town it was necessary to employ soldiers. It would be wise to send a letter along with the carriage to the guild, so they could put up a request for this task. Thinking about this, it would be another difficult voyage. Ten days after sending the letter, about 10 soldiers along with 3 empty carts arrived at the village. Renya couldnt comprehend at all what was going on with this situation. Shion explained it to him like this: After the letter reached the guild, the guild contacted the town mayor about it. It was very likely that the town mayor wasnt able to dispatch a satisfactory number of soldiers with the authority he possessed. Thus the mayor now had to talk to the feudal lord governing the area about the situation. Then the feudal lord likely contacted the central government about it. And then the central government refused the dispatch of soldiers. This sounded like a quite cruel story, but for starters the central government might have seen this as trivial matter allowing them to not concern themselves with it.You caused the situation, so deal with it yourselfseemed to be the extent of awareness towards the whole situation. Accordingly the feudal lord and the town mayor reluctantly split the task of dispatching soldiers and carts. Furthermore, heading towards the village could actually be called time consuming and hard labor, which was the reason why they arrived only now. Considering the reported damage, the amount of soldiers is insufficient. Although it was stated that this was the limit, this amount of carts is nowhere near enough either. (Shion) Shion displeasedly stated. Even if close to half the number of villagers went to town, there would still be 30 villagers left in the vicinity. In order to transport all the luggage, three carts were totally insufficient. It was decided that the luggage which didnt fit on the carts would be discarded unless it could be carried in the hands. Therefore the villagers examined which luggage held too important property to be thrown away. To be asked to go ahead and throw it away just like that, it was unthinkable that they would easily say Yes, right away. Naturally the villagers started to quarrel between themselves causing even the guards to be influenced by the disputes. Unable to just watch, the soldiers coldly drove away the desperately petitioning villagers. Shion consulted in Renya to offer a solution but he declined it. Anticipating the current situation, Renya had already finished putting Shions and Ronas luggage into the storage of his [Inventory]. More or less there was still some space left inside, but that could only be called little. Granting the wish of the villagers was not possible no matter how you looked at it. In the end the amount of luggage will only increase. Then the villagers complaints will merely turn our way, dont you agree? (Renya) The storage of [Inventory] certainly was convenient. But because the other people didnt know the upper limit, by Renyas estimation the villagers very likely wouldnt be able to comprehend the situation as soon as the storage was full. Such complaints as Come on, you can carry a lot more, cant you would certainly be directed towards them and as soon as Renya would decline it, they would turn their dissatisfaction towards his two female companions. Even if I say so myself, thats a little cold-hearted, isnt it, Renya thought to himself while still wearing a rejecting expression. And yet, Shion still persisted. Abandoning our luggage would be alright as well though. (Shion) That would only allow a little bit more to be added. It doesnt solve the fundamental problem at all. Besides I dont really know anyone properly, thus I want to prioritize Shion and Rona whom I am indebted to. (Renya) That is I am thankful, but (Shion) Shion, please leave it at that. (Rona) Unexpectedly such follow-up was brought up by Rona. Because of her appearance and her occupation, Renya had thought that she would definitely support Shion on this matter. However with a calm countenance and gentle expression Rona called out to Shion and placed her hands on Shions shoulders. Furthermore clinging to Shion trying to hold her back. If circumstances would allow it, Renya would be sure to help with everyones luggage, too. But unfortunately thats not possible. Since not all of it can be taken with us, there is no way to avoid choosing which will be. This choice will give birth to unfairness, which may potentially be dangerous to Renya-san and us, and become apprehensions towards Renya-san. Therefore the option of not telling them about the [Inventory] can be called the best choice. (Rona) Are you okay with that, Rona? (Shion) Shion asked while understanding the reasoning but apparently not quite accepting it. Rona expressed a slightly awkward smiled. Even though things may appear to be this way, I am still a priestess. If it was possible, I would want to help them. However, in the current situation that would be called something unreasonable. Speaking of not wanting to help would be very unbecoming of a priestess. (Rona) That is I hate it, but (Shion) Shion was unable to give up and withdraw. Well, they definitely are good people,Renya admired although he couldnt put it in better words. He noticed Rona looking at him as if she wanted to say something while he was ruminating. Even though Rona could say the necessary words, she wanted him to do it by himself. It was such a feeling. Although Renya wasnt able to remember his own past. One could probably tell from his facial expression, that his ability to understand the emotions of others in relation to his perception could be called rather low. This is completely different from the ability to predict an opponents next move from their behavior and look in combat, it is a profoundly more complex ability, thought Renya. For this reason, while he was able to keep showing a delighted smile in combat, he had no ability to read the mood or in other words he was ordinarily disconnected without questioning or thinking in depth. His 94 years of experience didnt help him in any way in grasping the heart of others. Thus he was frantically trying to read Ronas expression and at last he succeeded in doing so. Then, what in the world do you want me to say here? It surely isnt even more severe words of refusal, Renya thought. Speaking of proper words for the sake of settling this situation somehow to make Shion, who doesnt want to give up, accept following If the usage of the void storage were to be seen, we would be liable to unjust suspicion for being able to carry even more. (Renya) While slowly building up his words, Renya was pondering whether he somehow got the wrong idea. For a fraction of time he threw an inquiring glance at Rona seeking direction as he continued to talk. However, as for helping to carry the luggage, as anyone can see it is easy to understand that there is a limit to carrying luggage. (Renya) Un ? (Shion) Shion was puzzled about what Renya wanted to say. As for Rona, her smiling expression didnt crumble for an instant at all. Since it didnt seem like he made a mistake with the direction his talk was headed, Renya continued. Fortunately our luggage has already been stored away in the void storage causing us to be lightly equipped. Also, the villagers are not aware of the fact that I am a possessor of the ability called void storage. (Renya) Un (Shion) To enable the carriage to deliver the letter faster, filling it up with luggage had been postponed, only the important luggage had been loaded. I am certain that all villagers will be able to cooperate this way. (Renya) That is (Shion) Before Shion could say something, Rona clapped a hand on her chest. *pan* I see, if thats the case this unreasonable situation will calm down and disappear, too. All the villagers will be eager to cooperate with us since the method is easy to understand. (Rona) Although it might be cunning, I still suggest this as a compromise. What do you think? (Renya) Even though the words were directed at Shion, they were directed at Rona simultaneously as well. Rona didnt lose her smiling expression, whereas Shion suddenly brightened up. I-Is that so? Certainly, if thats the case, the villagers will be able to accept that this unreasonable situation is unjustified. And although its just a little, the villagers wont get accustomed to always getting help. I will go discuss this with the village chief for a little while. (Shion) Finally showing a smile on her face, Shion jogged away heading towards her destination. *pata pata* While seeing her back off, Renya muttered without changing his line of sight, May I consider this way of removing her hard feelings to be to your satisfaction? (Renya) Yes, I shall offer you a perfect passing grade. (Rona) Hearing the sound of applause, Renya shifted his view towards Rona. Rona was clapping her hands in front of her chest *pachi pachi* while she was smiling. *niko niko* Because he couldnt judge the situation in any way, Renya cocked his head in puzzlement while pondering the matter in his mind thinking about the words that were spoken. You dont really think that I followed-up properly, do you? (Renya) Going by the appearance and conclusion, it was in tune with Shions opinion, no? (Rona) With no feeling of tension, Rona answered without changing her tone being somehow carefree. And yet, even if it was just a little, Renya felt that the mood she emitted had obviously changed. Because I am a priestess, Im not a reasonable realist and unfit to be one in this situation, too. (Rona) I thought that priests always rely on the name of god in situations where it is convenient. (Renya) Ah haha It seems to be necessary to have a proper discussion soon, isnt that so, Renya-san? (Rona) Feeling the slight provocation, Renya picked up on the little amount of anger mixed in Ronas words. However she immediately returned to her normal calm voice. There is a god. The works of god are entirely real, too. However, after all, people themselves are not really ready for the words of God. While it may be true that I am studying Healing magic, there still is an innumerable amount of people I cant save. (Rona) A shadow darkens Ronas expression. Most likely she had experienced something in the past which caused her current expression. Renya waited for her to continue. The number of people who can be saved is limited. Priests are pious, sacrificing themselves for their doctrine. Thus they cant devote themselves to just one thing. It is absolutely necessary to be able to conduct oneself to demarcation. (Rona) I have a feeling thats not all there is to it. (Renya) Renya said while scratching his cheek with the index finger. Rona stared at Renya with a slightly astonished expression. That facial expression was immediately remade into the usual calm expression from before. Even so, Renya had plenty of time to notice the change in her expression. And, what do you mean by that? (Rona) No, nothing, since my intuition wont work any further than that. Without a foundation, saying anything else feels like stepping in too deep. Or would you tell me, if my conjecture was right or wrong? (Renya) Hmm, what should I do? (Rona) In addition, that is. (Renya) Renya inserted jokingly into her words while considering how to continue. Although I dont know who said it, but I heard that a woman having a few secrets makes her more beautiful. (Renya) Being attacked in an unguarded moment, her expression visibly went blank. And then instantly her whole face floated a smile towards Renya and she retorted. Mind your own business. Even without secrets, Shion and I are beautiful women. (Rona) Indeed, I was in the wrong. (Renya) Renya said while blushing as he had slipped with his words. Without loosing her smiling face, Rona nodded. *kokukoku* (T/N: Thats one dangerous woman fufufu) Chapter 10 The commercial city Kukrika(T/N: >> Kukurika > Toraiden 2which can ascertain it. (Shion) Renya was surprised about such unusual magic apparently similar to a lie detector. While living in the pioneer village, it was also surprising to see the commonly widespread use of particular magic to create water or ignite a spark of fire. As one would expect of another world, no matter how strange it was, it was still quite useful. Speaking of useful, the same could be said of the card Shions group used in order to proof their social status in front of the guards. According to Shion, it was the guild card of the Adventurers guild. The adventurers guild had a huge sphere of influence. Wherever one went, the card served as valid substitute for identification papers, at least within the territory of the human race, that is. Almost extending across the entire nation, there didnt seem to be any place where the card couldnt be used. Also, not only in the eastern continent of the human race, but also in the western continent dominated by the elves and in the southern continent dominated by a mix of demi-humen and beastmen the card was in circulation to some extent. Still, as one could have expected, apparently the dragon tribe and the demon clan didnt use the card at all. Nevertheless, in total close to 60-70% of the entire continental area used the card as valid identification papers. Thus calling that card convenient was quite understandable. Apart from this, there were also identification papers which were issued by the feudal lord.3Just that it was quite useless to obtain them, going by Shions words. It would be different though, if Renya decided to not move away from this city. (Shion) Deciding to settle down could be called a really attractive alternative. But considering Kami-samas request to scatter the resources, it wasnt possible to say that settling in one place was a good thing. Even assuming he set up a base at some point in time, the option of leading a hikikomori4lifestyle didnt exist for Renya. It is only valid for one province after all? (Renya) Un, basically the pass issued by the feudal lord is only valid within the province. The one issued by the state is only valid within its borders. (Shion) Though for common people it is quite sufficient if you consider that they dont need the excessive traveling of adventurers. Assuming Renya-san similarly wishes to make a living by being an adventurer, then you shouldnt hesitate about obtaining the guild card, you know. (Rona) Because of that very reason, we are guiding you to the adventurers guild first. We have to report about the accepted request, too. (Shion) Recalling the subject of reporting while speaking about it, Shions expression got heavy and gloomy. While hardly being able to investigate the forest itself, unpredictably their subjugation target, the goblins, spilled out from the forest. The result was the destruction of the pioneers village. Almost certainly they wont get any request reward. If things didnt go well, it wasnt unthinkable that they might be charged with some kind of penalty due to the failure of the request, too. Conversely, Ronas smile didnt falter at all. Contrary to the pessimistic Shion, she blamed the failure to investigate the forest itself on the hindrance by the accompanying party. On the grounds that the village was destroyed, she pointed out that originally in such case it wouldnt been strange if they had been totally annihilated. From the standpoint of letting about half of them getting away it was above all a success since more than 100 goblin bodies from those overflowing from within the forest had been cleaned up, too. Thus she didnt seem to consider it to become such a particularly harsh issue. Renya himself wasnt overly eager to go to the guild either, if one asked his true opinion. At the time he met Shions group, they were attacked by six ruffians. The matter which led to their deaths and the handling of their dead bodies wasnt anything he wanted to report. Furthermore, Shions group implicated that he might potentially be restrained to some degree. Since the situation was as it was, he considered the case of him getting rid of the six people as trivial. As for the restraint of being a criminal, he would ask them to pardon it. If it was possible, Renya felt like playing dumb and fleeing. Doing it that way, it would be necessary to part from Shions group and depart for another city. Although, in the first place on top of reporting about the matter on hand, Shions group would report that the person concerned ran away, too. Thus escaping to another city would very likely cause him to fall into a similar situation, which would put an end to his simple plans. I will escape once the issue gets too troublesome, he decided. For now I will follow their guidance as is, since I have no choice but to go and have a look anyway, Renya leaked a heavy sigh. Translation Notes 1Lets not get into math, okay? ^^ 2h Shingi literally translated it would be something like deliberation but that doesnt fit the context. Picking apart the kanji, the first means something like trial/judge/hearing and the second consultation/deliberation. The consultation of a judge would mean Judgement thats my take on it fitting it slightly into the context. If I am wrong, feel free to correct me here. 3Probably a context error by the author as he wrote nation/state there which wouldnt fit with the following story flow. 4People who shut themselves within their room/apartment reducing contact with society as much as possible. The commercial city Kukrika(T/N: >> Kukurika > Toraiden 2which can ascertain it. (Shion) Renya was surprised about such unusual magic apparently similar to a lie detector. While living in the pioneer village, it was also surprising to see the commonly widespread use of particular magic to create water or ignite a spark of fire. As one would expect of another world, no matter how strange it was, it was still quite useful. Speaking of useful, the same could be said of the card Shions group used in order to proof their social status in front of the guards. According to Shion, it was the guild card of the Adventurers guild. The adventurers guild had a huge sphere of influence. Wherever one went, the card served as valid substitute for identification papers, at least within the territory of the human race, that is. Almost extending across the entire nation, there didnt seem to be any place where the card couldnt be used. Also, not only in the eastern continent of the human race, but also in the western continent dominated by the elves and in the southern continent dominated by a mix of demi-humen and beastmen the card was in circulation to some extent. Still, as one could have expected, apparently the dragon tribe and the demon clan didnt use the card at all. Nevertheless, in total close to 60-70% of the entire continental area used the card as valid identification papers. Thus calling that card convenient was quite understandable. Apart from this, there were also identification papers which were issued by the feudal lord.3Just that it was quite useless to obtain them, going by Shions words. It would be different though, if Renya decided to not move away from this city. (Shion) Deciding to settle down could be called a really attractive alternative. But considering Kami-samas request to scatter the resources, it wasnt possible to say that settling in one place was a good thing. Even assuming he set up a base at some point in time, the option of leading a hikikomori4lifestyle didnt exist for Renya. It is only valid for one province after all? (Renya) Un, basically the pass issued by the feudal lord is only valid within the province. The one issued by the state is only valid within its borders. (Shion) Though for common people it is quite sufficient if you consider that they dont need the excessive traveling of adventurers. Assuming Renya-san similarly wishes to make a living by being an adventurer, then you shouldnt hesitate about obtaining the guild card, you know. (Rona) Because of that very reason, we are guiding you to the adventurers guild first. We have to report about the accepted request, too. (Shion) Recalling the subject of reporting while speaking about it, Shions expression got heavy and gloomy. While hardly being able to investigate the forest itself, unpredictably their subjugation target, the goblins, spilled out from the forest. The result was the destruction of the pioneers village. Almost certainly they wont get any request reward. If things didnt go well, it wasnt unthinkable that they might be charged with some kind of penalty due to the failure of the request, too. Conversely, Ronas smile didnt falter at all. Contrary to the pessimistic Shion, she blamed the failure to investigate the forest itself on the hindrance by the accompanying party. On the grounds that the village was destroyed, she pointed out that originally in such case it wouldnt been strange if they had been totally annihilated. From the standpoint of letting about half of them getting away it was above all a success since more than 100 goblin bodies from those overflowing from within the forest had been cleaned up, too. Thus she didnt seem to consider it to become such a particularly harsh issue. Renya himself wasnt overly eager to go to the guild either, if one asked his true opinion. At the time he met Shions group, they were attacked by six ruffians. The matter which led to their deaths and the handling of their dead bodies wasnt anything he wanted to report. Furthermore, Shions group implicated that he might potentially be restrained to some degree. Since the situation was as it was, he considered the case of him getting rid of the six people as trivial. As for the restraint of being a criminal, he would ask them to pardon it. If it was possible, Renya felt like playing dumb and fleeing. Doing it that way, it would be necessary to part from Shions group and depart for another city. Although, in the first place on top of reporting about the matter on hand, Shions group would report that the person concerned ran away, too. Thus escaping to another city would very likely cause him to fall into a similar situation, which would put an end to his simple plans. I will escape once the issue gets too troublesome, he decided. For now I will follow their guidance as is, since I have no choice but to go and have a look anyway, Renya leaked a heavy sigh. Translation Notes 1Lets not get into math, okay? ^^ 2h Shingi literally translated it would be something like deliberation but that doesnt fit the context. Picking apart the kanji, the first means something like trial/judge/hearing and the second consultation/deliberation. The consultation of a judge would mean Judgement thats my take on it fitting it slightly into the context. If I am wrong, feel free to correct me here. 3Probably a context error by the author as he wrote nation/state there which wouldnt fit with the following story flow. 4People who shut themselves within their room/apartment reducing contact with society as much as possible. Chapter 11 In the business district there were various establishments. After merely a glimpse the streets seemed to be identical. Bars and shops similar to general stores were lined up in a row. No difference could be found between them. Although acquiring directions beforehand, Renya would have been lost without someone leading him. He couldnt find the building he was aiming for. Within his mind Renya had a preconception of the organization called the adventurers guild. Something like: Somehow brawny and aroused with muscular ossan-tachi1smelling of sweat and manliness, brandishing their weapons and wearing armor extorted from apprentices who just joined the guild. A dim store interior shrouded in smoke, where people had dubious conversations in *goso goso* sounds. In no way was it a decent organization. (T/N: That imagination of his made me laugh for several minutes. xD) Guided by Shions group they turned up in front of a building. A crest of a sword and wand crossing was displayed above the entrance. A conservative signboard with the titleAdventurers guild C Kukrika branchwritten on top was lonely hanging there. He determined that it was a normal building. This might have potential, Renya judged. This is not such a suspicious organization as I originally thought. If I had to define it, it has a gentle feeling. Truly, I dont understand how the hell they want to secure combat potential. An Onee-chan who fully exposed her skin, a few taciturn, expressionless female magicians with rough bodies and an ikemen who excelled at using the sword and could use some additional magic. Enemies of such a game would certainly emerge right away, sending claims via mail to the management since the hero would be a protagonist going *kya kya* and *fufu.*2This seems to be such a place. You cant really call this an adventurers guild. In this case I could judge myself to be totally out of place here. I dont think I want to stay here for even a second longer. After coming to this world, Renya had not yet had the chance to accurately confirm his own facial features. The glass in the pioneers village didnt resemble a mirror at all. He also missed his chance to ask Shion and Rona to lend him one. Although it was also because the situation didnt allow him to spend any time on such matters, either. He only had absolute confidence in one thing. That is, I am not the type of man you would call an ikemen, apparently. For this reason, I am not resembling a hero protagonist going *kya kya* and *fufu* with his harem party causing him to be plunged into hesitation and then to reliably finish with a happy end at all. In such an extreme case, most likely I would probably feel depressed being compared to the high-level surroundings while being so low-level myself. As for this, at the time I was sent to this world, should I have asked that little girl kami-sama to transform me just a bit into a fine-looking man? Pondering as far as that, Renya suddenly noticed. My memory concerning my previous life was supposedly erased by that little girl. Where in the hell did I learn this *kya kya* *fufu* stuff? Moreover I now suddenly understand that there was some problem in my previous life, Renya felt. Maybe I might have been one of a less overly upright race. Such a race who escaped the three-dimensional world to immerse themselves in the two-dimensional one without being able to take a stroll outside and seeing the sun shining before them. If that was the case, what a useless way of passing my time up until the age of 94 that would have been. Renya although I dont know what you are thinking about, doing what appears to be writhing and kneeling at the edge of the street you are becoming a nuisance for the passers-by. (Shion) As she was unable to watch Renyas eccentric behavior any longer, Shion called out to him. No, I dont want to go to the guild after all. (Renya) After coming all this way? If you dont register at the guild, you wont be able to properly settle your social status. Exiting and entering the city wont be possible either. If you dont process that case with the mercenaries neatly, you will possibly become a criminal which may go so far as you having to flee and go into hiding. (Shion) I will manage somehow. (Renya) Somehow nothing. Give it up. Now come. (Shion) Seizing Renya forcibly by the nape of the neck, Shion pulled him up from his crouching position. Without changing her hold, she made sure to drag him along while going through the entrance way of the guild building. There was no point in trying to resist her strong power. Making sure to avoid passing through the street, she dragged Renya through the main entrance. Rona gracefully followed right behind them. I didnt want to come here either if it were avoidable. But its my mistake after all, and looking at it objectively it is absolutely necessary to report it. (Shion) Such a way of thinking I thought it was just a manner of speaking, but (Renya) What do you (Shion) Shions words were interrupted midways. Looking around while being dragged along as is, Renya saw something resembling a suitable reception area. On the other side of the counter, there was a person wearing a uniform with a sharp, straightforward design. She looked slightly older than Shions group, yet it was still a young woman with brown colored hair who stood there while smiling. Eto Shions and Ronas party. Weve returned from the request in the miasma-filled forest. I would like you to receive the report. (Shion) Yes. Please wait for a moment while I examine the records. (Receptionist) After saying this, the woman at the reception counter took out something like a register and looked through it while turning the pages. Renya used the chance to let his eyes wander over the interior of the guild. In contrast to what Renya had expected, there was nothing that looked like a gloomy bar-room. Sunlight flooded through a huge window to maintain the brightness within the room. It felt like a pleasant meeting place. Bookshelves with something like documents organized within, a bulletin board plastered with request labels, a place used for meetings and appointments, a counter offering light meals, several tables where one could eat and drink. Such was the design. The people coming and going also, there was nothing like a harem party which had worried Renya before. People with the air of veterans wearing reasonably worn-out equipment and youngsters clad in brand new gear. The ratio was about fifty-fifty. The gender ratio also was praiseworthy as it didnt really tilt to either side. Many of the guild staff members apparently were women. It went to such a degree that you could say the scales of gender distribution was slightly slanting towards the majority being women. Eto Investigation of the miasma-filled forest request, right? The records state the request was accepted by 8 people. Is that correct? (Receptionist) Ah, it is necessary to report some things about this matter (Shion) As it was difficult to talk about, Shion didnt seem eager to explain. After thinking for a moment, the woman at reception said, It appears that there was quite a bit trouble, huh?. That way, an inner room has been prepared. (Receptionist) Understood. And, this person who is accompanying us is involved as well. But before that, hed like to go ahead and register at the guild. Can I leave it to you? (Shion) In the state of having the nape of his neck tightly grabbed by Shion and being held up just like a cat, Renya was shown to the woman at the reception counter. Coming as far as this, there is no particular need to try escaping, Renya though while having the nape of his neck held tightly. He raised one hand. Hello there. (Renya) Hello in return. It somehow seems to be serious (Receptionist) The woman at the reception counter wasnt perturbed at all. Renya sensed her professional personality. Come to think of it, from the beginning the smile of that woman hadnt waned in the least. Somehow he seems to be a Lost. At least thats what he declared himself to be. (Shion) Ara, thats also quite unusual. (Receptionist) Although there was a hint of surprise mixed within her voice, her facial expression didnt falter even a bit. Even if they said its rare, maybe there are quite a few Lost wandering around here and there?Renya became slightly anxious. Having no memory of his previous world, he prayed to Kami-sama that there werent any more people being Lost in this place in the same circumstances as him. Because he felt that his prayers had the strength to travel to the place of that little girl, he prayed for something different. The receptionist stowed away the register below the counter in an accustomed manner. In exchange she took out one piece of paper. This is a registration application sheet. (Receptionist) Renya accepted the document and roughly looked over it, as Shion had quietly removed her hand from the nape of his neck. The words written there werent overly difficult or different. There were entries for full name, gender and age. Furthermore the guild rules that are to be followed as closely as possible written in the way an oath would be were noted down on the application form. All that had to be said was covered with this. This is quite simple, isnt it? (Renya) Because it would be unreasonable to write it in difficult words If we went as far as using difficult words, almost no one would choose the road of being an adventurer. (Receptionist) While nonchalantly smiling as before, she declared this. Thats the way of life, Renya thought. Certainly speaking of the adventurer occupation, it might be somehow reputed to be cool. But it is a totally different matter altogether to say those words under the sun while puffing out your chest in pride. No, usually such things as investigations are mocked (Shion) Unconsciously leaking his words, Shion rebutted glumly. He ignored her. I will protect the rules as far as it is practically possible. Will that be sufficient? (Renya) While he asked the receptionist, he filled out the full name entry withRenya Kunugi, put his age down as a suitable 18 years and the gender as male. The woman at the reception nodded in agreement. Rona, who spied on the age field, leaked aEe~in a tiny voice without being aware of it. I think maybe I should have considered to state myself to be older. Since I am in truth 94 years old there would have been no reason to go and complain about it either. Absolute compliance to the rules is impossible. (Receptionist) In the early stage after founding the adventurers guild, there was a movement to implement a lot of rules to be kept, too. However, as a result adventurers who were arrested for breaking the rules appeared one after the other. The situation escalated to the point that it got difficult to dispatch adventurers for regular duty. After shaving away some of the rules here and there, it eventually became the current standard, explained the receptionist. While thinking that it was a very understanding and agreeable organization, he moved his eyes to the rules written on the application form. There the rules written as numbered items were indeed very concise. First rule: Killing fellow guild members is strictly forbidden. With the exception that there is a reason for it. Second rule: The guild members offer their services only through the guild. As for this, there are no limits on jobs being physical or consultation in nature. Third rule: If something is unclear, consult the reception counter about the issue. Fourth rule: Basically, the guild leader is the Law. (T/N: 4b: and if he/she is wrong apply rule 4a ) In a branch, the branch leader is the Law. Only this ? (Renya) Come on, thats just too simple.Renya, feeling visibly exhausted, inquired. The receptionist decisively nodded. I fear that its likely that this exchange has repeated many times with new adventurers who just registered. Yes, only this Did you really think I would say that? In reality there are a lot more rules with various details enlisted for each (Receptionist) The receptionist let out a breath of sighing. For some reason that small sigh carried a lot of anxiety. Without knowing why there was a slight stir behind Renya. Even if I asked all adventurers to remember all the rules, it would be impossible. (Receptionist) Although he didnt know how to answer, Renya floated a subtle smile. Maybe all the adventurers of this world could be described in such words as muscle-brains and baka, which could be said to have the same meaning. The fear that this might be the case emerged again within him. Because of this, the most important rules you have to take care of keeping are Rule 1 and 2. And at various places you will have to go with the flow and deal with Rule 3 and 4. (Receptionist) For the time being, it is a well thought-out system. (Renya) Then, with that being said, the application form is done for a Lost. Originally there are a few other application forms with entries to be filled in like birthplace and religious faith. I dont think those apply for a Lost though. (Receptionist) After confirming the entries Renya finished by signing the written oath on the application form. Then he returned the sheet to the receptionist. Could the information in the entries be leaked? Even though I say that, there are only 4 points written there. No choice, I guess. The receptionist verified the contents, folded the form and put it into her breast pocket on the uniform. Issuing the card will take a bit of time. During that time, please move to the room that has been prepared in the back. (Receptionist) The indicated door was on the other side of the counter. On a first glance it was an ordinary door. However, just looking at that door, Renya felt something unpleasant causing him to frown. Shions group didnt notice this change of facial expression. I have no motivation to head over there but I guess it cant be helped Who is on the other side of that door? (Renya) The vice-guild leader is waiting. Is that so? Renya, you are more or less related to the situation in the report as well. I would like you to go inside with us. Do you mind? (Shion) The behavior of Shion, who asked the question, seemed somehow apologetic. I dont mind, neither do I care. That was the intention from the start, dont you agree? (Renya) Renya replied with an expression of Isnt it a little late to ask that? Shion nodded slightly. By the way, Rona still expressed a smile in this situation. Up until now there really were no signs showing of it breaking down. Although thats true Because the other party is a companion, I wanted to make sure you were ready. (Shion) With merely this brief comment, it was plainly visible that Shions group didnt want to go and meet the person waiting on the other side of the door. Maa, the situation is similar to a ship that has already sailed.3 (Renya) Thank you we will make sure to not cause too many additional troubles although we cant promise it definitely. (Shion) Listening to the sound of earnest worry within Shions tone, Renya started to seriously consider securing an escape route. Translation Notes 1Group of middle-aged men. 2Renya basically means that any game protagonist who chooses a party from the current selection would most likely be an unlikable, easygoing pervert, which would lead to a torch and pitchfork revolt by the people who purchased the game. So Renyas initial impression of the guild is quite low for an organized military structure. 3It has already happened, so theres no helping anyway. In the business district there were various establishments. After merely a glimpse the streets seemed to be identical. Bars and shops similar to general stores were lined up in a row. No difference could be found between them. Although acquiring directions beforehand, Renya would have been lost without someone leading him. He couldnt find the building he was aiming for. Within his mind Renya had a preconception of the organization called the adventurers guild. Something like: Somehow brawny and aroused with muscular ossan-tachi1smelling of sweat and manliness, brandishing their weapons and wearing armor extorted from apprentices who just joined the guild. A dim store interior shrouded in smoke, where people had dubious conversations in *goso goso* sounds. In no way was it a decent organization. (T/N: That imagination of his made me laugh for several minutes. xD) Guided by Shions group they turned up in front of a building. A crest of a sword and wand crossing was displayed above the entrance. A conservative signboard with the titleAdventurers guild C Kukrika branchwritten on top was lonely hanging there. He determined that it was a normal building. This might have potential, Renya judged. This is not such a suspicious organization as I originally thought. If I had to define it, it has a gentle feeling. Truly, I dont understand how the hell they want to secure combat potential. An Onee-chan who fully exposed her skin, a few taciturn, expressionless female magicians with rough bodies and an ikemen who excelled at using the sword and could use some additional magic. Enemies of such a game would certainly emerge right away, sending claims via mail to the management since the hero would be a protagonist going *kya kya* and *fufu.*2This seems to be such a place. You cant really call this an adventurers guild. In this case I could judge myself to be totally out of place here. I dont think I want to stay here for even a second longer. After coming to this world, Renya had not yet had the chance to accurately confirm his own facial features. The glass in the pioneers village didnt resemble a mirror at all. He also missed his chance to ask Shion and Rona to lend him one. Although it was also because the situation didnt allow him to spend any time on such matters, either. He only had absolute confidence in one thing. That is, I am not the type of man you would call an ikemen, apparently. For this reason, I am not resembling a hero protagonist going *kya kya* and *fufu* with his harem party causing him to be plunged into hesitation and then to reliably finish with a happy end at all. In such an extreme case, most likely I would probably feel depressed being compared to the high-level surroundings while being so low-level myself. As for this, at the time I was sent to this world, should I have asked that little girl kami-sama to transform me just a bit into a fine-looking man? Pondering as far as that, Renya suddenly noticed. My memory concerning my previous life was supposedly erased by that little girl. Where in the hell did I learn this *kya kya* *fufu* stuff? Moreover I now suddenly understand that there was some problem in my previous life, Renya felt. Maybe I might have been one of a less overly upright race. Such a race who escaped the three-dimensional world to immerse themselves in the two-dimensional one without being able to take a stroll outside and seeing the sun shining before them. If that was the case, what a useless way of passing my time up until the age of 94 that would have been. Renya although I dont know what you are thinking about, doing what appears to be writhing and kneeling at the edge of the street you are becoming a nuisance for the passers-by. (Shion) As she was unable to watch Renyas eccentric behavior any longer, Shion called out to him. No, I dont want to go to the guild after all. (Renya) After coming all this way? If you dont register at the guild, you wont be able to properly settle your social status. Exiting and entering the city wont be possible either. If you dont process that case with the mercenaries neatly, you will possibly become a criminal which may go so far as you having to flee and go into hiding. (Shion) I will manage somehow. (Renya) Somehow nothing. Give it up. Now come. (Shion) Seizing Renya forcibly by the nape of the neck, Shion pulled him up from his crouching position. Without changing her hold, she made sure to drag him along while going through the entrance way of the guild building. There was no point in trying to resist her strong power. Making sure to avoid passing through the street, she dragged Renya through the main entrance. Rona gracefully followed right behind them. I didnt want to come here either if it were avoidable. But its my mistake after all, and looking at it objectively it is absolutely necessary to report it. (Shion) Such a way of thinking I thought it was just a manner of speaking, but (Renya) What do you (Shion) Shions words were interrupted midways. Looking around while being dragged along as is, Renya saw something resembling a suitable reception area. On the other side of the counter, there was a person wearing a uniform with a sharp, straightforward design. She looked slightly older than Shions group, yet it was still a young woman with brown colored hair who stood there while smiling. Eto Shions and Ronas party. Weve returned from the request in the miasma-filled forest. I would like you to receive the report. (Shion) Yes. Please wait for a moment while I examine the records. (Receptionist) After saying this, the woman at the reception counter took out something like a register and looked through it while turning the pages. Renya used the chance to let his eyes wander over the interior of the guild. In contrast to what Renya had expected, there was nothing that looked like a gloomy bar-room. Sunlight flooded through a huge window to maintain the brightness within the room. It felt like a pleasant meeting place. Bookshelves with something like documents organized within, a bulletin board plastered with request labels, a place used for meetings and appointments, a counter offering light meals, several tables where one could eat and drink. Such was the design. The people coming and going also, there was nothing like a harem party which had worried Renya before. People with the air of veterans wearing reasonably worn-out equipment and youngsters clad in brand new gear. The ratio was about fifty-fifty. The gender ratio also was praiseworthy as it didnt really tilt to either side. Many of the guild staff members apparently were women. It went to such a degree that you could say the scales of gender distribution was slightly slanting towards the majority being women. Eto Investigation of the miasma-filled forest request, right? The records state the request was accepted by 8 people. Is that correct? (Receptionist) Ah, it is necessary to report some things about this matter (Shion) As it was difficult to talk about, Shion didnt seem eager to explain. After thinking for a moment, the woman at reception said, It appears that there was quite a bit trouble, huh?. That way, an inner room has been prepared. (Receptionist) Understood. And, this person who is accompanying us is involved as well. But before that, hed like to go ahead and register at the guild. Can I leave it to you? (Shion) In the state of having the nape of his neck tightly grabbed by Shion and being held up just like a cat, Renya was shown to the woman at the reception counter. Coming as far as this, there is no particular need to try escaping, Renya though while having the nape of his neck held tightly. He raised one hand. Hello there. (Renya) Hello in return. It somehow seems to be serious (Receptionist) The woman at the reception counter wasnt perturbed at all. Renya sensed her professional personality. Come to think of it, from the beginning the smile of that woman hadnt waned in the least. Somehow he seems to be a Lost. At least thats what he declared himself to be. (Shion) Ara, thats also quite unusual. (Receptionist) Although there was a hint of surprise mixed within her voice, her facial expression didnt falter even a bit. Even if they said its rare, maybe there are quite a few Lost wandering around here and there?Renya became slightly anxious. Having no memory of his previous world, he prayed to Kami-sama that there werent any more people being Lost in this place in the same circumstances as him. Because he felt that his prayers had the strength to travel to the place of that little girl, he prayed for something different. The receptionist stowed away the register below the counter in an accustomed manner. In exchange she took out one piece of paper. This is a registration application sheet. (Receptionist) Renya accepted the document and roughly looked over it, as Shion had quietly removed her hand from the nape of his neck. The words written there werent overly difficult or different. There were entries for full name, gender and age. Furthermore the guild rules that are to be followed as closely as possible written in the way an oath would be were noted down on the application form. All that had to be said was covered with this. This is quite simple, isnt it? (Renya) Because it would be unreasonable to write it in difficult words If we went as far as using difficult words, almost no one would choose the road of being an adventurer. (Receptionist) While nonchalantly smiling as before, she declared this. Thats the way of life, Renya thought. Certainly speaking of the adventurer occupation, it might be somehow reputed to be cool. But it is a totally different matter altogether to say those words under the sun while puffing out your chest in pride. No, usually such things as investigations are mocked (Shion) Unconsciously leaking his words, Shion rebutted glumly. He ignored her. I will protect the rules as far as it is practically possible. Will that be sufficient? (Renya) While he asked the receptionist, he filled out the full name entry withRenya Kunugi, put his age down as a suitable 18 years and the gender as male. The woman at the reception nodded in agreement. Rona, who spied on the age field, leaked aEe~in a tiny voice without being aware of it. I think maybe I should have considered to state myself to be older. Since I am in truth 94 years old there would have been no reason to go and complain about it either. Absolute compliance to the rules is impossible. (Receptionist) In the early stage after founding the adventurers guild, there was a movement to implement a lot of rules to be kept, too. However, as a result adventurers who were arrested for breaking the rules appeared one after the other. The situation escalated to the point that it got difficult to dispatch adventurers for regular duty. After shaving away some of the rules here and there, it eventually became the current standard, explained the receptionist. While thinking that it was a very understanding and agreeable organization, he moved his eyes to the rules written on the application form. There the rules written as numbered items were indeed very concise. First rule: Killing fellow guild members is strictly forbidden. With the exception that there is a reason for it. Second rule: The guild members offer their services only through the guild. As for this, there are no limits on jobs being physical or consultation in nature. Third rule: If something is unclear, consult the reception counter about the issue. Fourth rule: Basically, the guild leader is the Law. (T/N: 4b: and if he/she is wrong apply rule 4a ) In a branch, the branch leader is the Law. Only this ? (Renya) Come on, thats just too simple.Renya, feeling visibly exhausted, inquired. The receptionist decisively nodded. I fear that its likely that this exchange has repeated many times with new adventurers who just registered. Yes, only this Did you really think I would say that? In reality there are a lot more rules with various details enlisted for each (Receptionist) The receptionist let out a breath of sighing. For some reason that small sigh carried a lot of anxiety. Without knowing why there was a slight stir behind Renya. Even if I asked all adventurers to remember all the rules, it would be impossible. (Receptionist) Although he didnt know how to answer, Renya floated a subtle smile. Maybe all the adventurers of this world could be described in such words as muscle-brains and baka, which could be said to have the same meaning. The fear that this might be the case emerged again within him. Because of this, the most important rules you have to take care of keeping are Rule 1 and 2. And at various places you will have to go with the flow and deal with Rule 3 and 4. (Receptionist) For the time being, it is a well thought-out system. (Renya) Then, with that being said, the application form is done for a Lost. Originally there are a few other application forms with entries to be filled in like birthplace and religious faith. I dont think those apply for a Lost though. (Receptionist) After confirming the entries Renya finished by signing the written oath on the application form. Then he returned the sheet to the receptionist. Could the information in the entries be leaked? Even though I say that, there are only 4 points written there. No choice, I guess. The receptionist verified the contents, folded the form and put it into her breast pocket on the uniform. Issuing the card will take a bit of time. During that time, please move to the room that has been prepared in the back. (Receptionist) The indicated door was on the other side of the counter. On a first glance it was an ordinary door. However, just looking at that door, Renya felt something unpleasant causing him to frown. Shions group didnt notice this change of facial expression. I have no motivation to head over there but I guess it cant be helped Who is on the other side of that door? (Renya) The vice-guild leader is waiting. Is that so? Renya, you are more or less related to the situation in the report as well. I would like you to go inside with us. Do you mind? (Shion) The behavior of Shion, who asked the question, seemed somehow apologetic. I dont mind, neither do I care. That was the intention from the start, dont you agree? (Renya) Renya replied with an expression of Isnt it a little late to ask that? Shion nodded slightly. By the way, Rona still expressed a smile in this situation. Up until now there really were no signs showing of it breaking down. Although thats true Because the other party is a companion, I wanted to make sure you were ready. (Shion) With merely this brief comment, it was plainly visible that Shions group didnt want to go and meet the person waiting on the other side of the door. Maa, the situation is similar to a ship that has already sailed.3 (Renya) Thank you we will make sure to not cause too many additional troubles although we cant promise it definitely. (Shion) Listening to the sound of earnest worry within Shions tone, Renya started to seriously consider securing an escape route. Translation Notes 1Group of middle-aged men. 2Renya basically means that any game protagonist who chooses a party from the current selection would most likely be an unlikable, easygoing pervert, which would lead to a torch and pitchfork revolt by the people who purchased the game. So Renyas initial impression of the guild is quite low for an organized military structure. 3It has already happened, so theres no helping anyway. Chapter 11.5 What is such a peerless state called? (Giliel) While watching the battle scenery on a displayed translucent window suspended in midair, Giliel(T/N: >> Girieru allowed him to possibly overcome the resistance of about 100 goblin opponents with only brute force without using any of his other abilities. The skill allowed a person to recover from a received injury and lost stamina several tens of times faster than usual. It was a more or less ordinary Invoked type of skill. It was a skill that had to consciously be activated to display its original performance. Renya wasnt very good atusingthis skill by intuition. You could say that he was using it at its minimal effect of invocation as it wasnt actually accompanied by a real feeling of the skill. Related to the weapon, Giliel, I thought I had entrusted this matter to you, hadnt I? (chibi) Being pointedly stared at, Giliel suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. In order to not show her startled facial expression, she quietly bowed her head. The timing wasnt right yet. I am very sorry. (Giliel) She swallowed the words, that she couldnt imagine a good timing for that in the first place either. Oh well, its fine. Please hurry as much as possible. I wouldnt be able to stand watching Renya-san die because his weapon was insufficient. (chibi) Yes, I will take the necessary measures immediately. All things considered (Giliel) While the image displayed on the translucent window changed from the battle scene to the gate of some city, Giliel searched for the right words to change the topic. Although she didnt intent to slack on her assigned job in the least, being repeatedly called an amateur by the person in charge wasnt amusing at all. The situation seems to be advancing smoothly enough. (Giliel) In this world Lost themselves are not at a level of being called a rare existence either, but rather its a reasonable degree of recognizing them as unusual, you know. However, thats the problem here. (chibi) At the gate of the city, Renya caused some trouble with the provincial guards. As the women accompanying him managed to quell the situation so he could pass, the little girl watching this scene leaked a sigh. Certainly, judging by the reactions of his surroundings, he was at best perceived as a somehow rare occurrence, despite him being a person of another world. The extent of rarity was far from astonishment and even further from confusion. Is there a problem? (Giliel) Its a problem, for example that. (chibi) The little girl pointed at the window. The shown scene stopped. This scene is, the scene where a Lost tries to enter the city. In this case the reason for not letting him into the city is the lack of him possessing the identification papers representing his social status. However, the Lost is let into the city without even understanding the issue with the identification papers. There is even the exemption of him not having to pay the toll even though he is someone not holding the proper identification papers, and yet he succeeds in entering. (chibi) Usually a person not holding any identification papers is taken to the guards office as a consequence in order to be interrogated. After the truth of their claim is judged, they will be issued temporary identification papers. Furthermore they have to pay a commission fee, the little girl supplemented. Even in the case of a Lost, if there is a guarantor for their identity, they are supposed to loan the commission fee to the Lost. So whats the problem? (Giliel) As for this, Lost dont know about these issues upon entering the city and are generally penniless to begin with. The inhabitants of this world are aware of this fact for sure since its a kind of usual historical custom. (chibi) Do you understand? the little girl asked with her gestures. Giliel was puzzled as she didnt comprehend what the heck was the significance of this matter. In front of the difficult pupil who failed to understand the significance of her words, the little girl acting like a sensei heaved a single sigh and continued. The Lost caused something like a dispute at the entrance gate to the city as he doesnt possess the common sense of this worlds inhabitants. In the first place, only a few days have passed since he came to to this world in this case. Do you think that people in this situation, unlike Renya-san and without calling out for anyone else to help them out, have the currency of this world at hand? (chibi) That is very likely they dont. (Giliel) From the start Lost were people summoned from another world. You could say with certainty that they were people who dropped unexpectedly into a dimensional vortex ending up in this world as a result. Naturally, the only luggage they brought along would be from their previous world, if at all. For them to originally have the currency of this world in possession had a possibility of about nil. Although one might ask the penniless to pay, it is plainly impossible for them to do so. Thus they are exempted from paying out of pity. That is the widely spread way of thinking in regards to this matter. The inhabitants of this world have many chances to get in contact with people from other worlds and thats the reason why it is a problem. (chibi) Um, that is? (Giliel) Giliel repeated this basic question once more as she didnt grasp what the problem was. If it is strictly regulated how to deal with Lost, then there wont be any pointless confusion and problems either. For the side sending in the Lost, in other words us, isnt that something beneficial? You still dont understand, huh? If supervisor was inexperienced then it probably cant really be helped. In other words, the frequent amount of people falling into the dimensional vortexes and ending up in this world serves as proof of the fragile instability of this world. (chibi) The image displayed in the window was erased with a swing of her arm. While using that hand scratching her head roughly, the little girl said while quite annoyed. What was the in Renya-sans previous world then? Wasnt there any? Maybe this could be used to fix the problem of stability in this world as an example? (Giliel) Certainly. (chibi) The Supervisors1of that world should notice this issue as well. Although they have to be aware of it, they dont seem to have a method of dealing with it either. Or maybe this problem is so insignificant to them that they dont even realize it exists? That would be a big problem for sure. (Giliel) Cant you stop the leakage of resources? (Giliel) Because this was outside of Giliels jurisdiction, she was not fully aware of the details of this matter. Concerned whether she should or should not inquire further, she was slightly hesitant to ask. The little girl showed no signs of trying to hide it and readily nodded in agreement. Since the amount of souls flowing out keeps decreasing, there is a trend of reduction. Still, as the leak hasnt been completely stopped, the resources will be exhausted in the end. (chibi) Thats a serious problem. (Giliel) As Giliel wasnt able to actually feel it happening based on her own observations, the matter of dispatching Renya to a world that would be destroyed in the end anyway didnt really relate to her in any way. The only exception was that she wouldnt be caught actually uttering words like that. The little girl ceased to scratch her head and folded her arms. Its serious indeed. Though it might be something that is not really of any consequence to someone here. (chibi) The little girl threw her a bitter glance. Giliel was afraid that she was able to read her mind. Of course, this doubt didnt show on Giliels face even for a moment. Even if the time he spent living was equal to about zero in comparison to the little girls lifetime, she was still an angel who had seen quite a few months and years pass by. She had mastered that skill to remain blank in such a situation better by far than any human. Watching the unmoving Giliel with a raised brow, the little girl wondered how long Giliel would endure being glared at. Then she snorted as she got bored of it. Completely uncute (chibi) As the number of my years passed has entered the thousands, there is no reason for any cuteness to be left in me. (Giliel) As she returned an indifferent expression and abstained from openly showing any kind of emotions, the little girl clicked her tongue lightly and averted her gaze from Giliel. Anyway, Renya-san is scattering resources right now. There is no other choice but to stand back and observe how much the world will be able to recover. (chibi) Whats the likelihood of recovery? (Giliel) Although its not zero, its at the most a slim chance. Even if we assume it to advance favorably, it still would require about several decades of keeping up this pace. In the worst case the world will break down before Renya-san uses up his life span. (chibi) In such a case, do I have your permission to rescue only Renya-san? (Giliel) Even though she considered it to be an ill-natured question, Giliel couldnt resist but to confirm it by asking this question with a serious expression. For the Overseer of Everything, the little girl, it wouldnt do to give preferential treatment to a single individual. Even if you counted in the fact that it was the little girl who sent Renya to this world. Renya, when this world perishes, you will perish alongside it. No matter how much of a god you are yourself, that is not something you should ever say,she had concluded. Even considering that, it would be a far too shameless and self-interested order to give, saving only one person in an entire world. Thats the sort of decision one agonizes over, right?She only thought. Yes, you have permission. (chibi) Although the answer was short, it was immediate. The contents were satisfactory to Giliel causing her to unintentionally lift the corners of her lips into a smile. In order for the little girl to not realize this, Giliel courteously bent at the waist and bowed towards the little girl. As you wish. Everything shall happen as the honorable you has intended. (Giliel) Giliels shape slowly started to fade and, before long, vanished. The little girl saw her off waiting for Giliels presence to completely disappear. After ample time had passed, she abruptly muttered while looking at the sky, The die has been cast2 I wonder if I failed to give her a proper name undoubtedly a bud of free will has begun to sprout in that serious girl I wish that it would hurry up. (chibi) The angels of the world generally had no name. Although it could be said that it came from negligence of having to name each of the hundreds of millions of angels, in reality, giving a name was an important component of defining the personality above all else. There was such a reason as well. Therefore, in order for some of the duties to be fulfilled a respective name was given to them. In order to abide by the command of protecting Renya, that angel was named as Giliel and it seems the foundations of her personality have begun to be laid. Thats something that caused the little girl to worry as well. Is this good luck or rather bad luck? Really, who suggested that kami-sama was omnipotent? I want them to slightly reconsider this after seeing my current state in this place. Good grief (chibi) Throwing her head back while being at her wits end, the little girl spit out those words filled with negative emotions. The sound of those words were lost to silence without having reached anyones heart, including the little girls. Translation Notes 1Chibi-kami-sama is not speaking about mid level bureaucratic supervisors here, who would be giving instructions to the guards, or processing paperwork, or even educating angelic subordinates. She is talking about the Supervisors of the planet that were suppose to be keeping things running smoothly. This entire process is a complaining comment on her part that the semi-deities she put in charge of the world dont understand just how crappy a job they are doing. 2Literally, the nail has been stuck in. Basically, Whats been done cannot be undone, which is not something an all powerful kami-sama should be saying! What is such a peerless state called? (Giliel) While watching the battle scenery on a displayed translucent window suspended in midair, Giliel(T/N: >> Girieru allowed him to possibly overcome the resistance of about 100 goblin opponents with only brute force without using any of his other abilities. The skill allowed a person to recover from a received injury and lost stamina several tens of times faster than usual. It was a more or less ordinary Invoked type of skill. It was a skill that had to consciously be activated to display its original performance. Renya wasnt very good atusingthis skill by intuition. You could say that he was using it at its minimal effect of invocation as it wasnt actually accompanied by a real feeling of the skill. Related to the weapon, Giliel, I thought I had entrusted this matter to you, hadnt I? (chibi) Being pointedly stared at, Giliel suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. In order to not show her startled facial expression, she quietly bowed her head. The timing wasnt right yet. I am very sorry. (Giliel) She swallowed the words, that she couldnt imagine a good timing for that in the first place either. Oh well, its fine. Please hurry as much as possible. I wouldnt be able to stand watching Renya-san die because his weapon was insufficient. (chibi) Yes, I will take the necessary measures immediately. All things considered (Giliel) While the image displayed on the translucent window changed from the battle scene to the gate of some city, Giliel searched for the right words to change the topic. Although she didnt intent to slack on her assigned job in the least, being repeatedly called an amateur by the person in charge wasnt amusing at all. The situation seems to be advancing smoothly enough. (Giliel) In this world Lost themselves are not at a level of being called a rare existence either, but rather its a reasonable degree of recognizing them as unusual, you know. However, thats the problem here. (chibi) At the gate of the city, Renya caused some trouble with the provincial guards. As the women accompanying him managed to quell the situation so he could pass, the little girl watching this scene leaked a sigh. Certainly, judging by the reactions of his surroundings, he was at best perceived as a somehow rare occurrence, despite him being a person of another world. The extent of rarity was far from astonishment and even further from confusion. Is there a problem? (Giliel) Its a problem, for example that. (chibi) The little girl pointed at the window. The shown scene stopped. This scene is, the scene where a Lost tries to enter the city. In this case the reason for not letting him into the city is the lack of him possessing the identification papers representing his social status. However, the Lost is let into the city without even understanding the issue with the identification papers. There is even the exemption of him not having to pay the toll even though he is someone not holding the proper identification papers, and yet he succeeds in entering. (chibi) Usually a person not holding any identification papers is taken to the guards office as a consequence in order to be interrogated. After the truth of their claim is judged, they will be issued temporary identification papers. Furthermore they have to pay a commission fee, the little girl supplemented. Even in the case of a Lost, if there is a guarantor for their identity, they are supposed to loan the commission fee to the Lost. So whats the problem? (Giliel) As for this, Lost dont know about these issues upon entering the city and are generally penniless to begin with. The inhabitants of this world are aware of this fact for sure since its a kind of usual historical custom. (chibi) Do you understand? the little girl asked with her gestures. Giliel was puzzled as she didnt comprehend what the heck was the significance of this matter. In front of the difficult pupil who failed to understand the significance of her words, the little girl acting like a sensei heaved a single sigh and continued. The Lost caused something like a dispute at the entrance gate to the city as he doesnt possess the common sense of this worlds inhabitants. In the first place, only a few days have passed since he came to to this world in this case. Do you think that people in this situation, unlike Renya-san and without calling out for anyone else to help them out, have the currency of this world at hand? (chibi) That is very likely they dont. (Giliel) From the start Lost were people summoned from another world. You could say with certainty that they were people who dropped unexpectedly into a dimensional vortex ending up in this world as a result. Naturally, the only luggage they brought along would be from their previous world, if at all. For them to originally have the currency of this world in possession had a possibility of about nil. Although one might ask the penniless to pay, it is plainly impossible for them to do so. Thus they are exempted from paying out of pity. That is the widely spread way of thinking in regards to this matter. The inhabitants of this world have many chances to get in contact with people from other worlds and thats the reason why it is a problem. (chibi) Um, that is? (Giliel) Giliel repeated this basic question once more as she didnt grasp what the problem was. If it is strictly regulated how to deal with Lost, then there wont be any pointless confusion and problems either. For the side sending in the Lost, in other words us, isnt that something beneficial? You still dont understand, huh? If supervisor was inexperienced then it probably cant really be helped. In other words, the frequent amount of people falling into the dimensional vortexes and ending up in this world serves as proof of the fragile instability of this world. (chibi) The image displayed in the window was erased with a swing of her arm. While using that hand scratching her head roughly, the little girl said while quite annoyed. What was the in Renya-sans previous world then? Wasnt there any? Maybe this could be used to fix the problem of stability in this world as an example? (Giliel) Certainly. (chibi) The Supervisors1of that world should notice this issue as well. Although they have to be aware of it, they dont seem to have a method of dealing with it either. Or maybe this problem is so insignificant to them that they dont even realize it exists? That would be a big problem for sure. (Giliel) Cant you stop the leakage of resources? (Giliel) Because this was outside of Giliels jurisdiction, she was not fully aware of the details of this matter. Concerned whether she should or should not inquire further, she was slightly hesitant to ask. The little girl showed no signs of trying to hide it and readily nodded in agreement. Since the amount of souls flowing out keeps decreasing, there is a trend of reduction. Still, as the leak hasnt been completely stopped, the resources will be exhausted in the end. (chibi) Thats a serious problem. (Giliel) As Giliel wasnt able to actually feel it happening based on her own observations, the matter of dispatching Renya to a world that would be destroyed in the end anyway didnt really relate to her in any way. The only exception was that she wouldnt be caught actually uttering words like that. The little girl ceased to scratch her head and folded her arms. Its serious indeed. Though it might be something that is not really of any consequence to someone here. (chibi) The little girl threw her a bitter glance. Giliel was afraid that she was able to read her mind. Of course, this doubt didnt show on Giliels face even for a moment. Even if the time he spent living was equal to about zero in comparison to the little girls lifetime, she was still an angel who had seen quite a few months and years pass by. She had mastered that skill to remain blank in such a situation better by far than any human. Watching the unmoving Giliel with a raised brow, the little girl wondered how long Giliel would endure being glared at. Then she snorted as she got bored of it. Completely uncute (chibi) As the number of my years passed has entered the thousands, there is no reason for any cuteness to be left in me. (Giliel) As she returned an indifferent expression and abstained from openly showing any kind of emotions, the little girl clicked her tongue lightly and averted her gaze from Giliel. Anyway, Renya-san is scattering resources right now. There is no other choice but to stand back and observe how much the world will be able to recover. (chibi) Whats the likelihood of recovery? (Giliel) Although its not zero, its at the most a slim chance. Even if we assume it to advance favorably, it still would require about several decades of keeping up this pace. In the worst case the world will break down before Renya-san uses up his life span. (chibi) In such a case, do I have your permission to rescue only Renya-san? (Giliel) Even though she considered it to be an ill-natured question, Giliel couldnt resist but to confirm it by asking this question with a serious expression. For the Overseer of Everything, the little girl, it wouldnt do to give preferential treatment to a single individual. Even if you counted in the fact that it was the little girl who sent Renya to this world. Renya, when this world perishes, you will perish alongside it. No matter how much of a god you are yourself, that is not something you should ever say,she had concluded. Even considering that, it would be a far too shameless and self-interested order to give, saving only one person in an entire world. Thats the sort of decision one agonizes over, right?She only thought. Yes, you have permission. (chibi) Although the answer was short, it was immediate. The contents were satisfactory to Giliel causing her to unintentionally lift the corners of her lips into a smile. In order for the little girl to not realize this, Giliel courteously bent at the waist and bowed towards the little girl. As you wish. Everything shall happen as the honorable you has intended. (Giliel) Giliels shape slowly started to fade and, before long, vanished. The little girl saw her off waiting for Giliels presence to completely disappear. After ample time had passed, she abruptly muttered while looking at the sky, The die has been cast2 I wonder if I failed to give her a proper name undoubtedly a bud of free will has begun to sprout in that serious girl I wish that it would hurry up. (chibi) The angels of the world generally had no name. Although it could be said that it came from negligence of having to name each of the hundreds of millions of angels, in reality, giving a name was an important component of defining the personality above all else. There was such a reason as well. Therefore, in order for some of the duties to be fulfilled a respective name was given to them. In order to abide by the command of protecting Renya, that angel was named as Giliel and it seems the foundations of her personality have begun to be laid. Thats something that caused the little girl to worry as well. Is this good luck or rather bad luck? Really, who suggested that kami-sama was omnipotent? I want them to slightly reconsider this after seeing my current state in this place. Good grief (chibi) Throwing her head back while being at her wits end, the little girl spit out those words filled with negative emotions. The sound of those words were lost to silence without having reached anyones heart, including the little girls. Translation Notes 1Chibi-kami-sama is not speaking about mid level bureaucratic supervisors here, who would be giving instructions to the guards, or processing paperwork, or even educating angelic subordinates. She is talking about the Supervisors of the planet that were suppose to be keeping things running smoothly. This entire process is a complaining comment on her part that the semi-deities she put in charge of the world dont understand just how crappy a job they are doing. 2Literally, the nail has been stuck in. Basically, Whats been done cannot be undone, which is not something an all powerful kami-sama should be saying! Chapter 12 Passing through the door they were directed to, there was a small bright room beyond it. There were hardly any furnishings placed in the room. In the center of the room there was a lonely desk with two chairs facing it from across the table. That was all that was present in this room. Incidentally, Renya picked up a weird sensation as he entered through the door, but he remained silent about it as Shion and Rona hadnt mentioned anything before entering the room. Inside the room there was one man sitting on a chair. It was impossible to determine his age from his looks. His slender face was small with a pale colored complexion. His blond hair spilled down, exceeding his shoulders in length. His firm body build told anyone on the first look that he was male. However comparing him to the adventurers within the guilds building you could call him very slender, almost to the extent of being thin. His eyes were narrow, giving off a feeling of being tired.1 One way or the other it was possible to perceive that the color of his eye were green. The tailored robe he was wearing gave off a pleasant feeling and was colored navy blue. No decorations could be seen on the robe except a single item appearing to be a silver medal hanging at the height of his chest. Yaa, nice of you to come to visit. (-) Without standing up, he greeted them in a soft voice. Shion lightly bowed her head. Also, as if being prompted into it, Rona bowed as well. Somehow Renya got the feeling that it wouldnt be a good idea to not follow up on it either and thus he bowed himself in the end as well. It has been a while, honored deputy branch leader(Shion)2 While raising her head again, Shion spoke those words. Somehow her voice seemed as if she were squeezing them out though. How to say it, it seems as if she doesnt want to talk to this person if at all possible C that was the impression her voice emitted but was that really fine? At any rate, it is quite obvious that she wants to leave this place even if it is a second sooner.Renya carefully observed the seated vice-guild leader while trying to ascertain the reason for her dislike to remain here. Its futile, Lost (-) Has he noticed my particular look of observation?The deputy branch leader shifted his attention towards Renya. The gaze of his barely opened eyes emitted a deeper comprehension. It reminded Renya somehow of a snake or lizard or some other kind of the reptile family. Somehow Renya felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Well, just by looking, you wont be able to understand why those girls have such antipathy towards me. After all, my outer appearance is perfect. (-) Please teach me where this unfounded confidence comes from. (Renya) Laughing with a grinning face, the deputy branch leader appeared to really be a fairly gentle mannered man. His calm expression didnt seem to have any faults either, or at least none that were easily seen through. Yet, the degree of Shions impression of him appears to rank him as someone with a poor reputation. How about Rona?Renya tried to read Ronas facial expression. There he could only find her usual mask of a smiling face stuck there as it was, making a suitable judgment quite difficult. Since Shion and Rona already know about me, I should introduce myself to the Lost over there, huh? I am the deputy branch leader in charge of this adventurers guild branch in Kukrika, Fritz =3Rustbrid(T/N: >> Furitsu = Rusutoburido > Furitsu = Rusutoburido <<). Pleased to make your acquaintance.4(Fritz) I am Renya. Leaving that aside, how long are we supposed to stand around here? (Renya) All three of them had entered the room and immediately stopped short without trying to approach the desk. Renya stood still in a wait-and-see situation, while the remaining two didnt seem to be interested in approaching the desk in the first place. Upon Renyas words, they looked at Renya with an expression that seemed to be slightly threatening. To share a table with the deputy branch leader, there is no way I could do something so presumptuous. (Shion) Why dont you just frankly admit that you arent eager to approach me physically without saying such unnecessary things? (Fritz) Fritz completely cut off and disregarded Shions weak attempt to cover her refusal with sugarcoated words. Shion didnt see any reason to refute his words and thus remained silent. With such behavior she proved Fritzs words to be true. So you dont deny it. (Fritz) There is no such reason. (Shion) Laughter resounded from within Fritzs throat while Shion gave a depressed reply. Compared to Shions group, with all due respect, Fritz was still their superior. However, one couldnt see Fritz taking an attitude of being offended by this obvious considerable discourtesy either. If you had to say it, he wore a hint of amusement towards it. For a moment, the thought of him being a masochist crossed Renyas mind, but he denied this possibility himself right away. If he thought about unnecessary things, he had a feeling that it would be visible on his face. This much is just the usual trifling exchange between us. Lets hear your report, right? The request was to investigate the miasma-filled forest. I heard the number, who accepted it, were 8 people. Leaving out the Lost, there are only the two of you here, isnt that right? (Fritz) Such an exchange is the norm, huh?Renya felt dejected after hearing this.Shion and Rona have become accustomed to this back and forth exchange without obviously minding it, huh? The other six people attacked us within the forest while we were investigating. Upon chance we received Renyas help there which is also why he is currently accompanying us. (Shion) Ah, I can somehow understand. Excluding your personalities, you are beautiful women after all. With the setting of a secluded forest, devoid of any people, it is quite understandable that the outnumbering men would take such an attitude in such a situation, too. If they knew about the personalities of the women they targeted, they likely wouldnt have resorted to using violence either, though. (Fritz) He repeatedly made such similar comments, Renya thought in disgust. Directly confronting Fritz, Shion limited herself to scowling at him. Staying in the back, Rona began to spill killing intent while concealing it behind her still smiling face. While Rona wears no plainly visible weapons, you can never be sure what kind of skill with the various offensive magic systems she might be capable of using, Renya judged. Although he had only accompanied them for a short time, he understood that Rona wasnt the type of person to attack without any reason.I pray this impression of her wont have to be changed in this meeting,he thought, too. And then? Those six people are? (Fritz) After Renya defeated them, we returned leaving them alone back in the forest. (Shion) Hou? As many as six adventurers originating from the Mercenary Kingdom all by himself, huh? (Fritz) Showing something like interest for the first time, Fritz turned his gaze towards Renya. It is quite clearly a gaze carrying a feeling of a rotten tongue taking a taste of you. Its quite true that it cant be helped if you are slightly disgusted by this sensation either, he judged in the end. I caught them by surprise. The other party was careless as well. Its not easy to tell what would have happened if I attacked them from the front. I was lucky. (Renya) Although that explanation wasnt requested, Renya somehow had the feeling that it was wrong to stay silent. Fritz showed his agreement to these words by nodding several times over. I see. I see. However, if thats the case, all three of you, not giving a care for the situation, decided to let six people of the same guild die without helping and returned. Is that how you can summarize it? (Fritz) Thats wrong. Shion was at a loss for words. Rona kept any comments locked within her heart and remained silent. Renya cut into the conversation by rebutting without a moments delay. Shion and Rona faced Renya with a surprised expression. For the time being he had to be careful in addition to keeping Fritzs attention. Renya took a single step forward coming out of Shions shadow. At the point in time I had defeated them, two of them were already dead. It was clear that the remaining four would die before long as well. Therefore, anything related to those six people should be attributed only to me. (Renya) Going ahead and putting forward such a suggestion, wasnt it those two over there who told you to say this? (Fritz) Even assuming thats right, it was I who came along and intruded on the situation in order to rescue them. This caused the current scenario. You can say that it was I who made the final decision. (Renya) That is (Shion) Although Shion started to say something, she stopped her words halfway. Looking back over his shoulder, Renya could see Rona placing her hand on Shions shoulder holding her back as Shion was trying to say something. Somehow or other he was able to confirm that they left this situation for him to deal with. Renya turned back to Fritz. These are the facts regarding the circumstances of the situation. If there are any problems, please tell me. (Renya) Renya slightly stressed the please tell me adding an emphasis to the words. Guessing the meaning behind it, Fritz expressed a smile. Problems, huh? It seems you dont understand a thing about the young ladies at your back. (Fritz) While sensing the anger of the two in the rear swelling, Renya appealed with his eyes to not say anything unnecessary while keeping his expression blank. Renya wasnt certain whether Fritz had understood it, but Fritz nodded slightly. As for the current exchange, there is no problem. The young ladies were attacked within the forest by the accompanying six men. This fact is no mistake either. There, you came along and saved them. Theres no problem with this either. And then you left the six people behind after defeating them. Whether that is really a humane thing to do, certainly all of you can reconsider this fact. However, I can feel sympathy towards this behavior considering that dealing with six male brutes who assaulted two women wont invite a humane approach in dealing with them. (Fritz) Fritz cut off his speech at this point joining his hands together and placing his elbows on the table. This was carried out by you all following Shions leadership. But, at any rate, the reason for deciding how to deal with the problem is somewhat necessary. (Fritz) So it comes down to this, Renya fixed his gaze on the smiling Fritz while bearing a deep seeded disgust. I fear that its likely that Shions group is included in theyou all party forsharing joint responsibility. Shions group has broken the guild rules. But because a part of the circumstances were not their fault to begin with, there will be some kind of compromise. Although looking at it from this standpoint, it has an indication that there will be some kind of penalty imposed upon us. Since I am not taking the full brunt, it shouldnt be a big penalty, Renya thought while looking at Fritzs smiling face. At most it would maybe be working for free one time, huh? Having defended Shion from the beginning, I truly didnt originally think that he would use this approach to deal with the matter of this current case. Such an incident may cause a decrease in your reputation though, dont you agree?5(Renya) Let me see what are you talking about? (Fritz) It was Renya who couldnt help but comment on this, but Fritz easily played dumb. In any case, everything related to this matter has been understood. The Lost wont be restrained, either. Though I am not aware of whether there is any bereaved family which has yet to be contacted, I will tell them that they died in an accident after breaking the guild rules. (Fritz) I understand. Thank you very much. (Shion) Behind Renya, Shion bowed towards Fritzs words while her expression became stiff. And the request to investigate the miasma-filled forest? Whats the state? (Fritz) Reporting. The situation within the forest is bad. From the fact that the Goblin Leader led his group of goblins to assault the pioneers village, it can be deemed to be obvious. Due to the increase in the monsters activity and the resulting danger from that, I request to be allowed to resume the investigation. (Shion) Wearing a hard expression, Shion raised one hand stopping Renya before he could say anything and reported without any hesitation. Fritzs expression changed into a puzzled look. From Fritzs view, there was truly no reason to consider a Lost to step up in this situation. As evidence for the appearance of a Goblin Leader, the recovered magic core was submitted. In relation to the scale of the subjugated group of goblins, I think you will be able to understand by the amount of simultaneously submitted magic cores. From the raided pioneers village roughly half of the villagers could be rescued. Id like you to evaluate the point of the rescue efforts even considering that it likely isnt part of the requests original contents. (Shion) Half of them were rescued? Isnt more appropriate to say half of them were allowed to die? (Fritz) Half of them were rescued, is what I said. If we hadnt concerned ourselves with their rescue, the topic would be about their total annihilation, dont you think? (Shion) Remaining seated, obviously waiting for something more while watching intently with upturned eyes, Fritzs expression didnt change at all as he waited for the report to end. Openly looking down on them, Renya caught this gaze. Is anything wrong? (Renya) Urging him to reply in the same way, Renya inquired. Fritz shook his head left and right. Its not what you said, but how you chose your words to suit the situation, isnt it? (Fritz) Well, those words dont answer my question, now do they? (Renya) Renya answered curtly with cold words. Fritz expressed a bitter smile and released his joined hands striking upon the table once with a *panto.* I see. I have received your report. Its just as you said. It would be best to continue the investigation. Other interested parties will be recruited to continue the investigation (Fritz) As previously mentioned, I think they accomplished their request with this, what do you think? (Renya) The completion of the request is approved. It is fine to receive the reward at the counter outside. (Fritz) We wish to express our gratitude for your understanding. Lets go, you two (Rona) After expressing their thanks and having no remaining business left here, Renya turned his back on Fritz. Shion wanted to say something, but for some reason while giving an impression of satisfaction, Rona prompted both of them to head for the exit. From behind, Fritz called out. Renya-kun, is it your intention to act together with these children? (Fritz) Well, I wonder about that. (Renya) Without turning around Renya answered the question and left the room. Watching them go, Fritz waited for the door to close leaning back while exhaling a single big breath. Suddenly he straightened his back and looked up to the ceiling. Well, well, the plans have derailed slightly With this and that, I wonder if there was enough progress? (Fritz) Naturally, there was no voice answering him in the room. Translation Notes 1Literally, his eyes were hanging. 2The words used by Shion from here on towards the Deputy Branch Leader are from the Very Polite section of the Japanese language, which has certain characteristics. One being that the sentences have a lot more words for the same amount of content, and another being that its hard to capture the depth of how self-diminutive and other personal praise is being given in a translation to a language that does not have a similar substrata of its vocabulary. Hence this note, and the universal frustration of translators the world over. 3= is the equal sign, not the number two 4Yoroshiku can be phrased in many ways but generally it means something like nice to meet you or my best regards. I opted for a more formal way. 5Or less politely, If people found out you were hiring rapists, then your reputation would take a severe hit, dont you think? In Japan, a flawless reputation is very meaningful, so suggesting that it would be damaged is a very useful method for having incidents quietly swept under the rug. Chapter 13 The figures of the two suns set below the horizon and in return three moons rose. In other words, it was the time called night. Everyone began to slowly head home, almost all the shops closed and the daily city scape was replaced with the occasional drunken person roaming the streets and figures of people starting to head towards the amusement facilities. The form of Renya could be seen within a building functioning as an inn and bar. It seemed the public houses interior was lit by tallow candles while giving off an intensely scented smoke. The pub was already filled with plenty of guests who were in a hustle and bustle as they were already quite drunk. Eating a quiet meal in this situation of being surrounded by noise was impossible. As this appeared to be the usual state of the place, Renya decided to not mind it. Originally he had intended to choose a more peaceful place, but in regards to Shions advice, it was more or less the same in every pub with little to no differences. As he was told that the situation would be similar wherever he went, he decided to give up halfway. Shions group decided to pick a pub calledPeerlessIllusion1. After the exchange with Fritz at the guilds branch, Renyas group got their reward for the investigation request at the reception counter, Renya received his guild card, and they submitted the collected magic cores. As soon as they finished their business at the guild, they immediately left the building. After the magic cores were appraised and examined, they would receive the sum of the sales, the receptionist told them. Verifying this, Shion gave her opinion of accepting this procedure in order to avoid the chance of encountering Fritz again should they wait around for the sales process to conclude when they could just return later. As for Renya, he wished to stay a bit longer in the guild to listen to the various stories, if he had to describe his feelings, and thus he was a bit dissatisfied by the early departure. For the time being, he had only received a simple explanation and thus he tried to sort through the information. 1.) Violating the rules will lead to punishment. The lightest penalty would be a trifling fine while the maximum would be capital punishment. In case the offender escaped, there would be a wanted notice handed out to all guilds. The intelligence network of the adventurers guild seemed to be quite formidable. Since the establishment of the guild there has been no fugitive who managed to escape completely after being wanted. The receptionist told them proudly. Once it reached the stage of being put on the wanted list, it didnt matter anymore whether the fugitive was returned dead or alive. The people appropriate for the pursuit would receive a request from the guild. The request was profitable to the degree that it resulted in each adventurer going into a frenzy. Given that, it apparently became almost impossible to successfully escape. 2.) Adventurers got a rank. The ranks were divided into seven levels named S, A, B, C, D, E and F. S was pretty much the highest rank. Usually it was decided by ability, taking into account what degree of services they contributed to the guild to determine the rank they should get. To become a Rank S adventurer, almost heroic deeds were necessary, Renya was told. Among the Rank S adventurers, there was another rank of SS created in order to distinguish those who particularly towered above the others in ability. As they were already outside of the standard, this was not thought of as a separate rank. Apparently there were currently only five people recognized as SS rank. Although Renya wanted to obtain information on those five people, he was dragged outside the guild by Shion before he could manage to inquire about them. By the way, when he asked Shions group what rank they were, he received F as a reply. Since it hasnt been long since they became adventurers, it was a natural state of affairs. Of course the rank inscribed on Renyas guild card was F as well. Afterwards, in order to replace the armor that was broken at the time of the attack of the goblin horde and for the sake of procuring a precise weapon, Renya, who was unfamiliar with this city, asked Shion to introduce him to a shop. At the recommended shop he obtained leather armor and a longsword.2 The whole set cost him 1 gold coin. Renya didnt really know whether this was expensive or cheap in relation to the typical market price. As it could be seen as an item that would be frequently used, Rona stated Maa, its proper equipment. and Renya decided to believe her. In relation to the quality, Renya examined it with his appraisal skill. Both seemed to be typical grade 2 goods on the market. Although Shion recommended metal armor with zeal, Renya politely refused considering the troublesome weight that would impede his movement and the high price he wouldnt be able to afford, and thus would have no advantages over leather. Renya had wished for a much better weapon, there was nothing else than this according to the shopkeeper. So he had no other option but to give up on obtaining anything better. Obtaining the longsword, it wasnt easily discernible whether it was produced to be used for smashing and crushing rather than cutting after all. The way the steel was manufactured was obviously very rough upon inspection with Renyas eyes. First of all the mass of steel was heated up, then it was stroke into the form of a sword. This level of weapon was a typical thing for this world.The probability of me finding an appropriate weapon is quite low, huh?Renya assessed with a foul mood. Luckily, as he would travel this world, there surely would be someone who has received the blacksmith skill from the little girl.If I dont make one myself sooner or later.Renya recalled in a corner of his mind. As for the payment, he used the money that was stored in his [Inventory]. After mentioning that she would loan him the necessary funds, Shion saw Renya take out the gold coin and obviously was wondering where he had obtained it with strong curiosity. Now that you mention it, the Lost come to this world by accident, so they naturally dont have any of the currency used in this world on them. Because the money for selling the magic core hasnt been paid out yet, it must appear to be a strange matter for others to see me possessing money of my own. How should I answer this?Shaking his head after turning around, he began an awkward explanation of him finding some money laying on the ground at the time of him coming to this world and picking it up. Renya himself thought that she wouldnt buy his story so easily. Unexpectedly, Shion easily believed the story and said that even if the gold was the lost property of another person that it would be appropriate to spend it. Too easy, passing that story off was too simple, or should I rather say she is too trusting in regards to matters she doesnt know about? Thats quite worrying in itself.Renya thought in the end. Renya, first off I want to properly thank you. (Shion) To the raised voice, Renya returned to reality from within his own thoughts. Turning his eyes to the one who spoke, Shion stared at him silently with a humble expression. Shion was seated on the opposite side of the table. Next to her, Rona was sitting with her usual smiling face. Before he could open his mouth to ask What do you want to thank me for?, a hand appeared next to him placing the food on the table while he was wondering. When he had ordered his dinner, he had left it to the shopkeeper and thus he got the special of the day. It was something as simple as soup with bread and salad, too. The salad, the name of which he didnt know, was properly filled with vegetable leaves. Although the only seasoning was vinegar and salt, the vegetables themselves were delicious. Tasting the food resulted in Renya being satisfied. The problem was the soup and bread. The soup had some vegetables and small pieces of smashed meat in order for it to cook together well. Because there was little salt in it, the taste was rather thin. The bread was probably only baked using wheat. It was hard to the degree of being difficult to chew. Dividing it and soaking it in the the soup made it possible to eat it. The bread itself had no flavor at all, the soup was thin, making the whole thing plainly unappetizing. In the time of waiting for the relief squad arriving at the pioneers village, the villagers offered him a similar bread to eat. Partially he had hoped and anticipated to eat more delicious food in a human habitat. Thus his disappointment was immense. There is plenty of room to improve on the quality of the food, huh?Renya sighed. So, what were we talking about? (Renya) Our gratitude, gra?ti?tu?de! (Shion) Spending time on stressing the last word, Shion bend herself forward while raising her voice. Renya looked at her colored with doubt wonderingWhats this person saying? Unable to just watch this situation any longer, Rona pushed into the conversation. Its about the exchange with Deputy Branch Leader Fritz. (Rona) Ah, that matter? There is no particular need to thank me for that, is there? (Renya) Having easily given up on eating the disgusting bread, Renya tasted the drink he had ordered alongside the food. It was something called ale, it was a drink that appeared in the same manner with the same name in his previous world. The sourness was stronger than the bitterness. There werent many bubbles rising to the surface either. Frankly said, this was quite disgusting as well. Furthermore, since it was served lukewarm, the distaste doubled. Really, are there any delicious things as the little girl claimed there to be?Renya ended up having such suspicions. You might say that it will be like losing half of lifes enjoyment if that isnt the case. However, it is a fact that delicious things are expensive no matter which world or era you are talking about. Therefore, if I have even a 0.001% chance to obtain delicious things with money in this world, I wont abandon hope,Renya decided. If the time comes where this hope turns into despair, I will severely spank that little girl when I meet her again after my death. Eto, Renya? (Shion) Its fine to not worry about such things. To begin with, on the occasion we were attacked by the goblin group, the investigation and subjugation were likely finished at that time. Thinking about making mistakes will lead to only making mistakes. Insisting on success will hinder those trying to deny it. (Renya) Neither the location of the goblin settlement in the forest, nor the scale of the settlement, nor how many goblin villages were about were required to be reported in the original request in any detail. Still this wouldnt be able to give an excuse for their failure.He left those things unsaid though. Although it was completely Renyas conjecture from here on out, he somehow judged that the guild itself wasnt overly interested in obtaining a detailed report to begin with. From the start the party sent to investigate was a swordsman apprentice, a priest apprentice and six Hyahha3men. By no means was this a party composition geared towards investigation as its goal. At any rate, even if you let non-specialized adventurers wander around within the forest, they would run into a goblin or such sooner or later since it was monster inhabited to such an extent. They could just hire a random party of 8 people and they would beat down some goblins to thin out the monster population even if it took a long time to do so. Most likely the guild harbored such dark thoughts. In other words the expected degree of detail in the report was to meet a goblin, defeat it and return without causing any problems. The request failed because it was impossible to properly investigate, seeing this in the final report, the guild wouldnt need to pay the reward and a proper penalty could be levied against the adventurers due totheirfailure. Or in other words, the guild would get a clear gain if the story ended up unfolding like that. The virtue of diligence can sometimes be a decisive fault, in reality, as one can easily see in this example. It was this kind of story after all.Renya concluded. But, in my case, I couldnt have handled it like that. As a result, our evaluation didnt drop and we even received the full reward for the request. I am pretty sure that this is something to be thankful for. (Shion) The virtue of diligence, being a virtue, if you remove the two charactersfrom virtue () it will merely become weakness, describing the situation like this is also true,Renya dropped his shoulders.4 Although I said thanks wouldnt be necessary, I dont think they will simply accept that. In that case the only question remaining would be what words to say in order to quickly end the subject, huh?Renya nodded his agreement to Shion. Understood. I gratefully accept yourwordsof thanks. (Renya) Renya stressed the words part of his answer intentionally as he saw Shion wanting to say something more in order for her to not say anything else. Judging from Shions character, she wanted to start talking about transferring some of the requests reward to him. Even if he didnt see any signs of that, it was easy for Renya to predict it. Is it really fine? (Rona) Intending to provide support, Rona asked this. The reward for the request totals to 12 gold coins. Accepting 4 gold coins from that amount would be fine, Shion said so as well. (Rona) Although he wasnt sure when they had such a discussion, Renya clearly shook his head to convey that he had no intention to accept this money. In the first place I didnt receive that request so I shouldnt get any reward either. Even if they said they would give him part of the reward, there wasnt an ounce of intention within Renya to accept it. Even so, isnt the reward amount kind of high? Is that normal? (Renya) Ah, its the payment prepared for 8 people after all. (Rona) The reward per person would be 1 gold coin and 50 silver coins, going by Ronas words. Considering that going to the destination takes 2 days, investigating for 2 days, and returning afterwards takes 2 days as well, the whole expedition would be limited to 6 days. Or in other words, it would be 25 silver coins per day per person. Assuming that it would be 25,000 Japanese yen in his previous world, that might be an appropriate amount of money. Although it wouldnt have been necessary to pay the amount of reward money for those people who have died, the amount of money they would receive was decided upon accepting the request. In the case that the number of people would decrease, it was normal for the reward to be divided equally among those remaining. Rona explained. With this the talk about the reward is finished. As a matter of fact, from here on out it will be about the real issue at hand for us, Renya. (Shion) Leaning deep into the chair and taking a deep breath in order to change the atmosphere for a moment, Shion was preparing to speak frankly about something important. Such was the mood Renya experienced while he waited for her to begin. She will probably be bringing up some troublesome subject again, huh? At least this much is obvious from how she averts her gaze from mine.Renya silently waited for Shion to continue. To be honest we want to invite you into our party and would like you to consider it. (Shion) Invitation? Me, a Lost? (Renya) Come to think of it, I remember Fritz asked a similar question in regards to this matter at the time we were about to leave, too. Is it your intention to act together with these children? Most likely that could be called a bitter hint towards this invitation, huh? If that was the case, Renya didnt realise it at all. Assuming something like this, these two must have shown some signs of matters heading in that direction, as the guild leader was able to notice it. As one would expect of the person being employed as deputy branch leader. He couldnt reply at that time since he didnt understand what it was about. Now that it had come to the people themselves inviting him, he was wavering in his decision as to how he was supposed to answer. And above all, Renya didnt understand why they were inviting him. If you only thought about his combat skills, certainly he had defeated a large horde of goblins almost by himself. Looking at it that way, there could be no objection to his combat potential and thus he deemed it to be understandable. However, Renya was a Lost, a person with a peculiar standing. He wasnt an inhabitant of this world. Only having his identification papers due to the registration at the guild, he was an ambiguous being no matter how you viewed him. If one were to measure how suspicious he was with a machine, the gauge would definitely swing towards Completely Suspicious. Furthermore, he possessed none of the common sense of this world, and hadnt a clue what affairs he was not to meddle in. He would become a party member thought to be trouble in the making, such would be a being known as a Lost. Given the situation at hand, Renya felt like speaking as he didnt understand them. Considering it normally, it wouldnt be strange for the two girls to distance themselves from him immediately. Although weve known each other for just a short time, I think it will likely be exposed. I dont know a great many things and I am not very intelligent either. For Renya, from the time he met Shions group until now, he had harbored many doubts. Those doubts continued to exist unchanged. In order to answer those problems, he had a feeling that Shion would address them directly. So Renya carefully listened to what Shion said. Just like the situation at the time with the deputy branch leader, we are not able to skilfully deal with such things. In comparison, Renya seems to be very experienced in how to deal with such situations. (Shion) More or less, as I am a 94 year old man on the inside, even if I lost most of my memories. Considering this, Shions group is just inexperienced and cant be compared to my own position. What face would Shion make if I told her that?Renya thought in a corner of his mind. Moreover Renya is strong having you as a nakama5would be reassuring. We are just a party of two women, however thinking about us also working as adventurers, I have a strong premonition it isnt a good thing. (Rona) Took you long enough to notice,Renya was barely able to hold back replying with such a tsukkomi.6 If people with just a little trust in each other gather, they wont be able to form a clique in the end unless there is a very powerful individual included. Thus there is no reason why normal adventurers would be able to simply do that. Rather, although it was for a short period, coming across only two women can be called good fortune, the god of this world with the exception of this world heading towards its destruction due to the lack of administrative ability. That little girl is somehow different, though. I should express my gratitude to the kami-sama governing somewhere in a far distant place over good fortune, is what he thought. At the time of the goblin attack, I judged you as a person I can trust, too. Although it was a situation where it wouldnt usually be strange for a single person to run away either, you helped us. I think thats the normal course of action, though. (Renya) Although that might be the case, I choose to believe in my intuition. How about it? If you become our nakama, we will teach you the various things you dont know. Of course, we will teach you about this world as far as we are able, as well. I think we will be capable of helping you before long, too. I dont think its such a bad deal. (Shion) Teaching me about various things I wonder how much instruction will be fine.Such thoughts came rising up within his mind, causing Renyas lips to slightly curl into a small sneer. Shion took it with a wry smile assuming a gloomy look as she was thinking it would be no good. Although Ronas expression is a smiling one, her gaze causes ones temperature to quickly drop. You can call this a truly terrific display of skill.Renya observed. As it is obvious now, I am pretty sure she is able to sense what I was thinking about.While Renya raised his right hand to cover his mouth, he considered what he should tell them. Ah, first off, I am honestly very happy that you want to invite me. I have no relatives and thus getting nakama would be a huge help. However, I want to consider my reply for a little while. Specifically, for about one night. (Renya) I see, thats true. Certainly one cant expect an immediate answer to such a request. After all it might be a subject that will majorly influence Renyas future from now on. I understand. Not hurrying is fine. We will hope for a favorable response. (Shion) Having thought she would be refused, Shion completely changed and her face obviously cheered up as he was willing to consider his reply. The coldness of Ronas gaze disappeared. Even though it disappeared, he didnt understand what she was thinking about as the clinging smile on her face didnt change at all. Well then, what should I do?While thinking that, Renya poured the disgusting ale into his throat in one go. Translation Notes 1The name in Japanese is Banbutsu no Genei, which roughly translates to illusion/vision/shadow of all creation/all there is/above all others. It is basically a VERY Chuunibyou name, and required a lot of work to make it NOT sound stupid. 2nagadachi = (ancient) longsword 3Dont ask me what that is. 4Sorry, but this is the best interpretation of the sentence I can give as I dont know the Japanese language to comment on the character removal. 5Friend/Companion well those who watch One Piece know that its a bit more than that. 6Tsukkomi another typical Japanese term coming from Japanese comedy routines where two entertainers interact with each other. One is telling something while the other intercepts with tsukkomis. Hard to describe it, so google it, if you want. ED Note: There is typically one fool and a straight man, where the fool is doing or saying or retelling something in a manner befitting a fool. The straight man butts into the action to give a sharp correction to the fool, which is called a Tsukkomi. It is a popular type of comedic act, and has been since the days of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. The figures of the two suns set below the horizon and in return three moons rose. In other words, it was the time called night. Everyone began to slowly head home, almost all the shops closed and the daily city scape was replaced with the occasional drunken person roaming the streets and figures of people starting to head towards the amusement facilities. The form of Renya could be seen within a building functioning as an inn and bar. It seemed the public houses interior was lit by tallow candles while giving off an intensely scented smoke. The pub was already filled with plenty of guests who were in a hustle and bustle as they were already quite drunk. Eating a quiet meal in this situation of being surrounded by noise was impossible. As this appeared to be the usual state of the place, Renya decided to not mind it. Originally he had intended to choose a more peaceful place, but in regards to Shions advice, it was more or less the same in every pub with little to no differences. As he was told that the situation would be similar wherever he went, he decided to give up halfway. Shions group decided to pick a pub calledPeerlessIllusion1. After the exchange with Fritz at the guilds branch, Renyas group got their reward for the investigation request at the reception counter, Renya received his guild card, and they submitted the collected magic cores. As soon as they finished their business at the guild, they immediately left the building. After the magic cores were appraised and examined, they would receive the sum of the sales, the receptionist told them. Verifying this, Shion gave her opinion of accepting this procedure in order to avoid the chance of encountering Fritz again should they wait around for the sales process to conclude when they could just return later. As for Renya, he wished to stay a bit longer in the guild to listen to the various stories, if he had to describe his feelings, and thus he was a bit dissatisfied by the early departure. For the time being, he had only received a simple explanation and thus he tried to sort through the information. 1.) Violating the rules will lead to punishment. The lightest penalty would be a trifling fine while the maximum would be capital punishment. In case the offender escaped, there would be a wanted notice handed out to all guilds. The intelligence network of the adventurers guild seemed to be quite formidable. Since the establishment of the guild there has been no fugitive who managed to escape completely after being wanted. The receptionist told them proudly. Once it reached the stage of being put on the wanted list, it didnt matter anymore whether the fugitive was returned dead or alive. The people appropriate for the pursuit would receive a request from the guild. The request was profitable to the degree that it resulted in each adventurer going into a frenzy. Given that, it apparently became almost impossible to successfully escape. 2.) Adventurers got a rank. The ranks were divided into seven levels named S, A, B, C, D, E and F. S was pretty much the highest rank. Usually it was decided by ability, taking into account what degree of services they contributed to the guild to determine the rank they should get. To become a Rank S adventurer, almost heroic deeds were necessary, Renya was told. Among the Rank S adventurers, there was another rank of SS created in order to distinguish those who particularly towered above the others in ability. As they were already outside of the standard, this was not thought of as a separate rank. Apparently there were currently only five people recognized as SS rank. Although Renya wanted to obtain information on those five people, he was dragged outside the guild by Shion before he could manage to inquire about them. By the way, when he asked Shions group what rank they were, he received F as a reply. Since it hasnt been long since they became adventurers, it was a natural state of affairs. Of course the rank inscribed on Renyas guild card was F as well. Afterwards, in order to replace the armor that was broken at the time of the attack of the goblin horde and for the sake of procuring a precise weapon, Renya, who was unfamiliar with this city, asked Shion to introduce him to a shop. At the recommended shop he obtained leather armor and a longsword.2 The whole set cost him 1 gold coin. Renya didnt really know whether this was expensive or cheap in relation to the typical market price. As it could be seen as an item that would be frequently used, Rona stated Maa, its proper equipment. and Renya decided to believe her. In relation to the quality, Renya examined it with his appraisal skill. Both seemed to be typical grade 2 goods on the market. Although Shion recommended metal armor with zeal, Renya politely refused considering the troublesome weight that would impede his movement and the high price he wouldnt be able to afford, and thus would have no advantages over leather. Renya had wished for a much better weapon, there was nothing else than this according to the shopkeeper. So he had no other option but to give up on obtaining anything better. Obtaining the longsword, it wasnt easily discernible whether it was produced to be used for smashing and crushing rather than cutting after all. The way the steel was manufactured was obviously very rough upon inspection with Renyas eyes. First of all the mass of steel was heated up, then it was stroke into the form of a sword. This level of weapon was a typical thing for this world.The probability of me finding an appropriate weapon is quite low, huh?Renya assessed with a foul mood. Luckily, as he would travel this world, there surely would be someone who has received the blacksmith skill from the little girl.If I dont make one myself sooner or later.Renya recalled in a corner of his mind. As for the payment, he used the money that was stored in his [Inventory]. After mentioning that she would loan him the necessary funds, Shion saw Renya take out the gold coin and obviously was wondering where he had obtained it with strong curiosity. Now that you mention it, the Lost come to this world by accident, so they naturally dont have any of the currency used in this world on them. Because the money for selling the magic core hasnt been paid out yet, it must appear to be a strange matter for others to see me possessing money of my own. How should I answer this?Shaking his head after turning around, he began an awkward explanation of him finding some money laying on the ground at the time of him coming to this world and picking it up. Renya himself thought that she wouldnt buy his story so easily. Unexpectedly, Shion easily believed the story and said that even if the gold was the lost property of another person that it would be appropriate to spend it. Too easy, passing that story off was too simple, or should I rather say she is too trusting in regards to matters she doesnt know about? Thats quite worrying in itself.Renya thought in the end. Renya, first off I want to properly thank you. (Shion) To the raised voice, Renya returned to reality from within his own thoughts. Turning his eyes to the one who spoke, Shion stared at him silently with a humble expression. Shion was seated on the opposite side of the table. Next to her, Rona was sitting with her usual smiling face. Before he could open his mouth to ask What do you want to thank me for?, a hand appeared next to him placing the food on the table while he was wondering. When he had ordered his dinner, he had left it to the shopkeeper and thus he got the special of the day. It was something as simple as soup with bread and salad, too. The salad, the name of which he didnt know, was properly filled with vegetable leaves. Although the only seasoning was vinegar and salt, the vegetables themselves were delicious. Tasting the food resulted in Renya being satisfied. The problem was the soup and bread. The soup had some vegetables and small pieces of smashed meat in order for it to cook together well. Because there was little salt in it, the taste was rather thin. The bread was probably only baked using wheat. It was hard to the degree of being difficult to chew. Dividing it and soaking it in the the soup made it possible to eat it. The bread itself had no flavor at all, the soup was thin, making the whole thing plainly unappetizing. In the time of waiting for the relief squad arriving at the pioneers village, the villagers offered him a similar bread to eat. Partially he had hoped and anticipated to eat more delicious food in a human habitat. Thus his disappointment was immense. There is plenty of room to improve on the quality of the food, huh?Renya sighed. So, what were we talking about? (Renya) Our gratitude, gra?ti?tu?de! (Shion) Spending time on stressing the last word, Shion bend herself forward while raising her voice. Renya looked at her colored with doubt wonderingWhats this person saying? Unable to just watch this situation any longer, Rona pushed into the conversation. Its about the exchange with Deputy Branch Leader Fritz. (Rona) Ah, that matter? There is no particular need to thank me for that, is there? (Renya) Having easily given up on eating the disgusting bread, Renya tasted the drink he had ordered alongside the food. It was something called ale, it was a drink that appeared in the same manner with the same name in his previous world. The sourness was stronger than the bitterness. There werent many bubbles rising to the surface either. Frankly said, this was quite disgusting as well. Furthermore, since it was served lukewarm, the distaste doubled. Really, are there any delicious things as the little girl claimed there to be?Renya ended up having such suspicions. You might say that it will be like losing half of lifes enjoyment if that isnt the case. However, it is a fact that delicious things are expensive no matter which world or era you are talking about. Therefore, if I have even a 0.001% chance to obtain delicious things with money in this world, I wont abandon hope,Renya decided. If the time comes where this hope turns into despair, I will severely spank that little girl when I meet her again after my death. Eto, Renya? (Shion) Its fine to not worry about such things. To begin with, on the occasion we were attacked by the goblin group, the investigation and subjugation were likely finished at that time. Thinking about making mistakes will lead to only making mistakes. Insisting on success will hinder those trying to deny it. (Renya) Neither the location of the goblin settlement in the forest, nor the scale of the settlement, nor how many goblin villages were about were required to be reported in the original request in any detail. Still this wouldnt be able to give an excuse for their failure.He left those things unsaid though. Although it was completely Renyas conjecture from here on out, he somehow judged that the guild itself wasnt overly interested in obtaining a detailed report to begin with. From the start the party sent to investigate was a swordsman apprentice, a priest apprentice and six Hyahha3men. By no means was this a party composition geared towards investigation as its goal. At any rate, even if you let non-specialized adventurers wander around within the forest, they would run into a goblin or such sooner or later since it was monster inhabited to such an extent. They could just hire a random party of 8 people and they would beat down some goblins to thin out the monster population even if it took a long time to do so. Most likely the guild harbored such dark thoughts. In other words the expected degree of detail in the report was to meet a goblin, defeat it and return without causing any problems. The request failed because it was impossible to properly investigate, seeing this in the final report, the guild wouldnt need to pay the reward and a proper penalty could be levied against the adventurers due totheirfailure. Or in other words, the guild would get a clear gain if the story ended up unfolding like that. The virtue of diligence can sometimes be a decisive fault, in reality, as one can easily see in this example. It was this kind of story after all.Renya concluded. But, in my case, I couldnt have handled it like that. As a result, our evaluation didnt drop and we even received the full reward for the request. I am pretty sure that this is something to be thankful for. (Shion) The virtue of diligence, being a virtue, if you remove the two charactersfrom virtue () it will merely become weakness, describing the situation like this is also true,Renya dropped his shoulders.4 Although I said thanks wouldnt be necessary, I dont think they will simply accept that. In that case the only question remaining would be what words to say in order to quickly end the subject, huh?Renya nodded his agreement to Shion. Understood. I gratefully accept yourwordsof thanks. (Renya) Renya stressed the words part of his answer intentionally as he saw Shion wanting to say something more in order for her to not say anything else. Judging from Shions character, she wanted to start talking about transferring some of the requests reward to him. Even if he didnt see any signs of that, it was easy for Renya to predict it. Is it really fine? (Rona) Intending to provide support, Rona asked this. The reward for the request totals to 12 gold coins. Accepting 4 gold coins from that amount would be fine, Shion said so as well. (Rona) Although he wasnt sure when they had such a discussion, Renya clearly shook his head to convey that he had no intention to accept this money. In the first place I didnt receive that request so I shouldnt get any reward either. Even if they said they would give him part of the reward, there wasnt an ounce of intention within Renya to accept it. Even so, isnt the reward amount kind of high? Is that normal? (Renya) Ah, its the payment prepared for 8 people after all. (Rona) The reward per person would be 1 gold coin and 50 silver coins, going by Ronas words. Considering that going to the destination takes 2 days, investigating for 2 days, and returning afterwards takes 2 days as well, the whole expedition would be limited to 6 days. Or in other words, it would be 25 silver coins per day per person. Assuming that it would be 25,000 Japanese yen in his previous world, that might be an appropriate amount of money. Although it wouldnt have been necessary to pay the amount of reward money for those people who have died, the amount of money they would receive was decided upon accepting the request. In the case that the number of people would decrease, it was normal for the reward to be divided equally among those remaining. Rona explained. With this the talk about the reward is finished. As a matter of fact, from here on out it will be about the real issue at hand for us, Renya. (Shion) Leaning deep into the chair and taking a deep breath in order to change the atmosphere for a moment, Shion was preparing to speak frankly about something important. Such was the mood Renya experienced while he waited for her to begin. She will probably be bringing up some troublesome subject again, huh? At least this much is obvious from how she averts her gaze from mine.Renya silently waited for Shion to continue. To be honest we want to invite you into our party and would like you to consider it. (Shion) Invitation? Me, a Lost? (Renya) Come to think of it, I remember Fritz asked a similar question in regards to this matter at the time we were about to leave, too. Is it your intention to act together with these children? Most likely that could be called a bitter hint towards this invitation, huh? If that was the case, Renya didnt realise it at all. Assuming something like this, these two must have shown some signs of matters heading in that direction, as the guild leader was able to notice it. As one would expect of the person being employed as deputy branch leader. He couldnt reply at that time since he didnt understand what it was about. Now that it had come to the people themselves inviting him, he was wavering in his decision as to how he was supposed to answer. And above all, Renya didnt understand why they were inviting him. If you only thought about his combat skills, certainly he had defeated a large horde of goblins almost by himself. Looking at it that way, there could be no objection to his combat potential and thus he deemed it to be understandable. However, Renya was a Lost, a person with a peculiar standing. He wasnt an inhabitant of this world. Only having his identification papers due to the registration at the guild, he was an ambiguous being no matter how you viewed him. If one were to measure how suspicious he was with a machine, the gauge would definitely swing towards Completely Suspicious. Furthermore, he possessed none of the common sense of this world, and hadnt a clue what affairs he was not to meddle in. He would become a party member thought to be trouble in the making, such would be a being known as a Lost. Given the situation at hand, Renya felt like speaking as he didnt understand them. Considering it normally, it wouldnt be strange for the two girls to distance themselves from him immediately. Although weve known each other for just a short time, I think it will likely be exposed. I dont know a great many things and I am not very intelligent either. For Renya, from the time he met Shions group until now, he had harbored many doubts. Those doubts continued to exist unchanged. In order to answer those problems, he had a feeling that Shion would address them directly. So Renya carefully listened to what Shion said. Just like the situation at the time with the deputy branch leader, we are not able to skilfully deal with such things. In comparison, Renya seems to be very experienced in how to deal with such situations. (Shion) More or less, as I am a 94 year old man on the inside, even if I lost most of my memories. Considering this, Shions group is just inexperienced and cant be compared to my own position. What face would Shion make if I told her that?Renya thought in a corner of his mind. Moreover Renya is strong having you as a nakama5would be reassuring. We are just a party of two women, however thinking about us also working as adventurers, I have a strong premonition it isnt a good thing. (Rona) Took you long enough to notice,Renya was barely able to hold back replying with such a tsukkomi.6 If people with just a little trust in each other gather, they wont be able to form a clique in the end unless there is a very powerful individual included. Thus there is no reason why normal adventurers would be able to simply do that. Rather, although it was for a short period, coming across only two women can be called good fortune, the god of this world with the exception of this world heading towards its destruction due to the lack of administrative ability. That little girl is somehow different, though. I should express my gratitude to the kami-sama governing somewhere in a far distant place over good fortune, is what he thought. At the time of the goblin attack, I judged you as a person I can trust, too. Although it was a situation where it wouldnt usually be strange for a single person to run away either, you helped us. I think thats the normal course of action, though. (Renya) Although that might be the case, I choose to believe in my intuition. How about it? If you become our nakama, we will teach you the various things you dont know. Of course, we will teach you about this world as far as we are able, as well. I think we will be capable of helping you before long, too. I dont think its such a bad deal. (Shion) Teaching me about various things I wonder how much instruction will be fine.Such thoughts came rising up within his mind, causing Renyas lips to slightly curl into a small sneer. Shion took it with a wry smile assuming a gloomy look as she was thinking it would be no good. Although Ronas expression is a smiling one, her gaze causes ones temperature to quickly drop. You can call this a truly terrific display of skill.Renya observed. As it is obvious now, I am pretty sure she is able to sense what I was thinking about.While Renya raised his right hand to cover his mouth, he considered what he should tell them. Ah, first off, I am honestly very happy that you want to invite me. I have no relatives and thus getting nakama would be a huge help. However, I want to consider my reply for a little while. Specifically, for about one night. (Renya) I see, thats true. Certainly one cant expect an immediate answer to such a request. After all it might be a subject that will majorly influence Renyas future from now on. I understand. Not hurrying is fine. We will hope for a favorable response. (Shion) Having thought she would be refused, Shion completely changed and her face obviously cheered up as he was willing to consider his reply. The coldness of Ronas gaze disappeared. Even though it disappeared, he didnt understand what she was thinking about as the clinging smile on her face didnt change at all. Well then, what should I do?While thinking that, Renya poured the disgusting ale into his throat in one go. Translation Notes 1The name in Japanese is Banbutsu no Genei, which roughly translates to illusion/vision/shadow of all creation/all there is/above all others. It is basically a VERY Chuunibyou name, and required a lot of work to make it NOT sound stupid. 2nagadachi = (ancient) longsword 3Dont ask me what that is. 4Sorry, but this is the best interpretation of the sentence I can give as I dont know the Japanese language to comment on the character removal. 5Friend/Companion well those who watch One Piece know that its a bit more than that. 6Tsukkomi another typical Japanese term coming from Japanese comedy routines where two entertainers interact with each other. One is telling something while the other intercepts with tsukkomis. Hard to describe it, so google it, if you want. ED Note: There is typically one fool and a straight man, where the fool is doing or saying or retelling something in a manner befitting a fool. The straight man butts into the action to give a sharp correction to the fool, which is called a Tsukkomi. It is a popular type of comedic act, and has been since the days of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Chapter 14 Is it past midnight?he thought without any kind of basis. Since there was no clock, it generally was impossible to tell what the exact time was at present. After the citizens fell asleep, different from his previous world, there was hardly anything you could call night activity in this world. Because there is nothing making any sounds, nor anything to listen to, the silence becomes almost painful. Merely his own breathing can be heard quietly. At the time he was at the pioneers village, the dog or wolf packs, he wasnt sure which of them, living in the forest could be heard howling. In the city even that was missing. The pleasure and amusement facilities had already closed down and everybody crawled into their beds as no decent people would be awake at this time. At the most there were the grumbled complaints of those who werent permitted to leave their station which wouldnt be anyone else but the city guards. While thinking about this situation, Renya was sitting up on top of his bed. It was dark in his room. Each room was equipped with a candle in order to provide a light source. Of course it was extinguished once the occupant went to sleep. At the moment, the only light entering the room was coming from the sole window by the bright moon standing high in the sky and shining down its light upon the surface. As the window wasnt overly transparent, it was difficult to clearly look at the sky. Wasnt he feeling tired enough yet from the piled up exhaustion? Or did the bed not suit his tastes? Apparently he wasnt able to fall asleep in a restful slumber. Although he had also drunken some alcohol at dinner, his sleepiness hadnt increased at all. Also, he had only gone to bed as Shions group had recommended doing so. The bed itself was more or less quite clean. But, for some reason or another he somehow didnt feel quite comfortable lying down on it. After coming to this world he hadnt yet had a chance to take a proper bath which might also be a reason for his current restlessness.While its not to the degree that I can fall asleep, there is obviously some drowsiness firmly pulling at my mind, Renya assessed. It didnt particularly mean that Renya was a slouch though. Just, as for this worlds customs, the event of taking a bath wasnt a common occurrence. Since that was the case, he wondered how the inhabitants of this world kept their bodies clean without taking a bath. Scooping up water from a basin to wash ones face and then use it with a cloth to wipe the body of sweat and dirt seemed to be the standard method to keep the body clean. Renya had recalled that he was a Japanese person in his previous world. And so, just like the great majority of the Japanese people, Renya perceived the matter of taking a bath as a normal devotion. But, he wasnt able to do that here. It wasnt like baths were unknown here, but such things as gathering hot water to fill the bath tub just to soak the body in the hot water was something unreasonable for the common public due to the costs involved. Except for the apparent portion of rich people like the nobles and the royalty, Renya wasnt aware of anyone else taking a bath. Although it was extremely unpleasant, he had no other choice but to put up with it for now. Since he couldnt stand it, he had received a washbasin filled with hot water from the inn employee before going to sleep. Wiping his whole body with a cloth, Renya somewhat had the feeling of becoming slightly clean in the end. Since he couldnt use a bathtub to amply soak his whole body in hot water, his body didnt feel completely relaxed after all either. There also is the urgent matter of improving my meals. After having tasted that dinner earlier, it is absolutely necessary to do something about the entire situation to significantly improve it,Renya uneasily grumbled about the future. As he was thinking about such serious matters, he ended up completely perking up. Thereupon, as if waiting for that chance, two soft knocks resounded from the entrance door. For a moment Renya though he made a mistake in his hearing as he looked towards the door. For a while there was a pause before there was a knock again. Although it didnt seem like he misheard, Renya didnt remember having any acquaintances who would visit his room this late in the night. Or rather, in the case of Renya, he had almost no acquaintances to begin with. Talking about acquaintances, currently it would only be Shion and Rona. He couldnt count in those he just knew by their faces and names either, which would apply to deputy branch leader Fritz, as he hadnt told him which pub he would choose as a resting place, thus he could be excluded from the possibilities. Having done this selection by exclusion, it could only be either Shion or Rona who had chosen the same pub as him. However there was no way a young woman would visit the room of a male this late in the night. They should be at least this careful, Renya thought using his common sense. As he wasnt sure if it was usual to visit a mans room in the dead of night in this alternate world, he wasnt able to reach a definite conclusion on what to do. If this is a little bit like what happens to protagonists of Light Novels, I should have somehow raised a flag with a heroine somewhere, no?Although he should be delighted about such a thing, Renya was unfortunately an exceeding realist and moreover a slight pessimist as well. Since he had the conviction from the beginning that such a pleasantly embarrassing event wouldnt occur anyway, he couldnt help but feel that the late night visitor smelled like trouble. From within the little luggage he had, he retrieved the knife he had borrowed for removing raw materials from monsters. Gripping this drawn knife in his right hand, he moved to the wall beside the door that would conceal him behind the opening door from anyone who entered. In reality he preferred to hold a powerful long sword as a weapon but there was almost no chance to obtain one at the moment. In that case this whole matter wouldnt be so troublesome. He would be able to instill a feeling of dread and deep seated doubt within his opponent with the drawn blade of a long sword. After the second knock, there was no indication that the door would be opened. Still the person who had knocked earlier must be waiting on the other side of the door.Renya judged. Cautiously gripping the door knob with his left hand, he talked in a small but still clear voice so the person other side could hear it. Who is there? (Renya) Sorry for disturbing you this late in the night. Its me, Rona. I wish to talk with you for a while. If you dont mind, could you let me in? (Rona) The voice replying to him was certainly Ronas. The person on the other side of the door was without a doubt one of his acquaintances even though he couldnt prove it. Somehow Renya got a strong feeling that some kind of trouble was approaching him and thus he grimaced. If it were Shion, at worst, he could try to feign ignorance to the circumstances and deal with the situation superficially by saying that there is a chance of him losing to his lust if she came to visit his room, albeit the chance of that really happening were slim. However, with Rona here it was a different story. At first glance she appeared to be full of gaps in her guard but in reality there were no gaps at all. Furthermore, based on her also being an apprentice priestess, there was also the point of having to be careful about her profundity in comparison to Shion around whom he didnt have to be quite as modest. Such a woman visited the room of a man this late in the night. There was definitely something wrong, or rather it was impossible that there was nothing amiss. Because there was no way that it was nothing, nevertheless, as it was possible that they would spend a long time together as companions from now on, he couldnt treat her cruelly now either. The subject cant wait until tomorrow? I want to sleep, too. Im tired. (Renya) Its a subject that has to be addressed now. Can I ask for your forgiveness for my unreasonable request? (Rona) Renyas tone completely carried the nuance of telling her to return to her own room immediately. Whereas Ronas tone gave off the feeling that she didnt intend to stand down at all. Renya hesitated. It was simple to firmly insist on her returning to her own room. But that would cause Ronas impression of him to become worse which would lead to him having to decline Shions invitation. Certainly, Renya was still poorly informed about the circumstances in this world, but he was confident enough to somehow run across a person who could help him out in this regard. Actually in this case, although he had asked for some time to consider it, he had come to the conclusion that immediately refusing would lead to a not overly good relationship thereafter. However he intended to reject the invitation itself. If he already had to act together with someone, he would prefer it to be companions of the same sex as it would be more comfortable that way. He shouldnt have to deal with the opposite sex one way or the other. Therefore, the first thing he would do tomorrow, was to refuse Shions invitation. He planned to go back to the guild in order to search for a party. Moreover, Shion is somehow inexperienced and Rona is a person whom you never know what she is thinking, Renya judged. Those two are hiding something and that will, with almost absolute certainty, lead to a lot of trouble. This was the conclusion Renya had reached. However, right then, this one dropped in for a short visit. That is, I do understand the feeling of certain body parts no matter how withered my body might have been as I previously died peacefully at the age of 94 years as an old man. After all I can be classified as a man in the end. I know of the previous degree of entanglement due to my little finger.1He thought. Well, how about freely declining all requests by women? Renya didnt care about his own face at all when he was at the pioneers village. He only started to do so after seeing the reflection of it in the water of the washbasin he had borrowed from the inn. Black hair and eyes and an average personal appearance emitting a deep knowledge. Easy to like and easy to hate, being acceptable as well as being improper. Such was the impression he received. And at the pioneers village I rescued them both and helped them even more, leaving a fairly good impression, he assessed with certainty. The probability of her coming here to confess her love was like drawing the winning ticket of 100,000,000 yen from a 100 yen ticket. However he couldnt declare with absolute certainty that it wasnt so either. No way. (Renya) While Renya reached that self-conclusion at an abnormal speed, he decided to let Rona into the room. There were two reasons. First, even if Rona was scheming something, he predicted that he would be sufficiently able to cope with it. Second, he didnt find any words to absolutely persuade Rona to return to her own room. Understood. The door is open. Since I have no intention to invite you, enter on your own discretion. (Renya) Kind and inviting words are troublesome, but since it cant be helped I will deal with you were the undertone he conveyed to her with his reply. As Renya unlocked the door with the key, he immediately turned his back towards the door. He placed the knife he held under the pillow on the bed. As he sat down on the edge of the bed a lewd smile floated on his face but he soon dispelled it after thinking about it deeply. No matter how much time passed, he didnt particularly notice the sound of the door opening. Thinking that she wouldnt really wait for the door to be opened for her, Renya turned towards the door. Before his eyes Rona was standing with her usual smiling face where you never knew what she was thinking about. I was careless. When did she come in?Thinking about this question, Renya was one step late. Using that momentary delay, Rona used that chance to tackle Renya with her own body, pushing him down on the bed so he laid face up. With a feeling ofWhat kind of joke is this supposed to be?his typical train of thoughts caused Renya to be delayed in his reaction. When he finally noticed, she had completely taken the mount position and thus finished pinning him down. Renya-san (Rona) Renyas shoulders where held down with both her hands and Rona brought her face close to his in one go. Still wearing her priests garb for no good reason even in the dead of night, Rona had intended to tackle him right from the start. The appearance of her night-wear was only hindered by the string at her waist. As the collar area was widely opened in comparison to her usual priests garb, naturally the countenance of the swelling of her breasts which shouldnt usually be seen was sticking out halfway. Being in a straddling position, the hem of her clothes ended up revealing quite a bit of her thighs. The scene was definitely lascivious. Renyas pulse slightly increased. You do understand, right? What kind of situation this is. (Rona) No, I totally dont understand. I dont remember having raised such a flag at all either. (Renya) Rona took away the hands pinning down his shoulders in order to deal with the hem of his shirt. No, that is definitely a bad idea.Renya thought as his shirt was lifted up in no time exposing his bare skin. Shifting her body position from his belly downwards to the hips, she used the transition to press her body down on his with its exposed skin in order to embrace him. While doing so, Ronas lips approached Renyas ear. After doing this much do you intend to make me say it? (Rona) As the body parts touching each other increased, the transmission of the heat, tenderness and weight werent hindered by the clothes at all. Renyas reason easily went flying. The still remaining composed part of it that was dwelling deep within his mind cried out Its a trap! Its definitely a trap! Opposing this was another part of his mind, calling out Even if it is a trap, there is nothing to dislike about it. As he had no experience in how to deal with women, he reached the conclusion to simply go with the flow. How far do you intend to go in the end? he heard the barely audible voice denying his conclusion. Being surprised at that, he decided to follow the calm voice within his mind rather than the desires of his own body. He crushed Ronas strength with the power of his own body. Attacking her in her unguarded moment, although he was laying facing up, it didnt mean that Renya was completely defenseless. Struggling several times, he tried to escape from under Rona at least. As her arm was locked in embracing him glued their bodies together and pressed him down, she didnt allow him to escape. In case of a simple contest of power, there was no reason for Renya to lose to Rona. However, their bodily positions were to Ronas advantage in this situation. It is impossible to pull her off, huh? There is the recoil of delivering a blow to her, too. I dont understand what Rona is aiming for with the present situation.Renya didnt care about the methods anymore. Please dont act so violently, Renya-san You can let me handle it. I will make you feel good. (Rona) Wa-Wait, damn. First of all, calm down. No, is it me who has to calm down? Anyway, get off me. Being dragged into such a situation, I dont see any reason or memory to explain it! (Renya) Do you want to bother the neighbours with your loud shouting? Or do you want me to plug this mouth of yours? (Rona) S-T-O-P it. Dont whisper into my ear, dont use such a sultry tone and dont blow your hot breath into my ear! (Renya) A part of Renyas ear was wrapped up in a warm damp sensation. It was just like imagined play-biting. Something lukewarm was caressing his ear lobe. At the time this comparative sensation ran down his spine, Renya resolved to separate himself from it. NamelyDo you want your sense of self to be washed away like this? Or do you want to move forward with resolution? Rona, this is the final warning. Stop it right now (Renya) Renya-san (Rona) Towards his cold attitude, Rona skilfully bit his ears digging in her teeth just a tiny bit. This has already exceeded the stage of talking, Renya understood. Suddenly clenching his right hand into a fist, he only made his thumb tightly stand up. I gave you fair warning. (Renya) Using his extended thumb, he thrust it into the side of Ronas abdomen. Hiyaa!? (Rona) Screaming in disarray, Ronas body lost its strength. Thereupon, without mercy, Renya continued striking both sides of Ronas abdomen with similar attacks. Without giving her any chance to regain her position, Renya fled from beneath Rona. Simultaneously he pulled Ronas clothes turning her over on top of the bed while at the same time diving towards the pillow to grab the knife he had hidden there. Then he leaped back close to the wall. At least he now had taken the necessary distance, as his calm mind had ordered him to do. The not so calm part of him entered a state similar to the simmering noise of boiling honey.2 It is a good thing that my body has become young again, but with such weakness occurring at the same time, I mustnt become negligent, Renya assessed while roughly catching his breath. Rona, who had been tossed on top of the bed and laid there spread-eagled, didnt show any signs of getting up. Since it is night, its a good thing that the room remains shrouded in darkness,Renya pondered while waiting for his breathing to regulate. Most likely his face was bright red. He didnt want to consider it too much. The state of his lower part couldnt be helped in such situation either as he was a man after all. This incident was going to be trouble. Renya couldnt deny it if someone were to ask him. For a while now he had the wish to go back to the bed even while frantically trying to calm down his mind. He repeatedly took deep breaths. Translation Notes 1Not sure СָȤҤä̶ȤˤƤ롱 ED: Red string of fate attached to pinky fingers that ties men and women together as lovers? 2Another idiom, I guess? Is it past midnight?he thought without any kind of basis. Since there was no clock, it generally was impossible to tell what the exact time was at present. After the citizens fell asleep, different from his previous world, there was hardly anything you could call night activity in this world. Because there is nothing making any sounds, nor anything to listen to, the silence becomes almost painful. Merely his own breathing can be heard quietly. At the time he was at the pioneers village, the dog or wolf packs, he wasnt sure which of them, living in the forest could be heard howling. In the city even that was missing. The pleasure and amusement facilities had already closed down and everybody crawled into their beds as no decent people would be awake at this time. At the most there were the grumbled complaints of those who werent permitted to leave their station which wouldnt be anyone else but the city guards. While thinking about this situation, Renya was sitting up on top of his bed. It was dark in his room. Each room was equipped with a candle in order to provide a light source. Of course it was extinguished once the occupant went to sleep. At the moment, the only light entering the room was coming from the sole window by the bright moon standing high in the sky and shining down its light upon the surface. As the window wasnt overly transparent, it was difficult to clearly look at the sky. Wasnt he feeling tired enough yet from the piled up exhaustion? Or did the bed not suit his tastes? Apparently he wasnt able to fall asleep in a restful slumber. Although he had also drunken some alcohol at dinner, his sleepiness hadnt increased at all. Also, he had only gone to bed as Shions group had recommended doing so. The bed itself was more or less quite clean. But, for some reason or another he somehow didnt feel quite comfortable lying down on it. After coming to this world he hadnt yet had a chance to take a proper bath which might also be a reason for his current restlessness.While its not to the degree that I can fall asleep, there is obviously some drowsiness firmly pulling at my mind, Renya assessed. It didnt particularly mean that Renya was a slouch though. Just, as for this worlds customs, the event of taking a bath wasnt a common occurrence. Since that was the case, he wondered how the inhabitants of this world kept their bodies clean without taking a bath. Scooping up water from a basin to wash ones face and then use it with a cloth to wipe the body of sweat and dirt seemed to be the standard method to keep the body clean. Renya had recalled that he was a Japanese person in his previous world. And so, just like the great majority of the Japanese people, Renya perceived the matter of taking a bath as a normal devotion. But, he wasnt able to do that here. It wasnt like baths were unknown here, but such things as gathering hot water to fill the bath tub just to soak the body in the hot water was something unreasonable for the common public due to the costs involved. Except for the apparent portion of rich people like the nobles and the royalty, Renya wasnt aware of anyone else taking a bath. Although it was extremely unpleasant, he had no other choice but to put up with it for now. Since he couldnt stand it, he had received a washbasin filled with hot water from the inn employee before going to sleep. Wiping his whole body with a cloth, Renya somewhat had the feeling of becoming slightly clean in the end. Since he couldnt use a bathtub to amply soak his whole body in hot water, his body didnt feel completely relaxed after all either. There also is the urgent matter of improving my meals. After having tasted that dinner earlier, it is absolutely necessary to do something about the entire situation to significantly improve it,Renya uneasily grumbled about the future. As he was thinking about such serious matters, he ended up completely perking up. Thereupon, as if waiting for that chance, two soft knocks resounded from the entrance door. For a moment Renya though he made a mistake in his hearing as he looked towards the door. For a while there was a pause before there was a knock again. Although it didnt seem like he misheard, Renya didnt remember having any acquaintances who would visit his room this late in the night. Or rather, in the case of Renya, he had almost no acquaintances to begin with. Talking about acquaintances, currently it would only be Shion and Rona. He couldnt count in those he just knew by their faces and names either, which would apply to deputy branch leader Fritz, as he hadnt told him which pub he would choose as a resting place, thus he could be excluded from the possibilities. Having done this selection by exclusion, it could only be either Shion or Rona who had chosen the same pub as him. However there was no way a young woman would visit the room of a male this late in the night. They should be at least this careful, Renya thought using his common sense. As he wasnt sure if it was usual to visit a mans room in the dead of night in this alternate world, he wasnt able to reach a definite conclusion on what to do. If this is a little bit like what happens to protagonists of Light Novels, I should have somehow raised a flag with a heroine somewhere, no?Although he should be delighted about such a thing, Renya was unfortunately an exceeding realist and moreover a slight pessimist as well. Since he had the conviction from the beginning that such a pleasantly embarrassing event wouldnt occur anyway, he couldnt help but feel that the late night visitor smelled like trouble. From within the little luggage he had, he retrieved the knife he had borrowed for removing raw materials from monsters. Gripping this drawn knife in his right hand, he moved to the wall beside the door that would conceal him behind the opening door from anyone who entered. In reality he preferred to hold a powerful long sword as a weapon but there was almost no chance to obtain one at the moment. In that case this whole matter wouldnt be so troublesome. He would be able to instill a feeling of dread and deep seated doubt within his opponent with the drawn blade of a long sword. After the second knock, there was no indication that the door would be opened. Still the person who had knocked earlier must be waiting on the other side of the door.Renya judged. Cautiously gripping the door knob with his left hand, he talked in a small but still clear voice so the person other side could hear it. Who is there? (Renya) Sorry for disturbing you this late in the night. Its me, Rona. I wish to talk with you for a while. If you dont mind, could you let me in? (Rona) The voice replying to him was certainly Ronas. The person on the other side of the door was without a doubt one of his acquaintances even though he couldnt prove it. Somehow Renya got a strong feeling that some kind of trouble was approaching him and thus he grimaced. If it were Shion, at worst, he could try to feign ignorance to the circumstances and deal with the situation superficially by saying that there is a chance of him losing to his lust if she came to visit his room, albeit the chance of that really happening were slim. However, with Rona here it was a different story. At first glance she appeared to be full of gaps in her guard but in reality there were no gaps at all. Furthermore, based on her also being an apprentice priestess, there was also the point of having to be careful about her profundity in comparison to Shion around whom he didnt have to be quite as modest. Such a woman visited the room of a man this late in the night. There was definitely something wrong, or rather it was impossible that there was nothing amiss. Because there was no way that it was nothing, nevertheless, as it was possible that they would spend a long time together as companions from now on, he couldnt treat her cruelly now either. The subject cant wait until tomorrow? I want to sleep, too. Im tired. (Renya) Its a subject that has to be addressed now. Can I ask for your forgiveness for my unreasonable request? (Rona) Renyas tone completely carried the nuance of telling her to return to her own room immediately. Whereas Ronas tone gave off the feeling that she didnt intend to stand down at all. Renya hesitated. It was simple to firmly insist on her returning to her own room. But that would cause Ronas impression of him to become worse which would lead to him having to decline Shions invitation. Certainly, Renya was still poorly informed about the circumstances in this world, but he was confident enough to somehow run across a person who could help him out in this regard. Actually in this case, although he had asked for some time to consider it, he had come to the conclusion that immediately refusing would lead to a not overly good relationship thereafter. However he intended to reject the invitation itself. If he already had to act together with someone, he would prefer it to be companions of the same sex as it would be more comfortable that way. He shouldnt have to deal with the opposite sex one way or the other. Therefore, the first thing he would do tomorrow, was to refuse Shions invitation. He planned to go back to the guild in order to search for a party. Moreover, Shion is somehow inexperienced and Rona is a person whom you never know what she is thinking, Renya judged. Those two are hiding something and that will, with almost absolute certainty, lead to a lot of trouble. This was the conclusion Renya had reached. However, right then, this one dropped in for a short visit. That is, I do understand the feeling of certain body parts no matter how withered my body might have been as I previously died peacefully at the age of 94 years as an old man. After all I can be classified as a man in the end. I know of the previous degree of entanglement due to my little finger.1He thought. Well, how about freely declining all requests by women? Renya didnt care about his own face at all when he was at the pioneers village. He only started to do so after seeing the reflection of it in the water of the washbasin he had borrowed from the inn. Black hair and eyes and an average personal appearance emitting a deep knowledge. Easy to like and easy to hate, being acceptable as well as being improper. Such was the impression he received. And at the pioneers village I rescued them both and helped them even more, leaving a fairly good impression, he assessed with certainty. The probability of her coming here to confess her love was like drawing the winning ticket of 100,000,000 yen from a 100 yen ticket. However he couldnt declare with absolute certainty that it wasnt so either. No way. (Renya) While Renya reached that self-conclusion at an abnormal speed, he decided to let Rona into the room. There were two reasons. First, even if Rona was scheming something, he predicted that he would be sufficiently able to cope with it. Second, he didnt find any words to absolutely persuade Rona to return to her own room. Understood. The door is open. Since I have no intention to invite you, enter on your own discretion. (Renya) Kind and inviting words are troublesome, but since it cant be helped I will deal with you were the undertone he conveyed to her with his reply. As Renya unlocked the door with the key, he immediately turned his back towards the door. He placed the knife he held under the pillow on the bed. As he sat down on the edge of the bed a lewd smile floated on his face but he soon dispelled it after thinking about it deeply. No matter how much time passed, he didnt particularly notice the sound of the door opening. Thinking that she wouldnt really wait for the door to be opened for her, Renya turned towards the door. Before his eyes Rona was standing with her usual smiling face where you never knew what she was thinking about. I was careless. When did she come in?Thinking about this question, Renya was one step late. Using that momentary delay, Rona used that chance to tackle Renya with her own body, pushing him down on the bed so he laid face up. With a feeling ofWhat kind of joke is this supposed to be?his typical train of thoughts caused Renya to be delayed in his reaction. When he finally noticed, she had completely taken the mount position and thus finished pinning him down. Renya-san (Rona) Renyas shoulders where held down with both her hands and Rona brought her face close to his in one go. Still wearing her priests garb for no good reason even in the dead of night, Rona had intended to tackle him right from the start. The appearance of her night-wear was only hindered by the string at her waist. As the collar area was widely opened in comparison to her usual priests garb, naturally the countenance of the swelling of her breasts which shouldnt usually be seen was sticking out halfway. Being in a straddling position, the hem of her clothes ended up revealing quite a bit of her thighs. The scene was definitely lascivious. Renyas pulse slightly increased. You do understand, right? What kind of situation this is. (Rona) No, I totally dont understand. I dont remember having raised such a flag at all either. (Renya) Rona took away the hands pinning down his shoulders in order to deal with the hem of his shirt. No, that is definitely a bad idea.Renya thought as his shirt was lifted up in no time exposing his bare skin. Shifting her body position from his belly downwards to the hips, she used the transition to press her body down on his with its exposed skin in order to embrace him. While doing so, Ronas lips approached Renyas ear. After doing this much do you intend to make me say it? (Rona) As the body parts touching each other increased, the transmission of the heat, tenderness and weight werent hindered by the clothes at all. Renyas reason easily went flying. The still remaining composed part of it that was dwelling deep within his mind cried out Its a trap! Its definitely a trap! Opposing this was another part of his mind, calling out Even if it is a trap, there is nothing to dislike about it. As he had no experience in how to deal with women, he reached the conclusion to simply go with the flow. How far do you intend to go in the end? he heard the barely audible voice denying his conclusion. Being surprised at that, he decided to follow the calm voice within his mind rather than the desires of his own body. He crushed Ronas strength with the power of his own body. Attacking her in her unguarded moment, although he was laying facing up, it didnt mean that Renya was completely defenseless. Struggling several times, he tried to escape from under Rona at least. As her arm was locked in embracing him glued their bodies together and pressed him down, she didnt allow him to escape. In case of a simple contest of power, there was no reason for Renya to lose to Rona. However, their bodily positions were to Ronas advantage in this situation. It is impossible to pull her off, huh? There is the recoil of delivering a blow to her, too. I dont understand what Rona is aiming for with the present situation.Renya didnt care about the methods anymore. Please dont act so violently, Renya-san You can let me handle it. I will make you feel good. (Rona) Wa-Wait, damn. First of all, calm down. No, is it me who has to calm down? Anyway, get off me. Being dragged into such a situation, I dont see any reason or memory to explain it! (Renya) Do you want to bother the neighbours with your loud shouting? Or do you want me to plug this mouth of yours? (Rona) S-T-O-P it. Dont whisper into my ear, dont use such a sultry tone and dont blow your hot breath into my ear! (Renya) A part of Renyas ear was wrapped up in a warm damp sensation. It was just like imagined play-biting. Something lukewarm was caressing his ear lobe. At the time this comparative sensation ran down his spine, Renya resolved to separate himself from it. NamelyDo you want your sense of self to be washed away like this? Or do you want to move forward with resolution? Rona, this is the final warning. Stop it right now (Renya) Renya-san (Rona) Towards his cold attitude, Rona skilfully bit his ears digging in her teeth just a tiny bit. This has already exceeded the stage of talking, Renya understood. Suddenly clenching his right hand into a fist, he only made his thumb tightly stand up. I gave you fair warning. (Renya) Using his extended thumb, he thrust it into the side of Ronas abdomen. Hiyaa!? (Rona) Screaming in disarray, Ronas body lost its strength. Thereupon, without mercy, Renya continued striking both sides of Ronas abdomen with similar attacks. Without giving her any chance to regain her position, Renya fled from beneath Rona. Simultaneously he pulled Ronas clothes turning her over on top of the bed while at the same time diving towards the pillow to grab the knife he had hidden there. Then he leaped back close to the wall. At least he now had taken the necessary distance, as his calm mind had ordered him to do. The not so calm part of him entered a state similar to the simmering noise of boiling honey.2 It is a good thing that my body has become young again, but with such weakness occurring at the same time, I mustnt become negligent, Renya assessed while roughly catching his breath. Rona, who had been tossed on top of the bed and laid there spread-eagled, didnt show any signs of getting up. Since it is night, its a good thing that the room remains shrouded in darkness,Renya pondered while waiting for his breathing to regulate. Most likely his face was bright red. He didnt want to consider it too much. The state of his lower part couldnt be helped in such situation either as he was a man after all. This incident was going to be trouble. Renya couldnt deny it if someone were to ask him. For a while now he had the wish to go back to the bed even while frantically trying to calm down his mind. He repeatedly took deep breaths. Translation Notes 1Not sure СָȤҤä̶ȤˤƤ롱 ED: Red string of fate attached to pinky fingers that ties men and women together as lovers? 2Another idiom, I guess? Chapter 15 No good, huh? (Rona) Rona raised her voice while still lying on the bed. Somehow Renyas breathing and body had calmed down. Moreover quite some time had passed by now. Casually stretching out both hands and legs while facing upwards, this questioning voice loudly escaped from within her chest where the two mounds were visibly standing out. Because idly staring at her in this state stirred strange feelings within Renya, he averted his gaze in a panic. The knife he had recovered from the bed made him extremely nervous. Surely, in front of a monster this knife is something like a safeguard that I wouldnt want to be without, and in a situation like this either, Renya thought about its nature. And I thought Id advanced it to such a pleasant stage. (Rona) You pushed me dangerously close to breaking, baka (Renya) As Renya spit those words out, Rona began to laugh. Whats so funny? he glared at her, who showed no sign of intending to get up. Turning only her face towards Renya, Rona said, I did something very regrettable. (Rona) You could at least explain the reason, couldnt you? (Renya) I wanted you to accept Shions invitation. Isnt that enough? (Rona) For only this reason you used your priestess body to seduce me? Thats pretty much impossible. (Renya) For me this was reason enough, its nothing that unusual, right? (Rona) Although Rona clearly stated this, she immediately sighed. However, it ended in failure. How disappointing. Renya-san, you were planning on refusing Shions invitation, werent you? (Rona) Renya was too embarrassed to answer. Was this the place to persistently play dumb? Or should he act surprised due to being seen through here? Not hoping for a favorable reply from the start, Rona continued without waiting for Renyas words, I just want Renya-san to accept Shions invitation by any means. Cant you somehow reconsider? (Rona) Why do you want that? And why do you insist on me? (Renya) As for the answer of your first question: Renya-san, you think that Shion is something of an inexperienced and foolish girl, dont you? (Rona) I havent judged her so far as to call her foolish. (Renya) You dont deny her inexperience though. (Rona) Do you want me to admit it myself?Renya thought. As for her virtues, you can easily say that she is a fine, diligent girl. However if you look at it from the point of view of an adventurer, thinking of helping another person without considering the situation, sometimes you have to become defiantly brazen and unscrupulous. Immediately doing something like admitting her own fault will cause her to fall into a disadvantageous situation. But it cant be helped that she isnt aware of such a thing either, can it?He thought. When he honestly told Rona this, she agreed with an, As expected, thats right. For this reason I want Renya-san to enter our party. (Rona) I have understood this from Shions attempts at persuasion. However, to select a Lost like me to travel with her is dangerous in and of itself in the first place. (Renya) No, no! I can pretty much tell from Renya-sans appearance that you are obviously quite experienced. (Rona) I am 94 years old to begin with, Renya murmured within in his mind. Although it doesnt make any particular difference to me to tell them about my real age, Rona and Shion most likely would think that I am joking without believing a word of it anyways. Therefore it would be futile to tell them about it, Renya judged. Cant you somehow grant my wish? The only reward I can give you, is myself. (Rona) Why do something like that? Immediately proposing to give away your own body (Renya) That is maa, lets say its a womans secret. (Rona) What womans secret?Renya thought.For sure Ronas proposal is quite charming. Even now Ronas defenseless body was sprawled out on top of the bed. Renya hadnt regained his presence of mind to such an extent that he wouldnt feel anything from being invited by such a bishoujo. Being invited to do as one pleases to her, it isnt hard to predict that the majority of males are guaranteed to give her an immediate reply in the end. Although it wasnt easy, Renya strongly resisted to not having his mind taken over by his lust. To tell you the truth, in regards to refusing the invitation, there is another reason as well. (Renya) After the attempt to seduce him, there was no way for the situation to become even more chaotic no matter what he did. Thus Renya decided to use this situation to inquire about a matter that had been bugging him all the time since he had met the two. Once you have understood the reason and resolved the part that has been worrying me, I wont mind accepting your invitation and accompanying you even without Rona having to become the sacrifice for it. (Renya) Somehow, I feel like I dont want to answer but I will try my best to do so. (Rona) The thing that worries me is something you should be aware of and the answer should be somehow obvious to you.1(Renya) When Renya said that, Rona tilted her head to the side obviously showing that she didnt understand what he was talking about. That gesture made him think that she was an innocent girl by nature while possessing an innate charm towards men, which influenced Renya so greatly that he reflexively thought he misjudged his choice of words. However, Renya didnt intend to let her influence his thoughts from the start. If you intend to play dumb, I dont particularly mind. I will have you listen to me regardless. (Renya) Yes, I will listen to your story. (Rona) Ronas smile didnt waver in the least. First off, the situation when we met was strange. (Renya) Renya started to recall the circumstances while he talked. After listening to the accepted request to investigate the forest, the composition of your party was far too weird. (Renya) Was it really such a weird party? (Rona) Indeed, having a party of 6 men merge with a party of 2 women to take on the same request, there must be a limit to how naive you can be. In case the party composition of 8 people was necessary, I might understand the reason for such an action. However, viewing the two parties separately, it was a situation where the choice of companions was incomprehensible. It was like throwing first-class meat in front of starving wolves. (Renya) Fumu (Rona) The situation of two women who are not confident in their skills ending up being dependent on the 6 men, one way or another, made me think Ah, there was such a method as well. Afterwards you two introduced yourselves as apprentices, too. (Renya) With a static expression Rona listened to Renyas explanation while lying down on the bed. Her smile remained as it was, making it difficult to read her emotions. Please continue. (Rona) The second discrepancy is your appearance. No matter how you look at it, the size of your clothes is too small compared to your figure. In case thats your hobby or has some religious reason, Id like to hear the reason for that. As far as I can see you are purposely revealing your body lines by wearing clothes that are one size smaller than they should be. (Renya) You have been looking at us with such eyes? Thats quite ecchi. (Rona) Rona displayed a slight movement of embarrassment. Renya regarded her with nothing but doubting eyes no matter which part of her was shaking with a *burun burun.* The spectacle didnt captivate him any more. Rather, her various wiles with the aim to deceive him didnt bear any fruit. Simply staring at her apparently shady behavior, made Rona stop her silly movement after a while seeing that there was no effect on him. Why do you know about this? (Rona) In my world something like this is called a technique of inducing ones gaze. In short its a skill to attract the attention and stares of those around you onto yourself. In the case of women, it can easily be done by dressing light on purpose. That is to say, wearing a short skirt and increasing skin exposure. (Renya) (ED: aka being intentionally distracting.) Your world seems to be quite dreadful, you know. (Rona) Rona said seriously. Without accommodating her by responding, Renya continued. The third discrepancy are your names. Because I dont know about the common sense of this world, its at most only to the degree of my being bothered by it. Both of you should have a given name and a family name, but Shion only wrote down up to her given name2when we arrived. (Renya) Whats wrong with that? (Rona) Going by what I read in novels in my previous world, this often points towards special circumstances like some absurdly long names or the complications following of people from a noble household. (Renya) I wasnt aware of that, you know. Neither me nor Shion considered giving our full name but that seems to have caused complications. (Rona) While her smiling face didnt waver, Rona leaked a small sigh. The fourth discrepancy is about the sword you gave me during the battle with the goblins. (Renya) That was I think it was an unwise move, too. (Rona) As she recalled that time, for the first time her smile began to slightly cramp. However she immediately returned to her *niko niko* face. Although the blade of the sword cant be considered anything good, the appearance of the hilt is magnificent. Shion said that it was a family heirloom. And you said it should be fine if its a Lost, Rona. (Renya) You remember it quite clearly, dont you. (Rona) Because the hilt is an item passed down through Shions household, wouldnt that mean the superbly crafted crest of those two entwining dragons is Shions family crest, is what I thought. You said it would be alright for me to use the sword because I wouldnt be able to recognize the origin of the family crest anyway, since I am a Lost, Rona. Isnt that what you thought? (Renya) Since it is such a splendidly artistic item, it might have been bought by Shions family in the first place, dont you think? (Rona) Although Rona spoke as a rebuttal, her tone revealed that she didnt believe in what she was saying either. Of course Renya had expected just such an excuse as well. If thats the case, you wouldnt carry it around as a spare weapon, dont you agree? (Renya) Ah to call that item a spare weapon is not exactly correct. (Rona) The fifth discrepancy is (Renya) Theres more? (Rona) Ronas smile ended up disappearing completely, being replaced with a serious face. Renya didnt intend to weaken his spirit of pursuing the matter at all. The reason for that was because Rona hadnt confirmed even one word of Renyas suppositions yet. The name written on the adventurer card. I was only able to confirm Shions card. Even though I gave myfull nameat the time I introduced myself, only my first name was registered on the card. For no reason, or rather, if a reason is needed, I cant think of anything else but this acting as support for the third discrepancy I mentioned earlier. In short, someone seeing the family name would immediately recognize to which household it belonged, so to say. (Renya) You have observed that quite well. Havent you turned the tables enough, yet? (Rona) Tightly holding her chest up, Rona displayed her flustered state.3(T/N: You should check the link in the Notes to understand the pose.) As one would expect Renyas awareness and gaze ended up being drawn by nature towards the pair of swaying mounds. Oh! There seems to be some hope. (Rona) Upon seeing Ronas broad grin, Renyas face was dyed slightly scarlet. Shut up, I am a man as well. Leaving that aside, there is a sixth discrepancy. (Renya) Tearing off his gaze from the swaying chest with a great effort of willpower, Renya continued. The guards hesitated slightly when they returned the adventurer cards to you. (Renya) That was most likely because they didnt want to part with the nice feeling of the cards which still held the warmth of our bodies I would think. (Rona) I think that half of the reason can be attributed to that, but is that all there is to it? I fear that its likely that those guards know the face of either you or Shion. (Renya) There was no reply. By now the levity about the matter had ended. Rona stared fixedly at Renyas face with a serious expression. Is the matter I just mentioned of such a concern to you? (Renya) What should I say? Although I intended to be careful, you still found my mistakes. (Rona) Making it apparent that she was surrendering, Rona cast her eyes down and shrugged her shoulders. The answer to number 1: The reason why we accepted such a request on purpose was for improving Shions sense of danger. (Rona) It wasnt that long since you had become adventurers though, no? (Renya) Yes, it was about a month prior to that. Anyway, Shion is no good. She totally lacks the sense of danger from that direction (ED: Mens attention). Thus I wanted to change her way of thinking by experiencing just such a risky situation. (Rona) Shock treatment, huh?Renya thought. Even so, he still had a feeling that it was a far too dangerous method to fully achieve the purpose. Renya arriving in time to rescue them was completely by chance after all. To sum it up, considering the method on that occasion if he hadnt arrived in time to help them, Rona had already expected to be assaulted as a premise and decided that only the two of them would be able to deal with the situation one way or the other. Ah, because my real occupation is more or less that of a knight, sorting out six unarmed people should be doable, no? Even though I look the way I do, I am a capable person who was appointed to be a bodyguard. (Rona) As Renyas thoughts were displayed on his face, Rona supplemented with an explanation. This caused Renya to be astonished. However, after personally experiencing the series of actions to pin him down and immobilize him not too long ago, a part of his mind thoughtI see, thats how it was. Falsifying her occupation, apparently thats what she had done.If that was the case, she should have displayed her real strength at the time of the goblin subjugation, Renya ended up thinking. Since it must remain an absolute secret that I am a knight unless there are extreme circumstances I will stick to the role of being a priestess. (Rona) Ah, is that so Is that perhaps the reason why you said you have no talent in magic? (Renya) Being a knight in priestess clothes, if I were able to master magic, I would become a hero! (Rona) It was like saying maintaining the technical skill has overflown.*4 Although she falsified her occupation, it doesnt seem to be a lie that she is a priestess for the time being. Following up on speaking of the second discrepancy. Thats quite difficult5even if it is work. (Rona) Rona said while softly caressing her chest. Tight5, does she mean in the physical sense, or the emotional sense of embarrassment, or is it in regards to both? Renya wasnt able to reach a conclusion. The third discrepancy: You are right, Shion is of a certain high-class lineage. However I dont intent to reveal what kind and who it is at the present point in time. (Rona) At the present time it wasnt clear what kind of position Renya would take, and in addition to that it was to be expected considering Renyas previous urging. As for the fourth: Thats also the same as you had deduced before, that crest shows the blood-line of Shion. (Rona) Then, the fifth discrepancy as well? (Renya) Yes, registering with her full name would have caused quite an uproar, I am certain. (Rona) That means the sixth discrepancy as well (Renya) You were wrong about the guards knowingeitherme or Shion, that is to say, they know the faces ofbothof us at that gate. (Rona) With this everything was answered, Rona admitted with her smile. Entrusting his back to the wall and hitting his head with his palm, Renya said, In short, Shion is the princess of some high-class lineage you dont want to disclose. You are following her disguised as a priestess as you were assigned as her bodyguard. I dont understand why you would lower yourself to such a social status though. As you have severely little experience as adventurers which is why you attempted to seize me, who appears to somehow have the basics down, in order to prevent future mistakes. Such would be your reasoning, then? (Renya) Those are my reasons, yes. Do you think that Shion would even consider such a matter in the first place? Because you are a man who possesses reliable strength and can be trusted, she wishes to obtain your cooperation as a suitable companion. Thats the furthest she has considered matters. (Rona) At the time when she said she wanted to help the villagers in the pioneers village, the result was her surrendering to the compromise plan she was told. At that time Rona looked at Renya with a glare fully transmitting her intent to strangle him to death while displaying an exceedingly bright smile. In other words, you are quite wicked. (Renya) Yes, though I dont think thats anything to be ashamed of. (Rona) This matter is incredibly troublesome, isnt it? Dont go dragging me into it! (Renya) Dont say that. If one were to speak of heartless, after spending an entire night apart from each other, do you want to witness me weeping in front of a huge crowd of people about my being raped? (Rona) Dont joke around. Do you really want to harass me with something like that?! (Renya) OK, then lets enjoy ourselves to the fullest! Now~ Come on! (Rona) Rona spread out both her hands on top of the bed signalling an *oide oide* . Its no good.With quite the feeling of despair Renya looked up towards the ceiling. From the beginning Rona had intended to wager everything she could offer herself. (ED: Including herself.) Renya wasnt so indifferent that he was sure his willpower would win out in the end. A person who didnt think of the consequences of losing a competition was an absolute force. (ED: So, either godlike or an unstoppable idiot.) Whether it was negotiations, gambling, or brawling, this truth could be sufficiently called a fact. In short, at the time Rona decided to make Renya her target, the match was already decided, which was no exaggeration in the end either. And considering Renyas situation, it was only a matter of how long he would be able to evade his inevitably disadvantageous situation through talking. That was the only question. Having thought through things so far, Renya raised both hands while looking up the ceiling indicating his surrender. I give up. Though I dont know whether I will be able to live up to your expectations. (Renya) Hearing those words, Rona burst out into laughter on top of the bed as she was completely satisfied. Translation Notes 1Quite unsure about the last part of this sentence:֪äƤ¤Ȥδ𤨤碌ߤʤ any help is appreciated. 2The author wrote here up to her middle name but I dont remember her noting down any middle name so I am just assuming he meant the first name aka Shion. 3ä椵ist the concrete wording for the pose, but I have no clue how to translate that one properly, thus check the picture for it:http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=11112490 4ּܤ`Щ`ե`Ƥsome idiom or comparison. Dont ask me. Basically it should mean: Exceeding the limit of her original class (knight). 5The kanji used here means difficult and also tight, as it uses the same kanji Renya interprets it in such a way while in Ronas speech tight would make no sense in English. No good, huh? (Rona) Rona raised her voice while still lying on the bed. Somehow Renyas breathing and body had calmed down. Moreover quite some time had passed by now. Casually stretching out both hands and legs while facing upwards, this questioning voice loudly escaped from within her chest where the two mounds were visibly standing out. Because idly staring at her in this state stirred strange feelings within Renya, he averted his gaze in a panic. The knife he had recovered from the bed made him extremely nervous. Surely, in front of a monster this knife is something like a safeguard that I wouldnt want to be without, and in a situation like this either, Renya thought about its nature. And I thought Id advanced it to such a pleasant stage. (Rona) You pushed me dangerously close to breaking, baka (Renya) As Renya spit those words out, Rona began to laugh. Whats so funny? he glared at her, who showed no sign of intending to get up. Turning only her face towards Renya, Rona said, I did something very regrettable. (Rona) You could at least explain the reason, couldnt you? (Renya) I wanted you to accept Shions invitation. Isnt that enough? (Rona) For only this reason you used your priestess body to seduce me? Thats pretty much impossible. (Renya) For me this was reason enough, its nothing that unusual, right? (Rona) Although Rona clearly stated this, she immediately sighed. However, it ended in failure. How disappointing. Renya-san, you were planning on refusing Shions invitation, werent you? (Rona) Renya was too embarrassed to answer. Was this the place to persistently play dumb? Or should he act surprised due to being seen through here? Not hoping for a favorable reply from the start, Rona continued without waiting for Renyas words, I just want Renya-san to accept Shions invitation by any means. Cant you somehow reconsider? (Rona) Why do you want that? And why do you insist on me? (Renya) As for the answer of your first question: Renya-san, you think that Shion is something of an inexperienced and foolish girl, dont you? (Rona) I havent judged her so far as to call her foolish. (Renya) You dont deny her inexperience though. (Rona) Do you want me to admit it myself?Renya thought. As for her virtues, you can easily say that she is a fine, diligent girl. However if you look at it from the point of view of an adventurer, thinking of helping another person without considering the situation, sometimes you have to become defiantly brazen and unscrupulous. Immediately doing something like admitting her own fault will cause her to fall into a disadvantageous situation. But it cant be helped that she isnt aware of such a thing either, can it?He thought. When he honestly told Rona this, she agreed with an, As expected, thats right. For this reason I want Renya-san to enter our party. (Rona) I have understood this from Shions attempts at persuasion. However, to select a Lost like me to travel with her is dangerous in and of itself in the first place. (Renya) No, no! I can pretty much tell from Renya-sans appearance that you are obviously quite experienced. (Rona) I am 94 years old to begin with, Renya murmured within in his mind. Although it doesnt make any particular difference to me to tell them about my real age, Rona and Shion most likely would think that I am joking without believing a word of it anyways. Therefore it would be futile to tell them about it, Renya judged. Cant you somehow grant my wish? The only reward I can give you, is myself. (Rona) Why do something like that? Immediately proposing to give away your own body (Renya) That is maa, lets say its a womans secret. (Rona) What womans secret?Renya thought.For sure Ronas proposal is quite charming. Even now Ronas defenseless body was sprawled out on top of the bed. Renya hadnt regained his presence of mind to such an extent that he wouldnt feel anything from being invited by such a bishoujo. Being invited to do as one pleases to her, it isnt hard to predict that the majority of males are guaranteed to give her an immediate reply in the end. Although it wasnt easy, Renya strongly resisted to not having his mind taken over by his lust. To tell you the truth, in regards to refusing the invitation, there is another reason as well. (Renya) After the attempt to seduce him, there was no way for the situation to become even more chaotic no matter what he did. Thus Renya decided to use this situation to inquire about a matter that had been bugging him all the time since he had met the two. Once you have understood the reason and resolved the part that has been worrying me, I wont mind accepting your invitation and accompanying you even without Rona having to become the sacrifice for it. (Renya) Somehow, I feel like I dont want to answer but I will try my best to do so. (Rona) The thing that worries me is something you should be aware of and the answer should be somehow obvious to you.1(Renya) When Renya said that, Rona tilted her head to the side obviously showing that she didnt understand what he was talking about. That gesture made him think that she was an innocent girl by nature while possessing an innate charm towards men, which influenced Renya so greatly that he reflexively thought he misjudged his choice of words. However, Renya didnt intend to let her influence his thoughts from the start. If you intend to play dumb, I dont particularly mind. I will have you listen to me regardless. (Renya) Yes, I will listen to your story. (Rona) Ronas smile didnt waver in the least. First off, the situation when we met was strange. (Renya) Renya started to recall the circumstances while he talked. After listening to the accepted request to investigate the forest, the composition of your party was far too weird. (Renya) Was it really such a weird party? (Rona) Indeed, having a party of 6 men merge with a party of 2 women to take on the same request, there must be a limit to how naive you can be. In case the party composition of 8 people was necessary, I might understand the reason for such an action. However, viewing the two parties separately, it was a situation where the choice of companions was incomprehensible. It was like throwing first-class meat in front of starving wolves. (Renya) Fumu (Rona) The situation of two women who are not confident in their skills ending up being dependent on the 6 men, one way or another, made me think Ah, there was such a method as well. Afterwards you two introduced yourselves as apprentices, too. (Renya) With a static expression Rona listened to Renyas explanation while lying down on the bed. Her smile remained as it was, making it difficult to read her emotions. Please continue. (Rona) The second discrepancy is your appearance. No matter how you look at it, the size of your clothes is too small compared to your figure. In case thats your hobby or has some religious reason, Id like to hear the reason for that. As far as I can see you are purposely revealing your body lines by wearing clothes that are one size smaller than they should be. (Renya) You have been looking at us with such eyes? Thats quite ecchi. (Rona) Rona displayed a slight movement of embarrassment. Renya regarded her with nothing but doubting eyes no matter which part of her was shaking with a *burun burun.* The spectacle didnt captivate him any more. Rather, her various wiles with the aim to deceive him didnt bear any fruit. Simply staring at her apparently shady behavior, made Rona stop her silly movement after a while seeing that there was no effect on him. Why do you know about this? (Rona) In my world something like this is called a technique of inducing ones gaze. In short its a skill to attract the attention and stares of those around you onto yourself. In the case of women, it can easily be done by dressing light on purpose. That is to say, wearing a short skirt and increasing skin exposure. (Renya) (ED: aka being intentionally distracting.) Your world seems to be quite dreadful, you know. (Rona) Rona said seriously. Without accommodating her by responding, Renya continued. The third discrepancy are your names. Because I dont know about the common sense of this world, its at most only to the degree of my being bothered by it. Both of you should have a given name and a family name, but Shion only wrote down up to her given name2when we arrived. (Renya) Whats wrong with that? (Rona) Going by what I read in novels in my previous world, this often points towards special circumstances like some absurdly long names or the complications following of people from a noble household. (Renya) I wasnt aware of that, you know. Neither me nor Shion considered giving our full name but that seems to have caused complications. (Rona) While her smiling face didnt waver, Rona leaked a small sigh. The fourth discrepancy is about the sword you gave me during the battle with the goblins. (Renya) That was I think it was an unwise move, too. (Rona) As she recalled that time, for the first time her smile began to slightly cramp. However she immediately returned to her *niko niko* face. Although the blade of the sword cant be considered anything good, the appearance of the hilt is magnificent. Shion said that it was a family heirloom. And you said it should be fine if its a Lost, Rona. (Renya) You remember it quite clearly, dont you. (Rona) Because the hilt is an item passed down through Shions household, wouldnt that mean the superbly crafted crest of those two entwining dragons is Shions family crest, is what I thought. You said it would be alright for me to use the sword because I wouldnt be able to recognize the origin of the family crest anyway, since I am a Lost, Rona. Isnt that what you thought? (Renya) Since it is such a splendidly artistic item, it might have been bought by Shions family in the first place, dont you think? (Rona) Although Rona spoke as a rebuttal, her tone revealed that she didnt believe in what she was saying either. Of course Renya had expected just such an excuse as well. If thats the case, you wouldnt carry it around as a spare weapon, dont you agree? (Renya) Ah to call that item a spare weapon is not exactly correct. (Rona) The fifth discrepancy is (Renya) Theres more? (Rona) Ronas smile ended up disappearing completely, being replaced with a serious face. Renya didnt intend to weaken his spirit of pursuing the matter at all. The reason for that was because Rona hadnt confirmed even one word of Renyas suppositions yet. The name written on the adventurer card. I was only able to confirm Shions card. Even though I gave myfull nameat the time I introduced myself, only my first name was registered on the card. For no reason, or rather, if a reason is needed, I cant think of anything else but this acting as support for the third discrepancy I mentioned earlier. In short, someone seeing the family name would immediately recognize to which household it belonged, so to say. (Renya) You have observed that quite well. Havent you turned the tables enough, yet? (Rona) Tightly holding her chest up, Rona displayed her flustered state.3(T/N: You should check the link in the Notes to understand the pose.) As one would expect Renyas awareness and gaze ended up being drawn by nature towards the pair of swaying mounds. Oh! There seems to be some hope. (Rona) Upon seeing Ronas broad grin, Renyas face was dyed slightly scarlet. Shut up, I am a man as well. Leaving that aside, there is a sixth discrepancy. (Renya) Tearing off his gaze from the swaying chest with a great effort of willpower, Renya continued. The guards hesitated slightly when they returned the adventurer cards to you. (Renya) That was most likely because they didnt want to part with the nice feeling of the cards which still held the warmth of our bodies I would think. (Rona) I think that half of the reason can be attributed to that, but is that all there is to it? I fear that its likely that those guards know the face of either you or Shion. (Renya) There was no reply. By now the levity about the matter had ended. Rona stared fixedly at Renyas face with a serious expression. Is the matter I just mentioned of such a concern to you? (Renya) What should I say? Although I intended to be careful, you still found my mistakes. (Rona) Making it apparent that she was surrendering, Rona cast her eyes down and shrugged her shoulders. The answer to number 1: The reason why we accepted such a request on purpose was for improving Shions sense of danger. (Rona) It wasnt that long since you had become adventurers though, no? (Renya) Yes, it was about a month prior to that. Anyway, Shion is no good. She totally lacks the sense of danger from that direction (ED: Mens attention). Thus I wanted to change her way of thinking by experiencing just such a risky situation. (Rona) Shock treatment, huh?Renya thought. Even so, he still had a feeling that it was a far too dangerous method to fully achieve the purpose. Renya arriving in time to rescue them was completely by chance after all. To sum it up, considering the method on that occasion if he hadnt arrived in time to help them, Rona had already expected to be assaulted as a premise and decided that only the two of them would be able to deal with the situation one way or the other. Ah, because my real occupation is more or less that of a knight, sorting out six unarmed people should be doable, no? Even though I look the way I do, I am a capable person who was appointed to be a bodyguard. (Rona) As Renyas thoughts were displayed on his face, Rona supplemented with an explanation. This caused Renya to be astonished. However, after personally experiencing the series of actions to pin him down and immobilize him not too long ago, a part of his mind thoughtI see, thats how it was. Falsifying her occupation, apparently thats what she had done.If that was the case, she should have displayed her real strength at the time of the goblin subjugation, Renya ended up thinking. Since it must remain an absolute secret that I am a knight unless there are extreme circumstances I will stick to the role of being a priestess. (Rona) Ah, is that so Is that perhaps the reason why you said you have no talent in magic? (Renya) Being a knight in priestess clothes, if I were able to master magic, I would become a hero! (Rona) It was like saying maintaining the technical skill has overflown.*4 Although she falsified her occupation, it doesnt seem to be a lie that she is a priestess for the time being. Following up on speaking of the second discrepancy. Thats quite difficult5even if it is work. (Rona) Rona said while softly caressing her chest. Tight5, does she mean in the physical sense, or the emotional sense of embarrassment, or is it in regards to both? Renya wasnt able to reach a conclusion. The third discrepancy: You are right, Shion is of a certain high-class lineage. However I dont intent to reveal what kind and who it is at the present point in time. (Rona) At the present time it wasnt clear what kind of position Renya would take, and in addition to that it was to be expected considering Renyas previous urging. As for the fourth: Thats also the same as you had deduced before, that crest shows the blood-line of Shion. (Rona) Then, the fifth discrepancy as well? (Renya) Yes, registering with her full name would have caused quite an uproar, I am certain. (Rona) That means the sixth discrepancy as well (Renya) You were wrong about the guards knowingeitherme or Shion, that is to say, they know the faces ofbothof us at that gate. (Rona) With this everything was answered, Rona admitted with her smile. Entrusting his back to the wall and hitting his head with his palm, Renya said, In short, Shion is the princess of some high-class lineage you dont want to disclose. You are following her disguised as a priestess as you were assigned as her bodyguard. I dont understand why you would lower yourself to such a social status though. As you have severely little experience as adventurers which is why you attempted to seize me, who appears to somehow have the basics down, in order to prevent future mistakes. Such would be your reasoning, then? (Renya) Those are my reasons, yes. Do you think that Shion would even consider such a matter in the first place? Because you are a man who possesses reliable strength and can be trusted, she wishes to obtain your cooperation as a suitable companion. Thats the furthest she has considered matters. (Rona) At the time when she said she wanted to help the villagers in the pioneers village, the result was her surrendering to the compromise plan she was told. At that time Rona looked at Renya with a glare fully transmitting her intent to strangle him to death while displaying an exceedingly bright smile. In other words, you are quite wicked. (Renya) Yes, though I dont think thats anything to be ashamed of. (Rona) This matter is incredibly troublesome, isnt it? Dont go dragging me into it! (Renya) Dont say that. If one were to speak of heartless, after spending an entire night apart from each other, do you want to witness me weeping in front of a huge crowd of people about my being raped? (Rona) Dont joke around. Do you really want to harass me with something like that?! (Renya) OK, then lets enjoy ourselves to the fullest! Now~ Come on! (Rona) Rona spread out both her hands on top of the bed signalling an *oide oide* . Its no good.With quite the feeling of despair Renya looked up towards the ceiling. From the beginning Rona had intended to wager everything she could offer herself. (ED: Including herself.) Renya wasnt so indifferent that he was sure his willpower would win out in the end. A person who didnt think of the consequences of losing a competition was an absolute force. (ED: So, either godlike or an unstoppable idiot.) Whether it was negotiations, gambling, or brawling, this truth could be sufficiently called a fact. In short, at the time Rona decided to make Renya her target, the match was already decided, which was no exaggeration in the end either. And considering Renyas situation, it was only a matter of how long he would be able to evade his inevitably disadvantageous situation through talking. That was the only question. Having thought through things so far, Renya raised both hands while looking up the ceiling indicating his surrender. I give up. Though I dont know whether I will be able to live up to your expectations. (Renya) Hearing those words, Rona burst out into laughter on top of the bed as she was completely satisfied. Translation Notes 1Quite unsure about the last part of this sentence:֪äƤ¤Ȥδ𤨤碌ߤʤ any help is appreciated. 2The author wrote here up to her middle name but I dont remember her noting down any middle name so I am just assuming he meant the first name aka Shion. 3ä椵ist the concrete wording for the pose, but I have no clue how to translate that one properly, thus check the picture for it:http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=11112490 4ּܤ`Щ`ե`Ƥsome idiom or comparison. Dont ask me. Basically it should mean: Exceeding the limit of her original class (knight). 5The kanji used here means difficult and also tight, as it uses the same kanji Renya interprets it in such a way while in Ronas speech tight would make no sense in English. Chapter 16 I need money. And not a small amount, either. Rather, I need a large amount of money coming in periodically. (Renya) E, ue!? Ah? Eh, how much? (Shion) After receiving the suicidal attack of Rona with her life on the line, she had tragically surrendered in the morning of the next day. Shions group showed up in the dining hall to take their breakfast. They sat down at the table Renya was already located at. After short introductory remarks, Renya rushed Shion into such a conversation. As one would expect after suddenly being told such a thing, she only managed to reply with strange groans in the end due to being thrown into confusion by his words. In the seat next to Shion, Rona was sitting. She didnt show any traces at all of the suicidal attack she had attempted the night before. Nonchalantly she was watching how the matter would unfold. Renya understood that Shion would be thrown into confusion after being told such a story out of the blue. Even so, steering the conversation in such a direction on purpose and how he reached the conclusion to do so, naturally would bring forth doubts. Therefore he decided to make it seem like he was intending to finish the conversation he had with Shion before. After thinking about it for a long time by myself, I can somehow state that my prospects cant be called very promising. Thus I concluded that I need someone to help me out. (Renya) Ha, haa (Shion) However, I, as a Lost, dont possess much knowledge about this world either, nor am I confident in my skills and neither have I any acquaintances. Because of these circumstances, I think it will be quite troublesome for me to look for companions with the goal of earning money. (Renya) That may be so but it isnt certain either. (Shion) As she still didnt recover from the initial shock and likewise wasnt able to keep up with flow of the conversation, Shion only managed to to give an inoffensive and harmless reply. In line with Shions invitation yesterday, I can certainly say that it is quite attractive and thus I am thinking about going along with it in the end. Given that I am taking it into consideration, my main purpose is to earn money, and if Shion approves of this then there is only negotiations remaining. How do you want to earn it? (Renya) Eh? Eto? (Shion) For what purpose are you planning to earn money? (Rona) Renya demanded an answer from the panicking Shion. Rona interjected with a composed voice from the adjourning seat. This action served the purpose to give the confused Shion some time to sort out her thoughts. It was plainly visible that she used the flow of the conversation of Renya talking about money to direct it in such way. Likewise it was a gentle guidance. But as far as Renya was concerned in regards to her helping with the flow of the conversation, he judged Rona to no more than trying to direct the conversation in a way that would be convenient for herself. You female fox with the eyes of a female tanukigiving her only such a glance, Renya chose his words while seeing Shion returning to the current circumstances.(ED: Basically, Seductress with the eyes of a criminal.) I want a base. Concretely, I prefer a single house with an attached workshop. To make it absolutely clear, I want it to be at a location where no one will bother me, too. (Renya) This, for what reason, again? (Rona) In the pioneers village the circumstances were as they were, thus I endured various things. As far as returning to the city is concerned, there were too many dissatisfying incidents for me no matter how you look at it. I am unhappy and while it may be true that it isnt the fault of those accompanying me, I want a space where I can do whatever I like. (Renya) So you would like to have a house with a reasonable plot of land, huh? If you even attach a workshop to that, something along the line of one platinum coin would be necessary. (Rona) Upon hearing Renyas words, Rona stated her impression and in addition, albeit secretly, she informed the two, Renya and Shion, of the estimated amount of money needed while feigning that it was a spontaneous conduct to the bitter end. Renya not knowing the market price of a house is only to be expected, but I fear that its likely that even Shion, who wants to fulfill Renyas wish, isnt aware of the matter of how much money must be saved to do so. Really, there is no knowledge in stock at all.(T/N: POV Rona) Well, the amount of money required can be examined later. It feels like that would be the appropriate response to such a difficult topic, do you agree? (Renya) E, eh? Ah ah ah, un. You are right. (Shion) Not being given the spare time to think up too many arguments, Shion, who was still in a flustered state of mind, gave a nod to the subject Renya brought up without collecting her thoughts on the matter. Understood. As for myself, any kind of livelihood is fine, even if that might be a dark way of thinking. The objective is to purchase a house. With this I think it is worth it to work towards that objective. I think its fine this way. (Shion) Thats my goal though (Renya) Earning one platinum coin by yourself is quite difficult. Since weve already become friends, we might as well use the house as base of the party, dont you think? (Shion) Shion declared quite readily. Without saying anything, Renya directed his eyes towards Rona. Rona sensing Renyas gaze upon herself quickly turned her line of sight away and directed it towards another direction. Isnt it yourself who brought up this impending crisis?Renya wanted to complain to her, but Renya himself understood as well that voicing his complaints towards Rona in her current state would be a mistake. Even though he understood it, since he wasnt able to complain to person herself, naturally he didnt expect Rona to say anything nor could he do anything about it. Because Rona understood it for sure as well, she averted her eyes from him. No matter how long he would stare at her, Rona would continue to avoid his gaze by forcefully looking away. Reluctantly Renya resumed choosing his next words as much as possible while Shion was talking. Ano na (Look here), there is no one in any age who doesnt understand what it means to talk about men and women living under the same roof, dont you think? (Renya) Isnt it fine? We are companions after all. Isnt that kind of like a family? (Shion) Completely believing in the good nature of others combined with a lack of knowledge about the relationship between a man and a woman, such features by themselves can be called very beautiful. But that poor self-awareness lacks any sense of danger as usual. In a meaning very different from the time with Rona, I think its very unlikely I will be able to win thisRenya raised both his hands in defeat while affirming so within his mind. In order for this to work out, I think I have to take it to the limit as a joke at least once before it becomes a situation which will be impossible to bear, huh?He thought. Well when that time comes, lets discuss this once again. Now then (Renya) Postponing the problem. You could also say that he did his best to lock the problem away into a far corner of his mind. Shouting within his mind There is nooooothinng I can do about it!(T/N: Do-ni demona-re-, da) Fumu? I dont quite understand, but anyway, there is no objection towards making the matter of earning money our main goal. Lets cooperate. Isnt that fine? (Shion) That phrasing, yea yea it was a rather anticlimatic ending. For some reason it was similar to the situation of Shion inquiring about Renyas countenance.(In ch. 7) Rona donned her usual smile however, once again, it didnt reach her eyes at all. Her cruel gaze adamantly told Renya that refusing here wasnt allowed. Thats true. Although I dont know what lies ahead of us, for the time being please take care of me, to say the least. (Renya) No sooner than when Renya finished speaking, Shion bent herself forward across the table and grabbed both of Renyas hands tightly. With a joyful expression she shook them up and down. I see! Thank you, Renya! Im sure we will become good companions, the three of us! (Shion) Eh, ah, un? (Renya) Shions sudden excitement didnt connect with Renya. Without realizing Renyas state of mind, Shion continued to raise her tension. You are really saving us! I was worrying all night what to do if you were to refuse. If Renya had refused in the end, I would have to go straight to the guild to do my utmost in calling out to unknown male adventurers in order to invite them (Shion) Usually that would be very annoying, to the other party (Renya) What would you do if you made a mistake with your invitation! Renya muttered. But that didnt reach Shions ears at all. I am really glad Thanks to that I can continue my adventuring life. With this the family wont (Shion) Shion!? (Rona) Aggravated by what she was hearing, Rona suddenly jumped at Shion and covered her mouth. Shion, who was still grasping Renyas hands tightly while Rona covered her mouth, made an expression that could be summed up in Shit! How am I to deal with this?while showing a vague smile, Renya screamed within his mind with a great feeling of trouble. Shion was far too close for Renya to realistically pretend he didnt hear it. Taking advantage of the system of deafness commonly used by romcom protagonists, smoothly pretending they didnt hear anything. Such acting wasnt anything Renya was capable of doing, and neither did he want to try. Having said that, it was clear without any doubt that it was a topic he wasnt supposed to have heard about at all. During the time of a mere instant. Even though it didnt happen until now that he had to use it, Renya accelerated his speed of thought processing and thus said. Is there anyone else you want to become a companion? (Renya) Eh? (Rona & Shion) Rona and Shion synchronized their questioning voice. Without showing it on his facial expression and without sweating, he behaved in an ordinary way without changing his usual atmosphere. While persuading himself of this, Renya managed by something like a miracle to squeeze out those words with a strong tone of voice. If he wasnt able to pretend not having heard about something he wasnt supposed to hear, he decided that he had no other choice but to act like he misinterpreted what he had heard previously. Err, by family you meant getting another companion to join us, no? (Renya) W-well s-such as th-three people isnt (Shion) Havent you misunderstood, Renya-san? Isnt that right, Shion? (Rona) Thats true, Renya must have misunderstood. I wont say anything. (Shion) Is that so? Misunderstood, huh? Thats quite rude (Renya) Although he was certain he had heard something, he pretended to think about it while making sure to have his gaze wandering about in the air and thus removed his line of sight from Shion and Rona. Even if Renya appeared to be nonchalant and although it wasnt a good time to look over at them again, he felt it was okay if he did not look at them directly. Just as he thought, Shions forehead was thinly covered in sweat, her face was red and her eyes were swimming, all that was reflected for a fraction of a second at the edge of his view. Next to her Rona was wiping the sweat on the forehead in panic while whispering something into Shions ear in such a low voice that it wouldnt be audible to Renya. Worrying about the pros and cons of joining this party, he didnt expect anyone to comprehend his mental strain either. While it may be true that he was able to resolve the tension by giving them a sense of security about how much he heard of what slipped from her mouth, Renya felt an unusual anxiety about joining this party for a different reason. I need money. And not a small amount, either. Rather, I need a large amount of money coming in periodically. (Renya) E, ue!? Ah? Eh, how much? (Shion) After receiving the suicidal attack of Rona with her life on the line, she had tragically surrendered in the morning of the next day. Shions group showed up in the dining hall to take their breakfast. They sat down at the table Renya was already located at. After short introductory remarks, Renya rushed Shion into such a conversation. As one would expect after suddenly being told such a thing, she only managed to reply with strange groans in the end due to being thrown into confusion by his words. In the seat next to Shion, Rona was sitting. She didnt show any traces at all of the suicidal attack she had attempted the night before. Nonchalantly she was watching how the matter would unfold. Renya understood that Shion would be thrown into confusion after being told such a story out of the blue. Even so, steering the conversation in such a direction on purpose and how he reached the conclusion to do so, naturally would bring forth doubts. Therefore he decided to make it seem like he was intending to finish the conversation he had with Shion before. After thinking about it for a long time by myself, I can somehow state that my prospects cant be called very promising. Thus I concluded that I need someone to help me out. (Renya) Ha, haa (Shion) However, I, as a Lost, dont possess much knowledge about this world either, nor am I confident in my skills and neither have I any acquaintances. Because of these circumstances, I think it will be quite troublesome for me to look for companions with the goal of earning money. (Renya) That may be so but it isnt certain either. (Shion) As she still didnt recover from the initial shock and likewise wasnt able to keep up with flow of the conversation, Shion only managed to to give an inoffensive and harmless reply. In line with Shions invitation yesterday, I can certainly say that it is quite attractive and thus I am thinking about going along with it in the end. Given that I am taking it into consideration, my main purpose is to earn money, and if Shion approves of this then there is only negotiations remaining. How do you want to earn it? (Renya) Eh? Eto? (Shion) For what purpose are you planning to earn money? (Rona) Renya demanded an answer from the panicking Shion. Rona interjected with a composed voice from the adjourning seat. This action served the purpose to give the confused Shion some time to sort out her thoughts. It was plainly visible that she used the flow of the conversation of Renya talking about money to direct it in such way. Likewise it was a gentle guidance. But as far as Renya was concerned in regards to her helping with the flow of the conversation, he judged Rona to no more than trying to direct the conversation in a way that would be convenient for herself. You female fox with the eyes of a female tanukigiving her only such a glance, Renya chose his words while seeing Shion returning to the current circumstances.(ED: Basically, Seductress with the eyes of a criminal.) I want a base. Concretely, I prefer a single house with an attached workshop. To make it absolutely clear, I want it to be at a location where no one will bother me, too. (Renya) This, for what reason, again? (Rona) In the pioneers village the circumstances were as they were, thus I endured various things. As far as returning to the city is concerned, there were too many dissatisfying incidents for me no matter how you look at it. I am unhappy and while it may be true that it isnt the fault of those accompanying me, I want a space where I can do whatever I like. (Renya) So you would like to have a house with a reasonable plot of land, huh? If you even attach a workshop to that, something along the line of one platinum coin would be necessary. (Rona) Upon hearing Renyas words, Rona stated her impression and in addition, albeit secretly, she informed the two, Renya and Shion, of the estimated amount of money needed while feigning that it was a spontaneous conduct to the bitter end. Renya not knowing the market price of a house is only to be expected, but I fear that its likely that even Shion, who wants to fulfill Renyas wish, isnt aware of the matter of how much money must be saved to do so. Really, there is no knowledge in stock at all.(T/N: POV Rona) Well, the amount of money required can be examined later. It feels like that would be the appropriate response to such a difficult topic, do you agree? (Renya) E, eh? Ah ah ah, un. You are right. (Shion) Not being given the spare time to think up too many arguments, Shion, who was still in a flustered state of mind, gave a nod to the subject Renya brought up without collecting her thoughts on the matter. Understood. As for myself, any kind of livelihood is fine, even if that might be a dark way of thinking. The objective is to purchase a house. With this I think it is worth it to work towards that objective. I think its fine this way. (Shion) Thats my goal though (Renya) Earning one platinum coin by yourself is quite difficult. Since weve already become friends, we might as well use the house as base of the party, dont you think? (Shion) Shion declared quite readily. Without saying anything, Renya directed his eyes towards Rona. Rona sensing Renyas gaze upon herself quickly turned her line of sight away and directed it towards another direction. Isnt it yourself who brought up this impending crisis?Renya wanted to complain to her, but Renya himself understood as well that voicing his complaints towards Rona in her current state would be a mistake. Even though he understood it, since he wasnt able to complain to person herself, naturally he didnt expect Rona to say anything nor could he do anything about it. Because Rona understood it for sure as well, she averted her eyes from him. No matter how long he would stare at her, Rona would continue to avoid his gaze by forcefully looking away. Reluctantly Renya resumed choosing his next words as much as possible while Shion was talking. Ano na (Look here), there is no one in any age who doesnt understand what it means to talk about men and women living under the same roof, dont you think? (Renya) Isnt it fine? We are companions after all. Isnt that kind of like a family? (Shion) Completely believing in the good nature of others combined with a lack of knowledge about the relationship between a man and a woman, such features by themselves can be called very beautiful. But that poor self-awareness lacks any sense of danger as usual. In a meaning very different from the time with Rona, I think its very unlikely I will be able to win thisRenya raised both his hands in defeat while affirming so within his mind. In order for this to work out, I think I have to take it to the limit as a joke at least once before it becomes a situation which will be impossible to bear, huh?He thought. Well when that time comes, lets discuss this once again. Now then (Renya) Postponing the problem. You could also say that he did his best to lock the problem away into a far corner of his mind. Shouting within his mind There is nooooothinng I can do about it!(T/N: Do-ni demona-re-, da) Fumu? I dont quite understand, but anyway, there is no objection towards making the matter of earning money our main goal. Lets cooperate. Isnt that fine? (Shion) That phrasing, yea yea it was a rather anticlimatic ending. For some reason it was similar to the situation of Shion inquiring about Renyas countenance.(In ch. 7) Rona donned her usual smile however, once again, it didnt reach her eyes at all. Her cruel gaze adamantly told Renya that refusing here wasnt allowed. Thats true. Although I dont know what lies ahead of us, for the time being please take care of me, to say the least. (Renya) No sooner than when Renya finished speaking, Shion bent herself forward across the table and grabbed both of Renyas hands tightly. With a joyful expression she shook them up and down. I see! Thank you, Renya! Im sure we will become good companions, the three of us! (Shion) Eh, ah, un? (Renya) Shions sudden excitement didnt connect with Renya. Without realizing Renyas state of mind, Shion continued to raise her tension. You are really saving us! I was worrying all night what to do if you were to refuse. If Renya had refused in the end, I would have to go straight to the guild to do my utmost in calling out to unknown male adventurers in order to invite them (Shion) Usually that would be very annoying, to the other party (Renya) What would you do if you made a mistake with your invitation! Renya muttered. But that didnt reach Shions ears at all. I am really glad Thanks to that I can continue my adventuring life. With this the family wont (Shion) Shion!? (Rona) Aggravated by what she was hearing, Rona suddenly jumped at Shion and covered her mouth. Shion, who was still grasping Renyas hands tightly while Rona covered her mouth, made an expression that could be summed up in Shit! How am I to deal with this?while showing a vague smile, Renya screamed within his mind with a great feeling of trouble. Shion was far too close for Renya to realistically pretend he didnt hear it. Taking advantage of the system of deafness commonly used by romcom protagonists, smoothly pretending they didnt hear anything. Such acting wasnt anything Renya was capable of doing, and neither did he want to try. Having said that, it was clear without any doubt that it was a topic he wasnt supposed to have heard about at all. During the time of a mere instant. Even though it didnt happen until now that he had to use it, Renya accelerated his speed of thought processing and thus said. Is there anyone else you want to become a companion? (Renya) Eh? (Rona & Shion) Rona and Shion synchronized their questioning voice. Without showing it on his facial expression and without sweating, he behaved in an ordinary way without changing his usual atmosphere. While persuading himself of this, Renya managed by something like a miracle to squeeze out those words with a strong tone of voice. If he wasnt able to pretend not having heard about something he wasnt supposed to hear, he decided that he had no other choice but to act like he misinterpreted what he had heard previously. Err, by family you meant getting another companion to join us, no? (Renya) W-well s-such as th-three people isnt (Shion) Havent you misunderstood, Renya-san? Isnt that right, Shion? (Rona) Thats true, Renya must have misunderstood. I wont say anything. (Shion) Is that so? Misunderstood, huh? Thats quite rude (Renya) Although he was certain he had heard something, he pretended to think about it while making sure to have his gaze wandering about in the air and thus removed his line of sight from Shion and Rona. Even if Renya appeared to be nonchalant and although it wasnt a good time to look over at them again, he felt it was okay if he did not look at them directly. Just as he thought, Shions forehead was thinly covered in sweat, her face was red and her eyes were swimming, all that was reflected for a fraction of a second at the edge of his view. Next to her Rona was wiping the sweat on the forehead in panic while whispering something into Shions ear in such a low voice that it wouldnt be audible to Renya. Worrying about the pros and cons of joining this party, he didnt expect anyone to comprehend his mental strain either. While it may be true that he was able to resolve the tension by giving them a sense of security about how much he heard of what slipped from her mouth, Renya felt an unusual anxiety about joining this party for a different reason. Chapter 17 Pleased to work with you. I am Khalil = Valiel(T/N: >> Kariru = Varieru ? (Shion) Thats true but this is somewhat (Khalil) Although Khalil wanted to agree with Shions identification, her expression seemed troubled. Is there some kind of a problem?Renya wondered. Khalil snatched the crystal ball from Renyas hand again, tossing it casually into the shelf in the back. Causing a heavy sound, the crystal ball landed somewhere within the shelf.Will such irresponsible handling be fine?He became slightly worried. Going by the conclusion, your attribute is wind and in addition to that you have quite the affinity with it. (Khalil) Now that she mentions it, before coming to this world, I got a skill from that little girl. It must have been the skill to use magic from the Wind system, he recalled. Most likely it had been that blessing, Renya judged. But he couldnt recall the whole conversation any more. However, the amount of mana is hopelessly scarce. It doesnt exceed half of the maximum amount of ordinary people. (Khalil) With only that light, you are able to tell this much? (Renya) There is nothing to criticize about the green color. Up to there it was an unusually clear variation of appearance, but The size of the light was too small. (Khalil) Usually it was shining on the whole crystal ball albeit faintly. In case of magicians, who possessed talent, it was shining radiantly. There were even records of the ball being broken in a flash of light when a hero used it. If it was put like this, certainly there was no other way but to call the light from before tiny. Shion, who was listening next to him, nodded her head in agreement with an *Un un* If I remember correctly the time I used it, it shone faintly across the whole ball. (Shion) By the way, what colour was it? (Renya) Renya asked for reference. For some reason delighted, Shion replied, It was light green. I have the same aptitude as Renya, Wind. (Shion) As for the maximum amount of mana, since you can increase it little by little through usage, I think you can improve it to a certain extent. But, considering your starting amount, you better not expect too much from magic. (Khalil) Although it was a slightly shocking announcement for Renya, he originally came from a world where such power didnt exist to begin with. Thus he was able to agree with the outcome of having too little power with that maximum amount. Rather, here I possess the greatest power, or at least thats what you can call it in the end. Without doubt I have to ask myself what the hell I did during my life in my previous world if I properly think about it. Even if you could call it hopeless, since it is possible to improve it, I am able to use it to some extent.As such, Renya asked Khalil about a crucial matter. In order to increase the maximum amount of mana, is there some efficient training regimen, I wonder? (Renya) Khalil held out her left palm in silence. Instead of Renya, who became uncertain due to not understanding the meaning, Shion asked . How much? (Shion) 7 silver coins. (Khalil) In response to Khalils curt answer, Shion dropped 7 silver coins on top of Khalils palm. Accepting those, Khalil this time beckoned Renya with her right hand. Continuing to beckon him, she brought her face close to Renyas forehead as she bent herself over the table. Khalil crammed her hand quickly into her chest and retrieved a single paper tag. 1 Bestowal, (Khalil) The paper tag all of a sudden dissolved in the atmosphere, similar to ice being thrown into seething hot water, and vanished. Without hesitation Renya accepted. Spell, according to my power, let there be Light. (Renya) I have heard that you reached the point that you could use spells easily without thought by just receiving the authority of application. Seeing it happening I can only agree to it. (Khalil) Although Khalil displayed a startled expression, Renya didnt notice it as he was immersed in his own thoughts. Upon thinking about it now, for Renya such principles or theories, like being someone able to acquire skills or in contrast someone unable to acquire them, vanished. He simply used them as if they were some command. Albeit parents can increase the number of children endlessly, children cant make children or grandchildren without becoming parents themselves.2 At any rate, although it was no more than simply using it, he didnt comprehend the reason why he could use it just like that. I heard the rumours, but Lost are really outside the norm. (Khalil) Khalil told him in admiration as she sensed that Renya had comprehended something. It looks like the common folks arent aware of this truth and the magicians dont convey this truth to anyone but other magicians either, he thought. It will probably be a convenient skill for a magician to earn some coins. However there is no idiot that would leak this information to the outside just to earn some income. As Shion didnt understand what those two were talking about, she watched the exchange between those two with a somewhat blank expression. So, what kind of relation does this have with the training regimen? (Renya) Didnt I tell you before? It will improve by keeping on using magic. In other words, it is fine to use any kind of magic as long as you are determined to keep using it. Thats the training to extend your maximum amount of mana. Usually, at the time this training is done, you use this Light spell in order to practice your magic. (Khalil) Other spells from the elementary magic were nothing but spells to make something or to influence the surroundings by causing some effect. However, producing illumination by light was no problem whatsoever, be it during daytime, although totally pointless due to the sun shining, or be it during night time as simple substitute for a lamp. At first I thought I was tricked looking at this method of training but after doing it for a while I will come back . (Renya) Khalil that is, how did you transfer this spell? (Shion) With feeling of nervousness Shion inquired about it. Khalil leaned back on the chair while turning her head left and right. It is futile. Although it will be okay to teach you as well, you wont be able to use it well enough, will you? (Khalil) Muu (Shion) Shion, for now I was taught the training method. After improving a bit, lets have Khalil teach me another spell again. As it is now, no matter how many spells I am taught, there wont be any point as I wont be able to practice those spells due to my lacking power. (Renya) Shion, who had been dissatisfied for some reason or another, consented for the time being as she was soothed by Renyas words. I see. Well then, Khalil, we will be back, please take care of us at that time. (Shion) Yeah, yeah, you can entrust it to me Putting that aside, Shion, didnt your mental attitude change somehow? (Khalil) Since their business was finished, Renya stood up. To Shion, who left her seat and chased after him, Khalil called out. You took a man as your companion. Havent you become more like a normal adventurer? (Khalil) I was a normal adventurer to begin with! (Shion) Fun, he~, ho~ (Khalil) Khalil didnt believe in Shions words at all, or rather she acted as if she hadnt really heard them. With a slightly huffy expression, Shion continued. In the first place, didnt you decline my invitation to join us? (Shion) For a party a magician was necessary. Although Shion had invited Khalil on Ronas recommendation, she was quite easily refused. At that time the reason for Khalils rejection was that it was a lot more comfortable to earn income by care-freely teaching elementary magic in the city or something along those lines. Who would enter such a dangerous party consisting of only 3 women? (Khalil) That is certainly you could say that. Because I thought about that too, I asked Renya to become our companion. (Shion) I see. Ma, good luck in earning money before coming here again. I am looking forward to it. (Khalil) Ah, I will be back. Well then, see you. (Shion) Lightly waving her hand as she was watching Shion leaving the room, Khalil joined her hands behind her head. As if she had seen something amusing, she was broadly grinning and smiling. I wonder what that almost emotionless Rona with her half-baked skill in smiling will do about this. (Khalil) Well then, although I havent done anything else but teaching him the training method, I wonder how far he will grow before coming here the next time, Khalil thought while being reminded of her blonde haired friends face as she muttered those words. Translation Notes 1 The ones you can often see in anime being used as ward by omnyoujis. 2 I think this should mean he can use spells given to him by others but he cant pass on or develop new spells from those. Pleased to work with you. I am Khalil = Valiel(T/N: >> Kariru = Varieru ? (Shion) Thats true but this is somewhat (Khalil) Although Khalil wanted to agree with Shions identification, her expression seemed troubled. Is there some kind of a problem?Renya wondered. Khalil snatched the crystal ball from Renyas hand again, tossing it casually into the shelf in the back. Causing a heavy sound, the crystal ball landed somewhere within the shelf.Will such irresponsible handling be fine?He became slightly worried. Going by the conclusion, your attribute is wind and in addition to that you have quite the affinity with it. (Khalil) Now that she mentions it, before coming to this world, I got a skill from that little girl. It must have been the skill to use magic from the Wind system, he recalled. Most likely it had been that blessing, Renya judged. But he couldnt recall the whole conversation any more. However, the amount of mana is hopelessly scarce. It doesnt exceed half of the maximum amount of ordinary people. (Khalil) With only that light, you are able to tell this much? (Renya) There is nothing to criticize about the green color. Up to there it was an unusually clear variation of appearance, but The size of the light was too small. (Khalil) Usually it was shining on the whole crystal ball albeit faintly. In case of magicians, who possessed talent, it was shining radiantly. There were even records of the ball being broken in a flash of light when a hero used it. If it was put like this, certainly there was no other way but to call the light from before tiny. Shion, who was listening next to him, nodded her head in agreement with an *Un un* If I remember correctly the time I used it, it shone faintly across the whole ball. (Shion) By the way, what colour was it? (Renya) Renya asked for reference. For some reason delighted, Shion replied, It was light green. I have the same aptitude as Renya, Wind. (Shion) As for the maximum amount of mana, since you can increase it little by little through usage, I think you can improve it to a certain extent. But, considering your starting amount, you better not expect too much from magic. (Khalil) Although it was a slightly shocking announcement for Renya, he originally came from a world where such power didnt exist to begin with. Thus he was able to agree with the outcome of having too little power with that maximum amount. Rather, here I possess the greatest power, or at least thats what you can call it in the end. Without doubt I have to ask myself what the hell I did during my life in my previous world if I properly think about it. Even if you could call it hopeless, since it is possible to improve it, I am able to use it to some extent.As such, Renya asked Khalil about a crucial matter. In order to increase the maximum amount of mana, is there some efficient training regimen, I wonder? (Renya) Khalil held out her left palm in silence. Instead of Renya, who became uncertain due to not understanding the meaning, Shion asked . How much? (Shion) 7 silver coins. (Khalil) In response to Khalils curt answer, Shion dropped 7 silver coins on top of Khalils palm. Accepting those, Khalil this time beckoned Renya with her right hand. Continuing to beckon him, she brought her face close to Renyas forehead as she bent herself over the table. Khalil crammed her hand quickly into her chest and retrieved a single paper tag. 1 Bestowal, (Khalil) The paper tag all of a sudden dissolved in the atmosphere, similar to ice being thrown into seething hot water, and vanished. Without hesitation Renya accepted. Spell, according to my power, let there be Light. (Renya) I have heard that you reached the point that you could use spells easily without thought by just receiving the authority of application. Seeing it happening I can only agree to it. (Khalil) Although Khalil displayed a startled expression, Renya didnt notice it as he was immersed in his own thoughts. Upon thinking about it now, for Renya such principles or theories, like being someone able to acquire skills or in contrast someone unable to acquire them, vanished. He simply used them as if they were some command. Albeit parents can increase the number of children endlessly, children cant make children or grandchildren without becoming parents themselves.2 At any rate, although it was no more than simply using it, he didnt comprehend the reason why he could use it just like that. I heard the rumours, but Lost are really outside the norm. (Khalil) Khalil told him in admiration as she sensed that Renya had comprehended something. It looks like the common folks arent aware of this truth and the magicians dont convey this truth to anyone but other magicians either, he thought. It will probably be a convenient skill for a magician to earn some coins. However there is no idiot that would leak this information to the outside just to earn some income. As Shion didnt understand what those two were talking about, she watched the exchange between those two with a somewhat blank expression. So, what kind of relation does this have with the training regimen? (Renya) Didnt I tell you before? It will improve by keeping on using magic. In other words, it is fine to use any kind of magic as long as you are determined to keep using it. Thats the training to extend your maximum amount of mana. Usually, at the time this training is done, you use this Light spell in order to practice your magic. (Khalil) Other spells from the elementary magic were nothing but spells to make something or to influence the surroundings by causing some effect. However, producing illumination by light was no problem whatsoever, be it during daytime, although totally pointless due to the sun shining, or be it during night time as simple substitute for a lamp. At first I thought I was tricked looking at this method of training but after doing it for a while I will come back . (Renya) Khalil that is, how did you transfer this spell? (Shion) With feeling of nervousness Shion inquired about it. Khalil leaned back on the chair while turning her head left and right. It is futile. Although it will be okay to teach you as well, you wont be able to use it well enough, will you? (Khalil) Muu (Shion) Shion, for now I was taught the training method. After improving a bit, lets have Khalil teach me another spell again. As it is now, no matter how many spells I am taught, there wont be any point as I wont be able to practice those spells due to my lacking power. (Renya) Shion, who had been dissatisfied for some reason or another, consented for the time being as she was soothed by Renyas words. I see. Well then, Khalil, we will be back, please take care of us at that time. (Shion) Yeah, yeah, you can entrust it to me Putting that aside, Shion, didnt your mental attitude change somehow? (Khalil) Since their business was finished, Renya stood up. To Shion, who left her seat and chased after him, Khalil called out. You took a man as your companion. Havent you become more like a normal adventurer? (Khalil) I was a normal adventurer to begin with! (Shion) Fun, he~, ho~ (Khalil) Khalil didnt believe in Shions words at all, or rather she acted as if she hadnt really heard them. With a slightly huffy expression, Shion continued. In the first place, didnt you decline my invitation to join us? (Shion) For a party a magician was necessary. Although Shion had invited Khalil on Ronas recommendation, she was quite easily refused. At that time the reason for Khalils rejection was that it was a lot more comfortable to earn income by care-freely teaching elementary magic in the city or something along those lines. Who would enter such a dangerous party consisting of only 3 women? (Khalil) That is certainly you could say that. Because I thought about that too, I asked Renya to become our companion. (Shion) I see. Ma, good luck in earning money before coming here again. I am looking forward to it. (Khalil) Ah, I will be back. Well then, see you. (Shion) Lightly waving her hand as she was watching Shion leaving the room, Khalil joined her hands behind her head. As if she had seen something amusing, she was broadly grinning and smiling. I wonder what that almost emotionless Rona with her half-baked skill in smiling will do about this. (Khalil) Well then, although I havent done anything else but teaching him the training method, I wonder how far he will grow before coming here the next time, Khalil thought while being reminded of her blonde haired friends face as she muttered those words. Translation Notes 1 The ones you can often see in anime being used as ward by omnyoujis. 2 I think this should mean he can use spells given to him by others but he cant pass on or develop new spells from those. Chapter 17.5 C In a room of the adventurers guild in the commercial city Kukrika C The Deputy Branch Leader Fritz waited for a certain person to arrive in this room that had been assigned to for him for his personal use. Excuse me (-) The door of the room quietly opened and after bowing the person, who just arrived, entered. The person looked at Fritz with a gentle smile while greeting. As far as I know this person, this is certainly a rare occurrence, thought Fritz to a certain degree. On Fritz face there wasnt any trace of maliciousness or hideous schemings being planned. He wore an expression as if he completely welcomed his visitor from the bottom of his heart. There wasnt any person in this city at all, to whom this Deputy Branch Leader showed such an expression. I am delighted that you were able to visit my humble self. So, how did it go with the issue at hands? (Fritz) His words were completely free of sarcasm and ill will. Fritz offered the visitor the chair, which had been prepared in the room in advance, while asking. Rona sat down on the chair that had been offered to her as she confronted Fritz. Although she displayed a smile on her face similar to the one she wore when she came with Shion, the mood at that time couldnt be compared to the gentle and tender mood now at all. Without showing any signs of distrust or suspicion, Fritz waited for Ronas response. Somehow I was able to reach an agreement. (Rona) A feeling of relief could be sensed somewhere within these words. Fritz smile deepened as well. That is extremely splendid. Although your own responsibility should become a little bit lighter too with this, didnt you use an considerably high-handed move? (Fritz) As he heard of her move beforehand, he knew that it wasnt a proper way for a woman to conduct herself, especially one that had a social standing to such an extent. But as he was the original proposer himself, Fritz wasnt able to put up a strong opposition to it either. To Fritz words which seemed to be concerned about Ronas body, Rona slowly shook her head. Since this is my mission, I didnt think or worry about this matter. (Rona) She punctuated her words after pondering for a little while. Even so, I wish you to take these as a little comfort, too. (Fritz) Medicine, although Rona was laughing slightly, Fritz began to become flustered. Even though Rona understood that his panicked state and his feeling of guiltiness came from Fritz heart, if Shion were to see him now, she would be wondering in surprise just what kind of magic Rona had used on him. From Shions standpoint, this Deputy Branch Leader was a disgusting person, who was arrogant, without a shred of worry about others and always full of sarcasm. However, the words spoken by Fritz were filled with an attitude of wanting to express his apology. There is nothing to apologize for (Rona) Although Fritz tried to stand up from his chair in order to bow his head, Rona stopped him. This is also work on top of being my duty. Because of that I can understand it quite well. (Rona) Although it is what His Excellency has ordered, by only pushing nothing but difficult matters on you (Fritz) That is to say, it was about the reason for Shions dislike towards Fritz which was at the level of detestation. For the entire time since Shion registered as an adventurer it looked like the troublesome requests no one wanted to do were pushed on them. Also, in regards to the achievements of the requests, whenever they almost resolved something, the reward was reduced and small penalties forced upon them. It looked like he devoted himself to do nothing but harassing them. However, those were the orders in such situations, Rona finished the sentence. Although they both were in the same situation, it could be said that Fritz harassment was only aimed towards Shion. And that wasnt Fritz intention either. The difference was that those were orders from a somewhere different place and as result he had no other option but to operate like that. I guess its painful to play the role of being loathed because it is difficult, huh? (Rona) In reverse Rona bowed her head which caused Fritz to wave his hands in panic. Please stop it. For a lowly person like me (Fritz) Originally it is unusual for the guild to assist in such matters. To yield to this cooperation and to additionally support it, I am very grateful. There is no reason for me to think of you as lowly at all. (Rona) When you put it like that, I feel slightly relived by your kind words. Then now this Lost will join your party, you said (Fritz) Fritz began to ask a question like seeking directions to which Rona displayed a nod. Yes, although it is beyond expectation to gain a Lost as companion, he can be trusted to some extent. He is a person with abilities that can be placed at our side. Looking at the experience after one month(T/N: of adventuring), Shion-sama isnt listening to words about quitting as an adventurer anymore either. If this is the case, there is no problem with continuing as is. Thats what I plan to report to His Excellency. (Rona) Well then, the maneuvering of the guild too? (Fritz) Yes, for the finale this time, it is satisfactory to return to the usual. Even if I consider to officially report it to His Excellency at a later time. (Rona) Thats the best way. Then, will Rona-sama return to your previous official post? (Fritz) No, I will continue with this mission after that. I fear that its likely that it will be like that until the end, huh? (Rona) As Rona said this she laughed while in contrast Fritz facial expression became clouded. It was an expression showing that he didnt believe Ronas words to be an overly nice prospect. Although it is difficult for me to say as Deputy Branch Leader of the adventurers guild, for the Chevalier(T/N: >> Shubarie > Shubarie <<)household to say that the adventurer occupation will be continued, is (Fritz) Those occupied as adventurers were sad existences and the occupation itself couldnt be called honorable. There were many fights and likewise the life was often in danger. Although they couldnt go ahead and announce it publicly because of the requests, there werent few who violated the laws. Of course such requests which involved murder or theft werent accepted, but such things like deciding to breaking and trespassing into areas prohibited by the state were fairly frequent occurrences. To the speech and standpoint of someone who could be called in charge of these, Rona could only smile bitterly. Although having deliberately repeated his concerns in this matter, she couldnt believe in the words of a person with such standpoint. If you go as far as saying these things, what do you think will be the best course for Shion? Maa, although I am more or less the eldest daughter, if I had remained within the household, I would be married off somewhere at best. I wonder if that would be preferable then. (Rona) Mu muu (Fritz) Raising his voice with groans, Fritz didnt look like he would continue his speech, Rona comprehended as she was watching him. Besides, there is a younger sister below me. Even in the situation that my sister, who is skilled in various things, were to be married off somewhere, she would be able to handle it more proficiently than I. (Rona) Although Rona laughed while she said this, Fritz sank into silence as he didnt know how to answer properly anymore. Since the person herself said this while smiling and laughing, she would think badly of him if he were to deny her completely. On the other hand, if he ended up affirming it just like that, Fritz would end up admitting that Rona is inferior to her sister. Thus he ended up in a dead end.(T/N: regarding the argumentation or in other words lose-lose situation) As a result Fritz was only able to groan without forming coherent words. Although Rona seemed to enjoy observing him for a little while, she didnt have an intention to embarrass him. Thus she muttered a single thing in order rescue Fritz who was caught in his thoughts of having no way out of this situation. (E: The Japanese are very into small talk, and politely remaining quiet is not really an option for them. Thus, verbal traps like this can be laid.) Given the situation as it is, please confirm the formalities for Renya-san to join Shions party. (Rona) I understand. I will see to it at once. (Fritz) After sending the report to His Excellency, I shall return to Shion-samas side. Ah, which reminds me. (Rona) As if she suddenly remembered, Rona looked at Fritz and asked. Are there any houses attached with a workshop in this city? Please tell me (Rona) The adventurer guild was also a place were various different information streamed in. Certainly the person, who became Deputy Branch Leader of such place, would have a connection to real estate information as well. Rather than Rona and Renya going to look by themselves, directly obtaining a large amount of information would be more beneficial, Rona thought as she asked this question. Fritz picked up on another meaning though. That is because you want the mission base to be placed in one place? Well, then you will have to have money lent from somewhere, too (Fritz) Also, she was looking for several objects close to the best district in the city aka the central district, Rona commanded Fritz. That wont work. To begin with, what reason do you intend to give Shion for this? (Rona) That is as an apology for the inconveniences up till now (Fritz) Since the harassment wouldnt improve either, it was an attempt to give a large apology here. Although Fritz desired to wipe the slate clean for the incidents until now, Rona wouldnt approve of that. I understand your feelings but its still no good. In that situation it would end up being exposed by the guilds cooperative workers immediately, isnt that right? Even Shion-sama isnt such a bottomless baka. After requesting the guilds cooperation, it would end up reaching His Excellencys ears right away. (Rona) Truthfully, thats quite the nasty remark, isnt it? (Fritz) Fritz looked at Rona with slightly scornful eyes in response to Ronas careless statement. Since its me, its fine. (Rona) Haa~ (Fritz) Because the money will be raised by our party, only the information on the property is required. Please be as kind to keep this placed in a corner of your mind. (Rona) Understood. (Fritz) Please take care to keep it a secret from Shion. And furthermore, please be careful around Renya-san as well. Since that man has fairly keen senses, I guess? (Rona) As Rona gave him a warning and emphasized it, Fritz nodded his head in consent to each point. After sufficient confirmation, Rona left her seat. Well then, with this my business here is done. Contact me, if something should happen. (Rona) I shall humbly comply. Please, take care of yourself. (Fritz) As she was departing, Rona replied with a beaming smile to Fritz, who anxiously spoke those words being worried about her, and left behind the room of the Deputy Branch Manager. There is no way that his anxiety has calmed down yet, huh?although she was already fed up with this whole issue, Rona pondered about her appointment to guard Shion.Well, I have some uncertainties regarding this as well, but since excessive worry cant be called a good thing either, there is no point in brooding over it, she thought to herself. Just where did I go wrong to have strayed from the right path, I wonder? (Rona) She looked down on her priests garb and felt like her body was pressed hard and tightly constricted, while she grumbled this complaint. Even though the equipment she wore, before she had to pursue this mission, was always something light and easy to move in, now she constantly questioned just how much her current outfit fit the role of a priest while considering her own state. All in all, paying attention to the people nearby, as result she saw herself drawing the attention of the surroundings upon herself. But she had no other option but to endure the stares. I, although it is hard to say so myself, but will this situation remain always like this? (Rona) Rona somewhat wished to be pardoned from that. Even if I try to complain, there is no one that would return a reply here.Rona heaved a small deep sigh. Chapter 18 For a while we wont take on any work. (Renya) Those were Renyas words and although Rona and Shion were somewhat surprised they didnt raise their voices in opposition either. After being taught about magic in Khalils shop, Rona reunited with Renya and Shion at the inn. She immediately started to talk with Shion about taking up some work and thus he told them bluntly like this. In order to earn their income they had to work and yet why did he say such a thing like not doing any work, although Rona asked this of Renya, he clearly answered her in this way: I am not quite able to grasp the extend of my own abilities yet. (Renya) What he can do and what he cant do, as well as to what degree he was able to do certain things was the fundamental information he had to obtain for understanding his abilities, Renya explained. What was the difference in understanding ones own state, Shion wondered. Although you certainly could ask that, Renya stated as preface, while unsure how far he should tell them. To tell you the truth, at the time when I came to this world, almost all of my memories of my previous life ended up vanishing. Therefore, the memories of what I did and how I lived in my previous life, I am not clear about those circumstances. (Renya) You have lost your memories? However, considering that, you dont look like someone being overly thrown into confusion by that state either. Didnt you call yourself a Lost right after we met each other? (Shion) As a matter of fact I met god and was requested to transfer here, that was something Renya naturally simply couldnt tell them. Although he didnt really mind telling them either, he just didnt think that they would believe him. It wouldnt be too bad if they would only make fun of him, but if they concluded it to be a mental illness it would become bothersome. Thats something I dont understand well either. At any rate, I likewise havent experienced such a thing like crossing over to another world. In regards to my self-introduction, I just have a slight sense of doing something like that in that situation. However, where I learned of it, I cant really recall at all. (Renya) Since there was no method to verify the authenticity of his words, if he insisted on not being able to remember the knowledge, it would be accepted as truth. Also, the one being capable of proving his words as lies and possibly being called upon to stand witness was none other than that little girl, who was somewhere far away underneath the sky. Furthermore, apart from all this, although I accepted already that there is nothing that can be done about this situation, wont it be troublesome in a crisis, if I dont understand how far my own abilities go and what I am able to do? (Renya) Well, thats certainly true. (Shion) Although holding a sword in his hands, there was no baka who would wield it without understanding how to use a blade. (ED: You called?) Wasnt this an argument Shion could understand very clearly? She nodded deeply towards Renyas words. Therefore, for a little while, I want to confirm it by training myself some. Thats simply it. (Renya) Indeed, I understand. Since we have received the reward for our previous request, we should be fine for a while, no, Ro? (Shion) Yea, but how much time do you need? (Rona) I think I will be able to manage with 2 days. Though Id like to continue training for longer. That would be the compromise. (Renya) Now then, how should I bring up this matter?Renya pondered. I wonder, is there any suitable place close to the city where I can go on a rampage without causing any problems? (Renya) Although he tried to think about it, but since he wasnt able to reach a conclusion, Renya followed the conversation flow as is and tried asking Shion. Shion, who didnt really seem like she would have any kind of useful information at all in relation to such matters or rather related to everything in general, returned readily an answer to him. If thats the case, the plain area once you leave the northern gate would be good. (Shion) According to Shion, the outskirts of this city, although no matter through which gate you exited, it was all plains. But the plain outside the northern gate was called the least dangerous area. In addition, the monsters appearing there could be called nothing but weak. Walking on foot for a few hours you would reach the group of mountains harboring theTomb of the Recluse. In other words, the area past the gate apparently was empty. Past the gates except the northern one, there was a reasonable amount of monsters. Apart from that, it was used as agricultural land. Given that there were always monsters or people there, it might become a nuisance to someone if he went on a rampage there. As for the area past the northern gate, because the soil there wasnt good, it wasnt used as agricultural land either. Although there were quite a few swordsmen and magicians endeavoring in destructive activities in the name of training, there hadnt been any complaints delivered about it even now. Although it is the place I had been taken care of with difficulty too, there really is nothing there at all. Even though it might be mere pretense, Khalil said she went there and blasted it full of holes at the time she wanted to vent her stress. (Shion) If there is no fallout if I go that far, then that place sounds good. (Renya) Having decided this, early next morning, Renya, who always woke up earlier than Shions group, left his room and grabbed the bentou he had ordered from the inns staff the day before. After gulping down the breakfast, he couldnt think of as appetizing after all, he left the inn. Given that all of his luggage was stored in the [Inventory], he was satisfyingly in the condition of being empty-handed. The received bentou was stowed away into the [Inventory] as well. And thus he headed straight for the northern gate. Renya began to run and grasped his fist tightly. Quite strong light leaked out between his fingers. That was the magic he started to practice last night. (ED: Flashback to last night, go!) As soon as he returned to his own room in the inn, although he tried to use it, because he had a hopelessly small amount of magic power as even attested by a specialist, he became dizzy after using a single light source spell. Even though it calmed down almost immediately, this dizziness is owed to running low on magic power for sure, Renya conjectured. Since this wasnt something like a game, there was no hint of a numerical reading of his remaining magic power. Lets use it carefully, huh? After using it once, pause for a while, then use it again and rest afterwards.While doing that, Renya understood what kind of magic [Light] was. At first he couldnt adjust the brightness. Reciting the spell to cause light, at least I understand so far, huh? Well the condition I dont understand is how to change the strength of the light, I guess? Although Is it a problem with the mental image?he thought too. Imagining the light resembling a flash of burning magnesium while reciting the spell, Renya felt he was able to cause no more than a light source emitting the luminescence of an average flashlight in the surroundings. Whats the best thing to do? I dont know. Somehow there should be a help function in a situation like this to provide assistance, dont you agree?He thought while looking at the light. Then a message appeared in the lower area of his field of vision. The method to remove the limit of power? (Renya) Certainly a convenient function, he thought while trying to state his question. So it is possible, he thought while the limit release was executed. After experiencing a light pain in the area of his forehead, a single figure appeared within Renyas mind. How to call it ?Although it was a difficult to describe character resembling the shape of something like a drawing, apparently it was the symbol necessary for releasing the limit. So it isnt only for [Light]? (Renya) Originally, the corresponding symbol of each magic spell had to be earnestly memorized. As this was the key to release the limit on the different magic spells, it became possible at this point to do such things as adjusting the magic spell by using magic power while chanting. This help function burned all of the magic spells related to the non-attribute magic with the corresponding symbol into Renyas mind. It obviously omitted the operation to execute all of them one at a time in the end. (ED: He can Limit Break every non-attribute spell now, but still has only learned the Light spell.) Since I received various abilities, isnt this type of function too much of a cheat?Renya wondered. But since he couldnt change it now anyway and it wasnt like it had any particularly negative effect on him, he decided to not mind it. The second issue is that the produced light source cant be moved. Certainly, it can be said that if I designate this magic spell in space(T/N: by using spatial coordinates is what Id use here), it will be impossible to move the light source away from that space. As for this, after having the limit removed previously, trying to suddenly chant [Congregate, my power] will fail due to insufficient magic power for consumption, wont it? The magic spell wont be executed and my consciousness will become exhausted, something like going through the terrible experience of having a blackout, he realized the state of affairs. So until then, he practiced one magic spell at a time and then took a rest until its effect stopped working. Though he wanted to do it again in the same manner, since after seeing through 10 repeats there didnt appear any dizziness at this point. Thus he decided to increase the amount of magic power slightly. He tried to continue chanting two times, but after he felt a light dizziness again, he took a break. As he saw the two lights floating somewhere in the middle of his room, he realized that it was not possible to move them. The fire itself emitted no heat either. Although it was merely shining palely, it seemed like once the position was designated after finishing the spell execution, it continued to exist in that place until its effect wore off. Since that was the case, once he reached the point where he could release several of them, the interior of his room ended up being full of light sources. Even if there was no real harm, being the result of various trials and errors it somehow ended up bothering him. Did you really have to invoke all of them to appear in designated locations in the first place? Renya noticed that if you conjured an object with magic and moved this very object, it would shine while in movement. After understanding that much, only practicing remained. Apart from the occurring dizziness as an interfering factor, it was a completely mechanical action for Renya to use the magic spell. He repeated this for a period of three hours. Even though he was able to increase the amount of simultaneous light sources to 8 without suffering dizziness, it could be called tedious work to repeat the same spell time and time again. Isnt there some better method?Renya pondered. For some reason he hit upon a possible method and decided to try it as he had nothing to lose anyway. Using [Chantless], [Light] shall be implemented now. Activate 8 units at the same time by using [Activate Parallel Magic Formation]. (Renya) Immediately after saying this, the character[Acknowledged]could be seen. Atop of Renyas head 8 light sources appeared in something like an interval. I think half of my joy is due to it going well and the other half is due to realizing that I havent even specified the position in space, Renya chuckled to himself. With this I have verified that I can combine the skills I received in a similar fashion as assembling a macro. However, if I assume that those have to be declared one by one too, it is quite a hassle no matter how you look at it.(T/N: He means that he has to declare each spell/skill chant sequentially in contrary to having one single chant/declaration for all of them) After pondering about it for a little while, Renya revised the previous declaration slightly. Using [Chantless], [Light] shall be implemented now. Activate 8 units at the same time by using [Activate Parallel Magic Formation]. Repeat the action until the remaining quantity of my magic power decreases to 50%. Re-execute after magic power has recovered completely. Repeat the cycle until interruption. Specify the position by my right hands palm. (Renya) In reality, although it may be possible to repeat the cycle until his magic power was completely exhausted, but since he wasnt clear on what kind of change would happen to his body in case his magic power was emptied, he decided to include a safety margin of 50%. If it was only to the degree of feeling faint, it would be fine to do this as he was in his own room. Even so he felt that it would be difficult on his body, if he became faint each and every time. He lifted his palm indicating the position where the magic should be executed. Though he didnt know how to extinguish the state of this magic spell, the executed light source vanished after roughly 10 minutes passed. By tightly grasping the shining object on top of his palm, he was able to conceal it for the time being. The execution of this macro worked just as he had planned it. Thus Renya obtained a safe method of starting the laborious activity to earnestly continue using magic. Renya misunderstood something here without particularly realizing it. Normally, while in the state of dizziness caused by the decreased remaining magic power, even though this was assumed to occur at a remaining magic power quantity of 10% by magicians, the common sense dictated in such situation that it was necessary to rest up for almost a half day until the magic power was restored after having been exhausted this far. However, Renya possessed the skill [Superb Recovery](T/N: The translator of chapter 3 called it Regeneration only but thats either a wrong translation or a previous understatement by the author), therefore right after a decrease, it would recover at an unconventional rate successively. It became an absurd state where he could repeat cycles, which would usually require half day intervals, at intervals of a dozen seconds. Furthermore, the time for magic practice could be multiplied by 8. Thanks to the activated parallel magic formation in addition to the high-speed replenishment, he had practically no cast time or cool down time and thus could execute the spells consecutively. It was labeled as skill called [Breakthrough the Growth Limit]. At the time Renya received this, he was only growing by disciplining and training. In other words, although he understood that he received the beneficial skill of breaking through the growth limitation, Renya believe this had another ability which resulted in exceeding the usual growth speed limitation.(ED: Renya thought it reduced downtime in training, he didnt know itd eliminated it.) Basically, although Renyas unconventional amount of training, his unconventional training speed, and his unconventional growth speed indicated the ability to release his growth limit which developed him into having his current state, the person himself completely wasnt aware of this at all. On the contrary, the hopeless verdict of Khalil in regards to his small amount of magic power spurred Renya on to intensify his training even more. The inhabitants of this world undoubtedly have been in contact with magic since their childhood, theres no mistake that I should use it(T/N: magic)to increase my own level until I am able to reach their proficiency. Therefore, I, who who falls into the category of late-starters, have to thoroughly develop this ability, even if I wont be able to hold my own in comparison to the inhabitants of this world.Renya reflected. Since he had no other choice but to use the magic spell [Light], every time he implemented the macro the length extended and the contents of Renyas macro changed. Currently the used macro was as follows: Using [Chantless], [Light] shall be implemented now at maximum power. Activate 16 units at the same time by using [Activate Parallel Magic Formation]. Repeat the action until the remaining quantity of my magic power decreases to 20%. Re-execute after magic power has recovered completely. Repeat the cycle until interruption. Specify the position by my right hands palm. (Renya) When this matter reached the ears of Khalil she opened her eyes wide, astonished after hearing the contents. But Renya himself thinking that it was still far too insufficient caused the surrounding people to be overcome by dreadful awe. Thus, as there was no one to stop this situation, he started to raise his cheat ability by freely using his cheat skills. For a while we wont take on any work. (Renya) Those were Renyas words and although Rona and Shion were somewhat surprised they didnt raise their voices in opposition either. After being taught about magic in Khalils shop, Rona reunited with Renya and Shion at the inn. She immediately started to talk with Shion about taking up some work and thus he told them bluntly like this. In order to earn their income they had to work and yet why did he say such a thing like not doing any work, although Rona asked this of Renya, he clearly answered her in this way: I am not quite able to grasp the extend of my own abilities yet. (Renya) What he can do and what he cant do, as well as to what degree he was able to do certain things was the fundamental information he had to obtain for understanding his abilities, Renya explained. What was the difference in understanding ones own state, Shion wondered. Although you certainly could ask that, Renya stated as preface, while unsure how far he should tell them. To tell you the truth, at the time when I came to this world, almost all of my memories of my previous life ended up vanishing. Therefore, the memories of what I did and how I lived in my previous life, I am not clear about those circumstances. (Renya) You have lost your memories? However, considering that, you dont look like someone being overly thrown into confusion by that state either. Didnt you call yourself a Lost right after we met each other? (Shion) As a matter of fact I met god and was requested to transfer here, that was something Renya naturally simply couldnt tell them. Although he didnt really mind telling them either, he just didnt think that they would believe him. It wouldnt be too bad if they would only make fun of him, but if they concluded it to be a mental illness it would become bothersome. Thats something I dont understand well either. At any rate, I likewise havent experienced such a thing like crossing over to another world. In regards to my self-introduction, I just have a slight sense of doing something like that in that situation. However, where I learned of it, I cant really recall at all. (Renya) Since there was no method to verify the authenticity of his words, if he insisted on not being able to remember the knowledge, it would be accepted as truth. Also, the one being capable of proving his words as lies and possibly being called upon to stand witness was none other than that little girl, who was somewhere far away underneath the sky. Furthermore, apart from all this, although I accepted already that there is nothing that can be done about this situation, wont it be troublesome in a crisis, if I dont understand how far my own abilities go and what I am able to do? (Renya) Well, thats certainly true. (Shion) Although holding a sword in his hands, there was no baka who would wield it without understanding how to use a blade. (ED: You called?) Wasnt this an argument Shion could understand very clearly? She nodded deeply towards Renyas words. Therefore, for a little while, I want to confirm it by training myself some. Thats simply it. (Renya) Indeed, I understand. Since we have received the reward for our previous request, we should be fine for a while, no, Ro? (Shion) Yea, but how much time do you need? (Rona) I think I will be able to manage with 2 days. Though Id like to continue training for longer. That would be the compromise. (Renya) Now then, how should I bring up this matter?Renya pondered. I wonder, is there any suitable place close to the city where I can go on a rampage without causing any problems? (Renya) Although he tried to think about it, but since he wasnt able to reach a conclusion, Renya followed the conversation flow as is and tried asking Shion. Shion, who didnt really seem like she would have any kind of useful information at all in relation to such matters or rather related to everything in general, returned readily an answer to him. If thats the case, the plain area once you leave the northern gate would be good. (Shion) According to Shion, the outskirts of this city, although no matter through which gate you exited, it was all plains. But the plain outside the northern gate was called the least dangerous area. In addition, the monsters appearing there could be called nothing but weak. Walking on foot for a few hours you would reach the group of mountains harboring theTomb of the Recluse. In other words, the area past the gate apparently was empty. Past the gates except the northern one, there was a reasonable amount of monsters. Apart from that, it was used as agricultural land. Given that there were always monsters or people there, it might become a nuisance to someone if he went on a rampage there. As for the area past the northern gate, because the soil there wasnt good, it wasnt used as agricultural land either. Although there were quite a few swordsmen and magicians endeavoring in destructive activities in the name of training, there hadnt been any complaints delivered about it even now. Although it is the place I had been taken care of with difficulty too, there really is nothing there at all. Even though it might be mere pretense, Khalil said she went there and blasted it full of holes at the time she wanted to vent her stress. (Shion) If there is no fallout if I go that far, then that place sounds good. (Renya) Having decided this, early next morning, Renya, who always woke up earlier than Shions group, left his room and grabbed the bentou he had ordered from the inns staff the day before. After gulping down the breakfast, he couldnt think of as appetizing after all, he left the inn. Given that all of his luggage was stored in the [Inventory], he was satisfyingly in the condition of being empty-handed. The received bentou was stowed away into the [Inventory] as well. And thus he headed straight for the northern gate. Renya began to run and grasped his fist tightly. Quite strong light leaked out between his fingers. That was the magic he started to practice last night. (ED: Flashback to last night, go!) As soon as he returned to his own room in the inn, although he tried to use it, because he had a hopelessly small amount of magic power as even attested by a specialist, he became dizzy after using a single light source spell. Even though it calmed down almost immediately, this dizziness is owed to running low on magic power for sure, Renya conjectured. Since this wasnt something like a game, there was no hint of a numerical reading of his remaining magic power. Lets use it carefully, huh? After using it once, pause for a while, then use it again and rest afterwards.While doing that, Renya understood what kind of magic [Light] was. At first he couldnt adjust the brightness. Reciting the spell to cause light, at least I understand so far, huh? Well the condition I dont understand is how to change the strength of the light, I guess? Although Is it a problem with the mental image?he thought too. Imagining the light resembling a flash of burning magnesium while reciting the spell, Renya felt he was able to cause no more than a light source emitting the luminescence of an average flashlight in the surroundings. Whats the best thing to do? I dont know. Somehow there should be a help function in a situation like this to provide assistance, dont you agree?He thought while looking at the light. Then a message appeared in the lower area of his field of vision. The method to remove the limit of power? (Renya) Certainly a convenient function, he thought while trying to state his question. So it is possible, he thought while the limit release was executed. After experiencing a light pain in the area of his forehead, a single figure appeared within Renyas mind. How to call it ?Although it was a difficult to describe character resembling the shape of something like a drawing, apparently it was the symbol necessary for releasing the limit. So it isnt only for [Light]? (Renya) Originally, the corresponding symbol of each magic spell had to be earnestly memorized. As this was the key to release the limit on the different magic spells, it became possible at this point to do such things as adjusting the magic spell by using magic power while chanting. This help function burned all of the magic spells related to the non-attribute magic with the corresponding symbol into Renyas mind. It obviously omitted the operation to execute all of them one at a time in the end. (ED: He can Limit Break every non-attribute spell now, but still has only learned the Light spell.) Since I received various abilities, isnt this type of function too much of a cheat?Renya wondered. But since he couldnt change it now anyway and it wasnt like it had any particularly negative effect on him, he decided to not mind it. The second issue is that the produced light source cant be moved. Certainly, it can be said that if I designate this magic spell in space(T/N: by using spatial coordinates is what Id use here), it will be impossible to move the light source away from that space. As for this, after having the limit removed previously, trying to suddenly chant [Congregate, my power] will fail due to insufficient magic power for consumption, wont it? The magic spell wont be executed and my consciousness will become exhausted, something like going through the terrible experience of having a blackout, he realized the state of affairs. So until then, he practiced one magic spell at a time and then took a rest until its effect stopped working. Though he wanted to do it again in the same manner, since after seeing through 10 repeats there didnt appear any dizziness at this point. Thus he decided to increase the amount of magic power slightly. He tried to continue chanting two times, but after he felt a light dizziness again, he took a break. As he saw the two lights floating somewhere in the middle of his room, he realized that it was not possible to move them. The fire itself emitted no heat either. Although it was merely shining palely, it seemed like once the position was designated after finishing the spell execution, it continued to exist in that place until its effect wore off. Since that was the case, once he reached the point where he could release several of them, the interior of his room ended up being full of light sources. Even if there was no real harm, being the result of various trials and errors it somehow ended up bothering him. Did you really have to invoke all of them to appear in designated locations in the first place? Renya noticed that if you conjured an object with magic and moved this very object, it would shine while in movement. After understanding that much, only practicing remained. Apart from the occurring dizziness as an interfering factor, it was a completely mechanical action for Renya to use the magic spell. He repeated this for a period of three hours. Even though he was able to increase the amount of simultaneous light sources to 8 without suffering dizziness, it could be called tedious work to repeat the same spell time and time again. Isnt there some better method?Renya pondered. For some reason he hit upon a possible method and decided to try it as he had nothing to lose anyway. Using [Chantless], [Light] shall be implemented now. Activate 8 units at the same time by using [Activate Parallel Magic Formation]. (Renya) Immediately after saying this, the character[Acknowledged]could be seen. Atop of Renyas head 8 light sources appeared in something like an interval. I think half of my joy is due to it going well and the other half is due to realizing that I havent even specified the position in space, Renya chuckled to himself. With this I have verified that I can combine the skills I received in a similar fashion as assembling a macro. However, if I assume that those have to be declared one by one too, it is quite a hassle no matter how you look at it.(T/N: He means that he has to declare each spell/skill chant sequentially in contrary to having one single chant/declaration for all of them) After pondering about it for a little while, Renya revised the previous declaration slightly. Using [Chantless], [Light] shall be implemented now. Activate 8 units at the same time by using [Activate Parallel Magic Formation]. Repeat the action until the remaining quantity of my magic power decreases to 50%. Re-execute after magic power has recovered completely. Repeat the cycle until interruption. Specify the position by my right hands palm. (Renya) In reality, although it may be possible to repeat the cycle until his magic power was completely exhausted, but since he wasnt clear on what kind of change would happen to his body in case his magic power was emptied, he decided to include a safety margin of 50%. If it was only to the degree of feeling faint, it would be fine to do this as he was in his own room. Even so he felt that it would be difficult on his body, if he became faint each and every time. He lifted his palm indicating the position where the magic should be executed. Though he didnt know how to extinguish the state of this magic spell, the executed light source vanished after roughly 10 minutes passed. By tightly grasping the shining object on top of his palm, he was able to conceal it for the time being. The execution of this macro worked just as he had planned it. Thus Renya obtained a safe method of starting the laborious activity to earnestly continue using magic. Renya misunderstood something here without particularly realizing it. Normally, while in the state of dizziness caused by the decreased remaining magic power, even though this was assumed to occur at a remaining magic power quantity of 10% by magicians, the common sense dictated in such situation that it was necessary to rest up for almost a half day until the magic power was restored after having been exhausted this far. However, Renya possessed the skill [Superb Recovery](T/N: The translator of chapter 3 called it Regeneration only but thats either a wrong translation or a previous understatement by the author), therefore right after a decrease, it would recover at an unconventional rate successively. It became an absurd state where he could repeat cycles, which would usually require half day intervals, at intervals of a dozen seconds. Furthermore, the time for magic practice could be multiplied by 8. Thanks to the activated parallel magic formation in addition to the high-speed replenishment, he had practically no cast time or cool down time and thus could execute the spells consecutively. It was labeled as skill called [Breakthrough the Growth Limit]. At the time Renya received this, he was only growing by disciplining and training. In other words, although he understood that he received the beneficial skill of breaking through the growth limitation, Renya believe this had another ability which resulted in exceeding the usual growth speed limitation.(ED: Renya thought it reduced downtime in training, he didnt know itd eliminated it.) Basically, although Renyas unconventional amount of training, his unconventional training speed, and his unconventional growth speed indicated the ability to release his growth limit which developed him into having his current state, the person himself completely wasnt aware of this at all. On the contrary, the hopeless verdict of Khalil in regards to his small amount of magic power spurred Renya on to intensify his training even more. The inhabitants of this world undoubtedly have been in contact with magic since their childhood, theres no mistake that I should use it(T/N: magic)to increase my own level until I am able to reach their proficiency. Therefore, I, who who falls into the category of late-starters, have to thoroughly develop this ability, even if I wont be able to hold my own in comparison to the inhabitants of this world.Renya reflected. Since he had no other choice but to use the magic spell [Light], every time he implemented the macro the length extended and the contents of Renyas macro changed. Currently the used macro was as follows: Using [Chantless], [Light] shall be implemented now at maximum power. Activate 16 units at the same time by using [Activate Parallel Magic Formation]. Repeat the action until the remaining quantity of my magic power decreases to 20%. Re-execute after magic power has recovered completely. Repeat the cycle until interruption. Specify the position by my right hands palm. (Renya) When this matter reached the ears of Khalil she opened her eyes wide, astonished after hearing the contents. But Renya himself thinking that it was still far too insufficient caused the surrounding people to be overcome by dreadful awe. Thus, as there was no one to stop this situation, he started to raise his cheat ability by freely using his cheat skills. Chapter 19 At the northern gate Renya presented the guild card and answered to the guard, who asked him where he was headed, that he would train and at the same time travel a bit further away have a look around. Renya waved his hands in return to the guard who asked him to be careful on the move and the guard waved back. Renya walked at a steady pace for a while until he was at a spot, which he believed to be far enough from the gate, and then he suddenly started to run. Though he said he would go a bit further to take a look around, Renya surveyed the surroundings after departing from the northern gate. As Shion had said before, it was a scene where you could truly see nothing. There should be some weak monsters around, even though he thought that, there was no sign of their presence in this place, either. Looking at the rough ground, only a few short weeds were sporadically growing. As it might be the best place for people who only want to swing their weapon, Renya felt that it was in no way lacking if he wanted to test his stamina simultaneously as well. He thought of only traveling at a running pace while he explored. Leaving further away from the city, there might be some easily handled monsters. In the beginning his speed was to the degree of doing some light jogging, even though he got swept up after a while into a running pace that felt in a way like performing a marathon, he didnt show any sign of running out of breath. While thinking that his body had become something surprisingly light, he now felt like trying to sprint for a short distance. Although his breathing rate increased somewhat as expected, there wasnt any sign that he had to stop running due to exhaustion. As it was his own body, Renya ended up having a somewhat eerie feeling.It isnt a bad thing, rather if I had to say it, then it is a conveniently nice thing, because of that he stopped worrying about it. While keeping a stable pace for approximately one hour, he continued to run. The plain ended quickly and he ended up arriving at the group of mountains exposing a rugged rock surface. There was no presence of anything living. While admiring the stretched out rocky mountains, he tried to roughly calculate in his head. Shion said that to reach these mountains going on foot it would take a few hours. As there are individual differences, the walking speed would be roughly about 4 km/h. Since the inhabitants of this world, rather than only the adventurers, train their bodies, I should assume a little higher speed like 5 km/h. Because I think that a few hours could mean something around 5 to 6 hours and if I make a little estimation of 5 hours, I can calculate that the distance between the city and the rocky mountains is roughly 25 km. Speaking of a speed of 25 km/h, you can calculate that running 100 m will take approximately around 14 seconds. That doesnt mean that it is that fast, although Renya though that, running a little less than 2 hours to travel 42 km is a marathon run. From the fact that he thought like that you could declare that those thoughts were very far off from the norm. Well, lets start then, huh? (Renya) From his [Inventory] he took out the long sword he had just recently purchased. Renya muttered those words while confirming his grip. I am not an idiot who doesnt know the technical proficiency of brandishing edged tools, was what he thought, but speaking about how he judged his own ability, you could say that it was the same no matter which weapon he bought. Nonetheless, it was unknown what Renya expected from this long sword either. It was produced in large quantities, it was sold at the markets on every corner, and when talking about the quality of the blade, there was no edge put on it either. It was produced for the sake of using it to strike, suppress, and cut. It couldnt be helped that Renya was extremely dissatisfied with it. I was expecting the thing to have at some degree of sharpness, even if only a little, though he ended up thinking this, since this could be called a typical weapon in this world, he had no choice but to accept it. After ascertaining his grip, he tried to lightly swing it. Renya didnt have any suitable knowledge about swordsmanship in this world. And since his memories had been removed, although he couldnt state it with certainty, he didnt expect that he learned handling weapons as a child when he went to school in his previous world. For this reason, without having the knowledge about things like form, as he somehow finished taking a pose in order to wield the sword, since he had absolutely no knowledge about it, he started practice-swinging, combining slashes and thrusts using some logic. It gave off a reasonable appearance. As far as Renya was concerned, as he was unusually unlucky, he only wanted to earnestly practice kendo. To a certain extent he was currently applying swordsmanship, it might be even possible to adequately use this style when going into battle. However, he devoted most of his previous life to ingrain techniques into his body, techniques that used swordsmanship employing a katana. Such, as a representative, the long sword Renya decided to hold, proved that his compatibility with the weapons of this world was the worst. Unlike this worlds weapons whose intended purpose was to strike, suppress, and cut, a katana was something that killed when you drew it and connected. If you used it to strike similarly to this worlds long sword, it wouldnt matter how excellent the katana was, it would end up breaking or warping. Since it differed in the way it killed, the way to handle it was naturally totally different too. As it was such a distinctive gap, Renyas body accumulated discomfort and no matter which movement he started his body became unable to follow it. When he fought against the goblins at the pioneers village, he became excited by the battle itself. Even though he was still fine then to wield the weapons, if he analyzed it calmly and tried to fight as usual, this out of place feeling or rather this discomfort would have been quite large. Renya repeated the practice swings for who-knows-how-long and then after he stored the long sword in its scabbard and tossed it into his [Inventory], he breathed a sigh. This is useless its not even worth complaining about. (Renya) He moved fairly well. But, the disposition of something like being reasonably satisfied didnt occur to Renya. Deeply sighting, he shook his head while sitting on a convenient stone for some time. Is something troubling you? Suddenly a voice came flying at him from the back. Standing in a flash, Renya turned his head while putting himself on guard. The slope of the mountains was in Renyas back and that mountain had an astonishingly high level of altitude. He looked up to see a single little girl there who was crouching down using her knees and elbows while wrapping her cheeks with both hands. Her hair style consisted of long black hair with tied pigtails on the left and right. The half opened eyes with red pupils somehow gave off the feeling as if she was sleepy. She wore a plain light brown shirt and trousers on top, which were covered with a dull grey mantle. On her right waist something with the shape of a slightly large pouch was hung. Going by her appearance he concluded that it was likely that she was in the middle of a journey. Who are you? (Renya) She wasnt someone he remembered having seen before. Without giving an answer to Renya regarding her identity, she stood up from the place she had been crouching and jumped down from the slope just like that. That agility caused Renya to heighten his caution. The slope was at a height to the extent that Renya had to look up. When she jumped down from that place, which likely had a height of about 3 m, the girl practically didnt bend her knee and yet she didnt stagger from the landing impact. Still and silent, Renya watched the girl who descended in front of his eyes. If you ask someone for their name, it is common sense to give your own name right after asking, is what I would like to point out to you. But given that it was me, who called out to you, I shall give you my name! Unnaturally flipping up the mantle and arrogantly putting both hands on her hips, no matter how and where you looked, she was shady on top of being suspicious-looking. While maintaining a distance that would allow him to escape at any time, Renya watched the little girl, who grandly introduced herself, intently. I am called the peddler Gi Kirie(T/N: >> Kirie > Kirie <<) (Kirie) I dont believe its something you should brag about? (Renya) Calmly, quickly cutting into Kiries introduction, Renya inserted his tsukkomi causing the cocky Kirie to drop her shoulders with a feeling of despondence. Shouldnt you say something more appropriate by reading the mood there? (Kirie) Though I dont know about that, what does this peddler-san want from me? (Renya) Since she approached specifically to greet him, Renya asked her while trying to guess her intentions. Seeing that the expression of vigilance didnt vanish from his face, Kirie, who called herself a shoujo, smiled bitterly. Even if you dont stand on guard like this (Kirie) Just in case, I had checked that there was no one else close by. And yet you were there. That should be plenty of reason to remain on guard, dont you agree? (Renya) Renya didnt understand magic like the one Rona used. Therefore, to make certain, even though he didnt mention it, he paid attention to his surroundings. He had confirmed that there wasnt anyone in the range of his attentive field of vision. I think probably it would have become awkward, if anyone were to see my way of using the sword. Though he likely shouldnt give such a reason for that. I will be troubled if you look down on peddlers. After all I have to repel the attacks of bandits as well as monsters while continuously traveling from city to city in order to conduct my business. Something on the level of erasing my own presence is a trivial matter. (Kirie) Once again doing a complete reverse, Kirie suddenly and forcefully puffed up her chest with pride. Is that how it is?while pondering about it, Renya tried to throw out another question. Although you are calling yourself a merchant, you dont carry any merchandise, do you? (Renya) I am a rare peddler. I possess [Inventory]. Amazing, dont you agree? (Kirie) Renya nodded for the time being as he understood the underlying logic. So, what are you selling? (Renya) I am able to sell whatever you like. It must be something like fate to meet each other in this place. Do you want me to show you some of my wares? (Kirie) Without even waiting for a reply, Kirie took out a voluminous carpet, which you wouldnt expect to possibly fit into such place, from the pouch hanging on her waist. She immediately spread it out on the ground. Furthermore she took out various goods from the same pouch while lining them up on top of the carpet in a way so you could easily examine them.Somehow I am certain I encountered this pocket she possesses in some anime, Renya thought. Small bottles like test tubes filled with multicolored liquids, ornaments made out of precious metals adorned with jewels, some materials like black leather, gloves with an appearance of exposing the fingers and several pairs of shoes. As she lined up the things from within the pouch like that, Renyas eyes were glued to the last item Kirie took out. That is (Renya) Oya, you have a discerning eye to immediately spot this. (Kirie) Kirie made sure to hold it reverently with both hands. She presented a single katana in front of Renyas eyes. A matte black leather was wrapped around the estimated part of the hilt. The guard on the sword was made out of plain black metal with the same lack of gloss. Although he couldnt see whether the blade of the katana matched them as it was in its scabbard, the scabbard appeared to be made from metal as well, having a similar black color. Something like a silver arabesque pattern was applied as a design. Please, feel free to ascertain it for yourself by drawing it. (Kirie) He grasped the scabbard of the katana he was handed with his left hand and drew it out of the opening of the sheath. With a delightful feeling of *kun~tsu*, he could feel the blade sliding out of the scabbard.(T/N: Kun refers to the drawing of the blade while sheathed and the tsu is the sound of it coming free completely.) Turning over the edge of the unsheathed katanas blade, he set it up at eye level while leaking a small sigh of admiration. The texture of the surface had a skillfully fine small ferrite pieces matching the wave pattern along its length. The tempered pattern of the katanas blade had an inlet inserted having an rotund appearance of wind swaying clovers intermingling with each other.2 Measuring the katanas blade with his eyes, it had a length of approximately 2 shaku 4 sun.(T/N: shaku = 30,3 cm, sun = approx. 3 cm so approx. 72,6 cm) Though he didnt understand the inscription on the exposed tang after examining it,Given that the curving is shallow, I fear that its likely this katanas designated classification would be uchigatana,1he judged. For a while Renya was staring at it intently checking the condition of the blade. Carefully returning the katanas blade into its scabbard, he handed the katana back to Kirie. It was a considerably sharp sword and a feast for the eyes. (Renya) Oya? You wont buy it? (Kirie) As Kirie said this unexpectedly, Renya naturally took something like a single breath. You have only this many goods. Probably it is beyond my grasp. (Renya) No~ I was told that this weapon was used by some Lost. But, well, for most of the people in this world it is a half-hearted weapon. (Kirie) While grasping the received katana with her right hand, she began to scribble with a *kaki kaki* with the free left hand. Kirie displayed a troubled laugh. It is exceedingly beautiful. But it is emitting a feeling of being ~ a rare piece of art, or perhaps I should say there are no people who are able to accurately handle it as weapon. As there were many people broke off their interest in it due to its appearance, honestly speaking, I had no other choice but to hold onto it. (Kirie) What a waste. (Renya) Renya thought so from the bottom of his heart. Clinging to these words, no matter what Kiries voice became stuffily zealous recommending her merchandise. I believe it is a great satisfaction for people who can handle a tool to receive it after all. Such being the case, if you can handle it accurately, I think I wouldnt mind selling it to you for a special price. For only an astonishingly low 20 gold coins! (Kirie) I believe I can handle it perfectly. I just dont have such money on hand. (Renya) Together with the share he held onto when he arrived in this world here, adding to that the sum he got for selling off the magic crystals and also the reward for the goblin subjugation, he didnt possess that kind of money. Renya easily gave up on the purchase. I cant shake a sleeve I dont have and I think I dont want to go as far as lending money from somewhere just so that I can buy it. In the case of an edged tool, I can use it, I believe. My handling of the longsword is embarrassing though. I think you could say I am simply swinging an iron pole. Well, in its own way it can be used in combat somehow. Renya gave up after reaching such a conclusion. However, Kirie didnt want to lose this buyer here. Thus, she earnestly hung on tenaciously as she didnt know when the next buyer who knew about this object might appear. Well then, how about bartering for it? Since you came to this place to do weapon training, arent you an adventurer-san? Dont you have some rare item you could exchange for the katana? (Kirie) Sorry, but it hasnt been a long time yet since I came to this world here. Besides, it is unthinkable by all means that I possess such a rare item that could counterbalance it(T/N: the katana). (Renya) Mu? This world here? Might you possibly be a Lost human? (Kirie) Blaming himself with the audible words Damn!, there was no further need to conceal it since he spilled the beans already. Given Kiries astonishment alongside her inquiry, Renya nodded. Seeing Renya nodding, Kiries face in a flash sparkled with a joyful expression. If thats the case! Did you bring in anything from your world? Something that doesnt exist in this world would have plenty of value. (Kirie) Even if you said that (Renya) Because it could be said that an ordinary Lost would come from their original world to this world by something like falling through a vortex, it wouldnt be strange for them to bring the items they held onto at the time they fell into this world either. However, if Renya was to believe the words of that little girl, once the body completely passed away in the original world, it was consequently impossible to bring in anything from the original world. Having unintentionally thought this far, Renya opened his [Inventory] to look into it. There he found only one item stored away. That was, although not an item brought in from his original world, something which historically originated from his former world. Even though it was something that had a reasonable value by itself, as he also recognized it with spite, looking at it from the view of common people, that was an object which inevitably couldnt be called anything more than a stick. In spite of thinking like that, as he had no other options, Renya took it out from his [Inventory]. That is? (Kirie) It is called a shinai. In my world maa, lets just say it is a weapon for the time being. (Renya) That is, maa how to say it? Can I also borrow it for a little while? (Kirie) Renya passed over the shinai he took out on top of Kiries extended left hand she held out. Although the thought of her possibly making off with the shinai crossed his mind for an instant, he judged it quite unlikely for her to escape from this place while leaving the still spread out merchandise at her own feet without a care. Kirie held the katana in the right hand without change. In the left hand she grasped the hilt of the shinai and assessed it while lightly swinging it. This is also considerably light. (Kirie) Well, in my world it is a weapon serving mainly for practice. (Renya) Houhou oya? Isnt this a grade 10 item? (Kirie) As Kirie gazed at the shinai closely, she suddenly told him what she had noticed. If Im not mistaken, such an explaination was given at the time when I first saw it in the [Inventory], he remembered. Since she is a merchant, I guess judging such things is one of her fortes. Or I think she could also possess the skill of appraisal.While considering this, Renya nodded. As he tried to ask about her expression, she nimbly arranged the shinai in her left hand and the katana in her right hand. Thinking about something, Kirie counted 10 times as she knocked them together each time. Abruptly she held out the katana in her right hand facing Renya. Oi? (Renya) Lets exchange. Although I dont quite understand this item, since it certainly is a grade 10 item, this will sell for any price to dilettantes! (Kirie) Though I also have a problem with the way you talk about something I took out, are you really fine with this? (Renya) Yes, even if I held onto this katana here, I wont be able to sell it successfully either. Since its rank is only grade 7, its value is considerably lower. (Kirie) If you are willing to exchange it, it will be quite helpful to me, though (Renya) Even though Renya had an expression of not being quite convinced, Kirie floated a smile with *niko niko* as it was actually nothing more than an absolutely beneficial shopping to her. As I can sweep out deadstock as well as obtain a novel commodity, it is a very good thing. (Kirie) Is that so? If thats really fine, please go ahead, but. (Renya) Yes, maidoari~ (Kirie)(T/N: Thanks for your purchase/for making business with you, for those who dont know ) Even though Renya somehow couldnt help feeling that this ended up being an extremely unbalanced transaction, Kiried pushed the katana onto Renya and promptly stored away the shinai in the void storage going via the pouch in the end. You dont have any other businesses of a lifetime besides this one, do you? If there isnt, you dont mind me storing my merchandise, do you? (Kirie) Indeed, since I dont have any money on hand to that extent. (Renya) While graping the obtained katana tightly, as Renya answered her, within his mind he wondered,Now then, how am I supposed to equip this? Since it was an uchigatana, it would be the proper way to carry it on his waist. but there was no way that Renya had a place on his current clothes to wear this katana. Now that you mention it (Kirie) Being quite casual, Kirie said while storing back the spread out merchandise into her pouch. As it is a special occasion, would you let me see how to use that weapon perfectly? (Kirie) Fumu? (Renya) I will prepare the target. (Kirie) Having almost finished putting away the items, Kirie took out another object from within her pouch. That object resembled something that could be seen on paddy fields and their likes in Renyas former world. It was a scarecrow made out of straw and a stick. In order for the scarecrow to have the shape of a human-like body, it wore a leather armor. As such, it appeared to have something like intensity in its own way. Kirie stabbed it into the ground like a stake so that its feet section was affixed in the ground. By sending Renya a signal as if she said There you go, she took a little distance. Albeit wondering what he should do, Renya felt in some respects something like obligation due to the business deal not long ago. He judged that he could listen to a request of such level. Furthermore, Kirie had saida person handling it accurately. Thus it could also be said that it was necessary to establish proper proof. When he saw that Kirie had sufficiently distanced herself from the scarecrow, Renya lightly lowered his hips, held the katana with his left hand close to his waist and drew his right hand gently near to its hilt. Currently, although he would use it for the first time, he had something like a hallucination remembering a time where he carried a katana in his hands in the far gone olden days. Renyas eyes fixedly stared at the scarecrow. The distance from Renya to the scarecrow was roughly about 2 meters. Remembering the feeling of oppression similar to being choked by merely watching, Kirie gulped down her saliva involuntarily in the instant Renya moved his right hand. Drawing it out, at the time she thought that, Renyas body had already returned to its former position. In the same way as if being immersed in a slow lingering memory, the katanas blade was returned into its scabbard. Kirie was dumbfounded. She didnt remember taking her eyes off him. Even though she didnt, within Kiries field of vision, the part of the scarecrow, which Renya had cut by stepping in with a single step, ended up in a spectacle of cleanly falling off. Somehow, watching in front, Kirie ended up feeling as if she was the one having been cut. At the same time Renya completely stored back the katanas blade, the plain scarecrow arbitrarily fell apart. Thus, the scarecrow, which had been cut from the left side up to the right shoulder, dropped onto the ground being separated into four parts. As it happened due to drawing the katana from the initial position, this probably should be correctly named as battoujutsu. (Renya)(T/N: Art of sword drawing see Rurounin no Kenshin for further references) Breathing out without a warning, Kirie remained stiff as she turned towards Renyas direction while he explained. Although kenjutsu is yet another different art Are you satisfied with this? (Renya) *nikori* Renya displayed a smiling face. Although it was likely that Renya wasnt aware of anything, Kiries muscles along the spine were frozen stiff in reminiscence of the spectacle before and except nodding her head with a *koku koku* she wasnt able to move at all. Translators comment For those butting their heads on top of the desk, I didnt make a mistake when the peddler introduced herself as Gi Kirie, for the rest I refer you toInterlude 3.;) (ED: I dunno, Kirie showed a lot of emotion. Im not wholly convinced.) Translation Notes 1It is a short Katana, predecessor to kodachis, for more information seehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchigatana 2Explanation provided by Faceman. Thank you.:) I guess he is talking about hamon line, and can be adjusted by smith by varying the thickness of clay applied onto blade before quenching (clay slows down the cooling when hot metal is put into water/oil, so with the clay layer being of variable thickness, the steel obtains differences in atomic microstructure that can be brought out by proper polishing. Clover pattern would be somethinglike thishttp://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/japanese-sword-hamon.jpg Chapter 20 We have accepted a request! (Shion) As Shion was somehow strangely delighted, the first thing she said after opening her mouth was this line. Seeing Renya return to the city after two straight days of committing himself to expert training in the mountain range without saying anything beforehand, he received a severe scolding from Shion and Rona the next day in early afternoon. Apparently when he left taking only one bentou (boxed-lunch) along, they started to worry whether something had happened to Renyas body as there wasnt any sign of him returning when evening came. While consuming the food he took along little by little and inserting naps inbetween, it was a trifling task for Renya to continuously train his body outside for a period of 2 days. Talking about it now, certainly, only having enough food for just one meal, he also considered within his mind to return once but immediately rejected it as being annoying. But as he said that he intended to take around two days from the beginning, he didnt think there was any reason to swarm him with criticism. As Shion fervently explained how concerned they were about Renya, he decided to devote himself to earnestly apologizing as he was unable to do anything else due to not wanting to particularly make things worse by replying with an imprudent rebuttal. It was a fact that he caused them to worry, and as he considered the situation of being in the same position of being concerned about someone, it was a somewhat fresh feeling and he continued to apologize without being bothered by doing so. Apart from that. Just as Renya finished eating the expectedly disgusting lunch, he received boiling hot water from the inns employee in order to somehow improve the circumstances in his surroundings step by step. The mouth of the bottle was wide. Taking off its lid, he poured the water into an earthenware jar. While waiting for it to fully cooldown, he started to cut down the fruits resembling apples, which he came across and bought at a nearby street stall, in properly sized pieces. Without removing the skin, he threw bite sized pieces of them into the water that had finished cooling down completely due to the heat dissipating and shut the lid again. He only remembered the information how to produce it. Although Renya pondered whether it was fine to leave it as it is for a few days, he knew no more than that it was necessary to do so in order to finish the base. Even though Rona was watching with great interest as to what Renya was doing from the sidelines, he didnt explain to her what he was up to. He considered it to be difficult for her to comprehend even if he were to explain it. Eto, Renya? (Shion) He had asked the inns employee in advance to be allowed to place the jar in the inns kitchen at a place where it wouldnt hinder anyone. Renya conveyed to them that he wanted to leave it there for a few days as it is. As the inns employee said that it would only rot, Renya had no other choice but to ambiguously laugh. It would be undoubtedly complicated to explain the difference between rotting and fermentation to the inhabitants of this world. It was true that rotting and fermentation could be indicated as identical phenomenon, but fermentation was something beneficial to people. Given that only rotting wasnt something to be called beneficial, Renya personally would end up being embarrassed if there was no difference. Oi, Renya (Shion) I heard you. I think you said that you accepted a request? (Renya) As she would take offense if Renya continued to ignore her indefinitely, Renya finally returned some words to Shion as anger colored her tone. While it may be true that there is no particular reason to reply to her since it doesnt imply that I am not listening, I guess it will be fine to continue talking as it is information that needs to be conveyed, he ended up thinking. What kind of request did you accept? (Renya) Leaving the southern gate, at a place around one day by carriage a new dungeon has been discovered. (Shion) In regards to the distance, it was a place approximately around 80 km away. As Renya wasnt really able to judge whether it was close by or far away, he asked himselfWhy did this site turn into a dungeon? And why wasnt it discovered until just now? He tried to confront Shion with these questions. There were two types of the things called dungeons. First off there are remains of abandoned mines and buildings that had been constructed by humans. After abandoning them without doing something like tearing them down, for some reason monsters would settle in there. The other type was called something like living type dungeon. At some place a dungeon core would spring forth and summon objects in its surroundings making drastic changes to the environment, producing monsters and stockpiling treasures. The purpose of these actions was to absorb the mana of the defeated adventurers who came to the dungeon. Furthermore it was something that was able to mature. No sooner than after the creation of the dungeon core, it will start to produce monsters by whatever method, huh?This being the point, there were many mysterious parts about this and it seemed that the research in this direction hadnt really progressed much, either. So this time the discovered dungeon is of the living type category. It is a subjugation request. (Shion) Although it is still new, do you want to conquer the dungeon with a single party? (Renya) No, several parties will link up to form a raid. (Shion) (ED: WoW?) Raid meant that it was a group made up of several parties. Shion explained that since it wouldnt be an achievement of a single party, the guild request was about how well you would be able to work together in the raid. Although Renya thought that it was almost like a game, it obviously wasnt actually such an optimistic situation. If the living type dungeon was left alone, it would start to absorb the mana from its surroundings as well. So if they let it mature arbitrarily, it would reach the point of it producing great numbers of powerful monsters which would greatly increase the scale of the dungeon. And then, eventually, the overflowing amount of created monsters would break out and cause serious damage to the surrounding areas. Thus, in case a new living type dungeon was discovered, it was prudent to gather the necessary amount of people promptly and go capture the dungeon in order to destroy its core. Whats the number of participating parties? (Renya) With us it is 4. The total amount of participants is 19 people. (Shion) Since Renyas groups party had 3 people, there were 16 people left. Although you could say it would be parties having 5 people each by calculation, since parties usually had 4 to 6 members working together, you could call this an average number of participants. But, what about their combat ability?Since he hadnt an example he could judge by, he was pondering about this. Although Renya looked at Rona seeking for something like an opinion, Rona just swung here head left and right. Given that there is only scarce information about a new dungeon, it is usually often unknown whether the number of people to conquer it is appropriate. (Rona) After listening to the end, I dont think it is a very appealing job, dont you think? (Renya) In case it hasnt been long since the generation of the core, it wont be able to release monsters on an extensive scale. As for the degree of difficulty, it is normally low. Also as you can expect things like intact raw materials, and treasures to a certain degree, it is a good job to earn income, you know. (Rona) Renya, why did you ask Ronas opinion and not mine? (Shion) Facing the extreme complaining of Shion, by no means can I go ahead and foolishly give her the honest reason of me having the impression that Rona clearly has far more information and experience than her, Renya assessed. Although I dont really understand how it ended up that I joined their party, I know that at least Rona wouldnt destroy her stance of being a priests apprentice as long as she was in front of Shion. Even though I dont understand the reason for that, Rona tries to maintain this stance to the bitter end.As it was something which Renya was unskilled in, it was impossible for him to completely expose Rona. While groaning with a low U~ tsu, Shion directed a straight glare at him. Renya somehow or other made up a reason and told her. Arent Rona and Shion equal in regards to knowledge and experience? In that case, in this situation following the opinion of Rona, who serves God, might possibly grant us a blessing, dont you think? (Renya) If I think about requesting this from the little girl working as supervisor, I guess I cant imagine her working diligently to the degree of blessing each and every single one of the priests who call themselves her servants either way, Renya was thinking since he had only a faint belief in her. As for forcefully making up a reason, Renya praised himself for it only being slightly invalid.1 Mu For some reason, now that you said that, I have such feelings too. (Shion) I guess the leader is Shion? I will leave the final decision to you. Besides, you dont have to worry since I will abide by your decision for sure. (Renya) Eh? (Rona & Shion) After Renya finished saying it clearly, they returned a somehow questioning voice in harmony. Did I say something so unexpected, Renya wondered as he looked at the two of them. Their facial expressions almost looked to him as if there was something like a question mark floating above their heads. I wonder, did I say something strange? (Renya) I just thought that Renya would act as the leader (Shion) Eetto, I thought the same as well. (Rona) Why would you think that? (Renya) Renya exhaled while showing a very reluctant expression. Although it was only vaguely, he had a hunch that they would say something like that. Thus he was able to prepare his reply beforehand. The people called leaders were people who grew into the duty of bearing responsibility for others apart from themselves. Renya didnt have a hobby of delightfully being responsible for others. At least you should understand that it is a pointless decision to make a Lost, who has little to no information about this world, your leader, no? (Renya) Though Renya believed that he told them something obvious, somehow both of them didnt seem to comprehend the reasoning. As the man is usually called the leader after all, I believe it will cause less problems with others, you know. (Rona) I agree. Moreover I think that Renya will be able to make more accurate decisions than me. (Shion) Where do you get this confidence from? And also, why did you accept the request then? Although that was what he wanted to retort with, before their gazes keenly hinting at and conveying We have already accepted it, no? and We cant refuse anymore, isnt that right? his questions ended up disappearing too. Dropping his shoulders while exhaling, Renya agreed, albeit feeling unwillingly. I understand Shion, please consult with me briefly before you accept a request. Especially since I will be the leader. (Renya) Mu, thats also true. I am sorry for being rash. (Shion) As Shion meekly apologized, Renya raised his hand in order to make them listen. And, whats the reward and time limit? (Renya) Including the necessary expenses, it is 6 gold coins for each party. The time limit is: 2 days for traveling and 2 days for the dungeon exploration, in total 4 days. Since it is a subjugation request, we are supposed to subjugate as many monsters as possible inside. There is an additional reward of 10 gold coins for destroying the dungeon core. (Shion) We travel by carriage? Or by foot? (Renya) We will travel there by carriage. The guild will arrange for it. Although the departure is tomorrow morning, we should check the faces of the fellow participating parties once before that. This evening we will meet up at a bar calledSilver Cupclose to the guild. (Shion) Although Shion was looking as if she wanted to say How was that!, Renya was troubled within his mind. There isnt much time left until we have to meet up with the other parties. The time until departure is extremely lacking as well. Considering the time the meet up will take, the time remaining to devote for preparation is little to nothing. I guess the request itself was posted only a short while before. Discovering it just barely within the deadline, it seems that Shion ended up rushing to accept the request last-minute. That thinking was too naive. Looking to his side, he saw that Rona looked sullen sharing the same opinion as him. Shion dont you think about the required follow up before you decide to accept a request? (Renya) Eh? Eh? (Shion) Apparently Shion didnt understand why Renya and Rona were looking sullen. Nonetheless, she still seemed to understand that she had done something completely unwise. While alternating between viewing at both of their faces, her facial expression became very flustered. Should I use this occasion to firmly scold her?Although he considered that too, after seeing Shions expression he gave up on it. Even though Renya didnt know how it was for the people of this world here, choosing to scold rather than praise a method for the most times caused various strains as well. If they realized their mistake, it would work better to follow up rather than blaming them. By no means did I end up being dumbfounded by the nature of the flustered Shion!Despite him persuading himself, when he was seen by Rona, she clapped on his shoulders with a *pon pon* showing nothing but her understanding. Although it cant be helped now that we ended up accepting it Rona, can you go ahead and purchase the necessary goods quickly? (Renya) Yes, I guess it cant be helped. Food and water for 4 days, rope, torchlights, potions and bandages. That should be it, I think? (Rona) What about bedding? Although you guys got your own already, I dont possess any (Renya) I will buy it. I will buy anything else I become aware of while Im at it. (Rona) I leave it to you. The expenses will be split between us later on. Can you pay for us in advance? (Renya) Bowing to Renya, Rona left the inn at a quick pace. After seeing her off, looking at Shions state, it seems she has at last started to gradually realize the troubles shed caused. It didnt seem unlikely that she would present the armor she was wearing on herself as an apology. Preparations cant move without them (Shion) Its fine to be careful next time. All things considered, this wasnt the first time you accepted a request, didnt you ever notice this aspect? (Renya) Without using something like an accusing voice, Renya cautiously asked her. Shion answered while her face became red due to shame. Because Rona was always acting before I knew it (Shion) At the time when there were only the two of them in the beginning, wasnt Rona acting like a parent in regards to Shions situation?Renya wondered with a deep sigh, while his eyes looked something like those of a dead fish.2 Is that so? Thanks for clearing this up for me. As it is like that, we will participate in that meeting together. I guess it is also fine if there arent all of our members present, right? (Renya) Probably (Shion) Shion replied without confidence. There is already no other way but to apologize myself if something happens, Renya mentally prepared. For starters, lets go to that Silver Cup. I guess I will also be able to explain if they ask anything. (Renya) Although it will be great if it ends with only a meeting without any trouble, as Renya thought so within his mind, for some reason he doubted it. He didnt feel like finishing his thoughts which could be called a hunch. And then, because of that bad kind of premonition, Renya also knew from the manifold experiences that he could say something clich, like it never happened that he was wrong about his premonitions. Translation Notes 1ED: Indeed, Loli-kami-sama wouldnt bother handing out individual blessings, ever. Unless someone repeatedly kicked her head like it was a soccer ball. 2Literally, eyes like knotholes. We have accepted a request! (Shion) As Shion was somehow strangely delighted, the first thing she said after opening her mouth was this line. Seeing Renya return to the city after two straight days of committing himself to expert training in the mountain range without saying anything beforehand, he received a severe scolding from Shion and Rona the next day in early afternoon. Apparently when he left taking only one bentou (boxed-lunch) along, they started to worry whether something had happened to Renyas body as there wasnt any sign of him returning when evening came. While consuming the food he took along little by little and inserting naps inbetween, it was a trifling task for Renya to continuously train his body outside for a period of 2 days. Talking about it now, certainly, only having enough food for just one meal, he also considered within his mind to return once but immediately rejected it as being annoying. But as he said that he intended to take around two days from the beginning, he didnt think there was any reason to swarm him with criticism. As Shion fervently explained how concerned they were about Renya, he decided to devote himself to earnestly apologizing as he was unable to do anything else due to not wanting to particularly make things worse by replying with an imprudent rebuttal. It was a fact that he caused them to worry, and as he considered the situation of being in the same position of being concerned about someone, it was a somewhat fresh feeling and he continued to apologize without being bothered by doing so. Apart from that. Just as Renya finished eating the expectedly disgusting lunch, he received boiling hot water from the inns employee in order to somehow improve the circumstances in his surroundings step by step. The mouth of the bottle was wide. Taking off its lid, he poured the water into an earthenware jar. While waiting for it to fully cooldown, he started to cut down the fruits resembling apples, which he came across and bought at a nearby street stall, in properly sized pieces. Without removing the skin, he threw bite sized pieces of them into the water that had finished cooling down completely due to the heat dissipating and shut the lid again. He only remembered the information how to produce it. Although Renya pondered whether it was fine to leave it as it is for a few days, he knew no more than that it was necessary to do so in order to finish the base. Even though Rona was watching with great interest as to what Renya was doing from the sidelines, he didnt explain to her what he was up to. He considered it to be difficult for her to comprehend even if he were to explain it. Eto, Renya? (Shion) He had asked the inns employee in advance to be allowed to place the jar in the inns kitchen at a place where it wouldnt hinder anyone. Renya conveyed to them that he wanted to leave it there for a few days as it is. As the inns employee said that it would only rot, Renya had no other choice but to ambiguously laugh. It would be undoubtedly complicated to explain the difference between rotting and fermentation to the inhabitants of this world. It was true that rotting and fermentation could be indicated as identical phenomenon, but fermentation was something beneficial to people. Given that only rotting wasnt something to be called beneficial, Renya personally would end up being embarrassed if there was no difference. Oi, Renya (Shion) I heard you. I think you said that you accepted a request? (Renya) As she would take offense if Renya continued to ignore her indefinitely, Renya finally returned some words to Shion as anger colored her tone. While it may be true that there is no particular reason to reply to her since it doesnt imply that I am not listening, I guess it will be fine to continue talking as it is information that needs to be conveyed, he ended up thinking. What kind of request did you accept? (Renya) Leaving the southern gate, at a place around one day by carriage a new dungeon has been discovered. (Shion) In regards to the distance, it was a place approximately around 80 km away. As Renya wasnt really able to judge whether it was close by or far away, he asked himselfWhy did this site turn into a dungeon? And why wasnt it discovered until just now? He tried to confront Shion with these questions. There were two types of the things called dungeons. First off there are remains of abandoned mines and buildings that had been constructed by humans. After abandoning them without doing something like tearing them down, for some reason monsters would settle in there. The other type was called something like living type dungeon. At some place a dungeon core would spring forth and summon objects in its surroundings making drastic changes to the environment, producing monsters and stockpiling treasures. The purpose of these actions was to absorb the mana of the defeated adventurers who came to the dungeon. Furthermore it was something that was able to mature. No sooner than after the creation of the dungeon core, it will start to produce monsters by whatever method, huh?This being the point, there were many mysterious parts about this and it seemed that the research in this direction hadnt really progressed much, either. So this time the discovered dungeon is of the living type category. It is a subjugation request. (Shion) Although it is still new, do you want to conquer the dungeon with a single party? (Renya) No, several parties will link up to form a raid. (Shion) (ED: WoW?) Raid meant that it was a group made up of several parties. Shion explained that since it wouldnt be an achievement of a single party, the guild request was about how well you would be able to work together in the raid. Although Renya thought that it was almost like a game, it obviously wasnt actually such an optimistic situation. If the living type dungeon was left alone, it would start to absorb the mana from its surroundings as well. So if they let it mature arbitrarily, it would reach the point of it producing great numbers of powerful monsters which would greatly increase the scale of the dungeon. And then, eventually, the overflowing amount of created monsters would break out and cause serious damage to the surrounding areas. Thus, in case a new living type dungeon was discovered, it was prudent to gather the necessary amount of people promptly and go capture the dungeon in order to destroy its core. Whats the number of participating parties? (Renya) With us it is 4. The total amount of participants is 19 people. (Shion) Since Renyas groups party had 3 people, there were 16 people left. Although you could say it would be parties having 5 people each by calculation, since parties usually had 4 to 6 members working together, you could call this an average number of participants. But, what about their combat ability?Since he hadnt an example he could judge by, he was pondering about this. Although Renya looked at Rona seeking for something like an opinion, Rona just swung here head left and right. Given that there is only scarce information about a new dungeon, it is usually often unknown whether the number of people to conquer it is appropriate. (Rona) After listening to the end, I dont think it is a very appealing job, dont you think? (Renya) In case it hasnt been long since the generation of the core, it wont be able to release monsters on an extensive scale. As for the degree of difficulty, it is normally low. Also as you can expect things like intact raw materials, and treasures to a certain degree, it is a good job to earn income, you know. (Rona) Renya, why did you ask Ronas opinion and not mine? (Shion) Facing the extreme complaining of Shion, by no means can I go ahead and foolishly give her the honest reason of me having the impression that Rona clearly has far more information and experience than her, Renya assessed. Although I dont really understand how it ended up that I joined their party, I know that at least Rona wouldnt destroy her stance of being a priests apprentice as long as she was in front of Shion. Even though I dont understand the reason for that, Rona tries to maintain this stance to the bitter end.As it was something which Renya was unskilled in, it was impossible for him to completely expose Rona. While groaning with a low U~ tsu, Shion directed a straight glare at him. Renya somehow or other made up a reason and told her. Arent Rona and Shion equal in regards to knowledge and experience? In that case, in this situation following the opinion of Rona, who serves God, might possibly grant us a blessing, dont you think? (Renya) If I think about requesting this from the little girl working as supervisor, I guess I cant imagine her working diligently to the degree of blessing each and every single one of the priests who call themselves her servants either way, Renya was thinking since he had only a faint belief in her. As for forcefully making up a reason, Renya praised himself for it only being slightly invalid.1 Mu For some reason, now that you said that, I have such feelings too. (Shion) I guess the leader is Shion? I will leave the final decision to you. Besides, you dont have to worry since I will abide by your decision for sure. (Renya) Eh? (Rona & Shion) After Renya finished saying it clearly, they returned a somehow questioning voice in harmony. Did I say something so unexpected, Renya wondered as he looked at the two of them. Their facial expressions almost looked to him as if there was something like a question mark floating above their heads. I wonder, did I say something strange? (Renya) I just thought that Renya would act as the leader (Shion) Eetto, I thought the same as well. (Rona) Why would you think that? (Renya) Renya exhaled while showing a very reluctant expression. Although it was only vaguely, he had a hunch that they would say something like that. Thus he was able to prepare his reply beforehand. The people called leaders were people who grew into the duty of bearing responsibility for others apart from themselves. Renya didnt have a hobby of delightfully being responsible for others. At least you should understand that it is a pointless decision to make a Lost, who has little to no information about this world, your leader, no? (Renya) Though Renya believed that he told them something obvious, somehow both of them didnt seem to comprehend the reasoning. As the man is usually called the leader after all, I believe it will cause less problems with others, you know. (Rona) I agree. Moreover I think that Renya will be able to make more accurate decisions than me. (Shion) Where do you get this confidence from? And also, why did you accept the request then? Although that was what he wanted to retort with, before their gazes keenly hinting at and conveying We have already accepted it, no? and We cant refuse anymore, isnt that right? his questions ended up disappearing too. Dropping his shoulders while exhaling, Renya agreed, albeit feeling unwillingly. I understand Shion, please consult with me briefly before you accept a request. Especially since I will be the leader. (Renya) Mu, thats also true. I am sorry for being rash. (Shion) As Shion meekly apologized, Renya raised his hand in order to make them listen. And, whats the reward and time limit? (Renya) Including the necessary expenses, it is 6 gold coins for each party. The time limit is: 2 days for traveling and 2 days for the dungeon exploration, in total 4 days. Since it is a subjugation request, we are supposed to subjugate as many monsters as possible inside. There is an additional reward of 10 gold coins for destroying the dungeon core. (Shion) We travel by carriage? Or by foot? (Renya) We will travel there by carriage. The guild will arrange for it. Although the departure is tomorrow morning, we should check the faces of the fellow participating parties once before that. This evening we will meet up at a bar calledSilver Cupclose to the guild. (Shion) Although Shion was looking as if she wanted to say How was that!, Renya was troubled within his mind. There isnt much time left until we have to meet up with the other parties. The time until departure is extremely lacking as well. Considering the time the meet up will take, the time remaining to devote for preparation is little to nothing. I guess the request itself was posted only a short while before. Discovering it just barely within the deadline, it seems that Shion ended up rushing to accept the request last-minute. That thinking was too naive. Looking to his side, he saw that Rona looked sullen sharing the same opinion as him. Shion dont you think about the required follow up before you decide to accept a request? (Renya) Eh? Eh? (Shion) Apparently Shion didnt understand why Renya and Rona were looking sullen. Nonetheless, she still seemed to understand that she had done something completely unwise. While alternating between viewing at both of their faces, her facial expression became very flustered. Should I use this occasion to firmly scold her?Although he considered that too, after seeing Shions expression he gave up on it. Even though Renya didnt know how it was for the people of this world here, choosing to scold rather than praise a method for the most times caused various strains as well. If they realized their mistake, it would work better to follow up rather than blaming them. By no means did I end up being dumbfounded by the nature of the flustered Shion!Despite him persuading himself, when he was seen by Rona, she clapped on his shoulders with a *pon pon* showing nothing but her understanding. Although it cant be helped now that we ended up accepting it Rona, can you go ahead and purchase the necessary goods quickly? (Renya) Yes, I guess it cant be helped. Food and water for 4 days, rope, torchlights, potions and bandages. That should be it, I think? (Rona) What about bedding? Although you guys got your own already, I dont possess any (Renya) I will buy it. I will buy anything else I become aware of while Im at it. (Rona) I leave it to you. The expenses will be split between us later on. Can you pay for us in advance? (Renya) Bowing to Renya, Rona left the inn at a quick pace. After seeing her off, looking at Shions state, it seems she has at last started to gradually realize the troubles shed caused. It didnt seem unlikely that she would present the armor she was wearing on herself as an apology. Preparations cant move without them (Shion) Its fine to be careful next time. All things considered, this wasnt the first time you accepted a request, didnt you ever notice this aspect? (Renya) Without using something like an accusing voice, Renya cautiously asked her. Shion answered while her face became red due to shame. Because Rona was always acting before I knew it (Shion) At the time when there were only the two of them in the beginning, wasnt Rona acting like a parent in regards to Shions situation?Renya wondered with a deep sigh, while his eyes looked something like those of a dead fish.2 Is that so? Thanks for clearing this up for me. As it is like that, we will participate in that meeting together. I guess it is also fine if there arent all of our members present, right? (Renya) Probably (Shion) Shion replied without confidence. There is already no other way but to apologize myself if something happens, Renya mentally prepared. For starters, lets go to that Silver Cup. I guess I will also be able to explain if they ask anything. (Renya) Although it will be great if it ends with only a meeting without any trouble, as Renya thought so within his mind, for some reason he doubted it. He didnt feel like finishing his thoughts which could be called a hunch. And then, because of that bad kind of premonition, Renya also knew from the manifold experiences that he could say something clich, like it never happened that he was wrong about his premonitions. Translation Notes 1ED: Indeed, Loli-kami-sama wouldnt bother handing out individual blessings, ever. Unless someone repeatedly kicked her head like it was a soccer ball. 2Literally, eyes like knotholes. Chapter 21 At the bar called Silver Cup As it was in close proximity to the adventurers guild building, it was open both day and night. If you looked at it, you wouldnt get the feeling that it was flourishing though. There was a reason for that. There wasnt anything like a cute waitress. Although it wasnt clear by what proportion the poor courtesy of the master was made up with his reticence, the main reason, apart from that, was due to the bar being affiliated with the adventurers guild. Accordingly to its affiliation with the adventurers guild it was used by the guilds members. Speaking of adventurers, even though there were all sorts of them, from the best to the worst, generally they were not a very well-mannered bunch. Since such poor-mannered guests gathered in there, normal guests didnt approach the bar. Even if they were members of the guild and there were likewise other establishments, given that there were many young men amongst them, they often went to establishments where there were many cute employees or beautiful onee-sans. Therefore, though this bar didnt prosper, the adventurers gathered here if they had something to discuss or in case they had to decide upon something. This establishment was mostly used for those occasions. Since there werent many guests, it was easy to talk about matters that werent supposed to be heard by other people. Understanding its nature, the guild likewise didnt part with this bar, which wasnt profitable, as it was helpful to the needs of adventurers. Nevertheless, the costs for the bar were quite considerable, the guild itself employed a lovely waitress and a fairly skilled chef. Even though the guild attempted to improve the situation, since it was apparently a fatal fact that adventurers gathered there, the number of guests visiting there didnt increase. The hired waitress likewise ended up quitting the job before long. The above mentioned information was something Renya had heard from Rona. Renya admired her quite profound investigation. Pushing open the double door, they entered the dim bar interior. On the other side of the counter there was indeed a taciturn, unsociable middle-aged man with little thin hair on his head. As he turned his gaze towards them, it was as if he was asking What do you want here? I guess you shouldnt look at guests like that, although Renya thought that. But assuming he pointed it out to him, he wouldnt reconsider to improve his attitude anyway. Renya also began to ask himself if the man had no courtesy at all. We came for the guilds request. To meet up with those capturing the dungeon in the south. Are they here? (Renya) Apparently accepting the story, the middle-aged man, the master of the bar, pointed his chin to a corner. Several tables could be seen to be occupied there. Although he could see a group freely chattering there as soon as he looked that way, Shion wasnt able to. The master displaying such behaviour by jerking his chin, Shion noticed the blue veins popping up on Renyas forehead even though they were small. Re-Renya. Causing a commotion here (Shion) I know. Even though I understand it, this is a different story. (Renya) Due to Shions intervention, as Renya decided to head towards the indicated corner of the bar, he was detained by the voice of the bars master. Wait, whatever-you-are-called-chan (Master) What? (Renya) It is a rule here to order a drink as venue fee. (Master) Water (Renya) Are you kidding me? As this is a bar, you should order alcohol, dont you think so? Or are you some brat that cant drink alcohol putting on airs being an adventurer? (Master) Towards the immediate reply, there were blue veins popping up on the forehead of the bars master now. Seeing Renya entering the bar accompanied by a woman and assuming Renya to be a brat not having lived for many years, not only did he glare in their direction with some displeasure, he also reprimanded Renya for ordering water at a bar. Are you jesting or are you making fun of me? Either way, there is only a single way of educating him here, huh?Renya just judged. The master of bar had to learn by heart the chill similar to to having ice stuffed into his spine and guts with all ones might to shut him up in the end. The man in front of him just looked in his direction. Although this wasnt anything different from just now, the quality of his gaze was different. At first it was a look that judged a persons character. After opening his mouth, the bar masters eyes looked like they were looking at a person he hated. But soon after. There wasnt a trace of a judgmental persons character anymore. A-Ah Water is fine? (Master) Yes. Water is fine. Will you give us water? (Renya) Even though his voice was quiet, there was no feeling in it at all. While suffering from the feeling of talking with someone as cold as ice, the master poured water into a glass, which was used to dilute alcohol usually, and rushed to place two of them on top of the counter.(ED: Bastard waters down the drinks! No wonder his bar is failing!) Water is fine with you, Shion? (Renya) Eh? Ah, thats right. This place doesnt have the atmosphere to drink alcohol nor is it the time for that. (Shion) I see. How much is it? (Renya) He? (Master)(T/N: its a sound not the English he) The master of the bar who didnt seem to comprehend what the question meant was asked by Renya indifferently. The price for water. It isnt free of charge, now is it? (Renya) A-Ah. It is 1 copper coin each. (Master) Leaving the mentioned amount of money on top of the counter, Renya turned his back on the master of the bar and handed one of the two glasses he was holding to Shion. Although he did no more than that, this caused something like a sense of security as if the bars master was returning from the demonic boundary1to return to the world of humans, making him take a deep breath without realizing it himself. While looking at the two walking to the spot where the group he himself had indicated were, the master etched Renyas face firmly into his memory. This fellow is definitely dangerous. Guessing that something like that was going on within the mind of the master, without saying anything about this matter, Renya easily forgot about the existence of the master himself. Yet his facial expression didnt clear up. Even though there were many participants in the group they were heading towards, they were looking at them approaching while broadly grinning and laughing. Without having any method of evaluating them, is it due to me not being able to calm down? Or because I feel some kind of discomfort?Though Renya clearly felt that he wanted to go home already, since turning back here could potentially mean them failing the request without actually being able to attempt to accomplish it in the end, he just endured it and sat down at the table. As it seemed that it was arranged a single party per table, Shion immediately sat down on the seat next to Renya. It appears that somehow all members have assembled. (Man) A man giving off the feeling of being halfway through his thirties by looking at him, opened his mouth. Sneaking a look on his body through the gaps in his armor reinforced with leather and metal plates, it was considerably tightened. He had short cut blonde hair and was surveying his surroundings vigilantly with his sharp blue eyes. Two well-made long swords were hanging on his waist. You could perceive by their appearance that both of them were used for quite a long time. He is the leader of the Party , called Hartz = Raisen(T/N: >> harutsu = raisen , Zest = Fatality(T/N: Lol no, I am not kidding you, >> zesuto = fatariti , Az = Hound(T/N: >> Azu = Haundo , called Hartz = Raisen(T/N: >> harutsu = raisen , Zest = Fatality(T/N: Lol no, I am not kidding you, >> zesuto = fatariti , Az = Hound(T/N: >> Azu = Haundo <<). He is famous since it is unusual for a magician to be the party leader. His rank is D. (Shion) The party was composed of 4 men in solid plate armor. Az being the magician, the 4 men labored during the time he exercised his magic. Shion said that Az prided himself in a strategy of brute force with the firepower of a magician. The group of mens role was that of a shield. Given that they really gave their undivided attention to shielding, Their rank wasnt high as it was F. Although Shion was great to have investigated this far, Renya began to get worried whether it was alright for the adventurers to leak this much information about themselves. An angry voice was raised. Oi, you chatting bastards. (Zest) ? (Renya) No matter how hard he tried, the previous words seemed to be addressed towards them, perceiving this, Renya tilted his head in puzzlement looking at the owner of the voice. The owner of the voice was Zest. Without changing the same posture of lying on his back with his legs outstretched in a state similar to being served by his female party members on both sides, he turned a stern gaze towards Renya. Is it fine for there to be only the two of you~ ? How do you plan to survive? (Zest) No there is a priestess. She is absent as she has to take care of the preparations. I am sorry if you feel offended by that. (Renya) They will find fault with it after all, huh?Renya had such thoughts. Although it was within his expectations, as he strongly thought it would involve troubles, he ended up showing this on his facial expression, causing the other party to get even more aggressive. Since it was a fact that their numbers were really too few, he had anticipated to apologize here. Renya stood up from his chair and bowed in apology towards Zest. Keh. This isnt a game. Well, even if you guys die, the reward will only be equally split between those of us surviving, therefore I am fine with it. (Zest) Stop it, Zest. As they are companions who accepted the same request, there is no gain in arguing before doing the job. (Hartz) As Hartz reined in Zest by rebuking him, Zest turned his line of sight from Renya to glare even more atrociously at Hartz. Do you have any problem with how I handle things? (Zest) Thats not what I said. But, I dont think there is any meaning in disputing either, is there? (Hartz) I am sorry for causing a troublesome situation like this. However, we will properly do our job. It would be fine if you could just believe me on this. (Renya) Though it is splendid for you to say such a thing, I dont believe you bastard one bit. Who are you assholes anyway? (Zest) As he was about to give their name, he noticed that they hadnt decided on a party name as of yet. The party name hasnt been set yet. I am called Renya = Kurugi, someone who just became an adventurer not long ago. (Renya) Haa ?! (Zest) Zest raised his voice loudly. The voice was as if blatantly making fun of them.Did I say anything strange?Renya considered, but he couldnt come up with anything being weird there. Is anything wrong? (Renya) Nameless, just having become an adventurer recently?! I suppose that means that you bastards rank is F ?! (Zest) Exactly, but what about it? (Renya) Are you fooling me? Or are you trying to leech off us? Rank F party? And furthermore also only 3 people? Tell me, what will you bastards be able to do there?! (Zest) Your haughty opinion is reasonable, Renya could just think as he smiled wryly. This had rubbed Zest the wrong way. His gaze was almost filled with a thirst for blood that was close to being drowned in wrath. T-The request i-is supposed to have no rank r-restriction. As there isnt a restriction set on the number of people either, there is no particular problem with taking up the request (Shion) Shut up and get back! (Zest) As expected, Shion wasnt able to endure it any longer and raised her voice. Zest drowned that Shion with harsh words and threw his glass filled with alcohol, which he was holding in his hand, at Shion. The glass came flying with a force where it was impossible to not get injured if you were hit by it. Although Shion put herself on guard reflexively, Renya caught the the flying glass in mid-air and softly put it on top of the table. Not having hesitated in his movements, although about half of the contents ended up being spilled during the glass flew through the air, Renya placed the glass on top of the table without making any noise at that time and without the remaining half of the contents spilling over either it remained within the glass. Son of a bitch! (Zest) This had increased Zests irritation even more. As he signaled the Thief girl with his eyes, she threw knives aiming at Renya without any warning. The number of them were four. I guess I have to give them a slight lesson while not overdoing it, huh?Renya assessed.Since we are the cause of the disturbance it cant be helped to a certain degree. While quietly breathing a sigh, he caught the flying knives with both hands, holding two on each hand. Making sure he stopped them, he held the cutting edge besides himself and thrust the four knives on top of the table surrounding the glass he had placed there before. He wasnt quite confident whether he would be able to throw the knives. While the knife-throwing girls eyes were colored in surprise looking at the situation wearing a facial expression of disbelief, Renya didnt say anything at all. Though I heard that this would only be a meet up, I certainly cant believe this to be true in such an atmosphere at all. (Renya) Who do you think is the cause of that? (Zest) Due to the spectacle shown in front of their eyes, anyone could tell the high level of Renyas skill. Nevertheless, Zests voice was filled with disagreement. Renya nodded in agreement. It is our fault. Therefore we will take our leave. Although we will do our job there is no need for cooperation. (Renya) Renya-san?! (Shion) Shion held back her will to try protesting towards Renyas words. We will move our way. You will move your way. This will be for the best, dont you agree? (Renya) Probably (Hartz) Hartz approved of Renyas words. We also have decided to act independently. We wont be able to devote ourselves to the job with such noisy clattering either. (Hartz) If thats the case, isnt it fine to end the meeting with this? (Renya) Ah, the course of events is something we will decide on-site. (Hartz) Towards Renyas question of confirmation, Hartz nodded while grinning broadly and laughing. We likewise dont need any cooperation rather it will be a nuisance. (Az) Az said in a whisper. Hartz clapped his hands together with a *pon*. This is the opinion of 3 of the 4 parties. Thus its settled. (Hartz) Dont decide all by yourselves. After all, after looking at you bastards, you will essentially become a burden. (Zest) In this case, we are done. (Renya) As he gave her a little nod, Shions back tensed as she seemed to want to say something. Renya decided to leave the place. From the place in his rear Zest called out to him quite hatefully. Oi, rookie. Do your best to watch your back! (Zest) Same to you. (Renya) Without turning around either, Renya replied. The feeling of anger in his back further increased in intensity. After that, even though there were noises of things falling and crashing on the ground, Renya didnt concern himself with it and left the bar without delay. At any rate, they have prevented Zest from affecting the surroundings by losing his temper, huh? I guess it is a situation of him dropping and breaking things to vent his anger. I can somehow understand the situation without even looking. Renya I am (Shion) Okay, stop there. The breakdown of the meet up was mainly my fault. (Renya) As he was about to return to the inn, at Renyas back Shion started to speak about something in a murmur. Hearing that, Renya stopped Shion from continuing her words. Even though her facial expression became surprised, given that she nevertheless tried to resume he words, Renya turned in the direction of Shion and grabbed hold of her forehead using a light iron claw on her. Ah, ouch ouuuuucchhh Renya !? Its creaking ! My skull is being pressed in!? (Shion) If I tell you to not mind it, then dont worry about it. If Rona says anything, it is fine to tell her that I started to flip out again. Do you understand? If you understand, then answer me. In case you dont give me an answer, I will assume you didnt understand and will continue. (Renya) Continue!? B-but. They made fun of us. In the first place I was wa wa wa wa wa wa was!? (Shion) There is no answer~ I shall continue. By the way, Shion will you believe me that I crushed the head of a goblin with one hand? (Renya) There is no way to be able to do such stupid thing or is it possible? (Shion) I tested it out while disposing the corpses at that pioneers village. To my surprise, I managed to do so. (Renya) I-I have understood! Since I understand, release me~ !? (Shion) Releasing his hand, Shion grabbed her head with both hands while becoming teary-eyed looking at Renya. It was still visible within her eyes that she wanted to add something. Renya only raised his mouths edges floating a smile while his fingers made wriggling movements. Giving this kind of display sealed off any further objections from Shion. Maa, I thought that it would result in troubles from the very beginning. (Renya) My premonition wasnt off after all, huh? Once again I couldnt help to be caught by it.Renya complained while just watching the back of the escaping Shion. Translation Notes 1ħor makyou C Literally haunts of wicked men, but I didnt really think that fits well. The 2 Kanji mean witches/demons/evil spirit C boundary/region/border/some more. So I chose a more fitting expression. Chapter 22 You did it on purpose. (Rona) On the rattling and shaking carriage Rona looked at Renya with scornful eyes while reaching that conclusion. Renya stared back at Rona with a look of What do you mean? Rona intently stared into his direction as she crossed her arms and legs. Not donning her usual *pattsun pattsun* priestess garb, she wore a priestesss garb accurately sized in regards to her body line with having attached a chest protector and coverings for the back of the hands and wrists. A one-handed mace was hanging at her hips. Her fluffy hair gave off a feeling of being tightly bundled together. Although her large eyes were without any change, for some reason the helpless feeling within them had faded since the time they met. She appeared to be clad in something like fighting spirit. You disguised yourself (Renya) As Renya said so calmly, Rona didnt comprehend what he was talking about. Well its fine, however, what was on purpose? (Renya) After leaving the city, they had been jolted around on the rattling carriage for quite some time. Even if you could describe it as a carriage in a single word, it wasnt the typical type used by ordinary passengers to be boarded for traveling. Only a single horse was tied to the wagon which actually made it quite frugal. All that it had was a bench installed on the load carrying tray other than the coachmans seat. Naturally there was no roof either. Given that there wasnt anything like cushions spread out on the seats for comfort, it turned into the situation of sitting on a wooden plank. This resulted in an extreme burden on the buttock and hips. Did the adventurers guild hear about the story at the time of the meet up from some of the participating parties? As consequence of preparing 4 carriages for the participating parties, they could feel at ease for not having to be in an awkward situation by being together with another party. However, since the a coachman hadnt been provided, certainly each party had to choose a coachman from within their ranks to drive the carriage. In Renyas party only Shion was capable of riding a horse. Renya hadnt any experience in riding a horse whereas Rona, who apparently had never handled a horse by herself, always rode behind Shion on Shions horse. Naturally, Shion was seated in the coachman seat and Renya and Rona were seated in the form of facing each other on top of the carriage load tray. Your aggravating the meet up, that is. (Rona) Since Rona didnt participate in the meet up herself, she didnt know what happened although the result was that they would participate in the current request. From the looks directed at them by the other parties at the meeting place(T/N: for the carriages), she mostly understood what happened in general. Even though she thought at first that Shion had provoked the other party by getting carried away with her questioning, Renya immediately denied this. As a result of him claiming to have done it himself, Rona started to give him a speech about said matter. I didnt particularly did it on purpose (Renya) When you though of getting it over with without a fuss, you werent able to do so, isnt that right? (Rona) He wasnt able to deny it. After seeing Renya nodding, Rona continued. At any rate, rather than uniting and cooperating in a bad mood, it would be more easy-going to work independently on top of a definite separation, isnt that what you thought? (Rona) As for whether that might be the truth or not is it a topic we should talk about here? (Renya) Is there any problem? It wont be heard by the other parties, will it? (Rona) Although the road was poorly maintained, causing the carriage to rattle and shake, a conversation could be somehow established while facing each other. But it was a situation where it wouldnt be possible to hear the others voice if they were to slightly increase their distance from each other. Renyas groups carriage was placed at the end of the line. As a consequence of the four carriages traveling in single file, there was no reason to be concerned about the conversation between Rona and Renya being leaked to the other parties even if they had very excellent ears. Though there wasnt, Renya pointed with his gaze towards the coachman seat. Towards Renya indicating that Shion could hear them Rona shook her head left and right. Because she is controlling the horse, she wont turn her attention to listening to us. (Rona) Such baka (Renya) Thats how it is. So, what did you do? (Rona) For an instant it crossed his mind to dodge the topic. Even though Rona said that she wouldnt hear it, there was no more than a slight distance from the loading tray to the coachmans seat. It was a doubtful point to say that she really couldnt hear it. But, even if she particularly heard it, since it wasnt a troublesome matter either, Renya obediently answered. It is as you say. Looking at the faces of the other parties, I thought of doing this when I heard their rank. (Renya) Can I hear the reason too? (Rona) Ah, everyone there was high-ranked and there were a lot of people. I understood at once that they looked down upon us without a doubt. Such braggarts. (Renya) Saying this, within Renyas mind mainly Zests face rose to the surface. Because an adventurers rank, even more so than their real ability, was decided by taking into consideration such things as contributions towards the guild as well. Therefore, something like being high-ranked didnt mean they were remarkable. But Zest came snarling at them as soon as he heard Renyas groups rank. Rather than linking up with unpleasant companions, we will certainly be at ease working independently. Besides, there is also no reason to treat ourselves to exploring the dungeon together with everyone in such numbers, dont you agree? (Renya) Yes, thats right, isnt it? Usually you would split into two groups or something like that. One group remaining outside the dungeon would be the normal way of handling things. (Rona) Even though with something like 19 people there would be no way to move through the narrow passages of the dungeon. Everyone entering and exploring at the same time would have an exceedingly poor efficiency. Generally the roles would be divided and it would be decided who would perform the exploration, Rona said. In this case, although the party staying outside the dungeon would draw the short end of the stick, in the situation the exploring party didnt come back, since a part of their duty was to go to the city to request a rescue, as for maintaining a lifeline, it was the necessary method to choose in case the amount of participants was large. If thats the case, it is likewise fine to divide the exploration into four different directions. (Renya) Personally I dont recommend doing that. (Rona) Even though the mater spoken of wasnt that weird or unusual, they would be exploring a dangerous area without a lifeline if they followed through with what Renya said. I guess Rona, who wants to put safety first, will find it difficult to approve my opinion. But dont you think it is likewise dangerous to act in a situation of poor cooperation with unreliable teammates? (Renya) Indeed, I can agree with such a view. (Rona) Anyway, I plan to move with a strategy of working reasonably without overdoing it within the regulated number of days. (Renya) It is a splendid strategy, leader. I completely support it. (Rona) Even for Rona, who was mainly concerned about safety first, Renyas plan should be something that should cause her to raise both hands in agreement. How far will you go for Shions sake?Renya smiled wryly. So, will we immediately start capturing the dungeon once we arrived while jolting our way to the dungeons entrance? (Renya) By no means, doesnt the journey take one day? Today we will camp close to the entrance of the dungeon. The dungeon capture will start from tomorrow onwards. (Rona) Camping today, huh? I dont expect we will be able to get a meal. (Renya) As Renya gloomily grumbled, Rona laughed. Shion, who probably heard that laughter, raised her voice in complaint. Somehow you two having such a fun chat has me worried. (Shion) We havent talked about anything important. Leaving that aside, you should concentrate on the driving. (Rona) I wish you could change with me once in a while (Shion) She was in a situation where there wasnt anyone she could talk with, as it was an important task to take care that the horse walked in a straight line by grasping the reins tightly.Earnestly continuing the control of the horse is something extraordinarily difficult.Renya, who couldnt handle a horse, could likewise tell by simple imagination. If I were able to handle a horse, I would trade places with you anytime. (Renya) If thats the case, since I can teach with great attention to detail how to move your hips, wont you have a go once, Renya? (Shion) As Shion looked over her shoulder laughing with a broad grin, Renya, who couldnt endure it, shouted. It has nothing to do with how I move my hips?! Rather, where did you learn such an expression? I wonder whether you could properly teach me just even once? Also, stop that kind of laughter. (Renya) Renya-san, Shion is likely bored (Rona) Secretly casting down her eyes, Rona apparently pretended to not have heard Shions words somehow. Even though Rona hadnt taught Renya regarding who and where from Shion was until now, if she was originating from a noble bloodline as Rona had said, you could pretty much expect Shion to be classified as a person referred to as ohimesama(Princess). The reality was that she was engaging in lightly dirty jokes while broadly grinning about it. And, apparently it was a fact that Rona, who was attending her, couldnt bear to look him in the eyes due to that. Before it escalates any more, may I request you to keep her company? (Rona) Without trying to cover for anyone, Ronas words suggested a possibly even more outrageous situation. As for Renya, though he didnt particularly mind listening and talking about indecent topics, it might not be the same for Rona. Thus he got up from his seat. Understood. Youve had quite a hard time of it. (Renya) While seeing Rona softly holding down the inner corner of her eyes (ED: Keeping a poke face), Renya safely moved on top of the swaying carriage load transom and sat down on the coachmans seat receiving the reins from Shion. After that, by taking Shions hand, he took lessons in handling a horse, for a while. As expected there was no need to move ones hips. Renya received from Shion the basics in how to deal with a horse with great attention. Somehow or other it came to the point where he was able to drive the carriage in a straight line. Just taking the opportunity, Rona also changed with Renya. Shion, who sat next to her, taught her attentively. And now, although Renya didnt fail to notice Shion extending her hands firmly around Ronas waist, the two appeared to be messing around while making a *kyaa kyaa* noise. A considerably threatening glare came piercing from the carriage in front of them. Maybe we are too loud? Or there isnt enough of a feeling of tension? Or what to do you intend to do if you call monsters like that?considering various possibilities, Renya didnt intend in the least to caution the clamoring two even though he quite clearly understood the gaze. The two began to grapple on top of the coachmans seat, although absentmindedly, he properly gazed at them. Renya thought. In the first place, two beautiful girls fooling around in something like a scene of light antics, just seeing that is a healing for me. So to say, it is something that should be called a sight for sore eyes. While it may be true that this might invite a small amount of trouble, it would be a great mistake to look at them with an accusing gaze, Renya was thinking. If we were to travel within some dim forest, certainly it might be viewed as a problem, but currently we are traveling on a normal road. It is a place that is kept fairly secure. Furthermore, tentatively, there are also 19 adventurers present. Since two girls making a racket is making them overly angry, I guess they dont possess a great deal of tolerance, huh? Renya remembered looking at each partys member at the time of introductions. Zests party only had women. It wouldnt be strange for an uproar coming from there either, although he thought that, Zests carriage was advancing as the vanguard of the four carriages. From what he had seen they were strangely peacefully advancing. Zest himself held a small silver-haired girl within his arms.Although he was sitting in a posture of having his legs stretched out after all, Renya noticed the other party members exchanging *chira chira* gazes and then turning away. Somehow, the little girl in Zests arms seemed to be his favorite. The other members restrained each other. The current situation seemed to be a standstill. It was another girl, than the little girl held in Zests arms, who threw the knives at Renya yesterday. It was easy to see that she was a magician from the fact that she wore a robe, which had a design that had been altered, and held a cane. At a glance, although it didnt appear to be a harem party filling any man with envy, moving to such an extent behind the scenes, you wouldnt consider it by any measure from the visible attitude of the party. However, Zests mind wasnt in a state where he would notice that. Was he a big-shot? Or was he a baka? After thinking for a short while, Renya concluded that it probably had to be the latter. Continuing, it was Hartz carriage, but somehow there was an atmosphere as if they were attending a funeral, wrapped in silence and with dark feelings. All members were checking their equipment and making sure to be focused. They kept the occasionally occurring conversations to the utmost necessary minimum. There was no sign that they would continue their conversation. For the time being, even though the female members were also associating with each other, you couldnt catch of a hint of something like gorgeousness or youthfulness. In return, as it felt somehow like the composed way of talking of quite influential personage. Renya stopped observing them as looking at them was somewhat suffocating.(ED: Even Editor-san doesnt know what this means. Pretentious? Stuffy? What?) (T/N: Imagine being in a room with influential people having a tense, gloomy mood as if on a funeral and trying to talk to them, most people would have problems catching their breath there or will quickly wear out mentally in other words its suffocating [word used by author-san as well]) Incidentally, Renya didnt cover Azs party traveling in the third position from the beginning. The reason for that was quite simple. There were only four sets of armors and a gloomy magician riding on that carriage.(T/N: LOL) But, after glancing at them there was something unexpected, apparently a fairly good rapport between Az and the four sets of armor had been established. After all, being close as guards and with the duty of serving as shields, in its own way this was a relationship of mutual trust, or rather, it might be natural in this situation for them to become close. While thinking about such things, Renya shook alongside the vibrations of the wagon. While earnestly being fed up with having his hips and buttock being harassed by the hard wood, the line of carriages arrived at their destination. You did it on purpose. (Rona) On the rattling and shaking carriage Rona looked at Renya with scornful eyes while reaching that conclusion. Renya stared back at Rona with a look of What do you mean? Rona intently stared into his direction as she crossed her arms and legs. Not donning her usual *pattsun pattsun* priestess garb, she wore a priestesss garb accurately sized in regards to her body line with having attached a chest protector and coverings for the back of the hands and wrists. A one-handed mace was hanging at her hips. Her fluffy hair gave off a feeling of being tightly bundled together. Although her large eyes were without any change, for some reason the helpless feeling within them had faded since the time they met. She appeared to be clad in something like fighting spirit. You disguised yourself (Renya) As Renya said so calmly, Rona didnt comprehend what he was talking about. Well its fine, however, what was on purpose? (Renya) After leaving the city, they had been jolted around on the rattling carriage for quite some time. Even if you could describe it as a carriage in a single word, it wasnt the typical type used by ordinary passengers to be boarded for traveling. Only a single horse was tied to the wagon which actually made it quite frugal. All that it had was a bench installed on the load carrying tray other than the coachmans seat. Naturally there was no roof either. Given that there wasnt anything like cushions spread out on the seats for comfort, it turned into the situation of sitting on a wooden plank. This resulted in an extreme burden on the buttock and hips. Did the adventurers guild hear about the story at the time of the meet up from some of the participating parties? As consequence of preparing 4 carriages for the participating parties, they could feel at ease for not having to be in an awkward situation by being together with another party. However, since the a coachman hadnt been provided, certainly each party had to choose a coachman from within their ranks to drive the carriage. In Renyas party only Shion was capable of riding a horse. Renya hadnt any experience in riding a horse whereas Rona, who apparently had never handled a horse by herself, always rode behind Shion on Shions horse. Naturally, Shion was seated in the coachman seat and Renya and Rona were seated in the form of facing each other on top of the carriage load tray. Your aggravating the meet up, that is. (Rona) Since Rona didnt participate in the meet up herself, she didnt know what happened although the result was that they would participate in the current request. From the looks directed at them by the other parties at the meeting place(T/N: for the carriages), she mostly understood what happened in general. Even though she thought at first that Shion had provoked the other party by getting carried away with her questioning, Renya immediately denied this. As a result of him claiming to have done it himself, Rona started to give him a speech about said matter. I didnt particularly did it on purpose (Renya) When you though of getting it over with without a fuss, you werent able to do so, isnt that right? (Rona) He wasnt able to deny it. After seeing Renya nodding, Rona continued. At any rate, rather than uniting and cooperating in a bad mood, it would be more easy-going to work independently on top of a definite separation, isnt that what you thought? (Rona) As for whether that might be the truth or not is it a topic we should talk about here? (Renya) Is there any problem? It wont be heard by the other parties, will it? (Rona) Although the road was poorly maintained, causing the carriage to rattle and shake, a conversation could be somehow established while facing each other. But it was a situation where it wouldnt be possible to hear the others voice if they were to slightly increase their distance from each other. Renyas groups carriage was placed at the end of the line. As a consequence of the four carriages traveling in single file, there was no reason to be concerned about the conversation between Rona and Renya being leaked to the other parties even if they had very excellent ears. Though there wasnt, Renya pointed with his gaze towards the coachman seat. Towards Renya indicating that Shion could hear them Rona shook her head left and right. Because she is controlling the horse, she wont turn her attention to listening to us. (Rona) Such baka (Renya) Thats how it is. So, what did you do? (Rona) For an instant it crossed his mind to dodge the topic. Even though Rona said that she wouldnt hear it, there was no more than a slight distance from the loading tray to the coachmans seat. It was a doubtful point to say that she really couldnt hear it. But, even if she particularly heard it, since it wasnt a troublesome matter either, Renya obediently answered. It is as you say. Looking at the faces of the other parties, I thought of doing this when I heard their rank. (Renya) Can I hear the reason too? (Rona) Ah, everyone there was high-ranked and there were a lot of people. I understood at once that they looked down upon us without a doubt. Such braggarts. (Renya) Saying this, within Renyas mind mainly Zests face rose to the surface. Because an adventurers rank, even more so than their real ability, was decided by taking into consideration such things as contributions towards the guild as well. Therefore, something like being high-ranked didnt mean they were remarkable. But Zest came snarling at them as soon as he heard Renyas groups rank. Rather than linking up with unpleasant companions, we will certainly be at ease working independently. Besides, there is also no reason to treat ourselves to exploring the dungeon together with everyone in such numbers, dont you agree? (Renya) Yes, thats right, isnt it? Usually you would split into two groups or something like that. One group remaining outside the dungeon would be the normal way of handling things. (Rona) Even though with something like 19 people there would be no way to move through the narrow passages of the dungeon. Everyone entering and exploring at the same time would have an exceedingly poor efficiency. Generally the roles would be divided and it would be decided who would perform the exploration, Rona said. In this case, although the party staying outside the dungeon would draw the short end of the stick, in the situation the exploring party didnt come back, since a part of their duty was to go to the city to request a rescue, as for maintaining a lifeline, it was the necessary method to choose in case the amount of participants was large. If thats the case, it is likewise fine to divide the exploration into four different directions. (Renya) Personally I dont recommend doing that. (Rona) Even though the mater spoken of wasnt that weird or unusual, they would be exploring a dangerous area without a lifeline if they followed through with what Renya said. I guess Rona, who wants to put safety first, will find it difficult to approve my opinion. But dont you think it is likewise dangerous to act in a situation of poor cooperation with unreliable teammates? (Renya) Indeed, I can agree with such a view. (Rona) Anyway, I plan to move with a strategy of working reasonably without overdoing it within the regulated number of days. (Renya) It is a splendid strategy, leader. I completely support it. (Rona) Even for Rona, who was mainly concerned about safety first, Renyas plan should be something that should cause her to raise both hands in agreement. How far will you go for Shions sake?Renya smiled wryly. So, will we immediately start capturing the dungeon once we arrived while jolting our way to the dungeons entrance? (Renya) By no means, doesnt the journey take one day? Today we will camp close to the entrance of the dungeon. The dungeon capture will start from tomorrow onwards. (Rona) Camping today, huh? I dont expect we will be able to get a meal. (Renya) As Renya gloomily grumbled, Rona laughed. Shion, who probably heard that laughter, raised her voice in complaint. Somehow you two having such a fun chat has me worried. (Shion) We havent talked about anything important. Leaving that aside, you should concentrate on the driving. (Rona) I wish you could change with me once in a while (Shion) She was in a situation where there wasnt anyone she could talk with, as it was an important task to take care that the horse walked in a straight line by grasping the reins tightly.Earnestly continuing the control of the horse is something extraordinarily difficult.Renya, who couldnt handle a horse, could likewise tell by simple imagination. If I were able to handle a horse, I would trade places with you anytime. (Renya) If thats the case, since I can teach with great attention to detail how to move your hips, wont you have a go once, Renya? (Shion) As Shion looked over her shoulder laughing with a broad grin, Renya, who couldnt endure it, shouted. It has nothing to do with how I move my hips?! Rather, where did you learn such an expression? I wonder whether you could properly teach me just even once? Also, stop that kind of laughter. (Renya) Renya-san, Shion is likely bored (Rona) Secretly casting down her eyes, Rona apparently pretended to not have heard Shions words somehow. Even though Rona hadnt taught Renya regarding who and where from Shion was until now, if she was originating from a noble bloodline as Rona had said, you could pretty much expect Shion to be classified as a person referred to as ohimesama(Princess). The reality was that she was engaging in lightly dirty jokes while broadly grinning about it. And, apparently it was a fact that Rona, who was attending her, couldnt bear to look him in the eyes due to that. Before it escalates any more, may I request you to keep her company? (Rona) Without trying to cover for anyone, Ronas words suggested a possibly even more outrageous situation. As for Renya, though he didnt particularly mind listening and talking about indecent topics, it might not be the same for Rona. Thus he got up from his seat. Understood. Youve had quite a hard time of it. (Renya) While seeing Rona softly holding down the inner corner of her eyes (ED: Keeping a poke face), Renya safely moved on top of the swaying carriage load transom and sat down on the coachmans seat receiving the reins from Shion. After that, by taking Shions hand, he took lessons in handling a horse, for a while. As expected there was no need to move ones hips. Renya received from Shion the basics in how to deal with a horse with great attention. Somehow or other it came to the point where he was able to drive the carriage in a straight line. Just taking the opportunity, Rona also changed with Renya. Shion, who sat next to her, taught her attentively. And now, although Renya didnt fail to notice Shion extending her hands firmly around Ronas waist, the two appeared to be messing around while making a *kyaa kyaa* noise. A considerably threatening glare came piercing from the carriage in front of them. Maybe we are too loud? Or there isnt enough of a feeling of tension? Or what to do you intend to do if you call monsters like that?considering various possibilities, Renya didnt intend in the least to caution the clamoring two even though he quite clearly understood the gaze. The two began to grapple on top of the coachmans seat, although absentmindedly, he properly gazed at them. Renya thought. In the first place, two beautiful girls fooling around in something like a scene of light antics, just seeing that is a healing for me. So to say, it is something that should be called a sight for sore eyes. While it may be true that this might invite a small amount of trouble, it would be a great mistake to look at them with an accusing gaze, Renya was thinking. If we were to travel within some dim forest, certainly it might be viewed as a problem, but currently we are traveling on a normal road. It is a place that is kept fairly secure. Furthermore, tentatively, there are also 19 adventurers present. Since two girls making a racket is making them overly angry, I guess they dont possess a great deal of tolerance, huh? Renya remembered looking at each partys member at the time of introductions. Zests party only had women. It wouldnt be strange for an uproar coming from there either, although he thought that, Zests carriage was advancing as the vanguard of the four carriages. From what he had seen they were strangely peacefully advancing. Zest himself held a small silver-haired girl within his arms.Although he was sitting in a posture of having his legs stretched out after all, Renya noticed the other party members exchanging *chira chira* gazes and then turning away. Somehow, the little girl in Zests arms seemed to be his favorite. The other members restrained each other. The current situation seemed to be a standstill. It was another girl, than the little girl held in Zests arms, who threw the knives at Renya yesterday. It was easy to see that she was a magician from the fact that she wore a robe, which had a design that had been altered, and held a cane. At a glance, although it didnt appear to be a harem party filling any man with envy, moving to such an extent behind the scenes, you wouldnt consider it by any measure from the visible attitude of the party. However, Zests mind wasnt in a state where he would notice that. Was he a big-shot? Or was he a baka? After thinking for a short while, Renya concluded that it probably had to be the latter. Continuing, it was Hartz carriage, but somehow there was an atmosphere as if they were attending a funeral, wrapped in silence and with dark feelings. All members were checking their equipment and making sure to be focused. They kept the occasionally occurring conversations to the utmost necessary minimum. There was no sign that they would continue their conversation. For the time being, even though the female members were also associating with each other, you couldnt catch of a hint of something like gorgeousness or youthfulness. In return, as it felt somehow like the composed way of talking of quite influential personage. Renya stopped observing them as looking at them was somewhat suffocating.(ED: Even Editor-san doesnt know what this means. Pretentious? Stuffy? What?) (T/N: Imagine being in a room with influential people having a tense, gloomy mood as if on a funeral and trying to talk to them, most people would have problems catching their breath there or will quickly wear out mentally in other words its suffocating [word used by author-san as well]) Incidentally, Renya didnt cover Azs party traveling in the third position from the beginning. The reason for that was quite simple. There were only four sets of armors and a gloomy magician riding on that carriage.(T/N: LOL) But, after glancing at them there was something unexpected, apparently a fairly good rapport between Az and the four sets of armor had been established. After all, being close as guards and with the duty of serving as shields, in its own way this was a relationship of mutual trust, or rather, it might be natural in this situation for them to become close. While thinking about such things, Renya shook alongside the vibrations of the wagon. While earnestly being fed up with having his hips and buttock being harassed by the hard wood, the line of carriages arrived at their destination. Chapter 23 Dungeons entrance, hearing those words, Renya was reminded of something along the lines of there being something like a gate equipped with a grandiose door. An architectural structure really declaring its own existence as an entrance. But, trying to ask Shions group about it, although there seemed to be such unusual dungeon entrances as well, apparently those architectural structure type dungeons with such neat entrances could be listed in the category of being quite rare. So, what kind of entrance does a living type dungeon have then? The answer to that was the entrance in front of Renyas eyes. Here? (Renya) Asking the question while pointing at it, Shions group nodded while indicating their agreement with an *un un.* In regards to the vicinity, the place was on a slightly elevated hill. At the summit of that hill, as if it was normal, there was a wide opening of a dark shaft which somehow allowed a single adult to pass through it. It was really just a hole. There wasnt a door or anything like that either. The location was right in the midst of a grassland straying a bit from the road. Except for the sporadically visible growing grove of trees, there was nothing else there. Renya was disappointed as he had imagined something a lot more exaggerated. For the time being this dungeon entrance can be classified as being merely a hole, huh?In order to descend deeper into the hole, there were some stairs. (ED: Imagine stairs in a removable floor style entrance to a basement. That kind of disappointing entrance.) Living type dungeon ? (Renya) Thats right (Shion) And why the stairs? (Renya) If there werent any stairs, you wouldnt be able to descend down there, isnt that right? (Shion) Even though the appearance of Shion was as if she wanted to inquire as to why he asked such an obvious thing, Renya cocked his head in puzzlement while feeling not being fully satisfied with something. Doesnt this feel like its kindly asking us to come down in order to carefully lure us in? This question was answered by Rona. For the sake of its own growth, the living type dungeon wants living creatures to visit it. Occasionally it is necessary for the dungeon to absorb the corpse of a living creature, that emits magic power and life force. For this reason it stockpiles things like rare metals within itself and it is said that those will be arranged as treasures. (Rona) Is it fine to somewhat understand it as bait to lure in people? (Renya) It definitely isnt a mistake to think so. (Rona) Despite spawning monsters, it needs resources from the outside, huh? (Renya) One theory is that after a while has passed since it was spawned, a monster seems to use the resources of the dungeon but there are only a very few people investigating these circumstances. (Rona) Why? (Renya) A young dungeon will be swiftly captured and its core will be destroyed in order to exterminate it. Leaving a dungeon alone for months and years so that these things can be studied, due to the danger, there is no leeway for such a thing. (Shion) Shion explained. Upon the destruction of the dungeon core, the dungeon would slowly vanish. Since the dungeon core could be used as a high quality magic gem, it was a business involving a large sum of money. And so, just as the dungeon was generated, because the amount of monsters was scarce as well as its stratum being shallow, the adventurers ended up quickly exterminating it for money. A dungeon avoiding the notice of adventurers or luckily cutting down the adventurers, who came to capture it, could transform into a being of grave danger with the passage of months and years causing its stratum to become deep and enabling it to summon something like high ranking monsters. In that situation even money wouldnt be worth the risk any more for adventurers. For the researchers, their objective of their study would be compromised before long due to the extreme danger and continuing the research would become very difficult anyway in such a case. Shion said that this was the kind of thing called a living type dungeon. In other words, it remains a mystery, huh? (Renya) Maa thats right. (Rona) Mystery,such a word was quite convenient, Renya earnestly believed. All things considered, this dungeon isnt very lucky. (Shion) Shion said while going around and surveying the vicinity. Although the elevation wasnt very high, since the surroundings were completely plain, it was possible to look quite far into the distance while viewing from the top of the hill from its only slight height. Its as if if it was asking to be discovered having sprung forth in such a place. (Rona) Maybe the dungeon itself made this hill? (Renya) Un, thats probably right. I think the part that is the entrance and stairs was risen above the ground. (Shion) If we assume that it is as Shion says, it would be a very stupid story.Renya thought. Because there was nothing obstructing the view of the vicinity, any kind of change in the terrain would be immediately noticeable. Also, the place being where it was, you could say it wasnt located more than a few hundred meters away from the road. Even though it would likewise be possible to use a terrain with many ups and downs for deception or for it to be deep within a forest, in the current situation even that was an impossible story. Right after being born, the dungeon would be terminated for the sake of money. Although it wasnt a living thing in a stricter sense, it somehow ended up inviting pity. Its always a sorrowful story. As there are many things someone would desire scattered about within, this dungeon shares such a lonely story as well. (Renya) While looking at the top of the hill from its bottom, Renya said. Is it alright to make camp this close to it? (Renya) Since the hill itself wasnt very high, it was naturally a short distance to its bottom, too. At a place no more than 10 meters away from the dungeons entrance, the carriages of the other parties were parked. They had started to prepare the camping ground. The carriage, which Renyas group used to get here, was also tied to a stake which had been stuck at a location close by. In a place with such a good view it will be alright. I think it will be safe as it will be difficult for animals to approach and monsters wont appear either. (Rona) And the possibility of monsters coming from the dungeon? (Renya) There is none. Basically, monsters that spawn within the dungeon wont leave it. Although it has already happened that a dungeon spit out monsters causing a phenomenon called after having raised its scale to a certain extent, this is something that only occurs once every ten years with an aged dungeon. (Shion) More importantly, shouldnt we start preparing our campsite? (Rona) The time having passed through to the evening, little by little it started to become dark as night had crept upon them. Thinking that it would be better to finish the preparations while there was still some light from the sun remaining, Rona urged them to go down from the hill. Arriving at the side of the bound carriage, Renya took out the luggage prepared by Rona from his [Inventory]. Without [Inventory], or rather this skill called void storage, it would be quite difficult to survive, Renya judged. Thanks to this it wasnt necessary to place the luggage on the clattering carriage load tray. Because of the other parties putting quite the amount of luggage at their feet, it could be expected that the space on the carriage load tray was quite narrow for the members boarding it with the exception of the coachmans seat. Since Renyas party was able to use the space of the carriage load tray, it was possible for them to lie down properly during the journey. But then again it wasnt possible to get any decent sleep because of the vibration. At first he took out a wooden hammer, a sharp triangle tip with a width of around 30 cm, 10 planks of about 1 m length and a shovel. Digging a hole at a place in the shadows of the carriage seen from the other parties side, he completed a simple toilet by completely enclosing that area with something like a partitioning screen by hammering in the planks. Then he dug a shallow hole a bit away from the toilet location next. Enclosing the area with stones, the fire place was finished. Erecting metal fittings in the shape of the character Y and then placing a pole on top of them, it served as cooking tool to hang the pot there. Renya picked up the stones in the surroundings of the city before departure. The stones, even though one cell of the grid was consumed when a separate item was stored away in the [Inventory], after stuffing the stones into a bag, it resulted in taking only one cell of the grid with [Bag filled with Stones] no matter how many he put in there. As it was a method that disregarded the weight, he understood that something like this was a cheat setting no matter how you looked at it. Finishing this, next he constructed the tent. Setting up the fulcrum, he covered it with a cloth and affixed it to a stake that was hammered into the ground. As long as he was able to properly understand how to make something, it wasnt hard work at all. Without spending significant time either, Renya finished constructing the tent. It was only one tent. Gazing at the shape and quality of the tent he had constructed, Renya opened his mouth. Naa, I should build another one after all (Renya) Isnt that pointless? (Shion) Was the immediate reply from Shion. Within the camp it was settled that one person of the party had to stand guard. In case of constructing two tents here, for male and female use, it would doubtlessly develop into a situation of one of the tents not being used for a period of time. This being dismissed as pointless by Shion, he gave up on it. To Renyas objection of a man and woman in the same tent and so on, Shion tragically shot it down by declaring that there wouldnt be any problem as they would sleep in sleeping bags anyway and since he would be asleep he didnt have to mind Rona either. Is there some problem? (Shion) Although Renya was in the mood of hanging on to his argument, he couldnt find a valid complaint. As he looked at Rona in order to receive help, she indicated that such a measure wasnt unacceptable this way and only shrugged her shoulders. Arent we companions? Or will Renya be in pain by sleeping next to Rona or me? (Shion) In a certain sense you could say that it will cause pain, but its not to the extent of weeping either. (Renya) While giving up on them understanding that pain, Renya took out ceramic containers which contained a liquid and a pot from his [Inventory]. He had received the liquid from the inns master who shared it with him. It was the soup which had spend time extracting the essence of various types of vegetables and animal bones boiling at a simmer. To Renyas tongue the flavor was like consomme from his previous world. This was what Renya had requested from the inns master to share with him and what he had preserved in his [Inventory]. Below the pot, he placed firewood and quickly using a flint to ignite the firewood, the fire spread. Even though it would have been fine to ask Shion to use , it was a lot faster to finish it this way rather than calling out to her. Ignoring the somehow unhappy seeming Shion as much as possible he tried to focus on continuing his work. Getting the ingredients ready, he prepared the ingredients with the kitchen knife they bought alongside the foodstuff. Peeling the skin off the vegetables, he cut them into appropriate sizes and tossed them into the pot. Though they had mainly chosen to purchase root crop-like things, Renya didnt know their names. For the time being, when he ate the cooked vegetables at the market, they were quite delicious. All of them were goods selected by the shop owners at the designated stores. As for the meat, although Renya was truly a bit surprised, besides selling meat from livestock and wild animals, it was also normal to sell monster meat. In case of stew, the salesperson recommended meat of the horn rabbit to be the best. Even though Renya decided to buy it, without trying it first he wouldnt be able to understand its kind of taste. He swiftly cut the lump of meat into mouthsized pieces and tossed them into the pot as well. Lightly frying the ingredients in the pot, he added the soup he had received to it and also a little bit of water allowing the stew to boil. Sampling with only a small scoop of the soup, he adjusted the flavor with salt and pepper, which had become common for some reason in this world, and the dish was finished.(T/N: Usually pepper was a luxurious ingredient in medieval ages, thats why the MCs comment on it.) It was really just a simple stew with vegetables and meat. Although Renya was dissatisfied with it, he garnished the stew with the hard baked bread completing the modest dinner. Dividing the servings, rather than using something like a shallow soup plate, he chose something with a little more depth. As we will eat it outdoors, I think it will be easy to spill it if the bottom is too shallow, Renya worried. While he was at it, he took out several fruits to serve them alongside. After all it would be a bad situation to not have a dessert following the meal. The chosen fruit was a peach-colored round fruit called nectar(T/N: >> nekuta after having raised its scale to a certain extent, this is something that only occurs once every ten years with an aged dungeon. (Shion) More importantly, shouldnt we start preparing our campsite? (Rona) The time having passed through to the evening, little by little it started to become dark as night had crept upon them. Thinking that it would be better to finish the preparations while there was still some light from the sun remaining, Rona urged them to go down from the hill. Arriving at the side of the bound carriage, Renya took out the luggage prepared by Rona from his [Inventory]. Without [Inventory], or rather this skill called void storage, it would be quite difficult to survive, Renya judged. Thanks to this it wasnt necessary to place the luggage on the clattering carriage load tray. Because of the other parties putting quite the amount of luggage at their feet, it could be expected that the space on the carriage load tray was quite narrow for the members boarding it with the exception of the coachmans seat. Since Renyas party was able to use the space of the carriage load tray, it was possible for them to lie down properly during the journey. But then again it wasnt possible to get any decent sleep because of the vibration. At first he took out a wooden hammer, a sharp triangle tip with a width of around 30 cm, 10 planks of about 1 m length and a shovel. Digging a hole at a place in the shadows of the carriage seen from the other parties side, he completed a simple toilet by completely enclosing that area with something like a partitioning screen by hammering in the planks. Then he dug a shallow hole a bit away from the toilet location next. Enclosing the area with stones, the fire place was finished. Erecting metal fittings in the shape of the character Y and then placing a pole on top of them, it served as cooking tool to hang the pot there. Renya picked up the stones in the surroundings of the city before departure. The stones, even though one cell of the grid was consumed when a separate item was stored away in the [Inventory], after stuffing the stones into a bag, it resulted in taking only one cell of the grid with [Bag filled with Stones] no matter how many he put in there. As it was a method that disregarded the weight, he understood that something like this was a cheat setting no matter how you looked at it. Finishing this, next he constructed the tent. Setting up the fulcrum, he covered it with a cloth and affixed it to a stake that was hammered into the ground. As long as he was able to properly understand how to make something, it wasnt hard work at all. Without spending significant time either, Renya finished constructing the tent. It was only one tent. Gazing at the shape and quality of the tent he had constructed, Renya opened his mouth. Naa, I should build another one after all (Renya) Isnt that pointless? (Shion) Was the immediate reply from Shion. Within the camp it was settled that one person of the party had to stand guard. In case of constructing two tents here, for male and female use, it would doubtlessly develop into a situation of one of the tents not being used for a period of time. This being dismissed as pointless by Shion, he gave up on it. To Renyas objection of a man and woman in the same tent and so on, Shion tragically shot it down by declaring that there wouldnt be any problem as they would sleep in sleeping bags anyway and since he would be asleep he didnt have to mind Rona either. Is there some problem? (Shion) Although Renya was in the mood of hanging on to his argument, he couldnt find a valid complaint. As he looked at Rona in order to receive help, she indicated that such a measure wasnt unacceptable this way and only shrugged her shoulders. Arent we companions? Or will Renya be in pain by sleeping next to Rona or me? (Shion) In a certain sense you could say that it will cause pain, but its not to the extent of weeping either. (Renya) While giving up on them understanding that pain, Renya took out ceramic containers which contained a liquid and a pot from his [Inventory]. He had received the liquid from the inns master who shared it with him. It was the soup which had spend time extracting the essence of various types of vegetables and animal bones boiling at a simmer. To Renyas tongue the flavor was like consomme from his previous world. This was what Renya had requested from the inns master to share with him and what he had preserved in his [Inventory]. Below the pot, he placed firewood and quickly using a flint to ignite the firewood, the fire spread. Even though it would have been fine to ask Shion to use , it was a lot faster to finish it this way rather than calling out to her. Ignoring the somehow unhappy seeming Shion as much as possible he tried to focus on continuing his work. Getting the ingredients ready, he prepared the ingredients with the kitchen knife they bought alongside the foodstuff. Peeling the skin off the vegetables, he cut them into appropriate sizes and tossed them into the pot. Though they had mainly chosen to purchase root crop-like things, Renya didnt know their names. For the time being, when he ate the cooked vegetables at the market, they were quite delicious. All of them were goods selected by the shop owners at the designated stores. As for the meat, although Renya was truly a bit surprised, besides selling meat from livestock and wild animals, it was also normal to sell monster meat. In case of stew, the salesperson recommended meat of the horn rabbit to be the best. Even though Renya decided to buy it, without trying it first he wouldnt be able to understand its kind of taste. He swiftly cut the lump of meat into mouthsized pieces and tossed them into the pot as well. Lightly frying the ingredients in the pot, he added the soup he had received to it and also a little bit of water allowing the stew to boil. Sampling with only a small scoop of the soup, he adjusted the flavor with salt and pepper, which had become common for some reason in this world, and the dish was finished.(T/N: Usually pepper was a luxurious ingredient in medieval ages, thats why the MCs comment on it.) It was really just a simple stew with vegetables and meat. Although Renya was dissatisfied with it, he garnished the stew with the hard baked bread completing the modest dinner. Dividing the servings, rather than using something like a shallow soup plate, he chose something with a little more depth. As we will eat it outdoors, I think it will be easy to spill it if the bottom is too shallow, Renya worried. While he was at it, he took out several fruits to serve them alongside. After all it would be a bad situation to not have a dessert following the meal. The chosen fruit was a peach-colored round fruit called nectar(T/N: >> nekuta <<). The skin was soft enough that it could be peeled off with the fingers. As he tore it off plenty of fruit juice spilled and the pure white flesh of the fruit became visible. Although its appearance reminded Renya of a peach, the sourness he felt alongside the sweetness while trying to eat it was yet at another potency. Even though it was something totally different from what he had imagined, since this sourness felt refreshing, it became his favorite sweet food. Adding spoons to the soup bowls, Renya thought it to be wearisome in some way to eat those while sitting on the ground. Thus he took out a table, which cozily had the height of around the waist, from his [Inventory] and lined up the dishes on top of it. Renya noticed that the mood in his vicinity somehow turned strange. He felt that the gaze, which was directed at him from Shion and Rona, was holding both emotions, being somehow amazed and being astonished. From the other parties he felt amazement, or anger, or envy, or other somehow not quite comprehensible gazes directed at him. Looking at the other parties, they were sitting directly on the ground, having ignited an open fire, eating a light brown somethings that could be deemed to be dried meat alongside some crunchy hard bread they had toasted, which seemed to be the same bread that Renyas party had. Although he didnt know whether it was water, ale or wine, they were drinking something. That was what they had for dinner. What is it? (Renya) Now, how should I say it? Although it is a good thing to have abundant eating habits (Shion) We just have to get used to Renya-san. (Rona) Since I had to rush the preparations, there are still various rough points to be addressed. (Renya) Even though it was good fortune to have received a share of the soup from the inn, it was painful that he couldnt collect more accurate seasonings, Renya said. Originally there would be more things like herbs or spices. Though he wanted to wake up early in order to collect and buy more things for testing like sauces and vinegar, there wasnt any kind of time for that. You can deal with this problem next time, this time you will have to endure with this. I wasnt able to arrange anything but either water or wine for drinking. This is also a task for next time. (Rona) No, I think being able to say something like me having to endure with this is a luxury in its own way. (Renya) Because normally adventurers kept the amount of luggage to as little as possible, Renya was also aware that the action of bringing along their kitchen utensils and the likes wasnt the norm. However, since the [Inventory] was such a convenient item, such a thing like not using it would be a waste. On top of that, even for washing the used dishes and utensils with water afterwards, because he had put one barrel completely filled with water into his [Inventory], there was no reason to not use it for their hands either. Since we also have chairs, please properly tell me if it is unpleasant to eat while standing. I have chairs for all three of us. (Renya) Taking it this far up to here, as you would expect, even the gazes of the other parties facing into this direction, though most of their looks turned into holding envy, he warded it off by not being concerned about this at all. Renya began to taste his own dinner right away. Albeit slightly delayed, Shions group started to also eat the dinner lined up on the table with relish while likewise experiencing the slightly disconcerting gazes the other parties sent their way. Chapter 24 CHAPTER 24 C IT SEEMS TO BE A STRANGESTORY Renya chose to stand guard at night as second. Although the sequential order of the turns in the rotation were Shion, then Renya and finally Rona, there was a specific reason for doing it this way. After finishing the meal and taking a rest, the things like tableware etc. were cleaned and put back into the [Inventory]. Considering that there was around 8 hours until the next morning after going to sleep, when it came to standing watch, as there were 3 people, it turned into one person having a 2 hour shift and 2 having a 3 hour shift. For the sake of Shion, who had the first 2 hours shift, there was only one possible option for who had to do the second shift. Thus, with Renya taking the second shift, Shion and Rona were able to sleep for a long uninterrupted time. As he had the second shift, he had to endure interrupted sleeping hours as he would sleep for 2 hours, then stay awake for 3 hours and then go sleep for yet another 3 hours. This was simply hard. Since he certainly understood that it would be difficult, there was no way to make Shions group do that. However, there are no clocks in this world. While there are no clocks, how do they measure the time? Speaking of that, for some reason hourglasses exist. The adventurers were able to roughly measure one hour with a portable hourglass. As he measured the timing by frequently turning the hourglass upside down in alternation, time passed without anything happening that night and before long the day dawned. The problem occurred at dawn. Changing the guard with Rona, Renya crawled into his own sleeping pack and, single-mindedly closing his eyes and ears, he fell asleep. In the middle of entering and exiting a drowsy and shallow sleep, he was awoken by the feeling of suffocation. To start with, he noticed that he couldnt move his body at all. Because he was inside the sleeping bag, even though he was aware that he was unable to do anything more than squirming around like a caterpillar (Lit: bagworm), even those wriggling movements were partially sealed off in his current state. Furthermore he felt something heavy on top of his body. He rejected the first thought of being attacked from the beginning. In case it was Shion on watch outside, it would be a conceivable possibility, but currently it was Rona who was standing guard outside. Even if she were in a mood like *poya poya*, it appears that beyond being someone who received training in her own way, the person herself was a knight.(T/N:ݤݤis the sfx, no idea what that is symbolising though) Therefore it was difficult to imagine her allowing someone to attack without even raising her voice. If thats the case in this situation, the other person inside the tent had to be taken into consideration from the start. Thats the reasoning he arrived at. No no! For such an overused event to actually occur, there is (Renya) The shape of the sleeping bag is easy to understand if you imagined a single person entering the length of a pouch.(ED: Everyone knows what a sleeping bag looks like, BAKA!)/ In order to enhance its nature of retaining warmth the bag was made out of clothes filled with cotton. For the sake of not letting the air inside escape it had a drawstring near the head. Since warmth is something essential for somehow sleeping comfortably, they thought it to be something convenient for travelers, but it was a purchased article which was extremely unpopular with adventurers because you would be delayed in dealing with suffering a sudden attack no matter what you do. Although Renya decided to absolutely remodel it sooner or later, at the time he saw it for the first time, he hadnt this kind of time right now. At the time of reluctantly entering the sleeping bag, he entered it holding his knife. He made it a rule for using the sleeping bag so that he could tear it apart from the inside when he tried to leave in case of an emergency. Even though it was more or less normal for commoners to put on a light blanket for sleeping, Renya, who strongly opposed this by stating that he wouldnt be able to sleep in such thin bedding, could be called the cause of bringing along the sleep bags. Given that sort of circumstances, he only bend his neck looking at the top of his chest. There he saw the appearance of a head with black hair somewhat pressing and grinding against his chest. As expected, it would become a nuisance while sleeping, huh?The usually done up hair placed high on her head was naturally spilling down the back. But, despite this being the only difference, he was surprised to feel that she somehow had a more than usual powerful feminine allure. The facial expression, which always gave off the feeling of looking dignified, is slovenly happy. Is that because of her still being half asleep?Although Renya wasnt able to guess what kind of dream she had, she sometimes rubbed her head and face with a grinding sound. Suppressing his boiling head with the force of reason, Renya sorted out his current condition. Though I dont know how it came to be, Shion has skilfully crawled out of her sleeping bag. Since it is within the camping ground for the time being, we will be able to immediately deal with it in case something happened. As she had entered the bag wearing a thin shirt and trousers. I guess she was able to withstand the nights coldness in that outfit. Although it would be originally fine for her to return to her own sleeping bag, he deemed it impossible for her to be that skillful while still asleep, even if she wanted to. Therefore Shion clung with all her might to the bundle right next to her trying to get cosy, I suppose? If the contents of that bundle were Rona, it wouldnt have been a big problem. Unfortunately, the contents were Renya. What kind of look would Rona have if she were to find us at this point?was something he didnt know. Even though Renya tried to somehow escape from within Shions embrace, since Shion was fully using both her arms and legs to tightly cling to Renya, Renya was in the state of a caterpillar in the sleeping bag. He wasnt able to slip away while wriggling and since he couldnt extract his hands from the sleeping bag, he couldnt tear it off either. On top of that Shions head was placed on top of Renyas chest to begin with. Furthermore, as consequence of the sleeping back being thick and stiff, such things as the pleasant fragrance of a girl and her soft touch, as it was told in some tales to be the side benefit for typical protagonists, couldnt even be felt at all. She had merely become a restraining device. Moreover, in case they were discovered like this, it would cause a lot of misunderstandings, resulting in bringing damage on the scale of a god of pestilence.(ED: How would it be misunderstood, jackass! Youre in a sleeping bag!!!) This is how highly Renya valued getting Shion off in this current condition. Hey! Wake up. Shion? (Renya) Nyu? (Shion) Due to the somehow weird reaction, Renya ended up in silence for a short while. Towards him calling out to Shion, she only showed a slight reaction similar to being cranky and immediately ended up once again falling asleep gripping the sleeping bag and grinding her head against it. Ne (Shion) Dont utter such strange groans. Hey! You got to seriously wake up! If we are discovered by Rona in such place, It will become something disastrous for me (Renya) What is it about me? (Rona) Looking at the entrance of the tent because of the slow voice, Rona came and poked only her head inside the tent with a sleepy facial expression with her eyelids half closed. Renya felt uneasy about that expression wondering whether she would raise her voice finally after first misunderstanding the situation.I have to somehow wake Shion, huh?Though he struggled violently to escape from within her arms, he stopped writhing as he noticed that there wasnt any kind of reaction from Rona either after a short time. Looking at Rona, because of her posture of having only poked in her head first, she motionlessly stared at Renya and Shion with her still sleepy face. Although her mood felt somehow odd, Renya timidly called out to her. O-Oi. Rona? (Renya) ai (Rona) Her reaction is odd after all. Notwithstanding that she should have slept for at least 5 hours, it felt like it wouldnt even be strange for those eyelids to completely sink in at any time as she was repeatedly opening and closing them. Whats wrong? (Renya) For some reason I am somehow terribly sleepy. (Rona) What the hecks with you? What are you saying (Renya) Uu I am sleepy. Shion, you are hugging something nice (Rona) As she stared fixedly, Renya became flustered again. No. Being seen getting up like this it will cause another weird mood. (Renya) Well Shion is unhappy unless she has something to cuddle with. Although recently I didnt see this behavior very often In the first place, even if you getting up would cause a strange mood Renya-san, you cant take out your hands from there, right? (Rona) That is certainly true. Even though it was said that just moving within the sleeping bag was already difficult as well, Renya was in a state of being embraced by Shion with both arms. As both of Renyas arms were tightly restrained, he wasnt able to move. Tentatively, since he held a knife in his arms, he should be somehow capable of cutting the bag in the end, but on top of the sleeping bag not being such a cheap item, it wasnt a state of emergency where his life was directly in danger either. Thus it would be wasteful to completely destroy it by cutting it apart. Rona, I am unable to move like this. Can you tear off Shion one way or another (Renya) Ah, you seem to be a good hug pillow, no? (Rona) He? (Renya) Not understanding what she was talking about, Renya responded with an idiotic voice. Sweetly smiling with her usual smile, Rona intruded the inside of the tent and sidled up to him. He felt that her appearance was somehow like lioness moving towards its prey. Trying to retreat, Renya couldnt wriggle away after all. I am extremely sleepy, you know? (Rona) Just wait a second, what about standing guard? (Renya) In such safe place, there arent any monsters or humans that would attack us. (Rona) On the opposite side of where Shion was clinging, Rona threw herself down. In order to do the same thing as Shion, she tightly squeezed Renyas sleeping bag. Well then, good night (Rona) Wait, stop it! This is definitely strange! (Renya) Because he was squeezed from both sides, Renya wasnt even able to wriggle anymore. While rubbing her face against him with grinding sounds, just like Shion, Rona said, Rather than Shions light pressing, the way of my pressing is heavy. I guess Renya feels good as well (Rona) Suddenly pressing upon me like that in one go, is the volume of fabric of a different kind? Even her clearly detectable softness is being transmitted through the cloth of the sleeping bag. Unintentionally thinking that it would be also fine to stay like this, Renya shook his head in a hurry. Well, a problem of that sort the heck, what kind of difference does it make whether it is heavy or light?! (Renya) Somehow Shions expression became sullen and she filled her arms with strength. Even under normal circumstances it was a tight restraint, but right after tightening even more, Renya got the feeling as if he had somehow heard an improper sound from the area of his chest or arms. As Rona was conversely in some way elated with her success, Shion made sure to entangle him with her arms in such a way that Renyas body was giving off a grinding sound while being constricted with force. On one side there was a swordsman, even though shes an apprentice. On the other side there was an apparently official knight, although self-proclaimed. Those fellows had doubtlessly trained that arm strength well in order to wield their weapons. Renyas body screamed in pain from having something like that on both sides. O-ouch!? Its breaking!? I will be torn to pieces!? You two, get away from me! (Renya) n~ya~ (Shion) Didnt I tell you? I am sleepy (Rona) Although Renya didnt catch up with comprehending the feeling of the situation, apart from the circumstances of the two, an alarm began to resound within Renyas head. This situation is odd. It is not about two woman embracing me. It is about the matter of Rona, who should be vigilant in standing guard, complaining about sleepiness, even more so without resisting it. She introduced herself as a knight one way or another. Thus she should have received some kind of training. And yet it is difficult to believe is being this negligent towards her guard duty and succumbing to drowsiness as she was certainly chosen as Shions guard by some unknown person with an apparently reasonably high rank from somewhere. However, the reality was that Rona was embracing Renyas sleeping bag starting to carelessly drift asleep. This would normally be impossible. As Renya was by now certain that he had to destroy the sleeping bag and forcibly regain the freedom of his body, when he put his strength into the hand holding the knife, it came. Renya was violently assaulted by sleepiness. Impossible!he shouted in a corner of his mind. Certainly, my sleeping time was irregular, but I got a reasonable amount of sleep. Furthermore, waking up upon seeing this kind of situation, something like drowsiness was completely blown away. And still, why is it? I remember it being difficult for drowsiness to take effect. Artificial or the attack of something inhuman? (Renya) If I were to surrender to the sleep assault, I fear it to be likely that I wont wake up for a long time. Thats my premonition. If thats the case, it will end up in the three of us being in a state of being completely defenselessness. Staying like this can be thought of as being incredibly dangerous for our lives. Shall we strike to kill those guys in one go? Such a voice reached Renyas ears as he was frantically fighting the drowsiness. Towards the word kill the core of his mind grew cold and he realized that the sleepiness drew back. Isnt now the only chance to do that shit? You should stop it. Though we chose the method of attacking with magic, there are times when it will be completely dissolved by sounds or pain. Its not so bad if its just a single person, but in case it is several people huddled together, it is better to not make a move. Tsk. Its cant be helped. Maa, I just have to do with seeing the stupid looks on their faces afterwards. The presences of the people outside the tent moved. The voices sounded familiar. It was the rough voice of that guy called Zest. Stopping his action, as it was the voice of a young woman, I think it was most likely their magician, Renya guessed. It somehow seems that they used magic to cause the living things in the entire area to fall asleep. However, why do such a thing?Although Renya considered it, he reached no solution. While he was in that state, for some reason it seemed like various presences were moving outside. Becoming distant after a short while, the sounds vanished. What the hell has happened outside? As he didnt get any answer to his question, while racking his brain the extent of danger by being pressed hard from both sides gradually increased.Will I ever be able to leave this tent safely?Renya became worried. CHAPTER 24 C IT SEEMS TO BE A STRANGESTORY Renya chose to stand guard at night as second. Although the sequential order of the turns in the rotation were Shion, then Renya and finally Rona, there was a specific reason for doing it this way. After finishing the meal and taking a rest, the things like tableware etc. were cleaned and put back into the [Inventory]. Considering that there was around 8 hours until the next morning after going to sleep, when it came to standing watch, as there were 3 people, it turned into one person having a 2 hour shift and 2 having a 3 hour shift. For the sake of Shion, who had the first 2 hours shift, there was only one possible option for who had to do the second shift. Thus, with Renya taking the second shift, Shion and Rona were able to sleep for a long uninterrupted time. As he had the second shift, he had to endure interrupted sleeping hours as he would sleep for 2 hours, then stay awake for 3 hours and then go sleep for yet another 3 hours. This was simply hard. Since he certainly understood that it would be difficult, there was no way to make Shions group do that. However, there are no clocks in this world. While there are no clocks, how do they measure the time? Speaking of that, for some reason hourglasses exist. The adventurers were able to roughly measure one hour with a portable hourglass. As he measured the timing by frequently turning the hourglass upside down in alternation, time passed without anything happening that night and before long the day dawned. The problem occurred at dawn. Changing the guard with Rona, Renya crawled into his own sleeping pack and, single-mindedly closing his eyes and ears, he fell asleep. In the middle of entering and exiting a drowsy and shallow sleep, he was awoken by the feeling of suffocation. To start with, he noticed that he couldnt move his body at all. Because he was inside the sleeping bag, even though he was aware that he was unable to do anything more than squirming around like a caterpillar (Lit: bagworm), even those wriggling movements were partially sealed off in his current state. Furthermore he felt something heavy on top of his body. He rejected the first thought of being attacked from the beginning. In case it was Shion on watch outside, it would be a conceivable possibility, but currently it was Rona who was standing guard outside. Even if she were in a mood like *poya poya*, it appears that beyond being someone who received training in her own way, the person herself was a knight.(T/N:ݤݤis the sfx, no idea what that is symbolising though) Therefore it was difficult to imagine her allowing someone to attack without even raising her voice. If thats the case in this situation, the other person inside the tent had to be taken into consideration from the start. Thats the reasoning he arrived at. No no! For such an overused event to actually occur, there is (Renya) The shape of the sleeping bag is easy to understand if you imagined a single person entering the length of a pouch.(ED: Everyone knows what a sleeping bag looks like, BAKA!)/ In order to enhance its nature of retaining warmth the bag was made out of clothes filled with cotton. For the sake of not letting the air inside escape it had a drawstring near the head. Since warmth is something essential for somehow sleeping comfortably, they thought it to be something convenient for travelers, but it was a purchased article which was extremely unpopular with adventurers because you would be delayed in dealing with suffering a sudden attack no matter what you do. Although Renya decided to absolutely remodel it sooner or later, at the time he saw it for the first time, he hadnt this kind of time right now. At the time of reluctantly entering the sleeping bag, he entered it holding his knife. He made it a rule for using the sleeping bag so that he could tear it apart from the inside when he tried to leave in case of an emergency. Even though it was more or less normal for commoners to put on a light blanket for sleeping, Renya, who strongly opposed this by stating that he wouldnt be able to sleep in such thin bedding, could be called the cause of bringing along the sleep bags. Given that sort of circumstances, he only bend his neck looking at the top of his chest. There he saw the appearance of a head with black hair somewhat pressing and grinding against his chest. As expected, it would become a nuisance while sleeping, huh?The usually done up hair placed high on her head was naturally spilling down the back. But, despite this being the only difference, he was surprised to feel that she somehow had a more than usual powerful feminine allure. The facial expression, which always gave off the feeling of looking dignified, is slovenly happy. Is that because of her still being half asleep?Although Renya wasnt able to guess what kind of dream she had, she sometimes rubbed her head and face with a grinding sound. Suppressing his boiling head with the force of reason, Renya sorted out his current condition. Though I dont know how it came to be, Shion has skilfully crawled out of her sleeping bag. Since it is within the camping ground for the time being, we will be able to immediately deal with it in case something happened. As she had entered the bag wearing a thin shirt and trousers. I guess she was able to withstand the nights coldness in that outfit. Although it would be originally fine for her to return to her own sleeping bag, he deemed it impossible for her to be that skillful while still asleep, even if she wanted to. Therefore Shion clung with all her might to the bundle right next to her trying to get cosy, I suppose? If the contents of that bundle were Rona, it wouldnt have been a big problem. Unfortunately, the contents were Renya. What kind of look would Rona have if she were to find us at this point?was something he didnt know. Even though Renya tried to somehow escape from within Shions embrace, since Shion was fully using both her arms and legs to tightly cling to Renya, Renya was in the state of a caterpillar in the sleeping bag. He wasnt able to slip away while wriggling and since he couldnt extract his hands from the sleeping bag, he couldnt tear it off either. On top of that Shions head was placed on top of Renyas chest to begin with. Furthermore, as consequence of the sleeping back being thick and stiff, such things as the pleasant fragrance of a girl and her soft touch, as it was told in some tales to be the side benefit for typical protagonists, couldnt even be felt at all. She had merely become a restraining device. Moreover, in case they were discovered like this, it would cause a lot of misunderstandings, resulting in bringing damage on the scale of a god of pestilence.(ED: How would it be misunderstood, jackass! Youre in a sleeping bag!!!) This is how highly Renya valued getting Shion off in this current condition. Hey! Wake up. Shion? (Renya) Nyu? (Shion) Due to the somehow weird reaction, Renya ended up in silence for a short while. Towards him calling out to Shion, she only showed a slight reaction similar to being cranky and immediately ended up once again falling asleep gripping the sleeping bag and grinding her head against it. Ne (Shion) Dont utter such strange groans. Hey! You got to seriously wake up! If we are discovered by Rona in such place, It will become something disastrous for me (Renya) What is it about me? (Rona) Looking at the entrance of the tent because of the slow voice, Rona came and poked only her head inside the tent with a sleepy facial expression with her eyelids half closed. Renya felt uneasy about that expression wondering whether she would raise her voice finally after first misunderstanding the situation.I have to somehow wake Shion, huh?Though he struggled violently to escape from within her arms, he stopped writhing as he noticed that there wasnt any kind of reaction from Rona either after a short time. Looking at Rona, because of her posture of having only poked in her head first, she motionlessly stared at Renya and Shion with her still sleepy face. Although her mood felt somehow odd, Renya timidly called out to her. O-Oi. Rona? (Renya) ai (Rona) Her reaction is odd after all. Notwithstanding that she should have slept for at least 5 hours, it felt like it wouldnt even be strange for those eyelids to completely sink in at any time as she was repeatedly opening and closing them. Whats wrong? (Renya) For some reason I am somehow terribly sleepy. (Rona) What the hecks with you? What are you saying (Renya) Uu I am sleepy. Shion, you are hugging something nice (Rona) As she stared fixedly, Renya became flustered again. No. Being seen getting up like this it will cause another weird mood. (Renya) Well Shion is unhappy unless she has something to cuddle with. Although recently I didnt see this behavior very often In the first place, even if you getting up would cause a strange mood Renya-san, you cant take out your hands from there, right? (Rona) That is certainly true. Even though it was said that just moving within the sleeping bag was already difficult as well, Renya was in a state of being embraced by Shion with both arms. As both of Renyas arms were tightly restrained, he wasnt able to move. Tentatively, since he held a knife in his arms, he should be somehow capable of cutting the bag in the end, but on top of the sleeping bag not being such a cheap item, it wasnt a state of emergency where his life was directly in danger either. Thus it would be wasteful to completely destroy it by cutting it apart. Rona, I am unable to move like this. Can you tear off Shion one way or another (Renya) Ah, you seem to be a good hug pillow, no? (Rona) He? (Renya) Not understanding what she was talking about, Renya responded with an idiotic voice. Sweetly smiling with her usual smile, Rona intruded the inside of the tent and sidled up to him. He felt that her appearance was somehow like lioness moving towards its prey. Trying to retreat, Renya couldnt wriggle away after all. I am extremely sleepy, you know? (Rona) Just wait a second, what about standing guard? (Renya) In such safe place, there arent any monsters or humans that would attack us. (Rona) On the opposite side of where Shion was clinging, Rona threw herself down. In order to do the same thing as Shion, she tightly squeezed Renyas sleeping bag. Well then, good night (Rona) Wait, stop it! This is definitely strange! (Renya) Because he was squeezed from both sides, Renya wasnt even able to wriggle anymore. While rubbing her face against him with grinding sounds, just like Shion, Rona said, Rather than Shions light pressing, the way of my pressing is heavy. I guess Renya feels good as well (Rona) Suddenly pressing upon me like that in one go, is the volume of fabric of a different kind? Even her clearly detectable softness is being transmitted through the cloth of the sleeping bag. Unintentionally thinking that it would be also fine to stay like this, Renya shook his head in a hurry. Well, a problem of that sort the heck, what kind of difference does it make whether it is heavy or light?! (Renya) Somehow Shions expression became sullen and she filled her arms with strength. Even under normal circumstances it was a tight restraint, but right after tightening even more, Renya got the feeling as if he had somehow heard an improper sound from the area of his chest or arms. As Rona was conversely in some way elated with her success, Shion made sure to entangle him with her arms in such a way that Renyas body was giving off a grinding sound while being constricted with force. On one side there was a swordsman, even though shes an apprentice. On the other side there was an apparently official knight, although self-proclaimed. Those fellows had doubtlessly trained that arm strength well in order to wield their weapons. Renyas body screamed in pain from having something like that on both sides. O-ouch!? Its breaking!? I will be torn to pieces!? You two, get away from me! (Renya) n~ya~ (Shion) Didnt I tell you? I am sleepy (Rona) Although Renya didnt catch up with comprehending the feeling of the situation, apart from the circumstances of the two, an alarm began to resound within Renyas head. This situation is odd. It is not about two woman embracing me. It is about the matter of Rona, who should be vigilant in standing guard, complaining about sleepiness, even more so without resisting it. She introduced herself as a knight one way or another. Thus she should have received some kind of training. And yet it is difficult to believe is being this negligent towards her guard duty and succumbing to drowsiness as she was certainly chosen as Shions guard by some unknown person with an apparently reasonably high rank from somewhere. However, the reality was that Rona was embracing Renyas sleeping bag starting to carelessly drift asleep. This would normally be impossible. As Renya was by now certain that he had to destroy the sleeping bag and forcibly regain the freedom of his body, when he put his strength into the hand holding the knife, it came. Renya was violently assaulted by sleepiness. Impossible!he shouted in a corner of his mind. Certainly, my sleeping time was irregular, but I got a reasonable amount of sleep. Furthermore, waking up upon seeing this kind of situation, something like drowsiness was completely blown away. And still, why is it? I remember it being difficult for drowsiness to take effect. Artificial or the attack of something inhuman? (Renya) If I were to surrender to the sleep assault, I fear it to be likely that I wont wake up for a long time. Thats my premonition. If thats the case, it will end up in the three of us being in a state of being completely defenselessness. Staying like this can be thought of as being incredibly dangerous for our lives. Shall we strike to kill those guys in one go? Such a voice reached Renyas ears as he was frantically fighting the drowsiness. Towards the word kill the core of his mind grew cold and he realized that the sleepiness drew back. Isnt now the only chance to do that shit? You should stop it. Though we chose the method of attacking with magic, there are times when it will be completely dissolved by sounds or pain. Its not so bad if its just a single person, but in case it is several people huddled together, it is better to not make a move. Tsk. Its cant be helped. Maa, I just have to do with seeing the stupid looks on their faces afterwards. The presences of the people outside the tent moved. The voices sounded familiar. It was the rough voice of that guy called Zest. Stopping his action, as it was the voice of a young woman, I think it was most likely their magician, Renya guessed. It somehow seems that they used magic to cause the living things in the entire area to fall asleep. However, why do such a thing?Although Renya considered it, he reached no solution. While he was in that state, for some reason it seemed like various presences were moving outside. Becoming distant after a short while, the sounds vanished. What the hell has happened outside? As he didnt get any answer to his question, while racking his brain the extent of danger by being pressed hard from both sides gradually increased.Will I ever be able to leave this tent safely?Renya became worried. Chapter 25 CHAPTER 25 C IT SEEMS TO BE STEALING AMARCH They got us. (Hartz) Hartz said in absolute disgust. The campsite put up by Zests group was completely removed last night. They did it without leaving any trace at all. In contrast to Hartz, Azs facial expression was similar to the time when they met him at the Silver Cup. Without apparently showing almost anything in his expression, on the surface it was extremely calm. Speaking of Renya, he somehow had ~ you could call it a difficult facial expression. Scratching the vicinity of his left cheek with his index finger there were huge finger prints. That cheek had become red without being able to distinguish whether it was due to stretching it or striking it. Although Hartz was quite bothered about what had happened, as Renyas party member Shion was at a place slightly apart from him with a bright red face and her body clad in armor while you could see her sitting in seiza, he somehow sensed that it was something he shouldnt ask about. After one way or another resisting that intense sleepiness. Even though Renya had desperately trying to wake Shion and Rona up, was it due to the strength of the magic put in effect? Or was it due to boths difficulty in waking up? No matter the degree of shaking and struggling, there was absolutely no indication of them waking. The measure he chose was Renyas final measure. Changing position he attacked the side of beneath the arm of Shion who was in a state of embracing. He tickled Shions body or rather he was groping it. Although Renya had a feeling that the place he touched was her arm right next to her breast, in reality, Shion eerily asked where he was rubbing. At any rate, he somehow sensed rubbing something soft. As he touched that improper place, Shion, who was still half asleep, woke up while grumbling and confirmed the situation raising her head. When she came to in that body posture, somehow her body was apparently groped by something. Her face began to dye red as her consciousness became clear. At the time she tightly grasped her fist, Renya thought,it can be said that this incident is my fault. As he didnt expect it to be hateful, he understood that he had to likewise resign himself to fate and receive the necessary one punch in this situation. While thinking it was fine unless he had his bones or teeth broken, Renya watched the brandished fist. In the instant that fist was swung downward, he was pulled tightly by the side of Rona who was embracing him. Next he felt a light impact on his cheek and he ended up rolling until the end of the tent with a *goro goro* while Rona was clinging to him without change. Due to the blow missing the course of impact on the body, he was able to escape from most of the damage. Noticing Shions attack, Rona pulled Renya to herself by a hairs breadth apparently doing so in order to lower the damage received by Renya. If she was aware of the situation to such an extent, it would have been nice if she had stopped Shion.Even so he wasnt able to consider it like that and it was indispensable for him to be thankful that it ended with him not directly receiving Shions attack. Rather, thanks to rolling over while embracing him, since he felt various things touching him here and there with a *munyu munyu*, Renya decided to thank her from the bottom of his heart afterwards. Apart from this. At last crawling out from the sleeping bag and after putting his outfit in order, he left the tent and saw that the other parties had suffered the magic attack as well. Some people were lying spread-eagled on the ground while sleeping and some were leaning against the tents while loudly snoring. Was there any sleepiness still remaining? Amongst those visible coming out from within their tents while shaking their heads, only Zests groups tent had completely vanished. He stole a march on us? (Renya) Thats likely. (Hartz) Towards Renyas short question, Hartz gave a short reply. It is a young dungeon having a likewise shallow stratum and it isnt very big either. Usually the appearing monsters are weak as well. Even so, you have to pay attention and generally the capture is done by several parties (Hartz) So theyre thinking that it will be enough if only they went, huh? (Renya) Probably thats it. Since I think there are no great treasures prepared by the dungeon yet either, their goal here should just be the dungeon core. As I guess that the guarding monsters are weak as well, I think they considered ensnaring the other parties as it is first come, first served. (Hartz) Humph (Renya) As Renya replied half-heartedly, Hartz face became at least talk to me. Even though they beat them to the punch, there wasnt any kind of impatience visible on Renyas face either. Worried about that, Hartz decided to try asking. You are quite composed. Although it also depends on the size of the dungeon core, you can still expect it to have the value of a few dozen gold coins since this is a young dungeon. I wonder whether you dont think that it is regrettable? (Hartz) Not particularly. (Renya) Renyas answer was something that came out quite easily. That plainness became the proof that Renya really thought like that. If we let only those guys capture the dungeon, it will turn out to be a conversation about helping them when they get into trouble. Although it is certainly regrettable about the large sum of money by selling the core off, we will still obtain the reward for completing the request even if we do nothing at all. (Renya) I agree. (Az) It was Az who indicated his approval of Renyas words. Hartz looked into his direction with a face full of surprise. I wonder what you are surprised about to make such strange face Az looked back at Hartz with such an expression. We receive money without having to work for it. It is almost enough that it would also be fine to write up a few lines of gratitude to that brown-dyed hair. (Renya) Thats a good idea. I will write up something until they come out, I think. (Az) You guys (Hartz) Hartz was astonished by the carefree conversation between Renya and Az. No matter how much you say that they are youngsters, where the capturing of a dungeon is concerned, that party will gain a lot of prestige. It would become a reward that is many-fold more worthwhile than the retaining fee of the dungeon core. Despite them snatching this from in front of their eyes, those two didnt care about it at all. Hartz was wondering whether his own thinking had become outdated and was partly seriously worried about that. But since being worried about it on top of being impatient wouldnt give him an answer either way, Hartz said following in order to change the mood, What will you do if those guys fail? (Hartz) It would be fine to just redo the capturing, dont you think so? (Renya & Az) They returned a harmonized reply. Is that how it is?thought Hartz, but he was surprised by Renyas continuation. Even if they fail, since there are just small fry close to the outriders to finish off, the only reason for those guys to fail will be themselves. Thus they will be fine as long as they pay attention. (Renya) I see. That is a very efficient opinion. Renya, was it? I think I can only approve of your rational way of thinking as magnificent. (Az) No no, you two! Wont you save them in such a case? (Hartz) Renya and Az had a mutual understanding in ridiculous ways. As Hartz interjected in a hurry, both stayed silent at the same time and made a face as if saying What is this guy talking about? Hartz reflected whether he said anything incorrect himself. In a disgusted voice Renya said, Arbitrarily advancing by themselves and arbitrarily failing by themselves, can you excuse me from wiping those guys asses? (Renya) Towards Renyas negative answer, Az was nodding with a Yes. Yes. Good grief. Since they went ahead on their own accord, I think they should bravely get themselves annihilated instead of doing something like behaving as if they want to at least run home. (Az) It would be best if they could shine by putting in a few sword strikes before they use up all their energy. (Renya) Thats true, if they manage at least this much, it will be even fine to place a single flower in front of their graves as well. (Az) In front of their grave do you plan to recover their corpses? I dont want to do such troublesome thing! (Renya) I guess thats right as well There wont be any problem if they vanish together with the dungeon at the time it disappears. (Az) (ED: My frustrations at Renyas inaction last chapter have been absolved. This is golden.) You twooo (Hartz) In response to the more and more excessive remarks, Hartz went beyond being shocked and nothing more than a sigh came out. Az and Renya without showing any sign to pay attention to this returned to each others party and started to give instructions to prepare breakfast since there was no need to rush. Is that alright? (Rona) Because Shion was still sitting in seiza and blushing, Rona asked Renya in a whisper. Renya calmly nodded to her question. It can be said that this dungeon isnt overly vast. We will wait until just past noon. Wont we somehow know the result of whether they succeeded or failed by then? (Renya) Rather than such a matter, it was breakfast time. Renya skilfully cracked the firewood into small pieces. After igniting it, he took out a cookware resembling a fry pan from within his [Inventory] and placed it atop the fire. Putting in a small quantity of oil, he spread out two pieces of bacon which were thickly cut. After waiting for it to give off a good fragrance from roasting it, he cracked an egg, although he was certain it was an egg he didnt know what has given birth to it, and spilled the contents on top of the pseudo-fry pan. Renya believed that a bacon was delicious when it was roasted until it became crispy. He transferred the bacon and egg onto a plate after properly heating them up. Renya was part of the sunny-side-up fried eggs with soy sauce faction. He still hadnt discovered something corresponding to it(T/N: soy sauce)from his former world in this world though. To make up for it, as there was no soy sauce, since he found fish sauce made out of fish being pickled in salt, he quickly gambled on using that and the dish was finished. Accompanying this with salad and bread, he judged this to be adequate as breakfast. Unfortunately the bread commonly circulated in this world was difficult to eat as it was far too hard. Since it couldnt be avoided, as he happened upon a small quantity of a high-class item in this world, he heated up salted milk, which he had received from the inn, and stirred the small amount as soup. Then he put in what appeared to be small pieces of broken bread in there. He unraveled a grain vegetable looking like corn, crushed it and put it into the soup. As it looked like he made pseudo-corn soup garnished with croutons by intuition, after sampling it and judging it to be a palatable meal with a Maa maa(T/N: So so), the dish was finished. Serving that on a plate, the breakfast was complete after adding vegetable salad to it. He used salt, pepper and vinegar to make a simple dressing for the salad. The breakfast is also extravagant. (Shion) Having finally returned to reality, Shion leaked out her impressions while gazing at the top of the dining table. Although you shouldnt go to the extent of calling something like this extravagant, were Renyas thoughts. If I completed it more skilfully with the things I managed to acquire at the inn, it would have become an even more stylish meal, he thought, although that was an issue that couldnt be settled with only this much time. I guess it is something good if the meal is something delicious? Come on now, before it gets cold (Renya) Starting to say that it was fine to eat, immediately next to Renya, he noticed Azs party somehow staring this way as they once again held jerky and bread as meal without a change for the better since last night. Continuing from yesterdays dinner, they looked at his morning breakfast in envy. They were looking at Renyas groups dining table forgetting about the meal they held. Is it fine to serve it to our neighbors as well? (Renya) If Renya is fine with that, I think its alright to do so, no? (Shion) Thats right, I wont oppose it. (Rona) After gaining the acknowledgement of both, Renya called out to Az. Dont look this way with such wistful eyes. If you want it, we will split it with you. What will you do? (Renya) N is that so? Given that it has a nice odor, it seems to be delicious. Although I would be glad if I could receive a share of it, will it be fine for all of us here to get some? (Az) No one will be left out. I think it would be pitiful to not let those guys join in. Even if its that ossan party eh? Where did the ossan party go? (Renya) Surveying the surroundings, Hartz party couldnt be found anywhere. If its about Hartz group, they entered the dungeon to chase after Zest. (Az) Is it because he is very caring? Or because he is greedy about money? Although he hesitated to discuss the conclusion, apparently it could be taken as a choice by Hartz group to look into accompanying Zests party. That guy is being quite diligent once again. Ah, can you return the borrowed tableware? Also, divide the soup and please kill the jerk who made the bread you are holding. There is no plan for a second serving. (Renya) We are already grateful for just being able to eat the soup. (Az) He made a somewhat larger quantity of soup thinking it might be possible to get a second serving, but since it wasnt a sufficient quantity by any means after splitting it with 5 adults, he increased the quantity by topping it off with ingredients. Because he ended up exhausting the soup he had received from the inn, he couldnt deny feeling that he had become immature in the end. After Azs party members put in their crumbled bread and shredded jerky, Renyas soup received a mostly favorable evaluation. Even if it is somewhat simple after all, what is there to disregard about a tasty, warm meal if you put priority on suitability, Renya reconfirmed. For lunch I will boil some pasta. It will be perfect as we have tomato-like vegetables, cheese, pepper, meat and vegetables in stock. (Renya) Of course he had finished sampling all ingredients. Although they met at the Silver Cup, given that the meet up was finished a lot faster than he planned, you could certainly say that these were the fruits of going around the market in the available time he had. After Rona came back with supplies of jerky and bread generally used for 4 days, he complained with a staggering force and as a result he even accompanied her. Tell me, from where will you procure water for this? (Az) It wasnt possible to do something like boiling pasta with a meager amount of water. Thus, a regular adventurer would never carry such amount of water in the midst of working just for the sake of cooking. I possess a void storage. If its water, I put in heaps of barrels in there. (Renya) Incidentally, he even had a pot with a deep bottom for boiling the pasta. Renya had bought it precisely for that and brought it along. I want to make a deal. I want you to join the negotiation. (Az) Relatively serious, Az began to talk with a quite pressing facial expression. Renya laughed while smiling. I guess thats fine. I am a relatively fair man if it comes to something like making a deal. Well then, what are you offering? (Renya) CHAPTER 25 C IT SEEMS TO BE STEALING AMARCH They got us. (Hartz) Hartz said in absolute disgust. The campsite put up by Zests group was completely removed last night. They did it without leaving any trace at all. In contrast to Hartz, Azs facial expression was similar to the time when they met him at the Silver Cup. Without apparently showing almost anything in his expression, on the surface it was extremely calm. Speaking of Renya, he somehow had ~ you could call it a difficult facial expression. Scratching the vicinity of his left cheek with his index finger there were huge finger prints. That cheek had become red without being able to distinguish whether it was due to stretching it or striking it. Although Hartz was quite bothered about what had happened, as Renyas party member Shion was at a place slightly apart from him with a bright red face and her body clad in armor while you could see her sitting in seiza, he somehow sensed that it was something he shouldnt ask about. After one way or another resisting that intense sleepiness. Even though Renya had desperately trying to wake Shion and Rona up, was it due to the strength of the magic put in effect? Or was it due to boths difficulty in waking up? No matter the degree of shaking and struggling, there was absolutely no indication of them waking. The measure he chose was Renyas final measure. Changing position he attacked the side of beneath the arm of Shion who was in a state of embracing. He tickled Shions body or rather he was groping it. Although Renya had a feeling that the place he touched was her arm right next to her breast, in reality, Shion eerily asked where he was rubbing. At any rate, he somehow sensed rubbing something soft. As he touched that improper place, Shion, who was still half asleep, woke up while grumbling and confirmed the situation raising her head. When she came to in that body posture, somehow her body was apparently groped by something. Her face began to dye red as her consciousness became clear. At the time she tightly grasped her fist, Renya thought,it can be said that this incident is my fault. As he didnt expect it to be hateful, he understood that he had to likewise resign himself to fate and receive the necessary one punch in this situation. While thinking it was fine unless he had his bones or teeth broken, Renya watched the brandished fist. In the instant that fist was swung downward, he was pulled tightly by the side of Rona who was embracing him. Next he felt a light impact on his cheek and he ended up rolling until the end of the tent with a *goro goro* while Rona was clinging to him without change. Due to the blow missing the course of impact on the body, he was able to escape from most of the damage. Noticing Shions attack, Rona pulled Renya to herself by a hairs breadth apparently doing so in order to lower the damage received by Renya. If she was aware of the situation to such an extent, it would have been nice if she had stopped Shion.Even so he wasnt able to consider it like that and it was indispensable for him to be thankful that it ended with him not directly receiving Shions attack. Rather, thanks to rolling over while embracing him, since he felt various things touching him here and there with a *munyu munyu*, Renya decided to thank her from the bottom of his heart afterwards. Apart from this. At last crawling out from the sleeping bag and after putting his outfit in order, he left the tent and saw that the other parties had suffered the magic attack as well. Some people were lying spread-eagled on the ground while sleeping and some were leaning against the tents while loudly snoring. Was there any sleepiness still remaining? Amongst those visible coming out from within their tents while shaking their heads, only Zests groups tent had completely vanished. He stole a march on us? (Renya) Thats likely. (Hartz) Towards Renyas short question, Hartz gave a short reply. It is a young dungeon having a likewise shallow stratum and it isnt very big either. Usually the appearing monsters are weak as well. Even so, you have to pay attention and generally the capture is done by several parties (Hartz) So theyre thinking that it will be enough if only they went, huh? (Renya) Probably thats it. Since I think there are no great treasures prepared by the dungeon yet either, their goal here should just be the dungeon core. As I guess that the guarding monsters are weak as well, I think they considered ensnaring the other parties as it is first come, first served. (Hartz) Humph (Renya) As Renya replied half-heartedly, Hartz face became at least talk to me. Even though they beat them to the punch, there wasnt any kind of impatience visible on Renyas face either. Worried about that, Hartz decided to try asking. You are quite composed. Although it also depends on the size of the dungeon core, you can still expect it to have the value of a few dozen gold coins since this is a young dungeon. I wonder whether you dont think that it is regrettable? (Hartz) Not particularly. (Renya) Renyas answer was something that came out quite easily. That plainness became the proof that Renya really thought like that. If we let only those guys capture the dungeon, it will turn out to be a conversation about helping them when they get into trouble. Although it is certainly regrettable about the large sum of money by selling the core off, we will still obtain the reward for completing the request even if we do nothing at all. (Renya) I agree. (Az) It was Az who indicated his approval of Renyas words. Hartz looked into his direction with a face full of surprise. I wonder what you are surprised about to make such strange face Az looked back at Hartz with such an expression. We receive money without having to work for it. It is almost enough that it would also be fine to write up a few lines of gratitude to that brown-dyed hair. (Renya) Thats a good idea. I will write up something until they come out, I think. (Az) You guys (Hartz) Hartz was astonished by the carefree conversation between Renya and Az. No matter how much you say that they are youngsters, where the capturing of a dungeon is concerned, that party will gain a lot of prestige. It would become a reward that is many-fold more worthwhile than the retaining fee of the dungeon core. Despite them snatching this from in front of their eyes, those two didnt care about it at all. Hartz was wondering whether his own thinking had become outdated and was partly seriously worried about that. But since being worried about it on top of being impatient wouldnt give him an answer either way, Hartz said following in order to change the mood, What will you do if those guys fail? (Hartz) It would be fine to just redo the capturing, dont you think so? (Renya & Az) They returned a harmonized reply. Is that how it is?thought Hartz, but he was surprised by Renyas continuation. Even if they fail, since there are just small fry close to the outriders to finish off, the only reason for those guys to fail will be themselves. Thus they will be fine as long as they pay attention. (Renya) I see. That is a very efficient opinion. Renya, was it? I think I can only approve of your rational way of thinking as magnificent. (Az) No no, you two! Wont you save them in such a case? (Hartz) Renya and Az had a mutual understanding in ridiculous ways. As Hartz interjected in a hurry, both stayed silent at the same time and made a face as if saying What is this guy talking about? Hartz reflected whether he said anything incorrect himself. In a disgusted voice Renya said, Arbitrarily advancing by themselves and arbitrarily failing by themselves, can you excuse me from wiping those guys asses? (Renya) Towards Renyas negative answer, Az was nodding with a Yes. Yes. Good grief. Since they went ahead on their own accord, I think they should bravely get themselves annihilated instead of doing something like behaving as if they want to at least run home. (Az) It would be best if they could shine by putting in a few sword strikes before they use up all their energy. (Renya) Thats true, if they manage at least this much, it will be even fine to place a single flower in front of their graves as well. (Az) In front of their grave do you plan to recover their corpses? I dont want to do such troublesome thing! (Renya) I guess thats right as well There wont be any problem if they vanish together with the dungeon at the time it disappears. (Az) (ED: My frustrations at Renyas inaction last chapter have been absolved. This is golden.) You twooo (Hartz) In response to the more and more excessive remarks, Hartz went beyond being shocked and nothing more than a sigh came out. Az and Renya without showing any sign to pay attention to this returned to each others party and started to give instructions to prepare breakfast since there was no need to rush. Is that alright? (Rona) Because Shion was still sitting in seiza and blushing, Rona asked Renya in a whisper. Renya calmly nodded to her question. It can be said that this dungeon isnt overly vast. We will wait until just past noon. Wont we somehow know the result of whether they succeeded or failed by then? (Renya) Rather than such a matter, it was breakfast time. Renya skilfully cracked the firewood into small pieces. After igniting it, he took out a cookware resembling a fry pan from within his [Inventory] and placed it atop the fire. Putting in a small quantity of oil, he spread out two pieces of bacon which were thickly cut. After waiting for it to give off a good fragrance from roasting it, he cracked an egg, although he was certain it was an egg he didnt know what has given birth to it, and spilled the contents on top of the pseudo-fry pan. Renya believed that a bacon was delicious when it was roasted until it became crispy. He transferred the bacon and egg onto a plate after properly heating them up. Renya was part of the sunny-side-up fried eggs with soy sauce faction. He still hadnt discovered something corresponding to it(T/N: soy sauce)from his former world in this world though. To make up for it, as there was no soy sauce, since he found fish sauce made out of fish being pickled in salt, he quickly gambled on using that and the dish was finished. Accompanying this with salad and bread, he judged this to be adequate as breakfast. Unfortunately the bread commonly circulated in this world was difficult to eat as it was far too hard. Since it couldnt be avoided, as he happened upon a small quantity of a high-class item in this world, he heated up salted milk, which he had received from the inn, and stirred the small amount as soup. Then he put in what appeared to be small pieces of broken bread in there. He unraveled a grain vegetable looking like corn, crushed it and put it into the soup. As it looked like he made pseudo-corn soup garnished with croutons by intuition, after sampling it and judging it to be a palatable meal with a Maa maa(T/N: So so), the dish was finished. Serving that on a plate, the breakfast was complete after adding vegetable salad to it. He used salt, pepper and vinegar to make a simple dressing for the salad. The breakfast is also extravagant. (Shion) Having finally returned to reality, Shion leaked out her impressions while gazing at the top of the dining table. Although you shouldnt go to the extent of calling something like this extravagant, were Renyas thoughts. If I completed it more skilfully with the things I managed to acquire at the inn, it would have become an even more stylish meal, he thought, although that was an issue that couldnt be settled with only this much time. I guess it is something good if the meal is something delicious? Come on now, before it gets cold (Renya) Starting to say that it was fine to eat, immediately next to Renya, he noticed Azs party somehow staring this way as they once again held jerky and bread as meal without a change for the better since last night. Continuing from yesterdays dinner, they looked at his morning breakfast in envy. They were looking at Renyas groups dining table forgetting about the meal they held. Is it fine to serve it to our neighbors as well? (Renya) If Renya is fine with that, I think its alright to do so, no? (Shion) Thats right, I wont oppose it. (Rona) After gaining the acknowledgement of both, Renya called out to Az. Dont look this way with such wistful eyes. If you want it, we will split it with you. What will you do? (Renya) N is that so? Given that it has a nice odor, it seems to be delicious. Although I would be glad if I could receive a share of it, will it be fine for all of us here to get some? (Az) No one will be left out. I think it would be pitiful to not let those guys join in. Even if its that ossan party eh? Where did the ossan party go? (Renya) Surveying the surroundings, Hartz party couldnt be found anywhere. If its about Hartz group, they entered the dungeon to chase after Zest. (Az) Is it because he is very caring? Or because he is greedy about money? Although he hesitated to discuss the conclusion, apparently it could be taken as a choice by Hartz group to look into accompanying Zests party. That guy is being quite diligent once again. Ah, can you return the borrowed tableware? Also, divide the soup and please kill the jerk who made the bread you are holding. There is no plan for a second serving. (Renya) We are already grateful for just being able to eat the soup. (Az) He made a somewhat larger quantity of soup thinking it might be possible to get a second serving, but since it wasnt a sufficient quantity by any means after splitting it with 5 adults, he increased the quantity by topping it off with ingredients. Because he ended up exhausting the soup he had received from the inn, he couldnt deny feeling that he had become immature in the end. After Azs party members put in their crumbled bread and shredded jerky, Renyas soup received a mostly favorable evaluation. Even if it is somewhat simple after all, what is there to disregard about a tasty, warm meal if you put priority on suitability, Renya reconfirmed. For lunch I will boil some pasta. It will be perfect as we have tomato-like vegetables, cheese, pepper, meat and vegetables in stock. (Renya) Of course he had finished sampling all ingredients. Although they met at the Silver Cup, given that the meet up was finished a lot faster than he planned, you could certainly say that these were the fruits of going around the market in the available time he had. After Rona came back with supplies of jerky and bread generally used for 4 days, he complained with a staggering force and as a result he even accompanied her. Tell me, from where will you procure water for this? (Az) It wasnt possible to do something like boiling pasta with a meager amount of water. Thus, a regular adventurer would never carry such amount of water in the midst of working just for the sake of cooking. I possess a void storage. If its water, I put in heaps of barrels in there. (Renya) Incidentally, he even had a pot with a deep bottom for boiling the pasta. Renya had bought it precisely for that and brought it along. I want to make a deal. I want you to join the negotiation. (Az) Relatively serious, Az began to talk with a quite pressing facial expression. Renya laughed while smiling. I guess thats fine. I am a relatively fair man if it comes to something like making a deal. Well then, what are you offering? (Renya) Chapter 26 CHAPTER 26 C IT SEEMS TO BE LUNCH WITHOUTSCRAMBLING Eventually the negotiations ended smoothly. Az offered something in exchange for Renyas lunch. It is an instruction for elementary magic of the attack system, how about that? It is something that will fetch a reasonable price. I get the feeling from you that your role is that of a swordsman, so you havent learned offensive magic yet, right? (Az)(ED: Az is offering to zap a spell into Renyas brain, just like with the Light spell beforehand.) Slowly drawing out the conditions in small steps, it was similar to gaining advantageous terms by delaying the negotiations. Az seemed to be uninterested in concluding the bargaining. Just in that moment he offered the best thing he himself could give. Even Renya who was offered this was slightly surprised. Going by the price list he was shown at Khalils shop, if it was something with a reasonable price, Az had offered something having a value of 50 silver coins to start with. If we were to talk about his previous world it would be equivalent to 50,000 yen. If we assume the lunch price for the portions of 5 adult men, it could be commented to be quite extraordinary without a doubt. Quite lavish, no? (Renya) I am not unwilling to give you this. All the more if it will allow us to eat something delicious in this place. My party members have a lot of hardships. (Az) Az said while looking at the members who diligently devoted themselves to their role of being his shield. Be that as it may, they take the role of a meat shield for the sake of gaining time for the spell casting and it seemed that they received genuine gratitude for their protection from him. Although his unsociable facial expression didnt change, his voice was filled with his real feelings. Somehow, with only that, Renyas feeling changed to it even being fine to just share lunch with them rather than proposing a deal. The current situation with the offered conditions by the other party would usually end up being called too good. Renya had a hunch that there was something different from what was promised. Its just that there are bad people in the city who make their living by excessively overcharging for these kinds of services. I will entrust one to you. (Az) (ED: Az is saying its not as pricey a service as Renya believes, mainly because Renya fell prey to being overcharged before.) I understand. With this the transaction is concluded. (Renya) Even if I splurge a bit on the lunch, I wont be stricken by a curse, Renya was thinking. Well then, although I want to instruct you right away what would be fine? (Az) A high-powered blow? Something that obstructs the actions of an opponent by hitting them would be fine, but (Renya) While recalling the matter about having a hopelessly low quantity of mana from Khalils shop, Renya was pondering. Although he tried to improve his magic ability by repeatedly practicing the [Light] magic for a splendid number of times since then, he didnt really feel as if it was something he could do. He didnt believe that he had improved very much. As Renyas doctrine was to increase the number of moves rather than their firepower, when it came down to defeating numbers, he had no other options but to connect a sure-hit physical attack or bet on the weight of the blow. Telling these matters to Az, after a while of considering, Az said, I guess for high firepower it would be . In case of obstructing their actions, it would be , but if you dont aim for damage infliction, I think would also be fine. You also have to have something like aptitude for it. (Az) I checked the aptitude at the magician Khalils shop. I was told it is wind. (Renya) That fellow? If it was her examining you, there is no doubt about it, I guess but wind, huh? If it is wind, then either or would be good. (Az) For cutting up things with wind, , and for dulling the movement by coiling wind around the feet, , Az explained. As the type of went along with Renyas style of magic, Az words hinted towards him not being very suited for . On the point of firepower it is far inferior to . If it is our vanguard members, even if they dont apply any considerable defensive magic, they will easily defend against it. (Az) Fumu this is a point to be worried about (Renya) After all, it is elementary magic, was something that Renya understood. Although one might say the firepower was high, apparently with its power the most that could do in face of heavy armor was to the extent of causing petty scalding. My recommendation is after all. The user-friendliness is good and it has a wide usability so you dont need to be very cautious about use against potential opponents. (Az) The opinion of an expert is valuable. I will request this then, huh? (Renya) Once Renya decided, Az took out a scrap of paper from his luggage similar to the one he had seen in Khalils shop and affixed it to Renyas forehead. Bestow, (Az) The paper affixed to his forehead vanished and since a similar message streamed in as he had seen before, Renya accepted the selection.(T/N: The information terminal messages he means) Spell, according to my power, shoot a Fire Ball. Even if I continue to use this, how is it related to improving my magic capacity, I wonder? (Renya) Ah, did you also hear about this method? If you practice magic, your magic capacity will naturally increase. However, the accepted theory says that it wont increase much further than what you possess by nature, just that (Az) Az said while apparently having difficulty in speaking about it. It seemed to be something to take into consideration when Renya was told that he was lacking magic capacity at Khalils shop. It cant be helped. Even if you can only use it as a one off spell it will increase your options in combat. Because of that, there is no reason to not use it. (Az) By the way, what is it? (Renya) He asked as Az had taken an interest in something. About how many times have you become able to use the spell? (Az) Lets see (Renya) Since he hadnt even done something like counting, Renya tried to roughly calculate it mentally. As it was something along the lines of simultaneously activating 16 instances with the most recent casting macro, how many times can it be implemented until it stops?He didnt really pay any attention to that. Since it didnt cause the mana to be exhausted with 16 parallel instances activated within an hour of 60 activations (Renya) What was that? (Az) At the least I can use as many as 960 castings, I think? (Renya) Hearing Renya talking smoothly about the number, Azs facial expression became stiff. Even though Azs face was bluntly expressionless from the start, you could see it turn into even more of a carved statue than usual. Renya pondered whether he had said something odd and suddenly hit on an answer. It is about me having been told that I have practically no magic capacity. It isnt useful even if I practice to such an extent? Thats quite shocking, Renya judged. I guess it cant be helped since I have no talent (Renya) If only I had the aptitude. Renya sighed due to those profane words. Cutting into that, those words were covered by Az. No talent, you say? You, what the hell are you saying about yourself? Dont you understand? (Az) I do understand. Most likely I am not suited for it. (Renya) Dont say such stupid things. Listen! What I am about to tell you now, dont talk about it, okay? (Az) Suddenly bringing his face close, he lowered the volume of his voice. While also thinking that he wasnt really happy about a man drawing near, Renya nodded due to being pressured by the seriousness of Azs facial expression. First off, did you say parallel activation? (Az) Eh, ah, un (Renya) Although I am not even able to use magic with parallel activation the limit is two. (Az) Un? (Renya) An expert couldnt use more than two magic spells simultaneously. If that is the truth, then what the hell does it mean for me to be even able to activate 16 at the same time? But in addition to the number of activations, if I were to keep up using without a break, I would be able to activate it around 100 times before using up the majority of my mana. (Az) Looking at the Azs face in front of him, Renya was staring. He honestly couldnt see a glimpse of a lie being told in that face. Although he didnt seem to be telling lies, the contents of his words were still unbelievable. As my magic capacity was evaluated to be lacking by Khalil, there is no way for it to be close to 10 times that of an expert like Az. As he considered it to be impossible, Renya didnt actually lie about it himself either. Furthermore, even this close to 10 times the numbers, still left him with a margin on the numbers of activation. What is this about? (Renya) Due to still seeing Renya murmuring without comprehension, Az shook his head. Its not like I understand it. Although you might usually suspect an error in the measurement, I dont think that is possible if it was done by Khalil. (Az) The practice was an incredible success, going by such reasoning is likewise unlikely. Just a moment ago I was told by Az that it wasnt possible to increase it by practicing to such an extent either. If I were to have an idea, I guess it couldnt be helped to think that it was one of those many skills I received before coming to this world, Renya recalled. As that little girl said, the abilities will be sure to grow in proportion to being forged by training. Those are the fruits of training~ while separating his face from Az, Renya could agree to such view. It wasnt due to understanding it though. Although I dont know why it has become like this, if we assume this to be a fact, you can expect it to cause nothing but trouble if the surroundings became aware of this. (Az) Isnt it already too late since you know about it? (Renya) In my case I dont have the hobby of spreading rumors about someone elses circumstances. (Az) Despite having an unsociable face, only one side of Azs mouth moved slightly. Somehow Renya realized that he was kind of smiling. I am thankful for that. I am grateful for the accompanying warning. (Renya) There is no need for thanks although I would be happy if you give me a slightly larger portion of pasta for lunch. (Az) I will see to that. (Renya) Although he didnt prepare such an extent of pasta in his [Inventory] due to Renya arranging the amount of pasta roughly referencing upon himself, since he knew that Shion and Rona wouldnt eat more than he had assessed, he guessed there wouldnt be any difficulty to something like giving Azs party a larger portion. With acknowledging his words, Renya conveyed this meaning to Az. Im bored (Shion) Shion murmured lazily. As the small information exchange due to the deal was completely finished, there was nothing to do afterwards. Since neither Renya nor Az had any intention to dive into the dungeon until they finished eating lunch, naturally as there was nothing to do for the other members either it resulted in not being able to do anything but spending time on something like standby. After Az finished the exchange with Renya, he reported the established deal to his party members. Retrieving a carpet from within his luggage, he sat down on it with a thump on top of holding some volume of a book and began to read silently. Such a side of Az was something usual for the other members, huh? Without even particularly minding about something like this, each of them scattered to some suitable place around there in order to laze around and bask in the sun or to take a nap. Speaking of Renya, since he exhausted the soup he had received from the inn yesterday, he began his work by placing the pot with the deep bottom on top of the cooking stove and throwing in vegetables and meat in there as it would take some time to boil them well while cooking on a low flame. Although Renya intended to offer two types of sauces for lunch, one made out of cheese and milk and the other from the tomato-like vegetable, it was unthinkable for it to become satisfactory without something serving as a base for that. Given that this didnt mean that there would be a large quantity necessary, he carefully and slowly cooked together the reasonable amount of ingredients. Occasionally Renya added water to finish concentrating it. As the flavor of the finished concentrated base became strong, it ended up becoming bland, or rather the flavor was rough. The important difference could be determined by how well the good flavor of the vegetables and meat could be extracted. While persuading himself of that, Renya kept standing watch on the soup.(T/N: Is this a frigging cooking novel !! >. In case of obstructing their actions, it would be , but if you dont aim for damage infliction, I think would also be fine. You also have to have something like aptitude for it. (Az) I checked the aptitude at the magician Khalils shop. I was told it is wind. (Renya) That fellow? If it was her examining you, there is no doubt about it, I guess but wind, huh? If it is wind, then either or would be good. (Az) For cutting up things with wind, , and for dulling the movement by coiling wind around the feet, , Az explained. As the type of went along with Renyas style of magic, Az words hinted towards him not being very suited for . On the point of firepower it is far inferior to . If it is our vanguard members, even if they dont apply any considerable defensive magic, they will easily defend against it. (Az) Fumu this is a point to be worried about (Renya) After all, it is elementary magic, was something that Renya understood. Although one might say the firepower was high, apparently with its power the most that could do in face of heavy armor was to the extent of causing petty scalding. My recommendation is after all. The user-friendliness is good and it has a wide usability so you dont need to be very cautious about use against potential opponents. (Az) The opinion of an expert is valuable. I will request this then, huh? (Renya) Once Renya decided, Az took out a scrap of paper from his luggage similar to the one he had seen in Khalils shop and affixed it to Renyas forehead. Bestow, (Az) The paper affixed to his forehead vanished and since a similar message streamed in as he had seen before, Renya accepted the selection.(T/N: The information terminal messages he means) Spell, according to my power, shoot a Fire Ball. Even if I continue to use this, how is it related to improving my magic capacity, I wonder? (Renya) Ah, did you also hear about this method? If you practice magic, your magic capacity will naturally increase. However, the accepted theory says that it wont increase much further than what you possess by nature, just that (Az) Az said while apparently having difficulty in speaking about it. It seemed to be something to take into consideration when Renya was told that he was lacking magic capacity at Khalils shop. It cant be helped. Even if you can only use it as a one off spell it will increase your options in combat. Because of that, there is no reason to not use it. (Az) By the way, what is it? (Renya) He asked as Az had taken an interest in something. About how many times have you become able to use the spell? (Az) Lets see (Renya) Since he hadnt even done something like counting, Renya tried to roughly calculate it mentally. As it was something along the lines of simultaneously activating 16 instances with the most recent casting macro, how many times can it be implemented until it stops?He didnt really pay any attention to that. Since it didnt cause the mana to be exhausted with 16 parallel instances activated within an hour of 60 activations (Renya) What was that? (Az) At the least I can use as many as 960 castings, I think? (Renya) Hearing Renya talking smoothly about the number, Azs facial expression became stiff. Even though Azs face was bluntly expressionless from the start, you could see it turn into even more of a carved statue than usual. Renya pondered whether he had said something odd and suddenly hit on an answer. It is about me having been told that I have practically no magic capacity. It isnt useful even if I practice to such an extent? Thats quite shocking, Renya judged. I guess it cant be helped since I have no talent (Renya) If only I had the aptitude. Renya sighed due to those profane words. Cutting into that, those words were covered by Az. No talent, you say? You, what the hell are you saying about yourself? Dont you understand? (Az) I do understand. Most likely I am not suited for it. (Renya) Dont say such stupid things. Listen! What I am about to tell you now, dont talk about it, okay? (Az) Suddenly bringing his face close, he lowered the volume of his voice. While also thinking that he wasnt really happy about a man drawing near, Renya nodded due to being pressured by the seriousness of Azs facial expression. First off, did you say parallel activation? (Az) Eh, ah, un (Renya) Although I am not even able to use magic with parallel activation the limit is two. (Az) Un? (Renya) An expert couldnt use more than two magic spells simultaneously. If that is the truth, then what the hell does it mean for me to be even able to activate 16 at the same time? But in addition to the number of activations, if I were to keep up using without a break, I would be able to activate it around 100 times before using up the majority of my mana. (Az) Looking at the Azs face in front of him, Renya was staring. He honestly couldnt see a glimpse of a lie being told in that face. Although he didnt seem to be telling lies, the contents of his words were still unbelievable. As my magic capacity was evaluated to be lacking by Khalil, there is no way for it to be close to 10 times that of an expert like Az. As he considered it to be impossible, Renya didnt actually lie about it himself either. Furthermore, even this close to 10 times the numbers, still left him with a margin on the numbers of activation. What is this about? (Renya) Due to still seeing Renya murmuring without comprehension, Az shook his head. Its not like I understand it. Although you might usually suspect an error in the measurement, I dont think that is possible if it was done by Khalil. (Az) The practice was an incredible success, going by such reasoning is likewise unlikely. Just a moment ago I was told by Az that it wasnt possible to increase it by practicing to such an extent either. If I were to have an idea, I guess it couldnt be helped to think that it was one of those many skills I received before coming to this world, Renya recalled. As that little girl said, the abilities will be sure to grow in proportion to being forged by training. Those are the fruits of training~ while separating his face from Az, Renya could agree to such view. It wasnt due to understanding it though. Although I dont know why it has become like this, if we assume this to be a fact, you can expect it to cause nothing but trouble if the surroundings became aware of this. (Az) Isnt it already too late since you know about it? (Renya) In my case I dont have the hobby of spreading rumors about someone elses circumstances. (Az) Despite having an unsociable face, only one side of Azs mouth moved slightly. Somehow Renya realized that he was kind of smiling. I am thankful for that. I am grateful for the accompanying warning. (Renya) There is no need for thanks although I would be happy if you give me a slightly larger portion of pasta for lunch. (Az) I will see to that. (Renya) Although he didnt prepare such an extent of pasta in his [Inventory] due to Renya arranging the amount of pasta roughly referencing upon himself, since he knew that Shion and Rona wouldnt eat more than he had assessed, he guessed there wouldnt be any difficulty to something like giving Azs party a larger portion. With acknowledging his words, Renya conveyed this meaning to Az. Im bored (Shion) Shion murmured lazily. As the small information exchange due to the deal was completely finished, there was nothing to do afterwards. Since neither Renya nor Az had any intention to dive into the dungeon until they finished eating lunch, naturally as there was nothing to do for the other members either it resulted in not being able to do anything but spending time on something like standby. After Az finished the exchange with Renya, he reported the established deal to his party members. Retrieving a carpet from within his luggage, he sat down on it with a thump on top of holding some volume of a book and began to read silently. Such a side of Az was something usual for the other members, huh? Without even particularly minding about something like this, each of them scattered to some suitable place around there in order to laze around and bask in the sun or to take a nap. Speaking of Renya, since he exhausted the soup he had received from the inn yesterday, he began his work by placing the pot with the deep bottom on top of the cooking stove and throwing in vegetables and meat in there as it would take some time to boil them well while cooking on a low flame. Although Renya intended to offer two types of sauces for lunch, one made out of cheese and milk and the other from the tomato-like vegetable, it was unthinkable for it to become satisfactory without something serving as a base for that. Given that this didnt mean that there would be a large quantity necessary, he carefully and slowly cooked together the reasonable amount of ingredients. Occasionally Renya added water to finish concentrating it. As the flavor of the finished concentrated base became strong, it ended up becoming bland, or rather the flavor was rough. The important difference could be determined by how well the good flavor of the vegetables and meat could be extracted. While persuading himself of that, Renya kept standing watch on the soup.(T/N: Is this a frigging cooking novel !! ><;;) Rona, going with the flow, ended up taking this state of affairs completely for granted and retired into the tent because she wanted to sleep until she got called by his voice. Although Shion watched Renya working for a while, she soon enough got tired of it in the end. I guess its inevitable, huh? I have ended up being in charge of lunch recently. Preparations are important for cooking. (Renya) We pretty much came here to capture the dungeon, right? (Shion) Then why is there a mood as if we were going for a picnic?Shion couldnt help but feel such doubts. Meanwhile Renya was scooping out the scum emerging on the surface of the pot. It isnt a good thing to be tense when it is unnecessary, right? (Renya) Arent we slacking off too much? (Shion) Well, what do you think? (Renya) Renya thought that they might be a bit too carefree as well. Nevertheless he had no intention on cutting corners in his duty of preparing lunch at all. He peeled the skin of the tomato-like vegetables after boiling them. Combining it with the remade soup by putting it into the pot, this would transform into a paste. Furthermore he threw in similar pastes transformed from other vegetables in. They added an aroma of herbs and slightly increased the concentration by increasing the viscosity. It was completed by seasoning it with a small quantity of salt and small pieces of meat. As for the cheese and milk sauce, he mixed the soup with the milk and seasoned that with salt n pepper. He heated it until it became thick by constantly tossing in pieces of cheese in there. Finely cut small pieces of vegetables were put in next. Since he obtained something of the sort of noodles as pasta, he put those into the deep pot alongside plenty of water. He took out the pasta after waiting for it to boil with irregular movements. Although it was frequently said that you left it inside until the core part became one long hair before pulling it out, since Renya wasnt fond of such a method, he boiled them properly and then took them out. Soon after putting the two types of sauces into their respective deep dishes, he placed the boiled pasta on a large plate and completed it by arranging individual plates. All that was left was for each to pick up some pasta, pour it with their preferred sauce and eat it. Because it was also a portion of pasta for 8 people all together, it was unthinkable to finish cooking it in one go. While watching the pasta placed on the plate disappearing, he thoughtMaa, its fine since they are able to eat something delicious, no?Renya was single-mindedly boiling pasta. Chapter 27 CHAPTER 27 C IT SEEMS TO BE A CONSULTATION WHILECLEANING In the end the prepared pasta stock became less than half. You could say this was something that couldnt be helped. Since originally they prepared it to be used by a party of one man and two women, namely Renya, Shion and Rona, the quantity they took along was to satisfy just them. Although Renya had also taken along a surplus considering some unforeseen situations occuring, adding 5 grown man to this was still harsh. Rather, with adding this many, it is good that there is still close to half remaining, he thought bitterly. Renya had a high opinion of himself. I want to praise my former self, while thinking such trivial things, he used his hands to wash the tableware devoting himself completely to the task. Without having to mention the dishes, as hygenic conditions couldnt be really mentioned to be well in this world, he couldnt leave the pot and kitchen knife without properly washing and suitably drying them either. Doing so could cause something like somache ache and in the end the ability to enjoy the meal would be lost. The used tools were washed sufficiently and dried with a cleansed cloth. This is already a matter of my previous lifes common sense concerning someone who touches foodstuff, Renya judged. While wiping the tableware with a clean cloth, he surveyed the surroundings. He could see them fully enjoying the early afternoon with full stomachs sitting directly on the ground with the only difference being the variation of spread out carpets they were using. It was a really peaceful view. Peaceful, even though it couldnt be helped to just call it peaceful, it was still a fact. While helping to wipe the tableware next to Renya, Az seemed to likewise feel the same. He started a conversation with a low voice to the extent that it couldnt be heard by the surroundings. They havent returned. (Az) That voice didnt contain anything like the feeling of anxiety. It was no more than an indifferent way of confirming the truth. Ah, thats true. (Renya) Without resting his hands on the task, Renya agreed. A young dungeon didnt have a size to such an extent. Although he had heard that, Renya didnt concretely know just how big the size actually was. But, with the ranks of the parties as it is, secluding themselves for a few hours without emerging in a dungeon said to not have such an extensive size, is that something ordinary? Renya wasnt able to judge it. In the first place, since there wasnt such things like dungeons in his previous world, it was just reasonable for him to not have the knowledge related to this. How could it be fine to judge that without having the knowledge? If it is something that you dont have, it will be a good idea to borrow it from someone who has it. A pretty simple matter. Az, can you be my teacher? Please, there is something I absolutely want to ask (Renya) Although it certainly seemed as if he wanted to ask something, it could also really be called something close to getting free information about this place. As Renya tried to act modestly as there was the possibility of him thinking like that for sure, Azs reaction was something completely unexpected. Stop it, it feels sickening. What will you do if I drop a plate due to that? Although it might be particularly good since it is yours. (Az) While retreating half a step, Az raised his voice in protest expressing a truly unpleasant look on his expressionless face. Tentatively Renya had intended to ask earnestly, but he also felt a slight satisfaction seeing such unusually reluctant facial expression on Az. If the plate ended up being broken because of that, I wouldnt be able to bear it. What do you want to know? I will listen to you normally. (Az) Is it normal for 2 parties to not come out from diving into a small dungeon after a few hours? (Renya) Since he didnt know when Hartz party entered the dungeon, he couldnt say anything concerning that. But if the discussion was restricted to only talking about Zests party, they had dived into the dungeon for around 5 hours without any news. Speaking of Renyas quesion, as Az answered right away, did he think about the same question? Although I cant say its normal, I cant say its abnormal either. (Az) Finishing wiping the plate dry, after giving it to Renya, he picked up another plate that was still wet. While beginning the task of wiping it once more, Az replied. As he was quite skilled with something like that, Renya could comply with Az being usually in charge of cleaning and cooking for the sake of the four on guard duty. His performance was quite agreeable. Though it may be a small dungeon, it isnt something unusual to spend time in it. Even if it doesnt mean that it is very strong, you can still randomly encounter such things like a tough guardian. (Az) I see? (Renya) However, because we have manpower here, in such a situation it would also be normal to think of doing something like calling for reinforcements while some people hold it off. (Az) No matter how solid the defense power it possessed, assuming you beat it up with a large number of people, it would be an obvious matter of shortening the time needed to defeat it. Even if they were determined to do it by themselves they were still undermanned. If they had reinforcements close by, they wouldnt have a choice but to call them over. I see. (Renya) Although that brown-dyed hair baka, who doesnt happen to have any particularly noticeable intelligence, will very likely end up shedding tears, Hartz doesnt seem to have realized that. (Az) Inde oi, dont use such spiteful words. (Renya) Az ignored Renya, who had inserted a tsukkomi in his agreement, without even blinking. In conclusion, I think something has happened. (Az) Az held out the plate he finished to dry to Renya. After taking it and confirming that the water had been properly wiped away, Renya tossed it into his [Inventory]. I am deliberating what might have happened. (Az) Both parties that went ahead have an evaluation to be higher ranked than us. (Renya) Though I dont think I can tell how far we can go, they will die without exception if we continue our picnic here without doing anything. (Az) I dare say as for ingredients, we still have some leeway. (Renya) Renya spent almost all of the prior preparation time on securing ingredients. Although the amount of money he possessed including the amount for selling of the magic cores was down to merely 3 gold coins, the reason for that happening could be attributed almost entirely to him buying ingredients, tools and materials. The reason for the only meager remaining amount was it vanishing into such things such as ropes, tinderboxes and lanterns which he gave Rona, who was in charge of buying them. Our side as well. Even though I say that, we have nothing but hard bread and jerky stocked. (Az) Even though it was a talk about something having no taste, it was still something called essential for normal adventurers. Due to equipment and tools being important, it could be said to be the obvious choice, even going as far as calling it rational, to prepare food that wasnt bulky and heavy. Originally it would be strange to put importance on taste and bring something that didnt last long on top of being unwieldy like fresh vegetables and milk like Renya did in this situation. And isnt this a slightly bitter picnic, I wonder? Though it is also fine to receive and include our ingredients, there has to be an end to it. (Az) Even though I want to do something to take care of it if possible, I have nothing to pay with anymore either. In other words. (Renya) There is nothing left but passing the bounds and get started on acting. (Az & Renya) Sending out the same phrase at the same time, Renya and Az looked at each other faces. Staring at each other for a short while, they averted their gazes from each other with the same timing again. I see, I see, I dont dislike such things either. (Renya) Although I thought you might be of the same type as that brown-haired baka, why, just why is it something good to be next to a fellow who properly understands matters? (Az) Why are you are you thinking I am the same type like that? (Renya) Though you have nothing but women in your party? (Az) Declaring it as if it was only natural, Renya smiled bitterly. Even though I think there are various problems in a party made out of only women, if you also enter a single man in there, there will be some problems left after all, he thought. While that may be true, with Rona strongly opposing the idea of adding other male members, it seems that it will be very difficult to realize this. We should decide on the objective of action. It isnt my hobby to blindly charge into something. (Az) Internal investigation and confirming the preceding parties. The conditions for retreating are (Renya) In case of discovering something considered to make the well being of the preceding parties hopeless or encountering the cause of that one way or another, it is. (Az) At the same time Az finished saying this, he handed the last plate that had to be wiped to Renya. Renya checked the state of that plate. The water was completely wiped off. He admired the truly good work. Well then, maa, lets get started, huh? The higher ranking parties have been completely annihilated ~ saying that, would it be sufficient reason to abandon the request? (Renya) Without moving his mouth, as if telling Renya that it was fine in that case, Az showed a nod. Ah, somehow saying this is similar to giving an order to stop it. (Az) Well, then it is decided. Shion! Rona! (Renya) Having their names called out and having the cloth spread on the ground under them pulled away, the two, who had been sleeping with a *suya suya*, quickly got up halfway. As if wanting to be praised for their quickness in reacting like this, their ears stood on end with a twitch due to having their names called in an appearance that could be described as cats. It was such a scene. Get prepared, we are entering the dungeon. (Renya) You guys, start preparing as well. We will enter the dungeon forming a common front with Renyas groups party. (Az) With Azs issued instruction, his members started to get armed. The equipment of them, who were entrusted to serve as shields, were plate mail and a massive shield. Although it was extremely heavy equipment, what caught Renyas eyes was their weapons. All of them wore a short small sword that was easy to swing in ones hands. Are you surprised? (Az) Did he notice the item which stopped Renyas eyes? Az asked a question. Renya, who had checked those small swords for a while, shook his head left and right before long. You have considered it well. (Renya) He understood that far from causing a fatal injury it would be difficult even give damage by cutting with a long sword against a sturdily made plate armor. An attack like chopping through man and armor altogether in one swing wasnt possible except within novels or mangas. Usually, if you were to encounter a warrior equipped in plate armor, there was no other method other than either causing him to faint due to the attacks and then finish him off or aim at the gaps in the armor. The opponents are restrained with the individual defense power of those four and by easily passing this small sword around, someone can stab the enemy. That is likely the division of roles while fighting, Renya conjectured. Because all four function well as defense, Az can focus on attacking with magic. We arent something like knights. Thus we dont fuss over the methods of fighting. Some restrain the enemy and some diminish the numbers of enemies. If you are properly able to do this, there wont be any kind of problems. (Az) Although Rona frowned slightly as the talks turned to knights and so on at this point, Az didnt become aware of it. Renya, the preparations are complete. (Shion) Shion called out. She wore a steel breastplate and a forehead protector(T/N: like the ones in Naruto)additionally to her usual miko clothes type of old ceremonial costume. The outfit was complimented with steel reinforced leather tekkous* and boots with steel inlets. Renya ended up suspecting whether she wasnt somehow even a much more Japanese person than him with her truly Japanese style. Rona, whose armaments he had seen in the carriage already, stood next to her. Both of them carried a small backpack on their back. The contents were such things as medicines, bandages, a water-filled canteen and portable food. Although it wasnt really needed considering that Renya was there, it didnt mean that they might not fall into an unforeseeable situation ending up being separated from each other. If they were to only count on Renyas void storage, they would be in real trouble at the time he couldnt use his hands and feet. After looking at them, Renya took out his equipment from the [Inventory]. It was something simple that was sold in stores, leather and copper armor with tekkous. Since it would only obstruct his field of view, he didnt feel inclined to wear something like a helmet. Even though he put on boots as footwear, those were something common without having a reinforcement with something like iron differing from the boots Shion and Rona were wearing. Only on the shoe sole there was an iron plate inserted to prevent treading something into the sole of his feet. As a weapon he had the katana he exchanged with Kirie. When he took that out from his [Inventory] the looks from the surroundings gathered on it. What to say? This shape of weapon, I have never seen it before. (Az) Isnt the sword blade too thin? Although it has a beautiful shape (Shion) Az and Shion each expressed their opinions. While thinking something along the lines ofIs that how it appears to you?, Renya coiled the belt he had procured before leaving the city around his waist and hung the katana there. He tied the scabbard to the belt with metal fittings. The construction was such that he could disconnect the scabbard from the belt with a strong snap from his fingers at the attached clasp protuberance in times of need. Although Renya thought that there likely werent such things as inserted gimmicks for the different types of weapons circulating in this world, he was able to find it surprisingly easily in a regular store. He heard that in cases such as falling into water while having weapons equipped, there was a necessity to immediately remove them from the clothing. In preparation for such times, it appears that the sword belts being circulated possessed such a mechanism. Even though the purpose was different, Renya immediately bought it since its efficiency was plenty sufficient in practical use. Because it was after purchasing the ingredients, he ended up having to secretly borrow money from Rona as his own capital wasnt enough. What will we do about the carriages? (Renya) There shouldnt be any monsters who attack horses if its this area. It will be fine to leave them as they are tied to the stakes. If we return within roughly 2-3 hours, it will be alright. (Az) Is that so? Well then, is everyone done preparing? (Renya) As Renya called out to them, each of them nodded. Seeing Azs party members nodding, Renya turned around into the direction of Az. There Az nodded as well. Oi? (Renya) In this case it goes without saying that you as a swordsman is much more suited as leader than me as a magician. (Az) Why? ( Renya) Since there is no point in telling you, I wont tell you. (Az) Az threw out his chest challenging him as to whether he had any complaints. Is it fine to take this as proof of trust? Or is it fine to take this as forcing a role onto me including all the troubles along with it? Thinking about it in a positive way that it would make everyone happy, Renya took a single breath and said, I understand. I will give the instructions. Please tell me at any time you dont want to follow them. (Renya) Understood, is that fine with you guys as well? (Az) Az confirmed it with all his partys members, It didnt seem that they were dissatisfied either. With the same timing four full faced steel helmets nodded vertically. Good, then prepare the lights lets go. (Renya) He didnt leak his inner feelings whether it was fine to leave the leadership to someone who was traversing a dungeon for the first time in this and the previous life. While dedicating himself to be seen as confident as possible, Renya gave the command to his seven companions. Translation Notes *http://cospatio.com/detail/id/00000000076 CHAPTER 27 C IT SEEMS TO BE A CONSULTATION WHILECLEANING In the end the prepared pasta stock became less than half. You could say this was something that couldnt be helped. Since originally they prepared it to be used by a party of one man and two women, namely Renya, Shion and Rona, the quantity they took along was to satisfy just them. Although Renya had also taken along a surplus considering some unforeseen situations occuring, adding 5 grown man to this was still harsh. Rather, with adding this many, it is good that there is still close to half remaining, he thought bitterly. Renya had a high opinion of himself. I want to praise my former self, while thinking such trivial things, he used his hands to wash the tableware devoting himself completely to the task. Without having to mention the dishes, as hygenic conditions couldnt be really mentioned to be well in this world, he couldnt leave the pot and kitchen knife without properly washing and suitably drying them either. Doing so could cause something like somache ache and in the end the ability to enjoy the meal would be lost. The used tools were washed sufficiently and dried with a cleansed cloth. This is already a matter of my previous lifes common sense concerning someone who touches foodstuff, Renya judged. While wiping the tableware with a clean cloth, he surveyed the surroundings. He could see them fully enjoying the early afternoon with full stomachs sitting directly on the ground with the only difference being the variation of spread out carpets they were using. It was a really peaceful view. Peaceful, even though it couldnt be helped to just call it peaceful, it was still a fact. While helping to wipe the tableware next to Renya, Az seemed to likewise feel the same. He started a conversation with a low voice to the extent that it couldnt be heard by the surroundings. They havent returned. (Az) That voice didnt contain anything like the feeling of anxiety. It was no more than an indifferent way of confirming the truth. Ah, thats true. (Renya) Without resting his hands on the task, Renya agreed. A young dungeon didnt have a size to such an extent. Although he had heard that, Renya didnt concretely know just how big the size actually was. But, with the ranks of the parties as it is, secluding themselves for a few hours without emerging in a dungeon said to not have such an extensive size, is that something ordinary? Renya wasnt able to judge it. In the first place, since there wasnt such things like dungeons in his previous world, it was just reasonable for him to not have the knowledge related to this. How could it be fine to judge that without having the knowledge? If it is something that you dont have, it will be a good idea to borrow it from someone who has it. A pretty simple matter. Az, can you be my teacher? Please, there is something I absolutely want to ask (Renya) Although it certainly seemed as if he wanted to ask something, it could also really be called something close to getting free information about this place. As Renya tried to act modestly as there was the possibility of him thinking like that for sure, Azs reaction was something completely unexpected. Stop it, it feels sickening. What will you do if I drop a plate due to that? Although it might be particularly good since it is yours. (Az) While retreating half a step, Az raised his voice in protest expressing a truly unpleasant look on his expressionless face. Tentatively Renya had intended to ask earnestly, but he also felt a slight satisfaction seeing such unusually reluctant facial expression on Az. If the plate ended up being broken because of that, I wouldnt be able to bear it. What do you want to know? I will listen to you normally. (Az) Is it normal for 2 parties to not come out from diving into a small dungeon after a few hours? (Renya) Since he didnt know when Hartz party entered the dungeon, he couldnt say anything concerning that. But if the discussion was restricted to only talking about Zests party, they had dived into the dungeon for around 5 hours without any news. Speaking of Renyas quesion, as Az answered right away, did he think about the same question? Although I cant say its normal, I cant say its abnormal either. (Az) Finishing wiping the plate dry, after giving it to Renya, he picked up another plate that was still wet. While beginning the task of wiping it once more, Az replied. As he was quite skilled with something like that, Renya could comply with Az being usually in charge of cleaning and cooking for the sake of the four on guard duty. His performance was quite agreeable. Though it may be a small dungeon, it isnt something unusual to spend time in it. Even if it doesnt mean that it is very strong, you can still randomly encounter such things like a tough guardian. (Az) I see? (Renya) However, because we have manpower here, in such a situation it would also be normal to think of doing something like calling for reinforcements while some people hold it off. (Az) No matter how solid the defense power it possessed, assuming you beat it up with a large number of people, it would be an obvious matter of shortening the time needed to defeat it. Even if they were determined to do it by themselves they were still undermanned. If they had reinforcements close by, they wouldnt have a choice but to call them over. I see. (Renya) Although that brown-dyed hair baka, who doesnt happen to have any particularly noticeable intelligence, will very likely end up shedding tears, Hartz doesnt seem to have realized that. (Az) Inde oi, dont use such spiteful words. (Renya) Az ignored Renya, who had inserted a tsukkomi in his agreement, without even blinking. In conclusion, I think something has happened. (Az) Az held out the plate he finished to dry to Renya. After taking it and confirming that the water had been properly wiped away, Renya tossed it into his [Inventory]. I am deliberating what might have happened. (Az) Both parties that went ahead have an evaluation to be higher ranked than us. (Renya) Though I dont think I can tell how far we can go, they will die without exception if we continue our picnic here without doing anything. (Az) I dare say as for ingredients, we still have some leeway. (Renya) Renya spent almost all of the prior preparation time on securing ingredients. Although the amount of money he possessed including the amount for selling of the magic cores was down to merely 3 gold coins, the reason for that happening could be attributed almost entirely to him buying ingredients, tools and materials. The reason for the only meager remaining amount was it vanishing into such things such as ropes, tinderboxes and lanterns which he gave Rona, who was in charge of buying them. Our side as well. Even though I say that, we have nothing but hard bread and jerky stocked. (Az) Even though it was a talk about something having no taste, it was still something called essential for normal adventurers. Due to equipment and tools being important, it could be said to be the obvious choice, even going as far as calling it rational, to prepare food that wasnt bulky and heavy. Originally it would be strange to put importance on taste and bring something that didnt last long on top of being unwieldy like fresh vegetables and milk like Renya did in this situation. And isnt this a slightly bitter picnic, I wonder? Though it is also fine to receive and include our ingredients, there has to be an end to it. (Az) Even though I want to do something to take care of it if possible, I have nothing to pay with anymore either. In other words. (Renya) There is nothing left but passing the bounds and get started on acting. (Az & Renya) Sending out the same phrase at the same time, Renya and Az looked at each other faces. Staring at each other for a short while, they averted their gazes from each other with the same timing again. I see, I see, I dont dislike such things either. (Renya) Although I thought you might be of the same type as that brown-haired baka, why, just why is it something good to be next to a fellow who properly understands matters? (Az) Why are you are you thinking I am the same type like that? (Renya) Though you have nothing but women in your party? (Az) Declaring it as if it was only natural, Renya smiled bitterly. Even though I think there are various problems in a party made out of only women, if you also enter a single man in there, there will be some problems left after all, he thought. While that may be true, with Rona strongly opposing the idea of adding other male members, it seems that it will be very difficult to realize this. We should decide on the objective of action. It isnt my hobby to blindly charge into something. (Az) Internal investigation and confirming the preceding parties. The conditions for retreating are (Renya) In case of discovering something considered to make the well being of the preceding parties hopeless or encountering the cause of that one way or another, it is. (Az) At the same time Az finished saying this, he handed the last plate that had to be wiped to Renya. Renya checked the state of that plate. The water was completely wiped off. He admired the truly good work. Well then, maa, lets get started, huh? The higher ranking parties have been completely annihilated ~ saying that, would it be sufficient reason to abandon the request? (Renya) Without moving his mouth, as if telling Renya that it was fine in that case, Az showed a nod. Ah, somehow saying this is similar to giving an order to stop it. (Az) Well, then it is decided. Shion! Rona! (Renya) Having their names called out and having the cloth spread on the ground under them pulled away, the two, who had been sleeping with a *suya suya*, quickly got up halfway. As if wanting to be praised for their quickness in reacting like this, their ears stood on end with a twitch due to having their names called in an appearance that could be described as cats. It was such a scene. Get prepared, we are entering the dungeon. (Renya) You guys, start preparing as well. We will enter the dungeon forming a common front with Renyas groups party. (Az) With Azs issued instruction, his members started to get armed. The equipment of them, who were entrusted to serve as shields, were plate mail and a massive shield. Although it was extremely heavy equipment, what caught Renyas eyes was their weapons. All of them wore a short small sword that was easy to swing in ones hands. Are you surprised? (Az) Did he notice the item which stopped Renyas eyes? Az asked a question. Renya, who had checked those small swords for a while, shook his head left and right before long. You have considered it well. (Renya) He understood that far from causing a fatal injury it would be difficult even give damage by cutting with a long sword against a sturdily made plate armor. An attack like chopping through man and armor altogether in one swing wasnt possible except within novels or mangas. Usually, if you were to encounter a warrior equipped in plate armor, there was no other method other than either causing him to faint due to the attacks and then finish him off or aim at the gaps in the armor. The opponents are restrained with the individual defense power of those four and by easily passing this small sword around, someone can stab the enemy. That is likely the division of roles while fighting, Renya conjectured. Because all four function well as defense, Az can focus on attacking with magic. We arent something like knights. Thus we dont fuss over the methods of fighting. Some restrain the enemy and some diminish the numbers of enemies. If you are properly able to do this, there wont be any kind of problems. (Az) Although Rona frowned slightly as the talks turned to knights and so on at this point, Az didnt become aware of it. Renya, the preparations are complete. (Shion) Shion called out. She wore a steel breastplate and a forehead protector(T/N: like the ones in Naruto)additionally to her usual miko clothes type of old ceremonial costume. The outfit was complimented with steel reinforced leather tekkous* and boots with steel inlets. Renya ended up suspecting whether she wasnt somehow even a much more Japanese person than him with her truly Japanese style. Rona, whose armaments he had seen in the carriage already, stood next to her. Both of them carried a small backpack on their back. The contents were such things as medicines, bandages, a water-filled canteen and portable food. Although it wasnt really needed considering that Renya was there, it didnt mean that they might not fall into an unforeseeable situation ending up being separated from each other. If they were to only count on Renyas void storage, they would be in real trouble at the time he couldnt use his hands and feet. After looking at them, Renya took out his equipment from the [Inventory]. It was something simple that was sold in stores, leather and copper armor with tekkous. Since it would only obstruct his field of view, he didnt feel inclined to wear something like a helmet. Even though he put on boots as footwear, those were something common without having a reinforcement with something like iron differing from the boots Shion and Rona were wearing. Only on the shoe sole there was an iron plate inserted to prevent treading something into the sole of his feet. As a weapon he had the katana he exchanged with Kirie. When he took that out from his [Inventory] the looks from the surroundings gathered on it. What to say? This shape of weapon, I have never seen it before. (Az) Isnt the sword blade too thin? Although it has a beautiful shape (Shion) Az and Shion each expressed their opinions. While thinking something along the lines ofIs that how it appears to you?, Renya coiled the belt he had procured before leaving the city around his waist and hung the katana there. He tied the scabbard to the belt with metal fittings. The construction was such that he could disconnect the scabbard from the belt with a strong snap from his fingers at the attached clasp protuberance in times of need. Although Renya thought that there likely werent such things as inserted gimmicks for the different types of weapons circulating in this world, he was able to find it surprisingly easily in a regular store. He heard that in cases such as falling into water while having weapons equipped, there was a necessity to immediately remove them from the clothing. In preparation for such times, it appears that the sword belts being circulated possessed such a mechanism. Even though the purpose was different, Renya immediately bought it since its efficiency was plenty sufficient in practical use. Because it was after purchasing the ingredients, he ended up having to secretly borrow money from Rona as his own capital wasnt enough. What will we do about the carriages? (Renya) There shouldnt be any monsters who attack horses if its this area. It will be fine to leave them as they are tied to the stakes. If we return within roughly 2-3 hours, it will be alright. (Az) Is that so? Well then, is everyone done preparing? (Renya) As Renya called out to them, each of them nodded. Seeing Azs party members nodding, Renya turned around into the direction of Az. There Az nodded as well. Oi? (Renya) In this case it goes without saying that you as a swordsman is much more suited as leader than me as a magician. (Az) Why? ( Renya) Since there is no point in telling you, I wont tell you. (Az) Az threw out his chest challenging him as to whether he had any complaints. Is it fine to take this as proof of trust? Or is it fine to take this as forcing a role onto me including all the troubles along with it? Thinking about it in a positive way that it would make everyone happy, Renya took a single breath and said, I understand. I will give the instructions. Please tell me at any time you dont want to follow them. (Renya) Understood, is that fine with you guys as well? (Az) Az confirmed it with all his partys members, It didnt seem that they were dissatisfied either. With the same timing four full faced steel helmets nodded vertically. Good, then prepare the lights lets go. (Renya) He didnt leak his inner feelings whether it was fine to leave the leadership to someone who was traversing a dungeon for the first time in this and the previous life. While dedicating himself to be seen as confident as possible, Renya gave the command to his seven companions. Translation Notes *http://cospatio.com/detail/id/00000000076 Chapter 28 CHAPTER 28: IT SEEMS TO BE THE FIRST DUNGEON, BUT IT IS STRANGESOMEHOW Sa~ We entered the dungeon. Even if you end up describing it in a single word dungeon, people have various images in relation to that word within their minds. You cant say there is something like a rule set what to imagine, Renya thought. However, I somehow think they should have an image of it mostly having naked rock surfaces, mud walls, things that resemble a humans hand and formed pathways made out of stone blocks. That was until I heard a single expression by chance. Grown living type dungeon. Renya wasnt able to imagine it. In the first place a dungeon shouldnt be something living, but saying it grows in depth and with with the passing of months and years? I wonder what the heck is this phenomenon about? At the very least it isnt a phenomenon happening to an inorganic stone wall. Therefore, until Renya dived into this dungeon, he pondered whether the interior would be similar to the intestines of a living creature. If that was the case, his disgust gauge would sky-rocket, but at least he would also somehow understand why it was called living type. However, as he currently tried diving into it, his anticipations were easily betrayed. Also there was this again, the descending stairway. He didnt grasp why it was there to begin with. As Renya went down and stood inside the dungeon and surveyed the situation of his vicinity, he muttered disappointedly, Somehow it is a normal hole. (Renya) The wall seemed to be a bare mud wall, but it felt strangely solid upon touching. The surface appeared to be covered with something. Even as he tried out striking it with his fist, it didnt crumble or change its shape. Measuring it by eye, the normal holes size was around 3 meters in length and width. That was the range the torch light could cover. But the room spread out much further ahead. What did you expect? (Shion) Shion asked besides Renya. Having formed an united front with Azs group in these circumstances, Renya assigned the increased group of 8 people into 2 as vanguards, 3 as middle guards and 3 as rear guard. Of course Renya said right away that he would stand as vanguard and announced Shion becoming the second person. This was immediately accepted. The middle guard had Rona, being in charge of healing, and Az, being in charge of firepower, along one guard. The remaining guards acted as rear guard. While starting to walk, Renya gathered the words to explain what he expected. No, since you said it is a living-type dungeon, I thought it would be a sort of living creature or something like that (Renya) Who would consider to dive into that kind of a dungeon ? (Shion) Seeing Shions face twitching in displeasure, Renya thoughtThat is certainly right. No matter how profitable it might me, there wouldnt be many willing to pass through passages resembling the intestines of a living creature. Those going to dive into such a thing could only be called having a strange taste. The passages are created by portions of them crumbling little by little. (Az) Az cut into the discussion of the two from the back. It isnt like there is someone digging the tunnels, but little by little the passages are extending. By being able to make branches of those passages the dungeon is capable to grow into a huge structure. If the passage gets too big, it turns into a room. The treasures are placed in there then. (Az) Who puts such things there? (Renya) There are various theories. There are some saying that the monsters put them there while there are others advocating that the core has some kind of method in its deposition. Or it can be said that both options are possible? (Az) If you look at it from the dungeons side, it will also be troubled by being limitlessly, indiscriminately plundered. But in reverse it will also be a problem if no one comes visiting. Controlling this situation, you can definitely say that the core has an intention, no? Az-sensei is quite well-informed. (Renya) Looking back over his shoulder, Renya says, in order to tease him. Az glared at Renya with a grim face. Though I also think it is nice to chat, dont forget to keep attention to the surroundings. This isnt a party of thieves. (Az) Yeah, yeah (Renya) Renya returns his line of sight to the front. Az exhaled with a face that said Yare yare. Actually Az and Renya are expecting that it wont become a situation where they need a thief. One thing is that the dungeon, they are passing through, is young. And the other thing is that the two parties, which went ahead, have passed through it as well. Whether the thieves, who passed through here before, have planted traps on the main pathway or not is something they are investigating while they advance. But if there are traps, whether the leading groups neutralized them or didnt notice them as they werent caught in them, either option has a high probability. Isnt it weird for grown dungeon passages to have traps? (Renya) I dont know that, you have to ask the core about it. (Az) Az seems to want to say that it cant be helped since the traps are there. It is indispensable to understand that this is something like theory turning into reality. Both of you, something resembling a room can be seen ahead. (Rona) Due to Ronas voice, the mood becomes tense. Quickly switching over, as you would expect from people working as adventurers, I suppose, Renya is the only person care-freely concerned about such things, but his left hand warily reached out to his katana. Room? (Renya) If the passage becomes wide, it turns into a room? There is no door though. (Shion) The one who answered is Shion. although there isnt a presence of living things? (Renya) You know? (Shion) Vaguely, yeah. (Renya) The passage abruptly became wide and an open space appeared. The two vanguards cautiously enter and survey the vicinity attentively. Although Shion has her weapon already taken out, Renya hasnt drawn his katana. The reason for that can be explained that the action of drawing itself is connected to an attack. A katana is something to be drawn for the sake of killing. His intuition tells him that it isnt something you swing around while walking. He has such feeling stored somewhere within his mind. There is no one here? (Shion) Shions voice sounds as if she is confirming that. While replying with a nod, Renya, looking at a point on the floor, discovered something like a stain. As the light of the torch is swaying, he cant accurately see the surface of the floor. If he brings the fire closer, its composition might change due to the heat as well. I see, I have practised the spell for such occasions, while comprehending that, Renya cast the spell close to that stain. What is it? (Az) Az noticed that that light was suddenly emitted from the air close to the floor. The stain below that became visible. Even though the ground of the floor was bare, that part of the floor obviously had an unusual color. Though it has become considerable pale, it is blood, no? (Renya) Probably. Someone was injured here or a monster was defeated here, right? (Az) Even if you say the stain became pale, it reached a span of around the length of stretching both arms. In that case to produce such a size of a stain, the degree of bleeding I think, if its an injury, it is a dangerous amount of blood. (Renya) Since the dungeon has ended up absorbing the majority, we dont know whether it is a person or a monster. (Az) Realizing that he heard somehow disturbing words, Renya ends up staring at Azs face. But Az was making an unconcerned face as he said this. Is it the first time that you see this? (Az) Ah, will absorbing it in this way turn into growth strength ? (Renya) Thats right. With the passage of time blood and corpses will vanish. (Az) Although he heard such story, the received impact is really different when you actually witness it. Once again I realize that I came to a completely different place than my original world, Renya thought. But the other members seem to have perceived this shock in a different meaning. Renya, should we return temporarily? (Shion) Shion calls out to him in a voice filled with worry. Without even having a slight trembling as she stared at the stain on the floor, she placed her hand on Renyas shoulder. Now that I think about it, it is Renyas first time experiencing this. It is inevitable that you are receiving a shock. We can return once and come back tomorrow to try again as well (Shion) Nn? Ah, I am alright. I was only surprised. I havent particularly received a shock. (Renya) Hitting Shions shoulder with a *pon pon*, he is appealing to the other members, who are watching his state carefully, by lightly laughing showing his lack of concern over this matter. While appealing, because he is the leader, he changes the atmosphere in the party by timing and his facial expression. Though he is thinking that this is also quite difficult. Is that so? Its fine if you are alright, but please tell me if there is anything. (Shion) I am happy about you worrying about me, Shion. But I am fine. (Renya) Renya says while keeping his tone of voice as kind as possible. Did Shion understand it at last? Separating her hand somewhat reluctantly from Renyas shoulder, she once again begins to watch the surroundings having her weapon prepared. They dont understand whether it was a monster or a human on the floor, but because of the matter of there being a blood-like stain there, Renyas group knew that something had happened at this place. And they also perceived that this conjecture was connected with a battle most likely. There is something here after all. (Renya) Thats only natural, this is a dungeon. (Az) As if saying What are you talking about at this late point in time? Az returns a wry smile. For now lets go ahead, ok? Only this much is a weak reason for making an escape, right? (Az) It should be okay, if the corpse has already disappeared into the ground. (Renya) Az and Renya didnt plan to capture the entire dungeon any more. However, they didnt think that for the completion of the request it would be reasonable to just report this fact or that only this level of evidence would be enough. It is the first time for me to travelling a dungeon this half-heartedly (Shion) Although Shion raises her voice as if feeling worn-out for some reason, there was no reply from the other party members except bitter smiles. Everyone should be aware of the strength of the parties that went ahead. They fully knew that it was a situation about which they couldnt do anything if those parties dont return in the end. Renya (Az) Holding a torch, Az, standing in the vicinity of the only exit of this room, addressed Renya. Beyond this point there is a door. (Az) Ha? (Renya) If you leave this room, there is a door right away. (Az) Being beckoned to come to Azs side, looking in the direction Azs finger pointed, past the the exit of the room, where Renyas group is in, there was a short passage. As it was a distance the light of the torch, standing at the exit, barely reached, a dull grey door was visible. With a size of the entire passage being around 3 meters in length and width, although there was a door, being the type of double door which opens from the middle, it was somewhat strange. Hey, is it normal for a young dungeon to have such splendid door installed? (Renya) If its a grown dungeon, there will be such installations made by monsters, but With the youth of this dungeon, it is impossible. In the first place, the path we took was direct and unforked, right? The room, we are currently in, is the first one. For such dungeon to have such door for its second room, thats plainly odd. (Az) Do the leading parties have this information as well? (Renya) I have no doubt that Hartz party knows about it I dont care about dyed-brown-hairs party. (Az) Azs reaction was such that Renya wanted to ask whether he had any very bad memories with harem parties, but now wasnt the time for that. Gathering everyone at the side of the rooms entrance, Renya stated clearly, Lets go back. (Renya) Eh? (The others) Excluding Renya, all present reacted like that. Without caring about it, Renya continues. This is dangerous. There is definitely something here. Leaving this room, there is a door right away, but no matter how you think about it, it is risky to open that door. My intuition is telling me this. (Renya) Having the skill to sense danger, Renya isnt able to do anything about it any more, even if he regrets to have obtained it. It didnt seem that there was someone amongst this party who had such ability though. Its a point I want to agree with, but (Az) Az says while collecting his thoughts. I also consider this to be strange. But we wont be able to explain adequately to the guild why we returned after having reached the door. (Az) Hasnt it also the possibility of being a death trap as soon as you open it? (Renya) It is strange that there is such door, but it would be even weirder if there was such a trap. (Az) Renya, there wont even be any meaning in accepting the request, if we return because it was suspicious without investigating anything. Even the guild wont be able to do anything but inflict a heavy penalty upon us. (Shion) Due to Azs and Shions words, Renya ends up pondering about it. I wonder if this is the difference of not having self-awareness of being an adventurer from this area? Of course Renya is considering that he has no self-consciousness about being an adventurer himself. For this reason, he has only considered the matter with the guild as Its fine either way. Feeling a danger beyond expectation currently, he chose to withdraw without hesitation. But it appears as if that is a difficult suggestion for Az and Shion, who seem to have self-awareness as adventurers, to accept. I have a hunch that it will be our end, if we open that door, you know ? (Renya) If thats the case, lets do it like this, Renya. (Az) Az, probably unable to watch the indecisive Renya, made a single suggestion. What do you say about all of us being the vanguards and Renyas group being responsible of backing us up? (Az) No, that is (Renya) No matter what Renya says, we will try to open that door. Going back without doing this, we wont be able to return to our occupation as adventurers. If Renya refuses to act as backup, we will continue to investigate by only ourselves. (Az) Nuu (Renya) Renya. You are our leader, so we will follow your decision. But if that means to abandon Azs group here and turn back I dont think that would be a very admirable deed. (Shion) Guu (Renya) Renya had no words in return. Certainly, getting results from the job, we took up, will become our first assessment in itself. Currently I am doing nothing but insisting on abandoning that. But my feeling also definitely tells me that there is danger lurking beyond that door. Even though he is understanding that, because Azs party will be going first, Renya didnt seem to be able to accept having an acquaintance storming into a place he feels to be dangerous. Understood. Lets advance ahead. (Renya) In the end there is no other option but to go forward seeing that he has no arguments to persuade the members otherwise. Having judged like this, Renya sighed dropping his shoulders. However, I will be the only one to open that door. Shion and Rona will guard Az. The remaining four will take care of guarding our rear. (Renya) Renya?! (Shion) As Shion raised a scream holding him back with her hands, Renya laughed feebly. I still think that we shouldnt proceed past this point. Although I am thinking that, seeing that I wont be able to persuade you guys, there is no other way. If thats the case, I will examine whether it is dangerous to open it. There is no other method to chose except this one. (Renya) Renya, I already told you that we would be the vanguard (Az) Thats not allowed. (Renya) Renya rejects Azs suggestion. I am thinking that beyond that door a danger is lurking making it a matter of life and death. Though I am judging so, I cant tell you guys to not go there. Therefore it will be me who will enter that place. If you cant accept this, I want you to approve of going back. (Renya) Telling them straight out that he wont yield on this point, Renya is waiting for the reply of the party members. CHAPTER 28: IT SEEMS TO BE THE FIRST DUNGEON, BUT IT IS STRANGESOMEHOW Sa~ We entered the dungeon. Even if you end up describing it in a single word dungeon, people have various images in relation to that word within their minds. You cant say there is something like a rule set what to imagine, Renya thought. However, I somehow think they should have an image of it mostly having naked rock surfaces, mud walls, things that resemble a humans hand and formed pathways made out of stone blocks. That was until I heard a single expression by chance. Grown living type dungeon. Renya wasnt able to imagine it. In the first place a dungeon shouldnt be something living, but saying it grows in depth and with with the passing of months and years? I wonder what the heck is this phenomenon about? At the very least it isnt a phenomenon happening to an inorganic stone wall. Therefore, until Renya dived into this dungeon, he pondered whether the interior would be similar to the intestines of a living creature. If that was the case, his disgust gauge would sky-rocket, but at least he would also somehow understand why it was called living type. However, as he currently tried diving into it, his anticipations were easily betrayed. Also there was this again, the descending stairway. He didnt grasp why it was there to begin with. As Renya went down and stood inside the dungeon and surveyed the situation of his vicinity, he muttered disappointedly, Somehow it is a normal hole. (Renya) The wall seemed to be a bare mud wall, but it felt strangely solid upon touching. The surface appeared to be covered with something. Even as he tried out striking it with his fist, it didnt crumble or change its shape. Measuring it by eye, the normal holes size was around 3 meters in length and width. That was the range the torch light could cover. But the room spread out much further ahead. What did you expect? (Shion) Shion asked besides Renya. Having formed an united front with Azs group in these circumstances, Renya assigned the increased group of 8 people into 2 as vanguards, 3 as middle guards and 3 as rear guard. Of course Renya said right away that he would stand as vanguard and announced Shion becoming the second person. This was immediately accepted. The middle guard had Rona, being in charge of healing, and Az, being in charge of firepower, along one guard. The remaining guards acted as rear guard. While starting to walk, Renya gathered the words to explain what he expected. No, since you said it is a living-type dungeon, I thought it would be a sort of living creature or something like that (Renya) Who would consider to dive into that kind of a dungeon ? (Shion) Seeing Shions face twitching in displeasure, Renya thoughtThat is certainly right. No matter how profitable it might me, there wouldnt be many willing to pass through passages resembling the intestines of a living creature. Those going to dive into such a thing could only be called having a strange taste. The passages are created by portions of them crumbling little by little. (Az) Az cut into the discussion of the two from the back. It isnt like there is someone digging the tunnels, but little by little the passages are extending. By being able to make branches of those passages the dungeon is capable to grow into a huge structure. If the passage gets too big, it turns into a room. The treasures are placed in there then. (Az) Who puts such things there? (Renya) There are various theories. There are some saying that the monsters put them there while there are others advocating that the core has some kind of method in its deposition. Or it can be said that both options are possible? (Az) If you look at it from the dungeons side, it will also be troubled by being limitlessly, indiscriminately plundered. But in reverse it will also be a problem if no one comes visiting. Controlling this situation, you can definitely say that the core has an intention, no? Az-sensei is quite well-informed. (Renya) Looking back over his shoulder, Renya says, in order to tease him. Az glared at Renya with a grim face. Though I also think it is nice to chat, dont forget to keep attention to the surroundings. This isnt a party of thieves. (Az) Yeah, yeah (Renya) Renya returns his line of sight to the front. Az exhaled with a face that said Yare yare. Actually Az and Renya are expecting that it wont become a situation where they need a thief. One thing is that the dungeon, they are passing through, is young. And the other thing is that the two parties, which went ahead, have passed through it as well. Whether the thieves, who passed through here before, have planted traps on the main pathway or not is something they are investigating while they advance. But if there are traps, whether the leading groups neutralized them or didnt notice them as they werent caught in them, either option has a high probability. Isnt it weird for grown dungeon passages to have traps? (Renya) I dont know that, you have to ask the core about it. (Az) Az seems to want to say that it cant be helped since the traps are there. It is indispensable to understand that this is something like theory turning into reality. Both of you, something resembling a room can be seen ahead. (Rona) Due to Ronas voice, the mood becomes tense. Quickly switching over, as you would expect from people working as adventurers, I suppose, Renya is the only person care-freely concerned about such things, but his left hand warily reached out to his katana. Room? (Renya) If the passage becomes wide, it turns into a room? There is no door though. (Shion) The one who answered is Shion. although there isnt a presence of living things? (Renya) You know? (Shion) Vaguely, yeah. (Renya) The passage abruptly became wide and an open space appeared. The two vanguards cautiously enter and survey the vicinity attentively. Although Shion has her weapon already taken out, Renya hasnt drawn his katana. The reason for that can be explained that the action of drawing itself is connected to an attack. A katana is something to be drawn for the sake of killing. His intuition tells him that it isnt something you swing around while walking. He has such feeling stored somewhere within his mind. There is no one here? (Shion) Shions voice sounds as if she is confirming that. While replying with a nod, Renya, looking at a point on the floor, discovered something like a stain. As the light of the torch is swaying, he cant accurately see the surface of the floor. If he brings the fire closer, its composition might change due to the heat as well. I see, I have practised the spell for such occasions, while comprehending that, Renya cast the spell close to that stain. What is it? (Az) Az noticed that that light was suddenly emitted from the air close to the floor. The stain below that became visible. Even though the ground of the floor was bare, that part of the floor obviously had an unusual color. Though it has become considerable pale, it is blood, no? (Renya) Probably. Someone was injured here or a monster was defeated here, right? (Az) Even if you say the stain became pale, it reached a span of around the length of stretching both arms. In that case to produce such a size of a stain, the degree of bleeding I think, if its an injury, it is a dangerous amount of blood. (Renya) Since the dungeon has ended up absorbing the majority, we dont know whether it is a person or a monster. (Az) Realizing that he heard somehow disturbing words, Renya ends up staring at Azs face. But Az was making an unconcerned face as he said this. Is it the first time that you see this? (Az) Ah, will absorbing it in this way turn into growth strength ? (Renya) Thats right. With the passage of time blood and corpses will vanish. (Az) Although he heard such story, the received impact is really different when you actually witness it. Once again I realize that I came to a completely different place than my original world, Renya thought. But the other members seem to have perceived this shock in a different meaning. Renya, should we return temporarily? (Shion) Shion calls out to him in a voice filled with worry. Without even having a slight trembling as she stared at the stain on the floor, she placed her hand on Renyas shoulder. Now that I think about it, it is Renyas first time experiencing this. It is inevitable that you are receiving a shock. We can return once and come back tomorrow to try again as well (Shion) Nn? Ah, I am alright. I was only surprised. I havent particularly received a shock. (Renya) Hitting Shions shoulder with a *pon pon*, he is appealing to the other members, who are watching his state carefully, by lightly laughing showing his lack of concern over this matter. While appealing, because he is the leader, he changes the atmosphere in the party by timing and his facial expression. Though he is thinking that this is also quite difficult. Is that so? Its fine if you are alright, but please tell me if there is anything. (Shion) I am happy about you worrying about me, Shion. But I am fine. (Renya) Renya says while keeping his tone of voice as kind as possible. Did Shion understand it at last? Separating her hand somewhat reluctantly from Renyas shoulder, she once again begins to watch the surroundings having her weapon prepared. They dont understand whether it was a monster or a human on the floor, but because of the matter of there being a blood-like stain there, Renyas group knew that something had happened at this place. And they also perceived that this conjecture was connected with a battle most likely. There is something here after all. (Renya) Thats only natural, this is a dungeon. (Az) As if saying What are you talking about at this late point in time? Az returns a wry smile. For now lets go ahead, ok? Only this much is a weak reason for making an escape, right? (Az) It should be okay, if the corpse has already disappeared into the ground. (Renya) Az and Renya didnt plan to capture the entire dungeon any more. However, they didnt think that for the completion of the request it would be reasonable to just report this fact or that only this level of evidence would be enough. It is the first time for me to travelling a dungeon this half-heartedly (Shion) Although Shion raises her voice as if feeling worn-out for some reason, there was no reply from the other party members except bitter smiles. Everyone should be aware of the strength of the parties that went ahead. They fully knew that it was a situation about which they couldnt do anything if those parties dont return in the end. Renya (Az) Holding a torch, Az, standing in the vicinity of the only exit of this room, addressed Renya. Beyond this point there is a door. (Az) Ha? (Renya) If you leave this room, there is a door right away. (Az) Being beckoned to come to Azs side, looking in the direction Azs finger pointed, past the the exit of the room, where Renyas group is in, there was a short passage. As it was a distance the light of the torch, standing at the exit, barely reached, a dull grey door was visible. With a size of the entire passage being around 3 meters in length and width, although there was a door, being the type of double door which opens from the middle, it was somewhat strange. Hey, is it normal for a young dungeon to have such splendid door installed? (Renya) If its a grown dungeon, there will be such installations made by monsters, but With the youth of this dungeon, it is impossible. In the first place, the path we took was direct and unforked, right? The room, we are currently in, is the first one. For such dungeon to have such door for its second room, thats plainly odd. (Az) Do the leading parties have this information as well? (Renya) I have no doubt that Hartz party knows about it I dont care about dyed-brown-hairs party. (Az) Azs reaction was such that Renya wanted to ask whether he had any very bad memories with harem parties, but now wasnt the time for that. Gathering everyone at the side of the rooms entrance, Renya stated clearly, Lets go back. (Renya) Eh? (The others) Excluding Renya, all present reacted like that. Without caring about it, Renya continues. This is dangerous. There is definitely something here. Leaving this room, there is a door right away, but no matter how you think about it, it is risky to open that door. My intuition is telling me this. (Renya) Having the skill to sense danger, Renya isnt able to do anything about it any more, even if he regrets to have obtained it. It didnt seem that there was someone amongst this party who had such ability though. Its a point I want to agree with, but (Az) Az says while collecting his thoughts. I also consider this to be strange. But we wont be able to explain adequately to the guild why we returned after having reached the door. (Az) Hasnt it also the possibility of being a death trap as soon as you open it? (Renya) It is strange that there is such door, but it would be even weirder if there was such a trap. (Az) Renya, there wont even be any meaning in accepting the request, if we return because it was suspicious without investigating anything. Even the guild wont be able to do anything but inflict a heavy penalty upon us. (Shion) Due to Azs and Shions words, Renya ends up pondering about it. I wonder if this is the difference of not having self-awareness of being an adventurer from this area? Of course Renya is considering that he has no self-consciousness about being an adventurer himself. For this reason, he has only considered the matter with the guild as Its fine either way. Feeling a danger beyond expectation currently, he chose to withdraw without hesitation. But it appears as if that is a difficult suggestion for Az and Shion, who seem to have self-awareness as adventurers, to accept. I have a hunch that it will be our end, if we open that door, you know ? (Renya) If thats the case, lets do it like this, Renya. (Az) Az, probably unable to watch the indecisive Renya, made a single suggestion. What do you say about all of us being the vanguards and Renyas group being responsible of backing us up? (Az) No, that is (Renya) No matter what Renya says, we will try to open that door. Going back without doing this, we wont be able to return to our occupation as adventurers. If Renya refuses to act as backup, we will continue to investigate by only ourselves. (Az) Nuu (Renya) Renya. You are our leader, so we will follow your decision. But if that means to abandon Azs group here and turn back I dont think that would be a very admirable deed. (Shion) Guu (Renya) Renya had no words in return. Certainly, getting results from the job, we took up, will become our first assessment in itself. Currently I am doing nothing but insisting on abandoning that. But my feeling also definitely tells me that there is danger lurking beyond that door. Even though he is understanding that, because Azs party will be going first, Renya didnt seem to be able to accept having an acquaintance storming into a place he feels to be dangerous. Understood. Lets advance ahead. (Renya) In the end there is no other option but to go forward seeing that he has no arguments to persuade the members otherwise. Having judged like this, Renya sighed dropping his shoulders. However, I will be the only one to open that door. Shion and Rona will guard Az. The remaining four will take care of guarding our rear. (Renya) Renya?! (Shion) As Shion raised a scream holding him back with her hands, Renya laughed feebly. I still think that we shouldnt proceed past this point. Although I am thinking that, seeing that I wont be able to persuade you guys, there is no other way. If thats the case, I will examine whether it is dangerous to open it. There is no other method to chose except this one. (Renya) Renya, I already told you that we would be the vanguard (Az) Thats not allowed. (Renya) Renya rejects Azs suggestion. I am thinking that beyond that door a danger is lurking making it a matter of life and death. Though I am judging so, I cant tell you guys to not go there. Therefore it will be me who will enter that place. If you cant accept this, I want you to approve of going back. (Renya) Telling them straight out that he wont yield on this point, Renya is waiting for the reply of the party members. Chapter 29 CHAPTER 29 C IT SEEMS TO BE ANENCOUNTER The discussion became complicated. Although Renya isnt willing to withdraw from his statement that if someone has to go then it will be him to do so, Az and Shion are finding it difficult to accept Renya going ahead by himself. All of them are talking at the same time in this heated debate. As far as it goes, Azs final measure is to cancel the current state of having a joint operation with Renyas party. Even though he had reserved this method for only when his own party forced him to do so, without being able to say that Renya will step back at the present state and since even Shion and Rona werent rejecting the situation in order to back him up, it became a state where he strongly desired to leave himself. Besides, there isnt any particular reason for Az to start a quarrel with Renya either. On the contrary, he is judging that he wanted to keep a favorable relation with Renya if possible. Or perhaps you should say that this was heavily influenced by the handiness of Renyas void storage skill. Or rather, it was the effect of some kind of stubbornness regarding Renyas meals. Or, frankly speaking, it was Renyas iron hold on Azs stomach in the end. Anyway, although he wants to avoid a deterioration of their relationship, there is no way for him to approve of what Renya says on the other hand either. And a possible compromise also isnt apparent. Well, lets accept Renya going ahead for the time being. (Az) Thinking that its someone elses party, what is this sly magician there saying?! (Shion) Renya was surprised when Shion changed her way of talking while raising her voice wondering whether she was just about to blow her top. It isnt her usual military-like kind of speech pattern. It was the speech pattern appropriate for a girl of her age. Shion, watch your language (Rona) She whispers into Shions ear while restraining her mouth with a sidelong glance. Az cocked his head in puzzlement questioning whether he really appeared to be this sly. The look of his eyes is evil. His face has become too skinny. And being weak at laughing, he doesnt show it on his face very much either. After agreeing that it indeed cant be helped to even be called sly, Az continues his speech. But, I cant accept letting him go by himself after all. How about the two ojou-sans over there, me and you, the four of us, act as vanguard while the four remaining members of my party will be our rearguard? (Az) T-Thats right, Renya. If thats the case, we will also be able to follow once Renya says that we can enter without having to be worried about our rear. (Shion) The flustered Shion supported Azs suggestion. Renya didnt assess the proposal of splitting the party in two to be an overly good idea, but he thought that it wouldnt be settled by grumbling over it any longer either. Furthermore, because this all came to be due to a single worry of Renya, it has become the cause of rushing the conclusion. Rona seems to have noticed that as well. However, just make sure to cast defense magic before breaking into the room. But since no one has come out from the room after us having made such a tumult in front of the door, isnt it possible that there isnt anyone on the other side of the door, I wonder? (Rona) There were two possibilities. In spite of comprehending it, Renya raised a smile due to Rona choosing the optimistic option amongst the two possibilities on purpose. If there is really nothing on the other side of the door, it will be good as it will be a funny story of a scared, weakling leader making a racket. (Renya) Although Renya said this, if the other suspected possibility becomes reality, any reason for laughter will vanish. That is, even though there might be something on the other side of the door, it was a powerful existence to the degree of not paying attention to something like the actions on this side. It doesnt care what kind of preparation Renyas group does. Its completely fine to run away, if you want to run away. It is something this strong that it doesnt even demonstrate at least this much interest. As for that possibility, it appears that Rona has noticed it as well, but she doesnt let it show. She is going around casting magic on each party member in turns. Thought its only to the extent of and (Rona) Thats plenty. I will open the door. Rear guards, pay attention to the back. (Renya) Seeing everyone nodding, Renya pushes the door with both hands. Although he is thinking that they can turn back if it doesnt open due to being locked for an instant while putting strength into his arms, the door slowly begins to open. Uh?! Someone unintentionally raised their voice like this. A strong rotten smell drifted out from within the gap of the slightly opened door. Renya, having both his hands on the door, ends up receiving a full dose of a stinking, strangely sickening stench as he isnt able to cover his mouth and nose. Shions group, being close to the entrance, reflexively covered their mouths and noses with their available hands. Even the guards further back from the entrance raise a groan, as Renya throws the door open without minding them. Although they are surprised themselves, the other members instinctively cover their mouths and noses and end up stopping advancing their feet due to the force of the rotten smell. And yet, despite understanding them, Renya didnt care about that himself. I guess I have become used to this? While feeling such doubts, Renya passes through the opened door. Following him by being one step late, Shion hoists up the torch while Rona and Az stepped inside. There was a quite large room boasting a lot of space in comparison to the previous single room. First off, it is bright. Most likely, if it was only the light of the torch, they wouldnt be able to comprehend the largeness of the rooms grade of extent, but the ceiling itself is casting a faint light. That itself is filling the entire room with luminance. The surrounding wall differs to the mud wall up until now. It is a pure white wall as if plastered with mortar. As for the center of the space, there is a single ebony desk set up there as if somehow trying to be funny. The figure of someone writing something with all their might can be seen sitting on a chair. At a glance, they cant find the thing giving off the rotten smell they sensed at the time they opened the door. But, at this point of time Renya vigilance level rose to the maximum. There is an air of intimidation originating from the figure writing something in the center of the room. Warily Renya is clasping the scabbard with his left hand dampened with sweat. Who is it ? (Az) That sense of intimidation likely reached Azs group in Renyas back. As Az asks in a hoarse voice, the thing, shaped in the form of a person, stops its writing. Slowly raising its view from the surface of the desk, it turns its sight to Renyas group standing rock still at the entrance of the room. By Renyas judgement it was an odd-looking man. The light purple hair is tidily combed down on the back. The ears are slightly pointed and long. The skins color is a deep dark brown. The eyes facing towards Renyas group, different from other people, have pupils with an almond shape. With clothes resembling a white robe coiling itself around the body, the already questionable impression of that man is turning even more suspicious. Oya oya. Todays a day with many visitors. I dont remember having invited anyone though. Inclining his head slightly, the voice the man used was somehow quite hard on the ears due to its high pitch. Rona spoke up as if struggling as she looked at that face directly from the front. That is a devil (Rona) Devil? (Renya) Of course it is a race Renya sees for the first time. Although he had heard from that little girl about the races inhabiting the center of the continent before coming to this world, he got excited about the question why that devil was on the human races continent and even more so within a dungeon. Renya, you were right. This fellow is definitely bad news. We wont be able to escape. (Az) Even Azs voice, lacking the usual calmness, is filled with nothing but impatience. The only person, not understanding the tricky situation, is only Shion, but seeing the panicked state of the two, although she doesnt know what is happening, she sets up he sword while her sight is wandering forth and back between the devil and Renya. Its fine for you to not leave this quickly, dont you agree? (Devil) His voice contained ridicule. Even though his way of talking and his facial expression are tender and intimate, the emotions held within them are something completely polar to those, Renya is sensing. Its a feeling totally unsuited for a person. As for me, its a feeling of wanting to run away after only hearing the things I want to ask. (Az) Hou? I wonder what you want to know? For the time being, lets hear about it. (Devil) Did a group of around two sets of adventurers came here previously? (Az) Adventurers? Did someone like that come here, I wonder? (Devil) The male devil folds his arms in front of his chest as if he is thinking and immediately shakes his head. No, as far as I am remembering someone like that hasnt come here. (Devil) Its a straight path. There is no way that they havent come here. (Az) The male devil displayed a troubled expression towards Azs words, who is putting himself on guard meanwhile. Though, saying it honestly, someone who hasnt come here simply hasnt come here. Isnt that the only answer? (Devil) Lets change the question then. (Az) Hearing Az answer, although Renyas vigilance gauge has already been maxing out, it is demanding to rise to an even further level of vigilance. Renya guessed that this existence in front of his eyes made it apparent that it was more dangerous than anything else. Did about 11 materials for toying with come here? (Renya) The party members look at Renya with a startled facial expression. Without even the leeway to brush off the intensity of their gazes, Renya is fixing his eyes on the male devil. For a brief period the male devil stared with an unchanging facial expression at Renyas face. But before long he showed a complacent smile, loosened the arms, which were crossed in front of his breast, and rubbed together his palms. Imagining this gesture to somehow resemble a fly, Renya frowns. You are an interesting guy. (Devil) Stopping to rub his hands together, the male devil draws back the chair and stands up. His body gives off the impression of being lanky, but he isnt a man of having that much height. Even so the degree of peril, Renyas group has felt until now, didnt alleviate much. Toys, huh? Toys, you say. Lets see, how shall I answer this if you ask like that? (Devil) Separating his hands from the desk, he spreads them. Without paying mind of Renyas group at all, the male devil walks slowly until he is close to the wall. Completely as if being some actor, he suddenly decided to turn around alongside the wall and placed both hands on the pure white wall. Although the wall is supposed to be solid, the mans hands slightly sink into the wall. Are these things the toys you are asking about? (Devil) The mans hands, which plunged into the wall, completely submerged. While Renya attentively watches wondering what he is doing, the man was groping about with a rustling sound within the wall for a short while. But having likely found the thing he was looking for, he seized it and extracted it using his crafty hands. The thing his hands dragged out was That is Hartz? (Az) With a voice dripping with definite dread, Az retreated a step. Shions hands holding the sword are clattering and trembling. Rona suppresses a scream from her mouth with both hands. Renya instinctively starts to draw his katana but stops himselffrom doing so. O au H-He lp (Hartz) The head dragged out from within the wall by its short-cut blonde hair and being tightly held, was Hartz head. With blank eyes and pleading to be rescued are leaking out from his partly open mouth. The right half of his face is blank while still having a trace of being a human remaining, but the left half is bleary due to being partially melted. Its state is that you could peek at the bones through the gaps between the muscle fibers. Renyas group is frozen due to that abnormality. Somehow, from this morning on, fresh food has continuously come rolling in. (Devil) Releasing his hands from the blonde hair of Hartz, the male devil thrust his hands into yet another part of the wall. What his hands dragged out was the head of a person with almost only bones remaining and spare strands of dyed brown hair. Even though Renya believed it to likely be Zest, there is naturally nothing of his face remaining anymore. These guys are indeed very fine materials. It has been fun playing with their moderate stoutness. Furthermore they will increase very soon. (Devil) One after another only human heads are rising to the surface of the pure white wall. Just like Hartz and Zest there were only faint traces of them having been people remaining. Most of them had lost their shape and were festering due to the melting. They werent in a state you could bear to look at directly. Their number certainly is 11. We also have various circumstances. For the sake of gathering raw materials for research and partially as hobby, we decided to build a dungeon close to human habitation. Maa, it became a nice fish pond for angling. (Devil) Not just the head, but also the hands, with their skin dangling due to the melting, the feet, completely turned into white bones, and such gradually were pushed out from within the wall. This spectacle could doubtlessly be called a nightmare. If it were a timid person, they would immediately faint with the scene in front of them. With individual differences between each other, there isnt anyone amongst Renyas group losing consciousness over that degree. But, each of them ends up gulping down with the scene in front of them unable to make even a single move. Since I will give you guys a practical lesson down to the nooks of its effectiveness as well, it is fine to not be that scared. (Devil) Persisting with a smile to the end, the male devil tells them bluntly. From the wall in the back of that man, some things with a human shape, though already having lost their humanity, are crawling out with a slithering sound while extending both hands as if pleading to be saved. Maa, for now I wonder whether I will be able to receive you lot like this as well. (Devil) He is totally carefree. His voice doesnt contain any maliciousness at all. At the same time as the man said those words, actually enjoying it to do so, the human remains, that crawled out of the wall in his back, rushed forward aiming for Renyas group. CHAPTER 29 C IT SEEMS TO BE ANENCOUNTER The discussion became complicated. Although Renya isnt willing to withdraw from his statement that if someone has to go then it will be him to do so, Az and Shion are finding it difficult to accept Renya going ahead by himself. All of them are talking at the same time in this heated debate. As far as it goes, Azs final measure is to cancel the current state of having a joint operation with Renyas party. Even though he had reserved this method for only when his own party forced him to do so, without being able to say that Renya will step back at the present state and since even Shion and Rona werent rejecting the situation in order to back him up, it became a state where he strongly desired to leave himself. Besides, there isnt any particular reason for Az to start a quarrel with Renya either. On the contrary, he is judging that he wanted to keep a favorable relation with Renya if possible. Or perhaps you should say that this was heavily influenced by the handiness of Renyas void storage skill. Or rather, it was the effect of some kind of stubbornness regarding Renyas meals. Or, frankly speaking, it was Renyas iron hold on Azs stomach in the end. Anyway, although he wants to avoid a deterioration of their relationship, there is no way for him to approve of what Renya says on the other hand either. And a possible compromise also isnt apparent. Well, lets accept Renya going ahead for the time being. (Az) Thinking that its someone elses party, what is this sly magician there saying?! (Shion) Renya was surprised when Shion changed her way of talking while raising her voice wondering whether she was just about to blow her top. It isnt her usual military-like kind of speech pattern. It was the speech pattern appropriate for a girl of her age. Shion, watch your language (Rona) She whispers into Shions ear while restraining her mouth with a sidelong glance. Az cocked his head in puzzlement questioning whether he really appeared to be this sly. The look of his eyes is evil. His face has become too skinny. And being weak at laughing, he doesnt show it on his face very much either. After agreeing that it indeed cant be helped to even be called sly, Az continues his speech. But, I cant accept letting him go by himself after all. How about the two ojou-sans over there, me and you, the four of us, act as vanguard while the four remaining members of my party will be our rearguard? (Az) T-Thats right, Renya. If thats the case, we will also be able to follow once Renya says that we can enter without having to be worried about our rear. (Shion) The flustered Shion supported Azs suggestion. Renya didnt assess the proposal of splitting the party in two to be an overly good idea, but he thought that it wouldnt be settled by grumbling over it any longer either. Furthermore, because this all came to be due to a single worry of Renya, it has become the cause of rushing the conclusion. Rona seems to have noticed that as well. However, just make sure to cast defense magic before breaking into the room. But since no one has come out from the room after us having made such a tumult in front of the door, isnt it possible that there isnt anyone on the other side of the door, I wonder? (Rona) There were two possibilities. In spite of comprehending it, Renya raised a smile due to Rona choosing the optimistic option amongst the two possibilities on purpose. If there is really nothing on the other side of the door, it will be good as it will be a funny story of a scared, weakling leader making a racket. (Renya) Although Renya said this, if the other suspected possibility becomes reality, any reason for laughter will vanish. That is, even though there might be something on the other side of the door, it was a powerful existence to the degree of not paying attention to something like the actions on this side. It doesnt care what kind of preparation Renyas group does. Its completely fine to run away, if you want to run away. It is something this strong that it doesnt even demonstrate at least this much interest. As for that possibility, it appears that Rona has noticed it as well, but she doesnt let it show. She is going around casting magic on each party member in turns. Thought its only to the extent of and (Rona) Thats plenty. I will open the door. Rear guards, pay attention to the back. (Renya) Seeing everyone nodding, Renya pushes the door with both hands. Although he is thinking that they can turn back if it doesnt open due to being locked for an instant while putting strength into his arms, the door slowly begins to open. Uh?! Someone unintentionally raised their voice like this. A strong rotten smell drifted out from within the gap of the slightly opened door. Renya, having both his hands on the door, ends up receiving a full dose of a stinking, strangely sickening stench as he isnt able to cover his mouth and nose. Shions group, being close to the entrance, reflexively covered their mouths and noses with their available hands. Even the guards further back from the entrance raise a groan, as Renya throws the door open without minding them. Although they are surprised themselves, the other members instinctively cover their mouths and noses and end up stopping advancing their feet due to the force of the rotten smell. And yet, despite understanding them, Renya didnt care about that himself. I guess I have become used to this? While feeling such doubts, Renya passes through the opened door. Following him by being one step late, Shion hoists up the torch while Rona and Az stepped inside. There was a quite large room boasting a lot of space in comparison to the previous single room. First off, it is bright. Most likely, if it was only the light of the torch, they wouldnt be able to comprehend the largeness of the rooms grade of extent, but the ceiling itself is casting a faint light. That itself is filling the entire room with luminance. The surrounding wall differs to the mud wall up until now. It is a pure white wall as if plastered with mortar. As for the center of the space, there is a single ebony desk set up there as if somehow trying to be funny. The figure of someone writing something with all their might can be seen sitting on a chair. At a glance, they cant find the thing giving off the rotten smell they sensed at the time they opened the door. But, at this point of time Renya vigilance level rose to the maximum. There is an air of intimidation originating from the figure writing something in the center of the room. Warily Renya is clasping the scabbard with his left hand dampened with sweat. Who is it ? (Az) That sense of intimidation likely reached Azs group in Renyas back. As Az asks in a hoarse voice, the thing, shaped in the form of a person, stops its writing. Slowly raising its view from the surface of the desk, it turns its sight to Renyas group standing rock still at the entrance of the room. By Renyas judgement it was an odd-looking man. The light purple hair is tidily combed down on the back. The ears are slightly pointed and long. The skins color is a deep dark brown. The eyes facing towards Renyas group, different from other people, have pupils with an almond shape. With clothes resembling a white robe coiling itself around the body, the already questionable impression of that man is turning even more suspicious. Oya oya. Todays a day with many visitors. I dont remember having invited anyone though. Inclining his head slightly, the voice the man used was somehow quite hard on the ears due to its high pitch. Rona spoke up as if struggling as she looked at that face directly from the front. That is a devil (Rona) Devil? (Renya) Of course it is a race Renya sees for the first time. Although he had heard from that little girl about the races inhabiting the center of the continent before coming to this world, he got excited about the question why that devil was on the human races continent and even more so within a dungeon. Renya, you were right. This fellow is definitely bad news. We wont be able to escape. (Az) Even Azs voice, lacking the usual calmness, is filled with nothing but impatience. The only person, not understanding the tricky situation, is only Shion, but seeing the panicked state of the two, although she doesnt know what is happening, she sets up he sword while her sight is wandering forth and back between the devil and Renya. Its fine for you to not leave this quickly, dont you agree? (Devil) His voice contained ridicule. Even though his way of talking and his facial expression are tender and intimate, the emotions held within them are something completely polar to those, Renya is sensing. Its a feeling totally unsuited for a person. As for me, its a feeling of wanting to run away after only hearing the things I want to ask. (Az) Hou? I wonder what you want to know? For the time being, lets hear about it. (Devil) Did a group of around two sets of adventurers came here previously? (Az) Adventurers? Did someone like that come here, I wonder? (Devil) The male devil folds his arms in front of his chest as if he is thinking and immediately shakes his head. No, as far as I am remembering someone like that hasnt come here. (Devil) Its a straight path. There is no way that they havent come here. (Az) The male devil displayed a troubled expression towards Azs words, who is putting himself on guard meanwhile. Though, saying it honestly, someone who hasnt come here simply hasnt come here. Isnt that the only answer? (Devil) Lets change the question then. (Az) Hearing Az answer, although Renyas vigilance gauge has already been maxing out, it is demanding to rise to an even further level of vigilance. Renya guessed that this existence in front of his eyes made it apparent that it was more dangerous than anything else. Did about 11 materials for toying with come here? (Renya) The party members look at Renya with a startled facial expression. Without even the leeway to brush off the intensity of their gazes, Renya is fixing his eyes on the male devil. For a brief period the male devil stared with an unchanging facial expression at Renyas face. But before long he showed a complacent smile, loosened the arms, which were crossed in front of his breast, and rubbed together his palms. Imagining this gesture to somehow resemble a fly, Renya frowns. You are an interesting guy. (Devil) Stopping to rub his hands together, the male devil draws back the chair and stands up. His body gives off the impression of being lanky, but he isnt a man of having that much height. Even so the degree of peril, Renyas group has felt until now, didnt alleviate much. Toys, huh? Toys, you say. Lets see, how shall I answer this if you ask like that? (Devil) Separating his hands from the desk, he spreads them. Without paying mind of Renyas group at all, the male devil walks slowly until he is close to the wall. Completely as if being some actor, he suddenly decided to turn around alongside the wall and placed both hands on the pure white wall. Although the wall is supposed to be solid, the mans hands slightly sink into the wall. Are these things the toys you are asking about? (Devil) The mans hands, which plunged into the wall, completely submerged. While Renya attentively watches wondering what he is doing, the man was groping about with a rustling sound within the wall for a short while. But having likely found the thing he was looking for, he seized it and extracted it using his crafty hands. The thing his hands dragged out was That is Hartz? (Az) With a voice dripping with definite dread, Az retreated a step. Shions hands holding the sword are clattering and trembling. Rona suppresses a scream from her mouth with both hands. Renya instinctively starts to draw his katana but stops himselffrom doing so. O au H-He lp (Hartz) The head dragged out from within the wall by its short-cut blonde hair and being tightly held, was Hartz head. With blank eyes and pleading to be rescued are leaking out from his partly open mouth. The right half of his face is blank while still having a trace of being a human remaining, but the left half is bleary due to being partially melted. Its state is that you could peek at the bones through the gaps between the muscle fibers. Renyas group is frozen due to that abnormality. Somehow, from this morning on, fresh food has continuously come rolling in. (Devil) Releasing his hands from the blonde hair of Hartz, the male devil thrust his hands into yet another part of the wall. What his hands dragged out was the head of a person with almost only bones remaining and spare strands of dyed brown hair. Even though Renya believed it to likely be Zest, there is naturally nothing of his face remaining anymore. These guys are indeed very fine materials. It has been fun playing with their moderate stoutness. Furthermore they will increase very soon. (Devil) One after another only human heads are rising to the surface of the pure white wall. Just like Hartz and Zest there were only faint traces of them having been people remaining. Most of them had lost their shape and were festering due to the melting. They werent in a state you could bear to look at directly. Their number certainly is 11. We also have various circumstances. For the sake of gathering raw materials for research and partially as hobby, we decided to build a dungeon close to human habitation. Maa, it became a nice fish pond for angling. (Devil) Not just the head, but also the hands, with their skin dangling due to the melting, the feet, completely turned into white bones, and such gradually were pushed out from within the wall. This spectacle could doubtlessly be called a nightmare. If it were a timid person, they would immediately faint with the scene in front of them. With individual differences between each other, there isnt anyone amongst Renyas group losing consciousness over that degree. But, each of them ends up gulping down with the scene in front of them unable to make even a single move. Since I will give you guys a practical lesson down to the nooks of its effectiveness as well, it is fine to not be that scared. (Devil) Persisting with a smile to the end, the male devil tells them bluntly. From the wall in the back of that man, some things with a human shape, though already having lost their humanity, are crawling out with a slithering sound while extending both hands as if pleading to be saved. Maa, for now I wonder whether I will be able to receive you lot like this as well. (Devil) He is totally carefree. His voice doesnt contain any maliciousness at all. At the same time as the man said those words, actually enjoying it to do so, the human remains, that crawled out of the wall in his back, rushed forward aiming for Renyas group. Chapter 30 CHAPTER 30 C IT SEEMS TO BE THE START OF THEBATTLE Changed Devil -> Demon Run away! (Renya) It was Renya who reacted the fastest. Without turning his head to look back, his yell resounded sharply. While the plate mail of the four rearguards clattered, they tried to escape in a hurry but before long, a shriek was raised from there. As he directs his view to look over his shoulder, the sole entrance of the room on this side moves and closes itself as if the wall itself was completely alive. Immediately after that the wall blinks in a suspicious red light. From that wall, violet decaying meat that looked like a muddy syrup, oozed out and scattered. The leaked decaying flesh gathers on the ground and advances as a pile towards the four rearguards albeit slowly. The four prepared their shields in a defending stance in panic, but soon a second scream resounded. The shield is The shield is rotting!? (Rearguard) As a part of the decaying flesh crawls up to them with a slithering sound, something resembling tentacles approaches the four from all sides. The parts of the defending shields, touched by these, changed into a light brown color and crumbled from being worn-out. What are these things?! I have never heard of such monsters! (Rearguard) If they dont understand its nature, there is no way that they will be able to deal with it. Renya hurriedly activating the skill , looked at the message. As the help function gave him a kind and courteous explanation, Renya inserted a tsukkomi by shouting within his mindWhat about this is a rat?and guessed that describing it as subspecies summarized it all in one word. He appreciates the irresponsible attitude only partly. Isnt it lovely? Originally it is a small rat-like monster, but with a little bit of tinkering it has become such fantastic demon. Although it prefers iron rust, it seems that likewise tasting blood is fine as well~ (Demon) That is already a totally different monster! (Renya) As the male demon explains about that monster delightfully, Renya tsukkomid in a loud voice, but the situation for Renyas group just keeps deteriorating. The number of the things emerging from within the wall is just like the preceding two parties number of people, 11. Although their movement is dull, they reliably encircle Renyas group shrinking the circle gradually. They were things that were emitting an unbearable rotten stench from their bodies but even more than that, their strangeness stopped Renyas group in their tracks. If you were to make a comparison, they would be quite close to a certain anatomical model of the human body found in a science room at school, but as they are dragging along the partly melted and deteriorated contents of their intestines, it is stimulating, whether you like it or not, a feeling of dread and unpleasantry due to something white and solid appearing and disappearing from within their interior. Moreover Renya was surprised by the streaming message at the time he paid attention to them. They are alive?!he ends up yelling within his mind in unpleasant reminiscence. Despite not being able to see them as anything but zombies no matter how you look at it, the result of the appraisal still labels them as humans. Although they are some type of human walking monster, exposing colors such as red, white, yellow and some usually unseen colors on their exterior, Renya didnt want to believe that they were still alive. But if you look at the vicinity of the mouths of the human types approaching them, you had no choice but to realise that they are still living even if you dont believe it. Even though those mouths have begun to change into white bones caused by the melting, you certainly can hear them mutteringPlease save me!. Those guys were in the middle of becoming raw materials, but as you have guessed, they are still alive. (Demon) A short gasping sound was audible from Shion due to the words of the male demon. But you know, their breath is already mixed with paralysing poison. Their body fluids are nothing more but a resemblance what they once were as well. Even if you want to cling to such things, you guys will soon stop moving too. (Demon) Dont listen to his impertinent talks! Withdraw and link up! (Renya) Renya urges his companions, who have ended up petrified, to retreat by calling out to them. Rather than keeping the strangely shaped humans, albeit still alive, company, Renya considered that it would be easier to support the the eight people in the back in order to do something about the lumps of meat. But as Shions group wants to abide to the instruction given from the front, the rooms entrance door closed with a heavy sound. You think I will let you get away? The back is the back, here is here. Lets have some fun, ok? (Demon) Activate 8 parallel magic formulae, according to my power, fire ball, shoot! (Renya) The moment he realised that they had been split up, Renya altered his plan. With the appearance of eight large fire balls around his fist, he swung his hand down in order to mow down the male demon and released the fire balls at him. Congregate my power, shield, repel. (Demon) As the demon casts his spell, powerful mana is forms around him. Stopping the flying fire balls, they are repelled and scattered. After the other sides magic shield vanishes from stopping the eight fire balls, the male demon, while having fun, said, Your resolution is quite nice. Furthermore you can activate eight balls simultaneously and use them in parallel. Going by your appearance I thought you were a swordsman, but are you by chance a magician? (Demon) Renya doesnt even respond to the question. Lets defeat that fellow and link up with those in the rear! Their compatibility with the blood-thirsting monster is too bad! (Renya) The four, who were in charge of being rearguards, decided to make their primary objective suppressing their opponents with the force of their defending plate mail. In front of the monster, which completely breaks apart the armor by rusting it as it is metallic, there is no point in depending on the strength of the defense. Furthermore, the small sword they possess cant be considered to be effective against those lumps of meat. Moreover this weapon will also end up rusting as well. If they lose their armor and weapon, there wont be any other option but to get slowly entangled and preyed upon. As long as they link up, Az and Renya will be able to reduce those lumps of meat to ashes with spells. If they can do something about the completely closed pathway, it might also give them a way to escape. Un un, you are holding on. If you persevere as long as possible in this way, it will be easier to grasp all of your abilities. (Demon) Except defending against Renyas spell, the male demon didnt particularly show any kind of movements. If he attacked him, Renya had the confidence that he would be able to slay him but he would be surely hindered by the 11 things en route. Renya, how can we do something about this ? (Shion) Shion asks in a voice as if seeking help. The human types, albeit slowly, were definitely advancing. They already approached to the extent that their extended hands were in front of their eyes. Have we entered the effective range of their poisonous breaths?Understanding that they dont really have any time left as he feels the stimulus of having his skin stabbed with a tingling sensation, Renya shouts without hesitation, Cut them down! There is no method to save them! Rona, you are able to detoxify, right?! (Renya) Y-Yes. If its at the level of elementary (Rona) Az, provide support with spells! Rona, attach importance to detoxifying and healing! Shion, dont allow the enemies to approach those two! (Renya) Shions pupils, filled with feelings of panic, has a glimmer of resolve after those instructions. Although her hands were trembling, she fixed her grip on the long swords handle. While adjusting by moving back by half a step, she swung down the overhead-raised longsword obviously bearing the afore-mentioned and very deeply gouged out the collar of the human type that was in front of her. If the opponent was a person, it should have caused a fatal wound. But it seemed to be insufficient to reap the life of the grotesque human types. Although, is there still some sense of pain remaining? The human type faltered slightly. Even though it is originally an injury where it wont be strange if blood gushes out as well, blood cant be seen and a thick, black liquid oozes out. While remembering her unpleasant feelings, Shion extracts the wedged blade and delivers a kick into the abdomen of the human type. Az drove fire ball magic into the face of the human type that had retreated a few steps backward due to the impact. The human type is in agony as it holds its burning face down. No matter what strange appearance it has, if it is living, the necessity to breathe is obvious. However, in addition to not being able to inhale air due to the completely burning head, there is absolutely nothing except suffering due to the heated up air in the lungs and trachea. When the head of that human type received Shions blow, the head was severed into two finishing its agony. In the state of being devoured by the flames, it fell down. Cutting apart the decaying flesh, as she felt the sensation of the kick, Shion screamed while also having a warped face. Thats the first! (Shion) Rona begins to prepare some kind of magic just to make sure. Az determines the next target while trying to start the spell casting. Meanwhile Renya judges it to be fine if he leaves it to them for a while. If there was no necessity to watch over the safety of his companions, there was only a single thing to do. Its nothing but slaying that male demon, whose name he doesnt even know, even if it is a second earlier. Taking a single step forward, it appears as if it is the act of advancing one step into the attack range. That is to say, he can get out from the attack range by the one step portion from before. The matter of entering within the attack range of the target has significance. Then, just what kind of significance does it have to enter or not enter the attack range? The answer is awfully simple. Just that he can cut the target down. Bringing down the mouth of the sheath with in his left hand, he brings up his right hand to the handle of the katana and carries out the action of drawing it without even realising it himself. The drawn katana surges out from its scabbard. Just by passing through the airspace within the filthied air waffed with a rotten stench, the katana leaves nothing but a fierce atmosphere behind. In the interval of one breath three flashes advance in a line. Moreover, Renya advances by one step. Without even allowing the flesh to reject the passing blade, the severing heads is only accompanied by the sound of its cutting. The number of severed heads is the same numbers as flashes, three. This is, once again, amazing. (Demon) The demon raises his voice in admiration due to the spectacle in front of his eyes. No matter what grotesque things they had become, there is no way for them to remain living if they lose their head, especially since their base is human. Without even sparing the corpses, which are collapsing while falling to their knees, a glance, Renyas facial expression isnt moving at all. His eyes doesnt stray from the demon. He advances a step once again. The sword blade isnt returned into the scabbard. The blade rises sharply from the low position it had returned to. The sharply-rising sword blade jumps to an overhead position and then the blade was once again returned to the low position. After a while, one long red line that runs from the nether region to the top of the head and from the top of the head to the nether region was developing on two human types. While spilling their contents and discharging a liquid, where you dont even know whether its blood or not, the halves of the human types drop to the floor. Renya goes forward without slowing down his pace. This is once again, you might be an unexpected find. (Demon) Even though the entire body of a human type was cut in a flash, the demons face is full of delight as if coming across something rare. Creating a work, using you as base, it will become something very magnificent, it seems. (Demon) Isnt this impossible, I wonder? (Renya) The hand of the replying Renya still doesnt return the held katana into the scabbard. The naked blade of the katana exist for the sake of killing. Visibly embodying those words, the drawn blade is swung in a horizontal flash. Once more two human types bodies are cut up into two parts, this time top and bottom. The top half, dropped to the floor, squirmed for a while, but treading on the heads, Renya crushed all kind of movement underfoot in one go. In total seven. I will leave the other four to them you dont have anything protecting you any more? (Renya) While saying this, Renya also remembered some kind of connection in a corner of his mind. Putting aside the the abnormal appearance of the human type, they dont even have any particular ability. There were simple puppets. Trying to grab hold, their actions are nothing but mere demands for help. Although paralysing poison is mixed within their breath, it wasnt something that could display its effect so long as they dont get close. Renya doesnt notice any abnormalities within his body. Furthermore, with their nature of being partly decomposed, they dont have something to defend themselves with either as all of them are nude. With even their movements being sluggish, they are subjects of something to be cut in front of the katana. They werent any more than a straw post for training sword strikes with their small movements. Either way there is still some doubt remaining, but there is no way left except defeating the demon in front of him. Without a warning Renya closes the distance now that the things obstructing the space have vanished. Congregate my power, (Demon) In correspondence to Renyas approach, the demon began to cast. What magic will he use?Although Renya cant guess the spell, if it is one or possibly two or three strikes, he will dodge them or endure them charging with the readiness to cut. Wind blades, pry! (Demon) The wind blades gushing out from the held up palm of the demon exceeded 20 in total number. Renya was surprised over the number which surpassed his expectations, but there wasnt already any time to evade them. Renya, who has almost no knowledge about magic, didnt understand what degree of power the spell, sent towards him, would have, but if he had no chance of dodging them, there was only one measure to take. Activate 20 parallel magic formulae! ! (Renya) Without dropping his charging speed, he strikes the approaching wind blades by activating the spell chantlessly and aiming those at the wind blades. Fire and wind clash in the front. The number was almost the same, but was it a difference in ability or werent the numbers sufficient?The wind is pushing back the fire slightly. Renya attacks that wind with the katana. How foolish! To intercept a wind spell with a katana is (Demon) Originally it is something that isnt possible. With something like a thick shield you can somehow or other use it in a way as if defending against being cut through. But the act of repelling with a weapon almost never stops spells. But, that demon didnt know. The special characteristic of the katana Renya possesses, the attribute of being indestructible. If it is something that can be destroyed, it will end up being destroyed one-sidedly. It is an attribute that didnt originally exist in this world. This isnt just limited to the physical aspect, it also applies to spells. Although the wind blades dont get extinguished by the fire spell, just as Renya touched them with his swung blade, the spells composition was destroyed and shattered. The demons words vanished halfway due to the scene unfolding before him. For the first time the joyful look disappeared from his facial expression. Na? (Demon) Without even understanding the reason, he sees how the spell vanished. During the time between the demon, who was surprised over the impossible spectacle, and Renya, an instant of opportunity was born. As Renya wields a katana, it is unthinkable for him to miss this instant. The blade, that had mowed down the wind blades, retaliated with a single blow seizing the demons body. Swinging the katana as is, before Renyas eyes, as the demon extended his right hand for the sake of emitting a spell, a glassy section visible in the air revolved. CHAPTER 30 C IT SEEMS TO BE THE START OF THEBATTLE Changed Devil -> Demon Run away! (Renya) It was Renya who reacted the fastest. Without turning his head to look back, his yell resounded sharply. While the plate mail of the four rearguards clattered, they tried to escape in a hurry but before long, a shriek was raised from there. As he directs his view to look over his shoulder, the sole entrance of the room on this side moves and closes itself as if the wall itself was completely alive. Immediately after that the wall blinks in a suspicious red light. From that wall, violet decaying meat that looked like a muddy syrup, oozed out and scattered. The leaked decaying flesh gathers on the ground and advances as a pile towards the four rearguards albeit slowly. The four prepared their shields in a defending stance in panic, but soon a second scream resounded. The shield is The shield is rotting!? (Rearguard) As a part of the decaying flesh crawls up to them with a slithering sound, something resembling tentacles approaches the four from all sides. The parts of the defending shields, touched by these, changed into a light brown color and crumbled from being worn-out. What are these things?! I have never heard of such monsters! (Rearguard) If they dont understand its nature, there is no way that they will be able to deal with it. Renya hurriedly activating the skill , looked at the message. As the help function gave him a kind and courteous explanation, Renya inserted a tsukkomi by shouting within his mindWhat about this is a rat?and guessed that describing it as subspecies summarized it all in one word. He appreciates the irresponsible attitude only partly. Isnt it lovely? Originally it is a small rat-like monster, but with a little bit of tinkering it has become such fantastic demon. Although it prefers iron rust, it seems that likewise tasting blood is fine as well~ (Demon) That is already a totally different monster! (Renya) As the male demon explains about that monster delightfully, Renya tsukkomid in a loud voice, but the situation for Renyas group just keeps deteriorating. The number of the things emerging from within the wall is just like the preceding two parties number of people, 11. Although their movement is dull, they reliably encircle Renyas group shrinking the circle gradually. They were things that were emitting an unbearable rotten stench from their bodies but even more than that, their strangeness stopped Renyas group in their tracks. If you were to make a comparison, they would be quite close to a certain anatomical model of the human body found in a science room at school, but as they are dragging along the partly melted and deteriorated contents of their intestines, it is stimulating, whether you like it or not, a feeling of dread and unpleasantry due to something white and solid appearing and disappearing from within their interior. Moreover Renya was surprised by the streaming message at the time he paid attention to them. They are alive?!he ends up yelling within his mind in unpleasant reminiscence. Despite not being able to see them as anything but zombies no matter how you look at it, the result of the appraisal still labels them as humans. Although they are some type of human walking monster, exposing colors such as red, white, yellow and some usually unseen colors on their exterior, Renya didnt want to believe that they were still alive. But if you look at the vicinity of the mouths of the human types approaching them, you had no choice but to realise that they are still living even if you dont believe it. Even though those mouths have begun to change into white bones caused by the melting, you certainly can hear them mutteringPlease save me!. Those guys were in the middle of becoming raw materials, but as you have guessed, they are still alive. (Demon) A short gasping sound was audible from Shion due to the words of the male demon. But you know, their breath is already mixed with paralysing poison. Their body fluids are nothing more but a resemblance what they once were as well. Even if you want to cling to such things, you guys will soon stop moving too. (Demon) Dont listen to his impertinent talks! Withdraw and link up! (Renya) Renya urges his companions, who have ended up petrified, to retreat by calling out to them. Rather than keeping the strangely shaped humans, albeit still alive, company, Renya considered that it would be easier to support the the eight people in the back in order to do something about the lumps of meat. But as Shions group wants to abide to the instruction given from the front, the rooms entrance door closed with a heavy sound. You think I will let you get away? The back is the back, here is here. Lets have some fun, ok? (Demon) Activate 8 parallel magic formulae, according to my power, fire ball, shoot! (Renya) The moment he realised that they had been split up, Renya altered his plan. With the appearance of eight large fire balls around his fist, he swung his hand down in order to mow down the male demon and released the fire balls at him. Congregate my power, shield, repel. (Demon) As the demon casts his spell, powerful mana is forms around him. Stopping the flying fire balls, they are repelled and scattered. After the other sides magic shield vanishes from stopping the eight fire balls, the male demon, while having fun, said, Your resolution is quite nice. Furthermore you can activate eight balls simultaneously and use them in parallel. Going by your appearance I thought you were a swordsman, but are you by chance a magician? (Demon) Renya doesnt even respond to the question. Lets defeat that fellow and link up with those in the rear! Their compatibility with the blood-thirsting monster is too bad! (Renya) The four, who were in charge of being rearguards, decided to make their primary objective suppressing their opponents with the force of their defending plate mail. In front of the monster, which completely breaks apart the armor by rusting it as it is metallic, there is no point in depending on the strength of the defense. Furthermore, the small sword they possess cant be considered to be effective against those lumps of meat. Moreover this weapon will also end up rusting as well. If they lose their armor and weapon, there wont be any other option but to get slowly entangled and preyed upon. As long as they link up, Az and Renya will be able to reduce those lumps of meat to ashes with spells. If they can do something about the completely closed pathway, it might also give them a way to escape. Un un, you are holding on. If you persevere as long as possible in this way, it will be easier to grasp all of your abilities. (Demon) Except defending against Renyas spell, the male demon didnt particularly show any kind of movements. If he attacked him, Renya had the confidence that he would be able to slay him but he would be surely hindered by the 11 things en route. Renya, how can we do something about this ? (Shion) Shion asks in a voice as if seeking help. The human types, albeit slowly, were definitely advancing. They already approached to the extent that their extended hands were in front of their eyes. Have we entered the effective range of their poisonous breaths?Understanding that they dont really have any time left as he feels the stimulus of having his skin stabbed with a tingling sensation, Renya shouts without hesitation, Cut them down! There is no method to save them! Rona, you are able to detoxify, right?! (Renya) Y-Yes. If its at the level of elementary (Rona) Az, provide support with spells! Rona, attach importance to detoxifying and healing! Shion, dont allow the enemies to approach those two! (Renya) Shions pupils, filled with feelings of panic, has a glimmer of resolve after those instructions. Although her hands were trembling, she fixed her grip on the long swords handle. While adjusting by moving back by half a step, she swung down the overhead-raised longsword obviously bearing the afore-mentioned and very deeply gouged out the collar of the human type that was in front of her. If the opponent was a person, it should have caused a fatal wound. But it seemed to be insufficient to reap the life of the grotesque human types. Although, is there still some sense of pain remaining? The human type faltered slightly. Even though it is originally an injury where it wont be strange if blood gushes out as well, blood cant be seen and a thick, black liquid oozes out. While remembering her unpleasant feelings, Shion extracts the wedged blade and delivers a kick into the abdomen of the human type. Az drove fire ball magic into the face of the human type that had retreated a few steps backward due to the impact. The human type is in agony as it holds its burning face down. No matter what strange appearance it has, if it is living, the necessity to breathe is obvious. However, in addition to not being able to inhale air due to the completely burning head, there is absolutely nothing except suffering due to the heated up air in the lungs and trachea. When the head of that human type received Shions blow, the head was severed into two finishing its agony. In the state of being devoured by the flames, it fell down. Cutting apart the decaying flesh, as she felt the sensation of the kick, Shion screamed while also having a warped face. Thats the first! (Shion) Rona begins to prepare some kind of magic just to make sure. Az determines the next target while trying to start the spell casting. Meanwhile Renya judges it to be fine if he leaves it to them for a while. If there was no necessity to watch over the safety of his companions, there was only a single thing to do. Its nothing but slaying that male demon, whose name he doesnt even know, even if it is a second earlier. Taking a single step forward, it appears as if it is the act of advancing one step into the attack range. That is to say, he can get out from the attack range by the one step portion from before. The matter of entering within the attack range of the target has significance. Then, just what kind of significance does it have to enter or not enter the attack range? The answer is awfully simple. Just that he can cut the target down. Bringing down the mouth of the sheath with in his left hand, he brings up his right hand to the handle of the katana and carries out the action of drawing it without even realising it himself. The drawn katana surges out from its scabbard. Just by passing through the airspace within the filthied air waffed with a rotten stench, the katana leaves nothing but a fierce atmosphere behind. In the interval of one breath three flashes advance in a line. Moreover, Renya advances by one step. Without even allowing the flesh to reject the passing blade, the severing heads is only accompanied by the sound of its cutting. The number of severed heads is the same numbers as flashes, three. This is, once again, amazing. (Demon) The demon raises his voice in admiration due to the spectacle in front of his eyes. No matter what grotesque things they had become, there is no way for them to remain living if they lose their head, especially since their base is human. Without even sparing the corpses, which are collapsing while falling to their knees, a glance, Renyas facial expression isnt moving at all. His eyes doesnt stray from the demon. He advances a step once again. The sword blade isnt returned into the scabbard. The blade rises sharply from the low position it had returned to. The sharply-rising sword blade jumps to an overhead position and then the blade was once again returned to the low position. After a while, one long red line that runs from the nether region to the top of the head and from the top of the head to the nether region was developing on two human types. While spilling their contents and discharging a liquid, where you dont even know whether its blood or not, the halves of the human types drop to the floor. Renya goes forward without slowing down his pace. This is once again, you might be an unexpected find. (Demon) Even though the entire body of a human type was cut in a flash, the demons face is full of delight as if coming across something rare. Creating a work, using you as base, it will become something very magnificent, it seems. (Demon) Isnt this impossible, I wonder? (Renya) The hand of the replying Renya still doesnt return the held katana into the scabbard. The naked blade of the katana exist for the sake of killing. Visibly embodying those words, the drawn blade is swung in a horizontal flash. Once more two human types bodies are cut up into two parts, this time top and bottom. The top half, dropped to the floor, squirmed for a while, but treading on the heads, Renya crushed all kind of movement underfoot in one go. In total seven. I will leave the other four to them you dont have anything protecting you any more? (Renya) While saying this, Renya also remembered some kind of connection in a corner of his mind. Putting aside the the abnormal appearance of the human type, they dont even have any particular ability. There were simple puppets. Trying to grab hold, their actions are nothing but mere demands for help. Although paralysing poison is mixed within their breath, it wasnt something that could display its effect so long as they dont get close. Renya doesnt notice any abnormalities within his body. Furthermore, with their nature of being partly decomposed, they dont have something to defend themselves with either as all of them are nude. With even their movements being sluggish, they are subjects of something to be cut in front of the katana. They werent any more than a straw post for training sword strikes with their small movements. Either way there is still some doubt remaining, but there is no way left except defeating the demon in front of him. Without a warning Renya closes the distance now that the things obstructing the space have vanished. Congregate my power, (Demon) In correspondence to Renyas approach, the demon began to cast. What magic will he use?Although Renya cant guess the spell, if it is one or possibly two or three strikes, he will dodge them or endure them charging with the readiness to cut. Wind blades, pry! (Demon) The wind blades gushing out from the held up palm of the demon exceeded 20 in total number. Renya was surprised over the number which surpassed his expectations, but there wasnt already any time to evade them. Renya, who has almost no knowledge about magic, didnt understand what degree of power the spell, sent towards him, would have, but if he had no chance of dodging them, there was only one measure to take. Activate 20 parallel magic formulae! ! (Renya) Without dropping his charging speed, he strikes the approaching wind blades by activating the spell chantlessly and aiming those at the wind blades. Fire and wind clash in the front. The number was almost the same, but was it a difference in ability or werent the numbers sufficient?The wind is pushing back the fire slightly. Renya attacks that wind with the katana. How foolish! To intercept a wind spell with a katana is (Demon) Originally it is something that isnt possible. With something like a thick shield you can somehow or other use it in a way as if defending against being cut through. But the act of repelling with a weapon almost never stops spells. But, that demon didnt know. The special characteristic of the katana Renya possesses, the attribute of being indestructible. If it is something that can be destroyed, it will end up being destroyed one-sidedly. It is an attribute that didnt originally exist in this world. This isnt just limited to the physical aspect, it also applies to spells. Although the wind blades dont get extinguished by the fire spell, just as Renya touched them with his swung blade, the spells composition was destroyed and shattered. The demons words vanished halfway due to the scene unfolding before him. For the first time the joyful look disappeared from his facial expression. Na? (Demon) Without even understanding the reason, he sees how the spell vanished. During the time between the demon, who was surprised over the impossible spectacle, and Renya, an instant of opportunity was born. As Renya wields a katana, it is unthinkable for him to miss this instant. The blade, that had mowed down the wind blades, retaliated with a single blow seizing the demons body. Swinging the katana as is, before Renyas eyes, as the demon extended his right hand for the sake of emitting a spell, a glassy section visible in the air revolved. Chapter 31 CHAPTER 31 C IT SEEMS TO BE THECONCLUSION Gi i (Demon) Without screaming, as expected I should say, huh? Was the sharpness of the blade too excessive?The loped off arm danced through the air and dropped to the ground with a *botori* at last. Blood gushed out from the cut off section. The demon, pinning down the cut off upper arm section, glares at Renya with a gaze filled with hatred, but Renya doesnt care about such things. Even without this, he cant help but be anxious about how the separated rearguard party is faring. If he flinched even a little bit from receiving hits, there wouldnt be any chance to talk about taking an advantage here. The demon released an attack aiming at his neck. Just barely dodging it by bending the body backwards, Renya furthermore slashed his katana diagonally from his shoulder grazing the chest of the demon only shallowly as he misjudged the distance between them. The demon roared in front of Renya, who tried to plunge into further pursuit. The voice hasnt been merely loud. It gave birth to pressure by containing mana. Waning in his pursuit, Renya passed his destination and stumbled a step or two forward. Using this small opportunity, the demon increased the distance between them greatly and retreated up to close to the wall. Are you planning to run away using some kind of technique?Renya feels a tiny speck of hope. He is aware that he will be defeated in an exchange of magical blows. Although Renya didnt comprehend the method and reason as to why he was able to deliver a blow and why the katana was able to negate the wind spell, the fact that it was able to negate it surprised the demon and caused it to show a slight gap in its defence. So to speak, without even aiming to deliver a blow, it has been a lucky hit due to piling up good fortune. Connecting to that lucky hit, he completely followed up immediately, but it ended after the demon dodged two pursuing attacks. In other words, of the aimed attacks not even a single one has hit yet. With the state being as it is, Renya is sensing that this shows the high physical ability of his opponent, the demon. Of course, because its not like he wasnt surprised and hesitant to a slight degree at that time himself either, it was somehow hard to admit that he only used 10% of his entire strength in that attack. But Renya didnt want to continue the battle any longer with the demon, who displayed high abilities despite losing one arm. If this drags on, it will become more and more disadvantageous for me in proportion to the time it keeps going. He has such hunch. I cut off and sent the demons arm flying as I ended up delivering a good attack by coincidence and good luck. Thats all there is. Although he didnt know which hand was the demons dominant one, rather than something like that, it is a major feat that blood continues to flow in a steady stream from the large, open wound. If the demon keeps losing blood as it is, it will result in a loss of strength and impede his ability to concentrate. Ba Bastard (Demon) While gasping in pain, the demon squeezed out those words. Renya wondered whether the demon would utter a single complaint, but his imagination was quickly betrayed. Oh, you are possessing something interesting. Where did you obtain it? (Demon) What are you trying to point out?Renya didnt understand what he was talking about currently, but before long he realized that the demon was pointing at his katana, which displayed the ability to negate spells. Rather than worrying about your own body, this takes priority, huh? (Renya) The demon laughed in a low tone resounding from within his throat as Renya revealed such astonishment. It was a relief for Renya that his laughter didnt possess much strength. Undoubtedly the arm injury is shaving off the demons physical strength. Something like having an arm cut off is trivial. Rather than such a thing, I am interested in that weapon you are holding. The spell was destroyed, no? Usually such a thing is impossible. (Demon) I dont know about something like that. I also obtained this fellow by trading it from a travelling merchant. If you want to know about its origin, you will have to look for that person. (Renya) While thinking that it will be impossible to search for a peddler being a demon on the humans continent, Renya takes out a paper from the pocket of his trousers and wipes the katanas blade. He was worried about the grease that was slightly clinging to the blade after cutting the grotesque human types. A fast and accurate swung sword almost didnt allow for blood or grease to stick to its blade, but even so, a little bit of those will still cling to it. While vigilantly making sure to not divert his view from the demon, Renya slowly wiped the blade. He tossed the used paper casually on the ground after finishing. Now then, I thought it was a considerably serious injury, but you are still eager to continue, huh? (Renya) Although it will be alright if you withdraw, Renya implied in his words, but he didnt have any expectations towards the demons answer. Thats of course. An injury of such degree doesnt even count. (Demon) Although Renya was doubtful whether it was a bluff, he immediately retracted those thoughts. I really dont have a good degree of knowledge concerning demons, but I fear that its likely that they surpass humans in intelligence as well as physical strength by far. Actually, though he should have lost quite the amount of blood there was no indication of the demon feeling unwell. Even if he is grimacing in pain, his eyes are filled with a fiery glare at Renyas katana. What a troublesome fellow (Renya) In front of the grumbling Renya, the demon decided to pick up his dropped arm. Before extending his hand towards the arm, Renya started to cast the void spell once more. He releases 20 parallel activated bullets aiming at the arm laying on the ground. Ahead of the demon picking it up, it became burned charcoal due to the scorching of the fire spell despite the spells impact on the arm was weak. You have done a cruel thing. Isnt that my arm?! (Demon) Even though his own arm was burned in front of his eyes, the demon didnt look overly worried. I simply didnt want you to pick it up and re-attach it. (Renya) Although the words spoken about re-attaching and so on were supposed to be a joke from Renya, the demons reply didnt let these words pass as a joke. Hou, you are quite good to have guessed it. It cant be helped now that it has been burned. Lets grow it back, huh? (Demon) For a moment Renya was wondering what this fellow was talking about. By only putting a little strength into the severed upper arm section the demon stopped the blood flowing out from it. Before long one part of the upper arm section swelled. Immediately after that it grew in a blink of an eye from within the section. It turned into the shape of the arm before it was loped off. After checking the condition of the regrown arm by lightly swinging it, the demon laughed. With this its fine again. (Demon) The regrown arms difference is the paler skin colour than before, but otherwise there isnt any kind of difference in the shape to the now scorched arm. I fear its likely that there is truly no spot where its performance is inferior, I guess. Are you a lizard or a planarian ? (Renya) With a feeling of not wanting to accept the spectacle that took place in front of his eyes, Renya spit out this question. The strength to regrow something that had been cut off within a short time, if seen from the standpoint of a swordsman, it would be labelled as nightmare or bad joke. I guess his physical strength and such has diminished due to the lost blood, but its still a completely different fighting level having only one arm or two. This has become a story where it wont be enough to shave off his fighting strength by cutting off the limbs and such. It wont end unless I cause a lethal wound with a single strike. While thinking about the next attack, he stores the katana in its scabbard. I wont be able to bring him down with a half-hearted attack. No, comparing myself to a lizard, its a discourtesy towards lizards. (Demon) I guess he heard my provocation, huh?Renya thought. Attacking from now on, if my opponent isnt composed to a certain degree, it will increase the success rate. In reverse, if he loses his cool now, it will increase the probability of making a mistake, but for this its preferable if blood rushes to his head and his field of vision narrows down. Renya removes the scabbard from his waist by strongly flipping the snap fastener of the sword belt. Facing the demon with the right half of his body, he drops his waist slightly. Holding the scabbard in his left hand, he places his right hand on the hilt. He twists his body to the left for the sake of getting ready. Since I will cut you down in order to not have any troubles in the near future dont move from there. (Renya) At the same time his words end, he kicks off the ground with his left foot. In a state of being in a stance close to drawing the blade, the demon cant even flee from the charging Renya.(T/N: If I say here Battousai stance, I guess some of you may realize how he charges, just imagine Ruruona Kenshin here. ^^) With the previous attack and defence, the demon might have judged that its possible to evade Renyas slash. Renya agreed with this view as well. Even an ordinary slash will end up being avoided with a leeway at the current speed. If thats the case, there is no other choice but to release an abnormal slashing attack. Stepping onto the right foot, he pulls up the left foot. Shortening the distance to the demons location by kicking the ground with the left foot without the original restraint, Renya pulled up the left foot without changing the speed and delivered a kick. Of course, he isnt yet at a distance where his foot would reach. Unable to figure out the significance of the left foot, swinging in the air, the demons field of vision was obscured by the piece of paper, Renya had thrown on the ground after wiping the katanas blade. Are you planning to obstruct my view?! How insolent! (Demon) The demon roars as he mows down the paper fluttering about with a single strike of his right hand. Even if his visibility were to be stolen for a moment, with the previous level of attack of Renya, the demon shouldnt even have any particular kind of difficulty to dodge it. But, that is only if Renya is going to challenge the demon with an ordinary attack on the other side of the paper. The demon looked on the other side of the removed piece of paper and saw the figure of Renya being in a state of having his back completely turned towards himself. Not able to comprehend the meaning of that defenceless state, the demons reaction was once again late. Renya, who had kicked the piece of paper with his left foot causing it to flutter upwards, rotates 180 by using the toes of his right foot as fulcrum, despite turning his back on the demon, before putting down his left foot. At the same time of this being something unexpected for the demon, it has become the groundwork for the next attack. Kicking the ground with his right foot this time, Renya shortened the distance to the demon without changing his turned back. Without even turning around, he stabbed the end of the held scabbard into the abdomen of the demon. The demon is a living creature as well. If his abdomen is stabbed with force without even any kind of preparation, the demons breathing will stop. Naturally, if his breathing is stopped, his movements will cease as well. This will become a gap in itself. Reaffirming the reliable feeling of the scabbard grasped in his hand, Renya turns around alongside drawing the blade. From the right shoulder of the demon, whose movements had stopped, to the opposite shoulder, he cut the body of the demon. The time of the drawn blade slipping out of the scabbard and the time of turning around with a half rotation matched causing the released slash to be increased by two times the centrifugal force. Absorbed into the collar of the demon, the katanas blade cut through the demons clothes, meat and bones all together and chopped off the head, the left arm and only one part of the upper half of his body onto the ground. Without turning his eyes to the remaining body that collapses while spewing forth blood, Renya approaches the head, which is in a state of being attached to the trunk, and immediately severs the head. After reliably ensuring the demons death by piercing his katana once through the middle forehead with its somehow puzzled facial expression, Renya perceives that the remaining body isnt showing any signs of movement either. Going to that extent, Renya at last deeply exhaled the air accumulated in his lungs. CHAPTER 31 C IT SEEMS TO BE THECONCLUSION Gi i (Demon) Without screaming, as expected I should say, huh? Was the sharpness of the blade too excessive?The loped off arm danced through the air and dropped to the ground with a *botori* at last. Blood gushed out from the cut off section. The demon, pinning down the cut off upper arm section, glares at Renya with a gaze filled with hatred, but Renya doesnt care about such things. Even without this, he cant help but be anxious about how the separated rearguard party is faring. If he flinched even a little bit from receiving hits, there wouldnt be any chance to talk about taking an advantage here. The demon released an attack aiming at his neck. Just barely dodging it by bending the body backwards, Renya furthermore slashed his katana diagonally from his shoulder grazing the chest of the demon only shallowly as he misjudged the distance between them. The demon roared in front of Renya, who tried to plunge into further pursuit. The voice hasnt been merely loud. It gave birth to pressure by containing mana. Waning in his pursuit, Renya passed his destination and stumbled a step or two forward. Using this small opportunity, the demon increased the distance between them greatly and retreated up to close to the wall. Are you planning to run away using some kind of technique?Renya feels a tiny speck of hope. He is aware that he will be defeated in an exchange of magical blows. Although Renya didnt comprehend the method and reason as to why he was able to deliver a blow and why the katana was able to negate the wind spell, the fact that it was able to negate it surprised the demon and caused it to show a slight gap in its defence. So to speak, without even aiming to deliver a blow, it has been a lucky hit due to piling up good fortune. Connecting to that lucky hit, he completely followed up immediately, but it ended after the demon dodged two pursuing attacks. In other words, of the aimed attacks not even a single one has hit yet. With the state being as it is, Renya is sensing that this shows the high physical ability of his opponent, the demon. Of course, because its not like he wasnt surprised and hesitant to a slight degree at that time himself either, it was somehow hard to admit that he only used 10% of his entire strength in that attack. But Renya didnt want to continue the battle any longer with the demon, who displayed high abilities despite losing one arm. If this drags on, it will become more and more disadvantageous for me in proportion to the time it keeps going. He has such hunch. I cut off and sent the demons arm flying as I ended up delivering a good attack by coincidence and good luck. Thats all there is. Although he didnt know which hand was the demons dominant one, rather than something like that, it is a major feat that blood continues to flow in a steady stream from the large, open wound. If the demon keeps losing blood as it is, it will result in a loss of strength and impede his ability to concentrate. Ba Bastard (Demon) While gasping in pain, the demon squeezed out those words. Renya wondered whether the demon would utter a single complaint, but his imagination was quickly betrayed. Oh, you are possessing something interesting. Where did you obtain it? (Demon) What are you trying to point out?Renya didnt understand what he was talking about currently, but before long he realized that the demon was pointing at his katana, which displayed the ability to negate spells. Rather than worrying about your own body, this takes priority, huh? (Renya) The demon laughed in a low tone resounding from within his throat as Renya revealed such astonishment. It was a relief for Renya that his laughter didnt possess much strength. Undoubtedly the arm injury is shaving off the demons physical strength. Something like having an arm cut off is trivial. Rather than such a thing, I am interested in that weapon you are holding. The spell was destroyed, no? Usually such a thing is impossible. (Demon) I dont know about something like that. I also obtained this fellow by trading it from a travelling merchant. If you want to know about its origin, you will have to look for that person. (Renya) While thinking that it will be impossible to search for a peddler being a demon on the humans continent, Renya takes out a paper from the pocket of his trousers and wipes the katanas blade. He was worried about the grease that was slightly clinging to the blade after cutting the grotesque human types. A fast and accurate swung sword almost didnt allow for blood or grease to stick to its blade, but even so, a little bit of those will still cling to it. While vigilantly making sure to not divert his view from the demon, Renya slowly wiped the blade. He tossed the used paper casually on the ground after finishing. Now then, I thought it was a considerably serious injury, but you are still eager to continue, huh? (Renya) Although it will be alright if you withdraw, Renya implied in his words, but he didnt have any expectations towards the demons answer. Thats of course. An injury of such degree doesnt even count. (Demon) Although Renya was doubtful whether it was a bluff, he immediately retracted those thoughts. I really dont have a good degree of knowledge concerning demons, but I fear that its likely that they surpass humans in intelligence as well as physical strength by far. Actually, though he should have lost quite the amount of blood there was no indication of the demon feeling unwell. Even if he is grimacing in pain, his eyes are filled with a fiery glare at Renyas katana. What a troublesome fellow (Renya) In front of the grumbling Renya, the demon decided to pick up his dropped arm. Before extending his hand towards the arm, Renya started to cast the void spell once more. He releases 20 parallel activated bullets aiming at the arm laying on the ground. Ahead of the demon picking it up, it became burned charcoal due to the scorching of the fire spell despite the spells impact on the arm was weak. You have done a cruel thing. Isnt that my arm?! (Demon) Even though his own arm was burned in front of his eyes, the demon didnt look overly worried. I simply didnt want you to pick it up and re-attach it. (Renya) Although the words spoken about re-attaching and so on were supposed to be a joke from Renya, the demons reply didnt let these words pass as a joke. Hou, you are quite good to have guessed it. It cant be helped now that it has been burned. Lets grow it back, huh? (Demon) For a moment Renya was wondering what this fellow was talking about. By only putting a little strength into the severed upper arm section the demon stopped the blood flowing out from it. Before long one part of the upper arm section swelled. Immediately after that it grew in a blink of an eye from within the section. It turned into the shape of the arm before it was loped off. After checking the condition of the regrown arm by lightly swinging it, the demon laughed. With this its fine again. (Demon) The regrown arms difference is the paler skin colour than before, but otherwise there isnt any kind of difference in the shape to the now scorched arm. I fear its likely that there is truly no spot where its performance is inferior, I guess. Are you a lizard or a planarian ? (Renya) With a feeling of not wanting to accept the spectacle that took place in front of his eyes, Renya spit out this question. The strength to regrow something that had been cut off within a short time, if seen from the standpoint of a swordsman, it would be labelled as nightmare or bad joke. I guess his physical strength and such has diminished due to the lost blood, but its still a completely different fighting level having only one arm or two. This has become a story where it wont be enough to shave off his fighting strength by cutting off the limbs and such. It wont end unless I cause a lethal wound with a single strike. While thinking about the next attack, he stores the katana in its scabbard. I wont be able to bring him down with a half-hearted attack. No, comparing myself to a lizard, its a discourtesy towards lizards. (Demon) I guess he heard my provocation, huh?Renya thought. Attacking from now on, if my opponent isnt composed to a certain degree, it will increase the success rate. In reverse, if he loses his cool now, it will increase the probability of making a mistake, but for this its preferable if blood rushes to his head and his field of vision narrows down. Renya removes the scabbard from his waist by strongly flipping the snap fastener of the sword belt. Facing the demon with the right half of his body, he drops his waist slightly. Holding the scabbard in his left hand, he places his right hand on the hilt. He twists his body to the left for the sake of getting ready. Since I will cut you down in order to not have any troubles in the near future dont move from there. (Renya) At the same time his words end, he kicks off the ground with his left foot. In a state of being in a stance close to drawing the blade, the demon cant even flee from the charging Renya.(T/N: If I say here Battousai stance, I guess some of you may realize how he charges, just imagine Ruruona Kenshin here. ^^) With the previous attack and defence, the demon might have judged that its possible to evade Renyas slash. Renya agreed with this view as well. Even an ordinary slash will end up being avoided with a leeway at the current speed. If thats the case, there is no other choice but to release an abnormal slashing attack. Stepping onto the right foot, he pulls up the left foot. Shortening the distance to the demons location by kicking the ground with the left foot without the original restraint, Renya pulled up the left foot without changing the speed and delivered a kick. Of course, he isnt yet at a distance where his foot would reach. Unable to figure out the significance of the left foot, swinging in the air, the demons field of vision was obscured by the piece of paper, Renya had thrown on the ground after wiping the katanas blade. Are you planning to obstruct my view?! How insolent! (Demon) The demon roars as he mows down the paper fluttering about with a single strike of his right hand. Even if his visibility were to be stolen for a moment, with the previous level of attack of Renya, the demon shouldnt even have any particular kind of difficulty to dodge it. But, that is only if Renya is going to challenge the demon with an ordinary attack on the other side of the paper. The demon looked on the other side of the removed piece of paper and saw the figure of Renya being in a state of having his back completely turned towards himself. Not able to comprehend the meaning of that defenceless state, the demons reaction was once again late. Renya, who had kicked the piece of paper with his left foot causing it to flutter upwards, rotates 180 by using the toes of his right foot as fulcrum, despite turning his back on the demon, before putting down his left foot. At the same time of this being something unexpected for the demon, it has become the groundwork for the next attack. Kicking the ground with his right foot this time, Renya shortened the distance to the demon without changing his turned back. Without even turning around, he stabbed the end of the held scabbard into the abdomen of the demon. The demon is a living creature as well. If his abdomen is stabbed with force without even any kind of preparation, the demons breathing will stop. Naturally, if his breathing is stopped, his movements will cease as well. This will become a gap in itself. Reaffirming the reliable feeling of the scabbard grasped in his hand, Renya turns around alongside drawing the blade. From the right shoulder of the demon, whose movements had stopped, to the opposite shoulder, he cut the body of the demon. The time of the drawn blade slipping out of the scabbard and the time of turning around with a half rotation matched causing the released slash to be increased by two times the centrifugal force. Absorbed into the collar of the demon, the katanas blade cut through the demons clothes, meat and bones all together and chopped off the head, the left arm and only one part of the upper half of his body onto the ground. Without turning his eyes to the remaining body that collapses while spewing forth blood, Renya approaches the head, which is in a state of being attached to the trunk, and immediately severs the head. After reliably ensuring the demons death by piercing his katana once through the middle forehead with its somehow puzzled facial expression, Renya perceives that the remaining body isnt showing any signs of movement either. Going to that extent, Renya at last deeply exhaled the air accumulated in his lungs. Chapter 32 CHAPTER 32 C IT SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING A BAD BOY WOULDDO I want to rest. Renya looks at the situation of Shions group as he holds down that compelling feeling of such thoughts with willpower. Somehow or other Shion had slain two human types. Of the remaining two, Az had burned one of them and the other one had its head pulverized by a full swing of Ronas mace. Finding that the extermination has finished, Renya is relieved. Since they were basically good-for-nothing dolls only trying to seize their opponents, it would have also been troublesome if the fight had been too close. Renya, it looks like you are finished over there but, once again you have used a weird sword technique. (Shion) Shion, who seems to have seen the way Renya fought from midway, displays a fa?ade of curiosity while approaching him. Its about the technique of using the scabbard to deliver a blow and the purposely display of his back to the enemy in the middle of battling. It can be seen as mere gap, but even this was the groundwork for the sake of producing a centrifugal force. Fighting in such way is something Shions group doesnt know. Although there is a part of me who wants to teach you, this isnt the time for that. (Renya) Yea? (Shion) Did you forget? Azs party members are being attacked in the previous room. If we dont promptly open the exit of this room, we wont be able to help (Renya) Ah, there was that. (Shion) As soon as she is too engrossed in fighting, Shion seems to forget about the things happened before entering combat. While slightly blushing, she approaches the closed exit of the room in a hurry. Even after defeating the demon, the exit door didnt open. Shion, who ran up to it, tries to knock on it with her fists, but only a solid sound is returned. If thats the case. She now tried to slash at it with the longsword she held, but it only caused a high-pitched sound due to its toughness. Shion looked teary-eyed in the direction of Renya. What happened? (Renya) My hands became numb (Shion) Since she hit something hard with all her strength, her hands apparently ended up becoming numb. Even from the state of the sword you can clearly understand it, because its pointed end has chipped. It has ended up becoming something useless. I will have a go. Move out of the way. (Az) Az has Shion step back and casts a spell. Congregate, my strength, magic bullet, pierce it! (Az) Using it up to the point of parallel magic formulae, Az fired two mana bullets, but as the shots clashed with the closed door, they fruitlessly scattered on the surface of the door and vanished. Due to that scene, Az glared at the door drawing his eyebrows close together. This door had a spell cast on it. And its even still active. (Az) It is still active, you say? (Renya) Renya points at the head of the demon he had previously pierced with the katana as he asks, but Az denies it. There is no way for it to be active in this situation. (Az) If thats the case, who the heck is casting the spell? (Renya) I dont know However, it is as it is! (Az) As if hitting in irritation, Az kicks the door. Azs companions are getting attacked in the previous room as well. I guess he sensed that the compatibility with the assaulting monsters is bad for them. And as he is sensing this, he ends up becoming impatient. But as Shion wasnt able to cause damage to the door with her slashing attack, it is unthinkable for the kick of a magician to cause any either. Renya, cant you cut this with your slashing attack? (Az) While being weighted down by impatience, Az points at the door. Renya is troubled as he cant say anything in reply. That is because I cant analyse the material of the door by looking. Naturally there is a difference in the method of cutting and attitude if you cut a person or if you cut a tree. Without understanding what you might be cutting, its possible to cut something by wielding a blade, but at most its limited to something trivial. And in the case of this door, made out of metal, there is no way to simply cut it since it should be fairly thick. If Renya clearly understood the special characteristic of the katana he possesses, he would realize its ability of cutting anything even if the door were made out of steel. But currently Renya doesnt know about this and there is no one to tell him about it either. Umm Renya-san? (Rona) During the time Renyas group was spending all their time and energy on the door, Rona, who was standing as if guarding their rear, called out to Renya. What is it, Rona? We are currently quite at our wits end here. (Renya) There is a reasonable state of emergency over here as well. (Rona) Renya turns around as he sensed something within Ronas tone of voice. Whats up? (Renya) The corpses vanished. (Rona) Now that she said this, there should be 11 corpses since Renya and Shions group defeated them. Furthermore, at the place where the corpse of the demon, who was chopped up by Renya, should be, not a single trace remains. It looked as if the corpses had vanished. Incidentally, looking at the point of the katana, the head of the demon, which had been stabbed, was still there. If thats the case, its not as if Renya dreamed of defeating the demon. What the hell is this? Whats this about? (Shion) All of you, be cautious! Something is strange! (Renya) Without checking whats going on, everyone abided by his order. Renya is examining the surroundings in order to not miss even a single tiny disparity with his eyes. Although they had been cut up and scorched, doubtlessly, the remains of the corpses of Zests and Hartz parties should be scattered on the ground. Also, the body of the demon, chopped up by Renya, should be divided into several parts and laying on the ground. Now that these are missing, it means that someone or something had cleaned up those corpses, but being in the same room, how the hell could the corpses vanish without Renya as well as the others noticing anything? There is no change on the floor visible. The ebony desk as well. Though it lost its owner, its still there. The wall as been strengthened by some kind of coating. It is a cold mud wall. Mud wall? (Renya) Why can a mud wall be seen?Renya realizes the abnormality. The colour of the wall, at the time they entered the room, was supposed to be white. And currently the room is exposing a mud wall similar to the one they had seen before they entered this room. How did you call the wall ? (Az) Without being able to finish his question, Az is blown away from in front of the door and is thrown into the ebony desk in the centre of the room. While destroying it, he tumbled up to the wall on the opposite side. Although Shion was taken aback watching this, she tries to dodge something that tries to once again blow her away crashing into the wall. As the blade of the long sword defends against the force of something before she gets blown away, it snaps from the middle and drops to the ground. Even the hilt fell to the floor parting from her hands due to the power. Shion?! (Rona) Rona tried to rush over. Renya tried to hold her back but isnt in time. Something like a whip twines itself around the feet of Rona, who tried to start running. Dragging her body, which has been knocked down, it swings the body and throws it at the wall. At the time the body was thrown, a sound of bones breaking from her seized feet could be heard. With a speed as if it wouldnt even permit something like taking a defensive stance, Rona crashed into the wall with her back. In a flash the three people were rendered helpless. In the meanwhile, although Renya wasnt able to move, he sees a shadow of a person standing in front of the rooms exit door and scrutinizes his eyes. You Didnt I kill you? (Renya) Thats right. Certainly you might have killed me. (Demon) Joining his hand together behind his back, he, who threw the three against the wall moments ago, beams with a friendly smile. He showed himself by answering Renyas question in a non-serious manner. Dark brown skin and light purple hair. Slightly pointed ears and almond shaped pupils. Casually wearing a white robe, it was without any doubt the male demon, who should have been cut down by Renya. While capturing his appearance with his eyes, Renya looks at his katanas point with a glance. The demons head, pierced by the blade, was still there, but it transformed into a white colour from within before his eyes and similar to melted butter it drooped to the ground. It smoothly flowed towards the male demons feet and clinging to his toes, it was absorbed. It ended up vanishing into being a part of the man. You are a slime, huh ? (Renya) Renya tries to say the name of the monster that popped up in his mind seeing this spectacle, but the man showed a single sigh. Why do you have to view me as identical to an inferior viscous liquid creature? (Demon) I guess you feel similar to it. (Renya) Hmm, there might be such viewpoint as well. (Demon) While he saw Renya preparing the katana which lost its weight, the demon laughed apparently enjoying it very much. Despite being cautious of the laughing demon, Renya probes into the state of the three, who were slammed against the wall, but the three werent even moving with a twitch. It would be nice, if they only fainted, Renya prays. By no means I considered the white stuff clinging to the wall to be your main body. (Renya) Although, to be correct, it was also clinging to the ceiling. Only a part of me kept you company. Thats how it is. (Demon) If those words were right, this demon would apparently be responsible for the lighting of the room as well. Having his offshoot working, his main body puts the environment of the room in order. You can call this a very efficient method of operating, Renya ends up harbouring such out-of-place thoughts. We were in your belly from the beginning, huh? It feels bad Do all of those called demons feel like this? (Renya) While continuing the conversation, Renya is pondering what he should do. I cut no more than a part of him before. Im sure that the main body will be far more powerful. In reality Renya didnt see the attack which assaulted Az and Shion at all. In addition, since the demon has also seen his technique used as clever scheme, its unthinkable for it to work a second time. He cant discover a clue how to win. If all demons were like this, I dont think there would another races exist on this continent by now. (Demon) Well, then what are you? (Renya) Emil=Rajah. A demonic researcher. Though I think it will become a short-lived association, please treat me favourably. (Emil) With the demon introducing himself, Renya is able to confirm two facts. First, demons also have names. This can be called quite obvious. Second, it appears that this demon doesnt really intend to allow anyone to stay alive and let them return from this place. My subject of study is called biotechnology. By combining something one way or the other, I create resilient life-forms. Thats the thing I am researching. (Emil) Never did Renya expect for biotechnology to exist in this world, but he guessed that it was likely a research branch of such things as alchemy or sorcery. But, it is just an assumption that it is some kind of research branch. There are fellows who looked down on my subject of study being life as blasphemy. (Emil) Emil spoke of this, doubtlessly, without concerning himself over something like the intentions of his targets. It is a technology of completely changing an existence into something totally different by tampering with it. It doesnt bear the slightest resemblance to his previous world. Isnt this point just a discrepancy of opinions? As for me, I think its a valuable research that pushes up life to a higher stage, but (Emil) If you think like that, you should first become research material yourself. (Renya) Just what are you talking about? (Emil) Emil asked obviously not comprehending the words Renya spit out. Renyas complexion slightly changed as he judged the question in itself as answer. He clearly became pale. Isnt such thing like yourself becoming a research material only natural? (Emil) If the researchers of this world heard this, all of them would deny the contents of those words. Emil talked about this without even any kind of enthusiasm. He only has an expression of genuine marvel why Renya expressly said such obvious thing. My body is build by many flexible cells which allow for a range of form changes. This is one result of my research. (Emil) I did think the contents of your head might not be straight, but (Renya) Research, it is research. If its necessary for that reason, a researcher will use only the necessary, be it himself or others, dont you agree? (Emil) While asking, Emils both hands reach to the ground picking up something like a thin, long, extending whip. Its the true identity of what tossed Ronas body and threw Az and Shion against the wall. Both of Emils hands seemed to change their shape into something like tentacles. Didnt you say some time ago that you used this dungeon as fish pond? (Renya) If the talking finishes, the combat will begin. If it turns into combat, Renya will be at an overwhelming disadvantage as he hasnt figured out a method to win yet. While thinking about ways to prolong the talks, he is observing Emil. In other words, there isnt a core in this dungeon, right? (Renya) If forced to say, I am the core, I guess? (Emil) Emil arbitrarily swung his right arm lightly. At the same time the flexible pointed end of the whip vanishes from Renyas vision. Renya ends up staggering sensing an impact on his left shoulder. As the stricken left shoulder ended up having its clothes torn, welts became apparent on his skin, but there wasnt any abnormality in his bones and flesh yet. Were you unable to see it? You didnt see it, right? (Emil) Emil laughed completely delightfully. Then, I wonder if you have a good resolution? You are an opponent who killed my offshoot one time. After teasing you plentifully, all of you will get along as research materials. (Emil) The way the man strikes with the whip isnt probably something enjoyable to look at, while thinking this, he doesnt even have the leeway to crack such jokes in the current state. Renya set up his katana. CHAPTER 32 C IT SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING A BAD BOY WOULDDO I want to rest. Renya looks at the situation of Shions group as he holds down that compelling feeling of such thoughts with willpower. Somehow or other Shion had slain two human types. Of the remaining two, Az had burned one of them and the other one had its head pulverized by a full swing of Ronas mace. Finding that the extermination has finished, Renya is relieved. Since they were basically good-for-nothing dolls only trying to seize their opponents, it would have also been troublesome if the fight had been too close. Renya, it looks like you are finished over there but, once again you have used a weird sword technique. (Shion) Shion, who seems to have seen the way Renya fought from midway, displays a fa?ade of curiosity while approaching him. Its about the technique of using the scabbard to deliver a blow and the purposely display of his back to the enemy in the middle of battling. It can be seen as mere gap, but even this was the groundwork for the sake of producing a centrifugal force. Fighting in such way is something Shions group doesnt know. Although there is a part of me who wants to teach you, this isnt the time for that. (Renya) Yea? (Shion) Did you forget? Azs party members are being attacked in the previous room. If we dont promptly open the exit of this room, we wont be able to help (Renya) Ah, there was that. (Shion) As soon as she is too engrossed in fighting, Shion seems to forget about the things happened before entering combat. While slightly blushing, she approaches the closed exit of the room in a hurry. Even after defeating the demon, the exit door didnt open. Shion, who ran up to it, tries to knock on it with her fists, but only a solid sound is returned. If thats the case. She now tried to slash at it with the longsword she held, but it only caused a high-pitched sound due to its toughness. Shion looked teary-eyed in the direction of Renya. What happened? (Renya) My hands became numb (Shion) Since she hit something hard with all her strength, her hands apparently ended up becoming numb. Even from the state of the sword you can clearly understand it, because its pointed end has chipped. It has ended up becoming something useless. I will have a go. Move out of the way. (Az) Az has Shion step back and casts a spell. Congregate, my strength, magic bullet, pierce it! (Az) Using it up to the point of parallel magic formulae, Az fired two mana bullets, but as the shots clashed with the closed door, they fruitlessly scattered on the surface of the door and vanished. Due to that scene, Az glared at the door drawing his eyebrows close together. This door had a spell cast on it. And its even still active. (Az) It is still active, you say? (Renya) Renya points at the head of the demon he had previously pierced with the katana as he asks, but Az denies it. There is no way for it to be active in this situation. (Az) If thats the case, who the heck is casting the spell? (Renya) I dont know However, it is as it is! (Az) As if hitting in irritation, Az kicks the door. Azs companions are getting attacked in the previous room as well. I guess he sensed that the compatibility with the assaulting monsters is bad for them. And as he is sensing this, he ends up becoming impatient. But as Shion wasnt able to cause damage to the door with her slashing attack, it is unthinkable for the kick of a magician to cause any either. Renya, cant you cut this with your slashing attack? (Az) While being weighted down by impatience, Az points at the door. Renya is troubled as he cant say anything in reply. That is because I cant analyse the material of the door by looking. Naturally there is a difference in the method of cutting and attitude if you cut a person or if you cut a tree. Without understanding what you might be cutting, its possible to cut something by wielding a blade, but at most its limited to something trivial. And in the case of this door, made out of metal, there is no way to simply cut it since it should be fairly thick. If Renya clearly understood the special characteristic of the katana he possesses, he would realize its ability of cutting anything even if the door were made out of steel. But currently Renya doesnt know about this and there is no one to tell him about it either. Umm Renya-san? (Rona) During the time Renyas group was spending all their time and energy on the door, Rona, who was standing as if guarding their rear, called out to Renya. What is it, Rona? We are currently quite at our wits end here. (Renya) There is a reasonable state of emergency over here as well. (Rona) Renya turns around as he sensed something within Ronas tone of voice. Whats up? (Renya) The corpses vanished. (Rona) Now that she said this, there should be 11 corpses since Renya and Shions group defeated them. Furthermore, at the place where the corpse of the demon, who was chopped up by Renya, should be, not a single trace remains. It looked as if the corpses had vanished. Incidentally, looking at the point of the katana, the head of the demon, which had been stabbed, was still there. If thats the case, its not as if Renya dreamed of defeating the demon. What the hell is this? Whats this about? (Shion) All of you, be cautious! Something is strange! (Renya) Without checking whats going on, everyone abided by his order. Renya is examining the surroundings in order to not miss even a single tiny disparity with his eyes. Although they had been cut up and scorched, doubtlessly, the remains of the corpses of Zests and Hartz parties should be scattered on the ground. Also, the body of the demon, chopped up by Renya, should be divided into several parts and laying on the ground. Now that these are missing, it means that someone or something had cleaned up those corpses, but being in the same room, how the hell could the corpses vanish without Renya as well as the others noticing anything? There is no change on the floor visible. The ebony desk as well. Though it lost its owner, its still there. The wall as been strengthened by some kind of coating. It is a cold mud wall. Mud wall? (Renya) Why can a mud wall be seen?Renya realizes the abnormality. The colour of the wall, at the time they entered the room, was supposed to be white. And currently the room is exposing a mud wall similar to the one they had seen before they entered this room. How did you call the wall ? (Az) Without being able to finish his question, Az is blown away from in front of the door and is thrown into the ebony desk in the centre of the room. While destroying it, he tumbled up to the wall on the opposite side. Although Shion was taken aback watching this, she tries to dodge something that tries to once again blow her away crashing into the wall. As the blade of the long sword defends against the force of something before she gets blown away, it snaps from the middle and drops to the ground. Even the hilt fell to the floor parting from her hands due to the power. Shion?! (Rona) Rona tried to rush over. Renya tried to hold her back but isnt in time. Something like a whip twines itself around the feet of Rona, who tried to start running. Dragging her body, which has been knocked down, it swings the body and throws it at the wall. At the time the body was thrown, a sound of bones breaking from her seized feet could be heard. With a speed as if it wouldnt even permit something like taking a defensive stance, Rona crashed into the wall with her back. In a flash the three people were rendered helpless. In the meanwhile, although Renya wasnt able to move, he sees a shadow of a person standing in front of the rooms exit door and scrutinizes his eyes. You Didnt I kill you? (Renya) Thats right. Certainly you might have killed me. (Demon) Joining his hand together behind his back, he, who threw the three against the wall moments ago, beams with a friendly smile. He showed himself by answering Renyas question in a non-serious manner. Dark brown skin and light purple hair. Slightly pointed ears and almond shaped pupils. Casually wearing a white robe, it was without any doubt the male demon, who should have been cut down by Renya. While capturing his appearance with his eyes, Renya looks at his katanas point with a glance. The demons head, pierced by the blade, was still there, but it transformed into a white colour from within before his eyes and similar to melted butter it drooped to the ground. It smoothly flowed towards the male demons feet and clinging to his toes, it was absorbed. It ended up vanishing into being a part of the man. You are a slime, huh ? (Renya) Renya tries to say the name of the monster that popped up in his mind seeing this spectacle, but the man showed a single sigh. Why do you have to view me as identical to an inferior viscous liquid creature? (Demon) I guess you feel similar to it. (Renya) Hmm, there might be such viewpoint as well. (Demon) While he saw Renya preparing the katana which lost its weight, the demon laughed apparently enjoying it very much. Despite being cautious of the laughing demon, Renya probes into the state of the three, who were slammed against the wall, but the three werent even moving with a twitch. It would be nice, if they only fainted, Renya prays. By no means I considered the white stuff clinging to the wall to be your main body. (Renya) Although, to be correct, it was also clinging to the ceiling. Only a part of me kept you company. Thats how it is. (Demon) If those words were right, this demon would apparently be responsible for the lighting of the room as well. Having his offshoot working, his main body puts the environment of the room in order. You can call this a very efficient method of operating, Renya ends up harbouring such out-of-place thoughts. We were in your belly from the beginning, huh? It feels bad Do all of those called demons feel like this? (Renya) While continuing the conversation, Renya is pondering what he should do. I cut no more than a part of him before. Im sure that the main body will be far more powerful. In reality Renya didnt see the attack which assaulted Az and Shion at all. In addition, since the demon has also seen his technique used as clever scheme, its unthinkable for it to work a second time. He cant discover a clue how to win. If all demons were like this, I dont think there would another races exist on this continent by now. (Demon) Well, then what are you? (Renya) Emil=Rajah. A demonic researcher. Though I think it will become a short-lived association, please treat me favourably. (Emil) With the demon introducing himself, Renya is able to confirm two facts. First, demons also have names. This can be called quite obvious. Second, it appears that this demon doesnt really intend to allow anyone to stay alive and let them return from this place. My subject of study is called biotechnology. By combining something one way or the other, I create resilient life-forms. Thats the thing I am researching. (Emil) Never did Renya expect for biotechnology to exist in this world, but he guessed that it was likely a research branch of such things as alchemy or sorcery. But, it is just an assumption that it is some kind of research branch. There are fellows who looked down on my subject of study being life as blasphemy. (Emil) Emil spoke of this, doubtlessly, without concerning himself over something like the intentions of his targets. It is a technology of completely changing an existence into something totally different by tampering with it. It doesnt bear the slightest resemblance to his previous world. Isnt this point just a discrepancy of opinions? As for me, I think its a valuable research that pushes up life to a higher stage, but (Emil) If you think like that, you should first become research material yourself. (Renya) Just what are you talking about? (Emil) Emil asked obviously not comprehending the words Renya spit out. Renyas complexion slightly changed as he judged the question in itself as answer. He clearly became pale. Isnt such thing like yourself becoming a research material only natural? (Emil) If the researchers of this world heard this, all of them would deny the contents of those words. Emil talked about this without even any kind of enthusiasm. He only has an expression of genuine marvel why Renya expressly said such obvious thing. My body is build by many flexible cells which allow for a range of form changes. This is one result of my research. (Emil) I did think the contents of your head might not be straight, but (Renya) Research, it is research. If its necessary for that reason, a researcher will use only the necessary, be it himself or others, dont you agree? (Emil) While asking, Emils both hands reach to the ground picking up something like a thin, long, extending whip. Its the true identity of what tossed Ronas body and threw Az and Shion against the wall. Both of Emils hands seemed to change their shape into something like tentacles. Didnt you say some time ago that you used this dungeon as fish pond? (Renya) If the talking finishes, the combat will begin. If it turns into combat, Renya will be at an overwhelming disadvantage as he hasnt figured out a method to win yet. While thinking about ways to prolong the talks, he is observing Emil. In other words, there isnt a core in this dungeon, right? (Renya) If forced to say, I am the core, I guess? (Emil) Emil arbitrarily swung his right arm lightly. At the same time the flexible pointed end of the whip vanishes from Renyas vision. Renya ends up staggering sensing an impact on his left shoulder. As the stricken left shoulder ended up having its clothes torn, welts became apparent on his skin, but there wasnt any abnormality in his bones and flesh yet. Were you unable to see it? You didnt see it, right? (Emil) Emil laughed completely delightfully. Then, I wonder if you have a good resolution? You are an opponent who killed my offshoot one time. After teasing you plentifully, all of you will get along as research materials. (Emil) The way the man strikes with the whip isnt probably something enjoyable to look at, while thinking this, he doesnt even have the leeway to crack such jokes in the current state. Renya set up his katana. Chapter 33 CHAPTER 33 C IT SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING THAT CANT BE TOLD TOANYONE Well then lets start? (Emil) Squinting as if aiming, just as Emil declared this in a whisper, the light in the room went out. Without even showing any behaviour of panic towards having his vision abruptly stolen, Renya gave off a single loud sound of *thunk* with his tongue. Within a darkness where he cant even see anything in front of his nose, Renya brandishes the katana. He felt a slight feedback in the hand grasping the hilt. Holding the time of the sensation dear, he draws the katana close to himself and then immediately leaves from the spot there. Merely an instant later a sound of a whip striking the ground resounds. If he excludes the vicinity where the sound spread, he feels that the point of his katana seized something to a slight degree. I never expected it, but do you see it? (Emil) Renya releases a thrust towards the direction the voice came from, but he finishes the strike in vain without even any kind of feedback. While changing the position at which he stands bit by bit, Renya answered into the darkness. There is no way for me to see the situation with no light as I have human eyes. (Renya) Thats unexpected. (Emil) He realizes something has passed by trying to graze him as he lightly bends back his upper body. Rather than quickly restoring his stance, he swung his katana as if scooping something up and felt a quick and proper feedback returning to his hand this time. A small voice of pain is raised. I guess its damage to the extent of having shaved off a small quantity of the pinkys end?Renya judges with a bitter feeling. The attacks and counter-attacks are awfully precise. (Emil) Thats because its fine to act as usual. On the other hand, your habitual behaviour is apparently extremely evil. (Renya) Is he thinking that it is easy no matter whether I see him or not? His attacks are extremely monotone and simple. He shouldnt be able to see. Renya stamps his feet and sometimes clicks his tongue slightly while evading. The sounds, huh? (Emil) Renya ends up unintentionally clicking his tongue with a different sound of *tsk* towards the words murmured by Emil after many exchanges of offence and defence. Although he nimbly steps and cuts into the direction the voice came from, there is no response. Renya was aware that he once again finished his attack in vain, but while quickly turning around, the ceiling recovered its soft light and his vision returned. Emil is standing before the turning around Renya with an expression filled with extreme fascination. His body is covered with several light and small wounds all over. Is it a technique of probing the surroundings with the echo of the clicking-tongue-sounds and stepping-into-sounds? You are possessing an interesting skill there. (Emil) Nothing less from a researcher, I guess. You have exposed my ability rather quickly. (Renya) Although Renya said this in a loathsome manner, he assumed in advance that it would be exposed what he is doing. But, the time to expose it has been far shorter than he assumed. If you are able to react to such a degree within darkness, there wont be any meaning in stealing your visibility. (Emil) Thats why you turned on the light? (Renya) I have decided it would be good to brighten up the place if Im to observe you. (Emil) Emils tentacles, which have changed into two hands, were in the middle of splitting into two again. The tentacles, which became four in total, are wriggling. Emil laughs as if he is very happy. Next is an experiment of reaction speed. How far will you be able to follow, I wonder? (Emil) A white whip comes flying. Its different from a whip used by humans. There isnt any part of preliminary movement before brandishing it. It feels abnormally fast. Renya repels it with the katana. The act of striking this with a blade is as if its part of living flesh. If I had to say, the way Emil uses his tentacles for striking will result in producing numerous wounds, but theres no hint of the number of attacks declining. While finding himself in a state of only defending due to the consecutive, interweaving attacks of the four tentacle whips, Renya reduces the distance to Emil little by little. If he moves forward towards his destination, the ferocity of the attacks will only increase, but it is out of the question to not get close until he is in slashing range since the attacks will increase anyway. Is Emil realizing this as well?At the same time Renya moves forward, Emil withdraws to the back. Although Renya grinds his teeth due to the situation of being unable to shorten the distance, he is well aware that it will be a painful experience if he chases after him in haste. Wonderful~, once you were able to secure your field of vision, you can handle such amount of attacks well by using your blade~. (Emil) Despite having been hit just now, Emil laughs. This much pointless chattering, let me kill you quickly. (Renya) Renya was warning himself to not rush and to not get impatient, but he ends up feeling in a hurry no matter how much he tries to persuade himself. Even more than the matter of the four fighting hand-to-hand against those lumps of meat in the neighbouring room, he cant help it but be worried about the condition of the three in this room, who ended up rendered helpless all of a sudden. Especially the way Az was blown away was horrible. The bones of Ronas feet, who was tossed away while having her feet seized, are definitely broken. Even if Shion managed to successfully defend herself to some degree, she has received an attack of the degree of breaking the sword she used as shield. Renya wanted a doctor to take a look as soon as possible, but, for arguments sake, even if they left from here right away, it would still take a day by carriage to the city where you can find doctors. I dont have much time, comprehending the situation, Renyas impatience is spurred on even more. While continuing to deal with the approaching whip strikes and telling himself to calm down, Renya tells himself to hold his temper. If he fails to handle it well despite having got used to follow the whips with his eyes, the situation will change into himself being helpless as well. And if he is rendered helpless, it will mean their total annihilation. If they were to be completely defeated, there wouldnt be an helping hands coming either. There would be no other choice but to pray that their deaths would at least be swift in regards to their future. I dont even have anything to criticize about your stamina. You haven amazing endurance to keep maintaining to handle it so well at this speed. (Emil) Without even having the leeway to answer, the silent Renya directed a dark smile at Emil as if having thought up something interesting. But, you know. There is a difference in this situation. (Emil) (Renya) I wonder what will happen if I were to steal your vision once again? (Emil) Though Renya dispersed the striking tentacles until now, Emil attacks Renya with all four at once. And with this timing Emil erased the light source a second time. Eh? (Emil) Renya slips through the four attacking tentacles and steps into range. Emil dumbfoundedly stared at the sharp downward swing of the brandished katana aiming for his head. And yet, be it his survival instinct starting to work or be it him doing it unconsciously, he is taking action to evade with his body. He sidestepped the blade though only slightly. Biting into Emils left shoulder and severing the left arm from its root at the body, the returning blade tore the abdomen on Emils left flank to pieces. Is he blocking the pain?Emil didnt raise his voice, but in order to avoid further attacks he swings his right tentacles while making sure to separate from Renya by rolling over. Renya decided to pursuit him, but because he has to dodge the wielded tentacles, he had no choice but to jump back. This is (Emil) From the root of the left arm dark red blood is flowing while Emil looks up at the ceiling. The light source that should have been erased continued to brighten the room without disappearing. This sight has stolen a small amount of Emils time which resulted in receiving Renya full power hit. I thought I caused the light to disappear once again seeing a good chance to do so. (Emil) Renya kicks the tentacles, which are wriggling on the ground with a *biku biku* similar to the cut off tail of a lizard, flying and scorches them with a number of chantless as if saying With this its done, huh? while looking at his right side where Emil places his hand on the ground in order to stand up. I overwrote it. Its a convenient skill, this chantless casting. (Renya) Although Emils face was completely devoted to smiling, it now warped in shock. Renya didnt understand the reason for that, but before he could start to think about it, Emil asked a question with a trembling voice. What are you? What the heck? (Emil) Renya=Kunugi. A normal adventurer and a Lost. Although I think it will be a short association, well, please treat me favourably. (Renya) As if extracting his revenge, Renya assaults him with such words. Now Emil is cornered into a defensive fight. Emil didnt look as if he was feeling pain from losing his left arm, but his breath definitely started to become disordered. I cant believe it. Why am I, a honourable demon, out of breath? (Emil) Well, arent you the researcher here? Reflect on it yourself. (Renya) With the tentacles movements beginning to become dull, they arent capable of defending against Renyas attacks. The tentacles tips are loped off and drop to the ground. In these gaps Emils real body begins to suffer numerous wounds due to the slipped through attacks. Before long the remaining right arm is cut off from the shoulder and sent flying as well. As expected, Emil, having lost all strength, ends up sitting on the ground crumbling down from his waist. Emil began to talk with a serious look as Renya brandished his katana about to finish him off. Lets make a deal. (Emil) Without responding, Renya swings down his katana, but stops his hands spontaneously as he hears Emils next words. The three people are your companions, but wont one or two of them die at this rate?! (Emil) What was that? (Renya) Even if Im a demon like this, Im someone whose research is centred on life as I did also tell you before. I have knowledge about healing arts too. I do understand at least what degree of damage I have caused. (Emil) Renya urged him on to continue in silence. Emil, who lost both hands, sat cross-legged at the spot and continued his words making sure to look up at Renya. There is no problem with that dumb swordswoman. The problems are with that gloomy magician and Eroi-sleep-chan, but (Emil)(T/N: eroi = erotic/pornographic, in other words big-boobed Rona) Shouldnt you be careful with your words? (Renya) While I have given him a warning for the time being, why is he describing it so distinctly? I wonder if it is something that easy to understand?Renya ends up pondering about it slightly. At the same time, he ended up feeling a bit of pity for Rona who has been called pornographic even by the demon. Although I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, the magician and sleep-chan are in danger. If they arent brought to a doctor immediately, it will become a matter of life and death or they will have critical after-effects remaining. (Emil) And? (Renya) There is a doctor here. (Emil) Although he wasnt able to point at himself since he had no arms, going by his words, it looks like he is talking about himself. Renya laughed scornfully at those words. For arguments sake, even if you are a doctor, what can you do without your arms? (Renya) If you allow me to wait for a bit, I will be able to regrow them. I will treat those two if you turn a blind eye towards me. (Emil) The act of turning a blind eye on a demon, Renya doesnt know what kind of meaning it holds in this world. Perhaps it might be equivalent to an act of overlooking a so-called criminal in my original world. But, without thinking about the ethical part, it was certainly and attractive proposition because he would be able to get medical treatment for the two heavily injured. Im unable to trust you. (Renya) Even if it was an attractive proposition, its unthinkable to be able to trust the words of an opponent who tried to take his life until moments ago. Renya told him directly as he thrust out his katana, but his mind was wavering quite a bit. Despite Renya not having knowledge in healing arts or such, he was able to agree with the words that Az, who received the attack directly, and Rona, who was thrown without even taking up a defensive stance, were in a perilous condition. He was also worried about Shions condition, but since she already has enough of defence to some degree, he knows that her life isnt at risk. Assuming I travelled such distance in one day with all my might taking the two of them along on the carriage in such dangerous state, would I be able to save the two in the end?Thats the problem. Renya doesnt have a clear answer regarding this on hand. This is a deal, I told you. I dont know about other demons. As me being a researcher comes first, Im sincere to some degree with other things falling in line with this. While we are at it, I will also immediately free the four people scuffling in the other room. (Emil) Since I wont be able to continue his research if I end up dying, Emil laughs. Are they alive? (Renya) There isnt any meaning in accepting their return if the four have already died. Emil nodded towards Renya, who wanted to have confirmation. Yes, I guarantee it. (Emil) But, you took the lives of the other 11 (Renya) Were those lives important to you? (Emil) The reluctance of those words reached Renyas ears. After inserting a mere short while of silence, Renya talks. I dont see any necessity to answer. (Renya) Is that so? So, what will you do? (Emil) Emils severed arms grew from the shoulder sections speedily and without delay. Emil shows a waving of his hands with a flapping sound towards Renya, who strengthens his vigilance. Those are normal hands. There is more time necessary to regrow hands for the sake of attacking. (Emil) Whats the probability of saving the two? (Renya) If you let me undertake the treatment right now, it will be 100%. Shall I show you how I heal them completely without even any after-effects? (Emil) What will be your answer? Emil asked him with the katana thrust in front of his eyes. Renya quietly withdrew it and slowly stored it in the scabbard. Seeing this motion, Emil stands up with a heave-ho. Renya couldnt hold him back. I think its fine to see this as having a deal, right? (Emil) Though I will regret this in a distant future. Get lost from this plot of land right after you finished the treatment. I plan to excuse it with the fact that I almost lost my companions. (Renya) You wont regret this. I have a fairly strong sense of duty. (Emil) Once again a smile is pasted on his face. Emil displays it as he hits his chest with a single *pon*. Something like the honour of a demon, I wonder to what extent it goes?Renya looked up to sky by himself leaking a sigh. CHAPTER 33 C IT SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING THAT CANT BE TOLD TOANYONE Well then lets start? (Emil) Squinting as if aiming, just as Emil declared this in a whisper, the light in the room went out. Without even showing any behaviour of panic towards having his vision abruptly stolen, Renya gave off a single loud sound of *thunk* with his tongue. Within a darkness where he cant even see anything in front of his nose, Renya brandishes the katana. He felt a slight feedback in the hand grasping the hilt. Holding the time of the sensation dear, he draws the katana close to himself and then immediately leaves from the spot there. Merely an instant later a sound of a whip striking the ground resounds. If he excludes the vicinity where the sound spread, he feels that the point of his katana seized something to a slight degree. I never expected it, but do you see it? (Emil) Renya releases a thrust towards the direction the voice came from, but he finishes the strike in vain without even any kind of feedback. While changing the position at which he stands bit by bit, Renya answered into the darkness. There is no way for me to see the situation with no light as I have human eyes. (Renya) Thats unexpected. (Emil) He realizes something has passed by trying to graze him as he lightly bends back his upper body. Rather than quickly restoring his stance, he swung his katana as if scooping something up and felt a quick and proper feedback returning to his hand this time. A small voice of pain is raised. I guess its damage to the extent of having shaved off a small quantity of the pinkys end?Renya judges with a bitter feeling. The attacks and counter-attacks are awfully precise. (Emil) Thats because its fine to act as usual. On the other hand, your habitual behaviour is apparently extremely evil. (Renya) Is he thinking that it is easy no matter whether I see him or not? His attacks are extremely monotone and simple. He shouldnt be able to see. Renya stamps his feet and sometimes clicks his tongue slightly while evading. The sounds, huh? (Emil) Renya ends up unintentionally clicking his tongue with a different sound of *tsk* towards the words murmured by Emil after many exchanges of offence and defence. Although he nimbly steps and cuts into the direction the voice came from, there is no response. Renya was aware that he once again finished his attack in vain, but while quickly turning around, the ceiling recovered its soft light and his vision returned. Emil is standing before the turning around Renya with an expression filled with extreme fascination. His body is covered with several light and small wounds all over. Is it a technique of probing the surroundings with the echo of the clicking-tongue-sounds and stepping-into-sounds? You are possessing an interesting skill there. (Emil) Nothing less from a researcher, I guess. You have exposed my ability rather quickly. (Renya) Although Renya said this in a loathsome manner, he assumed in advance that it would be exposed what he is doing. But, the time to expose it has been far shorter than he assumed. If you are able to react to such a degree within darkness, there wont be any meaning in stealing your visibility. (Emil) Thats why you turned on the light? (Renya) I have decided it would be good to brighten up the place if Im to observe you. (Emil) Emils tentacles, which have changed into two hands, were in the middle of splitting into two again. The tentacles, which became four in total, are wriggling. Emil laughs as if he is very happy. Next is an experiment of reaction speed. How far will you be able to follow, I wonder? (Emil) A white whip comes flying. Its different from a whip used by humans. There isnt any part of preliminary movement before brandishing it. It feels abnormally fast. Renya repels it with the katana. The act of striking this with a blade is as if its part of living flesh. If I had to say, the way Emil uses his tentacles for striking will result in producing numerous wounds, but theres no hint of the number of attacks declining. While finding himself in a state of only defending due to the consecutive, interweaving attacks of the four tentacle whips, Renya reduces the distance to Emil little by little. If he moves forward towards his destination, the ferocity of the attacks will only increase, but it is out of the question to not get close until he is in slashing range since the attacks will increase anyway. Is Emil realizing this as well?At the same time Renya moves forward, Emil withdraws to the back. Although Renya grinds his teeth due to the situation of being unable to shorten the distance, he is well aware that it will be a painful experience if he chases after him in haste. Wonderful~, once you were able to secure your field of vision, you can handle such amount of attacks well by using your blade~. (Emil) Despite having been hit just now, Emil laughs. This much pointless chattering, let me kill you quickly. (Renya) Renya was warning himself to not rush and to not get impatient, but he ends up feeling in a hurry no matter how much he tries to persuade himself. Even more than the matter of the four fighting hand-to-hand against those lumps of meat in the neighbouring room, he cant help it but be worried about the condition of the three in this room, who ended up rendered helpless all of a sudden. Especially the way Az was blown away was horrible. The bones of Ronas feet, who was tossed away while having her feet seized, are definitely broken. Even if Shion managed to successfully defend herself to some degree, she has received an attack of the degree of breaking the sword she used as shield. Renya wanted a doctor to take a look as soon as possible, but, for arguments sake, even if they left from here right away, it would still take a day by carriage to the city where you can find doctors. I dont have much time, comprehending the situation, Renyas impatience is spurred on even more. While continuing to deal with the approaching whip strikes and telling himself to calm down, Renya tells himself to hold his temper. If he fails to handle it well despite having got used to follow the whips with his eyes, the situation will change into himself being helpless as well. And if he is rendered helpless, it will mean their total annihilation. If they were to be completely defeated, there wouldnt be an helping hands coming either. There would be no other choice but to pray that their deaths would at least be swift in regards to their future. I dont even have anything to criticize about your stamina. You haven amazing endurance to keep maintaining to handle it so well at this speed. (Emil) Without even having the leeway to answer, the silent Renya directed a dark smile at Emil as if having thought up something interesting. But, you know. There is a difference in this situation. (Emil) (Renya) I wonder what will happen if I were to steal your vision once again? (Emil) Though Renya dispersed the striking tentacles until now, Emil attacks Renya with all four at once. And with this timing Emil erased the light source a second time. Eh? (Emil) Renya slips through the four attacking tentacles and steps into range. Emil dumbfoundedly stared at the sharp downward swing of the brandished katana aiming for his head. And yet, be it his survival instinct starting to work or be it him doing it unconsciously, he is taking action to evade with his body. He sidestepped the blade though only slightly. Biting into Emils left shoulder and severing the left arm from its root at the body, the returning blade tore the abdomen on Emils left flank to pieces. Is he blocking the pain?Emil didnt raise his voice, but in order to avoid further attacks he swings his right tentacles while making sure to separate from Renya by rolling over. Renya decided to pursuit him, but because he has to dodge the wielded tentacles, he had no choice but to jump back. This is (Emil) From the root of the left arm dark red blood is flowing while Emil looks up at the ceiling. The light source that should have been erased continued to brighten the room without disappearing. This sight has stolen a small amount of Emils time which resulted in receiving Renya full power hit. I thought I caused the light to disappear once again seeing a good chance to do so. (Emil) Renya kicks the tentacles, which are wriggling on the ground with a *biku biku* similar to the cut off tail of a lizard, flying and scorches them with a number of chantless as if saying With this its done, huh? while looking at his right side where Emil places his hand on the ground in order to stand up. I overwrote it. Its a convenient skill, this chantless casting. (Renya) Although Emils face was completely devoted to smiling, it now warped in shock. Renya didnt understand the reason for that, but before he could start to think about it, Emil asked a question with a trembling voice. What are you? What the heck? (Emil) Renya=Kunugi. A normal adventurer and a Lost. Although I think it will be a short association, well, please treat me favourably. (Renya) As if extracting his revenge, Renya assaults him with such words. Now Emil is cornered into a defensive fight. Emil didnt look as if he was feeling pain from losing his left arm, but his breath definitely started to become disordered. I cant believe it. Why am I, a honourable demon, out of breath? (Emil) Well, arent you the researcher here? Reflect on it yourself. (Renya) With the tentacles movements beginning to become dull, they arent capable of defending against Renyas attacks. The tentacles tips are loped off and drop to the ground. In these gaps Emils real body begins to suffer numerous wounds due to the slipped through attacks. Before long the remaining right arm is cut off from the shoulder and sent flying as well. As expected, Emil, having lost all strength, ends up sitting on the ground crumbling down from his waist. Emil began to talk with a serious look as Renya brandished his katana about to finish him off. Lets make a deal. (Emil) Without responding, Renya swings down his katana, but stops his hands spontaneously as he hears Emils next words. The three people are your companions, but wont one or two of them die at this rate?! (Emil) What was that? (Renya) Even if Im a demon like this, Im someone whose research is centred on life as I did also tell you before. I have knowledge about healing arts too. I do understand at least what degree of damage I have caused. (Emil) Renya urged him on to continue in silence. Emil, who lost both hands, sat cross-legged at the spot and continued his words making sure to look up at Renya. There is no problem with that dumb swordswoman. The problems are with that gloomy magician and Eroi-sleep-chan, but (Emil)(T/N: eroi = erotic/pornographic, in other words big-boobed Rona) Shouldnt you be careful with your words? (Renya) While I have given him a warning for the time being, why is he describing it so distinctly? I wonder if it is something that easy to understand?Renya ends up pondering about it slightly. At the same time, he ended up feeling a bit of pity for Rona who has been called pornographic even by the demon. Although I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, the magician and sleep-chan are in danger. If they arent brought to a doctor immediately, it will become a matter of life and death or they will have critical after-effects remaining. (Emil) And? (Renya) There is a doctor here. (Emil) Although he wasnt able to point at himself since he had no arms, going by his words, it looks like he is talking about himself. Renya laughed scornfully at those words. For arguments sake, even if you are a doctor, what can you do without your arms? (Renya) If you allow me to wait for a bit, I will be able to regrow them. I will treat those two if you turn a blind eye towards me. (Emil) The act of turning a blind eye on a demon, Renya doesnt know what kind of meaning it holds in this world. Perhaps it might be equivalent to an act of overlooking a so-called criminal in my original world. But, without thinking about the ethical part, it was certainly and attractive proposition because he would be able to get medical treatment for the two heavily injured. Im unable to trust you. (Renya) Even if it was an attractive proposition, its unthinkable to be able to trust the words of an opponent who tried to take his life until moments ago. Renya told him directly as he thrust out his katana, but his mind was wavering quite a bit. Despite Renya not having knowledge in healing arts or such, he was able to agree with the words that Az, who received the attack directly, and Rona, who was thrown without even taking up a defensive stance, were in a perilous condition. He was also worried about Shions condition, but since she already has enough of defence to some degree, he knows that her life isnt at risk. Assuming I travelled such distance in one day with all my might taking the two of them along on the carriage in such dangerous state, would I be able to save the two in the end?Thats the problem. Renya doesnt have a clear answer regarding this on hand. This is a deal, I told you. I dont know about other demons. As me being a researcher comes first, Im sincere to some degree with other things falling in line with this. While we are at it, I will also immediately free the four people scuffling in the other room. (Emil) Since I wont be able to continue his research if I end up dying, Emil laughs. Are they alive? (Renya) There isnt any meaning in accepting their return if the four have already died. Emil nodded towards Renya, who wanted to have confirmation. Yes, I guarantee it. (Emil) But, you took the lives of the other 11 (Renya) Were those lives important to you? (Emil) The reluctance of those words reached Renyas ears. After inserting a mere short while of silence, Renya talks. I dont see any necessity to answer. (Renya) Is that so? So, what will you do? (Emil) Emils severed arms grew from the shoulder sections speedily and without delay. Emil shows a waving of his hands with a flapping sound towards Renya, who strengthens his vigilance. Those are normal hands. There is more time necessary to regrow hands for the sake of attacking. (Emil) Whats the probability of saving the two? (Renya) If you let me undertake the treatment right now, it will be 100%. Shall I show you how I heal them completely without even any after-effects? (Emil) What will be your answer? Emil asked him with the katana thrust in front of his eyes. Renya quietly withdrew it and slowly stored it in the scabbard. Seeing this motion, Emil stands up with a heave-ho. Renya couldnt hold him back. I think its fine to see this as having a deal, right? (Emil) Though I will regret this in a distant future. Get lost from this plot of land right after you finished the treatment. I plan to excuse it with the fact that I almost lost my companions. (Renya) You wont regret this. I have a fairly strong sense of duty. (Emil) Once again a smile is pasted on his face. Emil displays it as he hits his chest with a single *pon*. Something like the honour of a demon, I wonder to what extent it goes?Renya looked up to sky by himself leaking a sigh. Chapter 34 CHAPTER 34 C IT SEEMS TO BE SEQUEL1 Leaving the kitchen of the inn, he recovers the received earthenware jar. He was very anxious whether it has grown properly, but once he opens the lid he can see bubbling and foam rising. Blended with an aroma of fruits, a slight smell of alcohol drifts upwards. Renya smiled cheerfully when he saw the major success. This drifting scent, similar to a stinking impact, indicates that the contents of the jar had been completely broken down by the saprophytic bacteria. Though it could have become a failure, after he sniffed the scent, he was certain that it hadnt turned out like this. He had a feeling that it was just a little bit wasteful, but decided to dispose of the fruits after they had finished their duty. If he filters the remaining liquid with a clean cloth, the yeast liquid, Renya aimed for, will become complete. After mixing this with wheat flour at room temperature, he will let it ferment at a cool, dark place. If he repeats the process of mixing it with wheat flour three times, he will have finished a splendid bread material. If he mixes this with the ingredients of bread, the ingredients will have a slight aroma of fruits and it will rise to a soft and fluffy bread. Thats the plan.(T/N: In other words, he is making yeast) No matter how long you keep it, it stays usable. With the costs of production being cheap as well, Renya already wanted to excuse himself from chewing that hard bread ever again. After all, for bread to be slightly delicious, it cant do without softness, he judges. The ingredients are completed now too. I have been waiting for the task of securing a place to bake bread, but this depends on the money to be paid either way, he is thinking. At any rate, Renya thinks back about 2 or 3 days ago being pointlessly worn-out at this place. For now, I will take this. (Renya) In the midst of moving to the two people, Az and Rona, who were in a state of being slapped into the wall of the dungeon, Emil handed Renya a red, transparent gem with a size similar to a chickens egg. He performed the medical treatment, with a few potions and spells while the patients made terrible sounds similar to something you mustnt listen to, afterwards. Although Az and Rona had a somewhat ashen complexion bleeding all over and sleeping on the floor at that time, their complexions recovered after the treatment and their breathing also returned to be calm. Renya was doubting whether he shouldnt do something due to unimaginable calmness after that falling sound, but Emil denied this with all his power. Shion hasnt yet regained he consciousness either. She was sleeping together with Az group in a shape of. With the extent of her injuries, after some brief medical examination of checking her internals for abnormalities, she is sleeping in a state of being soaked in potion liquid with which she has been completely showered spilling it all over her. Renya was worried whether she would catch a cold even if she was healed from her wounds, but since Emil, knowledgeable in healing arts, took responsibility for it to be fine, he decided to leave her alone as she would receive a cold at worst. Whats this? (Renya) A magic gem, its big, right? You cant say this was a dungeon core, if it isnt at least this big, right? (Emil) While saying so, Emil pokes the magic gem, resting on his plan, with a slight movement of his finger. With only that action the magic gem broke right in half from the place he poked at. Okay, with this the dungeon core dummy is finished. (Emil) Wont it be exposed in an examination? (Renya) Renya receives the magic gem that was held out with a Here you go. while staring at it closely. Being split into two, you can still say its a big magic gem. Although he doesnt doubt that it can be sold for quite a sum of money, Renya doesnt know about the difference between a magic gem and a dungeon core. He will be troubled if someone examines it and blames him for it not being a dungeon core. No, no, that wont be exposed. In the first place the human race doesnt even know how to examine it. (Emil) Is that how it is? (Renya) Thats how it is, I guess. After all, if we are talking about the human race, they dont even know that a dungeon core is a . (Emil) Hmm? (Renya) As it is a word he hadnt heard yet, it will turn into him relying on the help function once again, but he postpones this since thats currently out of the question. Because it looks like it will become a long story, lets leave it for another time. Dont you want to carry the four over there and the three over here outside? We will finish it quickly as I will help you. (Emil) Most of the armour of the four, who had been attacked by the RustMonster, has ended up being destroyed due to the rust. Furthermore, as quite an amount of blood had been sucked out of them, though it wasnt an amount to endanger their lives, they were in a state of having fainted and thus requiring assistance. Had their bodies been crushed all over due to the lumps of meat swallowing them occasionally? It even has resulted in partial loss of flesh and bone fractures. Emil applied medical treatment for the bone fractures, but he gave up on the loss of flesh as he didnt know what to do about it. Though it is my fault Seeing this, did your intention to turn a blind eye toward me disappear? (Emil) No, you have kept your promise since you saved their lives. (Renya) The risk of something like loosing a part of the body is something adventurers naturally take into consideration, I think, Renya says. Its fine if you are okay with it~ Emil suddenly lifts up two people with both hands. The arm strength to lift an adult person with one arm, it was a spectacle that gave Renya an actual feeling of demons having different abilities after all. As I will carry the men, please handle the two women~ (Emil) A woman-hater, huh? (Renya) Thats because women of the human race are troublesome~ Besides (Emil) Emil says while broadly grinning and laughing. Cant you touch them as much as you like if its now? (Emil) Wont they be no different of a doll as their bodies will show no reactions? (Renya) As Renya displays astonishment wondering what Emil is talking about, Emil laughs while smirking after seeing Renyas puzzled face. Though it will be fine to enjoy it a bit seeing that they are such beautiful girls, no? (Emil) If you have the time to talk about worthless things, then carry them quickly. (Renya) Since Renya had a hunch that Emil would say something outrageous if they continued to chatter any longer, he urged him to work by kicking the butt of Emil who seemed as if he wanted to say something else. Although the reason wasnt that he was offered to do it, Renya transported the two, Shion and Rona, in what commonly is referred as princess carry up to the carriage. Because Emil thoroughly made fun of Az and his four guards by quickly tossing them onto the carriage, he also received an upper roundhouse kick without caring about the health of his head due to this act, but it was as if he completely didnt resist it. For the time being~ I wish to express my gratitude towards you. You are those guys lifesaver, I guess. I dont have any confidence whether my wording is right or wrong though as I am no writer or novelist. (Emil) Since it would be too many people for one carriage to transport, if all members were to be put on the load-carrying tray of one carriage, they connected a second load-carrying tray. Renya affixed the harness to the wagon in order for the two horses to even be able to pull this. Setting free the horses Zest and Hertz brought along, and after incinerating the luggage, which lost its use, in the end, Emil spoke to Renya with a serious face. Based on the demons common sense it would be normal to seriously compete until one of us dies~ Therefore, I, who made a blunder, is lucky to survive. I wont forget the favour of being overlooked. (Emil) Renya didnt plan for his opponent to one-sidedly feel indebted towards him since the overlooking was the bargaining point, but he thought it would be fine if Emil wanted to consider it like this. Incidentally, though he thought it would be pointless, he decided to try saying something that wouldnt happen if he didnt say it. Since you might forget it, refrain from such things as experimenting on living people. (Renya) That is impossible. (Emil) Since the answer was returned without delay, Renya sighed and remained silent as he knew the answer from the start. Well, then adjust it a bit. (Renya) Thats also impossible. However, I will give you this. (Emil) Emil held out one small, metal stick. To Renyas eyes it looks like a ball-point pen. The tip is only a little sharp, but its not sharp to the point of piercing. A slight roundness has been applied on the tip. Renya activated his skill as he didnt know about the material by just looking and touching. Whats this? (Renya) Why dont you try to write some symbol you know on your palm with this? (Emil) Following the advice as is, Renya tries to write the characterɏfrom his original world on his left palm.(T/N:ɏis Renyas name.ɏmeans Sacred Lotus whereasmeans increasingly/all the more. In Romaji it is Hasuya, read as Renya) Although he watches himself writing, there was nothing written out on the palm. Was there somet trick to it?As Renya glares at Emil, Emil touches Renyas palm with a facial expression of this being totally unexpected. Just at that moment Renyas palm with the character ofɏon it cast a violet light and the character became visible. This is the effect of the magic tool . If you write this character on some easily readable body part, they will see it if its people authorized by you. Have them vow to not turn against you, as authorized parties. (Emil) Then, if I recklessly write it all over (Renya) The writing is for up to the first four people. It would be best to choose the writing well. (Emil) Renyas expression became sullen due to Emil, who predicted that Renya would say this. It isnt because I am mean-spirited. It isnt my fault that the magic tool has such specifications. (Emil) Lets pretend that its like this I will accept it. (Renya) At least I have saved three people today, considering it like that meant that I gained more than nothing, I guess?Renya puts away the pen, he received, into his void storage. Since he had a vague feeling that he would forget it in the end, he immediately wrote Rona, Shion and Az. It was just the right time as the three havent regained the consciousness yet. Well then, I suppose I will return to my dearly missed birthplace, the demon continent. It would be nice if we could meet again, Renya-kun~ (Emil) Id like to refuse that. Even if we fight once again next time, I dont feel like I will be able to win. Can you remove the dungeon by burying it before you go back? (Renya) This time I won against Emil. But if Emil attacked at full throttle from the beginning with the abilities of his body, then I wouldnt have overcome him, Renya is thinking. The cause of Emils defeat is him taking inferior measures to observe us little by little and to test and assess us. For example, if he only released simultaneous hits aiming at the vital spots with attacks like the one Renya received on his left shoulder from those tentacles, he wouldnt likely be able to avoid them in the state of his eyes not being accustomed to the darkness.I should have been finished, Renya judged. As someone innocently following their profession, fighting in that situation might be called the impediment of a researcher. Though that might be, I wont fight with you anymore. You are quite interesting. You are fascinating because you are a Lost. (Emil) How annoying (Renya) Is that so~? If you get along with me, it will have various advantages, Renya-kun. (Emil) After that, bidding farewell from Emil, Renya trudgingly drove the carriage by himself transporting the seven people who didnt regain their consciousness. It was good that I was taught by Shion how to handle a carriage so I can move it to some extent, Renya thought from the bottom of his heart. In the end the seven didnt regain their consciousness until they arrived at the city. Just as they reached the city, one after the other regained their consciousness. Renya is harbouring something close to conviction that its definitely the result of something prepared by Emil, but he is also believing to the same degree that there wont be any further strange behaviours from the seven. Just having no more than regained their consciousness, their endurance had declined due to such things as getting injured and having lost blood. At that time they havent yet fully recovered. With Renya at the front of everyone returning to the city, he was questioned by the guards of the gate. Shortly thereafter they were forced to get hospitalized by a skilled and famous doctor. As everyones part of legal formalities was finished, they headed to the guild at once in order to report the annihilation of Zest and Hartz parties and the destruction of the dungeon core. After reporting, he was seized and dragged into a separate room by Fritz. Can you tell me what happened? Of course you can report about it, right? (Fritz) It was a shallow dungeon, but there was a demon there. That guy just decided to massacre the two parties. (Renya) If thats really the truth, its a grave situation. Although I could force the confirmation with the magic , would you please cooperate? (Fritz) Give me some money? I dont have any obligation to work for free. (Renya) A priest, able to use the spell was called right away and they began the questioning of Renya. Is it true that there was a demon in a dungeon this close to the city? (Fritz) Thats right. (Renya) Did that demon kill Hartz and Zest? (Fritz) Thats what youve been told. (Renya) What happened with that demon? (Fritz) Though we fought, I couldnt kill him. The demon ran away. (Renya) The spell analysing all of Renyas words upon their truth, it caused a tumult within the guild. Although Renya didnt understand why it caused such clamour, he caught one of the running around guild staff members. Because somehow a demon appeared close to human habitation, it was a serious matter as one or two cities could end up being annihilated if one is unlucky. While looking at the guild, which began to noisily put up a request of rescheduling the citys defence organization and to assemble a new investigation team, with a sidelong glance, the released Renya is feeling that the skill to be able to use the spell has no meaning at all. For Zest and Hartz it was terrible to be alive at the time they were captured by Emil. Most likely those two had been actually killed by someone amongst the four of Renyas group fighting those temporary human types. Even though he also somehow had a feeling that they were amongst the seven people he killed himself, there is no way for him to remember forever such a things as the opponents he killed. Having being asked here whether it was the demon who killed Hartz and Zest, should judge this as lie if he answered with a confirmation. However, Renyas answer wasThats what youve been toldand determined this as the truth. Renya hasnt lied. Just, with the words being insufficient, he would have answeredThats what Ive told you, if he were to complement it accurately. If it had been this, I wonder how it would have turned out actually?Since only correct to be saying that Renya did in the demon, there isnt any lie within. Also regarding the demon afterwards, if he were to complement it accurately, it would be correct to sayThough we fought, since I turned a blind eye towards the demon due to a deal, I couldnt kill him. The demon ran away. But with likewise insufficient words here, it isnt a lie either. As a matter of fact, Renya intended to insist on not talking as it would be a matter of life and death if he were to be exposed to be lying. But he conversely had a somewhat difficult feeling due to being released easily to the extent of it being a disappointment. At the same time, had it been Rona using the spell , he firmly pledges within his mind to be careful about the questions. Probably the impact of the information that a demon appeared is overblown, although Renya had the leeway to pay attention to the details of his testimony, it probably ended up completely blowing away the guilds staff from the beginning. The guild was heightened by a degree of accelerated chaos. While completely viewing it as somebody elses problem, Renya reported the completion of the request and submitted the evidence of the destroyed dungeon core. The reward for completing the request was 24 gold coins for all 4 parties. The reward for destroying the dungeon core was 10 gold coins. Furthermore the sale of the dungeon core yielded 60 gold coins. And with the reward of 6 gold coins for cooperating with the guild, he received 100 gold coins in total and left the guild. CHAPTER 34 C IT SEEMS TO BE SEQUEL1 Leaving the kitchen of the inn, he recovers the received earthenware jar. He was very anxious whether it has grown properly, but once he opens the lid he can see bubbling and foam rising. Blended with an aroma of fruits, a slight smell of alcohol drifts upwards. Renya smiled cheerfully when he saw the major success. This drifting scent, similar to a stinking impact, indicates that the contents of the jar had been completely broken down by the saprophytic bacteria. Though it could have become a failure, after he sniffed the scent, he was certain that it hadnt turned out like this. He had a feeling that it was just a little bit wasteful, but decided to dispose of the fruits after they had finished their duty. If he filters the remaining liquid with a clean cloth, the yeast liquid, Renya aimed for, will become complete. After mixing this with wheat flour at room temperature, he will let it ferment at a cool, dark place. If he repeats the process of mixing it with wheat flour three times, he will have finished a splendid bread material. If he mixes this with the ingredients of bread, the ingredients will have a slight aroma of fruits and it will rise to a soft and fluffy bread. Thats the plan.(T/N: In other words, he is making yeast) No matter how long you keep it, it stays usable. With the costs of production being cheap as well, Renya already wanted to excuse himself from chewing that hard bread ever again. After all, for bread to be slightly delicious, it cant do without softness, he judges. The ingredients are completed now too. I have been waiting for the task of securing a place to bake bread, but this depends on the money to be paid either way, he is thinking. At any rate, Renya thinks back about 2 or 3 days ago being pointlessly worn-out at this place. For now, I will take this. (Renya) In the midst of moving to the two people, Az and Rona, who were in a state of being slapped into the wall of the dungeon, Emil handed Renya a red, transparent gem with a size similar to a chickens egg. He performed the medical treatment, with a few potions and spells while the patients made terrible sounds similar to something you mustnt listen to, afterwards. Although Az and Rona had a somewhat ashen complexion bleeding all over and sleeping on the floor at that time, their complexions recovered after the treatment and their breathing also returned to be calm. Renya was doubting whether he shouldnt do something due to unimaginable calmness after that falling sound, but Emil denied this with all his power. Shion hasnt yet regained he consciousness either. She was sleeping together with Az group in a shape of. With the extent of her injuries, after some brief medical examination of checking her internals for abnormalities, she is sleeping in a state of being soaked in potion liquid with which she has been completely showered spilling it all over her. Renya was worried whether she would catch a cold even if she was healed from her wounds, but since Emil, knowledgeable in healing arts, took responsibility for it to be fine, he decided to leave her alone as she would receive a cold at worst. Whats this? (Renya) A magic gem, its big, right? You cant say this was a dungeon core, if it isnt at least this big, right? (Emil) While saying so, Emil pokes the magic gem, resting on his plan, with a slight movement of his finger. With only that action the magic gem broke right in half from the place he poked at. Okay, with this the dungeon core dummy is finished. (Emil) Wont it be exposed in an examination? (Renya) Renya receives the magic gem that was held out with a Here you go. while staring at it closely. Being split into two, you can still say its a big magic gem. Although he doesnt doubt that it can be sold for quite a sum of money, Renya doesnt know about the difference between a magic gem and a dungeon core. He will be troubled if someone examines it and blames him for it not being a dungeon core. No, no, that wont be exposed. In the first place the human race doesnt even know how to examine it. (Emil) Is that how it is? (Renya) Thats how it is, I guess. After all, if we are talking about the human race, they dont even know that a dungeon core is a . (Emil) Hmm? (Renya) As it is a word he hadnt heard yet, it will turn into him relying on the help function once again, but he postpones this since thats currently out of the question. Because it looks like it will become a long story, lets leave it for another time. Dont you want to carry the four over there and the three over here outside? We will finish it quickly as I will help you. (Emil) Most of the armour of the four, who had been attacked by the RustMonster, has ended up being destroyed due to the rust. Furthermore, as quite an amount of blood had been sucked out of them, though it wasnt an amount to endanger their lives, they were in a state of having fainted and thus requiring assistance. Had their bodies been crushed all over due to the lumps of meat swallowing them occasionally? It even has resulted in partial loss of flesh and bone fractures. Emil applied medical treatment for the bone fractures, but he gave up on the loss of flesh as he didnt know what to do about it. Though it is my fault Seeing this, did your intention to turn a blind eye toward me disappear? (Emil) No, you have kept your promise since you saved their lives. (Renya) The risk of something like loosing a part of the body is something adventurers naturally take into consideration, I think, Renya says. Its fine if you are okay with it~ Emil suddenly lifts up two people with both hands. The arm strength to lift an adult person with one arm, it was a spectacle that gave Renya an actual feeling of demons having different abilities after all. As I will carry the men, please handle the two women~ (Emil) A woman-hater, huh? (Renya) Thats because women of the human race are troublesome~ Besides (Emil) Emil says while broadly grinning and laughing. Cant you touch them as much as you like if its now? (Emil) Wont they be no different of a doll as their bodies will show no reactions? (Renya) As Renya displays astonishment wondering what Emil is talking about, Emil laughs while smirking after seeing Renyas puzzled face. Though it will be fine to enjoy it a bit seeing that they are such beautiful girls, no? (Emil) If you have the time to talk about worthless things, then carry them quickly. (Renya) Since Renya had a hunch that Emil would say something outrageous if they continued to chatter any longer, he urged him to work by kicking the butt of Emil who seemed as if he wanted to say something else. Although the reason wasnt that he was offered to do it, Renya transported the two, Shion and Rona, in what commonly is referred as princess carry up to the carriage. Because Emil thoroughly made fun of Az and his four guards by quickly tossing them onto the carriage, he also received an upper roundhouse kick without caring about the health of his head due to this act, but it was as if he completely didnt resist it. For the time being~ I wish to express my gratitude towards you. You are those guys lifesaver, I guess. I dont have any confidence whether my wording is right or wrong though as I am no writer or novelist. (Emil) Since it would be too many people for one carriage to transport, if all members were to be put on the load-carrying tray of one carriage, they connected a second load-carrying tray. Renya affixed the harness to the wagon in order for the two horses to even be able to pull this. Setting free the horses Zest and Hertz brought along, and after incinerating the luggage, which lost its use, in the end, Emil spoke to Renya with a serious face. Based on the demons common sense it would be normal to seriously compete until one of us dies~ Therefore, I, who made a blunder, is lucky to survive. I wont forget the favour of being overlooked. (Emil) Renya didnt plan for his opponent to one-sidedly feel indebted towards him since the overlooking was the bargaining point, but he thought it would be fine if Emil wanted to consider it like this. Incidentally, though he thought it would be pointless, he decided to try saying something that wouldnt happen if he didnt say it. Since you might forget it, refrain from such things as experimenting on living people. (Renya) That is impossible. (Emil) Since the answer was returned without delay, Renya sighed and remained silent as he knew the answer from the start. Well, then adjust it a bit. (Renya) Thats also impossible. However, I will give you this. (Emil) Emil held out one small, metal stick. To Renyas eyes it looks like a ball-point pen. The tip is only a little sharp, but its not sharp to the point of piercing. A slight roundness has been applied on the tip. Renya activated his skill as he didnt know about the material by just looking and touching. Whats this? (Renya) Why dont you try to write some symbol you know on your palm with this? (Emil) Following the advice as is, Renya tries to write the characterɏfrom his original world on his left palm.(T/N:ɏis Renyas name.ɏmeans Sacred Lotus whereasmeans increasingly/all the more. In Romaji it is Hasuya, read as Renya) Although he watches himself writing, there was nothing written out on the palm. Was there somet trick to it?As Renya glares at Emil, Emil touches Renyas palm with a facial expression of this being totally unexpected. Just at that moment Renyas palm with the character ofɏon it cast a violet light and the character became visible. This is the effect of the magic tool . If you write this character on some easily readable body part, they will see it if its people authorized by you. Have them vow to not turn against you, as authorized parties. (Emil) Then, if I recklessly write it all over (Renya) The writing is for up to the first four people. It would be best to choose the writing well. (Emil) Renyas expression became sullen due to Emil, who predicted that Renya would say this. It isnt because I am mean-spirited. It isnt my fault that the magic tool has such specifications. (Emil) Lets pretend that its like this I will accept it. (Renya) At least I have saved three people today, considering it like that meant that I gained more than nothing, I guess?Renya puts away the pen, he received, into his void storage. Since he had a vague feeling that he would forget it in the end, he immediately wrote Rona, Shion and Az. It was just the right time as the three havent regained the consciousness yet. Well then, I suppose I will return to my dearly missed birthplace, the demon continent. It would be nice if we could meet again, Renya-kun~ (Emil) Id like to refuse that. Even if we fight once again next time, I dont feel like I will be able to win. Can you remove the dungeon by burying it before you go back? (Renya) This time I won against Emil. But if Emil attacked at full throttle from the beginning with the abilities of his body, then I wouldnt have overcome him, Renya is thinking. The cause of Emils defeat is him taking inferior measures to observe us little by little and to test and assess us. For example, if he only released simultaneous hits aiming at the vital spots with attacks like the one Renya received on his left shoulder from those tentacles, he wouldnt likely be able to avoid them in the state of his eyes not being accustomed to the darkness.I should have been finished, Renya judged. As someone innocently following their profession, fighting in that situation might be called the impediment of a researcher. Though that might be, I wont fight with you anymore. You are quite interesting. You are fascinating because you are a Lost. (Emil) How annoying (Renya) Is that so~? If you get along with me, it will have various advantages, Renya-kun. (Emil) After that, bidding farewell from Emil, Renya trudgingly drove the carriage by himself transporting the seven people who didnt regain their consciousness. It was good that I was taught by Shion how to handle a carriage so I can move it to some extent, Renya thought from the bottom of his heart. In the end the seven didnt regain their consciousness until they arrived at the city. Just as they reached the city, one after the other regained their consciousness. Renya is harbouring something close to conviction that its definitely the result of something prepared by Emil, but he is also believing to the same degree that there wont be any further strange behaviours from the seven. Just having no more than regained their consciousness, their endurance had declined due to such things as getting injured and having lost blood. At that time they havent yet fully recovered. With Renya at the front of everyone returning to the city, he was questioned by the guards of the gate. Shortly thereafter they were forced to get hospitalized by a skilled and famous doctor. As everyones part of legal formalities was finished, they headed to the guild at once in order to report the annihilation of Zest and Hartz parties and the destruction of the dungeon core. After reporting, he was seized and dragged into a separate room by Fritz. Can you tell me what happened? Of course you can report about it, right? (Fritz) It was a shallow dungeon, but there was a demon there. That guy just decided to massacre the two parties. (Renya) If thats really the truth, its a grave situation. Although I could force the confirmation with the magic , would you please cooperate? (Fritz) Give me some money? I dont have any obligation to work for free. (Renya) A priest, able to use the spell was called right away and they began the questioning of Renya. Is it true that there was a demon in a dungeon this close to the city? (Fritz) Thats right. (Renya) Did that demon kill Hartz and Zest? (Fritz) Thats what youve been told. (Renya) What happened with that demon? (Fritz) Though we fought, I couldnt kill him. The demon ran away. (Renya) The spell analysing all of Renyas words upon their truth, it caused a tumult within the guild. Although Renya didnt understand why it caused such clamour, he caught one of the running around guild staff members. Because somehow a demon appeared close to human habitation, it was a serious matter as one or two cities could end up being annihilated if one is unlucky. While looking at the guild, which began to noisily put up a request of rescheduling the citys defence organization and to assemble a new investigation team, with a sidelong glance, the released Renya is feeling that the skill to be able to use the spell has no meaning at all. For Zest and Hartz it was terrible to be alive at the time they were captured by Emil. Most likely those two had been actually killed by someone amongst the four of Renyas group fighting those temporary human types. Even though he also somehow had a feeling that they were amongst the seven people he killed himself, there is no way for him to remember forever such a things as the opponents he killed. Having being asked here whether it was the demon who killed Hartz and Zest, should judge this as lie if he answered with a confirmation. However, Renyas answer wasThats what youve been toldand determined this as the truth. Renya hasnt lied. Just, with the words being insufficient, he would have answeredThats what Ive told you, if he were to complement it accurately. If it had been this, I wonder how it would have turned out actually?Since only correct to be saying that Renya did in the demon, there isnt any lie within. Also regarding the demon afterwards, if he were to complement it accurately, it would be correct to sayThough we fought, since I turned a blind eye towards the demon due to a deal, I couldnt kill him. The demon ran away. But with likewise insufficient words here, it isnt a lie either. As a matter of fact, Renya intended to insist on not talking as it would be a matter of life and death if he were to be exposed to be lying. But he conversely had a somewhat difficult feeling due to being released easily to the extent of it being a disappointment. At the same time, had it been Rona using the spell , he firmly pledges within his mind to be careful about the questions. Probably the impact of the information that a demon appeared is overblown, although Renya had the leeway to pay attention to the details of his testimony, it probably ended up completely blowing away the guilds staff from the beginning. The guild was heightened by a degree of accelerated chaos. While completely viewing it as somebody elses problem, Renya reported the completion of the request and submitted the evidence of the destroyed dungeon core. The reward for completing the request was 24 gold coins for all 4 parties. The reward for destroying the dungeon core was 10 gold coins. Furthermore the sale of the dungeon core yielded 60 gold coins. And with the reward of 6 gold coins for cooperating with the guild, he received 100 gold coins in total and left the guild. Chapter 35 CHAPTER 35 C IT SEEMS TO BE SEQUEL2 And, what will Az group do? (Renya) Renya asks the magician, reading a book nearby, as he covers the lid of the earthenware jar where the produced yeast had been put in. The place is the inn where Renya is staying at. With the time being early afternoon, there are few customers and the inns interior is deserted with the vacant seats standing out. At the same table as Renya, there were Shion and Rona alongside the figure of Az. Deeply sitting on the chair, the figure of Az is painful to look at as he entrusts his feeble back to the chair. He has bought a new grey robe, but as for the skin peeking out from the odds and ends, he is shrouded to a considerable extent with white bandages wrapping around him. As for the close-by Renya, he ends up being disgusted by the drifting smell of medicine coming from those bandages, but he doesnt complain about it and endures it as the other party is an injured person. In contrast to this, Rona is in her usual priestess garb, however she also has bandages peeking out from her visible skin. The smell of medicine is only vague though. But, with a face as if extremely worn-out, she is currently also stretching out her limp body on top of the table slovenly. If its this painful, it will be fine go sleep, though Renya thinks like that, it seems to be something she wont yield to. The state of the twos injuries didnt actually have much of a differences. Thats what the doctor in charge said after they returned to the city. Although Renya didnt have an idea either which of the two had the more terrible injuries, he considered both their conditions to be mostly identical. However, wondering whether it would be fine as that demonic researcher had done the treatment so they wouldnt die, Renya guessed that he stopped the recovery at roughly the same place with a degree of intention. After regaining their consciousness, Rona healed her wounds with her own healing magic whereas Az chose to cure them using the medical ointments prescribed by the doctor. You can say this is the difference in their present condition. As for magic, the generally used healing magic holds an effect of healing the wounds of the target in exchange for consuming their stamina. Therefore, Rona, who applied healing in one go, expended plenty of stamina as a result and thats what causes her to be tormented by a heavy, tired feeling. What we will do, it is? (Az) Az asks back raising his view from the page of the book he read. Az, who has absolutely no confidence in his stamina, politely refused the offer to be treated with healing magic by Rona. Since he chose to slowly recover, his appearance is pitiful, but he hasnt an exhausted facial expression like Rona. Even the type of pain, since the medical ointment has a paralysing effect to some degree, he felt discomfortable.It seems to be less painful than I thought. Your party members will retire from being adventurers, I guess? (Renya) Their lives arent in a serious condition, but on top of loosing with parts of their bodies, they experienced being crushed and swallowed by those huge lumps of flesh. It gave Az party members a considerable trauma with the difference in the degree of being greater or lesser. Even if only their lives were saved, there are some earnings. The four guards of Az took this times reward and suggested to return to the countryside quitting their lives as adventurers. All of them, before they became adventurers, apparently originate from a certain farmers village. It seems they will return to that village and help with the occupation of their families. At the time they thanked Az for being indebted to him until now, we left almost everything of our own share to the four. It wasnt a great amount of money when divided by the number of people, but even so Az laughed that it would become at least money to cover the costs of preparing to do agriculture in the countryside. Thats right. My party has dissolved. (Az) Although Az said this as if not really minding it, the faces of the three became gloomy hearing this. There is no way that the matter of his party, which was active until now, breaking up isnt on Az mind. Even so, without changing his expression, it isnt clear whether he came to a clear decision of not changing it while worrying about the situation or whether he is conversely paying attention to not fuss about it too much to Renyas group. Though its a plain question, but do you want to come with us? (Renya) Renya asks with the intention to persuade Shion and Rona at once, if he receives a favourable answer. Thank you for the proposal, but. (Az) Changing his smile to a bitter smile, Az shook his head. Is there already a particular party you have been invited to? (Renya) In fact there is a place I want to work at. I dont plan on quitting to be an adventurer, but I intend to rely on them for some time. (Az) Hee. Where is it? (Renya) Its a school. (Az) As Az says, there seems to be a school for nurturing adventurers in Kukrika. For a long time there had been talks about him becoming a temporary teacher there. Since he was devoting himself towards his job as adventurer, he declined it, but because he was even told it would be fine once he had some free time, he intends to work there for some time at this long-awaited opportunity. In fact he has experience. It can also be said that he is a magician possessing a reasonable competency. Given that he has never been in quite the position of something like being a school teacher, the schools side has kept inviting him aiming for breaks in his usual life. A school for training adventurers~ Will you teach them such things as the manners of adventuring? (Renya) Renya says as the situation is that the school was also training somehow worthless people. Thats not it. Even if you are born in a noble household, the third, fourth, fifth sons etc. cant succeed the household as they arent even material for marriage. Wont those become adventurers? (Az) The eldest son succeeds the house. The second son assists him or in case of the eldest sons premature death the second son remains as substitute in the household. However there are many cases of strife over inheritance if the third son and further down remain in the family. They will become a hindrance if they do that as there are the eldest and second sons. Usually they are driven out of the house as soon as they reach a certain age. Or they voluntarily leave the house by themselves, Az explains. At this point, the, to a certain degree, highly excellent people become something like government officials by themselves. If they arent deemed acceptable for this or arent even able to do this due to their abilities even if they want to, they have no other choice but to stay afloat as adventurers. In the case of them being a woman, they will become material to be married into another family. But if they have a character which has no admirer, or if they are someone with a problematic shape of face, or if they are someone who ran away because they couldnt bear the idea of being married for their parents convenience, they will easily become adventurers. Well, there are also situations where the eldest and second sons enrol and train at the school itself until they succeed the house. (Az) Az said they also teach general education since it isnt a good thing if you end up making something foolish as adventurer. This sort of the nobles aspects, huh? It feels depressing~ (Renya) Renya says this while looking at Rona with a glance. Rona noticed that gaze towards her own direction, but after she pondered for a moment what the heck he might mean with that, she shook her head as it was troublesome to think about it. Although he tried to turn his view somehow downwards towards the adventurers, who are female nobles hating to marry, it seems they want to tell him that they are different for some reason. If he tries to name it, Shion is an extraordinarily beautiful girl, that is only if she stays silent. As he opens his mouth like a military man, he ended up being frank at a dumb spot.Even if you deduct, for arguments sake, that they are noble daughters, it defintely doesnt mean that it is popular to be introduced into marriage, I guess. Even if they ran away to free themselves from that, it would be easy to imagine that there would be as many pursuers as there are stars in the night. The job of nurturing talented people is very important. Though I think it is immense work, please do your best. (Shion) Shion said this. Renya vaguely guessed that Emils medical treatment of Shion was perfunctory, but her injuries themselves mostly vanished. She was told as first that it is alright to return to the city by the doctor. As far as Rona tried to secretly examine her, there wasnt even any necessity for healing magic. She also didnt catch a cold which Renya was worried about. Although, as a result, he was troubled over his judgement whether he should acknowledge her to be an amazing swordswoman as she didnt receive that much of damage from Emils blow or whether this was due to her being pointlessly sturdy. As for Shion, she seemed to be disappointed about not being able to do anything against a demon as opponent. Every day after returning to the city she goes to the training school within the guilds facilities devoting herself to swing the sword until she gets tired. If you need some help, feel free to contact me. I will help out if its something I am capable of. (Renya) Thank you for this offer. I will rely on you at that time. Now that I think about it, I havent earned any money from the job this time, but its a great harvest to have a relation with you. (Az) Closing the book he began to read, Az put it on the table while laughing. With a face that wont lower his evaluation as very tricky magician, he made sure to entice Renya into laughing as well albeit only a little. With this its enough about me. I guess, Renyas group will continue the adventurer occupation without a change? (Az) Thats right. For the time being our first goal is to earn money for the sake of obtaining a base. (Renya) This times reward was reasonable, but its still not enough (Rona) Rona is in a state of gasping. With her voice as if squeezing out the words, the other three harbour the fearIsnt she in a barely alive condition? Base something like a house? That is certainly something even an adventurer desires. (Az) It is the outcome of our discussions, but since all members are planning to live there, it is indispensable for it to be fairly large. (Renya) Is that so? It also is a honourable social status to live together with two women underneath a single roof. (Az) At best it will be only hardships, as Az ridiculed him, Renya stopped him by facing him with a dejected facial expression. At any rate, this time it was a dangerous job, Renya looked up at the ceiling while thinking about it. If they made a single mistake, they would have been turned into Emils experimental materials. It was a situation where you couldnt exclude such possibility. If they had encountered a warrior instead of a whimsical researcher, they would have died after all. It was such a job. Beyond earning money, even if it unavoidable to have some risk, we should get requests with a little lower degree of difficulty, he ends up assessing earnestly. After all is said and done, this time was the first time for Renya to officially receive work from the guild. With this being his first job, half of his companions died. No matter how you even think about it, it was too unlucky to end up running into a demon. Only a fool relies on good luck. But calling forth bad luck is foolish as well. As for me, it is more suitable to keep it moderate and appropriate. If I am to live to protect the promise with that little girl, this much will be fine, but I wonder if it isnt possible to lead a more comfortable life? (Renya) He questions in a small mutter that cant be heard by anyone. Without anyone listening to it after all, it dissolved in the air and vanished. CHAPTER 35 C IT SEEMS TO BE SEQUEL2 And, what will Az group do? (Renya) Renya asks the magician, reading a book nearby, as he covers the lid of the earthenware jar where the produced yeast had been put in. The place is the inn where Renya is staying at. With the time being early afternoon, there are few customers and the inns interior is deserted with the vacant seats standing out. At the same table as Renya, there were Shion and Rona alongside the figure of Az. Deeply sitting on the chair, the figure of Az is painful to look at as he entrusts his feeble back to the chair. He has bought a new grey robe, but as for the skin peeking out from the odds and ends, he is shrouded to a considerable extent with white bandages wrapping around him. As for the close-by Renya, he ends up being disgusted by the drifting smell of medicine coming from those bandages, but he doesnt complain about it and endures it as the other party is an injured person. In contrast to this, Rona is in her usual priestess garb, however she also has bandages peeking out from her visible skin. The smell of medicine is only vague though. But, with a face as if extremely worn-out, she is currently also stretching out her limp body on top of the table slovenly. If its this painful, it will be fine go sleep, though Renya thinks like that, it seems to be something she wont yield to. The state of the twos injuries didnt actually have much of a differences. Thats what the doctor in charge said after they returned to the city. Although Renya didnt have an idea either which of the two had the more terrible injuries, he considered both their conditions to be mostly identical. However, wondering whether it would be fine as that demonic researcher had done the treatment so they wouldnt die, Renya guessed that he stopped the recovery at roughly the same place with a degree of intention. After regaining their consciousness, Rona healed her wounds with her own healing magic whereas Az chose to cure them using the medical ointments prescribed by the doctor. You can say this is the difference in their present condition. As for magic, the generally used healing magic holds an effect of healing the wounds of the target in exchange for consuming their stamina. Therefore, Rona, who applied healing in one go, expended plenty of stamina as a result and thats what causes her to be tormented by a heavy, tired feeling. What we will do, it is? (Az) Az asks back raising his view from the page of the book he read. Az, who has absolutely no confidence in his stamina, politely refused the offer to be treated with healing magic by Rona. Since he chose to slowly recover, his appearance is pitiful, but he hasnt an exhausted facial expression like Rona. Even the type of pain, since the medical ointment has a paralysing effect to some degree, he felt discomfortable.It seems to be less painful than I thought. Your party members will retire from being adventurers, I guess? (Renya) Their lives arent in a serious condition, but on top of loosing with parts of their bodies, they experienced being crushed and swallowed by those huge lumps of flesh. It gave Az party members a considerable trauma with the difference in the degree of being greater or lesser. Even if only their lives were saved, there are some earnings. The four guards of Az took this times reward and suggested to return to the countryside quitting their lives as adventurers. All of them, before they became adventurers, apparently originate from a certain farmers village. It seems they will return to that village and help with the occupation of their families. At the time they thanked Az for being indebted to him until now, we left almost everything of our own share to the four. It wasnt a great amount of money when divided by the number of people, but even so Az laughed that it would become at least money to cover the costs of preparing to do agriculture in the countryside. Thats right. My party has dissolved. (Az) Although Az said this as if not really minding it, the faces of the three became gloomy hearing this. There is no way that the matter of his party, which was active until now, breaking up isnt on Az mind. Even so, without changing his expression, it isnt clear whether he came to a clear decision of not changing it while worrying about the situation or whether he is conversely paying attention to not fuss about it too much to Renyas group. Though its a plain question, but do you want to come with us? (Renya) Renya asks with the intention to persuade Shion and Rona at once, if he receives a favourable answer. Thank you for the proposal, but. (Az) Changing his smile to a bitter smile, Az shook his head. Is there already a particular party you have been invited to? (Renya) In fact there is a place I want to work at. I dont plan on quitting to be an adventurer, but I intend to rely on them for some time. (Az) Hee. Where is it? (Renya) Its a school. (Az) As Az says, there seems to be a school for nurturing adventurers in Kukrika. For a long time there had been talks about him becoming a temporary teacher there. Since he was devoting himself towards his job as adventurer, he declined it, but because he was even told it would be fine once he had some free time, he intends to work there for some time at this long-awaited opportunity. In fact he has experience. It can also be said that he is a magician possessing a reasonable competency. Given that he has never been in quite the position of something like being a school teacher, the schools side has kept inviting him aiming for breaks in his usual life. A school for training adventurers~ Will you teach them such things as the manners of adventuring? (Renya) Renya says as the situation is that the school was also training somehow worthless people. Thats not it. Even if you are born in a noble household, the third, fourth, fifth sons etc. cant succeed the household as they arent even material for marriage. Wont those become adventurers? (Az) The eldest son succeeds the house. The second son assists him or in case of the eldest sons premature death the second son remains as substitute in the household. However there are many cases of strife over inheritance if the third son and further down remain in the family. They will become a hindrance if they do that as there are the eldest and second sons. Usually they are driven out of the house as soon as they reach a certain age. Or they voluntarily leave the house by themselves, Az explains. At this point, the, to a certain degree, highly excellent people become something like government officials by themselves. If they arent deemed acceptable for this or arent even able to do this due to their abilities even if they want to, they have no other choice but to stay afloat as adventurers. In the case of them being a woman, they will become material to be married into another family. But if they have a character which has no admirer, or if they are someone with a problematic shape of face, or if they are someone who ran away because they couldnt bear the idea of being married for their parents convenience, they will easily become adventurers. Well, there are also situations where the eldest and second sons enrol and train at the school itself until they succeed the house. (Az) Az said they also teach general education since it isnt a good thing if you end up making something foolish as adventurer. This sort of the nobles aspects, huh? It feels depressing~ (Renya) Renya says this while looking at Rona with a glance. Rona noticed that gaze towards her own direction, but after she pondered for a moment what the heck he might mean with that, she shook her head as it was troublesome to think about it. Although he tried to turn his view somehow downwards towards the adventurers, who are female nobles hating to marry, it seems they want to tell him that they are different for some reason. If he tries to name it, Shion is an extraordinarily beautiful girl, that is only if she stays silent. As he opens his mouth like a military man, he ended up being frank at a dumb spot.Even if you deduct, for arguments sake, that they are noble daughters, it defintely doesnt mean that it is popular to be introduced into marriage, I guess. Even if they ran away to free themselves from that, it would be easy to imagine that there would be as many pursuers as there are stars in the night. The job of nurturing talented people is very important. Though I think it is immense work, please do your best. (Shion) Shion said this. Renya vaguely guessed that Emils medical treatment of Shion was perfunctory, but her injuries themselves mostly vanished. She was told as first that it is alright to return to the city by the doctor. As far as Rona tried to secretly examine her, there wasnt even any necessity for healing magic. She also didnt catch a cold which Renya was worried about. Although, as a result, he was troubled over his judgement whether he should acknowledge her to be an amazing swordswoman as she didnt receive that much of damage from Emils blow or whether this was due to her being pointlessly sturdy. As for Shion, she seemed to be disappointed about not being able to do anything against a demon as opponent. Every day after returning to the city she goes to the training school within the guilds facilities devoting herself to swing the sword until she gets tired. If you need some help, feel free to contact me. I will help out if its something I am capable of. (Renya) Thank you for this offer. I will rely on you at that time. Now that I think about it, I havent earned any money from the job this time, but its a great harvest to have a relation with you. (Az) Closing the book he began to read, Az put it on the table while laughing. With a face that wont lower his evaluation as very tricky magician, he made sure to entice Renya into laughing as well albeit only a little. With this its enough about me. I guess, Renyas group will continue the adventurer occupation without a change? (Az) Thats right. For the time being our first goal is to earn money for the sake of obtaining a base. (Renya) This times reward was reasonable, but its still not enough (Rona) Rona is in a state of gasping. With her voice as if squeezing out the words, the other three harbour the fearIsnt she in a barely alive condition? Base something like a house? That is certainly something even an adventurer desires. (Az) It is the outcome of our discussions, but since all members are planning to live there, it is indispensable for it to be fairly large. (Renya) Is that so? It also is a honourable social status to live together with two women underneath a single roof. (Az) At best it will be only hardships, as Az ridiculed him, Renya stopped him by facing him with a dejected facial expression. At any rate, this time it was a dangerous job, Renya looked up at the ceiling while thinking about it. If they made a single mistake, they would have been turned into Emils experimental materials. It was a situation where you couldnt exclude such possibility. If they had encountered a warrior instead of a whimsical researcher, they would have died after all. It was such a job. Beyond earning money, even if it unavoidable to have some risk, we should get requests with a little lower degree of difficulty, he ends up assessing earnestly. After all is said and done, this time was the first time for Renya to officially receive work from the guild. With this being his first job, half of his companions died. No matter how you even think about it, it was too unlucky to end up running into a demon. Only a fool relies on good luck. But calling forth bad luck is foolish as well. As for me, it is more suitable to keep it moderate and appropriate. If I am to live to protect the promise with that little girl, this much will be fine, but I wonder if it isnt possible to lead a more comfortable life? (Renya) He questions in a small mutter that cant be heard by anyone. Without anyone listening to it after all, it dissolved in the air and vanished. Chapter 36 CHAPTER 36 CFirst of all it seems to find abase Renya hates debts. In the first place, I do not like to buy something with gold that I do not have. Because it is commonplace to say that you cannot swing a sleeve without it, the nature of having it by the money brought there from some other place and achieve the purpose is disagreeable. However, sometimes I think that it depends on time and case. Indeed that case was now. The total reward I got by the other day dungeon capture is 100 gold coins. Because I handed half of this to the party to Azu, The share of my party is 50 gold coins. It was quite protested by Azu about this. Azu said that, as for repelling the demon, they were equally useless, so it was insisted that they do not have the right to receive dungeon core destruction reward. However, unwillingly to compromise because Renya insisted on an equal division stubbornly. From Renya, because its apparent that he survived a similar life-or-death crisis, so it is still necessary to divide the reward halfway, and the act of Azu trying to fix it is wrong. We could not even fulfill the wall role!? (Azu) As Azu draw closer, Renya told as flat voice as possible. So what? I admit that. But without you, could I alone be able to fight the demon? You overestimate me too much, Azu (Renya) It may be noticed that this is not a businesslike talk if feelings get caught in voice and expression. Keeping a face like Nohjima in front of this magician whose face was close to a certain degree was a lot of hardship for Renya, but Renya mobilizing all the facial muscle continued to show a poker face. After glaring each other for a while, Azu was quiet. I understand this time I am sorry (Azu) He said so and lowered his head deeply. With that Azu talks about the reward to the party members, after seeing off leaving, Renya sighs deeply. In the beginning, it was obvious that Azus party needed money than Renya Even if they continue to be adventurers, the four people in the party have almost all the equipment lost, so if you buy a new one it is not enough for the reward that they should receive. If it come to the point that they stopped being an adventurer, until finding another source of income, an outfit allowance before earning money by the next occupation is necessary. Either way, it is much better to have lots of money as possible. In contrast to Renya, it was certain that he was working mainly for earning money, but there is no urgency at all. It was to the extent that it was no problem even if he deferred other ones when there were an inn charge and meal expenses in hand. Because it is known that the all reward obtained by Renya in this work was almost given to Azu. As the leaders standpoint, he could not force myself to do so, he could not think about persuasion for reasons other than sympathy, so he settled down in a place called mountain division. In this case, no matter what Shion says, because it worked all together, she probably can talk back with persistence, but after talking with those two after the incident, losing interest they gave Renya a reply that it is Ok. Moving on Regarding the distribution of 50 gold coins, Shion and Rona requested only two gold coins, respectively, and the rest were to be taken by Renya, so the currently Renyas assets were 46 gold coins. While wandering around town as to what should he do with his money, he found a poster of a real estate property being sold by a merchant who dropped it incidentally. There is a large garden in a stone-built robust building whether it is due to the fact that the property is in the commercial area was used as a store and house by a large merchant and its somewhat close to the outer border of the town, The building itself seems to be built to combine with the store part facing the street, as well as the studio and the warehouse. Indeed it was in accordance with Renyas standard, but the problem was that price. The sold amount is 80 gold coins, if 40 is paid as a down payment, the rest is in division, then it would be possible to meet those requirements. Regarding the market price, Renya is not familiar at all. However, as for such property, Renya heard that it would at least cost 1 white gold coin. It probably will depend on also the scale of width and the building, but if you look at the information of the property scale seems to be large, we assume that it is, if that is true then it may be worth more than 1 white gold coin. Even if there is a catch, 80 gold coins is cheap. I cannot pay the whole amount in one stroke, but with the down payment I can afford it now. To put together a loan was a bad thing to say, but if you miss it now may not be next one. I wonder if there is something about it to be worried about? (Renya) While Renya was staring at the paper stuck on the wall of the store, he saw a shadow, a middle C aged man clerk lowered his waist and said. Isnt this somewhat too cheap? (Renya) Oh, this is . (Clerk) Just looking at the paper pointed to by Renya, the clerks face got cloudy. Renya knew that there is a problem just by looking at his face, the male clerk slowly whispered close to the ear of Renya. The property is . (Clerk) Un? (Renya) Hunted (Clerk) Renya didnt understood it and standing with a blank expression. However, as something other than thought ordered, the hand extended to the sword hanging from the waist, the clerk who saw it stood in a hurry and retreated from Renya. While rolling with excessive momentum, using the momentum he shifted his position with his forehead rubbing on the ground. Sorry, sorry, I am joking! (Clerk) Oh I thought so, (Renya) Renya lowered down his hand which put back his sword slowly while praising ones self-control highly in heart. It was seriously dangerous scene. I thought that if I had slashed him, I would not feel guilty at all, but it seems that I would be normally caught in violation of the law. However, Renya hearing the dull joke he didnt even heard in his original world caught him in surprise and the reaction was big. Well, just. Not everything is a joke. (Clerk) What? (Renya) This building is exclusively rumored that it is cursed. (Clerk) There was a wealthy merchant who lived in that mansion. The merchant with his beautiful wife who had a clever child were a merchant who held a large number of employees and was an extensive trading company that competed for the first and second place in the city of Kukurika. Payments of the employees was also good, and because they were also pleasantly surprised, those who wanted to work at the shop that he operates visited his house all the time. The reputation from the peers was also good, and the store of the merchant seemed to prosper for a long time. It is about several years ago that an accident happened. The consecutive disappearance cases of the young woman occurred successively in town The case of girls in their late teens missing one after another happened. The city guards tried to run around the town looking for the girls who disappeared and told them to avoid walking alone to women regardless its day or night. And one name that came up to the investigation line of those investigating the case. The victimized women were all those who worked at the merchants store or who had an interview that they wanted to work. A single thread connecting the victims. The guards who noticed it immediately rush into the merchants house to question the circumstances. So what they saw. What did the saw? (Renya) It is as you imagined (Clerk) A salesclerk I drop a voice, and to whisper it to. Probably it will be the place where the talk becomes lively, but does not hardly sound through Renya. When it sounds like only a mere continuation bizarre-hunting murder case, but what whether youll say happened to that. Although it is certainly a miserable story, if you search for the similar story in the original world where Renya was alive, it is a story that you can find it as often as you can throw stones appropriately. If cursed to such a degree, it is strange that the world is not full of curses all over the world. Even ghosts, I think that it is strange if they do not appear in groups. The salesclerk for some reason disappointed with Renyas response that seems to be totally reaction than I say that the reaction is very thin. Oh, yes, thats what the rumors says (clerk) Only that (Renya) To that extent, Renya is amazed at what makes him feel very much. No, well. It seems that it really comes out. (Clerk) It made the atmosphere last strangely, and was the salesclerk who hides voice, but it dont have the intension that it will associate with Renya at all. What? (Renya) There seems to be a ghost. Customers who have moved to that property will cancel their contracts if they see it at night when there is no exception of an alone person. (Clerk) Truly another world, Renya took the word with surprise this time. Apparently in this world, it seems that the lascivious truth really creates ghosts. Memory of the original world of Renya which cannot be remembered at all while being extinguished by the example, but it was supposed to have never met the existence that said, probably in the previous world, such as being a ghost or a phantom. It is because Renya doesnt believe a thing called the ghost at all in the present. If you have met it once, it seems that you believe in the existence of it properly, saying that you do not believe that you have never met it. Is the appearance of that spirit only at night? (Renya) Yes, it seems like that (Clerk) Even though it is a different world, the neighborhood seems to be the same as the original world. From the daytime it seems that the sight that ghosts are exposed dignifiedly, even from different worlds. Is it possible to confirm it? If you do not have a problem, Id like to purchase it. (Renya) It is a property with that saying it is cheaper than the market price, saying with a ghost or the like. Renyas head who thought that he looked very interested was already in the mood to purchase at this point. However, does it really come out or not? The confirmation to say how dangerous it seems to stay in the judgment so as to think that it would be necessary if it appeared, and the salesclerk nodded to Renyas question. In rare cases, those who like those things are coming It is possible to stay overnight for confirmation, but there is no furniture or bedding. Its in the condition when the original owner merchant left it to be. (Clerk) Cleaning for the? (Renya) There is no choice because no one wants to enter it. (Clerk) Oh is that so. Understood. What happened to the merchant at the place? (Renya) Of course he was arrested, and it was run for a trial and was ordered capital punishment, but to cheer up women murdered mercilessly even a little; well (Clerk) In addition, the clerk said plenty of atmosphere, hiding his voice, taking whatever way he did while shaking. In a garden of the building, it became the artifact of a severed head (clerk) A clerk laughing low and eerily. It was still the clerk who was trying to produce a scary story in this period, but it was totally failing. The reason is because Renya which dont mind it at all has begun to talk blankly. Cleaning would be serious, it isnt known how to make it beheading in this world, but thats quite difficult. My neck is muscle, because the bones are thick, so its stiff, so if you make a mistake you will hit your shoulders and back. When it is a fat guy, a neck is wherever, and to make it a funny story and besides swords or axes, sinners suffer unless they cannot drop them with a blow. If a bad guy does it will not be able to drop even if it is cut a few times, a story saying that a sinner suffered a struggle Well if it is told that it is an atonement, until then it will be a frightening thing to think of what you are going to do thats right? The only thing that is sure is that if you put an ax on your neck and hit it with a hammer from the top, you can drop it with a blow even by an amateur, but if you hesitate to shake a hammer or hesitate, it will be such a thing, do you know? (Renya) In Renya whom had begun to show knowledge and skill about the artifact of a severed head smoothly, the salesclerk retires himself to the depths of the shop to hand the key of the building to Renya who heard a ghost talk by the pale face which cant be compared. On that back, Renya put a voice in the meaning of harassment. In my hometown, when filling the corpse under the tree a beautiful flower is said to bloom, will not you fill that corpse in the garden? (Renya) I do not know! Hold on to the key quickly and go check please! (Clerk) Renya smiled wryly when it would be talked about only a ghost story for the answer of the salesclerk such as the scream when figures were scared. CHAPTER 36 CFirst of all it seems to find abase Renya hates debts. In the first place, I do not like to buy something with gold that I do not have. Because it is commonplace to say that you cannot swing a sleeve without it, the nature of having it by the money brought there from some other place and achieve the purpose is disagreeable. However, sometimes I think that it depends on time and case. Indeed that case was now. The total reward I got by the other day dungeon capture is 100 gold coins. Because I handed half of this to the party to Azu, The share of my party is 50 gold coins. It was quite protested by Azu about this. Azu said that, as for repelling the demon, they were equally useless, so it was insisted that they do not have the right to receive dungeon core destruction reward. However, unwillingly to compromise because Renya insisted on an equal division stubbornly. From Renya, because its apparent that he survived a similar life-or-death crisis, so it is still necessary to divide the reward halfway, and the act of Azu trying to fix it is wrong. We could not even fulfill the wall role!? (Azu) As Azu draw closer, Renya told as flat voice as possible. So what? I admit that. But without you, could I alone be able to fight the demon? You overestimate me too much, Azu (Renya) It may be noticed that this is not a businesslike talk if feelings get caught in voice and expression. Keeping a face like Nohjima in front of this magician whose face was close to a certain degree was a lot of hardship for Renya, but Renya mobilizing all the facial muscle continued to show a poker face. After glaring each other for a while, Azu was quiet. I understand this time I am sorry (Azu) He said so and lowered his head deeply. With that Azu talks about the reward to the party members, after seeing off leaving, Renya sighs deeply. In the beginning, it was obvious that Azus party needed money than Renya Even if they continue to be adventurers, the four people in the party have almost all the equipment lost, so if you buy a new one it is not enough for the reward that they should receive. If it come to the point that they stopped being an adventurer, until finding another source of income, an outfit allowance before earning money by the next occupation is necessary. Either way, it is much better to have lots of money as possible. In contrast to Renya, it was certain that he was working mainly for earning money, but there is no urgency at all. It was to the extent that it was no problem even if he deferred other ones when there were an inn charge and meal expenses in hand. Because it is known that the all reward obtained by Renya in this work was almost given to Azu. As the leaders standpoint, he could not force myself to do so, he could not think about persuasion for reasons other than sympathy, so he settled down in a place called mountain division. In this case, no matter what Shion says, because it worked all together, she probably can talk back with persistence, but after talking with those two after the incident, losing interest they gave Renya a reply that it is Ok. Moving on Regarding the distribution of 50 gold coins, Shion and Rona requested only two gold coins, respectively, and the rest were to be taken by Renya, so the currently Renyas assets were 46 gold coins. While wandering around town as to what should he do with his money, he found a poster of a real estate property being sold by a merchant who dropped it incidentally. There is a large garden in a stone-built robust building whether it is due to the fact that the property is in the commercial area was used as a store and house by a large merchant and its somewhat close to the outer border of the town, The building itself seems to be built to combine with the store part facing the street, as well as the studio and the warehouse. Indeed it was in accordance with Renyas standard, but the problem was that price. The sold amount is 80 gold coins, if 40 is paid as a down payment, the rest is in division, then it would be possible to meet those requirements. Regarding the market price, Renya is not familiar at all. However, as for such property, Renya heard that it would at least cost 1 white gold coin. It probably will depend on also the scale of width and the building, but if you look at the information of the property scale seems to be large, we assume that it is, if that is true then it may be worth more than 1 white gold coin. Even if there is a catch, 80 gold coins is cheap. I cannot pay the whole amount in one stroke, but with the down payment I can afford it now. To put together a loan was a bad thing to say, but if you miss it now may not be next one. I wonder if there is something about it to be worried about? (Renya) While Renya was staring at the paper stuck on the wall of the store, he saw a shadow, a middle C aged man clerk lowered his waist and said. Isnt this somewhat too cheap? (Renya) Oh, this is . (Clerk) Just looking at the paper pointed to by Renya, the clerks face got cloudy. Renya knew that there is a problem just by looking at his face, the male clerk slowly whispered close to the ear of Renya. The property is . (Clerk) Un? (Renya) Hunted (Clerk) Renya didnt understood it and standing with a blank expression. However, as something other than thought ordered, the hand extended to the sword hanging from the waist, the clerk who saw it stood in a hurry and retreated from Renya. While rolling with excessive momentum, using the momentum he shifted his position with his forehead rubbing on the ground. Sorry, sorry, I am joking! (Clerk) Oh I thought so, (Renya) Renya lowered down his hand which put back his sword slowly while praising ones self-control highly in heart. It was seriously dangerous scene. I thought that if I had slashed him, I would not feel guilty at all, but it seems that I would be normally caught in violation of the law. However, Renya hearing the dull joke he didnt even heard in his original world caught him in surprise and the reaction was big. Well, just. Not everything is a joke. (Clerk) What? (Renya) This building is exclusively rumored that it is cursed. (Clerk) There was a wealthy merchant who lived in that mansion. The merchant with his beautiful wife who had a clever child were a merchant who held a large number of employees and was an extensive trading company that competed for the first and second place in the city of Kukurika. Payments of the employees was also good, and because they were also pleasantly surprised, those who wanted to work at the shop that he operates visited his house all the time. The reputation from the peers was also good, and the store of the merchant seemed to prosper for a long time. It is about several years ago that an accident happened. The consecutive disappearance cases of the young woman occurred successively in town The case of girls in their late teens missing one after another happened. The city guards tried to run around the town looking for the girls who disappeared and told them to avoid walking alone to women regardless its day or night. And one name that came up to the investigation line of those investigating the case. The victimized women were all those who worked at the merchants store or who had an interview that they wanted to work. A single thread connecting the victims. The guards who noticed it immediately rush into the merchants house to question the circumstances. So what they saw. What did the saw? (Renya) It is as you imagined (Clerk) A salesclerk I drop a voice, and to whisper it to. Probably it will be the place where the talk becomes lively, but does not hardly sound through Renya. When it sounds like only a mere continuation bizarre-hunting murder case, but what whether youll say happened to that. Although it is certainly a miserable story, if you search for the similar story in the original world where Renya was alive, it is a story that you can find it as often as you can throw stones appropriately. If cursed to such a degree, it is strange that the world is not full of curses all over the world. Even ghosts, I think that it is strange if they do not appear in groups. The salesclerk for some reason disappointed with Renyas response that seems to be totally reaction than I say that the reaction is very thin. Oh, yes, thats what the rumors says (clerk) Only that (Renya) To that extent, Renya is amazed at what makes him feel very much. No, well. It seems that it really comes out. (Clerk) It made the atmosphere last strangely, and was the salesclerk who hides voice, but it dont have the intension that it will associate with Renya at all. What? (Renya) There seems to be a ghost. Customers who have moved to that property will cancel their contracts if they see it at night when there is no exception of an alone person. (Clerk) Truly another world, Renya took the word with surprise this time. Apparently in this world, it seems that the lascivious truth really creates ghosts. Memory of the original world of Renya which cannot be remembered at all while being extinguished by the example, but it was supposed to have never met the existence that said, probably in the previous world, such as being a ghost or a phantom. It is because Renya doesnt believe a thing called the ghost at all in the present. If you have met it once, it seems that you believe in the existence of it properly, saying that you do not believe that you have never met it. Is the appearance of that spirit only at night? (Renya) Yes, it seems like that (Clerk) Even though it is a different world, the neighborhood seems to be the same as the original world. From the daytime it seems that the sight that ghosts are exposed dignifiedly, even from different worlds. Is it possible to confirm it? If you do not have a problem, Id like to purchase it. (Renya) It is a property with that saying it is cheaper than the market price, saying with a ghost or the like. Renyas head who thought that he looked very interested was already in the mood to purchase at this point. However, does it really come out or not? The confirmation to say how dangerous it seems to stay in the judgment so as to think that it would be necessary if it appeared, and the salesclerk nodded to Renyas question. In rare cases, those who like those things are coming It is possible to stay overnight for confirmation, but there is no furniture or bedding. Its in the condition when the original owner merchant left it to be. (Clerk) Cleaning for the? (Renya) There is no choice because no one wants to enter it. (Clerk) Oh is that so. Understood. What happened to the merchant at the place? (Renya) Of course he was arrested, and it was run for a trial and was ordered capital punishment, but to cheer up women murdered mercilessly even a little; well (Clerk) In addition, the clerk said plenty of atmosphere, hiding his voice, taking whatever way he did while shaking. In a garden of the building, it became the artifact of a severed head (clerk) A clerk laughing low and eerily. It was still the clerk who was trying to produce a scary story in this period, but it was totally failing. The reason is because Renya which dont mind it at all has begun to talk blankly. Cleaning would be serious, it isnt known how to make it beheading in this world, but thats quite difficult. My neck is muscle, because the bones are thick, so its stiff, so if you make a mistake you will hit your shoulders and back. When it is a fat guy, a neck is wherever, and to make it a funny story and besides swords or axes, sinners suffer unless they cannot drop them with a blow. If a bad guy does it will not be able to drop even if it is cut a few times, a story saying that a sinner suffered a struggle Well if it is told that it is an atonement, until then it will be a frightening thing to think of what you are going to do thats right? The only thing that is sure is that if you put an ax on your neck and hit it with a hammer from the top, you can drop it with a blow even by an amateur, but if you hesitate to shake a hammer or hesitate, it will be such a thing, do you know? (Renya) In Renya whom had begun to show knowledge and skill about the artifact of a severed head smoothly, the salesclerk retires himself to the depths of the shop to hand the key of the building to Renya who heard a ghost talk by the pale face which cant be compared. On that back, Renya put a voice in the meaning of harassment. In my hometown, when filling the corpse under the tree a beautiful flower is said to bloom, will not you fill that corpse in the garden? (Renya) I do not know! Hold on to the key quickly and go check please! (Clerk) Renya smiled wryly when it would be talked about only a ghost story for the answer of the salesclerk such as the scream when figures were scared. Chapter 37 Chapter 37 C It seems to beunderwhelming Ill go see the house, (Shion) The face of Shion shows a hollow expression like she witnessed the end of this world and has given up hope for some reason. While viewing Shion who was sitting down on the chair of the inn table without any effort, Renya tilted his head as to where is the shocking part of what he said . but because it seemed to have a slight problem with the story article, I decided therefore to stay overnight for confirmation a any problem? (Renya) Is that so. that was early I knew this day would come (Shion) Shion saying so, quietly while being depress, Renya doesnt understand the situation at all. Renya who is badly troubled, watching the state of Shion, turn his eyes to Rona who did not open her mouth. It was evening, so it was time for the guest to start coming to eat dinner soon. When Im caring for Shions atmosphere where it has been burned out what its just as it is, there is also apprehension which can set a strange rumor afloat variously. Hey. Why did this happen? (Renya) Do you have any idea? (Rona) Rona asked me in the opposite way, I searched my memory for a while, but I do not have any idea in particular. Im sorry, I dont have any idea (Renya) Shion is worried that Renya will break up the party if he buys a house. (Rona) Rona told me that, and I finally got it. When first being invited to a party by Shion, I was doing it so with a reasoning that I would be in a party because it would require money to buy a House. At that time Shion had made a suggestion that if he bought a house he would leave the party, but she was postponing the conclusion to consult another time at that time. Apparently Shion seems to want to be in a party even after Renya got a house by living together, but because the conclusion has been postponed, she seems to be worried that he will leave the party. I do not remember that it is taken to that much (Renya) In addition to that fighting power, you can cook, and the personality is reasonable. Appearance is okay. And you value your companions, even if you needed money with no regrets you hand it completely. Is it a good property (Rona) Renya gave a frown to Rona who told her ridiculous things. I am not a child of a cat that is said to be dependent. I stick to money almost all, Id say?. (Renya) You who obsess with money do not hesitate to give half of the remuneration to Azu without hesitation, (Rona) As for that, where Azu should receive legitimately(Renya) Yeah, I know. At that time Azus party can receive legitimately is only 12 gold coins. Arent the 38 pieces of the remainder half of the sale price for core and a destruction reward and the cooperation reward from the guild? Everything else is your earnings. (Rona) What she told is true and I cant find any word to say. Originally it should only be distributed to my party members Shion and Rona, and although it was by sympathy, about what I handed half as much to Azus party, Renya feels somewhat backwards there. Rona smiled at Renya who was loss with words. It is a good thing that we have good money. I do not blame you for doing bad things separately, so please do not look like that. Rather than doing anything like that, now it is time to manage Shion. Do you know what to say? (Rona) Rona pointing to Shion which seems to have not heard at all even in this series of interactions. While considering what to say to Shion, I am thinking of what would be the correct answer. Because, as a foothold of our party, we will live together. Does Shion also come to confirm? (Renya) Huh? (Shion) The face turned into that of the dead man rises. When her gaze focused on the face of Renya, after a time to think about the meaning of a word that he said for a while, animation returned to Shions face, her dead eyes revived. Live together Thats right. Im going to the party base. (Shion Thats right. Even if only I can check it, we can go all together. Is your schedule free? Im going to visit the place now. (Renya) No problem. I eliminate any cost and go together. Are you going now? Please wait a moment as we prepare the things we need. (Shion) After turning around from the death state, she jump up to stand, Shion rushed to the room where they stayed to pick up the luggage. Renya, who looks like a dog owner talking his dog for a walk, behind, thoughtfully thinking about it. What about Rona, if its related to ghosts, might you be specialized in exorcising? (Renya) Is it okay if Renya is there? Because I dont like that to stay in that deserted house tonight, so I will hold back. (Rona) Rona said then turns to the other way, but Renya is in JITOeye and stare at her glimpse. Rona turned her eyes in a hurry, noticing that the gaze by Renya and looking at her. What are you planning? (Renya) A story saying that romantic emotions often seem to sprout between opposite sex on a bridge or on a battlefield at a place . Did you know? (Rona) What are you aiming at? Look at my eyes and tell me (Renya) Rona desperately resists Renya who is trying to point herself by grasping her shoulder. In the end Rona did not turn towards Renya, until Shion returned with a set of luggage set for them to stay. With Renya and us staying? Its somewhat good (Shion) Regarding the city of Kukurika, Renya, didnt have a place to call his own, basically decided to go to the property that the real estate agent says, led by Shion, for Rona she did not come after all. The appearance of Shion is not in the usual battle clothes, but wearing clothes with its upper and lower dark blue uniform for men. When Renya asked if she would not wear a skirt., only short reply returned, because it does not suit. For the time being I brought one long sword, we did not bring any other weapons, only bringing a sleeping bag and a pouch containing dressing supplies. Renya said that he didnt intend to bring any weapon he only want to confirm the property, he put the sword belt with the tea set in the inventory. as for the other packages are thrown into the inventory, so preparation of meals and bedding is no problem. I think it is around here but Depending on the map received at the real estate agent, Shion stopped. Is it that ? Shion pointed to the corner surrounded by a high fence. It is surrounded by a high fence that looks up, and plants like ivy circled the fence covering it. The entrance gate is rusted as if it shows that it has not been maintained for a long time. When Renya inserts the key borrowed from the real estate agent, it opens slowly inwards while making squeaking sound. after crossing the gate, the cobblestone continues to the entrance of the building, and its left and right have become a garden, but no one has kept it after being abandoned here, and the weed that is left there grows on one side grew thick. Even trees that may have not been maintained grew branches sticking in and out. It seems that will take time and effort to be able to live properly (Shion) I wonder if its included within the payment (Renya) If its only outside that is unattended *sigh* even the building is in terrible shape. Even if you purchase land and buildings, it will take a substantial amount of money until you can move in and live properly, and after purchasing you must work hard to earn money obviously. Renya and Shion seems to have the same idea, but Renya seems to be depressed while Shion seems very happy about it. Particularly, I do not intend to decide the continuation of the party because of the trouble (Renya) I didnt say anything (Shion) oh.. well. (Renya) These two arrived at the entrance of the building while exchanging such conversation. After inserting the key into the heavy door and twisting it, the key opens with a heavy, hard sound, and then opens slowly with a low-numbered sound. Beyond the open door, there is no light, of course, and from the dimness like dusk, the lights coming from the window is also weak. The deserted space made me worried for some reason that I could not understand. Shion placed her hand on Renyas shoulder unconsciously. Its dark (Shion) Well, there is no light. Wait a moment,. (Renya) After tapping the hand placed on the shoulder so that it feels relieved, Renya quickly swung his right hand towards the space. (Renya) Magical light shines on in the dark space. That light without emitting heat shone brightly and glaringly and illuminated the entrance hall just after entering from the entrance. The number of lights produced is 16. The duration was set to 12 hours. It will be bright until morning without problems (Renya) Hm, I see. (Shion) It is Shion who nodded smoothly, but because I do not have knowledge about magic, I have not noticed an unusual landscape in front of me. Magic consumes mp intensely in proportion to the power and duration. This can be calculated by simple multiplication, but Renya is now doing it with only one swing of arms that should only last for about 10 minutes, but to him to make it 12 hours duration and 16 pieces at that he made looks like its easy. This is 6 12 16 =1152, which means that it consumes 1152 times the magical power of ordinary Within a normal magician that great consumption would make him faint. If Azu or Karyl were present on this occasion, it was without a doubt that they would be overwhelmed by the unusual sight and Shion had no knowledge of its surroundings. However, I do not think about it, as long as it was bright. As Renya didnt want to explain because it is not extraordinary. The brightened entrance hall is a colonnade to the second floor from the first floor, and there is a staircase to the second floor directly in front. The room has a reception room, a dining room with a kitchen, a warehouse, another warehouse and a workshop so that the entrance is surrounded on the first floor. The part facing the street is a store part, and it seems that there were two warehouses for shop and workshop. If you go upstairs, there are three bedrooms with a bathroom, a study room, a living room, a childrens room, and the third floor seems to be used as a warehouse in the attic. Renya throws away that lasts for 12 hours without mercy into the room other than the bedroom and makes the whole building illuminate with brightness like midday. Even by creating only one light source, the magical power consumption is 72 times that of ordinary magic. It will be also somewhat strange for Renya to create it one by one, even for Shion who doesnt know magic. Hey Renya. Why are you sprinkling so much light sources around here? (Shion) Oh, did I not explain it? (Renya) Renya said so while scratching his head. This building seems to be haunted, (Renya) What? (Shion) It seems to be the previous owner is a merchant who did a series of bad killings. It is said that a ghost appears. By the way, I forgot to ask what kind of ghost it is I guess who was killed? Or is it the spirit of a merchant saying that he was beheaded in this garden? Well whichever is fine, is it better if I brighten it this way? (Renya) Ghost? (Shion) Yup. Any problems? (Renya) I saw that Shion breathed in slowly. Renya who can read the next action somewhat thrusts his fingers into both ears and prepares to endure it. And a momentary blank. Eventually the scream of Shion, trembling the entire site, reverberated in the dark. Chapter 37 C It seems to beunderwhelming Ill go see the house, (Shion) The face of Shion shows a hollow expression like she witnessed the end of this world and has given up hope for some reason. While viewing Shion who was sitting down on the chair of the inn table without any effort, Renya tilted his head as to where is the shocking part of what he said . but because it seemed to have a slight problem with the story article, I decided therefore to stay overnight for confirmation a any problem? (Renya) Is that so. that was early I knew this day would come (Shion) Shion saying so, quietly while being depress, Renya doesnt understand the situation at all. Renya who is badly troubled, watching the state of Shion, turn his eyes to Rona who did not open her mouth. It was evening, so it was time for the guest to start coming to eat dinner soon. When Im caring for Shions atmosphere where it has been burned out what its just as it is, there is also apprehension which can set a strange rumor afloat variously. Hey. Why did this happen? (Renya) Do you have any idea? (Rona) Rona asked me in the opposite way, I searched my memory for a while, but I do not have any idea in particular. Im sorry, I dont have any idea (Renya) Shion is worried that Renya will break up the party if he buys a house. (Rona) Rona told me that, and I finally got it. When first being invited to a party by Shion, I was doing it so with a reasoning that I would be in a party because it would require money to buy a House. At that time Shion had made a suggestion that if he bought a house he would leave the party, but she was postponing the conclusion to consult another time at that time. Apparently Shion seems to want to be in a party even after Renya got a house by living together, but because the conclusion has been postponed, she seems to be worried that he will leave the party. I do not remember that it is taken to that much (Renya) In addition to that fighting power, you can cook, and the personality is reasonable. Appearance is okay. And you value your companions, even if you needed money with no regrets you hand it completely. Is it a good property (Rona) Renya gave a frown to Rona who told her ridiculous things. I am not a child of a cat that is said to be dependent. I stick to money almost all, Id say?. (Renya) You who obsess with money do not hesitate to give half of the remuneration to Azu without hesitation, (Rona) As for that, where Azu should receive legitimately(Renya) Yeah, I know. At that time Azus party can receive legitimately is only 12 gold coins. Arent the 38 pieces of the remainder half of the sale price for core and a destruction reward and the cooperation reward from the guild? Everything else is your earnings. (Rona) What she told is true and I cant find any word to say. Originally it should only be distributed to my party members Shion and Rona, and although it was by sympathy, about what I handed half as much to Azus party, Renya feels somewhat backwards there. Rona smiled at Renya who was loss with words. It is a good thing that we have good money. I do not blame you for doing bad things separately, so please do not look like that. Rather than doing anything like that, now it is time to manage Shion. Do you know what to say? (Rona) Rona pointing to Shion which seems to have not heard at all even in this series of interactions. While considering what to say to Shion, I am thinking of what would be the correct answer. Because, as a foothold of our party, we will live together. Does Shion also come to confirm? (Renya) Huh? (Shion) The face turned into that of the dead man rises. When her gaze focused on the face of Renya, after a time to think about the meaning of a word that he said for a while, animation returned to Shions face, her dead eyes revived. Live together Thats right. Im going to the party base. (Shion Thats right. Even if only I can check it, we can go all together. Is your schedule free? Im going to visit the place now. (Renya) No problem. I eliminate any cost and go together. Are you going now? Please wait a moment as we prepare the things we need. (Shion) After turning around from the death state, she jump up to stand, Shion rushed to the room where they stayed to pick up the luggage. Renya, who looks like a dog owner talking his dog for a walk, behind, thoughtfully thinking about it. What about Rona, if its related to ghosts, might you be specialized in exorcising? (Renya) Is it okay if Renya is there? Because I dont like that to stay in that deserted house tonight, so I will hold back. (Rona) Rona said then turns to the other way, but Renya is in JITOeye and stare at her glimpse. Rona turned her eyes in a hurry, noticing that the gaze by Renya and looking at her. What are you planning? (Renya) A story saying that romantic emotions often seem to sprout between opposite sex on a bridge or on a battlefield at a place . Did you know? (Rona) What are you aiming at? Look at my eyes and tell me (Renya) Rona desperately resists Renya who is trying to point herself by grasping her shoulder. In the end Rona did not turn towards Renya, until Shion returned with a set of luggage set for them to stay. With Renya and us staying? Its somewhat good (Shion) Regarding the city of Kukurika, Renya, didnt have a place to call his own, basically decided to go to the property that the real estate agent says, led by Shion, for Rona she did not come after all. The appearance of Shion is not in the usual battle clothes, but wearing clothes with its upper and lower dark blue uniform for men. When Renya asked if she would not wear a skirt., only short reply returned, because it does not suit. For the time being I brought one long sword, we did not bring any other weapons, only bringing a sleeping bag and a pouch containing dressing supplies. Renya said that he didnt intend to bring any weapon he only want to confirm the property, he put the sword belt with the tea set in the inventory. as for the other packages are thrown into the inventory, so preparation of meals and bedding is no problem. I think it is around here but Depending on the map received at the real estate agent, Shion stopped. Is it that ? Shion pointed to the corner surrounded by a high fence. It is surrounded by a high fence that looks up, and plants like ivy circled the fence covering it. The entrance gate is rusted as if it shows that it has not been maintained for a long time. When Renya inserts the key borrowed from the real estate agent, it opens slowly inwards while making squeaking sound. after crossing the gate, the cobblestone continues to the entrance of the building, and its left and right have become a garden, but no one has kept it after being abandoned here, and the weed that is left there grows on one side grew thick. Even trees that may have not been maintained grew branches sticking in and out. It seems that will take time and effort to be able to live properly (Shion) I wonder if its included within the payment (Renya) If its only outside that is unattended *sigh* even the building is in terrible shape. Even if you purchase land and buildings, it will take a substantial amount of money until you can move in and live properly, and after purchasing you must work hard to earn money obviously. Renya and Shion seems to have the same idea, but Renya seems to be depressed while Shion seems very happy about it. Particularly, I do not intend to decide the continuation of the party because of the trouble (Renya) I didnt say anything (Shion) oh.. well. (Renya) These two arrived at the entrance of the building while exchanging such conversation. After inserting the key into the heavy door and twisting it, the key opens with a heavy, hard sound, and then opens slowly with a low-numbered sound. Beyond the open door, there is no light, of course, and from the dimness like dusk, the lights coming from the window is also weak. The deserted space made me worried for some reason that I could not understand. Shion placed her hand on Renyas shoulder unconsciously. Its dark (Shion) Well, there is no light. Wait a moment,. (Renya) After tapping the hand placed on the shoulder so that it feels relieved, Renya quickly swung his right hand towards the space. (Renya) Magical light shines on in the dark space. That light without emitting heat shone brightly and glaringly and illuminated the entrance hall just after entering from the entrance. The number of lights produced is 16. The duration was set to 12 hours. It will be bright until morning without problems (Renya) Hm, I see. (Shion) It is Shion who nodded smoothly, but because I do not have knowledge about magic, I have not noticed an unusual landscape in front of me. Magic consumes mp intensely in proportion to the power and duration. This can be calculated by simple multiplication, but Renya is now doing it with only one swing of arms that should only last for about 10 minutes, but to him to make it 12 hours duration and 16 pieces at that he made looks like its easy. This is 6 12 16 =1152, which means that it consumes 1152 times the magical power of ordinary Within a normal magician that great consumption would make him faint. If Azu or Karyl were present on this occasion, it was without a doubt that they would be overwhelmed by the unusual sight and Shion had no knowledge of its surroundings. However, I do not think about it, as long as it was bright. As Renya didnt want to explain because it is not extraordinary. The brightened entrance hall is a colonnade to the second floor from the first floor, and there is a staircase to the second floor directly in front. The room has a reception room, a dining room with a kitchen, a warehouse, another warehouse and a workshop so that the entrance is surrounded on the first floor. The part facing the street is a store part, and it seems that there were two warehouses for shop and workshop. If you go upstairs, there are three bedrooms with a bathroom, a study room, a living room, a childrens room, and the third floor seems to be used as a warehouse in the attic. Renya throws away that lasts for 12 hours without mercy into the room other than the bedroom and makes the whole building illuminate with brightness like midday. Even by creating only one light source, the magical power consumption is 72 times that of ordinary magic. It will be also somewhat strange for Renya to create it one by one, even for Shion who doesnt know magic. Hey Renya. Why are you sprinkling so much light sources around here? (Shion) Oh, did I not explain it? (Renya) Renya said so while scratching his head. This building seems to be haunted, (Renya) What? (Shion) It seems to be the previous owner is a merchant who did a series of bad killings. It is said that a ghost appears. By the way, I forgot to ask what kind of ghost it is I guess who was killed? Or is it the spirit of a merchant saying that he was beheaded in this garden? Well whichever is fine, is it better if I brighten it this way? (Renya) Ghost? (Shion) Yup. Any problems? (Renya) I saw that Shion breathed in slowly. Renya who can read the next action somewhat thrusts his fingers into both ears and prepares to endure it. And a momentary blank. Eventually the scream of Shion, trembling the entire site, reverberated in the dark. Chapter 38 Chapter 38 C It seems like a night at a desertedhouse Muri! murimurimurimuri! because muri!! Lets go back Renya (Shion) [1} Shion clings to the right shoulder of Renya with both hands and demand with appealing eyes desperately. Those hands trembling like a lost child, the eyes looking up became totally watery and moist. If it was another man there would be no doubt that they would happy by the scene of Shion clinging to their shoulder, but Renya is being conscious of peeling Shions hand from his shoulder that is being squashed with tremendous grip strength and he does not pay much attention to other things. Why do you want stay overnight in this property where there are ghost lurking around lets leave please (Shion) No, I told you that I want confirm it, its only a ghost, so it only come out at night. There is no other way to confirm it other than staying overnight right? If you want to go back, can you go back to the hotel alone? (Renya) After hearing at that story, how can I return home all by myself? I hate you Renya! (Shion) Renya begins to think that it was a mistake that he brought Shion along. However, it was certainly my own fault that I did not explained it properly, so I cannot even reply. Still, it was surprising that Shion cant handle ghost stories. First, I do not know if there is a ghost or not, second I saw a person melting in a dungeon, which I think that its many time scarier visually speaking. Lets just ask the neighbor about it. Ghosts cant be cut with a sword! (Shion) An answer came. Listening to that reply, Renya decided to add a new word called physical idiot to the evaluation called Shion. Renya starts exploring the building while desperately dragging the sleeve of Shion who is still insisting on returning loudly. The first floor faces the road opposite the entrance, which is the store space. One of the two warehouses can only be entered from the store side, the other is adjacent to the workshop, and it is built for the studio. In the drawing room, the furniture when people lived was left intact, but many corrosion and wormwood were found, and piles of dust accumulated and making a thick layer. Rather than cleaning and repairing the furniture, I throw it all away once, and although it may cost money if I bought it newly. Renya judges that it will take lots of time and effort and he makes the final decision. The dining room was also similar. Kitchen utensils were left here, as if it was used on a bizarre murder case indeed, Renya didnt have any use for it, and everything will also be disposed of. The kitchen was set up with expensive items using lots of magical item. While Renya is admiring it, Shion is explaining that it provide water and fire, also its strength and weakness, if a mana stone is refilled, that strange equipment is high tech. Facilities of the studios were very excellent things. In order to be able to do blacksmithing, a furnace with a magic stone as a fuel is installed, and in addition to that it is equipped with a sturdy workbench and a wonderful cabinet for putting chemicals and materials, etc. Once this is cleaned, it is in a state where it can be used immediately. Was anyone also killed in this workbench..? (Shion) Shion says so while staring at the workbench far enough. Renya shook his head. No such a thing. If such a thing happened a ghost will come out and preaching it. (Renya) Workbench is the workplace of craftsmen. Renya intends to overlook such things as imitating imperfections, so its not crappy. Ghost preaching would you listen ? (Shion) I do not know that. I have never done it. (Renya) I went up to the second floor with the three bedrooms. This is one bedroom of a merchant and his couple, one room for his child, which were originally residents and one bedroom for the visitors. The furniture and bedding were also left behind, as I could not imagine myself using it, it will also be discarded. The bathroom is quite spacious, the bathtub is luxurious made of marble, the hot water supply equipment used magic stones as well and it was equipped with a shower, although it was not used for a long time the condition was still pretty good. It is nice to have a large bath. Its so wide that it can be use by several people. (Shion) I do not plan to take a mixed bath, (Renya) Shion as usual hiding from the back of Renya but her eyes were shinning looking at the bathroom facilities. Dont you want to see Ronas bathing form? Shes already wonderful normally, when she get wet, its more wonderful. (Shion) I dont know what more amazing, but, as for me, life and stability of the mind is more precious (Renya) Although they would not make noise even if Renya peeked in, Renya is confident that he will not absolutely do such things. Wow, How about me? Im confident that you willC (Shion) It seems better to explain tightly of what you expect of me (Renya) While answering with an awkward face, Shion ties her hair up, and the scene that exposes a slightly overwhelming skin may seem to be sexy. Renya sighs a little to Shion, while she is having a big smile on her face. They explore the rest of the study and the living room and the childs room, but there is nothing especially there. The kind of furniture remained as it was, but it was not in a state that it could be reused, and all the book were gone after arriving at the study. After looking around all the way, Renya decided to prepare dinner there, appropriately reaping the weed growing in the garden to make space. Although the cooking facilities from the kitchen is usable we will no use it, as we dont have any magic stone to fuel it up in the first place. Preparation of dinning will be done by using fire as it is obvious that cant be done unless its outside. Picked up the firewood from the inventory and pile up, Shion ignites with magic. Flour and a crop similar to corn are dried on the pot like a shallow frying pan, mixing it in the boiling water. If you bake it like this, you can make things like thin bread, but Renya bakes a few pieces of it and then draws oil on the same frying pan, this time it boils meat and vegetables then cut it into bite size, putting in salt and Stir fry it with alcohol and a small amount of honey. If put soy sauce, sesame oil or mirin in here, you will have grilled meat, but it is not available. Renya comforted himself, as he couldnt do anything about it. Anyway after stir-frying the large dish and add leafy vegetables washed with water, its complete. Placing the leafy vegetables on a thin bread, and putting the fried meat on top of it and roll it then eat it. I prepared a mustard so that I could affix it as you liked, and arranged something light wine in the drink. Stir-fried food has a strong taste from the beginning, so that it will not become light tasting even if you is sandwiched in between bread and vegetables. Wren iz too focused on the fwood (Shion) As Shion said to me, while having a mouthful of food. Adventurers often do not cook during action. It is because its not good to increase luggage and there is the reality that there are many people who cant cook. There are a lot of parties say that when it comes to something like boiling, stir C frying and steaming, they got no skills at all. It seems that Shion also seems to be the same, and it seems that she was accustomed to saying things like troublesome things are troublesome. Staying with you we cannot return to our original life (Shion) Having bread rolled with both hands, Shion smiled wryly while taking a bite. Renya took a bite while not understanding what Shion said. Shion smiling while being embarrassed. Renya who realized that there was something wrong turned pale suddenly. What happened? (Shion) Just now its like somebody laughed . (Renya) Cooking was done outside. Neither of two people liked to sit down on the ground directly, so Renya sat down on the chair brought out and was having a meal, there is no one inside the building and with the weed growing out in the garden we cant see the neighbors. Did you hear something? (Shion) I dont know.. However I thought I heard someone laughing. (Renya) A small girl giggled. This time the laughter is heard by both of them. Though Shion turns pale, Renya is alert and looks around, but only female low laughter is heard, being windless and doesnt affects space in the garden which doesnt even make any noise coming from the leaf swaying from weeds or the trees freely. Re, Renyaa (Shion) Do not make a miserable voice (Renya) Laughter gradually grows and eventually turns louder which sounds like a person going insane. Shion jumped to Renyas left shoulder in a semi crying state, holds like she wouldnt drop a grain of rice by that grip. Renya hugged Shions back with his left arm to calm her down. It appeared! Its a ghost, Renya! (Shion) Shion clinging to the shoulder of Renya is shaking it with full power, but the body of Renya does not tremble even if Shion rocks it, whether it is the difference between power and weight. Its as if she is clinging to a big tree like a kitten going rampant. Well? It seems like it.(Renya) Renya was murmured indifferently while holding Shion during the laughter which doesnt seems to stop. But this is just laughing, its just noisy, is it not? (Renya) What Renya said passed through ears of Shion and took a few moments to be understood as words in her brain. Huh? (Shion) Shion pressing her face against Renyas shoulder, while panicking, looked up at Renyas face with a look like she heard something unbelievable. Renya who throws the rest of the bread left in his right into his mouth, slowly chews and swallowed, keeping the word while wondering if he said somewhat strange things. Certainly, at times like this even though some measures are necessary, is it fundamentally harmless? (Renya) The loud laughter of the woman stopped suddenly whether it heard the words of Renya which said that it was just a noise that is disturbing the neighborhood. At the same time, from around the garden, a small wind noise is made, then several pieces of gravel strikes at Renya. While hugging Shion with her eyes closed tight, Renya drew his sword from the right side, blocking the gravel one after another with the broad side of the sword. After the laughter, stones came flying, is that what you call Poltergeist? (Renya) Small stone that was knocked down and rolled on the ground. Around the garden, there is nothing unusual. Well, what goes next? At the end of Renyas line of sight something questionable happened, as it gushes out from the gap of weeds, many pale people stood up while swaying. Renya cannot determine its facial expression, just like raising a resentment to the living, it raise its voice. It penetrated the head into a silver blade protruding to penetrate the darkness of the night and it was scattered.[2] Shion with closed eyes and still clinging to the left arm of Renya, doesnt notice that Renyas stepping slows down. Besides the ground where weeds grow thick. Not knowing the state of the grass being stepped on to, He knows that he will definitely get tangled which will hinder their movement. What is it, I can cut them right? (Renya) Not showing interest in the pale light that is squished somewhere with disappointed voice. While enjoying the feel and scent of Shion pushed at his left. Renya smiled while thrusting the sword at the shadow of numerous people that appeared. Well then lets go with the clean-up! (Renya) Muri = Nope or impossible, it sounds better in Japanese.Had a hard time translating this line. (ҹ霤؞褦ͻ줿yФˡ^؞ɢ) Chapter 38 C It seems like a night at a desertedhouse Muri! murimurimurimuri! because muri!! Lets go back Renya (Shion) [1} Shion clings to the right shoulder of Renya with both hands and demand with appealing eyes desperately. Those hands trembling like a lost child, the eyes looking up became totally watery and moist. If it was another man there would be no doubt that they would happy by the scene of Shion clinging to their shoulder, but Renya is being conscious of peeling Shions hand from his shoulder that is being squashed with tremendous grip strength and he does not pay much attention to other things. Why do you want stay overnight in this property where there are ghost lurking around lets leave please (Shion) No, I told you that I want confirm it, its only a ghost, so it only come out at night. There is no other way to confirm it other than staying overnight right? If you want to go back, can you go back to the hotel alone? (Renya) After hearing at that story, how can I return home all by myself? I hate you Renya! (Shion) Renya begins to think that it was a mistake that he brought Shion along. However, it was certainly my own fault that I did not explained it properly, so I cannot even reply. Still, it was surprising that Shion cant handle ghost stories. First, I do not know if there is a ghost or not, second I saw a person melting in a dungeon, which I think that its many time scarier visually speaking. Lets just ask the neighbor about it. Ghosts cant be cut with a sword! (Shion) An answer came. Listening to that reply, Renya decided to add a new word called physical idiot to the evaluation called Shion. Renya starts exploring the building while desperately dragging the sleeve of Shion who is still insisting on returning loudly. The first floor faces the road opposite the entrance, which is the store space. One of the two warehouses can only be entered from the store side, the other is adjacent to the workshop, and it is built for the studio. In the drawing room, the furniture when people lived was left intact, but many corrosion and wormwood were found, and piles of dust accumulated and making a thick layer. Rather than cleaning and repairing the furniture, I throw it all away once, and although it may cost money if I bought it newly. Renya judges that it will take lots of time and effort and he makes the final decision. The dining room was also similar. Kitchen utensils were left here, as if it was used on a bizarre murder case indeed, Renya didnt have any use for it, and everything will also be disposed of. The kitchen was set up with expensive items using lots of magical item. While Renya is admiring it, Shion is explaining that it provide water and fire, also its strength and weakness, if a mana stone is refilled, that strange equipment is high tech. Facilities of the studios were very excellent things. In order to be able to do blacksmithing, a furnace with a magic stone as a fuel is installed, and in addition to that it is equipped with a sturdy workbench and a wonderful cabinet for putting chemicals and materials, etc. Once this is cleaned, it is in a state where it can be used immediately. Was anyone also killed in this workbench..? (Shion) Shion says so while staring at the workbench far enough. Renya shook his head. No such a thing. If such a thing happened a ghost will come out and preaching it. (Renya) Workbench is the workplace of craftsmen. Renya intends to overlook such things as imitating imperfections, so its not crappy. Ghost preaching would you listen ? (Shion) I do not know that. I have never done it. (Renya) I went up to the second floor with the three bedrooms. This is one bedroom of a merchant and his couple, one room for his child, which were originally residents and one bedroom for the visitors. The furniture and bedding were also left behind, as I could not imagine myself using it, it will also be discarded. The bathroom is quite spacious, the bathtub is luxurious made of marble, the hot water supply equipment used magic stones as well and it was equipped with a shower, although it was not used for a long time the condition was still pretty good. It is nice to have a large bath. Its so wide that it can be use by several people. (Shion) I do not plan to take a mixed bath, (Renya) Shion as usual hiding from the back of Renya but her eyes were shinning looking at the bathroom facilities. Dont you want to see Ronas bathing form? Shes already wonderful normally, when she get wet, its more wonderful. (Shion) I dont know what more amazing, but, as for me, life and stability of the mind is more precious (Renya) Although they would not make noise even if Renya peeked in, Renya is confident that he will not absolutely do such things. Wow, How about me? Im confident that you willC (Shion) It seems better to explain tightly of what you expect of me (Renya) While answering with an awkward face, Shion ties her hair up, and the scene that exposes a slightly overwhelming skin may seem to be sexy. Renya sighs a little to Shion, while she is having a big smile on her face. They explore the rest of the study and the living room and the childs room, but there is nothing especially there. The kind of furniture remained as it was, but it was not in a state that it could be reused, and all the book were gone after arriving at the study. After looking around all the way, Renya decided to prepare dinner there, appropriately reaping the weed growing in the garden to make space. Although the cooking facilities from the kitchen is usable we will no use it, as we dont have any magic stone to fuel it up in the first place. Preparation of dinning will be done by using fire as it is obvious that cant be done unless its outside. Picked up the firewood from the inventory and pile up, Shion ignites with magic. Flour and a crop similar to corn are dried on the pot like a shallow frying pan, mixing it in the boiling water. If you bake it like this, you can make things like thin bread, but Renya bakes a few pieces of it and then draws oil on the same frying pan, this time it boils meat and vegetables then cut it into bite size, putting in salt and Stir fry it with alcohol and a small amount of honey. If put soy sauce, sesame oil or mirin in here, you will have grilled meat, but it is not available. Renya comforted himself, as he couldnt do anything about it. Anyway after stir-frying the large dish and add leafy vegetables washed with water, its complete. Placing the leafy vegetables on a thin bread, and putting the fried meat on top of it and roll it then eat it. I prepared a mustard so that I could affix it as you liked, and arranged something light wine in the drink. Stir-fried food has a strong taste from the beginning, so that it will not become light tasting even if you is sandwiched in between bread and vegetables. Wren iz too focused on the fwood (Shion) As Shion said to me, while having a mouthful of food. Adventurers often do not cook during action. It is because its not good to increase luggage and there is the reality that there are many people who cant cook. There are a lot of parties say that when it comes to something like boiling, stir C frying and steaming, they got no skills at all. It seems that Shion also seems to be the same, and it seems that she was accustomed to saying things like troublesome things are troublesome. Staying with you we cannot return to our original life (Shion) Having bread rolled with both hands, Shion smiled wryly while taking a bite. Renya took a bite while not understanding what Shion said. Shion smiling while being embarrassed. Renya who realized that there was something wrong turned pale suddenly. What happened? (Shion) Just now its like somebody laughed . (Renya) Cooking was done outside. Neither of two people liked to sit down on the ground directly, so Renya sat down on the chair brought out and was having a meal, there is no one inside the building and with the weed growing out in the garden we cant see the neighbors. Did you hear something? (Shion) I dont know.. However I thought I heard someone laughing. (Renya) A small girl giggled. This time the laughter is heard by both of them. Though Shion turns pale, Renya is alert and looks around, but only female low laughter is heard, being windless and doesnt affects space in the garden which doesnt even make any noise coming from the leaf swaying from weeds or the trees freely. Re, Renyaa (Shion) Do not make a miserable voice (Renya) Laughter gradually grows and eventually turns louder which sounds like a person going insane. Shion jumped to Renyas left shoulder in a semi crying state, holds like she wouldnt drop a grain of rice by that grip. Renya hugged Shions back with his left arm to calm her down. It appeared! Its a ghost, Renya! (Shion) Shion clinging to the shoulder of Renya is shaking it with full power, but the body of Renya does not tremble even if Shion rocks it, whether it is the difference between power and weight. Its as if she is clinging to a big tree like a kitten going rampant. Well? It seems like it.(Renya) Renya was murmured indifferently while holding Shion during the laughter which doesnt seems to stop. But this is just laughing, its just noisy, is it not? (Renya) What Renya said passed through ears of Shion and took a few moments to be understood as words in her brain. Huh? (Shion) Shion pressing her face against Renyas shoulder, while panicking, looked up at Renyas face with a look like she heard something unbelievable. Renya who throws the rest of the bread left in his right into his mouth, slowly chews and swallowed, keeping the word while wondering if he said somewhat strange things. Certainly, at times like this even though some measures are necessary, is it fundamentally harmless? (Renya) The loud laughter of the woman stopped suddenly whether it heard the words of Renya which said that it was just a noise that is disturbing the neighborhood. At the same time, from around the garden, a small wind noise is made, then several pieces of gravel strikes at Renya. While hugging Shion with her eyes closed tight, Renya drew his sword from the right side, blocking the gravel one after another with the broad side of the sword. After the laughter, stones came flying, is that what you call Poltergeist? (Renya) Small stone that was knocked down and rolled on the ground. Around the garden, there is nothing unusual. Well, what goes next? At the end of Renyas line of sight something questionable happened, as it gushes out from the gap of weeds, many pale people stood up while swaying. Renya cannot determine its facial expression, just like raising a resentment to the living, it raise its voice. It penetrated the head into a silver blade protruding to penetrate the darkness of the night and it was scattered.[2] Shion with closed eyes and still clinging to the left arm of Renya, doesnt notice that Renyas stepping slows down. Besides the ground where weeds grow thick. Not knowing the state of the grass being stepped on to, He knows that he will definitely get tangled which will hinder their movement. What is it, I can cut them right? (Renya) Not showing interest in the pale light that is squished somewhere with disappointed voice. While enjoying the feel and scent of Shion pushed at his left. Renya smiled while thrusting the sword at the shadow of numerous people that appeared. Well then lets go with the clean-up! (Renya) Muri = Nope or impossible, it sounds better in Japanese.Had a hard time translating this line. (ҹ霤؞褦ͻ줿yФˡ^؞ɢ) Chapter 39 Chapter 39 C It seems to be the continuation of the night at the deserted house Shions body has quite the height. Moreover it was muscular as might be expected of someone being trained fairly well, but even carrying her under his left arm, was no more than to the extent of her being luggage, which doesnt bother him.He wasnt able to perceive whether it might also be connected to her having no weapons except the long sword, however for Renya it was truly convenient that she hasnt put on any kind of armour.Meaning, she touches his own body at various places all over at the times of him brandishing the katana, at the times of him charging and at the times of suddenly braking.To say it completely bluntly, he is able to freely enjoy various sensations of her breasts, belly and hips touching him or separating from him and grazing him lightly or pressing onto him.Renya considers Rona not being here as good from the bottom of his heart.As its fine to not worry about peoples gazes, he simply enjoys it to his hearts content.Fortunately the place of the battle is the garden, which is big in its own way. The space is extending to a degree that its alright for him to not mind his surroundings too much, even if he jumps, runs or circles around.Renya runs around within that space.The appearing blueish-white shadows of people, some of them are cut in a manner of slashing the katana diagonally from the shoulder in passing, others are impaled, sliced in three pieces, chopped up, without concentrating on any technique and disorderly, all of them scatter and vanish.If those were the souls of the women, who were murdered in this place, they are probably bound to this location as departed spirits and they likely cursed having shown up here tonight.If they were mere shadows of the former merchants self, they likely wanted to question whether they committed such a big crime to deserve this.Without taking any notice of either option, Renya chops up the shadows. Aah this wont do (Renya) Manipulating Shion within his left arm, he hides her from getting cut by a lucky hit.Looking up at the sky, Renya laughs. Its no problem in any way. He has a hunch that the muscles of his entire body are screaming and making sounds of creaking with a *gichi gichi*Its not a voice of protest regarding him having overused them.Its the sound of his own physique.Its a feeling similar to a structure, which was soaking in a lukewarm dullness, being rewritten into a cold, firm structure. Im able to wield the katana to my hearts content though. (Renya) Without him realizing, his hanging mouths corners rise.Losing the colours in his view, a more vivid image pops up with a part of unnecessary information having vanished.There are still much more targets.He gets excited as soon as he cut. Its unbearably enjoyable (Renya) Renya suddenly comes to his senses partway through releasing the the violent emotions within him.There were two reasons for that.One is because Shion, whom he is carrying in his left arm, was apparently raising painful groans, albeit only slightly.It seems he unintentionally exerted too much pressure.The breathing of Shion, whom he has been holding tightly with a strength close to killing her by strangling, got rough.Second, small screams could be heard from within the building.As far Renya knows, theres no one but Shion and himself able to speak within these grounds.If it was mixed among the departed spirit-like things, which are swaying with a *yura yura* in front of his eyes, it wouldnt have that extent, but the scream, which Renyas ears caught, were certainly those of a little girl. Renyaa (Shion) Roughly breathing within his arm, Shion called out to him.Renya fears that the strangling has gotten too tight at last.But, her next words stop Renyas thinking. More (Shion)(T/N: Lol, M discovered!) Unsatisfied with just loosening his arm reflexively, he ended up throwing her on the ground, albeit gently.That likely doesnt mean that it changed into an opportunity, but the blueish-white shadows of people, surrounding the two, immediately after having largely swayed with a single shaking, vanished as if the flame of a candle was blown out.He surveyed the interior of the grounds, which regained its silence, by rotating around. Once Renya confirmed that there was nothing that looked like it might become a threat, Shion, who was messily* thrown on the ground, raised a voice of protest.(T/N: ٤ is a sfx and can mean soaked, drenched, gooey, messy in this situation, chose messy) Renya, looking at my cloudy eyes here, wont it turn into a shocking or a dizzying scene? (Shion) Ah, sorry. I received an instant chill wondering whether you were a masochist. (Renya) Dont you consider a masochistic woman as charming? (Shion) Shut up and be silent! First somehow deal with your attribute of being disappointing. (Renya) Once he casually brushes away Shion, who came clinging to him all of a sudden, she once again falls messily* down to the ground. Muuh well enough of that. (Shion) Standing up abruptly, Shion faces in the direction of the building while shaking off the dirt, attached to her body, with a *pon pon*(T/N: tapping) Was there someone in there? (Shion) Did you hear that? (Renya) Shion answers while turning around and putting her hands against her hips due to Renya making a face saying Thats completely unexpected.By her look she realized Renyas low evaluation of her and got slowly displeased. Even I heard that. It was a scream like that of a small girl, but wasnt she just scared of you, Renya? (Shion) No, well, certainly I believe that the stimulus of the view of me wielding my katana is powerful for a child, but There wasnt anyone besides us in the building, was there? (Renya) Isnt it possible that a lost child might have gone astray? (Shion) There wont be no end, if we debated possibilities. Shouldnt we try to investigate the interior once again? (Renya) From behind of Renya, who sheathed the katana in its scabbard and tried to walk towards the entrance of the building, Shion called him to halt.Once he turns around wondering what it might be, Shion, with an expression as if she was somehow in a pinch, is trying to reach out her hands towards Renya. Whats up? (Renya) I feel dizzy from being swung around too much and cant walk (Shion) Once he is told that and lowers his sight below, he surely grasps that the area around Shions knees is trembling with a *puru puru*(T/N: slightly trembling, jiggle)Although she has kept up a calm-looking expression, it looked like she is somehow unable to fix her sights focus.I might have gone too far, Renya feels sorry for a short while.When he heard that she cant walk at the beginning, Renya considered whether to go there by himself, but, as expected, on top of him being the cause for that, he felt guilty about leaving her alone in a state of being unable to move in a garden, which is infested with ghosts Shion is weak against. Do you want me to drag you along? (Renya) *Kakun* Shion dropped her shoulders.(T/N: sfx for losing strength)He considered that the way of him carrying a woman might be too violent.After resisting her trembling knees and somehow reorganizing her posture, Shion points at Renya with a finger, I want a princess carry! (Shion) Alright, follow me once you reached the point of being able to move, okay? (Renya) Sorry, its a lie! Dont abandon me~! Dont leave me alone~! However, at least carry me on your back or carry me like a baby in your arms, at worst carry me under your arm like just now~! (Shion) Isnt a princess carry or such the dream of every woman!? Due to complaining about it with teary eyes, Renya lowered his hips a bit and turned his back towards her after shrugging his shoulders once. Here, get on! (Renya) Ah, yea. Thanks (Shion) Nervously putting her arms around Renyas neck, she slowly entrusts her weight to him.Giving a single Alley oop, Renya, who was carrying Shion on his back, slowly walked towards the building. Do you know from where the voice came? (Shion) Probably in the vicinity of the workshop. The window there, that faced towards the garden, was open. (Renya) She saw it well for being swung around this much, Renya raises his evaluation of Shion, though only a bit.It might be a result of coincidence, but it was also true that it wouldnt change my feeling that she will sooner or later sink to a level, where you would loose sight of her after she broke through the deepest bottom, if I dont raise her evaluation once in a while.Passing the entrance hall, they enter the room from the workshops entrance.With Renyas cast magic light shining inside, Renya, who lowered Shion from his back making sure to lean her against the wall, notices the figure of a person having collapsed lying with her face on the ground. Whats this? (Renya) Having cut and evened up her flaxen hair around the shoulders and wearing a two-toned, black and white, coloured dress on her body, it was a little girl in a maid dress, if you describe her in a few words.However, what caused Renya to raise his voice in surprise was that he at first considered the possibility of her having lost her way, if that little girl is a normal girl, but the little girls height is far smaller than Renyas and Shions. Measuring it with the eyes, it was less than 1 m.She had the shape of a child too, however the hands, feet and such composing the little girl are quite small and thin, even more so than those of children. And yet, its visible that her head and body dont seem to have a great difference to those of adult women.How to do I say it? Its impossible to describe her as anything but an adult woman in maid clothes, who is more than two times as small.Furthermore, the shape of her ears had a characteristic different to humans.The girls ears are thin and pointed. They had quite the length, if compared with humans.The word elf crosses ones mind, but if this is one of the elves in this world, I cant imagine anything but them living in a place similar to a country of fairly small midgets. Hey, Shion. Are those called elves midgets? (Renya) Dont you know about elves, Renya? Their chests are strangely small with them having around the same height as us. (Shion) Just to be sure, Renya tries to turn over the thing lying on its face.The girl didnt wake up even as he is touching her body.She even somehow looked as if shes having a nightmare, but she is unable to respond to the examination hereafter. Once he looks at the turned-over girl, even if the area around her breast is tiny, there is a bulge at the level unable to be described as small. Its not small. (Renya) I believe you should give up on contours of an elf, but Isnt that a silky, I wonder? (Shion) I see? Arent you quite knowledgeable about such things. (Renya) Once Renya mentions it while scanning over the message of the popped-up help-function, Shion answered while being slightly bashful, I remembered it from them emerging in a book or such, I got to read during my childhood. Although they will protect the house, as fairies skilful at housework, if they are pleased with the residents, they will leave the rooms in a mess, destroy things or cause harassment, if they are displeased. (Shion) Fairy? Isnt she a ghost? (Renya) She is a fairy. You cant touch ghosts, can you? (Shion) Certainly, I just touched her body to turn her over moments ago.Renya was slowly getting puzzled by the classification of her being a fairy, if you can touch her, and a ghost, if you cant, but he decides to accept that this is likely the way it works for the inhabitants of the world over here. However, why has a fairy fallen over and fainted at this place? (Renya) To begin with, its the first time I heard about something like a fairy fainting, but the place isnt that strange, dont you agree? This is the interior of the house after all. (Shion) No mater how skilled they might be at housework or how much of a beauty they are, theres probably no meaning in haunting a deserted house, where theres no people either, Renya thinks.Putting such impression aside for now, the remaining issue is whether its possible to understand each other, but we wont be able to hear the circumstances of the other party anyway unless she wakes up.Placing his hand softly on her body, which looks like it would break, if touched, he tries to shake her as gently as possible.Shion, who leaned against the wall, unintentionally leaked a laugh due to Renyas manner of using his hand somehow timidly. (Renya) Once he has shaken her several times, the little girls eyes slowly open.The colour of her pupils is a transparent jade green. Once she became aware of Renyas figure, right after opening her eyelids weakly, her consciousness might have swiftly returned as she opened her eyes widely and got up halfway.Just like that she tries to get away from Renya in a panic, however maybe her body wont do as told or its only because she has no strength in her arms to stand up, but she crawls on the floor to take distance from Renya.Having a hunch that theres something extremely wrong going by her state, Renya sat down cross-legged on the floor and tossed the removed sword belt to Shion.After confirming that Shion has caught it, Renya calls out to the little girl, who is still trying to get away. Look, I dont have anything dangerous on me anymore. Its alright even without becoming so frightened. We have no intention to harm you. (Renya) Leave this place! Did she end up getting tired from taking distance with only her arms power? Ceasing to crawl, she turned towards Renya and raised her voice.Renya, who verified that its possible to understand each other with words, talks slowly in order to not provoke the other party. It depends on the reason. If you have an agreeable reason, we will leave this place. (Renya) This place is my house ~damono!(T/N: might infer protest or indicate reason or it might mean trash ^^) Shion, just to make sure, is the ownership of plots, houses or such deemed acceptable for fairies? (Renya) Fairies, you say, Renya? Theres probably no way that it will be recognised. (Shion) This place is my house! After all, I was born here ~damono! Due to Shion speaking as if being fed up, the little girl speaks as if snapping at her. Its fine without you making a fuss. While it may be true that you cant be recognised, we wont particularly do something like forcibly removing you. We wont make you work for us either. Can you please explain from the beginning because my perceptiveness is poor? Umm talking will become easier, if you tell us your name as well, though. (Renya) Renya, who decided that he should likely behave modestly here, tried to ask the little girl for her name as well as an explanation. When asking for someones name Ah, start by naming yourself, it is. Renya Kunugi and over there is Shion. The two of us are adventurers. Please take care of us. (Renya) name, none Turning down her face quietly, the little girl muttered in a small voice at a level that it was still possible to understand it somehow. Chapter 39 C It seems to be the continuation of the night at the deserted house Shions body has quite the height. Moreover it was muscular as might be expected of someone being trained fairly well, but even carrying her under his left arm, was no more than to the extent of her being luggage, which doesnt bother him.He wasnt able to perceive whether it might also be connected to her having no weapons except the long sword, however for Renya it was truly convenient that she hasnt put on any kind of armour.Meaning, she touches his own body at various places all over at the times of him brandishing the katana, at the times of him charging and at the times of suddenly braking.To say it completely bluntly, he is able to freely enjoy various sensations of her breasts, belly and hips touching him or separating from him and grazing him lightly or pressing onto him.Renya considers Rona not being here as good from the bottom of his heart.As its fine to not worry about peoples gazes, he simply enjoys it to his hearts content.Fortunately the place of the battle is the garden, which is big in its own way. The space is extending to a degree that its alright for him to not mind his surroundings too much, even if he jumps, runs or circles around.Renya runs around within that space.The appearing blueish-white shadows of people, some of them are cut in a manner of slashing the katana diagonally from the shoulder in passing, others are impaled, sliced in three pieces, chopped up, without concentrating on any technique and disorderly, all of them scatter and vanish.If those were the souls of the women, who were murdered in this place, they are probably bound to this location as departed spirits and they likely cursed having shown up here tonight.If they were mere shadows of the former merchants self, they likely wanted to question whether they committed such a big crime to deserve this.Without taking any notice of either option, Renya chops up the shadows. Aah this wont do (Renya) Manipulating Shion within his left arm, he hides her from getting cut by a lucky hit.Looking up at the sky, Renya laughs. Its no problem in any way. He has a hunch that the muscles of his entire body are screaming and making sounds of creaking with a *gichi gichi*Its not a voice of protest regarding him having overused them.Its the sound of his own physique.Its a feeling similar to a structure, which was soaking in a lukewarm dullness, being rewritten into a cold, firm structure. Im able to wield the katana to my hearts content though. (Renya) Without him realizing, his hanging mouths corners rise.Losing the colours in his view, a more vivid image pops up with a part of unnecessary information having vanished.There are still much more targets.He gets excited as soon as he cut. Its unbearably enjoyable (Renya) Renya suddenly comes to his senses partway through releasing the the violent emotions within him.There were two reasons for that.One is because Shion, whom he is carrying in his left arm, was apparently raising painful groans, albeit only slightly.It seems he unintentionally exerted too much pressure.The breathing of Shion, whom he has been holding tightly with a strength close to killing her by strangling, got rough.Second, small screams could be heard from within the building.As far Renya knows, theres no one but Shion and himself able to speak within these grounds.If it was mixed among the departed spirit-like things, which are swaying with a *yura yura* in front of his eyes, it wouldnt have that extent, but the scream, which Renyas ears caught, were certainly those of a little girl. Renyaa (Shion) Roughly breathing within his arm, Shion called out to him.Renya fears that the strangling has gotten too tight at last.But, her next words stop Renyas thinking. More (Shion)(T/N: Lol, M discovered!) Unsatisfied with just loosening his arm reflexively, he ended up throwing her on the ground, albeit gently.That likely doesnt mean that it changed into an opportunity, but the blueish-white shadows of people, surrounding the two, immediately after having largely swayed with a single shaking, vanished as if the flame of a candle was blown out.He surveyed the interior of the grounds, which regained its silence, by rotating around. Once Renya confirmed that there was nothing that looked like it might become a threat, Shion, who was messily* thrown on the ground, raised a voice of protest.(T/N: ٤ is a sfx and can mean soaked, drenched, gooey, messy in this situation, chose messy) Renya, looking at my cloudy eyes here, wont it turn into a shocking or a dizzying scene? (Shion) Ah, sorry. I received an instant chill wondering whether you were a masochist. (Renya) Dont you consider a masochistic woman as charming? (Shion) Shut up and be silent! First somehow deal with your attribute of being disappointing. (Renya) Once he casually brushes away Shion, who came clinging to him all of a sudden, she once again falls messily* down to the ground. Muuh well enough of that. (Shion) Standing up abruptly, Shion faces in the direction of the building while shaking off the dirt, attached to her body, with a *pon pon*(T/N: tapping) Was there someone in there? (Shion) Did you hear that? (Renya) Shion answers while turning around and putting her hands against her hips due to Renya making a face saying Thats completely unexpected.By her look she realized Renyas low evaluation of her and got slowly displeased. Even I heard that. It was a scream like that of a small girl, but wasnt she just scared of you, Renya? (Shion) No, well, certainly I believe that the stimulus of the view of me wielding my katana is powerful for a child, but There wasnt anyone besides us in the building, was there? (Renya) Isnt it possible that a lost child might have gone astray? (Shion) There wont be no end, if we debated possibilities. Shouldnt we try to investigate the interior once again? (Renya) From behind of Renya, who sheathed the katana in its scabbard and tried to walk towards the entrance of the building, Shion called him to halt.Once he turns around wondering what it might be, Shion, with an expression as if she was somehow in a pinch, is trying to reach out her hands towards Renya. Whats up? (Renya) I feel dizzy from being swung around too much and cant walk (Shion) Once he is told that and lowers his sight below, he surely grasps that the area around Shions knees is trembling with a *puru puru*(T/N: slightly trembling, jiggle)Although she has kept up a calm-looking expression, it looked like she is somehow unable to fix her sights focus.I might have gone too far, Renya feels sorry for a short while.When he heard that she cant walk at the beginning, Renya considered whether to go there by himself, but, as expected, on top of him being the cause for that, he felt guilty about leaving her alone in a state of being unable to move in a garden, which is infested with ghosts Shion is weak against. Do you want me to drag you along? (Renya) *Kakun* Shion dropped her shoulders.(T/N: sfx for losing strength)He considered that the way of him carrying a woman might be too violent.After resisting her trembling knees and somehow reorganizing her posture, Shion points at Renya with a finger, I want a princess carry! (Shion) Alright, follow me once you reached the point of being able to move, okay? (Renya) Sorry, its a lie! Dont abandon me~! Dont leave me alone~! However, at least carry me on your back or carry me like a baby in your arms, at worst carry me under your arm like just now~! (Shion) Isnt a princess carry or such the dream of every woman!? Due to complaining about it with teary eyes, Renya lowered his hips a bit and turned his back towards her after shrugging his shoulders once. Here, get on! (Renya) Ah, yea. Thanks (Shion) Nervously putting her arms around Renyas neck, she slowly entrusts her weight to him.Giving a single Alley oop, Renya, who was carrying Shion on his back, slowly walked towards the building. Do you know from where the voice came? (Shion) Probably in the vicinity of the workshop. The window there, that faced towards the garden, was open. (Renya) She saw it well for being swung around this much, Renya raises his evaluation of Shion, though only a bit.It might be a result of coincidence, but it was also true that it wouldnt change my feeling that she will sooner or later sink to a level, where you would loose sight of her after she broke through the deepest bottom, if I dont raise her evaluation once in a while.Passing the entrance hall, they enter the room from the workshops entrance.With Renyas cast magic light shining inside, Renya, who lowered Shion from his back making sure to lean her against the wall, notices the figure of a person having collapsed lying with her face on the ground. Whats this? (Renya) Having cut and evened up her flaxen hair around the shoulders and wearing a two-toned, black and white, coloured dress on her body, it was a little girl in a maid dress, if you describe her in a few words.However, what caused Renya to raise his voice in surprise was that he at first considered the possibility of her having lost her way, if that little girl is a normal girl, but the little girls height is far smaller than Renyas and Shions. Measuring it with the eyes, it was less than 1 m.She had the shape of a child too, however the hands, feet and such composing the little girl are quite small and thin, even more so than those of children. And yet, its visible that her head and body dont seem to have a great difference to those of adult women.How to do I say it? Its impossible to describe her as anything but an adult woman in maid clothes, who is more than two times as small.Furthermore, the shape of her ears had a characteristic different to humans.The girls ears are thin and pointed. They had quite the length, if compared with humans.The word elf crosses ones mind, but if this is one of the elves in this world, I cant imagine anything but them living in a place similar to a country of fairly small midgets. Hey, Shion. Are those called elves midgets? (Renya) Dont you know about elves, Renya? Their chests are strangely small with them having around the same height as us. (Shion) Just to be sure, Renya tries to turn over the thing lying on its face.The girl didnt wake up even as he is touching her body.She even somehow looked as if shes having a nightmare, but she is unable to respond to the examination hereafter. Once he looks at the turned-over girl, even if the area around her breast is tiny, there is a bulge at the level unable to be described as small. Its not small. (Renya) I believe you should give up on contours of an elf, but Isnt that a silky, I wonder? (Shion) I see? Arent you quite knowledgeable about such things. (Renya) Once Renya mentions it while scanning over the message of the popped-up help-function, Shion answered while being slightly bashful, I remembered it from them emerging in a book or such, I got to read during my childhood. Although they will protect the house, as fairies skilful at housework, if they are pleased with the residents, they will leave the rooms in a mess, destroy things or cause harassment, if they are displeased. (Shion) Fairy? Isnt she a ghost? (Renya) She is a fairy. You cant touch ghosts, can you? (Shion) Certainly, I just touched her body to turn her over moments ago.Renya was slowly getting puzzled by the classification of her being a fairy, if you can touch her, and a ghost, if you cant, but he decides to accept that this is likely the way it works for the inhabitants of the world over here. However, why has a fairy fallen over and fainted at this place? (Renya) To begin with, its the first time I heard about something like a fairy fainting, but the place isnt that strange, dont you agree? This is the interior of the house after all. (Shion) No mater how skilled they might be at housework or how much of a beauty they are, theres probably no meaning in haunting a deserted house, where theres no people either, Renya thinks.Putting such impression aside for now, the remaining issue is whether its possible to understand each other, but we wont be able to hear the circumstances of the other party anyway unless she wakes up.Placing his hand softly on her body, which looks like it would break, if touched, he tries to shake her as gently as possible.Shion, who leaned against the wall, unintentionally leaked a laugh due to Renyas manner of using his hand somehow timidly. (Renya) Once he has shaken her several times, the little girls eyes slowly open.The colour of her pupils is a transparent jade green. Once she became aware of Renyas figure, right after opening her eyelids weakly, her consciousness might have swiftly returned as she opened her eyes widely and got up halfway.Just like that she tries to get away from Renya in a panic, however maybe her body wont do as told or its only because she has no strength in her arms to stand up, but she crawls on the floor to take distance from Renya.Having a hunch that theres something extremely wrong going by her state, Renya sat down cross-legged on the floor and tossed the removed sword belt to Shion.After confirming that Shion has caught it, Renya calls out to the little girl, who is still trying to get away. Look, I dont have anything dangerous on me anymore. Its alright even without becoming so frightened. We have no intention to harm you. (Renya) Leave this place! Did she end up getting tired from taking distance with only her arms power? Ceasing to crawl, she turned towards Renya and raised her voice.Renya, who verified that its possible to understand each other with words, talks slowly in order to not provoke the other party. It depends on the reason. If you have an agreeable reason, we will leave this place. (Renya) This place is my house ~damono!(T/N: might infer protest or indicate reason or it might mean trash ^^) Shion, just to make sure, is the ownership of plots, houses or such deemed acceptable for fairies? (Renya) Fairies, you say, Renya? Theres probably no way that it will be recognised. (Shion) This place is my house! After all, I was born here ~damono! Due to Shion speaking as if being fed up, the little girl speaks as if snapping at her. Its fine without you making a fuss. While it may be true that you cant be recognised, we wont particularly do something like forcibly removing you. We wont make you work for us either. Can you please explain from the beginning because my perceptiveness is poor? Umm talking will become easier, if you tell us your name as well, though. (Renya) Renya, who decided that he should likely behave modestly here, tried to ask the little girl for her name as well as an explanation. When asking for someones name Ah, start by naming yourself, it is. Renya Kunugi and over there is Shion. The two of us are adventurers. Please take care of us. (Renya) name, none Turning down her face quietly, the little girl muttered in a small voice at a level that it was still possible to understand it somehow. Chapter 40 Chapter 40 C It seems to be the procurement of a base of activity The little girl, who was in a state of letting her head hang slightly, began to explain piece by piece.(T/N: *potsu potsu*)It was around three years ago when the little girl became conscious in this house. I was in the basement of this house. This house has a basement? (Renya) Theres a hidden door in the floor of the workshop. She, who was born in total darkness, without even a single light, in a place stinking of dust, left towards the surface by going up the stairs without even sensing anything about that place because of her fairy body. In truth I should have been greeted by my family there or such. Its because it was a deserted house already. Is it normal for a silky to be born in a deserted house? (Renya) I dont know. I havent met any other silkies. The house had already fallen into that state and the garden was overgrown with weeds, too.She wanted to begin the maintenance and cleaning of that desolated house as silky, if possible, however following something like the instinct of a fairy here, it was not enough to stop her actions. Silkies like me are basically fairies, who help their families. Otherwise we will only be able to change our behaviour after we have granted the requests of the family. There was no family making those requests though. As result of that she wasnt able to pick any other method but to maintain the status quo of the house, which is one more task for a silky.For the sake of maintaining the status quo of the house, its necessary to prevent people entering the grounds as much as possible.If people enter, the present state of deserted house will end up changing.Originally she should quickly have someone live in that house, act as their assistant and have them request something, however her having been born into a house with the status of being deserted from the start resulted in a contradiction.Although she has realized that in her brain, she is unable to change her behaviour.Her instinct as silky fairy,ending up functioning like some kind of curse, could be called a rare precedent.Although one might say that a silky in itself is a fairy, who isnt suited for combat, and has no more than simple magic, she can use, she acts in order to defend against intruders.Since the race called fairies consist basically of mana, she could abundantly use it to some degree.But, if she were to fight openly against humans, she would probably end up getting destroyed quickly.Considering that, she coincidentally hears about the ghost story of that merchant due to the real estate person, who came to the area of the house to lead around clients, talking of it and decided for it to be usable.Fairies, who are considered as mischievous, are proficient at simple manipulation and invisibility spells as well as illusion and auditory hallucination spells.She believed that normal people wont likely get close, if its spooky, once she prepares the stage of a property, having a cursed history as told by the real estate person, by using these spells freely. And there, such an oddball like Renya ended up appearing. (Shion) Shion, I will scold you severely afterwards. (Renya) Oddball Dont repeat that, fairy. Certainly, I cant deny that I came here in delight after hearing that its a property, where ghosts come out, though. (Renya) Due to the fairy trying to slightly get away from Renya, he spit out these words alongside a sigh wondering whether she has some amount of self-awareness.On reflex, was her behaviour, huh?Due to the fairy correcting her sitting on the ground looking slightly awkward, Renya opened his mouth while ponderingNow then, how should I negotiate with her, I wonder. So, you know, Ive been pondering whether to buy this property. (Renya) The taken-aback fairy fixes her eyes on Renya.Renya is unable to determine whether refusal or acceptance was reflected in her eyes, but it wont do if he doesnt tell her what ought to be said first and continues the way of talking similar to making her understand his words as gently as possible. Of course, if you insist here on absolutely not changing the deserted status of the house and refuse no matter what, I will also take into consideration to search for another property. I dont really know anything about silkies and such, but are they beings that can keep existing by continuing to protect a deserted house? (Renya) The fairy shook her head.Just as I thought, huh?Renya thinks.Based on Shions talk and the message of the help function, the fairy, haunting this house, is expected to preserve her existence by mingling with the residents of the house.Unexpectedly that is also including the contradiction of depending on eviction, if she isnt pleased with the other party.However, theres probably no mistake in the fact that it wont work, if she has no connections with people, Renya guessed.And, if thats correct, wont this fairy, who determinedly keeps on protecting a deserted house, continue to weaken, though I dont know how fast, until she ends up vanishing before long? If thats how it is, I think I want to live here, even if it might be a bit pushy, but (Renya) If the fairy starts to threaten us again according to her instinct of wanting to maintain the status quo, if we also make her surrender forcibly like this time and if we live here temporarily, it will turn into the original state of her wanting to be the helper of the family, was what Renya expected, but the fairy shook here head left and right to that as well. No good? (Renya) No, well I was defeated being a hindrance once. Therefore, currently my desire to maintain the status quo vanished following your will of wanting to live here. Well, then it will simply end, once we live here afterwards? (Renya) Yea, but The fairy looks at Renya as if hesitating a bit.As Renya wondered whether there was still some problem remaining, the fairy nervously came out with it, Will you be able to live in such suspicious mansion? I want to flatly decline that. (Shion) Before Renya could open his mouth, Shion cut in and shrugged her shoulders at being glared at by Renya.As the fairy gets close to crying due to Shions answer, Renya, in order to soothe her, says, We have another companion. Although we have to consult with her as well, I basically believe that we will live here. (Renya) Is that so!? I shall wait for you, master! Renya gently stroke the fairys head while showing a complicated expression and Shion laughed at length for some reason due to the words directed at Renya by the fairy, who says them with her face brightening up in a flash.After that Renya and Shion pass the night without sleeping until morning as they cant be bothered to do so and head to the inn, where Rona waits, once dawn breaks.Explaining the circumstances, they asked for Ronas opinion, however having received an answer that she doesnt particularly mind it, if both of them are fine with it, they hurry to the real estate agent.Seeing the two come back in high spirits, albeit looking like they lack sleep, the real estate agent was surprised as that was something that didnt happen until now. But his expression broke into a smile when Renya, who hid the matter about the fairy, told him that he would buy it as no ghosts came out in particular.Going by what the real estate agent says, so far the people, who showed interest in that property, have run into ghosts, without even a single exception. It seems to have changed from a sellable to an unsellable, inferior property among the ones, the real estate agent owns.Due to the real estate agent taking a breath of relief and at last having a weight removed from his mind because Renya said that he would buy it, Renya opens the negotiations by telling the real estate agent that he should offer a little bit of service to him, the buyer, if he has been troubled by it this much.The real estate agent and Renya argued with humming and hawing before Shion, who watched intently while being amazed how someone could have such energy in a state of not having slept until dawn. In the end the real estate agent gave in and it resulted in a lump-sum payment in advance and it being fine to pay the remaining sum in instalments whenever they have money without any urging.Taking out the money from the [Inventory] and paying the money to the real estate agent, Renya stores the written contract in exchange.Receiving the key once again, the two hurry to the inn.Renya carries Shion, who used up all her strength and succumbed to the sleepiness on the way, on his back, and reports the sealing of the sales contract to Rona after getting back to the inn. Returning to the inn, right after arriving there, the three, including Rona this time as well, head to the house he just bought.Rona raised doubts while moving due to Renya proceeding in quite the impatient manner, but for the time being there was a reason for this forced schedule.Renya doesnt know about the fairies in the world over here, however if one were to speak of fairies, a somewhat capricious impression sticks to them.Although he was, for the time, accepted to the extent of being called master, he had a feeling that its not unimaginable for that fairy to even tell him to redo it all over from the beginning if he takes too much time.Once they have reached their destination, he introduces Rona to the fairy and declares that it had been decided for them to live here officially from now on. In line with this, since we will buy new replacements for the previous furnitures and such, I request you to cooperate. (Renya) Yes! Please leave it to me! Shion raised a comfortable sleepers breathing on the back of Renya, who feels relived for having accomplished his mission for now after looking at the face of the fairy, who smiled cheerfully.Next Rona and the fairy show their excellence to Renya and Shion hereafter.First Rona has requested the supplying of new items, the disposal of the stuff, that cant be sold, the sale of the stuff, that can be sold and the transportation of the old furniture to workers and merchants, she suddenly brought along out of nowhere.While Renya has been bewildered, she coordinates with the merchants things like the positioning, numbers and specifications of the small furnitures. Lining up the carried-in items, she negotiates the amount of money and chooses even the method of payment.The money on hand, Renya has, almost hit rock bottom, but over here Rona was cutting through her own savings and put out the payments. I will live here too, after all. If thats the case, it will be better for it to be comfortable. It will become a loan for Renya, too. (Rona) When she added the last words in a whisper, Renya felt a chill travel along his spine, he has never felt before.On the other side, the fairy was largely helpful in the tidying up of the house.At the beginning Renya was worried whether it will be alright, even if the merchants and others, coming and going, see her appearance, but at the time the three decided to live in this house, the fairys appearance of around 10 years old had changed into that of a girl in a maid dress.Somehow it seemed that fairies had an appropriate personal appearance with a height of common people, but apparently her size decreased as her power was weakening over the many years of living in a deserted house. That, hadnt it reached quite the dangerous point? (Renya) Yea, but I was somehow able to preserve, since there was disgusting food. Renya cocks his head in puzzlement due to the words of the fairy.In the first place, I wonder just what the heck are fairies eating? We are basically changing mana into food. We are haunting houses in order to receive mana, which naturally gets released by the family, as food. Somehow Ive got a bad premonition, however whats that disgusting food? (Renya) The grudges of the person, who was apparently executed in the garden. Hearing that, Shion becomes pale and Rona laughs feebly.It had apparently manifested halfway in a corner of the house at the time the fairy became conscious, but the soul of the merchant, which was on the verge of becoming an evil spirit and could be easily called a lump of mana, ended up vanishing by being chewed piece by piece guaranteeing the food supply for the fairy, albeit having an extremely poor quality. I wonder, do you call such stuff retributive justice? (Renya) Something like the happiness of a serial murderer in the next world doesnt matter aaa~t all. (Rona) Since he ended up disappearing, he didnt even fall to hell. Wasnt that rather lucky? is the remark of Rona, that will cause one to wonder whether thats how a priest should think. The fairy, who recovered quite a bit of power, called a wind and blew the trash and dust all over the house into the garden in one go. Moreover, she pruned the trees branches, which grew as they liked, and the weeds with wind blades.Due to the magnificence of her performance, Shion and Renya, who were told that such thing was completely unrelated to combat potential, have absolutely no choice but watch in admiration.In the end the trash has piled up to a small mountain in the garden and Shion ignites and burns the trash mountain while Renya is digging a hole in a corner of the garden.Throwing the ashes into the hole, Renya dug, they plugged up the hole and with that a series of uproars came to a close.It was an event of mere two days from the time Renya decided to buy it until now.After having finished, all of them currently ended up laying dead tired on top of the newly provided leather-covered sofa.Among them only the fairy is full of spirit. She prepared tea and tea snacks for the resting three, but before long she comes next to Renya. Master! The work hasnt finished yet! Theres something left? (Renya) Shaking the shoulder of the inquiring Renya, the fairy said, A name, please! I will be troubled to be called fairy forever! A name (Renya) For an instant names such as Hanami or Tama appear and disappear in his head, but he denies those in a hurry.Shes no dog or cat after all, frantically mobilising his tired brain, Renya comes up with a single name. It was accepted with a single reply by the happy fairy.Thus Renya obtained a house with a garden and workshop attached. The domestic fairy, Frau Velde(T/N: >> Furau = Velude > Furau = Velude <<), who haunted the house, was turned into a companion. Chapter 41 Chapter 41 C It seems to be Az-san, once again I came to look since I heard you bought a house. You obviously went all out, too. (Az) Is what Az, who entrusted his back restfully to the upper half of the parlours sofa, said while looking around the rooms interior.Atop the table an assorted basket, which Az brought as present, of fruits has been placed.Saying it just in case, but is it because of his nature matches well with that of a teacher? Previously he wore a grey robe, but this time its a finely tailored black robe with silver accessories attached all over. It was a dress you could indeed call that of a magician.What Az brought is an assorted basked mainly filled with citrus and mandarin types of fruits. Those are pesticide-free fruits, which can be eaten completely even including the skin, which wasnt recommended overly much to be eaten in Renyas former world due to agricultural chemicals and such.After he got tired of eating them completely down to the skin, Renya instructs Frau to put them into the foodstuff preservation cellar in the kitchen.The foodstuff preservation cellar, managed by the silky, was under the complete control of Fraus magic up to the frightening level of regulating the temperature by moisture.In other words, be it refrigeration or freezing, either way can be dealt with. Moreover, in order to mature meat, be it by dry ageing or wet ageing, its in an anything-goes state.At the time he was told that fact by Frau, Renya praised himself with Its really great I bought it. Though, as it is, there are still debts left. Oh well, I think its necessary granted that you want to do something about a base of activity. (Renya) Thats true. You have to start from somewhere. Its important to have a place you can call home. However, be that as it may (Az) Az vocalizes his amazement while watching the girl in maid dress, who prepares the tea, while freely using a stool to stand on due to her insufficient height, behind Renya, who is sitting on the other side of the sofa, and then passes the arranged tea across the sofa. They increased by one more again. Moreover, a fairy, huh? Do you actually plan to create a harem? (Az) As expected of a magician, are they experts at those types of beings? Az guessed Fraus identity correctly with just a single glance.There was a period, when Renya hesitated a bit whether he should reveal Frau in front of people, but as a result of consulting with Rona, he was given the answer that its impossible for him to say anything as the existence of fairies itself isnt something as unusual in proportion to the rarity of the Lost.It appears to be possible to raise the price of a house because of a silky possessing it, if its before the purchase, however its impossible to do so once the official contract has been exchanged no matter what the reason might be after the purchase. Dont say something scandalous! In the first place, if I made a move on that child, that will be a crime, right? (Renya) Although Renya was frowning, he ended up frowning even more hearing Az following answer. For nobles and such it isnt unusual to even do something like marriage, once they are past 10 years in age, no? If its only the engagement, that will be decided from the time they are born. Besides, something like a middle-aged noble, who exceeded 30 years, marrying a 12 years old daughter of a lower noble and making children with her is commonplace. (Az) Being able to get well used to such thinking thats a point I can only admire. (Renya) Theres also the aspect of it being partially a duty, but wont it also become a great way to earn some money? The sale of that kind of medicine, that is. (Az) Medicines to make the arousal more potent, medicines to lengthen the ability to continue or something like that are very popular, Az laughs.Theres also high demand for this sort of medicines. It seems to be a business with good revenue. Is that legal? (Renya) Of course? Arent they even properly submitting requests to the guild for the gathering of ingredients? (Az) Due to Az telling him try taking it, if you are troubled with money, Renya judged he absolutely wouldnt take such request.At least its not a request where I can take Shion and Rona along.Frau, who is waiting on us in the back, should be called a fairy after all, huh? Her faces colour doesnt even change the slightest hearing this kind of talks. Speaking of money, you bought such house. Wont the number of necessary things increase in accordance to that? (Az) Guess so. There are also the costs of maintenance. As it is necessary to return the debts, too, there isnt enough money, no matter how much we earn. (Renya) Though I think its quite a lax contract. Something like paying the loan instalments whenever you happen to have money without any pressuring, that is. (Az) Az partially talks as if to say that its even fine to shirk the payments of the contract.Certainly, because its not pressing, its a contract where we can feel at ease not paying forever, if we end up declaring that we are still unable to pay eternally.However, Renya didnt want to do something profitable as that.Even if its not necessary to hurry with the repayment, he has decided to repay it without letting too much time pass.If I consider myself to be in the shoes of the merchant, I would lose profit, the longer the payment is postponed.That will end up annoying the merchant. In fact I came here today to congratulate you for buying the house, but, apart from that, theres also a single matter I want to borrow your strength for. Of course, you will get money for it. (Az) A mediation of work? Im thankful for that, however what kind of work is it? (Renya) Theres a different sense of security getting a type of request from Az, whom he knows, rather than a request from some stranger.Though theres nothing to say, if the pay is good as well, I dont expect too much out of it. If it isnt an overly cruel story and since he isnt an unknown broker, I think it might be fine to accept, Renya is thinking. I think you are aware that Im working as a teacher at the school to train adventurers. (Az) Well, its something you told me about at the time we separated. (Renya) Yea, thats it. The class, I was in charge off, was a class with many noble sons and daughters, but a small problem has cropped up. (Az) Is it a problem of the other party being noble? (Renya) Renyas expression turns bitter.To begin with, Renya has no good impression related to the word noble.Repeatedly taking into account that its a prejudice, Renya is holding an image of them being a gathering of cowards, being underhanded with money and authority, looking down on commoners and having a discomforting manner of talking and acting.Of course theres likely nobles, to whom this doesnt apply too, but Renyas point is that those are a rare species. The problem, Im talking about, is that the teachers in charge for each curriculum at school change, but the teacher, who was in charge of the combat training, lost to a student (Az) Because its a teacher related to actual fighting, its extremely difficult to gather good people on top of there being too few candidates.I dont believe that the knights in active duty and adventurers want to become something like teachers, where they wont earn as much money.Given that the act of raising the next generation will only increase the number of competitors struggling to earn some money for the adventurers and since it hasnt any kind of appeal for knights, there hardly exist any people expressly pursuing that occupation.Naturally those becoming teachers at the school are people, whose party ended up getting destroyed like Az, or those, who gave up quickly as it was extremely unlikely for them to become successful as adventurers or knights; mostly its those who are second-rate or third-rate, if you want to phrase it badly.And yet, as for the level in technique of those attending the school, though they rarely fall behind and its even a lot rarer for a teacher to appear, who loses to a student.Its true that there are those among the sons and daughters of nobles, who have already acquired a higher level of skill at the time of enrolling at school due to being trained by their father or mother, who are soldiers, before going to the school.Moreover, in the particular case of such people they have a family lineage of being military personnel continuing for many generations or they have a family, where a great number of court magicians appeared one after the other. The ability of those students towers above the rest.Given such situation, a third-rate adventurer wont be able to pull through with their experience, which might exists or not, and it will result in them being exposed to the mess of having tragically lost to a student. That is quite embarrassing and a teacher wont be able to stand that. (Renya) Just because theres a difference in combat strength, they dont have to declare that they dont want to be taught by the teacher, right? The teacher might be third-rate, but they should still be able to learn things from someone, who lived their life as adventurer. (Az) Renya couldnt imagine the topics, which were taught, but as there might actually be something since Az is stressing it to this level, he isnt going to pursue the matter too deeply.Maybe its about the way to accept a request skilfully or the method to build good relations with your party members. It might be such grandmas wisdom-like things. However, since its an opponent, they were defeated by once, people have appeared, who dont feel like attending the class as theres nothing to learn or such. Its troublesome. (Az) That doesnt particularly mean they are skipping your class though, right Az? (Renya) You arent especially troubled yourself, are you, Az? When Renya mentioned that, Az scratched his head as if being slightly stumped. Surely, its not me who is troubled, but (Az) With a mood drifting about as if it is hard for him to tell the reason, he roughly scratches his head.I think it might be better to not pursue this too much either, judging that, Renya decided to change the topic. Well, this much is fine with me. What do you want me to do and what are the conditions for the job? (Renya) Mm? Ah, that is, you know, I want you to crush the arrogant attitude of the class students. In a combat training in the style of an actual fight. (Az) According to Az explanation a special barrier is set up in the field, which is used for the school combat training. It seems that no matter what kind of terrible injury is caused, it wont go past being one step short of death.In other words, for the sake of thoroughly smashing the pride of the noble sons and daughters, who became disobedient, he wants me to viciously beat them to the degree, that they wont ever again think of belittling a teacher, in that combat practice field as request. Is that a proper request you should ask for as a teacher? (Renya) The other party doesnt listen to what they are told. Once you carve into their bodies and minds that theres always someone above them, it will be the teachers responsibility, I guess. (Az) And if its you, who does it, Az? (Renya) It will also be fine if I do it, but Im not very good at close combat. Therefore I was protected during our jobs. For me there would be nothing else but striking them with fatal magic on the first attack, if such me wanted to do something about those guys. Even with this I have a feeling that I would be able to handle it one way or the other, but if, in worst case, they brought it into close combat, I would have no chance at winning. (Az) Different from warrior types, who can fight as long as they are able to brandish their weapons, magicians, who have a necessity to cast, take a long time until they can attack in any way.Moreover, because there are many magicians, who dont forge their bodies overly much, its not a rare occurrence for them to suffer an embarrassing defeat, even by lower-ranked close combat classes, if the opponent approaches too close in distance during their casting time. Thats the point. While you are an able swordsman, you can also deal with magic, Renya. Even in the worst case, it wont result in you falling behind the levels of the schools students, no? (Az) Yea, well, probably. (Renya) Even if he ends up changing the weapon to a practise sword or such, Renya had absolutely no intention to be defeated by bratty opponents, who are still at the level of attending a school.In truth, given that its not like theres a big difference in age between the current Renya and them, the students, whom he called brats, would be likely offended if they heard that. Though you might have a reluctant feeling about it, can I somehow request that of you, Renya? (Az) Az suddenly bends himself forward and bows his head.It wasnt a request that he was overly eager to do and somehow it could be even called bullying the weak, but if its a request to the degree of making Az even bow his head, Renya isnt able to show an attitude of refusing it off-handedly.Nevertheless, as he is also certain that he wont be able to find any meaning in something like a sham battle, where theres no doubt that he will be able to win in the first place, he has absolutely no motivation to do it. If you accept this request, you will also be able to use the facilities of the school. (Az) I think theres nothing I want to use among the facilities of the school, but (Renya) What are you saying, Renya? That school, which trains adventurers, has the , dont you know? (Az) Whats that? (Renya) Man, you dont know the ? (Az) Az seems like he wants to say Why dont you know something like that?Which reminds me, I still havent told Az about me being a Lost, Renya remembers. Im actually a Lost. (Renya) Ho? Thats how it was, eh? In that case its only natural for you to not know about the . (Az) He didnt look like was overly astonished either.Seeing the face of Renya, which looked somehow disappointed, Az said, Certainly, they are a rare existence, but so far all of them had been identified. Even if they came from a different world, its nothing to be surprised about since they are basically the same humans like us, right? (Az) Thats just like you So, whats the thing called the schools ? (Renya) The is a magical object, which took the shape of a gate. Its something superior allowing you to move to the other gate, which acts as pair, by crossing through space to a distant place, no matter how far it might be. On top of being unable to move anywhere else but to the gate interacting with it as pair, its something, that mostly hasnt been popularized as it takes quite the amount of magic gems for transferring even a single person with a single transfer. But, for the sake of the adventurer school to keep in touch with its fellow schools smoothly and comfortably, they have formed a transfer network by using transfer gates. (Az) Hmm? (Renya) If you are granted a license for this, you will be able to move to almost the entire continent of the human race with transfer gates and on top of that there is also a transfer gate connecting to the western continent of the elves, which lets you skip the Forest of Miasma and the area of the demons, you know? (Az) Whoa, thats amazing. (Renya) Even if it has the limitation of transferring only one person, its a transportation network that lets you even leap to the continent of the elves on top of allowing one to expect an exceptionally raised speed of travelling on the continent of the human race.If I can get my hands on this ticket, even a job, I dont feel like doing, changes into a justifiable job with plenty of return. The time is limited to only a half day of a teaching day. The reward is a permit to use the transfer gate, I told you about just now, and one gold coin, which I will provide from my pocket. Im sorry, but since I have tried to ask so that I will be given a discount, please pay the transfer gates renting fee yourself, Renya. (Az) Its a lavish hospitality. (Renya) Besides Az desire for Renya to definitely accept the request even going as far as raising the rewards this much, it can be said that failure isnt permitted for this case.I fear that its likely that the reason for that is what he evaded to explain, Renya estimated.However, since those are circumstances on Az side, it doesnt have anything to do with Renya for now. How is it? Can you accept? (Az) It doesnt seem to be a bad deal. It looks like I will go by myself for the job itself. Okay, I will take you up on it. (Renya) Once Renya told him his intention to accept, Az showed an expression of relief. Im thankful. With this I will have a weight removed from my mind. Since we have to adjust the schedule on our side, I will contact you later. Is that fine? (Az) Got it. Id like to ask you to arrange for it as quickly as possible since Im currently free. (Renya) Since he accepted it as job, its will be impossible for him to take on other jobs.If it takes too much time to adjust the schedule, Renya will be troubled as it will lengthen the time he cant take other work either. We will adjust it soon. Well then, given that I have to return to the school, please wait for my contact. (Az) Once he got Renyas agreement, Az left such words and returned to the school at full speed. Something like coming to bow his head to master on behalf of others, he seems to be quite the nice person. (Frau) Frau says while clearing up the tea, which Az left unfinished. Undoubtedly I believe that the troubled person is someone important to Az-san. Thats why he went back in such hurry, I guess. (Frau) I see, if thats the case, I can somehow understand why he evaded explaining, too, Renya clapped his knee.Since I will likely meet to face with them at the time Im undertaking the request, I will demand Az to explain it to me thoroughly then, while holding the tea, which more or less ended up becoming cool, Renya expressed a very happy smile. Chapter 41 C It seems to be Az-san, once again I came to look since I heard you bought a house. You obviously went all out, too. (Az) Is what Az, who entrusted his back restfully to the upper half of the parlours sofa, said while looking around the rooms interior.Atop the table an assorted basket, which Az brought as present, of fruits has been placed.Saying it just in case, but is it because of his nature matches well with that of a teacher? Previously he wore a grey robe, but this time its a finely tailored black robe with silver accessories attached all over. It was a dress you could indeed call that of a magician.What Az brought is an assorted basked mainly filled with citrus and mandarin types of fruits. Those are pesticide-free fruits, which can be eaten completely even including the skin, which wasnt recommended overly much to be eaten in Renyas former world due to agricultural chemicals and such.After he got tired of eating them completely down to the skin, Renya instructs Frau to put them into the foodstuff preservation cellar in the kitchen.The foodstuff preservation cellar, managed by the silky, was under the complete control of Fraus magic up to the frightening level of regulating the temperature by moisture.In other words, be it refrigeration or freezing, either way can be dealt with. Moreover, in order to mature meat, be it by dry ageing or wet ageing, its in an anything-goes state.At the time he was told that fact by Frau, Renya praised himself with Its really great I bought it. Though, as it is, there are still debts left. Oh well, I think its necessary granted that you want to do something about a base of activity. (Renya) Thats true. You have to start from somewhere. Its important to have a place you can call home. However, be that as it may (Az) Az vocalizes his amazement while watching the girl in maid dress, who prepares the tea, while freely using a stool to stand on due to her insufficient height, behind Renya, who is sitting on the other side of the sofa, and then passes the arranged tea across the sofa. They increased by one more again. Moreover, a fairy, huh? Do you actually plan to create a harem? (Az) As expected of a magician, are they experts at those types of beings? Az guessed Fraus identity correctly with just a single glance.There was a period, when Renya hesitated a bit whether he should reveal Frau in front of people, but as a result of consulting with Rona, he was given the answer that its impossible for him to say anything as the existence of fairies itself isnt something as unusual in proportion to the rarity of the Lost.It appears to be possible to raise the price of a house because of a silky possessing it, if its before the purchase, however its impossible to do so once the official contract has been exchanged no matter what the reason might be after the purchase. Dont say something scandalous! In the first place, if I made a move on that child, that will be a crime, right? (Renya) Although Renya was frowning, he ended up frowning even more hearing Az following answer. For nobles and such it isnt unusual to even do something like marriage, once they are past 10 years in age, no? If its only the engagement, that will be decided from the time they are born. Besides, something like a middle-aged noble, who exceeded 30 years, marrying a 12 years old daughter of a lower noble and making children with her is commonplace. (Az) Being able to get well used to such thinking thats a point I can only admire. (Renya) Theres also the aspect of it being partially a duty, but wont it also become a great way to earn some money? The sale of that kind of medicine, that is. (Az) Medicines to make the arousal more potent, medicines to lengthen the ability to continue or something like that are very popular, Az laughs.Theres also high demand for this sort of medicines. It seems to be a business with good revenue. Is that legal? (Renya) Of course? Arent they even properly submitting requests to the guild for the gathering of ingredients? (Az) Due to Az telling him try taking it, if you are troubled with money, Renya judged he absolutely wouldnt take such request.At least its not a request where I can take Shion and Rona along.Frau, who is waiting on us in the back, should be called a fairy after all, huh? Her faces colour doesnt even change the slightest hearing this kind of talks. Speaking of money, you bought such house. Wont the number of necessary things increase in accordance to that? (Az) Guess so. There are also the costs of maintenance. As it is necessary to return the debts, too, there isnt enough money, no matter how much we earn. (Renya) Though I think its quite a lax contract. Something like paying the loan instalments whenever you happen to have money without any pressuring, that is. (Az) Az partially talks as if to say that its even fine to shirk the payments of the contract.Certainly, because its not pressing, its a contract where we can feel at ease not paying forever, if we end up declaring that we are still unable to pay eternally.However, Renya didnt want to do something profitable as that.Even if its not necessary to hurry with the repayment, he has decided to repay it without letting too much time pass.If I consider myself to be in the shoes of the merchant, I would lose profit, the longer the payment is postponed.That will end up annoying the merchant. In fact I came here today to congratulate you for buying the house, but, apart from that, theres also a single matter I want to borrow your strength for. Of course, you will get money for it. (Az) A mediation of work? Im thankful for that, however what kind of work is it? (Renya) Theres a different sense of security getting a type of request from Az, whom he knows, rather than a request from some stranger.Though theres nothing to say, if the pay is good as well, I dont expect too much out of it. If it isnt an overly cruel story and since he isnt an unknown broker, I think it might be fine to accept, Renya is thinking. I think you are aware that Im working as a teacher at the school to train adventurers. (Az) Well, its something you told me about at the time we separated. (Renya) Yea, thats it. The class, I was in charge off, was a class with many noble sons and daughters, but a small problem has cropped up. (Az) Is it a problem of the other party being noble? (Renya) Renyas expression turns bitter.To begin with, Renya has no good impression related to the word noble.Repeatedly taking into account that its a prejudice, Renya is holding an image of them being a gathering of cowards, being underhanded with money and authority, looking down on commoners and having a discomforting manner of talking and acting.Of course theres likely nobles, to whom this doesnt apply too, but Renyas point is that those are a rare species. The problem, Im talking about, is that the teachers in charge for each curriculum at school change, but the teacher, who was in charge of the combat training, lost to a student (Az) Because its a teacher related to actual fighting, its extremely difficult to gather good people on top of there being too few candidates.I dont believe that the knights in active duty and adventurers want to become something like teachers, where they wont earn as much money.Given that the act of raising the next generation will only increase the number of competitors struggling to earn some money for the adventurers and since it hasnt any kind of appeal for knights, there hardly exist any people expressly pursuing that occupation.Naturally those becoming teachers at the school are people, whose party ended up getting destroyed like Az, or those, who gave up quickly as it was extremely unlikely for them to become successful as adventurers or knights; mostly its those who are second-rate or third-rate, if you want to phrase it badly.And yet, as for the level in technique of those attending the school, though they rarely fall behind and its even a lot rarer for a teacher to appear, who loses to a student.Its true that there are those among the sons and daughters of nobles, who have already acquired a higher level of skill at the time of enrolling at school due to being trained by their father or mother, who are soldiers, before going to the school.Moreover, in the particular case of such people they have a family lineage of being military personnel continuing for many generations or they have a family, where a great number of court magicians appeared one after the other. The ability of those students towers above the rest.Given such situation, a third-rate adventurer wont be able to pull through with their experience, which might exists or not, and it will result in them being exposed to the mess of having tragically lost to a student. That is quite embarrassing and a teacher wont be able to stand that. (Renya) Just because theres a difference in combat strength, they dont have to declare that they dont want to be taught by the teacher, right? The teacher might be third-rate, but they should still be able to learn things from someone, who lived their life as adventurer. (Az) Renya couldnt imagine the topics, which were taught, but as there might actually be something since Az is stressing it to this level, he isnt going to pursue the matter too deeply.Maybe its about the way to accept a request skilfully or the method to build good relations with your party members. It might be such grandmas wisdom-like things. However, since its an opponent, they were defeated by once, people have appeared, who dont feel like attending the class as theres nothing to learn or such. Its troublesome. (Az) That doesnt particularly mean they are skipping your class though, right Az? (Renya) You arent especially troubled yourself, are you, Az? When Renya mentioned that, Az scratched his head as if being slightly stumped. Surely, its not me who is troubled, but (Az) With a mood drifting about as if it is hard for him to tell the reason, he roughly scratches his head.I think it might be better to not pursue this too much either, judging that, Renya decided to change the topic. Well, this much is fine with me. What do you want me to do and what are the conditions for the job? (Renya) Mm? Ah, that is, you know, I want you to crush the arrogant attitude of the class students. In a combat training in the style of an actual fight. (Az) According to Az explanation a special barrier is set up in the field, which is used for the school combat training. It seems that no matter what kind of terrible injury is caused, it wont go past being one step short of death.In other words, for the sake of thoroughly smashing the pride of the noble sons and daughters, who became disobedient, he wants me to viciously beat them to the degree, that they wont ever again think of belittling a teacher, in that combat practice field as request. Is that a proper request you should ask for as a teacher? (Renya) The other party doesnt listen to what they are told. Once you carve into their bodies and minds that theres always someone above them, it will be the teachers responsibility, I guess. (Az) And if its you, who does it, Az? (Renya) It will also be fine if I do it, but Im not very good at close combat. Therefore I was protected during our jobs. For me there would be nothing else but striking them with fatal magic on the first attack, if such me wanted to do something about those guys. Even with this I have a feeling that I would be able to handle it one way or the other, but if, in worst case, they brought it into close combat, I would have no chance at winning. (Az) Different from warrior types, who can fight as long as they are able to brandish their weapons, magicians, who have a necessity to cast, take a long time until they can attack in any way.Moreover, because there are many magicians, who dont forge their bodies overly much, its not a rare occurrence for them to suffer an embarrassing defeat, even by lower-ranked close combat classes, if the opponent approaches too close in distance during their casting time. Thats the point. While you are an able swordsman, you can also deal with magic, Renya. Even in the worst case, it wont result in you falling behind the levels of the schools students, no? (Az) Yea, well, probably. (Renya) Even if he ends up changing the weapon to a practise sword or such, Renya had absolutely no intention to be defeated by bratty opponents, who are still at the level of attending a school.In truth, given that its not like theres a big difference in age between the current Renya and them, the students, whom he called brats, would be likely offended if they heard that. Though you might have a reluctant feeling about it, can I somehow request that of you, Renya? (Az) Az suddenly bends himself forward and bows his head.It wasnt a request that he was overly eager to do and somehow it could be even called bullying the weak, but if its a request to the degree of making Az even bow his head, Renya isnt able to show an attitude of refusing it off-handedly.Nevertheless, as he is also certain that he wont be able to find any meaning in something like a sham battle, where theres no doubt that he will be able to win in the first place, he has absolutely no motivation to do it. If you accept this request, you will also be able to use the facilities of the school. (Az) I think theres nothing I want to use among the facilities of the school, but (Renya) What are you saying, Renya? That school, which trains adventurers, has the , dont you know? (Az) Whats that? (Renya) Man, you dont know the ? (Az) Az seems like he wants to say Why dont you know something like that?Which reminds me, I still havent told Az about me being a Lost, Renya remembers. Im actually a Lost. (Renya) Ho? Thats how it was, eh? In that case its only natural for you to not know about the . (Az) He didnt look like was overly astonished either.Seeing the face of Renya, which looked somehow disappointed, Az said, Certainly, they are a rare existence, but so far all of them had been identified. Even if they came from a different world, its nothing to be surprised about since they are basically the same humans like us, right? (Az) Thats just like you So, whats the thing called the schools ? (Renya) The is a magical object, which took the shape of a gate. Its something superior allowing you to move to the other gate, which acts as pair, by crossing through space to a distant place, no matter how far it might be. On top of being unable to move anywhere else but to the gate interacting with it as pair, its something, that mostly hasnt been popularized as it takes quite the amount of magic gems for transferring even a single person with a single transfer. But, for the sake of the adventurer school to keep in touch with its fellow schools smoothly and comfortably, they have formed a transfer network by using transfer gates. (Az) Hmm? (Renya) If you are granted a license for this, you will be able to move to almost the entire continent of the human race with transfer gates and on top of that there is also a transfer gate connecting to the western continent of the elves, which lets you skip the Forest of Miasma and the area of the demons, you know? (Az) Whoa, thats amazing. (Renya) Even if it has the limitation of transferring only one person, its a transportation network that lets you even leap to the continent of the elves on top of allowing one to expect an exceptionally raised speed of travelling on the continent of the human race.If I can get my hands on this ticket, even a job, I dont feel like doing, changes into a justifiable job with plenty of return. The time is limited to only a half day of a teaching day. The reward is a permit to use the transfer gate, I told you about just now, and one gold coin, which I will provide from my pocket. Im sorry, but since I have tried to ask so that I will be given a discount, please pay the transfer gates renting fee yourself, Renya. (Az) Its a lavish hospitality. (Renya) Besides Az desire for Renya to definitely accept the request even going as far as raising the rewards this much, it can be said that failure isnt permitted for this case.I fear that its likely that the reason for that is what he evaded to explain, Renya estimated.However, since those are circumstances on Az side, it doesnt have anything to do with Renya for now. How is it? Can you accept? (Az) It doesnt seem to be a bad deal. It looks like I will go by myself for the job itself. Okay, I will take you up on it. (Renya) Once Renya told him his intention to accept, Az showed an expression of relief. Im thankful. With this I will have a weight removed from my mind. Since we have to adjust the schedule on our side, I will contact you later. Is that fine? (Az) Got it. Id like to ask you to arrange for it as quickly as possible since Im currently free. (Renya) Since he accepted it as job, its will be impossible for him to take on other jobs.If it takes too much time to adjust the schedule, Renya will be troubled as it will lengthen the time he cant take other work either. We will adjust it soon. Well then, given that I have to return to the school, please wait for my contact. (Az) Once he got Renyas agreement, Az left such words and returned to the school at full speed. Something like coming to bow his head to master on behalf of others, he seems to be quite the nice person. (Frau) Frau says while clearing up the tea, which Az left unfinished. Undoubtedly I believe that the troubled person is someone important to Az-san. Thats why he went back in such hurry, I guess. (Frau) I see, if thats the case, I can somehow understand why he evaded explaining, too, Renya clapped his knee.Since I will likely meet to face with them at the time Im undertaking the request, I will demand Az to explain it to me thoroughly then, while holding the tea, which more or less ended up becoming cool, Renya expressed a very happy smile. Chapter 42 Chapter 42 C It seems to be the schools arena Kukrikas National Adventurer Training School has been built in a location furthest outside the residential area.As building, which is located within the city, it possesses vast grounds ranking next to the military authorities, which are situated in the central ward. For some reason it is enclosed by a high wall and a deep moat. In order to enter the grounds theres no other way but to pass through the main gate.Being guided by Az, the impressions of Renya, at the time he looked at the school from outside, gave him a vague image of it being like a prison, but once he looked around after entering inside, he got the impression that he had entered a fortress instead.Once he mentioned it to Az, he received the answer that the adventurer school has been built in order to function as fortress with simple military installations in case something happened within the city. Allowing soldiers as students, isnt that the true state of affairs? (Renya) Az turns around with a slightly surprised face towards Renya, who spit out these words in a murmur.Renya wondered whether he had said anything strange, but he somehow understood after listening to Az words. No, thats because its you, Renya. Its just that they will use anyone, if they are usable. (Az) Ah, well, basically thats right, but I wonder why? I also have the common sense that a students duty is to study after all, you know? (Renya) I become uneasy, if you talk about something like common sense, Renya. (Az) I believe to be the one with the most common sense, except in regards to knowledge, in our party though. (Renya) Thats a problem in itself though, Renya grumbled and Frau in maid form, being next to him, raised her voice in a small giggling laughter.At the time of this times job, Renya tentatively asked for Shions and Ronas opinion at the moment he received Az call, but when the two heard of the adventurer training school being the destination, they insisted on not wanting to accompany him on the job.Even when he tried to ask for a reason, they persisted that they dont want to go, without giving a clear answer. Renya ended up wonderingwhat the heck is it with that school, but Rona secretly told him the reason afterwards.In this school, where many noble sons and daughters are attending, its likely that theres someone knowing Shions and Ronas background. Thats the reason for the mutual refusal of both.Once he assesses after being told so, Shion is certainly a daughter of some unknown high-class family and Rona accompanied her as knight. Renya had a feeling that he heard that story quite some time ago. Please dont forget. Its a quite important matter. (Rona) Rona displays an extremely dissatisfied expression due to Renya remembering only after being told.However, Renya readily said the following, Even if I remember it, there is no benefit. (Renya) No matter whether you are nobles or not, we are already comrades of the same party, once Renya said that, Ronas expression changed from a dissatisfied one to a delighted one and then to a quite complicated one. Those are pleasant words, but please remember it properly after all, okay? (Rona) I will do my best. (Renya) The amount of memories, his brain remembers, is fixed. Its not an inexhaustible quantity.Since such a condition has been placed on the brain of people in order to forget trivial knowledge, he cant give a definite promise. Once Renya told her that, Rona smiled bitterly.Given that his two fellow comrades turned him down at this point, Frau, who heard the story, requested to go with him at the time Renya wondered whether he should finally proceed towards the school. Everyone was surprised.They thought that theres no way for Frau, who is a fairy possessing a house, to go out, however according to Frau Its possible to go out to the degree of walking alongside the houses owner, they were informed.If thats the case, it will also be possible to show the townscape to Frau, who has been continuing to always protect the deserted house until now.Renya agreed with an immediate reply to Frau accompanying him and thats how they have reached the current state.Frau, who didnt leave the grounds of that house from the day she came into existence until this day, showed an appearance of great delight looking at the townscape for the first time.Renya and Az, who watched that, naturally smiled, but, leaving aside the people concerned, due to the scene of a little girl in maid outfit with an age of obviously around 10 years being surrounded and lead around by two men being a lot older, they get surrounded from a distance. While only watching them with a tendency of slowly getting attracted without coming close, some people apparently went to report to the office of the citys guard.The reason for Renyas group not getting taken into custody by the guards was because Rona, who somehow expected that to happen, secretly made the necessary preparations in advance. However, that was something that Az and Renya got to know in a distant future.Although Renya resented the peoples quite deplorable way of judging by appearance, he felt that he would have reported it as well, if he had seen the same scene himself. But, that was a secret he cant tell anyone. Its fine for me to lead you around the school, but since there isnt much time this time, we will head directly to the arena. (Az) Its just the time when the class, Az is in charge of, will start its combat ability training.The arena, mentioned by Az, has been built really simple with a structure similar to a dome and its interior consisting of nothing but the waiting rooms, a storage room and the arena, which is the main part.The arena has a circular shape with a diameter of around 25 meters. It is surrounded by eight pillars. Small character-like things have been carved in a tight formation into those pillars. All the pillars have the peculiarity of having magic gems embedded in them in a way that they can be exchanged.Those eight pillars deploy a barrier over the fighting grounds. That barrier has a function of reducing the effect of damage, in case it is one to the degree of killing, so that one wont pass away from it, no matter what kind of combat is done, and afterwards it will eject the injured person outside the barrier.Renya, who was lead to the arena before the lesson began, carefully has examined those pillars on the way. If you got something this convenient, there wont be any deaths, if you use it for wars or such, right? (Renya) Its not such a convenient item. In the first place, what do you think how many years it took to create one of those? (Az) Az, who knocked on the pillar, Renya was looking at, with his fist, stemmed his other hand against his waist and took a single breath through his nose. Only one of those took 10 years to be finished and it has cost 5 platinum coins. (Az) Just one? (Renya) Yea, and there are eight pillars to erect the barrier. In other words, this is a barrier that has consumed 40 platinum coins just to create it. (Az) On top of suffering such costs for just making it, the barriers size is almost close to its limit by covering the arena, Az says.In brief, its a barrier created for the sake of training and exhibitions. It apparently has no practical use in real combat.There isnt such beneficial story in this world, Renya is thinking while touching the pillar. Once the area around the entrance of the arena became noisy, about 20 armed boys and girls entered.Although called armed, they possess swords with blades made for crushing and simple chest protectors and coverings for the back of their hands and wrists, which probably have been made out of steel.Once the entrance of the boys and girls finished, the one entering last was a single woman, who appears to be slightly older than Renya.Atop the linenjouge, this person is carrying the same armament as the students. Having her light brown hair in a drastic shortcut, the colour of her slightly largish pupils is reddish brown.She seemed to be that much of an attractive woman, if she were to laugh energetically, but currently her face is gloomy and clouded. There isnt the slightest speck of cheerfulness in it either. Renya understood the reason for that right away.The woman raises her voice in front of Renyas group, who was slightly apart in order to not disturb the lesson. We will start the lesson! Everyone, please line up in 4 rows for starters! It was quite the loud voice, but theres no one, who reacts to the voice of the woman.Each of them are irresponsibly prowling around the arenas field while chatting. Occasionally they exchanged blows with the training weapons. Watching that, they once again come together to just talk with each other without even looking in the direction of the woman. Everyone! We are still in class! Please follow the instructions of the teacher! Teacher? How ridiculous. An incompetent teacher, who was defeated by a student, has nothing to say. The one standing in front of the woman, who tries to somehow create an atmosphere of doing the class by raising her voice without getting discouraged, is a male student, who had quite the firm body build even looking from Renyas point of view. That female teacher is Liaris(T/N: >> Riarisu > Oran = Shumaiza > Nataria=Fataru > Riarisu > Oran = Shumaiza > Nataria=Fataru <<). She is the eldest daughter of Marquis Fatal. Those two are the students, who defeated Liaris-sensei. (Az) I see? By the way, how old are they? (Renya) Both of them are 15. (Az) Thats a period of being cheeky. (Renya) On top of being nobles, who are snobby, they are at an age, where they try to clash with adults one way or the other.Moreover, as its a fact they managed to win against a teacher as opponent, they likely ended up creating a situation of no restraints being effective, Renya conjectures.Even while Renyas group has this talk, Liaris tries to gather the class of students somehow, however being surrounded by Olan and his followers, who are standing in the way, she finally isnt able to raise her voice anymore. Say, that female teacher Liaris, up until what rank did she proceed in the adventurers guild? (Renya) If I remember correctly I heard that she went up to rank D before becoming a teacher. (Az) I see. Well then, shall I start the job? Frau, wait next to Az, got it? (Renya) Its barely within the range. Thus Id like you to finish quickly. (Frau) Frau, who is moving by possessing the houses owner, apparently cant be too far apart from Renya outside the houses grounds.Once Renya gives a nod with a smile towards Fraus remark, he unsheathes the training sword, he borrowed from Az, with his right hand and brandishes it with all his strength. Oy. The big one over there - (Renya) Renya calls out to Olans group, which is surrounding Liaris, with a not too loud voice.Even so, they heard it more or less? Olan shifted his sight towards Renya, but without confirming that, Renya threw the sword, held aloft, with all his power aiming at Olans group. Thats dangerous~ Haa? The students, who noticed Renyas action, had leeway to avoid it.However, unluckily, a single student, who didnt realize Renyas deed, receives a crushing blow to his temporal region by the training sword, which came flying, as he continues to meddle with Liaris just as before. He collapses soundlessly.Due to the sudden trespassing, no one is able to speak up.Within that silence, Renya, who walked up to Liaris spot without caring at all, picks up his sword, not paying any attention to the fallen student, and lightly greets Liaris, who still isnt able to grasp the situation. Im Renya Kunugi, an F rank in the adventurers guild. Ive heard the story from Az that D-rank-senpai is troubled. I visited to see whether its possible to help out a bit. (Renya) Eh? Az-kun? (Liaris) Due to her unexpectedly calling him Az-kun, Renya turns around his sight trying to see what kind of face As is making, but Az faced away with an incredible momentum.Realizing the redness of his ears, which is at a level that you can even see it from a distance, Renyas face breaks into a smile. Frau, who was on standby next to Az, has for some reason a awfully great smile while doing a thumbs up. Umm, how did you get to know Az-kun? (Liaris) I have received a favour at work from him. I accompanied him at the time he went to the job, which caused him to work at this school. (Renya) Even while answering Liaris question, Renya doesnt avert his sight from Az face.Although he deliberately looks at him repeatedly, Az absolutely wont match his sight with Renyas.Guess I will interrogate him tightly afterwards, eh?was what Renya decided for the time being. Then he released Az from the fetters of his look. Oy, bastard. (Olan) Awaiting that, Renya showed a smile of a different nature to the one he directed at Az due to the voice, that can only be depicted as arrogant.Thats not the smiling face of a light chat with a friend. Its the smile of a hunter, who realized that his prey was caught in the trap. What do you want, big one? (Renya) Once Renya turns around his body their way while shouldering the training sword, Olan, whose expression was filled with anger as he lead his followers, is glaring at Renya.Seeing his state, Renyas smile became even deeper.If Olan had the same level of danger perception ability as Liaris, theres no doubt that he would have immediately left the scene.In fact, Liaris, who sensed some turbulent presence, at once vacated the location while being beckoned by Az.Once Liaris leaves the training field being ushered in by Az and Frau, they took refuge in a place similar to an audience seating, which is located right outside the barrier.Its Renya, Olan and his followers who remained on the training field.And, theres the students, who are watching them from a distance. You are a rude guy. It seems you dont know about etiquette towards a high-class person. (Olan) The followers raise a laughter in order to follow up on Olans words.However, their laughter immediately vanished as it was painted out by an even louder laughter.Of course, the owner of the laughter is Renya. High-class? Dont jest! At least that isnt a word to be used for a brat, who just lost his head over a chance victory. (Renya) You son of a bitch (Olan) The eyes of Olans group start to be filled with a dangerous light.Thats also the same for Natalia and the female students in her surroundings, who were aggravated by hearing Renyas statement. Show me proof if thats not the case. Am I not a far lower rank than the D-ranked adventurer you guys defeated? (Renya) A sound of Az spouting out could be heard in the distance, but Renya is proud of not having told a lie.And, in the state of shouldering the sword, Renya provocatively beckoned the students as he held up the palm of his left hand. Chapter 43 Chapter 43 C It seems to be the start of education Author Notes:Why is that?Although its my impression before I wrote this chapter, I had nothing but a wish for extermination The figure of the student, who fainted and collapsed on the ground having a sword thrown at him in the first attack, has vanished.He was apparently ejected outside by the barriers safeguard.The meaning, this points to, is that the student was given damage at the level of an instant death by Renyas attack.Regardless of how dull the blade of the sword is, it can only be called a natural result, if one is hit into the temporal region with a lump of iron, thrown with all strength, without having prepared for it in any way.From the view of the person, who threw it, he handled it with an attitude of Ah, was he somehow killed in one go?, but it has changed the mood of the students in the surroundings into something dangerous.Since its as if he suddenly appeared and suddenly killed one of them, its something inevitable if you say it cant be helped, however Renya doesnt appear to be worried about that at all. Show me proof, eh? Those arent agreeable words to be said by a lowly adventurer, and moreover one of lower rank. (Olan) Unsheathing his sword, Olan, who has quite the stature for being 15 years old, confronts Renya. With his solidly built body he really has the scent of a warrior, putting emphasis on power, hanging in the air.Even as he opposes Renya, who has a supposed setting of being 18 years for the time being, he isnt inferior at all. Even if you retract your statement and apologize, I wont accept it either, adventurer. (Olan) Although Olan is saying something, his words arent entering Renyas ears.Its likely some pointless prattling anyway, Renya continued to observe his opponent.After secretly looking at his own arms as Olans arms have quite the thickness to them, he smiles wryly comprehending that he is losing out if its only about the amount of muscles.Moreover, once he shifts his sight in Liaris direction for a glance, Liaris herself has a slender and supple figure that you cant call frail either.If we are talking about types, shes likely the light warrior type, putting emphasis on speed.With only those information Renya understands the reason for Liaris losing to Olan. Matching your way of fighting to your opponent, I wonder what meaning that would have, even if you were able to win? (Renya) What was that? (Olan) Ah, I was speaking to myself. Even if you heard it, dont worry about it. (Renya) Flapping his hand looking as if it is troublesome, Renya looks towards the other problem child.Did that problem child hear Renyas voice? As expected she came walking their way up until next to Olan, while taking her followers along, and said, while stemming her hands into her hips, Its inexcusable to call it a chance victory. I also wont overlook this insult, even if you beg by prostrating yourself on the ground, but what are you going to do? (Natalia) The one spitting out those lines while looking down on him from a very elevated place is the blonde ringlet, Natalia.Throwing out her chest lightly, she is looking at Renya with a gaze full of contempt, however Renyas impression is that her impact falls shorteven compared to a cats intimidation.On the occasion, her pushed-out chest is extremely small to the degree of it being saddening.Although Liaris has a smallness typical for her body built too, you at least know thats its properly there.Renya smiled about her having suffered an overwhelming defeat in regards to volume, but Natalia has a puzzled face not understanding the meaning of his smile.Even so, Renya tilts his head to the side.Different from Olan, who stresses on power, Natalia should be the same speed type as Liaris.Saying that she was able to win with that, this person pretty much must have a substantive skill to rival Liaris or something that exceeds that, I guess?The answer of that question was provided by Frau, who is at a separate place. Master, can you hear me? (Frau) Yeah? (Renya) Renya reflexively leaked a voice, but he heard Fraus voice in his head rather than close to his ear. It will be alright, even if you dont use your voice. This is telepathic communication. Frau is in a state of possessing master, thus its possible to converse by minds. (Frau) As expected of a fairy. You are high-spec. (Renya) Its fine for you to praise me more. Going by what Az-san says, the blonde ringlets-san apparently fought a series of battles with Liaris-san after macho-san. Az-san has asked me to tell you this since master is probably wondering about this. (Frau) Is that so? I see, thanks. (Renya) Its no problem. (Frau) Renya thinks that the barrier for the sake of security has a flaw.Its something that will reduce the damage so that one wont die from it, in case one received a fatal wound.Turning that around, you can likewise say that the damage will remain afterwards, if it isnt a fatal wound.Usually they are probably performing treatment with healing magic after the combat training, but if it was a series of battles, it would mean that Liaris fought with Natalia in the state of being just after the battle with Olan.In other words, this means she dragged the damage, she received in the fight with Olan, into her battle with Natalia.Although its damage given by muscle-brained warrior, who doesnt know how to hold back, its not hard to anticipate that the damage likely killed Liaris agility. Ah I see, In the end shes only a considerable idiot, who began a handicapped fight, and a fool, who went easy on her opponent. (Renya) Hitting his hand on his forehead wondering whether he wont be seen as an idiot for being cautious, even if it was just a bit, Renya sighs while shaking his head.Did they regard his behaviour as him making fun of them? Drawing her sword from her waist as well, Natalia glared at Renya while shouting, Scum! If you have no inclination to change your attitude, I shall teach you the social standing of this Natalia Fatal! (Natalia) By all means, I wish for you to teach me. (Renya) Still shouldering the sword, Renya gave an immediate reply without even looking worked up. I already have enough of your introductions and boasting. Hurry up and attack. If we go by your guys theory, you are distinguished albeit not grasping a bit about the means of winning, right? (Renya) While looking as if he has seen something tedious, Renya once again beckoned Olan and Natalia, who are gnawing their teeth with a grinding sound. I wont ask you something shabby as going one on one. Come at me all at once together with your followers. (Renya) You will regret your big talk. (Olan) I shall send you off to the medical treatment facility! (Natalia) As expected of a different world.Its not sending off to the hospital, but its sending off to medical treatment facility since you can receive treatment with magic, Renya, who was rushed by Olan, Natalia and their followers aiming at him while brandishing each of their weapons, admired a weird aspect.Watching more than half of the class beginning to attack all at once, Liaris raised her voice to restrain them, but as Az and Frau immediately have detained her body, they are urging her to wait and watch the situation.The one who delivered the first attack at Renya, who doesnt move from the spot, is the speed type Natalia after all.Renya, who dodged the thrust, she released aiming at his chest while charging, by simply twisting the right half of his body, pushes away Natalias shoulder with his left hand as she is passing him by and thrust her away into his back.Next he evades the slash of Olan, which was swung downwards from a stance of holding the sword above his head, with the left side. Lightly hitting him around the area of the waist with the sword, he had shouldered, he likewise sends him into his back.Only at this point Renya takes a step forward.Going ahead by slipping through the attacks, unleashed by the followers, without even exchanging blows with his sword, Renya quickly made his way through the attacks, reaching a two-digit number, in the blink of an eye and appeared at the place, where several male and female students are casting spells, causing them to stare at him in surprise. Its a common tactic to kill the magicians first. (Renya) The mowing-down blow seizes the waist of a female student and blows her away.Having the returning blade driven onto the top of his shoulders, a male student collapsed as if being slapped onto the ground.After rolling around on the floor to her hearts contents like a barrel, the female student, who was blown away, vanished at the same time her rotations ceased.The knocked-down male student tries to get up while seizing his shoulder, but his face, which sees the shoe sole approaching in front of his eyes, stiffens. Ah???Stop The male student attempted to say something, however Renya steps on him without a single care.Although various pleasant sensations are transmitted from the sole of his foot, he disregards it and continues to tread on the student.He steps on the arms, which tried to somehow protect the body.Stepping on the back which tried to escape, he steps on him even more after kicking the back of his head.He steps on him thoroughly.Finally, after confirming that the figure of male student, who ceased moving, disappeared, Renya turned around relaxedly.Ahead of his line of view there are Olan and Natalia, who are looking at Renya dumbfoundedly, and the followers, who are unable to move, due to the tragedy that unfolded suddenly in front of their eyes. Frau. Leave dealing with Liaris-sensei to Az. Can you please block the way out of the arena? (Renya) Leave it to me ? (Frau) For some reason she returned cheerful thoughts.While thinkingisnt it too early for her to get corrupted?, he casually brushes the sword, which was swung downward alongside a shout somehow similar to a scream, away.Its a female student, who came attacking.Driving his knee into the pit of her stomach as he body is swaying due to having the sword brushed off, he drops his elbow into the back of her head in pursuit of the place, where her body bent while she was throwing up gastric juices. After stepping once more at the spot, where she fell, he plunges the tip of his shoe into her flank with a kick.The vomited gastric juices got blended with something red, but the girls body hasnt vanished.Renya, who laughs as it apparently wasnt lethal enough damage, once again strikes down his heel into the back of her head delivering an accurate blow and the girl disappears. Az-kun!? Isnt that person brimming with the intention to kill from the outset!? (Liaris) No, Liaris-sensei. Its because he knows that they wont die. (Az) He heard something resembling a shriek and a voice soothing that, but he pretends to not hear it and ignores it.With three people getting erased in a flash, the students have ended up backing away.Seeing that, Renya snorted at them indifferently.If its only this much, it has been more effective to fight with the goblins, who came raiding the pioneers village.Grabbing the nape of the neck of a male student, who is only looking at him with frightened eyes, Renya pulls him towards himself.Before he can say anything, he gives him several head-butts to the middle forehead. Given that the students knees gave away once Renya released his hands, once he kicked him into the nether region, the student writhed in pain while foam was coming out off his mouth.Isnt it better for this one to not vanish?Neglecting the student, Renya turns a smile towards Olan and Natalia, who havent tried to move yet. Oy, the two monkey bosses over there! Wont your friends disappear, if you are blankly standing around at such place? (Renya) Renya tried to provoke the two, who wont come slashing at him, however as Natalias face turned pale, her hand, holding the sword, is trembling and she is in no condition to resist at all.Olan set up the sword with both arms as he clicked his tongue once and came assaulting Renya with the sword while raising his fighting spirit with a yell.Renya met the blow, which was a downward swing once again as if that was somehow the only thing Olan learned, with a slash, similar to scooping up from below, while gripping the longsword with only his right hand.The outcome of the sword clash is obvious as to which side will win with it being one-handed against two-handed and scooping up against swinging downward. The referees fan rises for Renya.Olan, who ended up letting go of the sword from his hands, succumbing to the impact, stared at Renya with a grim look. Renya hit Olans forehead with the pommel of the sword he was currently raising overhead. Guaah!? (Olan) Renya pierces a frontal kick into the abdomen of Olan, who is bent backwards and holding his forehead due to the pain.The angry voice of Renya was hurled at Olan, who fell on his backside unable to endure. For a swordsman to drop their sword in the middle of a fight; are you fucking around with me!? Pick it up! Just like a dog! (Renya) Being shouted at, Olan staggeringly stood up and is just like that sent flying by Renyas merciless kick. Do dogs walk on two feet!? Move on all fours! (Renya) Relentlessly kicking Olan, who still tried to get up, he looks over his shoulder and glares at the male student, who approached from behind, while seeing off Olan, who finally headed off to pick up the tossed-away sword saying Hii hii on all fours.The manner of the male student, who ceased moving with only that look, accelerated Renyas rage once again. Its at a level that you were noticed. (Renya) He swings the sword in the act of turning around with a blow, having simply packed plenty of strength into it without any technique. Dont stop, idiot! (Renya) Mowing down his arm and torso all together, the body of that male student was knocked down without him being even able to scream.The next second, the male student rolls around screaming while making sure to hold his broken arm with the other arm.If the torso was directly mowed down, it might have been judged as deadly damage, but because the arm acted as cushion in-between, it seems to have finished with only completely breaking the arm.Slowly returning the hand with the swung sword, Renya surveys his surroundings with a glance.As if being crushed by his gaze, the students lower their eyes to the ground. I-Its still not over! (Natalia) The one raising her voice in that situation is Natalia.Her hands are still trembling, like the followers around her, but she rebukes her surroundings with a loud voice while glaring at Renya. Theres only one opponent! Its not like the chances for our side have already vanished! (Natalia) Its a fact that they are still outnumbering him.Additionally, the matter of Natalia not having lost her fighting spirit somehow holds the broken minds of her followers together.Furthermore, albeit having headed off to recover his weapon in a pathetic state, even Olan hasnt yet fallen into a state of being unable to fight. You still want to go at it, eh? I see~ I see~ (Renya) Looking at the students setting up their swords and beginning to move in order to surround him this time, Renya laughed very happily. Well, its a battlefield, where you can feel at ease due to not dying. Its likely a good thing if you try to accumulate experience, anyhow they probably havent been able to experience something like being on the receiving end yet. (Renya) While thinkingputting aside physical casualties, it will be fine, if no casualties on the emotional side appear, Renya took a step forward looking for his next prey. Chapter 43 C It seems to be the start of education Author Notes:Why is that?Although its my impression before I wrote this chapter, I had nothing but a wish for extermination The figure of the student, who fainted and collapsed on the ground having a sword thrown at him in the first attack, has vanished.He was apparently ejected outside by the barriers safeguard.The meaning, this points to, is that the student was given damage at the level of an instant death by Renyas attack.Regardless of how dull the blade of the sword is, it can only be called a natural result, if one is hit into the temporal region with a lump of iron, thrown with all strength, without having prepared for it in any way.From the view of the person, who threw it, he handled it with an attitude of Ah, was he somehow killed in one go?, but it has changed the mood of the students in the surroundings into something dangerous.Since its as if he suddenly appeared and suddenly killed one of them, its something inevitable if you say it cant be helped, however Renya doesnt appear to be worried about that at all. Show me proof, eh? Those arent agreeable words to be said by a lowly adventurer, and moreover one of lower rank. (Olan) Unsheathing his sword, Olan, who has quite the stature for being 15 years old, confronts Renya. With his solidly built body he really has the scent of a warrior, putting emphasis on power, hanging in the air.Even as he opposes Renya, who has a supposed setting of being 18 years for the time being, he isnt inferior at all. Even if you retract your statement and apologize, I wont accept it either, adventurer. (Olan) Although Olan is saying something, his words arent entering Renyas ears.Its likely some pointless prattling anyway, Renya continued to observe his opponent.After secretly looking at his own arms as Olans arms have quite the thickness to them, he smiles wryly comprehending that he is losing out if its only about the amount of muscles.Moreover, once he shifts his sight in Liaris direction for a glance, Liaris herself has a slender and supple figure that you cant call frail either.If we are talking about types, shes likely the light warrior type, putting emphasis on speed.With only those information Renya understands the reason for Liaris losing to Olan. Matching your way of fighting to your opponent, I wonder what meaning that would have, even if you were able to win? (Renya) What was that? (Olan) Ah, I was speaking to myself. Even if you heard it, dont worry about it. (Renya) Flapping his hand looking as if it is troublesome, Renya looks towards the other problem child.Did that problem child hear Renyas voice? As expected she came walking their way up until next to Olan, while taking her followers along, and said, while stemming her hands into her hips, Its inexcusable to call it a chance victory. I also wont overlook this insult, even if you beg by prostrating yourself on the ground, but what are you going to do? (Natalia) The one spitting out those lines while looking down on him from a very elevated place is the blonde ringlet, Natalia.Throwing out her chest lightly, she is looking at Renya with a gaze full of contempt, however Renyas impression is that her impact falls shorteven compared to a cats intimidation.On the occasion, her pushed-out chest is extremely small to the degree of it being saddening.Although Liaris has a smallness typical for her body built too, you at least know thats its properly there.Renya smiled about her having suffered an overwhelming defeat in regards to volume, but Natalia has a puzzled face not understanding the meaning of his smile.Even so, Renya tilts his head to the side.Different from Olan, who stresses on power, Natalia should be the same speed type as Liaris.Saying that she was able to win with that, this person pretty much must have a substantive skill to rival Liaris or something that exceeds that, I guess?The answer of that question was provided by Frau, who is at a separate place. Master, can you hear me? (Frau) Yeah? (Renya) Renya reflexively leaked a voice, but he heard Fraus voice in his head rather than close to his ear. It will be alright, even if you dont use your voice. This is telepathic communication. Frau is in a state of possessing master, thus its possible to converse by minds. (Frau) As expected of a fairy. You are high-spec. (Renya) Its fine for you to praise me more. Going by what Az-san says, the blonde ringlets-san apparently fought a series of battles with Liaris-san after macho-san. Az-san has asked me to tell you this since master is probably wondering about this. (Frau) Is that so? I see, thanks. (Renya) Its no problem. (Frau) Renya thinks that the barrier for the sake of security has a flaw.Its something that will reduce the damage so that one wont die from it, in case one received a fatal wound.Turning that around, you can likewise say that the damage will remain afterwards, if it isnt a fatal wound.Usually they are probably performing treatment with healing magic after the combat training, but if it was a series of battles, it would mean that Liaris fought with Natalia in the state of being just after the battle with Olan.In other words, this means she dragged the damage, she received in the fight with Olan, into her battle with Natalia.Although its damage given by muscle-brained warrior, who doesnt know how to hold back, its not hard to anticipate that the damage likely killed Liaris agility. Ah I see, In the end shes only a considerable idiot, who began a handicapped fight, and a fool, who went easy on her opponent. (Renya) Hitting his hand on his forehead wondering whether he wont be seen as an idiot for being cautious, even if it was just a bit, Renya sighs while shaking his head.Did they regard his behaviour as him making fun of them? Drawing her sword from her waist as well, Natalia glared at Renya while shouting, Scum! If you have no inclination to change your attitude, I shall teach you the social standing of this Natalia Fatal! (Natalia) By all means, I wish for you to teach me. (Renya) Still shouldering the sword, Renya gave an immediate reply without even looking worked up. I already have enough of your introductions and boasting. Hurry up and attack. If we go by your guys theory, you are distinguished albeit not grasping a bit about the means of winning, right? (Renya) While looking as if he has seen something tedious, Renya once again beckoned Olan and Natalia, who are gnawing their teeth with a grinding sound. I wont ask you something shabby as going one on one. Come at me all at once together with your followers. (Renya) You will regret your big talk. (Olan) I shall send you off to the medical treatment facility! (Natalia) As expected of a different world.Its not sending off to the hospital, but its sending off to medical treatment facility since you can receive treatment with magic, Renya, who was rushed by Olan, Natalia and their followers aiming at him while brandishing each of their weapons, admired a weird aspect.Watching more than half of the class beginning to attack all at once, Liaris raised her voice to restrain them, but as Az and Frau immediately have detained her body, they are urging her to wait and watch the situation.The one who delivered the first attack at Renya, who doesnt move from the spot, is the speed type Natalia after all.Renya, who dodged the thrust, she released aiming at his chest while charging, by simply twisting the right half of his body, pushes away Natalias shoulder with his left hand as she is passing him by and thrust her away into his back.Next he evades the slash of Olan, which was swung downwards from a stance of holding the sword above his head, with the left side. Lightly hitting him around the area of the waist with the sword, he had shouldered, he likewise sends him into his back.Only at this point Renya takes a step forward.Going ahead by slipping through the attacks, unleashed by the followers, without even exchanging blows with his sword, Renya quickly made his way through the attacks, reaching a two-digit number, in the blink of an eye and appeared at the place, where several male and female students are casting spells, causing them to stare at him in surprise. Its a common tactic to kill the magicians first. (Renya) The mowing-down blow seizes the waist of a female student and blows her away.Having the returning blade driven onto the top of his shoulders, a male student collapsed as if being slapped onto the ground.After rolling around on the floor to her hearts contents like a barrel, the female student, who was blown away, vanished at the same time her rotations ceased.The knocked-down male student tries to get up while seizing his shoulder, but his face, which sees the shoe sole approaching in front of his eyes, stiffens. Ah???Stop The male student attempted to say something, however Renya steps on him without a single care.Although various pleasant sensations are transmitted from the sole of his foot, he disregards it and continues to tread on the student.He steps on the arms, which tried to somehow protect the body.Stepping on the back which tried to escape, he steps on him even more after kicking the back of his head.He steps on him thoroughly.Finally, after confirming that the figure of male student, who ceased moving, disappeared, Renya turned around relaxedly.Ahead of his line of view there are Olan and Natalia, who are looking at Renya dumbfoundedly, and the followers, who are unable to move, due to the tragedy that unfolded suddenly in front of their eyes. Frau. Leave dealing with Liaris-sensei to Az. Can you please block the way out of the arena? (Renya) Leave it to me ? (Frau) For some reason she returned cheerful thoughts.While thinkingisnt it too early for her to get corrupted?, he casually brushes the sword, which was swung downward alongside a shout somehow similar to a scream, away.Its a female student, who came attacking.Driving his knee into the pit of her stomach as he body is swaying due to having the sword brushed off, he drops his elbow into the back of her head in pursuit of the place, where her body bent while she was throwing up gastric juices. After stepping once more at the spot, where she fell, he plunges the tip of his shoe into her flank with a kick.The vomited gastric juices got blended with something red, but the girls body hasnt vanished.Renya, who laughs as it apparently wasnt lethal enough damage, once again strikes down his heel into the back of her head delivering an accurate blow and the girl disappears. Az-kun!? Isnt that person brimming with the intention to kill from the outset!? (Liaris) No, Liaris-sensei. Its because he knows that they wont die. (Az) He heard something resembling a shriek and a voice soothing that, but he pretends to not hear it and ignores it.With three people getting erased in a flash, the students have ended up backing away.Seeing that, Renya snorted at them indifferently.If its only this much, it has been more effective to fight with the goblins, who came raiding the pioneers village.Grabbing the nape of the neck of a male student, who is only looking at him with frightened eyes, Renya pulls him towards himself.Before he can say anything, he gives him several head-butts to the middle forehead. Given that the students knees gave away once Renya released his hands, once he kicked him into the nether region, the student writhed in pain while foam was coming out off his mouth.Isnt it better for this one to not vanish?Neglecting the student, Renya turns a smile towards Olan and Natalia, who havent tried to move yet. Oy, the two monkey bosses over there! Wont your friends disappear, if you are blankly standing around at such place? (Renya) Renya tried to provoke the two, who wont come slashing at him, however as Natalias face turned pale, her hand, holding the sword, is trembling and she is in no condition to resist at all.Olan set up the sword with both arms as he clicked his tongue once and came assaulting Renya with the sword while raising his fighting spirit with a yell.Renya met the blow, which was a downward swing once again as if that was somehow the only thing Olan learned, with a slash, similar to scooping up from below, while gripping the longsword with only his right hand.The outcome of the sword clash is obvious as to which side will win with it being one-handed against two-handed and scooping up against swinging downward. The referees fan rises for Renya.Olan, who ended up letting go of the sword from his hands, succumbing to the impact, stared at Renya with a grim look. Renya hit Olans forehead with the pommel of the sword he was currently raising overhead. Guaah!? (Olan) Renya pierces a frontal kick into the abdomen of Olan, who is bent backwards and holding his forehead due to the pain.The angry voice of Renya was hurled at Olan, who fell on his backside unable to endure. For a swordsman to drop their sword in the middle of a fight; are you fucking around with me!? Pick it up! Just like a dog! (Renya) Being shouted at, Olan staggeringly stood up and is just like that sent flying by Renyas merciless kick. Do dogs walk on two feet!? Move on all fours! (Renya) Relentlessly kicking Olan, who still tried to get up, he looks over his shoulder and glares at the male student, who approached from behind, while seeing off Olan, who finally headed off to pick up the tossed-away sword saying Hii hii on all fours.The manner of the male student, who ceased moving with only that look, accelerated Renyas rage once again. Its at a level that you were noticed. (Renya) He swings the sword in the act of turning around with a blow, having simply packed plenty of strength into it without any technique. Dont stop, idiot! (Renya) Mowing down his arm and torso all together, the body of that male student was knocked down without him being even able to scream.The next second, the male student rolls around screaming while making sure to hold his broken arm with the other arm.If the torso was directly mowed down, it might have been judged as deadly damage, but because the arm acted as cushion in-between, it seems to have finished with only completely breaking the arm.Slowly returning the hand with the swung sword, Renya surveys his surroundings with a glance.As if being crushed by his gaze, the students lower their eyes to the ground. I-Its still not over! (Natalia) The one raising her voice in that situation is Natalia.Her hands are still trembling, like the followers around her, but she rebukes her surroundings with a loud voice while glaring at Renya. Theres only one opponent! Its not like the chances for our side have already vanished! (Natalia) Its a fact that they are still outnumbering him.Additionally, the matter of Natalia not having lost her fighting spirit somehow holds the broken minds of her followers together.Furthermore, albeit having headed off to recover his weapon in a pathetic state, even Olan hasnt yet fallen into a state of being unable to fight. You still want to go at it, eh? I see~ I see~ (Renya) Looking at the students setting up their swords and beginning to move in order to surround him this time, Renya laughed very happily. Well, its a battlefield, where you can feel at ease due to not dying. Its likely a good thing if you try to accumulate experience, anyhow they probably havent been able to experience something like being on the receiving end yet. (Renya) While thinkingputting aside physical casualties, it will be fine, if no casualties on the emotional side appear, Renya took a step forward looking for his next prey. Chapter 44 Chapter 44 C It seems to be the end of education While closing the distance by walking slowly, Renya was truly puzzled over one matter.The truth is that the students are persistently continuing to resist longer than he expected.He operated under the estimation that their hearts would break and that they would stop opposing him once he instantly killed 2-3 students, as planned at first, but even when he displayed a degree of violence making them draw back, the students endured it, albeit just barely.Given that I dont want to produce a pile of corpses, I have also pretty much been partially holding back, however theres no doubt that a major part of the reason, for them to preserve their morale, can be likely accounted to the leader-like existences, Olan and Natalia, being still in good health, Renya realized that he made a mistake in his targeting.I should have crushed either of them at the beginning, he slightly regrets.The remaining number of students is eight boys and girls in total.Breaking it down, there are three boys and five girls, but of these eight, the three boys and one girl have Renya surrounded.Each of the remaining girls started to chant some kind of spell. Cover him from all four directions! Theres no need to take him down! All you have to do is to lock down his movements! The rear guard prepares the magic while the vanguard stalls for time.Scrapping off the stamina of the target with magic, that is hard to evade, they will bring me down with the vanguard once my movements become dull.Its an orthodox group combat strategy.Even if there was quite a difference in skill, it would take considerable time to defeat swordsmen, who were completely devoted to protection.If they mix in feints while cooperating with each other from the four cardinal directions, the degree of difficulty will raise even more. It was you, who approved of group combat. We will use that without reservations. (Olan) Olan says while smiling as he saw Renya being at a loss how to continue making him unable to make a move, however Renyas thoughts were actually somewhere else.If I plan to go for it, its possible to beat Olan in front of me and silence the schoolgirls in the back.However, what would one say about mercilessly slaughtering the students, who have somehow thought up a strategy and are trying to do something about the enemy in front of them, he ended up pondering.If hes in a battle, such way of thinking wont occur to begin with.Its the common sense of combat to cut down and crush your enemies when its possible to do so.However, as for Renya, he couldnt deny that hes feeling somewhat bored either.They probably got cocky from defeating a teacher, but actually they have no suitable ability to keep up the bluff either.It was a factor that I havent taken the possibility of Olans group being proper soldiers into account, but with the other side being students, they are unworthy opponents even if I acknowledge to some extent, going by Renyas opinion. Notwithstanding that, Renya has been tossed into a situation, he cant weather through. Vanguards, step aside! Fire the spells! (Natalia) Natalias commands resound.At the same time as those, serving as vanguards, retreat from in front of Renya, three spells were released.Those will probably cause quite the injury, if they hit, Renya takes a step towards one among those approaching and strikes it with the sword.At the moment the sword clashed with the fire ball, flames spread in front of Renya.Due to the different reaction from the time when he cut it with his own katana, Renyas response is delayed, albeit it was only slightly.Although he avoided a direct hit from the the following fire balls, which came flying, the fire ball, which skimmed Renya, has burnt his left shoulder lightly.Having his reaction slowed down at the time he feels the pain, Olan closes in on Renya using that gap.The blow, which had brute strength packed into it alongside the velocity of stepping in, was mowed down aiming at Renyas left torso.At once Renya switches to a backhand grip with his left from grasping the sword with his right hand and holds the wide middle part of the blade against his own torso.It was in time as defence against the blow exercised at that spot, however with the impact being transmitted to his body as is, Renya grimaces a bit.Originally the power, which was set free, has been enough to make one fly into the impacts direction, but Renya pushes back Olans sword by stepping forward with his body.Even if its somewhat forcefully, not changing the flow will gradually make the situation worse and worse and I will be whittled down by the number of attacks, Renya judged, however this resulted in an unexpected outcome. Follow up on the magic! Shoot without minding Olan! (Natalia) Oy! You bitch!? (Olan) If they attack Renya, whos close to Olan, with magic, Olan might get hit.Thats why they are probably hesitating to use magic, Renya thought, but Natalias order to shoot it, including Olan in the attack, was something heartless.As for the decision, I cant say its wrong.If they hit Renya, even if Olan takes the brunt as well, Renyas fighting strength will decrease even further.On top of there still being three vanguards alive, the rearguard is completely unhurt. Thus it should trigger a remarkable chance of success.Though, thats only if the shooting side and the shot side promptly follow according to the order.Unintentionally the four vanguards ended up looking in Natalias direction.Thats because they realized the possibility of them being chosen alongside Olan as targets of the spells together with Renya, if necessary.The three rearguards ended up hesitating.They dont know the result from attacking Olan, who is the legitimate child of General Schmeizers family, or of the act of attacking their allies, but theres no doubt that they simply ended up being late with the timing of releasing the prepared spells either way.And, Natalia was surprised by the kind of looks, similar to being condemned by all her friends, concentrating onto her.Finally Renya noticed it.In the current situation the gazes of everyone had stopped being cautious towards him.The act of taking ones eyes off the opponent during combat, even if only for a moment, is directly connected to instant death, but currently thats inevitable, even if you try to blame them.Releasing a single, small sigh, Renya presses his right hand against Olans body and pushes it in order to thrust him away.Renya, who got away by the recoil from Olan, whose stance fell part, rushes towards one of the boys while the eyes of everyone returns to follow Renya at last. He grabs the studnents belt with his right hand and lifts him up with all his strength.Renya rotated him around two times by using the essentials of hammer throwing and flung him at the girls of the rear guard making full use of the centrifugal force.The one flying screams and the ones, he is aimed at, scream as well.Renya is utterly amazed by the vanguards, who have faithfully turned their sights in that direction once again for some reason.Maybe they dont understand the meaning of being in battle, I wonder?If this were students, who had properly taken their lessons, one would conclude that the method of teaching is bad and it would be a point to lecture the teacher about, however Liaris, who was made fun of by the students, wasnt in a situation to hold a proper lesson.Seizing another male student, Renya lips warp as he says A narrow escape from death while throwing the boy at the rear guard in the same manner. A-Az-kun!? Just now some terrible chill travelled down my back!? (Liaris) Please calm down, Liaris-sensei. Surely thats just some hallucination. (Az) They should have accepted her teaching, even if only for the danger perception skill, Renya smiled even more as he heard the exchange audible in the bleachers.The remaining vanguards are only Olan and a single girl.The girls in the rear guard, having been flattened by the two boys, who came flying, are in the middle of trying to get out from below the boys bodies. They are in a situation of being completely unable to support with magic. Has noble-sama become tired gradually? I admire you for barking Oh, how dare you with you being unable to defeat a single F-rank adventurer. (Renya) B-Bastard. You wont simply be sorry for doing such thing (Olan) Did you decide to wield your social position? You became too retarded to even serve as opponent. (Renya) Guuh, this! (Olan) To begin with, can you look down on the D-rank Liaris-sensei, if you arent even able to defeat the F-ranked me? So you lot understand the reason for her being rank D and me being rank F? In spite not even grasping such fact, it clung to your mind to only care about having defeated her once? One cannot help but think that its a joke. (Renya) Dont talk rubbish! (Olan) Did he succumb into fury?Olan assaulted with the sword while raising a roar, but in Renyas eyes each of his attacks was far too monotone.The blows, which are unleashed by one blessed with power and physique, might become a threat, if I try to block them, but without the intention to go along with that, theres no great difference to a gigantic electric fan revolving around, if you have the skill to simple dodge the attacks.As Renya had even lost the motivation to expressly wait for a downward-swing, he severely hit Olans wrist with a blow from his sword while stepping in,Olan once again drops the sword due to the pain.With even the mood of warning him already gone, Renya lightly kicks Olans nether region.Renya deliberately raised his sword overhead slowly, as if showing off, at the place Olan slouched down and groaned. W-Wait! Please wait! (Olan) My ears dont properly listen to one pleading for their life. (Renya) The downwards blow crushes Olans shoulder, but Renya has absolutely no intention to finish it with that blow.Without any moderation and mercy Renya unleashes a barrage of continuous sword strikes at the place, where Olan squatted down while holding his shoulder.As long as the barrier doesnt judge it as lethal level of damage, the victim wont be ejected outside the barrier.And, no matter how dull the blade might be, if its used for showering the target with blows at full power, the skin will tear and blood will scatter about.Basking in the spurts of blood, Renya doesnt stop doing it while unconsciously raising a giggling laughter.The faces of the students being at that place became ghastly pale due to that abnormal spectacle. Not a single of them was able to move.After a while only the sound of steel hitting flesh and bones reverberates in the arena. Eventually the sound ceases once Olans figure disappeared at last.The schoolgirl, who remained by herself as vanguard, ends up sitting down on the floor, as if her knees gave away, with Renya, who was dyed red and had his longsword lowered loosely, only looking her way with a face soaked in blood. Hel p Separating her hand from the sword, the girl appeals while putting both hands together in front of her chest as if praying.Without answering, Renya slowly approached her. Please I will do anything Since Im apologizing, please Theres no reply from Renya.Renya halts once he walked up in front of the girl and leisurely brandishes his sword all the same. Please dont want such such a The blood-red-coloured blade comes to a stop all of a sudden.Renya looked down on the girl and said in a voice lacking any emotion, Die. (Renya) Nooooooooooooooo! The blade is brought down as if to sever the girls screaming.As it passed by the girl, who had sunk down to the floor, it crashed into the ground and caused a high-pitched sound.The girl looks at the blade, which hit the ground in front of her, as if looking at something unbelievable. As soon as she lifted her sight towards Renyas face, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed backwards.Renya averts his eyes from the stain gradually spreading between her legs and turns around to the girls of the rearguard, who at this point in time finally slipped out from below the male students body. Four people left, huh? I wonder, how should I punish you? (Renya) Hii Unable to even meet Renyas gaze, Natalia and the three female students turn around and start running towards the exit of the arena.Since Renyas conduct at least follows by him knowing that they wont die as long as they are within the barrier, they jumped onto the idea that they will be saved if they simply escape outside, but naturally theres no way that the exits door is open.It was something unbeknownst to the people being inside, however Frau set up a barricade outside with all her might so that the door wont open. Open up! Open this door! Let us out of here! No! I dont want to such stare on me! Sensei~! Sensei! Please save us, sensei! Dragging the swords point along the ground on purpose, Renya walks leisurely while causing a scratching sound.The sound and his action agitates the dread of the students even more and they continue to strike the door with their hands at full power. I dont believe its something this scary though? (Renya) Renyas voice is somehow strangely happy and annoyed. Even if you dont worry, you wont die in this barrier, right? It might be more agonizing than dying and as painful as death, but (Renya) Renya brandishes the sword in a big way for flaunting while smiling brightly. Oh well, since you wont die, it doesnt matter, I guess? (Renya) Please wait! (Liaris) The one stopping Renyas behaviour is Liaris voice from the stands. Its already enough. Please stop doing any more. Please (Liaris) You arent my client though (Renya) Renya looks at Az, who is standing besides Liaris, and tilts his head to the side. What shall I do? (Renya) Its enough. Those guys probably have learned their lesson as well. (Az) Is that so? Because my employer has said so, I will end it with this. (Renya) In front of the female students, including Natalia, whose complexion has gone way past blue and became white, Reyna says with a serious look after casually tossing away the used longsword, The next time you pick a fight with me, I will make you suffer so that you realize that today was just childs play. (Renya) The students tried to cling to the exits door, but they vehemently nod, at a level close to dislocating their necks, at Renyas words.Was it too much of a threat?Renya wondered, however in front of his eyes the students, hanging onto the door, were blown off together with the door alongside a thunderous explosion.In addition to the students, some wreckage from above the dome and the remains of the door, are sent flying depicting a parabola. While hearing the sound of those crushing onto the ground from behind, ahead of Renyas look, blankly staring at the exit which ended up having lost its door, Frau is raising both hands with a smile all over her face for some reason. Master! Good work! (Frau) Frau was that you just now? (Renya) Since it was troublesome to remove the barricade, I tried to blow it all away including the barricade! That did the job quickly! (Frau) Eh, ah, yea? Well, I guess so? (Renya) Looking back, he cant see the figures of Natalias group, which was buried below the remains of the barricade and door.They shouldnt have died, as they probably were in range of the barriers effect, but sure enough I wonder, which was less objectionable, the current state or being beat up by me?Renya was troubled within his mind.However, given that it has turned out this way, it cant be helped now. Lets go home, Frau? (Renya) Yes, master! You must also change your dirty clothes. (Frau) Oy, Renya. What will you do about the broken door? (Az) Make it the doctors fee for those students. You will charge them greatly anyway, right? I leave the clean up to you. (Renya) Az-kun, we have to talk a bit about this times affair (Liaris) The face of Az, whose robe was seized by Liaris, had a slight cramp.Renya didnt know whether Liaris talk would be a talk of gratitude or a scolding for overdoing it, however this was nothing Renya should participate in. Do your best, Az~ (Renya) Renya be prepared as I have to talk with you afterwards. (Az) I will listen, if I feel like it. You are able to properly pay the requests fee? If not, I will rampage again. (Renya) Master~, lets go! (Frau) The interest of Renya, who saw off Az getting dragged off by Liaris and whose sleeve was pulled by Frau, changed its focus on whether he has to return to the house by walking in this state of being sullied with blood. Chapter 44 C It seems to be the end of education While closing the distance by walking slowly, Renya was truly puzzled over one matter.The truth is that the students are persistently continuing to resist longer than he expected.He operated under the estimation that their hearts would break and that they would stop opposing him once he instantly killed 2-3 students, as planned at first, but even when he displayed a degree of violence making them draw back, the students endured it, albeit just barely.Given that I dont want to produce a pile of corpses, I have also pretty much been partially holding back, however theres no doubt that a major part of the reason, for them to preserve their morale, can be likely accounted to the leader-like existences, Olan and Natalia, being still in good health, Renya realized that he made a mistake in his targeting.I should have crushed either of them at the beginning, he slightly regrets.The remaining number of students is eight boys and girls in total.Breaking it down, there are three boys and five girls, but of these eight, the three boys and one girl have Renya surrounded.Each of the remaining girls started to chant some kind of spell. Cover him from all four directions! Theres no need to take him down! All you have to do is to lock down his movements! The rear guard prepares the magic while the vanguard stalls for time.Scrapping off the stamina of the target with magic, that is hard to evade, they will bring me down with the vanguard once my movements become dull.Its an orthodox group combat strategy.Even if there was quite a difference in skill, it would take considerable time to defeat swordsmen, who were completely devoted to protection.If they mix in feints while cooperating with each other from the four cardinal directions, the degree of difficulty will raise even more. It was you, who approved of group combat. We will use that without reservations. (Olan) Olan says while smiling as he saw Renya being at a loss how to continue making him unable to make a move, however Renyas thoughts were actually somewhere else.If I plan to go for it, its possible to beat Olan in front of me and silence the schoolgirls in the back.However, what would one say about mercilessly slaughtering the students, who have somehow thought up a strategy and are trying to do something about the enemy in front of them, he ended up pondering.If hes in a battle, such way of thinking wont occur to begin with.Its the common sense of combat to cut down and crush your enemies when its possible to do so.However, as for Renya, he couldnt deny that hes feeling somewhat bored either.They probably got cocky from defeating a teacher, but actually they have no suitable ability to keep up the bluff either.It was a factor that I havent taken the possibility of Olans group being proper soldiers into account, but with the other side being students, they are unworthy opponents even if I acknowledge to some extent, going by Renyas opinion. Notwithstanding that, Renya has been tossed into a situation, he cant weather through. Vanguards, step aside! Fire the spells! (Natalia) Natalias commands resound.At the same time as those, serving as vanguards, retreat from in front of Renya, three spells were released.Those will probably cause quite the injury, if they hit, Renya takes a step towards one among those approaching and strikes it with the sword.At the moment the sword clashed with the fire ball, flames spread in front of Renya.Due to the different reaction from the time when he cut it with his own katana, Renyas response is delayed, albeit it was only slightly.Although he avoided a direct hit from the the following fire balls, which came flying, the fire ball, which skimmed Renya, has burnt his left shoulder lightly.Having his reaction slowed down at the time he feels the pain, Olan closes in on Renya using that gap.The blow, which had brute strength packed into it alongside the velocity of stepping in, was mowed down aiming at Renyas left torso.At once Renya switches to a backhand grip with his left from grasping the sword with his right hand and holds the wide middle part of the blade against his own torso.It was in time as defence against the blow exercised at that spot, however with the impact being transmitted to his body as is, Renya grimaces a bit.Originally the power, which was set free, has been enough to make one fly into the impacts direction, but Renya pushes back Olans sword by stepping forward with his body.Even if its somewhat forcefully, not changing the flow will gradually make the situation worse and worse and I will be whittled down by the number of attacks, Renya judged, however this resulted in an unexpected outcome. Follow up on the magic! Shoot without minding Olan! (Natalia) Oy! You bitch!? (Olan) If they attack Renya, whos close to Olan, with magic, Olan might get hit.Thats why they are probably hesitating to use magic, Renya thought, but Natalias order to shoot it, including Olan in the attack, was something heartless.As for the decision, I cant say its wrong.If they hit Renya, even if Olan takes the brunt as well, Renyas fighting strength will decrease even further.On top of there still being three vanguards alive, the rearguard is completely unhurt. Thus it should trigger a remarkable chance of success.Though, thats only if the shooting side and the shot side promptly follow according to the order.Unintentionally the four vanguards ended up looking in Natalias direction.Thats because they realized the possibility of them being chosen alongside Olan as targets of the spells together with Renya, if necessary.The three rearguards ended up hesitating.They dont know the result from attacking Olan, who is the legitimate child of General Schmeizers family, or of the act of attacking their allies, but theres no doubt that they simply ended up being late with the timing of releasing the prepared spells either way.And, Natalia was surprised by the kind of looks, similar to being condemned by all her friends, concentrating onto her.Finally Renya noticed it.In the current situation the gazes of everyone had stopped being cautious towards him.The act of taking ones eyes off the opponent during combat, even if only for a moment, is directly connected to instant death, but currently thats inevitable, even if you try to blame them.Releasing a single, small sigh, Renya presses his right hand against Olans body and pushes it in order to thrust him away.Renya, who got away by the recoil from Olan, whose stance fell part, rushes towards one of the boys while the eyes of everyone returns to follow Renya at last. He grabs the studnents belt with his right hand and lifts him up with all his strength.Renya rotated him around two times by using the essentials of hammer throwing and flung him at the girls of the rear guard making full use of the centrifugal force.The one flying screams and the ones, he is aimed at, scream as well.Renya is utterly amazed by the vanguards, who have faithfully turned their sights in that direction once again for some reason.Maybe they dont understand the meaning of being in battle, I wonder?If this were students, who had properly taken their lessons, one would conclude that the method of teaching is bad and it would be a point to lecture the teacher about, however Liaris, who was made fun of by the students, wasnt in a situation to hold a proper lesson.Seizing another male student, Renya lips warp as he says A narrow escape from death while throwing the boy at the rear guard in the same manner. A-Az-kun!? Just now some terrible chill travelled down my back!? (Liaris) Please calm down, Liaris-sensei. Surely thats just some hallucination. (Az) They should have accepted her teaching, even if only for the danger perception skill, Renya smiled even more as he heard the exchange audible in the bleachers.The remaining vanguards are only Olan and a single girl.The girls in the rear guard, having been flattened by the two boys, who came flying, are in the middle of trying to get out from below the boys bodies. They are in a situation of being completely unable to support with magic. Has noble-sama become tired gradually? I admire you for barking Oh, how dare you with you being unable to defeat a single F-rank adventurer. (Renya) B-Bastard. You wont simply be sorry for doing such thing (Olan) Did you decide to wield your social position? You became too retarded to even serve as opponent. (Renya) Guuh, this! (Olan) To begin with, can you look down on the D-rank Liaris-sensei, if you arent even able to defeat the F-ranked me? So you lot understand the reason for her being rank D and me being rank F? In spite not even grasping such fact, it clung to your mind to only care about having defeated her once? One cannot help but think that its a joke. (Renya) Dont talk rubbish! (Olan) Did he succumb into fury?Olan assaulted with the sword while raising a roar, but in Renyas eyes each of his attacks was far too monotone.The blows, which are unleashed by one blessed with power and physique, might become a threat, if I try to block them, but without the intention to go along with that, theres no great difference to a gigantic electric fan revolving around, if you have the skill to simple dodge the attacks.As Renya had even lost the motivation to expressly wait for a downward-swing, he severely hit Olans wrist with a blow from his sword while stepping in,Olan once again drops the sword due to the pain.With even the mood of warning him already gone, Renya lightly kicks Olans nether region.Renya deliberately raised his sword overhead slowly, as if showing off, at the place Olan slouched down and groaned. W-Wait! Please wait! (Olan) My ears dont properly listen to one pleading for their life. (Renya) The downwards blow crushes Olans shoulder, but Renya has absolutely no intention to finish it with that blow.Without any moderation and mercy Renya unleashes a barrage of continuous sword strikes at the place, where Olan squatted down while holding his shoulder.As long as the barrier doesnt judge it as lethal level of damage, the victim wont be ejected outside the barrier.And, no matter how dull the blade might be, if its used for showering the target with blows at full power, the skin will tear and blood will scatter about.Basking in the spurts of blood, Renya doesnt stop doing it while unconsciously raising a giggling laughter.The faces of the students being at that place became ghastly pale due to that abnormal spectacle. Not a single of them was able to move.After a while only the sound of steel hitting flesh and bones reverberates in the arena. Eventually the sound ceases once Olans figure disappeared at last.The schoolgirl, who remained by herself as vanguard, ends up sitting down on the floor, as if her knees gave away, with Renya, who was dyed red and had his longsword lowered loosely, only looking her way with a face soaked in blood. Hel p Separating her hand from the sword, the girl appeals while putting both hands together in front of her chest as if praying.Without answering, Renya slowly approached her. Please I will do anything Since Im apologizing, please Theres no reply from Renya.Renya halts once he walked up in front of the girl and leisurely brandishes his sword all the same. Please dont want such such a The blood-red-coloured blade comes to a stop all of a sudden.Renya looked down on the girl and said in a voice lacking any emotion, Die. (Renya) Nooooooooooooooo! The blade is brought down as if to sever the girls screaming.As it passed by the girl, who had sunk down to the floor, it crashed into the ground and caused a high-pitched sound.The girl looks at the blade, which hit the ground in front of her, as if looking at something unbelievable. As soon as she lifted her sight towards Renyas face, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed backwards.Renya averts his eyes from the stain gradually spreading between her legs and turns around to the girls of the rearguard, who at this point in time finally slipped out from below the male students body. Four people left, huh? I wonder, how should I punish you? (Renya) Hii Unable to even meet Renyas gaze, Natalia and the three female students turn around and start running towards the exit of the arena.Since Renyas conduct at least follows by him knowing that they wont die as long as they are within the barrier, they jumped onto the idea that they will be saved if they simply escape outside, but naturally theres no way that the exits door is open.It was something unbeknownst to the people being inside, however Frau set up a barricade outside with all her might so that the door wont open. Open up! Open this door! Let us out of here! No! I dont want to such stare on me! Sensei~! Sensei! Please save us, sensei! Dragging the swords point along the ground on purpose, Renya walks leisurely while causing a scratching sound.The sound and his action agitates the dread of the students even more and they continue to strike the door with their hands at full power. I dont believe its something this scary though? (Renya) Renyas voice is somehow strangely happy and annoyed. Even if you dont worry, you wont die in this barrier, right? It might be more agonizing than dying and as painful as death, but (Renya) Renya brandishes the sword in a big way for flaunting while smiling brightly. Oh well, since you wont die, it doesnt matter, I guess? (Renya) Please wait! (Liaris) The one stopping Renyas behaviour is Liaris voice from the stands. Its already enough. Please stop doing any more. Please (Liaris) You arent my client though (Renya) Renya looks at Az, who is standing besides Liaris, and tilts his head to the side. What shall I do? (Renya) Its enough. Those guys probably have learned their lesson as well. (Az) Is that so? Because my employer has said so, I will end it with this. (Renya) In front of the female students, including Natalia, whose complexion has gone way past blue and became white, Reyna says with a serious look after casually tossing away the used longsword, The next time you pick a fight with me, I will make you suffer so that you realize that today was just childs play. (Renya) The students tried to cling to the exits door, but they vehemently nod, at a level close to dislocating their necks, at Renyas words.Was it too much of a threat?Renya wondered, however in front of his eyes the students, hanging onto the door, were blown off together with the door alongside a thunderous explosion.In addition to the students, some wreckage from above the dome and the remains of the door, are sent flying depicting a parabola. While hearing the sound of those crushing onto the ground from behind, ahead of Renyas look, blankly staring at the exit which ended up having lost its door, Frau is raising both hands with a smile all over her face for some reason. Master! Good work! (Frau) Frau was that you just now? (Renya) Since it was troublesome to remove the barricade, I tried to blow it all away including the barricade! That did the job quickly! (Frau) Eh, ah, yea? Well, I guess so? (Renya) Looking back, he cant see the figures of Natalias group, which was buried below the remains of the barricade and door.They shouldnt have died, as they probably were in range of the barriers effect, but sure enough I wonder, which was less objectionable, the current state or being beat up by me?Renya was troubled within his mind.However, given that it has turned out this way, it cant be helped now. Lets go home, Frau? (Renya) Yes, master! You must also change your dirty clothes. (Frau) Oy, Renya. What will you do about the broken door? (Az) Make it the doctors fee for those students. You will charge them greatly anyway, right? I leave the clean up to you. (Renya) Az-kun, we have to talk a bit about this times affair (Liaris) The face of Az, whose robe was seized by Liaris, had a slight cramp.Renya didnt know whether Liaris talk would be a talk of gratitude or a scolding for overdoing it, however this was nothing Renya should participate in. Do your best, Az~ (Renya) Renya be prepared as I have to talk with you afterwards. (Az) I will listen, if I feel like it. You are able to properly pay the requests fee? If not, I will rampage again. (Renya) Master~, lets go! (Frau) The interest of Renya, who saw off Az getting dragged off by Liaris and whose sleeve was pulled by Frau, changed its focus on whether he has to return to the house by walking in this state of being sullied with blood. Chapter 45 Chapter 45 C It seems to be a re-training of magic and post-settlement Eh? Did you two already make a child? (Khalil) Do I look like a woman, who gave birth? (Shion) Renya looks at Shion, who yells with a bright red face, while wondering why she might be this bashful about it.Given that Frau is firmly clinging to his waist, it certainly doesnt look as anything but parents leading their child around either.The place is once again Khalils shop.On the other side of the table Khalil is sitting in a pose of resting her back into the chair and stretching out her legs, just in the same way as the last when they saw her.It was Shion, who proposed that he should once again take lessons in magic at Khalils store.Since he was told that he has hopelessly little mana, Renya has continued his training to increase the amount of mana, he possesses, whenever he had free time. Most recently it had moreover reached the point that he was actively supplying mana to Frau, who is a fairy.Fraus staple food is the mana released by people normally, but how did it turn into a situation of her actively receiving mana from Renya then? If asked about that point, her answer was the meal will become very happy ~no. Thats because its a way to efficiently use the mana rather than pointlessly dispersing it. Frau has only been eating what shes able to eat.At the same time as this became a link to Renyas training, it also gave birth to an unexpected side effect.Usually, the numerous magic tools, which move by using magic gems as fuel, cant work by using peoples mana as power source.However, Frau, who seems to be linked and connected to all of the devices within the house, was able to operate the magic tools within with the mana supplied by Renya, on top of changing it into her own mana.As a matter of fact, after buying the house, in various places, which they examined together with Az, whos also an expert, they found quite many parts in the house, where mechanisms using magic gems were installed, like the fireplaces, lamps, the water supply from the ceiling fan installed in the ceiling, kitchen and toilet.Did the merchant, who was the previous owner, obtain quite a profit or did he procure funds in another way? I dont know, but anyway, without the resolve to invest considerable expenses into just maintaining it, was the aspect he thought about,but since we dont use them much anyway, Renya has been making sure to have Frau absorb his mana to the point of him being on the verge of collapse.Arent fairies beings centred around filling their stomachs? With Frau only accepting what shes able to accept, we didnt attempt to make her eat more than she can.Upon inquiry, Rona found that point more mysterious than expected. It looks like Frau compresses the received mana for saving ~nano. (Frau) Theres an upper limit, right? (Rona) Of course ~nano. But, with master doing his best with all his power, he manages 20% of the whole ~nano. Since theres the share used to maintain the house, Frau can still eat much more ~no. (Frau) Having somehow a hunch that Frau regarded her at the same time with the discerning eyes of a carnivore having found its prey, Ronas sole action was to run away in a hurry.Putting that aside, even with Renya transferring his mana to Frau to degree of being close to running dry, he began to comprehend his immediate recovery thanks to the Super Regeneration skill. Because of that he has been transferring mana to Frau continuously at a rate that balances the transferring portion and the recovering portion.With the method of directly touching being more efficient for the mana transfer, according to Fraus words, it reached the point that she was clinging to Renya whenever she found time to do so.By the way, as her favourite spot was to ride on Renyas back, it has turned into a situation of Renyas figure with a Loli maid riding on top of his shoulders could be seen all over the city and the number of reports to the citys guards apparently increased as well, but this is yet another story. There are two monsters (Khalil) Without taking notice of Shion, who is glaring at her with a bright red face, Khalil turns her sight towards Renya and took a single breath with a Haa. Are you really the person from the other day? I cant see you as the same person though. (Khalil) Though Im the very same person what do you mean by that? (Renya) Renya tilts his head to the side.Frau, who is clinging to his waist, tilted her head to the side alongside him.In the first place, I dont understand whom she means by saying that there are two monsters.Since theres only Renya, Frau, Shion and Khalil in this place, it cant point to anyone but Frau and Renya, if you exclude Shion. Theres a huge difference in your manas power to the time when I looked at you the other day. The one clinging to your waist is a fairy? Even that fairy-ojou-chan has an absurd amount of mana, if compared to me. (Khalil) Its fine because Frau is a fairy. But you arent allowed to call master a monster ~no. (Frau) Khalil bitterly smiled at Frau, whos raising a low groan of Uuh while clinging to Renyas waist. Sorry, sorry. Its nothing more than an allegory. Dont glare at me this much since I will apologize, if you took offence. (Khalil) I dont particularly mind, but right, it would be helpful if you could stop it after all. (Renya) Feeling that the the force of Fraus hands grabbing his clothes was getting gradually stronger, Renya said while gently brushing Fraus head.While apologizing with a Excuse me, excuse me, Khalil fixes her sitting posture on the chair and bends herself forward on the table. So, todays business is? (Khalil) Because I think that I increased my mana somewhat, I want to get taught new magic. (Renya) I cant hearsomewhatas anything but sarcasm, though? Sorry, but even if I gather 100 people, I dont believe they will even reach the feet of this fairy-ojou-chan, to say nothing about you. (Khalil) Even if you say that, it doesnt feel real. (Renya)While it may be true that I gained in quantity of mana I possess, it doesnt particularly mean that the change, which happened, is easy to understand for me by being told that Im filled with power, which somehow has no meaning, or that a halo is floating above my head.Since I can only use the spells and , I felt like she should at least pass me something more convenient. I removed the utilization limit of the void attribute, but after all, I want to use spells of the wind attribute, I have good compatibility with. (Renya) Even though you talk about about the limit release as if its something simple, wont it become a doom for my business, if you did such a thing, though I dont know how you did it? (Khalil) It cant be helped since I was able to do it, right? Since I dont know the spell chants, I cant use anything but Light. (Renya) Due to Renya declaring that carelessly, Khalil fetches one scrap of paper and two books from the shelves while dripping complains along the lines of this is the norm for Lost from somewhere with sounds of snapping. Those are the key notes of the chants and on how to use the spells of the void and wind attributes and this is a talisman to release the limit of elementary wind spells. They cost 10 gold coins in total. (Khalil) I totally dont have enough money on hand for those. (Renya) If thats the case, let me pay for it. (Shion) The cash, owned by Renya, didnt reach the amount of money requested by Khalil at all.To begin with, he didnt expect anything else but learning several simple spells for around one gold coin, but before Renya can say anything, Shion piles up the gold coins on top of the table. Thank you for your continued patronage~ (Khalil) Oi, Shion. (Renya) Its fine. I will probably be able to recover it in no time. Its also similar to an advance payment. (Shion) You know, you are in quite the high spirits, Shion. (Khalil) Due to Khalils remark and her grinning broadly while collecting the gold coins on top of the table, Shions cheeks became red, albeit only a bit.While he watched that with a somewhat lukewarm gaze, Khalil said towards Renya, Are you such a good man? I wonder if it would be a good idea for me to take a little bite as well? (Khalil) Dont know. Dont ask me about such thing. (Renya) Once Renya replies that being astonished, Khalil, who laughed with a Tee-hee, places back half of the gold coins, she had just collected, on top of the table. I will invest in you as well. Maybe something good might come out of it. (Khalil) I wont take any responsibility, even if Im unable to return it. (Renya) Although Renya said that as warning, Khalils smile didnt vanish.If there are people, who give a good assessment like Khalil, there will also be people, who will pass a bad assessment.The incident, as if pointing that out, occurred in the evening of the very same day.Having the dinner made by Renya, its a period of time when each of them has been somewhat at leisure with a filled stomach.The ones being in charge of making the meals are always Renya or Frau.Although it didnt mean that Rona wasnt able to cook, she cant make anything but sketchy food that somehow lacks taste. As for Shion, she might make something you could barely call food. Having no choice with them possessing such degree of skill, Renya, who wants to always eat delicious food, volunteered to cook by himself, since that was the case.Because Frau, apart from being expected of a domestic servant fairy, possessed the skills to flawlessly handle everything from housework, cleaning, washing to cooking, she occasionally alternates with Renya.When those two were cleaning the used tableware in the kitchen, Frau suddenly looked up to the ceiling and grumbled something in a small voice. What happened, Frau? (Renya) Renya, who noticed Fraus behaviour, asks while putting away the tableware on the shelves after drying them. The grounds have been surrounded ~no. (Frau) While rinsing the tableware with water without stopping her hands, Frau mentioned such disturbing situation.Renya stops his hands in surprise. Since there are many people around here, wont it be strange if they dont notice it either ~no? Those people are quite adept at erasing the presences ~nano. (Frau) Assassins, eh? Their numbers? (Renya) 15 people ~nano. 5 of them are women. Quite pitiful ~nano. (Frau) Hearing their number, Renya who tried to grab his katana, which was leaning against the wall close-by, and leave the kitchen, stops his feet.Feeling as if he had heard some word that usually wont be attached at the end of the sentence, Renya turned towards Frau.Given that it is difficult for her to do her work as she is short, the look of Frau, who is washing the dishes while standing on top of a placed stool, is still directed up to the ceiling.In front of Renya, who is wondering whether she might be able to see something there, Frau finally returned her sight from the ceiling to the washing of the plates in her hands. All of them are owning daggers with a completely dark appearance ~no. Since their faces have been hidden by masks probably, they are people, about whom no one will worry even if they disappear ~nano. (Frau) I see? (Renya) Master, please finish tidying up here ~no. Frau is going somewhere else for a bit ~no. (Frau) Oi, Frau!? (Renya) Its alright, I will return right away ~no. (Frau) Jumping off the stool with a *pyon*, Frau hands a just washed plate to Renya and leaves the kitchen with her feet making sounds of pitter-patter.Renya, who came to his senses with the sound of the door closing with a bang, pursued her, but ended up stopping at the point of putting his hand on the door.No matter how much he tried to open that door, it didnt bulge at all.Because its the door of the dining room, it doesnt have anything where you can use a key.If thats the case, no one else but Frau made sure that I cant open the door.He comprehended that it was something related to magic, but Renya didnt have the means to cancel it. Huh? What happened, Frau? Shion, who enjoyed her after-meal black tea while relaxing in the parlour, asked noticing Frau standing in the entrance. Shion-ane-sama. I will close the door for a bit ~no. I want you to relax there since I will be done right away ~no. (Frau) Yea? (Shion) Best regards ~nano. (Frau) Shion was puzzled as the door was closed with a click, but thinkingits probably nothing major, she brought the cup, filled with black tea, to her lips.Locking up Shion in the parlour, Frau searches for Ronas whereabouts.It seems that shes in the middle of taking a bath, Frau, who sensed that, leaves Rona alone with a that side is fine as it is.Renya, who is fond of bathing, heats the bath by using hot water almost every day.If one intends to compare it to the common sense of this world, such a thing is done by extremely rich people, nobles or people at the level of being royalty, however Renya absolutely doesnt yield on taking a bath every day since Im able to make it happen with magic anyway.Until then Shion and Rona didnt have a habit of taking a bath every day, but since they arrived at the conclusion It will be our loss since its getting heated up no matter what, they have changed their habits to taking a daily bath, just like Renya.Since Rona-ane-sama is absolutely gorgeous and erotic after taking a bath, it wont do to not have her get a completely flushed skin by warming up slowly, confirming the temperature of the bath once, Frau opened the door of the entry hall after judging that theres no problem.The slightly chilly evening air flows into the hall from the left-open door.Its wrong for the houses inside to cool down, Frau closed the door right away, once she left the entry hall.And then she snaps her fingers once.With only that gesture all of the curtains of the houses windows closed without a sound.With this no one will be able to grasp the state outside from within the house.She felt like she heard the sound of the surprised Shion, who sat on the sofa, topple over due to the abrupt closing of the curtains, but since its unimportant, she pays no attention to it and ignores it. Guest-samas, can you hear me? Im called Frau and Im serving as maid in this house. (Frau) Opposite to her calm tone, her voice holds no emotions.Frau continues in a flat voice, that would likely make Renyas group open their eyes widely, if they heard it, as it is completely different from the usual her. As Im the person taking care of the houses security, I cant really welcome visitors, who dont use the main gate. Please, I ask you kindly to leave the premises. (Frau) Instead of a reply, the the evening light was cut by a silver light, which pierced Fraus chest.Without raising her voice, Frau looks down at her own chest.There she found a dagger wholly, down to its root, sticking into her chest. Is it alright to take this as your answer? (Frau) Without changing her expression, Frau takes the dagger, which was stabbed into her chest.After she pulled it out, there are no traces that the blade was stuck in her chest left behind.Frau stares at the extracted blade.That blade, although only slightly, was coated with something slimy and black. Poison? You use something boorish. (Frau) Her voice doesnt seem to be in disorder due to pain of being stabbed and having been poisoned. Almost all of you are people arranged by the parents of some of the schools students, master defeated, but all of you are people, who are despised in some way. (Frau) Frau shakes her head with a Good grief.Frau, who can hear small voices and groans from within the shadows of the walls, thickets and grove of trees, observes all over the garden in front of her with a cold look. Are you stupid? You are idiots, right!? Do you really believe that this me will let even one of you, who came entering here aiming for the lives of master and ane-samas, get away? (Frau) Her subdued laughter transforms into a loud laughter before long.No matter how you listened to it, this wasnt the laughter raised by a being that donned the shape of a little girl. It was something that made the blood of all those hearing it freeze. I wont miss a single one of you! You shitty bugs, who dont even deserve to breath! You are the same as trash, not even allowed to exist! Your corrupted gazes! Those filthy blades! Its eternally impossible for you to reach my master and ane-samas! (Frau) An ordinary grove of trees, the thickets, the shadows of the wall and the gardens ground.Stretching out their hands, scratching with their nails and baring their fangs.What resounded in the garden was cut-off screams of pain, swallowed groans or crunching death agony?In the twilight of the very soon approaching night, the plain, common garden changes into an otherworldly, ominous place and Fraus mouth forms the shape of a crescent moon.To the humans, who should be quite trained, in a place, where they are one-sidedly preyed upon without being permitted even the least resistance, Fraus voice reverberates. Die! Like the trash you are! Worthlessly! Meaninglessly! Its fine for you to disappear without leaving even one behind! If you want to bear a grudge, its best for you to resent the stupidity of your employers and your own foolishness! (Frau) After a moment of silence, the screams and groans ceased.Before long the voice of Frau, who started to talk again, was awfully gentle. However, its fine for you to feel relieved. Kneading those useless bodies, I will bury them within the garden. My children are good children, therefore beautiful flowers will bloom using you as nourishment without a single piece remaining. (Frau) Throwing away the dagger, she held in her hand, at a suitable place around there, Frau grips her right hand lightly.Looking at the light leaking out from within the gaps of her grasped fist, Frau releases a single sigh of joy with a Hoo.On top of her palm, which she opened slowly, a single crystal, similar to a transparent gem, was finished. Even these meaningless lives can be offered to be efficiently used for the sake of master. Even the life of trash will turn into a bit of money, if I do this. (Frau) The finished crystal.It is a magic gem, which was created by gathering the lives of the humans, who were slaughtered moments ago. Softly tucking it away in the pocket of her skirt, Frau clapped her hands together with a single *pan* This wont do ~no. I lost my self-control a bit too much ~no. (Frau) While beating herself and her head with a *pon pon*, Frau mutters as if reflecting.In the end Frau surveyed all of the garden, where no one was left, confirmed that there was nothing strange and returned inside the house with her feet once again making a sound of pitter-patter.Renya is still locked up in the dining room. Undoubtedly Shion should have grandly spilled the black tea at the moment she toppled over.If I dont clean the black teas stains quickly, it will leave spots behind.Its absolutely necessary to prepare a change of clothes and a bath towel for Ronas leaving of the bath.Since she will likely be thirsty as well, I have to arrange for something to drink as well. Being a maid-san is a tough job ~nano! (Frau) Frau smiled sweetly and quickly hurried back to Renyas side in order to first unlock the door of the dining room. Chapter 45 C It seems to be a re-training of magic and post-settlement Eh? Did you two already make a child? (Khalil) Do I look like a woman, who gave birth? (Shion) Renya looks at Shion, who yells with a bright red face, while wondering why she might be this bashful about it.Given that Frau is firmly clinging to his waist, it certainly doesnt look as anything but parents leading their child around either.The place is once again Khalils shop.On the other side of the table Khalil is sitting in a pose of resting her back into the chair and stretching out her legs, just in the same way as the last when they saw her.It was Shion, who proposed that he should once again take lessons in magic at Khalils store.Since he was told that he has hopelessly little mana, Renya has continued his training to increase the amount of mana, he possesses, whenever he had free time. Most recently it had moreover reached the point that he was actively supplying mana to Frau, who is a fairy.Fraus staple food is the mana released by people normally, but how did it turn into a situation of her actively receiving mana from Renya then? If asked about that point, her answer was the meal will become very happy ~no. Thats because its a way to efficiently use the mana rather than pointlessly dispersing it. Frau has only been eating what shes able to eat.At the same time as this became a link to Renyas training, it also gave birth to an unexpected side effect.Usually, the numerous magic tools, which move by using magic gems as fuel, cant work by using peoples mana as power source.However, Frau, who seems to be linked and connected to all of the devices within the house, was able to operate the magic tools within with the mana supplied by Renya, on top of changing it into her own mana.As a matter of fact, after buying the house, in various places, which they examined together with Az, whos also an expert, they found quite many parts in the house, where mechanisms using magic gems were installed, like the fireplaces, lamps, the water supply from the ceiling fan installed in the ceiling, kitchen and toilet.Did the merchant, who was the previous owner, obtain quite a profit or did he procure funds in another way? I dont know, but anyway, without the resolve to invest considerable expenses into just maintaining it, was the aspect he thought about,but since we dont use them much anyway, Renya has been making sure to have Frau absorb his mana to the point of him being on the verge of collapse.Arent fairies beings centred around filling their stomachs? With Frau only accepting what shes able to accept, we didnt attempt to make her eat more than she can.Upon inquiry, Rona found that point more mysterious than expected. It looks like Frau compresses the received mana for saving ~nano. (Frau) Theres an upper limit, right? (Rona) Of course ~nano. But, with master doing his best with all his power, he manages 20% of the whole ~nano. Since theres the share used to maintain the house, Frau can still eat much more ~no. (Frau) Having somehow a hunch that Frau regarded her at the same time with the discerning eyes of a carnivore having found its prey, Ronas sole action was to run away in a hurry.Putting that aside, even with Renya transferring his mana to Frau to degree of being close to running dry, he began to comprehend his immediate recovery thanks to the Super Regeneration skill. Because of that he has been transferring mana to Frau continuously at a rate that balances the transferring portion and the recovering portion.With the method of directly touching being more efficient for the mana transfer, according to Fraus words, it reached the point that she was clinging to Renya whenever she found time to do so.By the way, as her favourite spot was to ride on Renyas back, it has turned into a situation of Renyas figure with a Loli maid riding on top of his shoulders could be seen all over the city and the number of reports to the citys guards apparently increased as well, but this is yet another story. There are two monsters (Khalil) Without taking notice of Shion, who is glaring at her with a bright red face, Khalil turns her sight towards Renya and took a single breath with a Haa. Are you really the person from the other day? I cant see you as the same person though. (Khalil) Though Im the very same person what do you mean by that? (Renya) Renya tilts his head to the side.Frau, who is clinging to his waist, tilted her head to the side alongside him.In the first place, I dont understand whom she means by saying that there are two monsters.Since theres only Renya, Frau, Shion and Khalil in this place, it cant point to anyone but Frau and Renya, if you exclude Shion. Theres a huge difference in your manas power to the time when I looked at you the other day. The one clinging to your waist is a fairy? Even that fairy-ojou-chan has an absurd amount of mana, if compared to me. (Khalil) Its fine because Frau is a fairy. But you arent allowed to call master a monster ~no. (Frau) Khalil bitterly smiled at Frau, whos raising a low groan of Uuh while clinging to Renyas waist. Sorry, sorry. Its nothing more than an allegory. Dont glare at me this much since I will apologize, if you took offence. (Khalil) I dont particularly mind, but right, it would be helpful if you could stop it after all. (Renya) Feeling that the the force of Fraus hands grabbing his clothes was getting gradually stronger, Renya said while gently brushing Fraus head.While apologizing with a Excuse me, excuse me, Khalil fixes her sitting posture on the chair and bends herself forward on the table. So, todays business is? (Khalil) Because I think that I increased my mana somewhat, I want to get taught new magic. (Renya) I cant hearsomewhatas anything but sarcasm, though? Sorry, but even if I gather 100 people, I dont believe they will even reach the feet of this fairy-ojou-chan, to say nothing about you. (Khalil) Even if you say that, it doesnt feel real. (Renya)While it may be true that I gained in quantity of mana I possess, it doesnt particularly mean that the change, which happened, is easy to understand for me by being told that Im filled with power, which somehow has no meaning, or that a halo is floating above my head.Since I can only use the spells and , I felt like she should at least pass me something more convenient. I removed the utilization limit of the void attribute, but after all, I want to use spells of the wind attribute, I have good compatibility with. (Renya) Even though you talk about about the limit release as if its something simple, wont it become a doom for my business, if you did such a thing, though I dont know how you did it? (Khalil) It cant be helped since I was able to do it, right? Since I dont know the spell chants, I cant use anything but Light. (Renya) Due to Renya declaring that carelessly, Khalil fetches one scrap of paper and two books from the shelves while dripping complains along the lines of this is the norm for Lost from somewhere with sounds of snapping. Those are the key notes of the chants and on how to use the spells of the void and wind attributes and this is a talisman to release the limit of elementary wind spells. They cost 10 gold coins in total. (Khalil) I totally dont have enough money on hand for those. (Renya) If thats the case, let me pay for it. (Shion) The cash, owned by Renya, didnt reach the amount of money requested by Khalil at all.To begin with, he didnt expect anything else but learning several simple spells for around one gold coin, but before Renya can say anything, Shion piles up the gold coins on top of the table. Thank you for your continued patronage~ (Khalil) Oi, Shion. (Renya) Its fine. I will probably be able to recover it in no time. Its also similar to an advance payment. (Shion) You know, you are in quite the high spirits, Shion. (Khalil) Due to Khalils remark and her grinning broadly while collecting the gold coins on top of the table, Shions cheeks became red, albeit only a bit.While he watched that with a somewhat lukewarm gaze, Khalil said towards Renya, Are you such a good man? I wonder if it would be a good idea for me to take a little bite as well? (Khalil) Dont know. Dont ask me about such thing. (Renya) Once Renya replies that being astonished, Khalil, who laughed with a Tee-hee, places back half of the gold coins, she had just collected, on top of the table. I will invest in you as well. Maybe something good might come out of it. (Khalil) I wont take any responsibility, even if Im unable to return it. (Renya) Although Renya said that as warning, Khalils smile didnt vanish.If there are people, who give a good assessment like Khalil, there will also be people, who will pass a bad assessment.The incident, as if pointing that out, occurred in the evening of the very same day.Having the dinner made by Renya, its a period of time when each of them has been somewhat at leisure with a filled stomach.The ones being in charge of making the meals are always Renya or Frau.Although it didnt mean that Rona wasnt able to cook, she cant make anything but sketchy food that somehow lacks taste. As for Shion, she might make something you could barely call food. Having no choice with them possessing such degree of skill, Renya, who wants to always eat delicious food, volunteered to cook by himself, since that was the case.Because Frau, apart from being expected of a domestic servant fairy, possessed the skills to flawlessly handle everything from housework, cleaning, washing to cooking, she occasionally alternates with Renya.When those two were cleaning the used tableware in the kitchen, Frau suddenly looked up to the ceiling and grumbled something in a small voice. What happened, Frau? (Renya) Renya, who noticed Fraus behaviour, asks while putting away the tableware on the shelves after drying them. The grounds have been surrounded ~no. (Frau) While rinsing the tableware with water without stopping her hands, Frau mentioned such disturbing situation.Renya stops his hands in surprise. Since there are many people around here, wont it be strange if they dont notice it either ~no? Those people are quite adept at erasing the presences ~nano. (Frau) Assassins, eh? Their numbers? (Renya) 15 people ~nano. 5 of them are women. Quite pitiful ~nano. (Frau) Hearing their number, Renya who tried to grab his katana, which was leaning against the wall close-by, and leave the kitchen, stops his feet.Feeling as if he had heard some word that usually wont be attached at the end of the sentence, Renya turned towards Frau.Given that it is difficult for her to do her work as she is short, the look of Frau, who is washing the dishes while standing on top of a placed stool, is still directed up to the ceiling.In front of Renya, who is wondering whether she might be able to see something there, Frau finally returned her sight from the ceiling to the washing of the plates in her hands. All of them are owning daggers with a completely dark appearance ~no. Since their faces have been hidden by masks probably, they are people, about whom no one will worry even if they disappear ~nano. (Frau) I see? (Renya) Master, please finish tidying up here ~no. Frau is going somewhere else for a bit ~no. (Frau) Oi, Frau!? (Renya) Its alright, I will return right away ~no. (Frau) Jumping off the stool with a *pyon*, Frau hands a just washed plate to Renya and leaves the kitchen with her feet making sounds of pitter-patter.Renya, who came to his senses with the sound of the door closing with a bang, pursued her, but ended up stopping at the point of putting his hand on the door.No matter how much he tried to open that door, it didnt bulge at all.Because its the door of the dining room, it doesnt have anything where you can use a key.If thats the case, no one else but Frau made sure that I cant open the door.He comprehended that it was something related to magic, but Renya didnt have the means to cancel it. Huh? What happened, Frau? Shion, who enjoyed her after-meal black tea while relaxing in the parlour, asked noticing Frau standing in the entrance. Shion-ane-sama. I will close the door for a bit ~no. I want you to relax there since I will be done right away ~no. (Frau) Yea? (Shion) Best regards ~nano. (Frau) Shion was puzzled as the door was closed with a click, but thinkingits probably nothing major, she brought the cup, filled with black tea, to her lips.Locking up Shion in the parlour, Frau searches for Ronas whereabouts.It seems that shes in the middle of taking a bath, Frau, who sensed that, leaves Rona alone with a that side is fine as it is.Renya, who is fond of bathing, heats the bath by using hot water almost every day.If one intends to compare it to the common sense of this world, such a thing is done by extremely rich people, nobles or people at the level of being royalty, however Renya absolutely doesnt yield on taking a bath every day since Im able to make it happen with magic anyway.Until then Shion and Rona didnt have a habit of taking a bath every day, but since they arrived at the conclusion It will be our loss since its getting heated up no matter what, they have changed their habits to taking a daily bath, just like Renya.Since Rona-ane-sama is absolutely gorgeous and erotic after taking a bath, it wont do to not have her get a completely flushed skin by warming up slowly, confirming the temperature of the bath once, Frau opened the door of the entry hall after judging that theres no problem.The slightly chilly evening air flows into the hall from the left-open door.Its wrong for the houses inside to cool down, Frau closed the door right away, once she left the entry hall.And then she snaps her fingers once.With only that gesture all of the curtains of the houses windows closed without a sound.With this no one will be able to grasp the state outside from within the house.She felt like she heard the sound of the surprised Shion, who sat on the sofa, topple over due to the abrupt closing of the curtains, but since its unimportant, she pays no attention to it and ignores it. Guest-samas, can you hear me? Im called Frau and Im serving as maid in this house. (Frau) Opposite to her calm tone, her voice holds no emotions.Frau continues in a flat voice, that would likely make Renyas group open their eyes widely, if they heard it, as it is completely different from the usual her. As Im the person taking care of the houses security, I cant really welcome visitors, who dont use the main gate. Please, I ask you kindly to leave the premises. (Frau) Instead of a reply, the the evening light was cut by a silver light, which pierced Fraus chest.Without raising her voice, Frau looks down at her own chest.There she found a dagger wholly, down to its root, sticking into her chest. Is it alright to take this as your answer? (Frau) Without changing her expression, Frau takes the dagger, which was stabbed into her chest.After she pulled it out, there are no traces that the blade was stuck in her chest left behind.Frau stares at the extracted blade.That blade, although only slightly, was coated with something slimy and black. Poison? You use something boorish. (Frau) Her voice doesnt seem to be in disorder due to pain of being stabbed and having been poisoned. Almost all of you are people arranged by the parents of some of the schools students, master defeated, but all of you are people, who are despised in some way. (Frau) Frau shakes her head with a Good grief.Frau, who can hear small voices and groans from within the shadows of the walls, thickets and grove of trees, observes all over the garden in front of her with a cold look. Are you stupid? You are idiots, right!? Do you really believe that this me will let even one of you, who came entering here aiming for the lives of master and ane-samas, get away? (Frau) Her subdued laughter transforms into a loud laughter before long.No matter how you listened to it, this wasnt the laughter raised by a being that donned the shape of a little girl. It was something that made the blood of all those hearing it freeze. I wont miss a single one of you! You shitty bugs, who dont even deserve to breath! You are the same as trash, not even allowed to exist! Your corrupted gazes! Those filthy blades! Its eternally impossible for you to reach my master and ane-samas! (Frau) An ordinary grove of trees, the thickets, the shadows of the wall and the gardens ground.Stretching out their hands, scratching with their nails and baring their fangs.What resounded in the garden was cut-off screams of pain, swallowed groans or crunching death agony?In the twilight of the very soon approaching night, the plain, common garden changes into an otherworldly, ominous place and Fraus mouth forms the shape of a crescent moon.To the humans, who should be quite trained, in a place, where they are one-sidedly preyed upon without being permitted even the least resistance, Fraus voice reverberates. Die! Like the trash you are! Worthlessly! Meaninglessly! Its fine for you to disappear without leaving even one behind! If you want to bear a grudge, its best for you to resent the stupidity of your employers and your own foolishness! (Frau) After a moment of silence, the screams and groans ceased.Before long the voice of Frau, who started to talk again, was awfully gentle. However, its fine for you to feel relieved. Kneading those useless bodies, I will bury them within the garden. My children are good children, therefore beautiful flowers will bloom using you as nourishment without a single piece remaining. (Frau) Throwing away the dagger, she held in her hand, at a suitable place around there, Frau grips her right hand lightly.Looking at the light leaking out from within the gaps of her grasped fist, Frau releases a single sigh of joy with a Hoo.On top of her palm, which she opened slowly, a single crystal, similar to a transparent gem, was finished. Even these meaningless lives can be offered to be efficiently used for the sake of master. Even the life of trash will turn into a bit of money, if I do this. (Frau) The finished crystal.It is a magic gem, which was created by gathering the lives of the humans, who were slaughtered moments ago. Softly tucking it away in the pocket of her skirt, Frau clapped her hands together with a single *pan* This wont do ~no. I lost my self-control a bit too much ~no. (Frau) While beating herself and her head with a *pon pon*, Frau mutters as if reflecting.In the end Frau surveyed all of the garden, where no one was left, confirmed that there was nothing strange and returned inside the house with her feet once again making a sound of pitter-patter.Renya is still locked up in the dining room. Undoubtedly Shion should have grandly spilled the black tea at the moment she toppled over.If I dont clean the black teas stains quickly, it will leave spots behind.Its absolutely necessary to prepare a change of clothes and a bath towel for Ronas leaving of the bath.Since she will likely be thirsty as well, I have to arrange for something to drink as well. Being a maid-san is a tough job ~nano! (Frau) Frau smiled sweetly and quickly hurried back to Renyas side in order to first unlock the door of the dining room. Chapter 46 Chapter 46 C It seems to be going on a request from the guild Is there some good request?Renya, who proceeded towards the guild while pondering about that, stopped his feet as he has discovered a crowd flocking in one part of the guild.The current Renya is close to being penniless.His earned money had been mostly used up for the expenses of the house purchase and buying ingredients to his liking.Even though the contract isnt urgent on the repayment, the present state of being burdened by debts is an issue I have to resolve quickly, Renya concluded.At present theres no hint of suddenly ending up suffering poverty.The biggest reason for that was Shion and Rona providing small amounts of the funds, they saved up before meeting with Renya, however as for depending on them like that forever is something that Renya mustnt do to not be labelled as pimp before being called a swordsman.Only that was something Renya wanted to avoid by all means.Shion and Rona told me to not mind it because its something like a rent, but I believe that theres no way for me to say Yes, okay just like that. Even so, thats probably one of the troublesome aspects of men.At any rate, its no good, if I dont earn money.He considered opening the shop, but with the shop space, installed in the house, being in a state of not having been used for a long time, its dirty and damaged here and there. At present Frau is repairing and cleaning it at a quick pace.Putting the cleaning aside, theres material necessary to carry out the repairs.Frau has out of nowhere said that she will provide that, however once he asked Frau, it seems to be a very Frau-like route of fund-raising. Raising my level, Frau will reach the point of producing magic gems ~no. (Frau) Level? Whats that?That question still remained, but while repeating the act of continuing to save the compressed mana, she has been receiving from Renya, Frau apparently obtained the ability to crystallize that mana.Because the size is small and the purity isnt that high in degree, it wont go for a high price, however she appears to make small change by selling the magic gems, which were created with that ability.Its unknown whether it might be fine to say that Renya is the one earning it since the source of the mana supply is Renya, if one thinks prudently, but because those magic gems have been created by Fraus skill, Renya is considering to be probably Fraus earning. As the loss at the moment of crystallization is large, I wont do it overly much ~no. (Frau) Frau says while being somehow apologetic.Given that it is a deed similar to embezzling mana or rather black marketing it, so to say, she appears to feel slightly ashamed towards Renya. Is that so? Well, the current state is that it wont become more than pocket money for Frau and me either, thus isnt it fine for you to steadily make those, if its not at a level of becoming an impediment in your livelihood? (Renya) The mana, which I have received from master, is Fraus food. Its my link to master ~nano. Therefore I will only use it in a truly distressing moment ~no. (Frau) Although Renya caressed the head of Frau, who is smiling broadly, with a There, there, he tries to voice out an issue, he suddenly remembered. Which reminds me, what did you do after you locked us up in the rooms? I feel like no one came after you surprisingly said that the house has been surrounded, though? (Renya) There were visitors ~no. (Frau) After showing a behaviour similar to pondering for a bit, Frau continued, But, they left right away ~no. (Frau) Renya had a feeling as if he heard something else, but looking at the face of Frau smiling with a friendly grin, he decided to not mind about it as its probably nothing major.Since its a different world, theres likely a delicate difference in the nuances of words.Given that they are fellows, who left obediently after being persuaded by a girl, they might not have been such bad people.While thinking such stuff, Renya approaches the crowd.There he found a single bulletin board with request tickets from the guild stuck on it.Once he tries to peek through a gap in the crowd of people, he discovers that the interest of the surroundings is pinned on a subjugation request, which was submitted by the guild.The location is north of the city of Kukrika. Its a forest thats around a half days walk away.The forest, called Labyrinth Forest, houses entrances to dungeons and is said to continue all the way to the Miasma Forest. Its such a big forest that its size is several times that of the city of Kukrika.The request is to subjugate unspecified types of monsters, that live there. At any rate, if one defeats the monsters and recovers their magic stones, they will be paid a corresponding reward for that. It was quite the ambiguous request. How unusual, something like a subjugation request with no specification. Someone from within the crowd said.If it is a subjugation request of unknown types, it will be permanent and indefinite towards monsters, which have been somehow designated as seeds of danger.With those only being requests where the monsters have a too high breeding ability, a high degree of danger or a high possibility of harming people, one can expect to be paid a reward, if one can prove that they defeated them, even without having accepted the request.In reverse you can say, the monsters are difficult to find no matter how long one searches or are dangerous. Even if one tried to defeat them, there likely wont be much of a reward for doing so.This time it means that you will be paid a subjugation reward by hunting any type of monster, as long as its living in the forest specified in the request.The adventurers in the surroundings are whispering that the request contents are normally unthinkable.However, looking from Renyas point of view, since he doesnt know whats normal, his degree of impression or thoughts was no more than Ah, such a thing, huh? You dont say that an Overflow of the Labyrinth Forest is approaching? What foolishness. The rate of monster appearances in comparison to the size of the labyrinth is low there. There shouldnt be any record of an Overflow having happened in that labyrinth. Have you used the records of god as reference there or what? That forest, shouldnt it have a considerable amount of monsters? It might be just right for earning some small change? It will be fine, if you hunt anything you can lay your hands on. Each of the adventurers is chatting with each other in a tangle.Renya feels suspicious no matter how he looks at the request and tries to search for another request without arousing anyones interest overly much. But suddenly his feet stopped due to some words he heard. Come to think of it, the season of the forest octopus will be any time now. It might be good to try aiming for them together. The one, who said it while grinning broadly and putting his hand against his chin, is an adventurer with the impression of a middle-aged man, who can truly be called a veteran. Hey, you over there. (Renya) The called adventurer replies with a tendency of gradually pulling back from Renya, who grabbed his shoulders firmly with a serious look. Y-Yea? You said season? Are those monsters possibly edible? (Renya) What, ni-chan? You dun know? That adventurer kindly taught Renya about the forest octopuses.According to his explanation, forest octopuses are molluscs with eight legs living in forests. They are called a subspecies of the octopuses dwelling in the sea.At first Renya was surprised about octopuses existing in another world, but he is even more surprised by them being octopuses land-dwelling in forests.Forest octopuses move by standing on their eight feet. Their main staple food is small animals. They have proper, firm flesh for the sake of leading a life on land, in comparison to the ones living in the sea. They arent watery. Although octopuses, they are land-dwellers do those breath with lungs? (Renya) Im no good with the sea ones, but the land ones are my favourite food. Sprinkling them in salt and grilling the dried ones for a bit, they are the best together with some sake. I see, I see. (Renya) If you air them until they have dried up by sunlight, they will be delicious to take a bite just like that as well. Give up on eating them raw though. Your teeth wont be strong enough for that. Its also no good to grill them directly from being raw. You wont be able to eat them since they will become as hard as shoe soles. Probably, if you dry them even a bit, some enzymes or such will make them soft and they will become edible, I guess.Its not always true that fresh flesh of animals is definitely delicious.Because there are even things that are called the most delicious on the verge of rotting, according to some people, its nothing particularly strange to not be able to eat it as long as its raw, Renya could comprehend that. Its difficult to find a splendid one and be careful since it occasionally happens that people encounter a really big one. The big one, my acquaintance discovered, had a size surpassing 5 m. If they become this big, they usually eat people. Is there some relationship between deliciousness and size? (Renya) The adventurer replies while smiling wryly towards Renya, who is talking as if doesnt matter that they eat people. They arent tasty if they get too big. It seems the most delicious ones are newborn children being dried whole. I havent had the chance to eat them, however grilling the eggs is quite nice as well. I see I heard something good. Thanks, please have a drink with this. (Renya) Renya politely thanks the adventurer, he talked with, and slips several silver coins into his hand.He had only few funds remaining, but Renya believes that he should pay a proper compensation for profitable information. Oh, sorry. If you go for the forest octopuses, its a good idea to scatter small pieces of goblins and their likes other than the small animals, being in the area. They will approach being drawn by their smell. Do they even eat goblins?He wondered for an instant, however he didnt feel anything particular like unpleasant feelings.Someone, who minds such stuff, wont be able to eat octopus or shrimps in my former world. I see, all of it was useful. Thank you. (Renya) Once he gives a bow and thanks him for the second time, Renya turns around and heads home.Within his mind he was already coming up with plans how to capture forest octopuses. That means, its decided to hunt forest octopuses and such while at the same time carrying out the guilds request. (Renya) Returning to the house, Renya announced that to Shion and Rona.Renya sums up the conversation in the guild to the two, who wish for an explanation of Renyas story, that suddenly skips several steps ahead. Ah, that, huh? That is certainly a delicacy. (Shion) Once Shion said that while nodding, Rona also agreed. On top of the number not being that many in comparison to the size of the forest, they wont often appear on the market since they live in a place, where monsters appear. Because it can be said that adventurers, who sell them whole to restaurants and bars, are the sole supply-route, the prices are quite expensive, for that. Since the profit as business will disappear, if a large amount of them is caught, you might get them at a wholesale store, but there arent many merchants dealing with them since their number on the market is too low, Shion grumbles. Going only by my count, I havent eaten them much, but they are certainly delicious. They are tasty, if you put half-dried, thin slices into salad, pickle them or cook them with a finely cut produce called Western Alos. (Rona) Alos? (Renya) Ummm its the raw material of sake and vinegar. Its a white, small-grained corn. (Rona) Rona says while placing her finger on her chin as if recalling a memory.Although Renya made sure to not show the shock, he received in his mind, on his face, it required all of his will power.Isnt that likely rice, he wondered.Although he might have lost his memories, Renya is originally a Japanese.He can fill his belly with bread and pasta as well, but he was a man, who wants to eat rice, if its possible to do so.He resolved himself that he likely wont be able to eat it anymore as this is a different world, however, once he thought properly about it, there is ordinary wheat flour. Since vinegar itself is appearing on the market, you can only call it obvious for rice, which is its raw material, to be there.(T/N: I wonder, do Japanese make everything out of rice? Vinegar is commonly made out of wine or other alcoholic beverages in the first place)While feeling slight disappointment due to his own carelessness, Renya tries to stress that its a story, which has proper gains even if carried out as job. Since the guild will provide a reward for the monster subjugation, even if we dont capture it for example, its a job that will at least turn into money, if we clear absolutely all of it. (Renya) Its not bad. (Shion) Once Shion replied like that and as there wasnt anyone against it either, they quickly decided up to the point of departing in two days. Chapter 46 C It seems to be going on a request from the guild Is there some good request?Renya, who proceeded towards the guild while pondering about that, stopped his feet as he has discovered a crowd flocking in one part of the guild.The current Renya is close to being penniless.His earned money had been mostly used up for the expenses of the house purchase and buying ingredients to his liking.Even though the contract isnt urgent on the repayment, the present state of being burdened by debts is an issue I have to resolve quickly, Renya concluded.At present theres no hint of suddenly ending up suffering poverty.The biggest reason for that was Shion and Rona providing small amounts of the funds, they saved up before meeting with Renya, however as for depending on them like that forever is something that Renya mustnt do to not be labelled as pimp before being called a swordsman.Only that was something Renya wanted to avoid by all means.Shion and Rona told me to not mind it because its something like a rent, but I believe that theres no way for me to say Yes, okay just like that. Even so, thats probably one of the troublesome aspects of men.At any rate, its no good, if I dont earn money.He considered opening the shop, but with the shop space, installed in the house, being in a state of not having been used for a long time, its dirty and damaged here and there. At present Frau is repairing and cleaning it at a quick pace.Putting the cleaning aside, theres material necessary to carry out the repairs.Frau has out of nowhere said that she will provide that, however once he asked Frau, it seems to be a very Frau-like route of fund-raising. Raising my level, Frau will reach the point of producing magic gems ~no. (Frau) Level? Whats that?That question still remained, but while repeating the act of continuing to save the compressed mana, she has been receiving from Renya, Frau apparently obtained the ability to crystallize that mana.Because the size is small and the purity isnt that high in degree, it wont go for a high price, however she appears to make small change by selling the magic gems, which were created with that ability.Its unknown whether it might be fine to say that Renya is the one earning it since the source of the mana supply is Renya, if one thinks prudently, but because those magic gems have been created by Fraus skill, Renya is considering to be probably Fraus earning. As the loss at the moment of crystallization is large, I wont do it overly much ~no. (Frau) Frau says while being somehow apologetic.Given that it is a deed similar to embezzling mana or rather black marketing it, so to say, she appears to feel slightly ashamed towards Renya. Is that so? Well, the current state is that it wont become more than pocket money for Frau and me either, thus isnt it fine for you to steadily make those, if its not at a level of becoming an impediment in your livelihood? (Renya) The mana, which I have received from master, is Fraus food. Its my link to master ~nano. Therefore I will only use it in a truly distressing moment ~no. (Frau) Although Renya caressed the head of Frau, who is smiling broadly, with a There, there, he tries to voice out an issue, he suddenly remembered. Which reminds me, what did you do after you locked us up in the rooms? I feel like no one came after you surprisingly said that the house has been surrounded, though? (Renya) There were visitors ~no. (Frau) After showing a behaviour similar to pondering for a bit, Frau continued, But, they left right away ~no. (Frau) Renya had a feeling as if he heard something else, but looking at the face of Frau smiling with a friendly grin, he decided to not mind about it as its probably nothing major.Since its a different world, theres likely a delicate difference in the nuances of words.Given that they are fellows, who left obediently after being persuaded by a girl, they might not have been such bad people.While thinking such stuff, Renya approaches the crowd.There he found a single bulletin board with request tickets from the guild stuck on it.Once he tries to peek through a gap in the crowd of people, he discovers that the interest of the surroundings is pinned on a subjugation request, which was submitted by the guild.The location is north of the city of Kukrika. Its a forest thats around a half days walk away.The forest, called Labyrinth Forest, houses entrances to dungeons and is said to continue all the way to the Miasma Forest. Its such a big forest that its size is several times that of the city of Kukrika.The request is to subjugate unspecified types of monsters, that live there. At any rate, if one defeats the monsters and recovers their magic stones, they will be paid a corresponding reward for that. It was quite the ambiguous request. How unusual, something like a subjugation request with no specification. Someone from within the crowd said.If it is a subjugation request of unknown types, it will be permanent and indefinite towards monsters, which have been somehow designated as seeds of danger.With those only being requests where the monsters have a too high breeding ability, a high degree of danger or a high possibility of harming people, one can expect to be paid a reward, if one can prove that they defeated them, even without having accepted the request.In reverse you can say, the monsters are difficult to find no matter how long one searches or are dangerous. Even if one tried to defeat them, there likely wont be much of a reward for doing so.This time it means that you will be paid a subjugation reward by hunting any type of monster, as long as its living in the forest specified in the request.The adventurers in the surroundings are whispering that the request contents are normally unthinkable.However, looking from Renyas point of view, since he doesnt know whats normal, his degree of impression or thoughts was no more than Ah, such a thing, huh? You dont say that an Overflow of the Labyrinth Forest is approaching? What foolishness. The rate of monster appearances in comparison to the size of the labyrinth is low there. There shouldnt be any record of an Overflow having happened in that labyrinth. Have you used the records of god as reference there or what? That forest, shouldnt it have a considerable amount of monsters? It might be just right for earning some small change? It will be fine, if you hunt anything you can lay your hands on. Each of the adventurers is chatting with each other in a tangle.Renya feels suspicious no matter how he looks at the request and tries to search for another request without arousing anyones interest overly much. But suddenly his feet stopped due to some words he heard. Come to think of it, the season of the forest octopus will be any time now. It might be good to try aiming for them together. The one, who said it while grinning broadly and putting his hand against his chin, is an adventurer with the impression of a middle-aged man, who can truly be called a veteran. Hey, you over there. (Renya) The called adventurer replies with a tendency of gradually pulling back from Renya, who grabbed his shoulders firmly with a serious look. Y-Yea? You said season? Are those monsters possibly edible? (Renya) What, ni-chan? You dun know? That adventurer kindly taught Renya about the forest octopuses.According to his explanation, forest octopuses are molluscs with eight legs living in forests. They are called a subspecies of the octopuses dwelling in the sea.At first Renya was surprised about octopuses existing in another world, but he is even more surprised by them being octopuses land-dwelling in forests.Forest octopuses move by standing on their eight feet. Their main staple food is small animals. They have proper, firm flesh for the sake of leading a life on land, in comparison to the ones living in the sea. They arent watery. Although octopuses, they are land-dwellers do those breath with lungs? (Renya) Im no good with the sea ones, but the land ones are my favourite food. Sprinkling them in salt and grilling the dried ones for a bit, they are the best together with some sake. I see, I see. (Renya) If you air them until they have dried up by sunlight, they will be delicious to take a bite just like that as well. Give up on eating them raw though. Your teeth wont be strong enough for that. Its also no good to grill them directly from being raw. You wont be able to eat them since they will become as hard as shoe soles. Probably, if you dry them even a bit, some enzymes or such will make them soft and they will become edible, I guess.Its not always true that fresh flesh of animals is definitely delicious.Because there are even things that are called the most delicious on the verge of rotting, according to some people, its nothing particularly strange to not be able to eat it as long as its raw, Renya could comprehend that. Its difficult to find a splendid one and be careful since it occasionally happens that people encounter a really big one. The big one, my acquaintance discovered, had a size surpassing 5 m. If they become this big, they usually eat people. Is there some relationship between deliciousness and size? (Renya) The adventurer replies while smiling wryly towards Renya, who is talking as if doesnt matter that they eat people. They arent tasty if they get too big. It seems the most delicious ones are newborn children being dried whole. I havent had the chance to eat them, however grilling the eggs is quite nice as well. I see I heard something good. Thanks, please have a drink with this. (Renya) Renya politely thanks the adventurer, he talked with, and slips several silver coins into his hand.He had only few funds remaining, but Renya believes that he should pay a proper compensation for profitable information. Oh, sorry. If you go for the forest octopuses, its a good idea to scatter small pieces of goblins and their likes other than the small animals, being in the area. They will approach being drawn by their smell. Do they even eat goblins?He wondered for an instant, however he didnt feel anything particular like unpleasant feelings.Someone, who minds such stuff, wont be able to eat octopus or shrimps in my former world. I see, all of it was useful. Thank you. (Renya) Once he gives a bow and thanks him for the second time, Renya turns around and heads home.Within his mind he was already coming up with plans how to capture forest octopuses. That means, its decided to hunt forest octopuses and such while at the same time carrying out the guilds request. (Renya) Returning to the house, Renya announced that to Shion and Rona.Renya sums up the conversation in the guild to the two, who wish for an explanation of Renyas story, that suddenly skips several steps ahead. Ah, that, huh? That is certainly a delicacy. (Shion) Once Shion said that while nodding, Rona also agreed. On top of the number not being that many in comparison to the size of the forest, they wont often appear on the market since they live in a place, where monsters appear. Because it can be said that adventurers, who sell them whole to restaurants and bars, are the sole supply-route, the prices are quite expensive, for that. Since the profit as business will disappear, if a large amount of them is caught, you might get them at a wholesale store, but there arent many merchants dealing with them since their number on the market is too low, Shion grumbles. Going only by my count, I havent eaten them much, but they are certainly delicious. They are tasty, if you put half-dried, thin slices into salad, pickle them or cook them with a finely cut produce called Western Alos. (Rona) Alos? (Renya) Ummm its the raw material of sake and vinegar. Its a white, small-grained corn. (Rona) Rona says while placing her finger on her chin as if recalling a memory.Although Renya made sure to not show the shock, he received in his mind, on his face, it required all of his will power.Isnt that likely rice, he wondered.Although he might have lost his memories, Renya is originally a Japanese.He can fill his belly with bread and pasta as well, but he was a man, who wants to eat rice, if its possible to do so.He resolved himself that he likely wont be able to eat it anymore as this is a different world, however, once he thought properly about it, there is ordinary wheat flour. Since vinegar itself is appearing on the market, you can only call it obvious for rice, which is its raw material, to be there.(T/N: I wonder, do Japanese make everything out of rice? Vinegar is commonly made out of wine or other alcoholic beverages in the first place)While feeling slight disappointment due to his own carelessness, Renya tries to stress that its a story, which has proper gains even if carried out as job. Since the guild will provide a reward for the monster subjugation, even if we dont capture it for example, its a job that will at least turn into money, if we clear absolutely all of it. (Renya) Its not bad. (Shion) Once Shion replied like that and as there wasnt anyone against it either, they quickly decided up to the point of departing in two days. Chapter 47 Chapter 47 C It seems to be travelling into the forest for the request This forest, without having been given a specific name, was simply an area called a forest.According to Shion, There isnt anything particular unusual in it either, its just a forest, she told, but upon Renyas diagnosis,it takes around around 1 hour to slowly walk from one end to the other end of the city of Kukrika, therefore I believe it to be around 4 km in total.In other words, if you consider Kukrikas square measure to be around 16 km2, hasnt this forest, which is several times that, around 60 km2 C 80 km2 in just its square measure?Because it will be at least called a sea of trees, if it even has 30 km2 in my former world, to call this forest, which boasts twice that square measure, a simple forest is a pointless gap between different worlds, Renya feels.However, going by Shions groups point of view, if its the Miasma Forest, which is the place where Renya descended for the first time into this world, its size extends the size of this forest by several hundred times. Thus it seems it that the people consider it to not be something to the degree of receiving a name.Usually almost no people enter the forest. It appeared to be a quiet forest, but just now quite a number of people entered inside and a somewhat noisy mood of various people drifted about. Just how many parties are going to participate in this? (Renya) Pressing his hands against his hips, Renya, in a different appearance than usual, raised his voice in amazement.The hem of the long coat, with its base colour being black, is an elaborately made article with silver embroidery at its edges.With his trousers also having the basic colour of black, he is wearing his usual leather breastplate and arm protectors on top of that. In addition, he has boots, which were reinforced with iron plates, equipped.The clothes were made by Frau in the night before their departure and presented by her to him.While looking at Shion relentlessly thrusting her elbow into Rona, who tilted her head to the side unable to read the situation as she was wondering whether it was necessary for fairies to sleep, Renya, who received that, ended up unintentionally staring at Frau without knowing what kind of material was used just by touching it.According to the points explained by Frau while she was bashfully rubbing her hands together as she was stared at by Renya, the speciality of silkies is related to clothes to begin with. Theres no one as superior as them when it comes to the treatment of fibre.This Frau, using the fiber grasses she has been cultivating in the garden and the thread of a certain creature, which is living there, has created a cloth with the compiled thread by matching it with her own mana, Frau explained proudly.It couldnt be helped that the gazes of everyone except Frau, turned towards the garden for some reason or another.If you only looked, it was a slightly big garden of a mansion around there and had a kind of unchanging, ordinary scenery, butjust what the heck is going on in this garden, everyones thoughts aligned pretty much. Silkworms? (Shion) Shion asked while considering for it to likely not be that different, however her question was denied on the spot by Frau. Its different ~no. The texture of the silk is better ~no. However, its toughness falls behind ~no. (Frau) Putting aside the durability, is toughness really necessary for clothes?Everyone present at that place wondered about that. But that could be only deemed as something natural.Besides, Frau, who doesnt realize that, begins to passionately explain about the toughness of the clothes, she passed to Renya.If you believe her words completely, they possess a certain degree of heat-resistance and cold-resistance and in addition they are self-purifying, albeit only slightly. They possess a self-repair function. While being cloth, it defends against sudden impacts by causing a reversible hardening. It has the effect of considerably lowering the sharpness of edged weapons and protects against blades by letting them slip.With the effects being a cheat for something you have someone else use as simple clothes, they are moreover massively overspeced. Isnt that something precious? (Renya) He felt anxious about the origin of the materials, but more than that, Renya was worried whether Frau hadnt done something unreasonable. However, Frau smiled. No problem ~no. Its something of the level that it can be made again, even if it gets torn ~nano. (Frau) Hearing that the same thing can be created once again, Shion and Rona make difficult faces.If thats the truth, its not unlikely for it to become a situation in which the citys dry-goods stores hang themselves altogether. I see. Thank you. (Renya) Giving her his thanks, Renya strokes Fraus head.Shion looked at Frau, who receives that in bliss, while squeezing and biting her handkerchief for some reason, but Renya pretended to not notice that.Being seen off by Fraus smile and with this and that, Renyas group arrived at the forest, however they have started to setting loose a feeling of disappointment unable to hope for much loot with big number of preceding visitors.Where profitability is concerned by just hunting more and more, adventurers, who are extremely fond of money, shouldnt have any restraints.Even though they are still in the vicinity of the forests entrance, the struggle for prey has already started. As quarrels between parties are apparently occurring, that only spurs on the clamouring. It might be difficult to hunt in the outer circumference parts. (Shion) Looking through the gaps in the trees, Shion says while watching with a sidelong glance a group disputing over something.What is lying at their feet is the corpse of a kobold, which is a monster walking on two legs with a dog head.Its a monster at a level that the magic stone, which can be looted, is inferior to that of a goblin, but its a truly unproductive view of them quarrelling over stuff like who brought it down and how much goes to who. Do you have an idea where the forest octopuses live? (Renya) Basically, it should be close to water. They are amphibian? (Renya) I dont quite understand that word, Renya, but they appear to hate for their body to get dry. Then go back underwater, he ended up thinking instinctively, however he reconsiders whether his own part to play a role in would disappear since it would be the job of fishermen to catch them then. Lets catch them in the centre of the forest then as its a location that has quite a few swamps in its surroundings. Swamps, eh? Likely those were filled with stagnated water. Once he ends up thinking that its probably a scenery you cant call clean by any standard, his feelings get depressed and complicated, too.Assuming its a source of a river, its probably usable. Also, if the supply of ingredients ends up smelling of mud and is filthy like the other day, I wont have much motivation to go to that place.Without a map, its extremely hard to walk straightforward in a forest without a path.Although intending to go straight ahead, one will end up slightly straying to either left or right, but miraculously Shions intuition-like sense works for such things? If she instructs to go straightforward this way, they advance straightforward just like that.Due to Rona muttering Probably its something wild boar-like?, Shion retorts (tsukkomi) with a backhand blow even though it causes quite the loud sound while heading towards the heart of the forest as the one being in charge of leading them.Walking for around 1 hour while pushing their way through the undergrowth, they seem to have gotten quite close to the centre. And then the sea of trees parted.In a slightly opened space, a swamp, which was hidden by slightly greenish water, appears.Bending his knees at the waterfront, he gently tries to touch the water with his finger.Renya frowns due to the bit slimy sensation, but even as he brings his nose to the wet fingertip,the level of smelling like mud is just minute, the water doesnt seem to be as dirty as I expected.However, its mostly impossible to use it as drinking water, Renya judged.It didnt look like the sliminess and stench will disappear, even with boiling and filtering.Once he looks up to the sky, he can see a blue sky as if it was torn wide open only at that place.From within the sea of trees you couldnt see the sky as the leaves and branches have grown far too thickly.Although Renya couldnt see the sun, he guesses that theres probably still time until sunset going by the blueness of the sky. Since we came here with the schedule of 2 days and 1 night, its necessary to build a camp-site, but I want to do some hunting. With a large amount of adventurers having entered the forest, it might be difficult since theres no presence of monsters. Shion looks sullen.Thanks to stepping into the forest to some extent, the level of tumult in the outer parts was gone, but the monsters, who were hunted and driven away, are probably patiently enduring for the storm to pass by running about trying to escape or holding their breath. It might be more efficient to aim for one shot at a big prey, rather than earning income by hunting several small game. Even if you hunt more than 100 goblins, they wouldnt result in a big amount of money. Renya says while recalling the defensive battle in the pioneers village. Renya, adventurers, who said such things and died, theres too many to count. (Shion) Being rebuked by Shion, Renya ducked his head.As the argument is far too sound, theres no room to object.He picks up pebbles at his feet while getting up.Mmh? While Shion throws a puzzled look at him, Renya threw the picked-up pebbles into the thickets a bit away by exercising wrist snaps.Renya, who confirmed a faint response and a small, high-pitched cry, takes out a knife from his bosom and heads towards the thicket, where he threw a stone.A light brown furball, having hair as if its a bundle, cowered there.Given that it apparently fainted due to being hit on the head by the thrown pebble, Renya finishes it off by stabbing the vicinity, where he believes to be the head, with his knife for the time being. Giant rat, huh? Its a big catch. It was a rat with a length of around 50 cm, once he lifts it with his foot. This is a monster, too? (Renya) No, thats an animal. No magic stone is created in its body. The distinction between monsters and animals is the differentiation whether they have a magic stone in their bodies or not. By the way, forest octopuses are? (Renya) Seen from Renya view, either, be it animals or monsters, was fine with him, but he tries asking going with the flow. Its an animal. It doesnt possess a magic stone. But even without that, its ferocious and attacks even people once in a while. While believing that he likely wouldnt be able to differentiate them by only their outward appearance with him being a person from another world, Renya dropped the body of the giant rat on the ground and began to briskly dismantle it.At first Renya wanted to eat it since he took the trouble to hunt it, however its not necessary to be unreasonable since there are things, they brought from the city, for food.Since thats the case, the most efficient utilization method here is to scatter it as bait for the sake of capturing forest octopuses.The adventurer, who gave him that information, said that goblins would be good, however unfortunately those goblins are in the midst of being over-hunted by money-hungry adventurers.He considered to even ask them to give him just a corpse, but he hasnt felt good about them investigating his true motive by asking what hes planning or what for he wants to use it.If he had the intention to eat it, he should first behead it and then hang it up upside down to drain the blood, but since according to the information, he heard at the guild, the forest octopuses are lured by smell, he deliberately doesnt drain the blood. Once he suitably chops it up roughly, the vicinity begins to be enveloped in the smell of blood.Its different when its only forest octopuses, but there might come other monsters being drawn in by the blood scent, he thought, but believing that it will be probably fine if they get the reward for hunting those at that time, he leaves the smell as it is.Next Renya takes out a shovel, he got in the city, from his inventory and starts to dig a hole barely at the shore of the waterfront.Observing Renya, who began to dig a hole, Shion, who somehow felt that today will end with this much work, started to construct a tent in a place slightly away.If she plants the tent too close, they will loose sleep in case something was in the swamp. Since its something unpleasant for people to think about how wet a swamp is, she apparently kept a distance taking those points into account.The soil at the waterfront was soft. Renya opened a hole, with a depth that a person could get into it up to the hips, without having that much trouble digging it.He buries a tall jar, he took out from his inventory, in this place.Returning the dug-out soil to the surroundings of the jar, he covers it up so that only the opening part peeked out. In the jar are scraps of the giant rats corpse, which was cut into pieces. He poured in a little bit of the swamps water.The octopus jar, land version, is completed.Renya completes about 10 sets of the same thing at a distance, where the light likely wont reach, even if they used fire at the camp-site.Originally the correct way of octopus jars is to use them by laying them sideways. To begin with, the jar is prepared as place for the octopuses to hide themselves. Because the original idea is to lure the octopuses to hide in there, bait shouldnt be necessary, but Renya was somehow doing it with half-baked knowledge.If it fails, it will fail, thats the carefree approach he took. If I dont catch forest octopuses, I wont be able to go all out in tomorrows hunt. (Renya) Renya mutters while he looks up at the sky starting to be dyed red, once he noticed it.Even if he was able to catch them for arguments sake, it wouldnt be that much of hunting spoils. It had a trend to become a deficit with the expenses, which were used on the prepared items, but he tries to not think about that as much as possible.Its a life similar to half of it being a bonus.Theres absolutely no necessity to pursue military gains, results or accomplishments.Im sorry for Shion and Rona, with whom Im associating with, however it will be fine for them to leave me on their own accord, if they get fed up with me.Though I will regret it a bit too, Renya laughed weakly so that it wasnt seen by anyone. Chapter 47 C It seems to be travelling into the forest for the request This forest, without having been given a specific name, was simply an area called a forest.According to Shion, There isnt anything particular unusual in it either, its just a forest, she told, but upon Renyas diagnosis,it takes around around 1 hour to slowly walk from one end to the other end of the city of Kukrika, therefore I believe it to be around 4 km in total.In other words, if you consider Kukrikas square measure to be around 16 km2, hasnt this forest, which is several times that, around 60 km2 C 80 km2 in just its square measure?Because it will be at least called a sea of trees, if it even has 30 km2 in my former world, to call this forest, which boasts twice that square measure, a simple forest is a pointless gap between different worlds, Renya feels.However, going by Shions groups point of view, if its the Miasma Forest, which is the place where Renya descended for the first time into this world, its size extends the size of this forest by several hundred times. Thus it seems it that the people consider it to not be something to the degree of receiving a name.Usually almost no people enter the forest. It appeared to be a quiet forest, but just now quite a number of people entered inside and a somewhat noisy mood of various people drifted about. Just how many parties are going to participate in this? (Renya) Pressing his hands against his hips, Renya, in a different appearance than usual, raised his voice in amazement.The hem of the long coat, with its base colour being black, is an elaborately made article with silver embroidery at its edges.With his trousers also having the basic colour of black, he is wearing his usual leather breastplate and arm protectors on top of that. In addition, he has boots, which were reinforced with iron plates, equipped.The clothes were made by Frau in the night before their departure and presented by her to him.While looking at Shion relentlessly thrusting her elbow into Rona, who tilted her head to the side unable to read the situation as she was wondering whether it was necessary for fairies to sleep, Renya, who received that, ended up unintentionally staring at Frau without knowing what kind of material was used just by touching it.According to the points explained by Frau while she was bashfully rubbing her hands together as she was stared at by Renya, the speciality of silkies is related to clothes to begin with. Theres no one as superior as them when it comes to the treatment of fibre.This Frau, using the fiber grasses she has been cultivating in the garden and the thread of a certain creature, which is living there, has created a cloth with the compiled thread by matching it with her own mana, Frau explained proudly.It couldnt be helped that the gazes of everyone except Frau, turned towards the garden for some reason or another.If you only looked, it was a slightly big garden of a mansion around there and had a kind of unchanging, ordinary scenery, butjust what the heck is going on in this garden, everyones thoughts aligned pretty much. Silkworms? (Shion) Shion asked while considering for it to likely not be that different, however her question was denied on the spot by Frau. Its different ~no. The texture of the silk is better ~no. However, its toughness falls behind ~no. (Frau) Putting aside the durability, is toughness really necessary for clothes?Everyone present at that place wondered about that. But that could be only deemed as something natural.Besides, Frau, who doesnt realize that, begins to passionately explain about the toughness of the clothes, she passed to Renya.If you believe her words completely, they possess a certain degree of heat-resistance and cold-resistance and in addition they are self-purifying, albeit only slightly. They possess a self-repair function. While being cloth, it defends against sudden impacts by causing a reversible hardening. It has the effect of considerably lowering the sharpness of edged weapons and protects against blades by letting them slip.With the effects being a cheat for something you have someone else use as simple clothes, they are moreover massively overspeced. Isnt that something precious? (Renya) He felt anxious about the origin of the materials, but more than that, Renya was worried whether Frau hadnt done something unreasonable. However, Frau smiled. No problem ~no. Its something of the level that it can be made again, even if it gets torn ~nano. (Frau) Hearing that the same thing can be created once again, Shion and Rona make difficult faces.If thats the truth, its not unlikely for it to become a situation in which the citys dry-goods stores hang themselves altogether. I see. Thank you. (Renya) Giving her his thanks, Renya strokes Fraus head.Shion looked at Frau, who receives that in bliss, while squeezing and biting her handkerchief for some reason, but Renya pretended to not notice that.Being seen off by Fraus smile and with this and that, Renyas group arrived at the forest, however they have started to setting loose a feeling of disappointment unable to hope for much loot with big number of preceding visitors.Where profitability is concerned by just hunting more and more, adventurers, who are extremely fond of money, shouldnt have any restraints.Even though they are still in the vicinity of the forests entrance, the struggle for prey has already started. As quarrels between parties are apparently occurring, that only spurs on the clamouring. It might be difficult to hunt in the outer circumference parts. (Shion) Looking through the gaps in the trees, Shion says while watching with a sidelong glance a group disputing over something.What is lying at their feet is the corpse of a kobold, which is a monster walking on two legs with a dog head.Its a monster at a level that the magic stone, which can be looted, is inferior to that of a goblin, but its a truly unproductive view of them quarrelling over stuff like who brought it down and how much goes to who. Do you have an idea where the forest octopuses live? (Renya) Basically, it should be close to water. They are amphibian? (Renya) I dont quite understand that word, Renya, but they appear to hate for their body to get dry. Then go back underwater, he ended up thinking instinctively, however he reconsiders whether his own part to play a role in would disappear since it would be the job of fishermen to catch them then. Lets catch them in the centre of the forest then as its a location that has quite a few swamps in its surroundings. Swamps, eh? Likely those were filled with stagnated water. Once he ends up thinking that its probably a scenery you cant call clean by any standard, his feelings get depressed and complicated, too.Assuming its a source of a river, its probably usable. Also, if the supply of ingredients ends up smelling of mud and is filthy like the other day, I wont have much motivation to go to that place.Without a map, its extremely hard to walk straightforward in a forest without a path.Although intending to go straight ahead, one will end up slightly straying to either left or right, but miraculously Shions intuition-like sense works for such things? If she instructs to go straightforward this way, they advance straightforward just like that.Due to Rona muttering Probably its something wild boar-like?, Shion retorts (tsukkomi) with a backhand blow even though it causes quite the loud sound while heading towards the heart of the forest as the one being in charge of leading them.Walking for around 1 hour while pushing their way through the undergrowth, they seem to have gotten quite close to the centre. And then the sea of trees parted.In a slightly opened space, a swamp, which was hidden by slightly greenish water, appears.Bending his knees at the waterfront, he gently tries to touch the water with his finger.Renya frowns due to the bit slimy sensation, but even as he brings his nose to the wet fingertip,the level of smelling like mud is just minute, the water doesnt seem to be as dirty as I expected.However, its mostly impossible to use it as drinking water, Renya judged.It didnt look like the sliminess and stench will disappear, even with boiling and filtering.Once he looks up to the sky, he can see a blue sky as if it was torn wide open only at that place.From within the sea of trees you couldnt see the sky as the leaves and branches have grown far too thickly.Although Renya couldnt see the sun, he guesses that theres probably still time until sunset going by the blueness of the sky. Since we came here with the schedule of 2 days and 1 night, its necessary to build a camp-site, but I want to do some hunting. With a large amount of adventurers having entered the forest, it might be difficult since theres no presence of monsters. Shion looks sullen.Thanks to stepping into the forest to some extent, the level of tumult in the outer parts was gone, but the monsters, who were hunted and driven away, are probably patiently enduring for the storm to pass by running about trying to escape or holding their breath. It might be more efficient to aim for one shot at a big prey, rather than earning income by hunting several small game. Even if you hunt more than 100 goblins, they wouldnt result in a big amount of money. Renya says while recalling the defensive battle in the pioneers village. Renya, adventurers, who said such things and died, theres too many to count. (Shion) Being rebuked by Shion, Renya ducked his head.As the argument is far too sound, theres no room to object.He picks up pebbles at his feet while getting up.Mmh? While Shion throws a puzzled look at him, Renya threw the picked-up pebbles into the thickets a bit away by exercising wrist snaps.Renya, who confirmed a faint response and a small, high-pitched cry, takes out a knife from his bosom and heads towards the thicket, where he threw a stone.A light brown furball, having hair as if its a bundle, cowered there.Given that it apparently fainted due to being hit on the head by the thrown pebble, Renya finishes it off by stabbing the vicinity, where he believes to be the head, with his knife for the time being. Giant rat, huh? Its a big catch. It was a rat with a length of around 50 cm, once he lifts it with his foot. This is a monster, too? (Renya) No, thats an animal. No magic stone is created in its body. The distinction between monsters and animals is the differentiation whether they have a magic stone in their bodies or not. By the way, forest octopuses are? (Renya) Seen from Renya view, either, be it animals or monsters, was fine with him, but he tries asking going with the flow. Its an animal. It doesnt possess a magic stone. But even without that, its ferocious and attacks even people once in a while. While believing that he likely wouldnt be able to differentiate them by only their outward appearance with him being a person from another world, Renya dropped the body of the giant rat on the ground and began to briskly dismantle it.At first Renya wanted to eat it since he took the trouble to hunt it, however its not necessary to be unreasonable since there are things, they brought from the city, for food.Since thats the case, the most efficient utilization method here is to scatter it as bait for the sake of capturing forest octopuses.The adventurer, who gave him that information, said that goblins would be good, however unfortunately those goblins are in the midst of being over-hunted by money-hungry adventurers.He considered to even ask them to give him just a corpse, but he hasnt felt good about them investigating his true motive by asking what hes planning or what for he wants to use it.If he had the intention to eat it, he should first behead it and then hang it up upside down to drain the blood, but since according to the information, he heard at the guild, the forest octopuses are lured by smell, he deliberately doesnt drain the blood. Once he suitably chops it up roughly, the vicinity begins to be enveloped in the smell of blood.Its different when its only forest octopuses, but there might come other monsters being drawn in by the blood scent, he thought, but believing that it will be probably fine if they get the reward for hunting those at that time, he leaves the smell as it is.Next Renya takes out a shovel, he got in the city, from his inventory and starts to dig a hole barely at the shore of the waterfront.Observing Renya, who began to dig a hole, Shion, who somehow felt that today will end with this much work, started to construct a tent in a place slightly away.If she plants the tent too close, they will loose sleep in case something was in the swamp. Since its something unpleasant for people to think about how wet a swamp is, she apparently kept a distance taking those points into account.The soil at the waterfront was soft. Renya opened a hole, with a depth that a person could get into it up to the hips, without having that much trouble digging it.He buries a tall jar, he took out from his inventory, in this place.Returning the dug-out soil to the surroundings of the jar, he covers it up so that only the opening part peeked out. In the jar are scraps of the giant rats corpse, which was cut into pieces. He poured in a little bit of the swamps water.The octopus jar, land version, is completed.Renya completes about 10 sets of the same thing at a distance, where the light likely wont reach, even if they used fire at the camp-site.Originally the correct way of octopus jars is to use them by laying them sideways. To begin with, the jar is prepared as place for the octopuses to hide themselves. Because the original idea is to lure the octopuses to hide in there, bait shouldnt be necessary, but Renya was somehow doing it with half-baked knowledge.If it fails, it will fail, thats the carefree approach he took. If I dont catch forest octopuses, I wont be able to go all out in tomorrows hunt. (Renya) Renya mutters while he looks up at the sky starting to be dyed red, once he noticed it.Even if he was able to catch them for arguments sake, it wouldnt be that much of hunting spoils. It had a trend to become a deficit with the expenses, which were used on the prepared items, but he tries to not think about that as much as possible.Its a life similar to half of it being a bonus.Theres absolutely no necessity to pursue military gains, results or accomplishments.Im sorry for Shion and Rona, with whom Im associating with, however it will be fine for them to leave me on their own accord, if they get fed up with me.Though I will regret it a bit too, Renya laughed weakly so that it wasnt seen by anyone. Chapter 48 Chapter 48 C It seems to be the night in the forest Night, inside the tent.Renya lightly opened his eyes catching a weak sound.Being satisfied with the comfortable warmth within the sleeping bag, he relaxed his attention and was about to sink into sleep once again, but somehow he preserved in keeping his eyes open.There were the sounds of the cackling camp fire bursting open outside the tent and he could see its glow slowly swaying through the tents wall.As only one tent was set up this time as well in the end, Renya almost ended up repeating the conversation, he had with Shion and Rona last time at the dungeon capture.With the result being the same as last time too, Renya declared Sooner or later I will really assault you! in desperation, however Rona beckoned him with a composed smile and Shion didnt reply with a clear refusal, as she slightly blushed.Although Renya tried saying Your taste in men is quite bad!, it likely didnt appear as anything but a losers whining.Self-destruction, you can call it blowing himself up.The order to stand watch was decided to be Renya, Rona and then Shion.Renya opposed that as being probably too hard on Rona, but since Rona ended up explaining As Shion will cling to you again anyway, I can tear off Shion from Renya, if its this order, and will be able to change shifts with her. Also, if something happened, it would be possible to mobilize swiftly, he was unable to object any further, once he looked at Shion.As for Shion, who was smiling while scratching her head with a Ehehehe, he couldnt see even a tiny sign of remorse.It seems that the event of clinging to me has already been decided.Renya tightened his fist to hit her once for the time being, however once he was asserted by Rona of the side benefits, he lost even his will to hit her and they settled on that order.Extracting his upper half from the sleeping bag, he can vaguely see the figure of Rona, who completely wrapped herself up in the sleeping bag, wholeheartedly sleeping with a peaceful sleepers breath, once he looks to his side.Rona being next to him means that the current period of time is when Shion is standing guard.At the moment he crawled out from the sleeping bag and put on the tunic and sword belt, he took off for his sleep, the tents entrance was quietly opened and Shion stuck just her head into the tent. You havent done it? (Shion) Renya regarded her with futile killing intent due to her voice somehow enduring a laughter, but he controlled himself with an effort there. I will cut you and send you flying. You what happened? (Renya) For the sake of threatening her he shows her the slightly unsheathed katana, however didnt Shion comprehend it or was it that obviously a threat? She wasnt shaken at all and only grinned at him. Pass it off as light joke. Somehow it feels like the forest has become noisy. (Shinon) Are you prepared for the day to come when your head goes flying due to those jokes? So, noisy, you say? (Renya) I dont know, I feel it somehow vaguely. It makes me uneasy. (Shion) Shion called her own feeling ambiguous with little confidence, but Renya immediately shook the sleeping Rona next to him awake.While releasing a small yawn, Rona opens her eyes. Whats wrong? (Rona) Although she looks drowsy, one cant sense any sleepiness in her voice.As expected of a former knight, Renya ends up admiring her. Shion sensed some unusual event. Its indefinite information, but we should try to check it. (Renya) Alright. (Rona) With that curt answer, Rona carelessly extracts her upper body half from the sleeping bag.Rona, who took off her usual priestess garb for sleeping, wears only her underwear. Given that two objects, which were very thick and heavy accompanied by a swaying, made their appearance with a *burun* in front of their eyes without any kind of preface, Shions and Renyas looks got glued to them involuntarily. No, wait. Leaving me aside, why even you, Shion? (Renya) Ah, just those are somehow amazing, you know. (Shion) Theres no feeling of tension, eh? (Rona) While laughing with a pleasant, high-pitched sound, Rona, without even minding at all being stared at by those two, began to quickly put on her equipment.Should I call it as expected of an adventurer or of a former knight? Anyway, its too early to make up my mind to resign myself here. We will vacate the camp-site and investigate the vicinity. Extinguish the camp-fire. I will create a light with lowered intensity. (Renya) Renya, what will you do about the jars? (Shion) Being asked by Shion, Renyas face distorts in mortification.He didnt want to easily leave behind the jars, he laid out at great pains. I want to recover them, but we probably dont have such spare time. (Renya) Isnt it fine, if you want to retrieve them? Lets dig them up. (Shion) Shion, who readily declared that, says Lend me a shovel and holds out her hand towards Renya.Renya is hesitating whether such thing is really alright. Its not a particularly urgent situation either. Isnt it fine? (Rona) Thats right, time is too valuable to be wavering around, Renya. (Shion) Since even Rona held out her hand while saying Please lend me a shovel as well, he takes out two shovels from his inventory while pondering whether its truly fine like that and hands them over. Well, then we will dig up the jars. (Shion) Please dismantle the tent, Renya. (Rona) As soon as they said that, the two step up to the planted jars and start to them dig up without even waiting for Renyas answer.Renya, who came to the conclusion that time is too valuable to say anything about it, begins his work of folding the tent and tossing it into his inventory right away. Uwaa, Renya! Something disgusting has entered! Hey, you! Dont stick to me! (Shion) The little ones or the large ones, you have the choice, you know. (Rona) While being drained of strength as theres truly no feeling of tension, Renya took out further clothes and strings from his inventory. Please cover the jars openings with the clothes and tie them with a string. I will store them away in my void storage afterwards. (Renya) Got it, Renya. Isnt it a splendidly big catch? (Shion) It was worth it that we came here, you know. (Rona) Though Id like to say that as well. You guys have really no feeling of tension (Renya) Compared to him being told that they are difficult to find, a wonderful amount of large and small octopuses settled in the planted jars.Were they lured by the bait? Or is it their habit to gather and rest like that to begin with?Renya wasnt able to reach a conclusion,however since its a nice thing to have a big catch, I guess its unnecessary to mind it either way.Its like that because the adventurers arent deliberately aiming for the forest octopuses. Isnt the cause of the big catch triggered by them having absolutely no wariness towards traps, or rather gadgets as there doesnt seem to be any dedicated hunters for those?Renya conjectured.He throws the sealed jars into his inventory.Theres a single problem in regards to this, at the time Renya made various attempts in his free time, he wasnt able to store living creatures into his storage as it is.Even if he was able to store away plucked flowers, storing away potted flowers was impossible.However, theres a loophole. If he packed them properly into a casing, he was able to store them away as they were treated as Box: .If I properly put a person into a box, I might be able to store them away as well as they will probably be treated as Box: .Since he couldnt simply ask Rona and Shion to be packed into a box for a bit, as expected, it was currently at the stage of guessing though. So, what will be our next move after this, Renya? (Shion) Shion asks Renya, who tossed the jars into his inventory. First we will slowly move towards the outer circumference. Immediately report, if you you find or sense something strange. (Renya) Though I have been the one saying it. Is it good to make a move based on such vague information? (Shion) Although it was her, who said that she feels uneasy, that doesnt mean that theres definitely something.Shion doesnt seem to be able to comprehend Renyas action of vacating the camp-site and moving upon such unreliable talk in addition to Ronas behaviour of not complaining at all. It would be nice, if there was nothing. Then there wont be any kind of problem either. (Renya) Without chanting he activated the spell on his palm in a state of lowered illumination.As he tried this out in a part of his training, Renya recently noticed that it has a proper practical use because he will be able to make sure that the light doesnt leak elsewhere, if he grasps it with his hand at the time of actually using it.He activates the same thing on Shions and Ronas palms as well. The problem would be when something happened. If someone senses something strange, we will cope with it more or less. You might regard this as timidity, but if Im able to evade danger to my life by only being laughed at for being timid, then I will gladly accept being a coward. (Renya) Such a coward? (Shion) Well, you know. I dont know stuff like the common opinion. (Renya) Even if it is a talk about his odd common sense and principles, Renya is unable to react in any other way than being troubled.He doesnt know what he might have done, if it was his previous life, as he has no recollection of that. He hasnt found another method either.Maybe his previous existence might point at the current him and laugh, if he saw him now.Also, it cannot be helped that he has thought something like that several times. The chatting ends here. Lets move. (Renya) Roger. (Rona & Shion) After he sees both of them nodding at the same time, Renya begins to walk while leading the group.Even if theres moonlight and even if it enters the forest, the light mostly doesnt reach the ground.As expected, even Renya, without being able to see things in the current state of there being hardly any light, has no choice but to advance by mostly fumbling around while depending on the weak illumination from his palm. Naturally the walking pace has become slow.Moreover it was also necessary to pay attention to the rear.Is this also a result from training?Although Rona was apparently able to move to a certain extent, Shion was a complete novice in regards to moving within darkness.Watching her groaning from being hit on her face and head by low branches several times as she is unable to walk adequately with only the field of vision, secured by the palms weak light, Renya grabs Shions shoulder. Renya (Shion) Put your hand on my shoulder and keep up with me. Dont grasp my clothes? It will become a hindrance at the time I have to suddenly move. (Renya) Im sorry. Thank you. (Shion) Shion apologizes while gently placing her hand on Renyas shoulder.Renya, who lightly taps that hand, said, You will eventually get used to it. Such stuff is a matter of experience. (Renya) Experience, huh..? Thats right. Once you are able to do it, you can answer Im able to do it for some reason, I guess to the question Why are you able to do it? Skills and their likes are those kind of things. (Renya) In the first place, I wont be able to answer, even if you ask me about the common sense of something like the trick of being able to act at night-time. Once Renya said that, Shion laughed. Renya, I want to hold onto your shoulder as well. (Rona) Rona, who enviously observed Shion walking while holding onto Renya, tells him, however Renya completely ignores that. Renya~! (Rona) Be silent, youre annoying. Arent you capable of walking even without help? (Renya) Its a problem of my feelings~ (Rona) If I drag both of you along, I wont be able to mov wait a bit. (Renya) Cutting off his words in the middle, Renya calls Ronas attention.Even Rona, who was complaining with a grumbling, immediately held her tongue and followed Renyas look.On top of being unable to follow the suddenly changed atmosphere of the two, Shion lets her gaze roam around as she doesnt know in which direction the twos attention lies. Something stirred. It was fairly big. (Renya) Even though Renya couldnt clearly look ahead with his field of vision, he noticed that something was moving around.That appeared to be the same for Rona, too. I have a feeling that it made a metallic sound. Is it a person? (Rona) Eh? Which way? Where?`(Shion) In order for Shion, who is unable to recognize it, to follow, Renya points the light on his palm in the direction where he felt like saw something moving.In his back Rona extinguished the light she was grabbing in her hand. That way. Do you see it? (Renya) Shion strained her eyes fixedly for a short while, but in the end she shook her head. Sorry, I cant see anything. (Shion) Its not something you will be able to grasp within a brief time. (Renya) Renya says to comfort Shion, who has dropped her shoulders feeling despondent. Renya, it seems to be heading over there. (Rona) Nicely seen. Do you know something about the other party? (Renya) Im sorry to say I think that its probably a person, but any more than that in this darkness, thats a bit (Rona) Renya hesitates.If we increase the illumination, we will likely know what the other party is right away, however if it was a dangerous being, the act of increasing the illumination would warn that being and draw it to us.If its like that, theres also the means of letting the other party pass by without increasing the illumination, but the other partys direction of movement seems to overlap with ours. If the other party was actually something thats able to infer the state of its surroundings even without relying on its visual field, it would become an one-sided disadvantage for only us.Did the other party draw considerably closer to Renyas group while he was pondering this and that? It reached the point that the sounds of firmly stepping through the undergrowth could be heard by Renyas group. What shall we do, Renya? (Rona) Lets increase the illumination. We will check out the other party. If it is something dangerous, we will run away with all of our strength. Is that fine? (Renya) Understood. (Rona) I leave the decision to you, Renya. Will you do the timing to increase the illumination, Renya? (Shion) Yea, also, if it gets too close, it will become troublesome at the moment when we want to run away. I will give you a signal. (Renya) After exchanging those words in a whisper, Renya fixedly stares into the almost total darkness.I wont be able to see it, even by increasing the illumination, if its too far away. If its too close, we will very likely be unable to get away once its time to run away.While considering the balance of those two aspects, Renya, who judged that its probably fine around here, called out to the two in his back. Make sure to be able to escape at any time. I will increase the illumination. Shade your eyes with your hands so that you dont look directly into the light source. You will get disoriented. (Renya) After ascertaining that both of them have covered their eyes with one hand, Renya cast the spell towards a branch in the grove of trees, which was as far away from them as possible.The fair amount of intensity, which was set to the usual continuation period, brightly shines within the nights forest and allows to see the state of affairs in the vicinity.Seeing something, which was bathed within the illumination of that light, Shion gulped and Rona prevented to leak her voice by holding her own mouth. Chapter 48 C It seems to be the night in the forest Night, inside the tent.Renya lightly opened his eyes catching a weak sound.Being satisfied with the comfortable warmth within the sleeping bag, he relaxed his attention and was about to sink into sleep once again, but somehow he preserved in keeping his eyes open.There were the sounds of the cackling camp fire bursting open outside the tent and he could see its glow slowly swaying through the tents wall.As only one tent was set up this time as well in the end, Renya almost ended up repeating the conversation, he had with Shion and Rona last time at the dungeon capture.With the result being the same as last time too, Renya declared Sooner or later I will really assault you! in desperation, however Rona beckoned him with a composed smile and Shion didnt reply with a clear refusal, as she slightly blushed.Although Renya tried saying Your taste in men is quite bad!, it likely didnt appear as anything but a losers whining.Self-destruction, you can call it blowing himself up.The order to stand watch was decided to be Renya, Rona and then Shion.Renya opposed that as being probably too hard on Rona, but since Rona ended up explaining As Shion will cling to you again anyway, I can tear off Shion from Renya, if its this order, and will be able to change shifts with her. Also, if something happened, it would be possible to mobilize swiftly, he was unable to object any further, once he looked at Shion.As for Shion, who was smiling while scratching her head with a Ehehehe, he couldnt see even a tiny sign of remorse.It seems that the event of clinging to me has already been decided.Renya tightened his fist to hit her once for the time being, however once he was asserted by Rona of the side benefits, he lost even his will to hit her and they settled on that order.Extracting his upper half from the sleeping bag, he can vaguely see the figure of Rona, who completely wrapped herself up in the sleeping bag, wholeheartedly sleeping with a peaceful sleepers breath, once he looks to his side.Rona being next to him means that the current period of time is when Shion is standing guard.At the moment he crawled out from the sleeping bag and put on the tunic and sword belt, he took off for his sleep, the tents entrance was quietly opened and Shion stuck just her head into the tent. You havent done it? (Shion) Renya regarded her with futile killing intent due to her voice somehow enduring a laughter, but he controlled himself with an effort there. I will cut you and send you flying. You what happened? (Renya) For the sake of threatening her he shows her the slightly unsheathed katana, however didnt Shion comprehend it or was it that obviously a threat? She wasnt shaken at all and only grinned at him. Pass it off as light joke. Somehow it feels like the forest has become noisy. (Shinon) Are you prepared for the day to come when your head goes flying due to those jokes? So, noisy, you say? (Renya) I dont know, I feel it somehow vaguely. It makes me uneasy. (Shion) Shion called her own feeling ambiguous with little confidence, but Renya immediately shook the sleeping Rona next to him awake.While releasing a small yawn, Rona opens her eyes. Whats wrong? (Rona) Although she looks drowsy, one cant sense any sleepiness in her voice.As expected of a former knight, Renya ends up admiring her. Shion sensed some unusual event. Its indefinite information, but we should try to check it. (Renya) Alright. (Rona) With that curt answer, Rona carelessly extracts her upper body half from the sleeping bag.Rona, who took off her usual priestess garb for sleeping, wears only her underwear. Given that two objects, which were very thick and heavy accompanied by a swaying, made their appearance with a *burun* in front of their eyes without any kind of preface, Shions and Renyas looks got glued to them involuntarily. No, wait. Leaving me aside, why even you, Shion? (Renya) Ah, just those are somehow amazing, you know. (Shion) Theres no feeling of tension, eh? (Rona) While laughing with a pleasant, high-pitched sound, Rona, without even minding at all being stared at by those two, began to quickly put on her equipment.Should I call it as expected of an adventurer or of a former knight? Anyway, its too early to make up my mind to resign myself here. We will vacate the camp-site and investigate the vicinity. Extinguish the camp-fire. I will create a light with lowered intensity. (Renya) Renya, what will you do about the jars? (Shion) Being asked by Shion, Renyas face distorts in mortification.He didnt want to easily leave behind the jars, he laid out at great pains. I want to recover them, but we probably dont have such spare time. (Renya) Isnt it fine, if you want to retrieve them? Lets dig them up. (Shion) Shion, who readily declared that, says Lend me a shovel and holds out her hand towards Renya.Renya is hesitating whether such thing is really alright. Its not a particularly urgent situation either. Isnt it fine? (Rona) Thats right, time is too valuable to be wavering around, Renya. (Shion) Since even Rona held out her hand while saying Please lend me a shovel as well, he takes out two shovels from his inventory while pondering whether its truly fine like that and hands them over. Well, then we will dig up the jars. (Shion) Please dismantle the tent, Renya. (Rona) As soon as they said that, the two step up to the planted jars and start to them dig up without even waiting for Renyas answer.Renya, who came to the conclusion that time is too valuable to say anything about it, begins his work of folding the tent and tossing it into his inventory right away. Uwaa, Renya! Something disgusting has entered! Hey, you! Dont stick to me! (Shion) The little ones or the large ones, you have the choice, you know. (Rona) While being drained of strength as theres truly no feeling of tension, Renya took out further clothes and strings from his inventory. Please cover the jars openings with the clothes and tie them with a string. I will store them away in my void storage afterwards. (Renya) Got it, Renya. Isnt it a splendidly big catch? (Shion) It was worth it that we came here, you know. (Rona) Though Id like to say that as well. You guys have really no feeling of tension (Renya) Compared to him being told that they are difficult to find, a wonderful amount of large and small octopuses settled in the planted jars.Were they lured by the bait? Or is it their habit to gather and rest like that to begin with?Renya wasnt able to reach a conclusion,however since its a nice thing to have a big catch, I guess its unnecessary to mind it either way.Its like that because the adventurers arent deliberately aiming for the forest octopuses. Isnt the cause of the big catch triggered by them having absolutely no wariness towards traps, or rather gadgets as there doesnt seem to be any dedicated hunters for those?Renya conjectured.He throws the sealed jars into his inventory.Theres a single problem in regards to this, at the time Renya made various attempts in his free time, he wasnt able to store living creatures into his storage as it is.Even if he was able to store away plucked flowers, storing away potted flowers was impossible.However, theres a loophole. If he packed them properly into a casing, he was able to store them away as they were treated as Box: .If I properly put a person into a box, I might be able to store them away as well as they will probably be treated as Box: .Since he couldnt simply ask Rona and Shion to be packed into a box for a bit, as expected, it was currently at the stage of guessing though. So, what will be our next move after this, Renya? (Shion) Shion asks Renya, who tossed the jars into his inventory. First we will slowly move towards the outer circumference. Immediately report, if you you find or sense something strange. (Renya) Though I have been the one saying it. Is it good to make a move based on such vague information? (Shion) Although it was her, who said that she feels uneasy, that doesnt mean that theres definitely something.Shion doesnt seem to be able to comprehend Renyas action of vacating the camp-site and moving upon such unreliable talk in addition to Ronas behaviour of not complaining at all. It would be nice, if there was nothing. Then there wont be any kind of problem either. (Renya) Without chanting he activated the spell on his palm in a state of lowered illumination.As he tried this out in a part of his training, Renya recently noticed that it has a proper practical use because he will be able to make sure that the light doesnt leak elsewhere, if he grasps it with his hand at the time of actually using it.He activates the same thing on Shions and Ronas palms as well. The problem would be when something happened. If someone senses something strange, we will cope with it more or less. You might regard this as timidity, but if Im able to evade danger to my life by only being laughed at for being timid, then I will gladly accept being a coward. (Renya) Such a coward? (Shion) Well, you know. I dont know stuff like the common opinion. (Renya) Even if it is a talk about his odd common sense and principles, Renya is unable to react in any other way than being troubled.He doesnt know what he might have done, if it was his previous life, as he has no recollection of that. He hasnt found another method either.Maybe his previous existence might point at the current him and laugh, if he saw him now.Also, it cannot be helped that he has thought something like that several times. The chatting ends here. Lets move. (Renya) Roger. (Rona & Shion) After he sees both of them nodding at the same time, Renya begins to walk while leading the group.Even if theres moonlight and even if it enters the forest, the light mostly doesnt reach the ground.As expected, even Renya, without being able to see things in the current state of there being hardly any light, has no choice but to advance by mostly fumbling around while depending on the weak illumination from his palm. Naturally the walking pace has become slow.Moreover it was also necessary to pay attention to the rear.Is this also a result from training?Although Rona was apparently able to move to a certain extent, Shion was a complete novice in regards to moving within darkness.Watching her groaning from being hit on her face and head by low branches several times as she is unable to walk adequately with only the field of vision, secured by the palms weak light, Renya grabs Shions shoulder. Renya (Shion) Put your hand on my shoulder and keep up with me. Dont grasp my clothes? It will become a hindrance at the time I have to suddenly move. (Renya) Im sorry. Thank you. (Shion) Shion apologizes while gently placing her hand on Renyas shoulder.Renya, who lightly taps that hand, said, You will eventually get used to it. Such stuff is a matter of experience. (Renya) Experience, huh..? Thats right. Once you are able to do it, you can answer Im able to do it for some reason, I guess to the question Why are you able to do it? Skills and their likes are those kind of things. (Renya) In the first place, I wont be able to answer, even if you ask me about the common sense of something like the trick of being able to act at night-time. Once Renya said that, Shion laughed. Renya, I want to hold onto your shoulder as well. (Rona) Rona, who enviously observed Shion walking while holding onto Renya, tells him, however Renya completely ignores that. Renya~! (Rona) Be silent, youre annoying. Arent you capable of walking even without help? (Renya) Its a problem of my feelings~ (Rona) If I drag both of you along, I wont be able to mov wait a bit. (Renya) Cutting off his words in the middle, Renya calls Ronas attention.Even Rona, who was complaining with a grumbling, immediately held her tongue and followed Renyas look.On top of being unable to follow the suddenly changed atmosphere of the two, Shion lets her gaze roam around as she doesnt know in which direction the twos attention lies. Something stirred. It was fairly big. (Renya) Even though Renya couldnt clearly look ahead with his field of vision, he noticed that something was moving around.That appeared to be the same for Rona, too. I have a feeling that it made a metallic sound. Is it a person? (Rona) Eh? Which way? Where?`(Shion) In order for Shion, who is unable to recognize it, to follow, Renya points the light on his palm in the direction where he felt like saw something moving.In his back Rona extinguished the light she was grabbing in her hand. That way. Do you see it? (Renya) Shion strained her eyes fixedly for a short while, but in the end she shook her head. Sorry, I cant see anything. (Shion) Its not something you will be able to grasp within a brief time. (Renya) Renya says to comfort Shion, who has dropped her shoulders feeling despondent. Renya, it seems to be heading over there. (Rona) Nicely seen. Do you know something about the other party? (Renya) Im sorry to say I think that its probably a person, but any more than that in this darkness, thats a bit (Rona) Renya hesitates.If we increase the illumination, we will likely know what the other party is right away, however if it was a dangerous being, the act of increasing the illumination would warn that being and draw it to us.If its like that, theres also the means of letting the other party pass by without increasing the illumination, but the other partys direction of movement seems to overlap with ours. If the other party was actually something thats able to infer the state of its surroundings even without relying on its visual field, it would become an one-sided disadvantage for only us.Did the other party draw considerably closer to Renyas group while he was pondering this and that? It reached the point that the sounds of firmly stepping through the undergrowth could be heard by Renyas group. What shall we do, Renya? (Rona) Lets increase the illumination. We will check out the other party. If it is something dangerous, we will run away with all of our strength. Is that fine? (Renya) Understood. (Rona) I leave the decision to you, Renya. Will you do the timing to increase the illumination, Renya? (Shion) Yea, also, if it gets too close, it will become troublesome at the moment when we want to run away. I will give you a signal. (Renya) After exchanging those words in a whisper, Renya fixedly stares into the almost total darkness.I wont be able to see it, even by increasing the illumination, if its too far away. If its too close, we will very likely be unable to get away once its time to run away.While considering the balance of those two aspects, Renya, who judged that its probably fine around here, called out to the two in his back. Make sure to be able to escape at any time. I will increase the illumination. Shade your eyes with your hands so that you dont look directly into the light source. You will get disoriented. (Renya) After ascertaining that both of them have covered their eyes with one hand, Renya cast the spell towards a branch in the grove of trees, which was as far away from them as possible.The fair amount of intensity, which was set to the usual continuation period, brightly shines within the nights forest and allows to see the state of affairs in the vicinity.Seeing something, which was bathed within the illumination of that light, Shion gulped and Rona prevented to leak her voice by holding her own mouth. Chapter 49 Chapter 49 C It seems to be the continuation of the night in the forest At first Renya believed it to be some kind of undead.Illuminated by magic light within the dead of the night, the conspicuous white skin was abnormal, even if seen from afar. It gave the impression of a corpse with no blood circulation.However, the red fluid, which is continuing to stream atop its skin, reveals an intense bleeding. The violently rising and sinking shoulders are indicating that its a breathing person.Since the heart of an undead has stopped, it wont spill something like blood.Not to mention that its unthinkable for it to breathe.However, even if you regard that as proof of it being alive, Renya couldnt possibly believe that thing, which is stepping forward while being tripped up by the undergrowth of the trees, to be a human being.Probably its a female adventurer, even Renya understood that somehow.However, just how the heck did she end up in such a state?He has absolutely no idea.Her dark blonde hair, which has grown down until the area of her shoulder blades, is dishevelled, disarrayed and dirty. Something sticky like oil is slimly glittering in the illumination of the light.Unbeknownst whether they are looking this way or not, her blue eyes are hollow and lost all their light. They seem to be unfocussed.The thing, which could probably be considered to have been a leather armour, has turned into a state that cant be called anything but scraps anymore. Its as if the armour is barely dangling from her body.The clothes below have been torn all over, too, and are hanging on just like that. They already arent able to fulfil their role as clothes and the skin below has ended up being exposed.The woman is approaching little by little.What ran across her bare skin were bites and scratches.From the wrist of her right hand up until her shoulder there are blue bruises. They are closely crowded hand prints, which probably came from her arm being grasped tightly with quite the force.Her left arm is missing from the root.If you lower your sight a bit, you would see her abdomen swelling up with a bulge.Her appearance was entirely similar to a pregnant woman, but theres no way for a pregnant woman to be expressly armed and loiter around in the forest at night.Moreover, below that she is completely naked.Was it ripped of by the undergrowth? Having countless shallow sharp cuts, there are further crowded hand prints from the ankles to the knees. Moreover, there are wounds as if she was bitten by something around the area of the thighs and there are also cruel wounds as if something was devoured by a mouth.Its not possible to comprehend.While protecting Shion and Rona in the back, Renya reflexively retreats a step.Just what the hell ended up destroying her to that degree? She was probably attack by goblins or something else? (Renya) I think its different. (Rona) While preparing the mace, she carried with her, and grasping it tightly, Rona denied Renyas murmur. Even if its goblins or orcs, it apparently never happens that the women, who were kidnapped as seedbed, have even their genitals* abused. (Rona)(T/N: its kept a bit more vaguely, but I dislike the Japanese-typical beating around the bush like saying that place) Ronas look is falling onto the base of the womans missing left arm.Its not a wound as if it was cut off with a sharp edged tool, but an awfully unsightly cut end as if the wound was splintered. That left arm has been likely bitten off, hasnt it (Rona) If its a man-eater, ogre or something like that? However, I wonder if there was such monster in this forest (Shion) Shion inclines her head to the side due to Ronas words.Such Shion has a slightly indecisive attitude.If possible, I want to escape, but Im feeling reluctant to abandon the woman suffering in front of us, is what she feels. The characteristics of ogres are? (Renya) Without lifting his sight from the approaching woman, Renya asks while placing his left hand on the scabbard of the katana. A height above 3 m, gluttonous with absurd strength and low intelligence. (Rona) Once Rona has summed up only the necessary information, Renya shook his head and denied Shions hope. Thats wrong. Umm, the finger marks, imprinted on her body, have the size of humans. In the first place, if it was a glutton, would it be satisfied with just one arm? (Renya) The bites are somehow beast-like though either way, that doesnt explain that big stomach. (Shion) In any event (Renya) Theres no method to save her.Renya attempted to say that, but he halts his words due to the sudden scream raised by the woman. Gii iga gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Looking up to the sky, with her knees on the ground, the woman screams while hugging her largely swelled belly with the sole remaining right arm.Watching that belly starting to heave with a vicious beating from within, even Renya felt the blood draining from his face as one would expect. Be careful! She is keeping something in the belly! (Renya) No, its not like she is keeping it, is what I believe though, Renya? (Shion) Shion, why are you so strangely composed in such situation? The swelled-up belly begins to tear apart slowly unable to withstand the pressure from within.While spilling blood and some fluid that isnt blood from the newly caused wound, the woman is continuing to raise a scream that might as well tear her throat. Hey, wont there something absolutely bad come out from there? (Renya) Shion and Rona nodded, once Renya asked that question while smiling faintly for some reason. Lets take a bet? I wager 10 gold coins for something coming out though. (Shion) I will also bet 10 gold coins that something will appear. (Rona) Renya replies with a somewhat worn-out voice to Shions talk while shes suddenly clenching her fist. It wont be much of a bet since I believe something will come out as well. Rather, arent you guys splendidly calm? (Renya) Im eagerly and impatiently waiting for you tell us to run away, though, Renya (Rona) I want to rescue her, but its probably impossible. (Shion) Shions expression is gloomy, but neither Rona nor Renya have the leeway worry about that.Without an interruption in the womans screaming, the right arm, which held down the swelled-up belly until then, has begun to tear off the surface of that belly next.Cutting the skin with the nails, its a chain of spreading the wound from the place, where it tore open.The womans surrounding is muddy due to the liquids discharged by her. It has started to give off a stench.At the moment when Renya tried to give the order to escape thinkingthis is getting more and more dangerous, Renya noticed several shadows running this way from the other side of the woman.Those are completely moving with a momentum as if running away from something. A sound of something massive followingfrom even further back, while trampling the undergrowth and smashing branches, is audible. Renya, something is approaching again! Theres no need to confirm it anymore either, escape, run! (Renya) While looking over his shoulders towards the rear, he gives the areas around Shions and Ronas hips a clap.In the back of Renya, who began to run trying to follow while being one beat late as the two started to run taking that clap as signal, the womans screaming abruptly stopped. He heard a wet sound of beating the muddy ground and a sound similar to a drenched cloth being torn off. Uwa, whats this? Idiot, dont stop hiii, i-its coming this way Say, guaaaaaaah!! What was audible in the rear are the mans voices.The arriving men were thrown into a pincer attack by the something, which chased them from behind, and the something, which most likely left the womans belly just moments ago, however Renya hasnt the slightest intention to stop and turn around for the sake of checking.He completely focuses all of himself onto whether there is something dangerous or not in front as he simply runs. What the heck? (Rona) Dont talk, Rona, you will run out of breath. Shion, run straight ahead! Rona, dont get separated from Shion! (Renya) What arises from behind are the sounds of something wet being squashed by something and the sounds of flesh and bones being severed altogether.Once you strain you ears, screaming voices, which are pleading for someone to help, seem to be occurring all over the forest.Given that the light had already vanished and as you cant call it something like a covert operation either, Renya raised the intensity of the spell on the left palm of Shion, who is running at front, as it was close to vanishing. Shion! Use the light in your left hand! (Renya) Got it! (Shion) Shion holds up her left hand over he head and releases the light. She keeps running while relying on that light.She is followed by Rona and Renya is running as anchor.While following those two, Renya clicked his tongue within his mind.Renyas group, who moved in order to leave towards the outer circumferences, has broken into a run towards the real rear for the sake of getting away.With this they have ended up heading towards the forests centre. Shion, change the course! Be it left or right, turn in a right angle! (Renya) Okay! (Shion) Grabbing onto a thin tree, Shion displays a remarkable cornering.Rona, who chased behind her, stumbled a step or two forward as she was unable to follow that radical change of direction, however her waist was grabbed by Renya, who came after her, and they pursued Shion without losing any time. Sorry, Renya. Its alright, I can run. (Rona) Please do so. Even I want to avoid sprinting with all my power while carrying a person. (Renya) Once he released his hand, his speed dropped a bit, but with Rona landing admirably without falling over, they began to run once again.Although her priestess garb shouldnt be suited for running with its long skirt, Ronas running speed doesnt even loose to Shions.The deep slit, which is on both sides of the skirt, doesnt seem to be only for the sake of appearance, I guess, Renya admires something strange. Renya, what the hell are we going to do after this? (Rona) Rona asks while running desperately. What we will do, you ask? (Renya) What action will we take in this abnormal situation, is what I want to know. (Rona) Such thing has been decided from the start, right? (Renya) Renya states as if sayingwhat are you saying this late in the game?Shion, whos in the lead, releases a small sigh as she somehow has predicted Renyas next words from that remark.Rona, unable to predict it, wrecks her brain whether its something this obvious. In addition to leaving the forest as is, we will escape to the city. (Renya) Ah, thats it after all, Shion thinks.In this case the surroundings are definitely in a strange situation, but from Renyas point of view, they have no particular obligation to investigate the cause or to fight unreasonably.For Shion as individual, she didnt want to take the choice of abandoning them and running away, if possible.However, she was also able to understand Renyas notion, although only a bit.He has no intention to expose himself and his comrades to the slightest danger for the sake of humans he has no relation and ties with, thats all there is to it. Renya in case there are injured people or such (Shion) Do you think we can take them along? Its different if we have a wagon, but tell me, how do you want to take them along? (Renya) In the first place, its impossible to drive a wagon within a forest though, Renya continues.Indeed, Rona agrees, but Shion isnt incomprehensible to that degree.She is well aware that her way of thinking can be called insufficient.Even regarding the assessment of the situation, it was a fact that Renyas opinion was correct. Renya, I have a request. (Shion) Shion, who ran in the lead, stops.Renya and Rona were lured into stopping too.Once she turned towards Renya, Shion said following, We wont be able to escape like this. I wont ask for something like saving everyone, but I want to investigate even if its only about what has happened. This place isnt that far away from the city. If we abandon this place and run away, it might be possible for the damage to spread even to the city. (Shion) Renya demands Shion, who is claiming that while drawing close to Renya, to proceed with only his gaze.Being overpowered by that gaze, Shion firmly resisted with the words In other words, it will become like that and continued her speech, Please, Renya. I want you to cooperate with me. (Shion) Somehow she is able to imagine Renyas answer.Even so, Shion couldnt help it, she had to request that.Observing such Shion, Renya, without changing his expression, light scratched the area of his cheek with his right index finger. Chapter 49 C It seems to be the continuation of the night in the forest At first Renya believed it to be some kind of undead.Illuminated by magic light within the dead of the night, the conspicuous white skin was abnormal, even if seen from afar. It gave the impression of a corpse with no blood circulation.However, the red fluid, which is continuing to stream atop its skin, reveals an intense bleeding. The violently rising and sinking shoulders are indicating that its a breathing person.Since the heart of an undead has stopped, it wont spill something like blood.Not to mention that its unthinkable for it to breathe.However, even if you regard that as proof of it being alive, Renya couldnt possibly believe that thing, which is stepping forward while being tripped up by the undergrowth of the trees, to be a human being.Probably its a female adventurer, even Renya understood that somehow.However, just how the heck did she end up in such a state?He has absolutely no idea.Her dark blonde hair, which has grown down until the area of her shoulder blades, is dishevelled, disarrayed and dirty. Something sticky like oil is slimly glittering in the illumination of the light.Unbeknownst whether they are looking this way or not, her blue eyes are hollow and lost all their light. They seem to be unfocussed.The thing, which could probably be considered to have been a leather armour, has turned into a state that cant be called anything but scraps anymore. Its as if the armour is barely dangling from her body.The clothes below have been torn all over, too, and are hanging on just like that. They already arent able to fulfil their role as clothes and the skin below has ended up being exposed.The woman is approaching little by little.What ran across her bare skin were bites and scratches.From the wrist of her right hand up until her shoulder there are blue bruises. They are closely crowded hand prints, which probably came from her arm being grasped tightly with quite the force.Her left arm is missing from the root.If you lower your sight a bit, you would see her abdomen swelling up with a bulge.Her appearance was entirely similar to a pregnant woman, but theres no way for a pregnant woman to be expressly armed and loiter around in the forest at night.Moreover, below that she is completely naked.Was it ripped of by the undergrowth? Having countless shallow sharp cuts, there are further crowded hand prints from the ankles to the knees. Moreover, there are wounds as if she was bitten by something around the area of the thighs and there are also cruel wounds as if something was devoured by a mouth.Its not possible to comprehend.While protecting Shion and Rona in the back, Renya reflexively retreats a step.Just what the hell ended up destroying her to that degree? She was probably attack by goblins or something else? (Renya) I think its different. (Rona) While preparing the mace, she carried with her, and grasping it tightly, Rona denied Renyas murmur. Even if its goblins or orcs, it apparently never happens that the women, who were kidnapped as seedbed, have even their genitals* abused. (Rona)(T/N: its kept a bit more vaguely, but I dislike the Japanese-typical beating around the bush like saying that place) Ronas look is falling onto the base of the womans missing left arm.Its not a wound as if it was cut off with a sharp edged tool, but an awfully unsightly cut end as if the wound was splintered. That left arm has been likely bitten off, hasnt it (Rona) If its a man-eater, ogre or something like that? However, I wonder if there was such monster in this forest (Shion) Shion inclines her head to the side due to Ronas words.Such Shion has a slightly indecisive attitude.If possible, I want to escape, but Im feeling reluctant to abandon the woman suffering in front of us, is what she feels. The characteristics of ogres are? (Renya) Without lifting his sight from the approaching woman, Renya asks while placing his left hand on the scabbard of the katana. A height above 3 m, gluttonous with absurd strength and low intelligence. (Rona) Once Rona has summed up only the necessary information, Renya shook his head and denied Shions hope. Thats wrong. Umm, the finger marks, imprinted on her body, have the size of humans. In the first place, if it was a glutton, would it be satisfied with just one arm? (Renya) The bites are somehow beast-like though either way, that doesnt explain that big stomach. (Shion) In any event (Renya) Theres no method to save her.Renya attempted to say that, but he halts his words due to the sudden scream raised by the woman. Gii iga gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Looking up to the sky, with her knees on the ground, the woman screams while hugging her largely swelled belly with the sole remaining right arm.Watching that belly starting to heave with a vicious beating from within, even Renya felt the blood draining from his face as one would expect. Be careful! She is keeping something in the belly! (Renya) No, its not like she is keeping it, is what I believe though, Renya? (Shion) Shion, why are you so strangely composed in such situation? The swelled-up belly begins to tear apart slowly unable to withstand the pressure from within.While spilling blood and some fluid that isnt blood from the newly caused wound, the woman is continuing to raise a scream that might as well tear her throat. Hey, wont there something absolutely bad come out from there? (Renya) Shion and Rona nodded, once Renya asked that question while smiling faintly for some reason. Lets take a bet? I wager 10 gold coins for something coming out though. (Shion) I will also bet 10 gold coins that something will appear. (Rona) Renya replies with a somewhat worn-out voice to Shions talk while shes suddenly clenching her fist. It wont be much of a bet since I believe something will come out as well. Rather, arent you guys splendidly calm? (Renya) Im eagerly and impatiently waiting for you tell us to run away, though, Renya (Rona) I want to rescue her, but its probably impossible. (Shion) Shions expression is gloomy, but neither Rona nor Renya have the leeway worry about that.Without an interruption in the womans screaming, the right arm, which held down the swelled-up belly until then, has begun to tear off the surface of that belly next.Cutting the skin with the nails, its a chain of spreading the wound from the place, where it tore open.The womans surrounding is muddy due to the liquids discharged by her. It has started to give off a stench.At the moment when Renya tried to give the order to escape thinkingthis is getting more and more dangerous, Renya noticed several shadows running this way from the other side of the woman.Those are completely moving with a momentum as if running away from something. A sound of something massive followingfrom even further back, while trampling the undergrowth and smashing branches, is audible. Renya, something is approaching again! Theres no need to confirm it anymore either, escape, run! (Renya) While looking over his shoulders towards the rear, he gives the areas around Shions and Ronas hips a clap.In the back of Renya, who began to run trying to follow while being one beat late as the two started to run taking that clap as signal, the womans screaming abruptly stopped. He heard a wet sound of beating the muddy ground and a sound similar to a drenched cloth being torn off. Uwa, whats this? Idiot, dont stop hiii, i-its coming this way Say, guaaaaaaah!! What was audible in the rear are the mans voices.The arriving men were thrown into a pincer attack by the something, which chased them from behind, and the something, which most likely left the womans belly just moments ago, however Renya hasnt the slightest intention to stop and turn around for the sake of checking.He completely focuses all of himself onto whether there is something dangerous or not in front as he simply runs. What the heck? (Rona) Dont talk, Rona, you will run out of breath. Shion, run straight ahead! Rona, dont get separated from Shion! (Renya) What arises from behind are the sounds of something wet being squashed by something and the sounds of flesh and bones being severed altogether.Once you strain you ears, screaming voices, which are pleading for someone to help, seem to be occurring all over the forest.Given that the light had already vanished and as you cant call it something like a covert operation either, Renya raised the intensity of the spell on the left palm of Shion, who is running at front, as it was close to vanishing. Shion! Use the light in your left hand! (Renya) Got it! (Shion) Shion holds up her left hand over he head and releases the light. She keeps running while relying on that light.She is followed by Rona and Renya is running as anchor.While following those two, Renya clicked his tongue within his mind.Renyas group, who moved in order to leave towards the outer circumferences, has broken into a run towards the real rear for the sake of getting away.With this they have ended up heading towards the forests centre. Shion, change the course! Be it left or right, turn in a right angle! (Renya) Okay! (Shion) Grabbing onto a thin tree, Shion displays a remarkable cornering.Rona, who chased behind her, stumbled a step or two forward as she was unable to follow that radical change of direction, however her waist was grabbed by Renya, who came after her, and they pursued Shion without losing any time. Sorry, Renya. Its alright, I can run. (Rona) Please do so. Even I want to avoid sprinting with all my power while carrying a person. (Renya) Once he released his hand, his speed dropped a bit, but with Rona landing admirably without falling over, they began to run once again.Although her priestess garb shouldnt be suited for running with its long skirt, Ronas running speed doesnt even loose to Shions.The deep slit, which is on both sides of the skirt, doesnt seem to be only for the sake of appearance, I guess, Renya admires something strange. Renya, what the hell are we going to do after this? (Rona) Rona asks while running desperately. What we will do, you ask? (Renya) What action will we take in this abnormal situation, is what I want to know. (Rona) Such thing has been decided from the start, right? (Renya) Renya states as if sayingwhat are you saying this late in the game?Shion, whos in the lead, releases a small sigh as she somehow has predicted Renyas next words from that remark.Rona, unable to predict it, wrecks her brain whether its something this obvious. In addition to leaving the forest as is, we will escape to the city. (Renya) Ah, thats it after all, Shion thinks.In this case the surroundings are definitely in a strange situation, but from Renyas point of view, they have no particular obligation to investigate the cause or to fight unreasonably.For Shion as individual, she didnt want to take the choice of abandoning them and running away, if possible.However, she was also able to understand Renyas notion, although only a bit.He has no intention to expose himself and his comrades to the slightest danger for the sake of humans he has no relation and ties with, thats all there is to it. Renya in case there are injured people or such (Shion) Do you think we can take them along? Its different if we have a wagon, but tell me, how do you want to take them along? (Renya) In the first place, its impossible to drive a wagon within a forest though, Renya continues.Indeed, Rona agrees, but Shion isnt incomprehensible to that degree.She is well aware that her way of thinking can be called insufficient.Even regarding the assessment of the situation, it was a fact that Renyas opinion was correct. Renya, I have a request. (Shion) Shion, who ran in the lead, stops.Renya and Rona were lured into stopping too.Once she turned towards Renya, Shion said following, We wont be able to escape like this. I wont ask for something like saving everyone, but I want to investigate even if its only about what has happened. This place isnt that far away from the city. If we abandon this place and run away, it might be possible for the damage to spread even to the city. (Shion) Renya demands Shion, who is claiming that while drawing close to Renya, to proceed with only his gaze.Being overpowered by that gaze, Shion firmly resisted with the words In other words, it will become like that and continued her speech, Please, Renya. I want you to cooperate with me. (Shion) Somehow she is able to imagine Renyas answer.Even so, Shion couldnt help it, she had to request that.Observing such Shion, Renya, without changing his expression, light scratched the area of his cheek with his right index finger. Chapter 50 Chapter 50 C It seems that Im stupid as well I will ask more or less just to be sure though. (Renya) The tone of Renya, who opened his mouth, was calm.Being somewhat scared by that on the contrary, Shions body cowers.For some reason Shions gaze spontaneously fell on the katana at Renyas hips.Noticing that gaze, Renya exhales slightly. We havent associated with each other that long. But you do understand my way of thinking and my character, dont you? (Renya) There are no emotions in his voice.Shion nodded due to Renyas tone, which was as if he was simply affirming it indifferently. Yea, I believe that I have grasped them. (Shion) Despite that you dont have any intention to withdraw your previous statement, do you? (Renya) Although it was only by a small degree, Renyas gaze daunted Shion.His eyes were only slight narrowed down. It is just that, but Shion falls into a sensation similar to being drenched in cold water from the top of her head down to the tips of her feet.Shion frantically restrained the words As expected, sorry, it was a lie, forget about it which welled up in her throat. No, I have no intention to retract it. I want you to cooperate with me, Renya. (Shion) I didnt believe that there would be a day when my own voice would sound this lifeless, Shion thinks.Even though we are in the midst of our escape, and even more so because those are the words of a hypocrite, Renyas and Ronas feet have stopped thanks to me.How dangerous that was in the current situation, even for Shion the excuse that she doesnt understand didnt exist.Even so, theres a reason why she cant pull back.Although it wasnt like she was unable to speak about that reason, Shion couldnt reach a decision whether it was fine to tell Renya or not.Once Shion glances in Ronas direction, she sees Rona sinking into silence with a serious expression.Rona couldnt avoid being on Shions side with half of her heart due to her position, but once she rationally considers with the other half of her heart that this proposal will expose Shions body to danger, Rona concludes that she doesnt want to join her on that. Shion understands that somehow as well.Rona is feeling that she wants this proposal to be discarded and cut in one single stroke by Renya.In that situation Shion likely wont have any other choice but to follow Renyais what she is supposed to be thinking.Although Shion has realized Rona train of thought, Shion is frustrated because the words to disprove that wont appear.Of course, even if she revealed her own standing, the chances that Renya will get on with Shions proposal are almost non-existent. Shion comprehends that too.Nevertheless, in the present state, where I cant say that I want to do it like this because of that, its inevitable for the words, I have said, to be considered the nonsense of an idiot by someone, who simply doesnt understand my position.Though I dont know whether thats frustrating or vexing, Shion rebuked herself, whos close to weeping, to not screw around.Since I will be just an idiot, if I cry here, my rank will fall even lower to that of a stupid girl, who appeals to a man by relying on her tears.I want him to at least understand that I have spoken seriously.Hoping for only that, Shion fixes her eyes on Renya.In contrast to that, Renya was pondering about something totally different from what Shion has imagined.Voicing it out clearly, the Shion, seen by Renya, is no more than a naive ojou-san, who throws tantrums with her flower-field-like way of thinking within her head.She isnt even able to assess the situation. For some reason she shows resistance to completely abandon other people.Its not particularly a problem of hypocrisy.There is the saying that Being a hypocrite is better than not being virtuous since the old days. That will pretty much change with the conduct though. Even if shes only trying to move by herself, I have a far better impression of her than of the bunch, who gets cocky by just ordering You do it from an elevated position, Renya considersCertainly, that little girl, who sent me to this world, shouldnt even reach the worth of being dirt under Shions nails.And so the current situation was an event within Renyas range of prediction.Thats why Renya is considering it like this.Was it noticed?I planned to escape by hopping onto the momentum of the situation before Shion realizes the necessity of investigation and the possibility of rescue, but that didnt go too well, Renya clicks his tongue lightly.Now that she realized it, there were two choices, Renya could make.One, to refuse it curtly and discard it.Even if Rona sided with Shion, they wouldnt be able to investigate and help with only the two of them.At best it will only become a second and third repetition of the killed female adventurer, who was bitten and torn from inside by the something from before.Two, to agree with Shions proposal.Renya didnt happen to have even the slightest attitude of considering himself to be amazing, but even so, if he accompanied those two, he had the confidence that they at least would be able to walk around without dying.However, somehow thats not like me at all, is the sentiment Renya has.In the first place, theres no reason that I must do it, even if Im able to, in the current situation.Im really not cut out for such setting, he leaks a sigh.If I were a protagonist in a fairy-tale, it would be a setting, where I pick up my sword in high spirits due to the request by a beautiful maiden, but its not like I can do something this ridiculous, Renya ended up judging and felt just a bit lonely.Even if I judge it like that, since Im simply not able to do something Im not able to, a behaviour like that, similar to a cool protagonist, should be left to people, who are able to do it. I have to ponder how I should act and proceed from here on, Renya decides.In fact the choice of refusing Shions request had been eliminated by Renya from the very beginning.If you look for reasons, there are many, however the biggest reason is that in the same way as Shion is relying on Renya, there are also parts, where Renya relies on Shion. That means that Renya has acknowledged that point by himself.Renya has no relation with anyone from anywhere in this world.Thats an extremely miserable story, Renya always thought.It might be seen as cool, if you write it off as another world transfer, but the position, Renya has been placed in, is ultimately nothing more than being a plain loner.Although his body has the age of 18 years, its not like he passed those 18 years living in this world. There isnt a single person, who has a blood relationship to him, either.His insides are those of a 94 years old, but the memories and relationships of those 94 years were from the environment of his previous life.In other words, no matter how you look at it, the existence called Kunugi Renya is nothing more than a foreign body in regards to this world. He was saved from that concept to some degree by the two beings called Rona and Shion.In addition to that, he began to form bonds to a maid-san and friends here and there, too, but the ones, who extended a helping hand towards Renya, unbeknownst whether they could become comrades, were those two.Of course, their self-interest in the act of lending a helping hand cant be helped since humans are calculative like that.The ones who demand something with no compensation from a stranger are called greedy.Besides, Renya thinks while reflecting upon his slightly shameful desires.if I ended up laughing at Shions matter as the utter foolishness of a teenager although its only the naivety of thinking, as its not accompanied by true strength, what will become of me, I wonder?At any rate, being moved by the words of that little girl If you dont go, many people will die due to the collapsing world, Im an extremely foolish guy, who ended up crossing the boundary for the sake of protecting those lives and the world, I have absolutely no relation with.There are also the viewpoints that I was lured by delicious food or that I would just die like that, if I hadnt accepted the deal, but in the end its only that I was unable to forsake the words Please help.Although I, who became a Lost for such reason, cant give a motive, theres no way that Im able to refuse this matter by laughing at Shion, who has appealed that we cannot afford to run away while overlooking things like this. Renya (Shion) Shion mutters while trying to take a peek at the face of Renya, who ended up brooding.Immersing himself within his thoughts, Renya noticed her look, breathed out once as if troubled and looked up the sky with his arms folded.Somehow I want to really smoke a cigarette,Renya thought.I dont know whether I smoked in my previous life. I also dont know whether it might be fine to smoke a cigarette in the world over here with the age of this body. In the first place, I dont even know whether there is something called tobacco in this world, however it is after all better to release cigarette smoke than breathing a sigh, is what he felt like.It has been often enough said that its doing no good and a lot of harm, but since tobacco has an effect of stabilizing the mind, it has at least one advantage, I guess, Renya believes.And currently Renya strongly desired that effect of stabilizing the mind. As for me cooperating (Renya) Renya says while still looking up to the sky.He absolutely didnt feel like he could talk in his usual tone, if he looked at the faces of Shion and Rona.Without even seeing, Renya could imagine what kind of face Shion and Rona are making.Surely Rona has an expression as if she has encountered a ghost on a street in the night. Shion is probably making a face as if she is swinging her tail, if she had one, with all power while doing her best as puppy, who received her feed. I want you to act in accordance to my opinion. Any objections? (Renya) Renya that is (Shion) Shion raises her voice making a complete turn towards dissatisfaction.She doesnt understand my feelings either.Probably, by not adopting all of Shions opinion, she is likely presuming that Renya is talking as if dropping it at halfway.However, this aspect is a part that cant be conceded, even for Renya.He is unable to expose acquaintances to danger for the sake of strangers. Im unable to pick the method of searching within the forest from now on. It would be a different story if Rona and Shion excelled in combat and mobilization during night equal to me, but to be frank, its impossible since both of you are only nuisances. Since this is concerning our lives, I have told you my evaluation in this area in a harsh way. (Renya) Uuh (Shion) Renya argues vehemently with Shion, who is unable to object, only at the critical moments.At any rate, Renya had the notion that it will be no good to give Shion the time to object or to think about it. Even though we are wielding weapons, thats difficult within the forest. Our movements will be inhibited as well. As the other party seems to be able to move around freely even within the forest, we are at an overwhelming disadvantage in regards to the terrain. Fighting in an unfavourable terrain is equal to suicide. (Renya) Yea (Shion) Even without that, you are weak, Shion. I thought you would be capable as you are fairly swordsman-like, if going by your dignified appearance, but in the end theres no other way but to call you weak. If you are weak in regards to combat and as your intellect is disappointing too, I dont even know what place would be good to praise. Since you dont reach Rona in sex appeal by far and as Frau has established a hopeless lead in regards to cuteness, it means that you cant even become the partys mascot. (Renya) Yea? (Shion) In addition, on top of having insufficient assessment of your own situation, you dont possess the ability to plan either. To begin with, although you talked about investigation in that direction, its a truth, even a child would understand, that theres no way we can do that as there is nothing but amateurs here. Even regarding the rescue activity, theres no way that we will be able to lead the move of humans and injured people to safety with only the three of us. Since you dont even have the brain to grasp such a thing, I believe that you should silently head right without complaining or objecting, if I tell you to go right. (Renya) U-Umm Renya? (Shion) So, for those reasons be quiet and do as you are told. Listen to what I tell you before making the situation any more complicated than it is. (Renya) Ah, yes (Shion) Once Renya declare so and brings his face close without hesitation, Shion, who lost to his intensity, nods unintentionally.I took this as promise, while making a triumphant pose within his mind, Renya issues instructions before Shion can say anything unnecessary. If thats the case, lets leave the forest right away. The story starts from there. (Renya) Once Shion nods, Renya, who claps the back of Rona, who intently watched the situation, begins to move once again aiming for the outside of the forest. Renya! Once we leave the forest, what do you plan to do after that? (Shion) Shion asks while running.While wondering whether she still had leeway to ponder over such things, Renya answered, Moving just like this, the two of you will run to the city. Rushing into the guild, attached to the city, you will explain the state of affairs being that all of a sudden unknown monsters appeared and that quite a number of the parties, who went into the forest after having received the subjugation request, have died. Then you will tell them to organize a subjugation unit and an investigation unit. (Renya) Will they listen to us? (Shion) Shion says anxiously.Such concern certainly existed.Even if Shion and Rona, who are nothing but mere members, suddenly tried requesting the formation of something like a subjugation unit, it would be very difficult to imagine the top brass of the guild to immediately move to deal with that.However, thats only the case if Shion and Rona are truly simple adventurers. Renya doesnt know the details about Shions side, but he has experienced that at least Rona should have a method to force her opinion through since she is a knight. Rona, do something about it. (Renya) Understood. (Rona) As expected by Renya, Rona simply nodded. Renya, just now you said the two of us? What will you do, Renya? (Shion) You are quick-witted only at pointless places, Renya curses taking care that its not audible. If even I travelled to the city, thats no different of us three escaping, right? (Renya) Eh? No way (Shion) He cannot afford exposing people, he became acquainted with, to danger for the sake of strangers.By his own judgement, the one, who is fine to be exposed to danger for the sake of strangers, is only the one who made that call. I will guard the vicinity of the forests entrance. I think that it will probably be alright, but if by any chance those monsters leave the forest and head towards the city, it will likely be my role to hold them back. (Renya) Renya! Such a (Shion) The surprised Shion tried to stop that due to Renyas statement, but Renya interrupted her words in the middle. Shion, remember. If you try to somehow forcibly do something beyond your powers, you will unreasonably harm someone else than yourself or in the worst case it will result in you killing that person. I dont understand why you persisted on saving other people, however if you continue to make such decisions from now on as well, the same troubles will be repeated over and over again. (Renya) Renya Im (Shion) You dont need to particularly explain your circumstances to me. At the time I told you to listen to what I say, you affirmed that. As thats the case, shut up and do as you were told. (Renya) Shion, who attempted to say something, held back. Renya smiled at Shion, who is looking at Renya while running in front. Oh well, this time I will be able to manage somehow. If you are worried, please return to the city quickly and bring along reinforcements. (Renya) It will be great if Shions way of thinking changes a bit with this, while hoping that, Renya cracked a joke wondering whether he is too pathetic for being intimidated as well. Chapter 50 C It seems that Im stupid as well I will ask more or less just to be sure though. (Renya) The tone of Renya, who opened his mouth, was calm.Being somewhat scared by that on the contrary, Shions body cowers.For some reason Shions gaze spontaneously fell on the katana at Renyas hips.Noticing that gaze, Renya exhales slightly. We havent associated with each other that long. But you do understand my way of thinking and my character, dont you? (Renya) There are no emotions in his voice.Shion nodded due to Renyas tone, which was as if he was simply affirming it indifferently. Yea, I believe that I have grasped them. (Shion) Despite that you dont have any intention to withdraw your previous statement, do you? (Renya) Although it was only by a small degree, Renyas gaze daunted Shion.His eyes were only slight narrowed down. It is just that, but Shion falls into a sensation similar to being drenched in cold water from the top of her head down to the tips of her feet.Shion frantically restrained the words As expected, sorry, it was a lie, forget about it which welled up in her throat. No, I have no intention to retract it. I want you to cooperate with me, Renya. (Shion) I didnt believe that there would be a day when my own voice would sound this lifeless, Shion thinks.Even though we are in the midst of our escape, and even more so because those are the words of a hypocrite, Renyas and Ronas feet have stopped thanks to me.How dangerous that was in the current situation, even for Shion the excuse that she doesnt understand didnt exist.Even so, theres a reason why she cant pull back.Although it wasnt like she was unable to speak about that reason, Shion couldnt reach a decision whether it was fine to tell Renya or not.Once Shion glances in Ronas direction, she sees Rona sinking into silence with a serious expression.Rona couldnt avoid being on Shions side with half of her heart due to her position, but once she rationally considers with the other half of her heart that this proposal will expose Shions body to danger, Rona concludes that she doesnt want to join her on that. Shion understands that somehow as well.Rona is feeling that she wants this proposal to be discarded and cut in one single stroke by Renya.In that situation Shion likely wont have any other choice but to follow Renyais what she is supposed to be thinking.Although Shion has realized Rona train of thought, Shion is frustrated because the words to disprove that wont appear.Of course, even if she revealed her own standing, the chances that Renya will get on with Shions proposal are almost non-existent. Shion comprehends that too.Nevertheless, in the present state, where I cant say that I want to do it like this because of that, its inevitable for the words, I have said, to be considered the nonsense of an idiot by someone, who simply doesnt understand my position.Though I dont know whether thats frustrating or vexing, Shion rebuked herself, whos close to weeping, to not screw around.Since I will be just an idiot, if I cry here, my rank will fall even lower to that of a stupid girl, who appeals to a man by relying on her tears.I want him to at least understand that I have spoken seriously.Hoping for only that, Shion fixes her eyes on Renya.In contrast to that, Renya was pondering about something totally different from what Shion has imagined.Voicing it out clearly, the Shion, seen by Renya, is no more than a naive ojou-san, who throws tantrums with her flower-field-like way of thinking within her head.She isnt even able to assess the situation. For some reason she shows resistance to completely abandon other people.Its not particularly a problem of hypocrisy.There is the saying that Being a hypocrite is better than not being virtuous since the old days. That will pretty much change with the conduct though. Even if shes only trying to move by herself, I have a far better impression of her than of the bunch, who gets cocky by just ordering You do it from an elevated position, Renya considersCertainly, that little girl, who sent me to this world, shouldnt even reach the worth of being dirt under Shions nails.And so the current situation was an event within Renyas range of prediction.Thats why Renya is considering it like this.Was it noticed?I planned to escape by hopping onto the momentum of the situation before Shion realizes the necessity of investigation and the possibility of rescue, but that didnt go too well, Renya clicks his tongue lightly.Now that she realized it, there were two choices, Renya could make.One, to refuse it curtly and discard it.Even if Rona sided with Shion, they wouldnt be able to investigate and help with only the two of them.At best it will only become a second and third repetition of the killed female adventurer, who was bitten and torn from inside by the something from before.Two, to agree with Shions proposal.Renya didnt happen to have even the slightest attitude of considering himself to be amazing, but even so, if he accompanied those two, he had the confidence that they at least would be able to walk around without dying.However, somehow thats not like me at all, is the sentiment Renya has.In the first place, theres no reason that I must do it, even if Im able to, in the current situation.Im really not cut out for such setting, he leaks a sigh.If I were a protagonist in a fairy-tale, it would be a setting, where I pick up my sword in high spirits due to the request by a beautiful maiden, but its not like I can do something this ridiculous, Renya ended up judging and felt just a bit lonely.Even if I judge it like that, since Im simply not able to do something Im not able to, a behaviour like that, similar to a cool protagonist, should be left to people, who are able to do it. I have to ponder how I should act and proceed from here on, Renya decides.In fact the choice of refusing Shions request had been eliminated by Renya from the very beginning.If you look for reasons, there are many, however the biggest reason is that in the same way as Shion is relying on Renya, there are also parts, where Renya relies on Shion. That means that Renya has acknowledged that point by himself.Renya has no relation with anyone from anywhere in this world.Thats an extremely miserable story, Renya always thought.It might be seen as cool, if you write it off as another world transfer, but the position, Renya has been placed in, is ultimately nothing more than being a plain loner.Although his body has the age of 18 years, its not like he passed those 18 years living in this world. There isnt a single person, who has a blood relationship to him, either.His insides are those of a 94 years old, but the memories and relationships of those 94 years were from the environment of his previous life.In other words, no matter how you look at it, the existence called Kunugi Renya is nothing more than a foreign body in regards to this world.He was saved from that concept to some degree by the two beings called Rona and Shion.In addition to that, he began to form bonds to a maid-san and friends here and there, too, but the ones, who extended a helping hand towards Renya, unbeknownst whether they could become comrades, were those two.Of course, their self-interest in the act of lending a helping hand cant be helped since humans are calculative like that.The ones who demand something with no compensation from a stranger are called greedy.Besides, Renya thinks while reflecting upon his slightly shameful desires.if I ended up laughing at Shions matter as the utter foolishness of a teenager although its only the naivety of thinking, as its not accompanied by true strength, what will become of me, I wonder?At any rate, being moved by the words of that little girl If you dont go, many people will die due to the collapsing world, Im an extremely foolish guy, who ended up crossing the boundary for the sake of protecting those lives and the world, I have absolutely no relation with.There are also the viewpoints that I was lured by delicious food or that I would just die like that, if I hadnt accepted the deal, but in the end its only that I was unable to forsake the words Please help.Although I, who became a Lost for such reason, cant give a motive, theres no way that Im able to refuse this matter by laughing at Shion, who has appealed that we cannot afford to run away while overlooking things like this. Renya (Shion) Shion mutters while trying to take a peek at the face of Renya, who ended up brooding.Immersing himself within his thoughts, Renya noticed her look, breathed out once as if troubled and looked up the sky with his arms folded.Somehow I want to really smoke a cigarette,Renya thought.I dont know whether I smoked in my previous life. I also dont know whether it might be fine to smoke a cigarette in the world over here with the age of this body. In the first place, I dont even know whether there is something called tobacco in this world, however it is after all better to release cigarette smoke than breathing a sigh, is what he felt like.It has been often enough said that its doing no good and a lot of harm, but since tobacco has an effect of stabilizing the mind, it has at least one advantage, I guess, Renya believes.And currently Renya strongly desired that effect of stabilizing the mind. As for me cooperating (Renya) Renya says while still looking up to the sky.He absolutely didnt feel like he could talk in his usual tone, if he looked at the faces of Shion and Rona.Without even seeing, Renya could imagine what kind of face Shion and Rona are making.Surely Rona has an expression as if she has encountered a ghost on a street in the night. Shion is probably making a face as if she is swinging her tail, if she had one, with all power while doing her best as puppy, who received her feed. I want you to act in accordance to my opinion. Any objections? (Renya) Renya that is (Shion) Shion raises her voice making a complete turn towards dissatisfaction.She doesnt understand my feelings either.Probably, by not adopting all of Shions opinion, she is likely presuming that Renya is talking as if dropping it at halfway.However, this aspect is a part that cant be conceded, even for Renya.He is unable to expose acquaintances to danger for the sake of strangers. Im unable to pick the method of searching within the forest from now on. It would be a different story if Rona and Shion excelled in combat and mobilization during night equal to me, but to be frank, its impossible since both of you are only nuisances. Since this is concerning our lives, I have told you my evaluation in this area in a harsh way. (Renya) Uuh (Shion) Renya argues vehemently with Shion, who is unable to object, only at the critical moments.At any rate, Renya had the notion that it will be no good to give Shion the time to object or to think about it. Even though we are wielding weapons, thats difficult within the forest. Our movements will be inhibited as well. As the other party seems to be able to move around freely even within the forest, we are at an overwhelming disadvantage in regards to the terrain. Fighting in an unfavourable terrain is equal to suicide. (Renya) Yea (Shion) Even without that, you are weak, Shion. I thought you would be capable as you are fairly swordsman-like, if going by your dignified appearance, but in the end theres no other way but to call you weak. If you are weak in regards to combat and as your intellect is disappointing too, I dont even know what place would be good to praise. Since you dont reach Rona in sex appeal by far and as Frau has established a hopeless lead in regards to cuteness, it means that you cant even become the partys mascot. (Renya) Yea? (Shion) In addition, on top of having insufficient assessment of your own situation, you dont possess the ability to plan either. To begin with, although you talked about investigation in that direction, its a truth, even a child would understand, that theres no way we can do that as there is nothing but amateurs here. Even regarding the rescue activity, theres no way that we will be able to lead the move of humans and injured people to safety with only the three of us. Since you dont even have the brain to grasp such a thing, I believe that you should silently head right without complaining or objecting, if I tell you to go right. (Renya) U-Umm Renya? (Shion) So, for those reasons be quiet and do as you are told. Listen to what I tell you before making the situation any more complicated than it is. (Renya) Ah, yes (Shion) Once Renya declare so and brings his face close without hesitation, Shion, who lost to his intensity, nods unintentionally.I took this as promise, while making a triumphant pose within his mind, Renya issues instructions before Shion can say anything unnecessary. If thats the case, lets leave the forest right away. The story starts from there. (Renya) Once Shion nods, Renya, who claps the back of Rona, who intently watched the situation, begins to move once again aiming for the outside of the forest. Renya! Once we leave the forest, what do you plan to do after that? (Shion) Shion asks while running.While wondering whether she still had leeway to ponder over such things, Renya answered, Moving just like this, the two of you will run to the city. Rushing into the guild, attached to the city, you will explain the state of affairs being that all of a sudden unknown monsters appeared and that quite a number of the parties, who went into the forest after having received the subjugation request, have died. Then you will tell them to organize a subjugation unit and an investigation unit. (Renya) Will they listen to us? (Shion) Shion says anxiously.Such concern certainly existed.Even if Shion and Rona, who are nothing but mere members, suddenly tried requesting the formation of something like a subjugation unit, it would be very difficult to imagine the top brass of the guild to immediately move to deal with that.However, thats only the case if Shion and Rona are truly simple adventurers. Renya doesnt know the details about Shions side, but he has experienced that at least Rona should have a method to force her opinion through since she is a knight. Rona, do something about it. (Renya) Understood. (Rona) As expected by Renya, Rona simply nodded. Renya, just now you said the two of us? What will you do, Renya? (Shion) You are quick-witted only at pointless places, Renya curses taking care that its not audible. If even I travelled to the city, thats no different of us three escaping, right? (Renya) Eh? No way (Shion) He cannot afford exposing people, he became acquainted with, to danger for the sake of strangers.By his own judgement, the one, who is fine to be exposed to danger for the sake of strangers, is only the one who made that call. I will guard the vicinity of the forests entrance. I think that it will probably be alright, but if by any chance those monsters leave the forest and head towards the city, it will likely be my role to hold them back. (Renya) Renya! Such a (Shion) The surprised Shion tried to stop that due to Renyas statement, but Renya interrupted her words in the middle. Shion, remember. If you try to somehow forcibly do something beyond your powers, you will unreasonably harm someone else than yourself or in the worst case it will result in you killing that person. I dont understand why you persisted on saving other people, however if you continue to make such decisions from now on as well, the same troubles will be repeated over and over again. (Renya) Renya Im (Shion) You dont need to particularly explain your circumstances to me. At the time I told you to listen to what I say, you affirmed that. As thats the case, shut up and do as you were told. (Renya) Shion, who attempted to say something, held back. Renya smiled at Shion, who is looking at Renya while running in front. Oh well, this time I will be able to manage somehow. If you are worried, please return to the city quickly and bring along reinforcements. (Renya) It will be great if Shions way of thinking changes a bit with this, while hoping that, Renya cracked a joke wondering whether he is too pathetic for being intimidated as well. Chapter 51 Chapter 51 C It seems to be trying to practise magic Standing stock still as he is teased by the wind, he fixedly stares at the forest.In an environment, where there are no other sounds, the rustling of the trees leaves in his ears stirs a strange feeling.The screams, audible once in a while, are likely from the adventurers, who are still left behind in the forest, but although its evidence that something is happening in there one way or the other, Renya tries to not think of their fates.The wind changes.The wind, which has been blowing from the forests direction and is blended with the fragrance of the forests trees, had the stench of something rotten and of iron rust mixed in.Its a stench that worsens ones mood, Renya frowns.Since its mixed in with the fragrance of forest trees, which is said to have the effect of soothing the mind, he ends up experiencing the disgusting stench as strong and prominent.Its only a disgusting stench because I dont want to smell it, while thinking that he is deceiving himself somehow, Renya comes to a complete standstill.Once the non-attribute magic spell , which he activated and was amplifying with all his strength, blows from behind Renya in order to oppose the wind streaming from within the forest, the stench as well as the wind are washed away in one lump and get pushed back into the forest.If its like this, I wont be assaulted by that repulsive smell, Renya takes a breath.Actually, his intention is another one.Shion didnt realize it until the end, but even if Renya monitored a single part of the forest, its not like he would also be able to restrain monsters, which leave from another place.Usually its something she would notice, however was it because she was tormented by feelings of guilt for leaving Renya behind by himself? Shion didnt show any behaviour that she had realized that at all.As for Rona, Renya didnt properly know.Didnt she mention it after noticing it? Or was it something that didnt matter to Rona? Is it both or neither?Given that he wont reach a conclusion even if he tries to ponder about it, Renya stopped that train of thought.At any rate, its not like I can cover the extent of a wide area by myself.That is the real problem.Since thats the case, what shall I do so that the strange monsters, which are currently in this forest, wont leave from here and will it be fine with me making sure that they dont get close to the vicinity of the city?The answers to those questions werent that simple for Renya.He couldnt say it with certainty, but even so theres a method to guide the monsters, who might decide to leave the forest, towards his own location.Letting the wind carry his scent into the forest, it will be fine, if that tells the monsters that a lone human is in this place.The monsters, they encountered in the forest, borrowed the belly of a person, pursued escaping humans and actively assaulted them.If those are monsters, which have the trait of attacking people, they will almost certainly go for humans, which are in fairly close vicinity, next, after they ran out of adventurers to hunt within the forest.Im going to deliberately transmit into the forest that those humans are here.This can also be regarded as a kind of provocation. Really Im an idiot too after all. (Renya) He mutters in self-mockery.Shion and Rona will definitely return to the city as soon as possible, probably by running or walking without rest, Renya believed.As the luggage, they brought with them, would only be a nuisance, they have left everything but their weapons behind.Renya, for whom that was too wasteful, stored everything in his own inventory after their twos figures became distant.He hasnt looked at the contents though.Thats because certainly there should be things inside, which arent meant for his eyes.Accordingly, as they are moving in that condition, they will probably arrive at the city in a bit more than hour, if they are fast, and in a bit less than two hours, if they are slow, is Renyas expectation.From then on, they will rush into the guild, wake up the staff and give a report to the top brass. Even if they get a late start, since it wont do, if they dont pick people, who are quite skilled, for the investigation team, they will head this way alongside the adventurers, who will be gathered for the subjugation and who are able to fight reasonably well.Now that I think about, just how many hours will that take?Renya felt like getting depressed.As long as the guilds top brass isnt filled with big idiots, they will probably dispatch an advance party for now and need about 3~4 hours for gathering people and materials until their departure.If they are properly told that they must hurry, they will likely use horses or coaches for the move and would arrive here in around one hour after departing from the city.If I give them a bit flexibility time-wise considering that there are various other things to handle one way or the other, wont I be relieved from my post, if I keep monitoring for around 8 hours?Thats Renyas wishful thinking.That doesnt mean that everything is always progressing in a smooth manner.Having a futile discord and strife over responsibility, the thick-headed top brass might not listen to Shions and Ronas points.Its not difficult to anticipate that it will likely create problems such as being unable to gather people or being unable to obtain materials, since its still night and dawn isnt breaking yet.In the first place, as a fairly high number of adventurers is suffering monster injuries in this forest, theres also the concern whether there are still enough people remaining in the city to form a subjugation unit. Although its vague I have a feeling that the formation of a subjugation unit is too early. (Renya) He looks up to the sky murmuring this in a whisper.To begin with, if you hunt indiscriminately monsters by going into the forest, you will be paid money in proportion to what you hunted, such a request is just strange, Renya assessed.If its a normal request it will be Thin out the goblins because they have increased too much in number or A large number of women were abducted by orcs in the vicinity of a village, rescue the women and slay the orcs.Just go hunting whatever, that style of a request is clearly odd.It wasnt like there wasnt any possibility for relief measures towards beginners, since its not a forest, where overly strong monsters appear, or because they have been in a dire situation regarding the magic gem stock, but Renya hasnt heard of such talks or rumours. If you look at in a very shrewd way, isnt this a large-scale lure to bait careless adventurers, who havent realized the request to be kind of weird?He has such suspicion.Of course it was a viewpoint that wont leave the stage of being a conjecture. Being simply preoccupied with the forest octopuses, Renya, who noticed that possibility, is undoubtedly too late now since its after they were attacked by unidentified monsters in the forest.If that viewpoint is correct, theres also a likelihood that the formation of a subjugation unit and a investigation unit has been already completed.Incidentally, in that case the report might reach the guild faster than Shion and Rona, too.If theres bait to angle, there should naturally be a string and a hook attached to the bait. The hooks task is only to be an indication that things like the bait were bitten off. What ki (Renya) Blending in with the adventurers, whose role is to be bait, there might be a party, whose role is to be the true hook.However, the sounds, audible from within the forest, are getting less with the passage of time. Before long they cant be heard at all anymore and the figures of another party, which leaves the forest besides Renyas group, cant be seen either. If Im right with this conjecture, they are annoyed to willingly abide by the scheme of the planner. (Renya) Within Renya wells up a feeling that he wants to achieve a conclusion, like knocking the opponent out of their wits, with a single blow just like that.Its probably what one would call feeling mischievous.However, he cant come up with a good idea what should be done and how it should be done to induce such outcome.If I possessed fire and ice spells, I could focus all of my mana, that seems to be more than enough, into turning the forest into ashes or freeze it over. However, with wind magic, which has good affinity with me, I can at best blow away the trees. Although I have a feeling that even that would be fine, it somehow lacks flashiness, Renya, who thought that, suddenly has an idea while looking up to the sky.(T/N: And Renyas ideas are never any decent)This world is in a state similar to being a miniature garden placed on a tray. I heard that from that little girl before I came to this world.Below the tray theres nothing, emptiness.Seen from another angle, how about above the tray?In this world there should one or two mountains of the several-thousand-meter class.If there are mountains, theres a layer of air as well. It should have a considerable thickness.Moreover, I have no memory of a hot bath becoming hot quickly in a strange way after coming to this world either.In other words, the atmospheric pressure is the same as in my former world. Isnt in conceivable that it has the same air layers, too?And, isnt it likely set up that the air will get gradually thinner the higher the altitude, just like in my former world? Congregate, my power, rise to the atmosphere (Renya) If its wind-attribute magic, he has already bought notes covering all of the known spells from Khalil. Renya has finished looking through all of them.Even in regards to the utilization restraint, right after releasing the restriction on the elementary magic he released non-attribute magic to be limitless with the same method.The cast spell is an advanced spell of the wind system.However, originally you arrange the image to have an effect of blowing things upwards from below, Renya has modified it to be the reverse, or in other words it slaps something downwards from above.Incidentally, given that it wont be amusing for him to suffer damage from the aftermath of his own spell, he erects a wind wall around himself.Predicting the phenomenon, that will occur from here on out, he repeatedly deployed walls in a shape similar to a firm, vast cocoon by overlapping several parallel magic formulae activations.After waiting for the deployment of the walls, Renya holds up his right hand towards the sky and continues all chants while clenching his fist as if completely grasping the air. Wind, rage in a whirl, strike the ground according to my desire! (Renya) The original incantation is Pierce the sky according to my desire, but he has re-arranged the chant as well since its into the reverse direction.As he will recover almost all of his mana right away, except the one used to maintain the defence walls, he pours as much as possible into the spell.Creating a circuit of words, the spell is completed by pouring mana into that circuit.At that moment Renyas surroundings were swallowed up by smoke and thunderous roars.In a far away place.If you looked at it from a far higher point of view than Renya, you could probably see the enormous funnel.Originally the natural phenomenon called tornado is a phenomenon of sucking up things from the ground and hurling those into the sky, but this inverse tornado sucks up everything from the sky and slaps it onto the ground.Rather than describing it as tornado, it was more correct to call it a a huge whirling tide, which strikes the things, which are located in the sea, onto the bottom of the ocean by dragging them into the vortex.The huge whirling tide, which reaches an overall height of 20 km, grabs a cluster of cold air from a distant height, swallows up the humidity of clouds en route and roaringly pours down on the forest in front of Renyas eyes, who brings it all together. Its a failure~ this (Renya) While absent-mindedly gazing at a huge amount of white smoke, ice and unknown things streaming with a roaring sound outside of the defence walls, which are wrapping him up, Renya grumbled.Without considering anything but to scrape off and attract the cold water, which is likely there, from a high altitude in the sky, he didnt think about a method to deal with the cold air, which was dragged along and discharged, at all.In reality its a circulation of creating ascending air currents with external descending air currents. The effective range of the spell might have been limited, but because an external air current wasnt created, the cold air, which was slapped onto the ground, started to freeze the vicinity while spreading out.Lets cancel the spell right away?Renya wondered, but he immediately changed his thinking toI have already done it now anywayand slowly drove the wind funnel towards the centre of the forest.In accordance with the departure of the funnel, the force of the wind, flowing in the surroundings, has become weaker.Even so, Renya doesnt dissolve the defence walls.Renya didnt know how far the temperature of the cold air, which fell from the sky, would follow his knowledge from his former world, but if its according to his calculations, it should be roughly -70C.Even if there was some loss due to the fall and dragging along, there is no doubt that such temperature will almost certainly lead to death, if there are humans without any kind of equipment there.Renya was safe as he constructed several layers of air as wind defence walls, which were earnestly deployed multiple times. Because he was within that cocoon he was able to anticipate that he would likely freeze to death at once, if he released the walls. The people of this world probably dont know something like a down-burst. Oh well, I think that even my former world didnt have something like a down-burst, which causes such large-scale and big damage, but (Renya) The forest, which is occasionally visible through breaks in the white smoke, was transformed into a brilliant white world.Freezing trees and weeds all the same and likely all the monsters and animals, which were in there, as well, everything and anything was plunged into a homogeneous white world. Lets say it was caused by a natural disaster. Yea, lets just do that. (Renya) Even if I honestly reported that it was me who did it, there wont be anyone, who believes me, anyway, I guess.Since thats the case, it would be more credible even if I said that it was a natural disaster caused on a whim of god, Renya decided to push the entire matter onto the gods of this world, whose faces he didnt even see yet.They arent managing this world decently anyway. They have been engrossed in playing thejindorigame.From Renyas point of view,since I have been made to cross over into this world thanks to your negligence, you can take the blame a bit. At any rate (Renya) Once he cancelled the spell, the huge funnel was released into the atmosphere with the same speed, as when it arrived, and vanished.The cold air and humidity, which were contained within the released atmosphere, were purged and all around snow began to fall.While watching the large snow flakes heavily falling and piling up, Renya complains, without talking to anyone in particular, After all, I have no talent for magic, boo~ (Renya) Even an average magician, if used normally, has no purpose if it becomes a great disaster once they use their full power.As far as the eye can see its a white-dyed world. While wonderingWell, when will it be alright to release the wind defence, Renya made a big, deep sigh due to creating a situation at the same level of a large-scale disaster. Chapter 51 C It seems to be trying to practise magic Standing stock still as he is teased by the wind, he fixedly stares at the forest.In an environment, where there are no other sounds, the rustling of the trees leaves in his ears stirs a strange feeling.The screams, audible once in a while, are likely from the adventurers, who are still left behind in the forest, but although its evidence that something is happening in there one way or the other, Renya tries to not think of their fates.The wind changes.The wind, which has been blowing from the forests direction and is blended with the fragrance of the forests trees, had the stench of something rotten and of iron rust mixed in.Its a stench that worsens ones mood, Renya frowns.Since its mixed in with the fragrance of forest trees, which is said to have the effect of soothing the mind, he ends up experiencing the disgusting stench as strong and prominent.Its only a disgusting stench because I dont want to smell it, while thinking that he is deceiving himself somehow, Renya comes to a complete standstill.Once the non-attribute magic spell , which he activated and was amplifying with all his strength, blows from behind Renya in order to oppose the wind streaming from within the forest, the stench as well as the wind are washed away in one lump and get pushed back into the forest.If its like this, I wont be assaulted by that repulsive smell, Renya takes a breath.Actually, his intention is another one.Shion didnt realize it until the end, but even if Renya monitored a single part of the forest, its not like he would also be able to restrain monsters, which leave from another place.Usually its something she would notice, however was it because she was tormented by feelings of guilt for leaving Renya behind by himself? Shion didnt show any behaviour that she had realized that at all.As for Rona, Renya didnt properly know.Didnt she mention it after noticing it? Or was it something that didnt matter to Rona? Is it both or neither?Given that he wont reach a conclusion even if he tries to ponder about it, Renya stopped that train of thought.At any rate, its not like I can cover the extent of a wide area by myself.That is the real problem.Since thats the case, what shall I do so that the strange monsters, which are currently in this forest, wont leave from here and will it be fine with me making sure that they dont get close to the vicinity of the city?The answers to those questions werent that simple for Renya.He couldnt say it with certainty, but even so theres a method to guide the monsters, who might decide to leave the forest, towards his own location.Letting the wind carry his scent into the forest, it will be fine, if that tells the monsters that a lone human is in this place.The monsters, they encountered in the forest, borrowed the belly of a person, pursued escaping humans and actively assaulted them.If those are monsters, which have the trait of attacking people, they will almost certainly go for humans, which are in fairly close vicinity, next, after they ran out of adventurers to hunt within the forest.Im going to deliberately transmit into the forest that those humans are here.This can also be regarded as a kind of provocation. Really Im an idiot too after all. (Renya) He mutters in self-mockery.Shion and Rona will definitely return to the city as soon as possible, probably by running or walking without rest, Renya believed.As the luggage, they brought with them, would only be a nuisance, they have left everything but their weapons behind.Renya, for whom that was too wasteful, stored everything in his own inventory after their twos figures became distant.He hasnt looked at the contents though.Thats because certainly there should be things inside, which arent meant for his eyes.Accordingly, as they are moving in that condition, they will probably arrive at the city in a bit more than hour, if they are fast, and in a bit less than two hours, if they are slow, is Renyas expectation.From then on, they will rush into the guild, wake up the staff and give a report to the top brass. Even if they get a late start, since it wont do, if they dont pick people, who are quite skilled, for the investigation team, they will head this way alongside the adventurers, who will be gathered for the subjugation and who are able to fight reasonably well.Now that I think about, just how many hours will that take?Renya felt like getting depressed.As long as the guilds top brass isnt filled with big idiots, they will probably dispatch an advance party for now and need about 3~4 hours for gathering people and materials until their departure.If they are properly told that they must hurry, they will likely use horses or coaches for the move and would arrive here in around one hour after departing from the city.If I give them a bit flexibility time-wise considering that there are various other things to handle one way or the other, wont I be relieved from my post, if I keep monitoring for around 8 hours?Thats Renyas wishful thinking.That doesnt mean that everything is always progressing in a smooth manner.Having a futile discord and strife over responsibility, the thick-headed top brass might not listen to Shions and Ronas points.Its not difficult to anticipate that it will likely create problems such as being unable to gather people or being unable to obtain materials, since its still night and dawn isnt breaking yet.In the first place, as a fairly high number of adventurers is suffering monster injuries in this forest, theres also the concern whether there are still enough people remaining in the city to form a subjugation unit. Although its vague I have a feeling that the formation of a subjugation unit is too early. (Renya) He looks up to the sky murmuring this in a whisper.To begin with, if you hunt indiscriminately monsters by going into the forest, you will be paid money in proportion to what you hunted, such a request is just strange, Renya assessed.If its a normal request it will be Thin out the goblins because they have increased too much in number or A large number of women were abducted by orcs in the vicinity of a village, rescue the women and slay the orcs.Just go hunting whatever, that style of a request is clearly odd.It wasnt like there wasnt any possibility for relief measures towards beginners, since its not a forest, where overly strong monsters appear, or because they have been in a dire situation regarding the magic gem stock, but Renya hasnt heard of such talks or rumours.If you look at in a very shrewd way, isnt this a large-scale lure to bait careless adventurers, who havent realized the request to be kind of weird?He has such suspicion.Of course it was a viewpoint that wont leave the stage of being a conjecture. Being simply preoccupied with the forest octopuses, Renya, who noticed that possibility, is undoubtedly too late now since its after they were attacked by unidentified monsters in the forest.If that viewpoint is correct, theres also a likelihood that the formation of a subjugation unit and a investigation unit has been already completed.Incidentally, in that case the report might reach the guild faster than Shion and Rona, too.If theres bait to angle, there should naturally be a string and a hook attached to the bait. The hooks task is only to be an indication that things like the bait were bitten off. What ki (Renya) Blending in with the adventurers, whose role is to be bait, there might be a party, whose role is to be the true hook.However, the sounds, audible from within the forest, are getting less with the passage of time. Before long they cant be heard at all anymore and the figures of another party, which leaves the forest besides Renyas group, cant be seen either. If Im right with this conjecture, they are annoyed to willingly abide by the scheme of the planner. (Renya) Within Renya wells up a feeling that he wants to achieve a conclusion, like knocking the opponent out of their wits, with a single blow just like that.Its probably what one would call feeling mischievous.However, he cant come up with a good idea what should be done and how it should be done to induce such outcome.If I possessed fire and ice spells, I could focus all of my mana, that seems to be more than enough, into turning the forest into ashes or freeze it over. However, with wind magic, which has good affinity with me, I can at best blow away the trees. Although I have a feeling that even that would be fine, it somehow lacks flashiness, Renya, who thought that, suddenly has an idea while looking up to the sky.(T/N: And Renyas ideas are never any decent)This world is in a state similar to being a miniature garden placed on a tray. I heard that from that little girl before I came to this world.Below the tray theres nothing, emptiness.Seen from another angle, how about above the tray?In this world there should one or two mountains of the several-thousand-meter class.If there are mountains, theres a layer of air as well. It should have a considerable thickness.Moreover, I have no memory of a hot bath becoming hot quickly in a strange way after coming to this world either.In other words, the atmospheric pressure is the same as in my former world. Isnt in conceivable that it has the same air layers, too?And, isnt it likely set up that the air will get gradually thinner the higher the altitude, just like in my former world? Congregate, my power, rise to the atmosphere (Renya) If its wind-attribute magic, he has already bought notes covering all of the known spells from Khalil. Renya has finished looking through all of them.Even in regards to the utilization restraint, right after releasing the restriction on the elementary magic he released non-attribute magic to be limitless with the same method.The cast spell is an advanced spell of the wind system.However, originally you arrange the image to have an effect of blowing things upwards from below, Renya has modified it to be the reverse, or in other words it slaps something downwards from above.Incidentally, given that it wont be amusing for him to suffer damage from the aftermath of his own spell, he erects a wind wall around himself.Predicting the phenomenon, that will occur from here on out, he repeatedly deployed walls in a shape similar to a firm, vast cocoon by overlapping several parallel magic formulae activations.After waiting for the deployment of the walls, Renya holds up his right hand towards the sky and continues all chants while clenching his fist as if completely grasping the air. Wind, rage in a whirl, strike the ground according to my desire! (Renya) The original incantation is Pierce the sky according to my desire, but he has re-arranged the chant as well since its into the reverse direction.As he will recover almost all of his mana right away, except the one used to maintain the defence walls, he pours as much as possible into the spell.Creating a circuit of words, the spell is completed by pouring mana into that circuit.At that moment Renyas surroundings were swallowed up by smoke and thunderous roars.In a far away place.If you looked at it from a far higher point of view than Renya, you could probably see the enormous funnel.Originally the natural phenomenon called tornado is a phenomenon of sucking up things from the ground and hurling those into the sky, but this inverse tornado sucks up everything from the sky and slaps it onto the ground.Rather than describing it as tornado, it was more correct to call it a a huge whirling tide, which strikes the things, which are located in the sea, onto the bottom of the ocean by dragging them into the vortex.The huge whirling tide, which reaches an overall height of 20 km, grabs a cluster of cold air from a distant height, swallows up the humidity of clouds en route and roaringly pours down on the forest in front of Renyas eyes, who brings it all together. Its a failure~ this (Renya) While absent-mindedly gazing at a huge amount of white smoke, ice and unknown things streaming with a roaring sound outside of the defence walls, which are wrapping him up, Renya grumbled.Without considering anything but to scrape off and attract the cold water, which is likely there, from a high altitude in the sky, he didnt think about a method to deal with the cold air, which was dragged along and discharged, at all.In reality its a circulation of creating ascending air currents with external descending air currents. The effective range of the spell might have been limited, but because an external air current wasnt created, the cold air, which was slapped onto the ground, started to freeze the vicinity while spreading out.Lets cancel the spell right away?Renya wondered, but he immediately changed his thinking toI have already done it now anywayand slowly drove the wind funnel towards the centre of the forest.In accordance with the departure of the funnel, the force of the wind, flowing in the surroundings, has become weaker.Even so, Renya doesnt dissolve the defence walls.Renya didnt know how far the temperature of the cold air, which fell from the sky, would follow his knowledge from his former world, but if its according to his calculations, it should be roughly -70C.Even if there was some loss due to the fall and dragging along, there is no doubt that such temperature will almost certainly lead to death, if there are humans without any kind of equipment there.Renya was safe as he constructed several layers of air as wind defence walls, which were earnestly deployed multiple times. Because he was within that cocoon he was able to anticipate that he would likely freeze to death at once, if he released the walls. The people of this world probably dont know something like a down-burst. Oh well, I think that even my former world didnt have something like a down-burst, which causes such large-scale and big damage, but (Renya) The forest, which is occasionally visible through breaks in the white smoke, was transformed into a brilliant white world.Freezing trees and weeds all the same and likely all the monsters and animals, which were in there, as well, everything and anything was plunged into a homogeneous white world. Lets say it was caused by a natural disaster. Yea, lets just do that. (Renya) Even if I honestly reported that it was me who did it, there wont be anyone, who believes me, anyway, I guess.Since thats the case, it would be more credible even if I said that it was a natural disaster caused on a whim of god, Renya decided to push the entire matter onto the gods of this world, whose faces he didnt even see yet.They arent managing this world decently anyway. They have been engrossed in playing thejindorigame.From Renyas point of view,since I have been made to cross over into this world thanks to your negligence, you can take the blame a bit. At any rate (Renya) Once he cancelled the spell, the huge funnel was released into the atmosphere with the same speed, as when it arrived, and vanished.The cold air and humidity, which were contained within the released atmosphere, were purged and all around snow began to fall.While watching the large snow flakes heavily falling and piling up, Renya complains, without talking to anyone in particular, After all, I have no talent for magic, boo~ (Renya) Even an average magician, if used normally, has no purpose if it becomes a great disaster once they use their full power.As far as the eye can see its a white-dyed world. While wonderingWell, when will it be alright to release the wind defence, Renya made a big, deep sigh due to creating a situation at the same level of a large-scale disaster. Chapter 52 Chapter 52 C It seems to be Interlude 6 Oh? Separating his lips from the teacup he just sipped from, he caught sight of a small violet sphere breaking on top of the table once he casually raised his sight. Is something wrong, nee~? The one who asked, is sitting on a chair on the opposite side across the table. The bundle of bandages is quite difficult to describe.It has a pretty humanlike shape, but its thickness isnt common. Will one turn into that form, similar to a poorly made bear plush toy, if they twine who-knows-how many bandages around themselves? Although slightly, it has piqued his interest. Well, it looks like the core which flew through the Forest Labyrinth was destroyed. Its a fact the human race doesnt know; the Forest Labyrinth has already been taken into our, the demon races, possession.A transfer gate has been established by our hands with one entrance on the demon races continents side and the other one on the human races continents side.But then again, although the gate has been installed on the side over there, around a single person can be sent through the gate because we werent able to bring many materials over.Moreover, its flaw is that its usage fee is ridiculously expensive, however if its for the sake of research, theres no choice but to come to the decision that slight expenses cant be helped. What the heck are you doing over there? A practical test of the new monsters. Its a superb monster that eats humans, multiplies in their abdomens and fuses with their bodies. I embedded a core into a control unit and tried to send it over, but with the master core on our side getting destroyed, it seems that the core over there was destroyed by someone.I feel slightly irritated as I wasnt able to get much data.Nevertheless, the goal is to obtain the required data from a great number of failures and a few successes by repeating the experiment many times over.For example, with it being an operation similar to getting one winner from drawing a large number of lots, I will likely be disqualified as researcher if I raise my eyebrows each and every single time I pulled a miss. It was a genuine experiment regarding their fighting strength and breeding speed, but Its a failure, nee~? My condolences. Who will blame me just because I felt a tinge of bloodthirst towards the bundle of bandages, which laid on top of the sofa with its legs outstretched while flapping its limbs.Even so, its a mysterious cloth bundle.Although it completely fails to expose a single thing, be it eyes, mouth or anything that qualifies as an organ, on its surface, it appears to be looking this way. Even its voice is easy to understand and clear without any mumbling.I think it cant be helped that I want to unwrap it once.Or rather, let me unwrap it with a *snap* once, by all means.I have no doubt that I will definitely be able to see something that will satisfy my curiosity.Once I looked at the bundle of bandages while pondering such things, the bundle of bandages, which noticed it was being watched, shook its body with a start. Whats wrong? Just now, something cold the wind, nee~? Demons can catch colds? Can they? Well, since there are many hot-blooded idiots, it looks like there are also fellows who dont notice catching a cold, nee~ The bundle of bandages raises its voice in a giggle.Tentatively, there are more superior demons than me. Even if Im a researcher, Im the equivalent of a leader, but since I quite prefer light speech and conduct like this, I have been branded as eccentric. I also dont overly much no, there was a single person, I dont want to get involved with as much as possible. Is it a laughing matter, I wonder? In the first place, if you speak of failing the experiment, you ran an experiment in the same area as well. Didnt it merely fail because it was obstructed by people? Once I bluntly said so in a tone that was mixed with a small amount of sarcasm, the bundle of bandages abruptly stopped laughing.Did I offend it? I wonder for a moment, however its impossible to read its expression with a glance at its face, as its no more than a bundle of bandages after all.To begin with, given that I dont understand where its eyes are, its uncertain whether its even looking this way or not. That doesnt particularly mean that it failed though nee~ The voice, which was emitted by the cloth bundle a short while later, didnt have anything like discomfort mixed in it for now. Did you collect the necessary items? I was just stopped for a little bit on the way nee~ Ive heard you even lost the experimental magic gems. Its a failure if it goes into the red cost-wise, I think. This is harsh nee~ The badly-done bear topples over on top of the sofa, spreads out both its hands and looks up to the ceiling.Every single one of its movements is exaggerated and comical.Its strangely rubbing me the wrong way.Although I will immediately get rid of them if they are of equal or lower rank, I will be killed if I handle a superior in a higher rank impudently, though I believe it to be disgusting. Either way, the experiments will be suspended for a while. Oh? Why? The lump of bandages raises a curious voice.Why doesnt this fellow even understand such a thing, I want to question.There are many researchers who absolutely dont show any curiosity in things other than what interests them, however shouldnt you at least look over the reported facts which were transmitted from above?Its not unlikely for your own body to perish if you make a single mistake.Or does that oddball in front of my eyes plan to discard even that as inconsequential? You probably got a notification from the military authorities. As it looks like they will convert the established scale of the Forest Labyrinth transfer gate so that it can move a certain amount, we will lose the usage of the transfer gate until that operations is completed. There was such a notification? Having a doubtful voice, the bandaged plush toys head is slanting slightly and trembling.It appears that it inclined its head to the side, but because of its very short and stout build and the thickness of the bandages coiling around it, that doesnt seem to go smoothly.Involuntarily I leak a sigh.I want to finish the conversation with this strange object as soon as possible and quickly return to my research. There was. If you think that its a lie, try inquiring to your own home about it as well. I havent particularly said that its a lie though nee~ Throwing a disgusted look at the bundle of bandages, which began to flap its limbs again, I open my mouth to interrupt the chat any time now. If thats your only business, can I please have you go home soon? Ah, yea. I will go home once I finish my business. Once a small impact hit my chest, I, who wanted to ask whether there is still some kind of business beyond this, had my words blocked by something hot, which gradually rose from my throat.While feeling a highly viscous liquid leaking and dripping after my mouth became partly open, I looked down at my own chest.An unfamiliar unrefined metal pole is piercing into the chest of my body, I was familiar with.What gradually rose from my throat was a clot of my own blood. As I realized that, I was assailed by the pain at last. Gofuu the heck what are you- planning Its troublesome nee~ Just when I have done something this flashy to that spot. Shall I cut you so that you wont even be able to talk anymore by the time Im finished with the next spots? What stabbed my body was apparently an iron pole, which had a sharp pointed end shaped like a screw.Its source is sticking out from a gap in the bundle of bandages.I dont know the principle behind it, but that pole is pushed deeper into my body by piercing the screw part of the pole further in and rotating it.If its one of those, thats still far from a fatal wound.As I formulate a way to escape while enduring the pain and discomfort of a foreign object piercing my body, several more poles are casually stabbed and then thoroughly screwed into my body.In front of me, who screamed while unable to bear it, stood that bundle of bandages. For the time being I will have you die. The plan is for it to be as meaningless and gruesome death as possible so that it also serves as a warning to other people. Aah, since I will gouge out the parts that seem usable, best regards to those places nee~ Once I try to scream Please, help!, a pole was thrust into my throat.It closes in on me, who struggles while vomiting blood and drool from my mouth which has lost the ability to speak, in order to slowly cover me. Well then, lets start with this eyeball first nee~? Fritz was at his wits end in his room in the guild building.A mountain of documents is piling up on the desk in front of him.Most of them were reports.The number of adventurers who passed away is 100, spread over 23 parties.Almost all of the adventurers who accepted the request of the guild have died.Merely one party of 3 people returned alive.It was only the party, which had Renya Kunugi as its leader.For Fritz those results are relatively trivial.The participation of Renyas party was unexpected. He panicked at the time when hed learned that, but since the result was them returning alive, it wont turn into a problem.The annihilation of 23 parties didnt matter either.There are countless adventurer candidates.From noble greenhorns who cant succeed their family, at the top, to the sons of farmers who went broke, from below; there wont be any of inconvenience to replace them in any way since theres a diversity to such a degree.In the first place, the veteran adventurers who are difficult to replace wont bite onto a request like this times.We have an ulterior motive for posting a request of that degree. C is what that request is screaming.There was also the possibility of them making the error of joining in if that Shion was the leader, but although I thought they will easily avoid it if its Renya, I wonder whether I have slightly misjudged him, Fritz ponders.However, even this is no concern that will trouble Fritz greatly.The problem, which is bringing him to his wits end, were the three things currently in front of him.One is the examination report sent by the investigative team.The new species of monsters discovered in the forest this time apparently had a great variety of beast-like beings, had imitations of the arms of people or imitated dragons; in other words, they had no definite shape.Either way, they apparently had a truly evil-natured ecology of eating, capturing and breeding with the bodies of people.If one talks about why he knew about those, one reason was the autopsy report of the corpse of a monster the investigative team brought back, and the other reason were the several specimens they discovered in the middle of doing those things.If you ask why there were specimens discovered in that state, it connects to the second problem.The second problem is that the forest in question was almost completely destroyed.According to the only one who saw the actual scene, Renya, immediately after something similar to a white thread quickly descended from the sky, it stabbed into the forest. He had a bad premonition, so he deployed a defense barrier as his field of vision was painted over in bright white light and he was surrounded by a snowscape.He tried to ascertain the the authenticity of his words with magic, but since he was told Pay the money to Renya, Fritz gave up on that.In reality, no matter whether Renyas words are a lie or the truth, its a fact that an extensive area of the forest has been frozen over.Going by the results of the investigation, around 70-80% of the entire forest has been locked in ice. He was told that it likely wont return to its former state as many trees have been mowed down.According to the story of the magicians who accompanied the investigative team, its a spell with the intention to destroy and would require several hundred magicians to try to perform the same deed, and even then its uncertain whether they will be able to produce an effect which is barely similar, or not. Apparently thats the level of damage it has.Of course, the report had a jurisdiction of Because of those reasons, its deemed to be a sudden natural disaster attached to it.If its really a natural disaster, I will pray to god or something like that, Fritz judges.Putting aside the damages to the adventurers, the sharp decline in resources, which could be taken from the forest and trees which ended up broken, will become a terribly hard blow for the residents of the city.Since the country has to plan the countermeasures in regards to that, its not like harm will directly approach Fritz, but it has been decided that his work will increase as the country should naturally request his cooperation with the formulated countermeasures.The third problem was just now in front of Fritz eyes. Whats this about? You can explain it, right, Fritz? (Rona) The one, who asked that with a calm tone while having a smile tinged with a coldness at absolute zero and a black flame in the background, was Rona.As usual her body, which has liveliness and impulsiveness, was covered in a priestess garb, however she is putting strength into her right hand and grasping the one-handed mace tightly.That hand is trembling slightly as she is putting too much power into it. A silent coercion, which can only be called stifling, was directed at Fritz. Certainly, this times matter was due to the guilds own judgement. However, I believed you would evade it, if it was that man (Fritz) Is it fine to take that as your testament, Fritz? (Rona) Eh? No, ummm Eeeeh? (Fritz) Then get ready over there. At least I will send you off with one blow so that you dont have to suffer. (Rona) Eh, thats a bit? Eeeeeeehh!? (Fritz) The staff members looked at each others faces due to the male scream which resounded within the guild. They returned to their respective tasks as if they didnt hear anything. Chapter 52 C It seems to be Interlude 6 Oh? Separating his lips from the teacup he just sipped from, he caught sight of a small violet sphere breaking on top of the table once he casually raised his sight. Is something wrong, nee~? The one who asked, is sitting on a chair on the opposite side across the table. The bundle of bandages is quite difficult to describe.It has a pretty humanlike shape, but its thickness isnt common. Will one turn into that form, similar to a poorly made bear plush toy, if they twine who-knows-how many bandages around themselves? Although slightly, it has piqued his interest. Well, it looks like the core which flew through the Forest Labyrinth was destroyed. Its a fact the human race doesnt know; the Forest Labyrinth has already been taken into our, the demon races, possession.A transfer gate has been established by our hands with one entrance on the demon races continents side and the other one on the human races continents side.But then again, although the gate has been installed on the side over there, around a single person can be sent through the gate because we werent able to bring many materials over.Moreover, its flaw is that its usage fee is ridiculously expensive, however if its for the sake of research, theres no choice but to come to the decision that slight expenses cant be helped. What the heck are you doing over there? A practical test of the new monsters. Its a superb monster that eats humans, multiplies in their abdomens and fuses with their bodies. I embedded a core into a control unit and tried to send it over, but with the master core on our side getting destroyed, it seems that the core over there was destroyed by someone.I feel slightly irritated as I wasnt able to get much data.Nevertheless, the goal is to obtain the required data from a great number of failures and a few successes by repeating the experiment many times over.For example, with it being an operation similar to getting one winner from drawing a large number of lots, I will likely be disqualified as researcher if I raise my eyebrows each and every single time I pulled a miss. It was a genuine experiment regarding their fighting strength and breeding speed, but Its a failure, nee~? My condolences. Who will blame me just because I felt a tinge of bloodthirst towards the bundle of bandages, which laid on top of the sofa with its legs outstretched while flapping its limbs.Even so, its a mysterious cloth bundle.Although it completely fails to expose a single thing, be it eyes, mouth or anything that qualifies as an organ, on its surface, it appears to be looking this way. Even its voice is easy to understand and clear without any mumbling.I think it cant be helped that I want to unwrap it once.Or rather, let me unwrap it with a *snap* once, by all means.I have no doubt that I will definitely be able to see something that will satisfy my curiosity.Once I looked at the bundle of bandages while pondering such things, the bundle of bandages, which noticed it was being watched, shook its body with a start. Whats wrong? Just now, something cold the wind, nee~? Demons can catch colds? Can they? Well, since there are many hot-blooded idiots, it looks like there are also fellows who dont notice catching a cold, nee~ The bundle of bandages raises its voice in a giggle.Tentatively, there are more superior demons than me. Even if Im a researcher, Im the equivalent of a leader, but since I quite prefer light speech and conduct like this, I have been branded as eccentric. I also dont overly much no, there was a single person, I dont want to get involved with as much as possible. Is it a laughing matter, I wonder? In the first place, if you speak of failing the experiment, you ran an experiment in the same area as well. Didnt it merely fail because it was obstructed by people? Once I bluntly said so in a tone that was mixed with a small amount of sarcasm, the bundle of bandages abruptly stopped laughing.Did I offend it? I wonder for a moment, however its impossible to read its expression with a glance at its face, as its no more than a bundle of bandages after all.To begin with, given that I dont understand where its eyes are, its uncertain whether its even looking this way or not. That doesnt particularly mean that it failed though nee~ The voice, which was emitted by the cloth bundle a short while later, didnt have anything like discomfort mixed in it for now. Did you collect the necessary items? I was just stopped for a little bit on the way nee~ Ive heard you even lost the experimental magic gems. Its a failure if it goes into the red cost-wise, I think. This is harsh nee~ The badly-done bear topples over on top of the sofa, spreads out both its hands and looks up to the ceiling.Every single one of its movements is exaggerated and comical.Its strangely rubbing me the wrong way.Although I will immediately get rid of them if they are of equal or lower rank, I will be killed if I handle a superior in a higher rank impudently, though I believe it to be disgusting. Either way, the experiments will be suspended for a while. Oh? Why? The lump of bandages raises a curious voice.Why doesnt this fellow even understand such a thing, I want to question.There are many researchers who absolutely dont show any curiosity in things other than what interests them, however shouldnt you at least look over the reported facts which were transmitted from above?Its not unlikely for your own body to perish if you make a single mistake.Or does that oddball in front of my eyes plan to discard even that as inconsequential? You probably got a notification from the military authorities. As it looks like they will convert the established scale of the Forest Labyrinth transfer gate so that it can move a certain amount, we will lose the usage of the transfer gate until that operations is completed. There was such a notification? Having a doubtful voice, the bandaged plush toys head is slanting slightly and trembling.It appears that it inclined its head to the side, but because of its very short and stout build and the thickness of the bandages coiling around it, that doesnt seem to go smoothly.Involuntarily I leak a sigh.I want to finish the conversation with this strange object as soon as possible and quickly return to my research. There was. If you think that its a lie, try inquiring to your own home about it as well. I havent particularly said that its a lie though nee~ Throwing a disgusted look at the bundle of bandages, which began to flap its limbs again, I open my mouth to interrupt the chat any time now. If thats your only business, can I please have you go home soon? Ah, yea. I will go home once I finish my business. Once a small impact hit my chest, I, who wanted to ask whether there is still some kind of business beyond this, had my words blocked by something hot, which gradually rose from my throat.While feeling a highly viscous liquid leaking and dripping after my mouth became partly open, I looked down at my own chest.An unfamiliar unrefined metal pole is piercing into the chest of my body, I was familiar with.What gradually rose from my throat was a clot of my own blood. As I realized that, I was assailed by the pain at last. Gofuu the heck what are you- planning Its troublesome nee~ Just when I have done something this flashy to that spot. Shall I cut you so that you wont even be able to talk anymore by the time Im finished with the next spots? What stabbed my body was apparently an iron pole, which had a sharp pointed end shaped like a screw.Its source is sticking out from a gap in the bundle of bandages.I dont know the principle behind it, but that pole is pushed deeper into my body by piercing the screw part of the pole further in and rotating it.If its one of those, thats still far from a fatal wound.As I formulate a way to escape while enduring the pain and discomfort of a foreign object piercing my body, several more poles are casually stabbed and then thoroughly screwed into my body.In front of me, who screamed while unable to bear it, stood that bundle of bandages. For the time being I will have you die. The plan is for it to be as meaningless and gruesome death as possible so that it also serves as a warning to other people. Aah, since I will gouge out the parts that seem usable, best regards to those places nee~ Once I try to scream Please, help!, a pole was thrust into my throat.It closes in on me, who struggles while vomiting blood and drool from my mouth which has lost the ability to speak, in order to slowly cover me. Well then, lets start with this eyeball first nee~? Fritz was at his wits end in his room in the guild building.A mountain of documents is piling up on the desk in front of him.Most of them were reports.The number of adventurers who passed away is 100, spread over 23 parties.Almost all of the adventurers who accepted the request of the guild have died.Merely one party of 3 people returned alive.It was only the party, which had Renya Kunugi as its leader.For Fritz those results are relatively trivial.The participation of Renyas party was unexpected. He panicked at the time when hed learned that, but since the result was them returning alive, it wont turn into a problem.The annihilation of 23 parties didnt matter either.There are countless adventurer candidates.From noble greenhorns who cant succeed their family, at the top, to the sons of farmers who went broke, from below; there wont be any of inconvenience to replace them in any way since theres a diversity to such a degree.In the first place, the veteran adventurers who are difficult to replace wont bite onto a request like this times.We have an ulterior motive for posting a request of that degree. C is what that request is screaming.There was also the possibility of them making the error of joining in if that Shion was the leader, but although I thought they will easily avoid it if its Renya, I wonder whether I have slightly misjudged him, Fritz ponders.However, even this is no concern that will trouble Fritz greatly.The problem, which is bringing him to his wits end, were the three things currently in front of him.One is the examination report sent by the investigative team.The new species of monsters discovered in the forest this time apparently had a great variety of beast-like beings, had imitations of the arms of people or imitated dragons; in other words, they had no definite shape.Either way, they apparently had a truly evil-natured ecology of eating, capturing and breeding with the bodies of people.If one talks about why he knew about those, one reason was the autopsy report of the corpse of a monster the investigative team brought back, and the other reason were the several specimens they discovered in the middle of doing those things.If you ask why there were specimens discovered in that state, it connects to the second problem.The second problem is that the forest in question was almost completely destroyed.According to the only one who saw the actual scene, Renya, immediately after something similar to a white thread quickly descended from the sky, it stabbed into the forest. He had a bad premonition, so he deployed a defense barrier as his field of vision was painted over in bright white light and he was surrounded by a snowscape.He tried to ascertain the the authenticity of his words with magic, but since he was told Pay the money to Renya, Fritz gave up on that.In reality, no matter whether Renyas words are a lie or the truth, its a fact that an extensive area of the forest has been frozen over.Going by the results of the investigation, around 70-80% of the entire forest has been locked in ice. He was told that it likely wont return to its former state as many trees have been mowed down.According to the story of the magicians who accompanied the investigative team, its a spell with the intention to destroy and would require several hundred magicians to try to perform the same deed, and even then its uncertain whether they will be able to produce an effect which is barely similar, or not. Apparently thats the level of damage it has.Of course, the report had a jurisdiction of Because of those reasons, its deemed to be a sudden natural disaster attached to it.If its really a natural disaster, I will pray to god or something like that, Fritz judges.Putting aside the damages to the adventurers, the sharp decline in resources, which could be taken from the forest and trees which ended up broken, will become a terribly hard blow for the residents of the city.Since the country has to plan the countermeasures in regards to that, its not like harm will directly approach Fritz, but it has been decided that his work will increase as the country should naturally request his cooperation with the formulated countermeasures.The third problem was just now in front of Fritz eyes. Whats this about? You can explain it, right, Fritz? (Rona) The one, who asked that with a calm tone while having a smile tinged with a coldness at absolute zero and a black flame in the background, was Rona.As usual her body, which has liveliness and impulsiveness, was covered in a priestess garb, however she is putting strength into her right hand and grasping the one-handed mace tightly.That hand is trembling slightly as she is putting too much power into it. A silent coercion, which can only be called stifling, was directed at Fritz. Certainly, this times matter was due to the guilds own judgement. However, I believed you would evade it, if it was that man (Fritz) Is it fine to take that as your testament, Fritz? (Rona) Eh? No, ummm Eeeeh? (Fritz) Then get ready over there. At least I will send you off with one blow so that you dont have to suffer. (Rona) Eh, thats a bit? Eeeeeeehh!? (Fritz) The staff members looked at each others faces due to the male scream which resounded within the guild. They returned to their respective tasks as if they didnt hear anything. Chapter 53 Chapter 53 C It seems to be a trip to the country of Elves I want to go to the country of elves. (Renya) Everyone present at that place opened their eyes widely due to Renyas far too sudden statement. One day all members of the party had gathered in the parlour at afternoon and were in the middle of enjoying the tea brewed by Frau.The tea prepared by Frau is a fairly high-class black tea.Generally, the tea that appears on the market is something which can be called a pitch-black tea. Its taste and flavour are considerably bad.Above that, there are yellow tea, green tea of fairly average quality and the top quality products which are the black teas.From Renyas point of view the green tea tastes delicious enough, but as Frau has a policy of using the best thing available, she is obstinately continuing to use black tea.I want to repay the debts if theres money though, you know, Renya complained, however Frau carelessly stated that she has already begun to repay those little-by-little.As she was somehow getting quite skilful at the production of the magic gems that she is continuing to create with the mana supply provided by Renya, it has apparently reached a situation of her being able to continuously earn a reasonable income.Renya wondered whether it was really alright due to the strange situation of her returning the debt he made to buy the house, but according to Fraus words thats fine because Renya is providing his mana as resource which is then used to earn the money and thus it also feels like the debt is being repaid with the money Renya has earned.Returning to the topic; Shion was about to spew out the black tea which she held in her mouth due to Renyas abrupt and unrestrained statement, but somehow enduring it, she looks at Renya after putting the cup back on the table. Still, thats quite sudden, no? (Shion) Certainly, if you say its sudden, that might be the case, but since we have become able to go there at great pains, dont you want to go there once? Ive never seen an elf. (Renya) I believe they arent interesting living creatures for sightseeing though (Rona) Rona says while she put her cup between her hands. Are they this boring? (Renya) Yes. First, they have high pride. (Rona) Returning the cup to the table, Rona begins to state her arguments as she hits upon them while counting with her fingers. Their faces are beautiful, but its an androgynous type of beauty that is disconnected from reality. Theres almost no distinction between men and women in regards to their bodies. In other words, the men seem to be tiny and the women are all flat as a board. (Rona)(T/N: in the last sentence, Rona means to say that the men got small dicks and not that they are small in height)(ED: lol, dreams of buxom elven women shattered before they could even begin.) Wha-, say what!? (Renya) Renya retorted, flustered, but Rona answered him nonchalantly, Its clear what its about, though I cant really tell since its not like Ive seen the real thing. There are many elves with carefree characters as result of having an excess of usable time due to their longevity. Its a strict race that will hold a grudge for several years if they get angry once, since they are hard to please. They dont show much interest in things like handicraft because they prefer natures items. They build their buildings by using things like trees in their natural state. (Rona) I have a feeling that those points are blended too much by your own personal opinion, but you have extensive knowledge, Rona. (Renya) Isnt it fine to praise me a bit more? (Rona) A somewhat gloomy Shion is glaring at Rona whos smiling cheerfully.If its around this much, I know that as well, seems to be what she definitely wants to say. But still, why do you want to go to the elven country so abruptly? Since the uproar from the other day, the guilds monitoring has become annoying (Renya) After the matter of more than 20 parties getting annihilated in the forest close to the city, the number of looks from the guild towards himself had strangely increased, Renya felt.Until then they had been sporadically loitering around outside the grounds of the house. He noticed the figures of people like that, but now he felt that their frequency has oddly gone up.Its a relief that they arent insolent people who would go as far as entering the house though, thinking that Renya realizes that Frau is fixedly staring his way for some reason. Whats wrong? (Renya) Ah, its nothing ~no. Rather than that, will Frau be staying at home if you end up going to the elven country ~nano? (Frau) Renya hesitates as she has asked looking slightly sad.Its possible for her to go out if she continues to stick to me, but theres the question of whether Frau can pass through the transfer gate like that or not. In Azs explanation, it was mentioned that a single person can barely be sent through the gate which has been installed at the school.If Frau counts as a person, she wont be able to pass through the gate together with Renya. If you can go through the transfer gate, it will be okay to take you along as well. (Renya) Theres no other choice but to try asking Az about that, huh? Renya judged. If Renya goes, well come along as well, but well have to pay the transfer fee ourselves, I guess? (Shion) Shion says.If Im not mistaken, Renya nodded, but he had prepared a reply to deal with that. If you can use the magic gems created by Frau, I have a hunch that it will be fairly cheap. Moreover, Az told me that he has discussed a discount for the usage fee. (Renya) Now that you mention it, thats right, but will it be a pleasure trip? (Rona) Rona asked in a weird way.The act of going on a short-term vacation that requires quite a large amount of funds, isnt very popular in this world.At the most its something occasionally done by nobles and big merchants.Merchants like peddlers who wander all over from one place to the other for the sake of doing business are different, but most of the common citizens die in the city they were born in and grew up.By the way, adventurers arent included in the classification of common citizens. A pleasure trip is no good? (Renya) No, I think its alright once in awhile. (Rona) Rona had an expression on her face of not quite being satisfied, however even Renya doesnt want to travel for nothing but work year in, year out. Occasionally I want to go and have a relaxing time at a spa, he has these moods at times as well.Though I dont know whether the elven country has a spa or not. If its decided, I will request the utilization of the transfer gate from Az for starters and at the same time ask him about the specifications of the leap, huh? (Renya) Shion and I will pack our stuff. Lets bear arms just in case, too. (Rona) Eh? Youre going to take weapons with you on a pleasure trip? (Shion) Renya and Rona dropped their fists onto the head of Shion who spouted such a careless line on top of having a puzzled expression on her face. For the moment the maximum permissible weight is 150 kg. If its below that, it will even be possible to transport two different people together. Although I told you that the usage fee is cheap, you have to pay 1 silver coin per person for nothing but renting the facility if you use your own magic gems. Because theres an adjustment of the destination gate, and as its necessary to contact humans who have gone there previously if the destination is the elven country, the departure will be in 2 days. Do you have any other questions? (Az) Visiting Az, Renya got this answer just now when he told Az that he wants to use the transfer gate.Placing his elbow on top of the business desk in the room provided for his teacher job, Az replied while putting his fingers together.Renya deeply groans due to the truly simple and easy-to-understand answer that makes him want to interrogate Az as to whether he possesses clairvoyance or not. Whats wrong? (Az) Why do you believe that we will use our own magic gems? (Renya) There (Az) He points at Frau, who followed Renya while entrusting the packing to Rona and Shion. Was it Frau? The fairy has been distributing quite a number of magic gems on the market. At present its not at the level of a price collapse, but even the school has begun to pay attention to it. Just how and from where the heck do the gems come from? or such. (Az) Tsk what a bother ~no. (Frau) Frau san? (Renya) Its nothing ~no. It will be alright since I will discuss it with my regular merchant-san in this area ~no. (Frau) Feeling like he heard a somewhat a terribly dark murmur there, Renya stared at Frau, but Frau looked back at him with a sweet smile.She is considerably bold in this aspect as Rona and Shion would have likely averted their gaze, if it were them, Renya admires her.Is it for the sake of starting a business in the store space installed in the house?Frau has connections to several merchants who were introduced to her by Rona and Az.It seems that she is distributing the magic gems to the market through those pipes as well, but Renya isnt aware of the details either. If its done on a large scale, I will be zeroed in on from many sides ~no. Im distributing them at a level that just barely wont stimulate anyone. The schools movements were somewhat unexpectedly fast ~no (Frau) Its not a particular problem if they put you under suspicion because you havent done anything, right? (Az) Az tells Frau who is grinding her teeth tensely something harmless. Im being suspected although I havent done anything wrong ~no. However, its too early to spill that Im the big source ~no. (Frau) Well, the school has the ability to gather intelligence in its own ways. (Az) Since its a school that takes care of noble children, they gather information from their surroundings greedily while paying attention to be discreet about it.There are also many cases where it wouldnt be finished without learning various things given that the ones taking care of them are people.Fraus case was apparently caught in a part of the information gathering net that the school is always spreading out. That part doesnt matter to me at all, but (Renya) Renya shyly interjects.Somehow, hes gotten an impression as if Frau and Az ended up being people from a distant world.Stuff like intelligence gathering or information wars were talks of a world which he wont be able to understand at all, from Renyas point of view. Around how many magic gems are necessary? (Renya) Its around the amount of 1 gold coins worth to start it up once. Its possible to leap in 2 sets with one activation. (Az) As I will be with Frau, Shion, Rona and the luggage around 2 times? In total it will be 5 times, thus 3 sets, huh? Will you be able to prepare the magic gems, Frau? (Renya) If the transfer limit is 150 kg, it will certainly work with only just one adult in full equipment. If its a second person, they will likely go beyond the limit, however there doesnt seem to be a problem to leap together if its Frau and Renya as the numerical value can be below the limit.However, if its the amount of magic gems with a worth of 3 gold coins, it will be quite a bit, if you compare it with the magic cores of the goblins which Renya collected at the pioneers village before.Renya worried whether she would be able to prepare this many, however Frau nodded easily. Thats a piece of cake. I can even prepare those right away ~no. (Frau) Thats amazing, oi (Az) All of it is thanks to master ~nano. (Frau) The mana supply by Renya can be kept up as long as nothing big happens.Frau compressed and stored it away, but of course, no matter how much she compressed the mana there was an upper limit in the storable amount.After obtaining the ability to crystallize the mana, the worry of an overflow occurring apparently vanished, however Renyas maximum level of mana is continuing to increase day by day. Naturally that results in the amount of mana supplied to Frau becoming more in proportion. I wonder how much it would be if we measured my mana now? (Renya) Being told that he has a hopelessly scarce amount of mana after getting it measured precisely once, he was called a monster at the time when he visited Khalils shop a second time.Its not like it was measured accurately, but as I can convert it into considerably large-scale spells and invoke several spells at the same time for a long period, hasnt it increased quite a bit?Renya is wondering. Isnt it at a level of blowing away the city once you cause an explosion alongside a flash of that ball which is used to examine mana capacity? (Az) No, no matter how much I have, that is (Renya) Renya tried to laugh it off thinking that Az probably took the joke too far, however seeing Azs serious expression, he stops his words.After pondering for a little while, Renya asked Az, Are you possibly saying that seriously? (Renya) Correct, Im seriously serious, too. (Az) With that immediate reply and him having nodded gravely, Renya laughs as if being troubled. So far as it goes, Im a human though? (Renya) I know. But, then tell me the reason for your maximum amount of mana increasing this much in such short time. (Az) In the first place, I dont know anyone who acquired an increase such as this, Az continues.How to answer that?Renya ponders for a brief period. One, its the fruits of great effort. (Renya) If it can become like that with only effort, just how many training sessions did I skip? (Az) Az voiced out in utter amazement, but he switched his thinking right away. Oh well, I dont really care about that anyway. Its just you having parts you are talented in. (Az) Master is amazing. (Frau) Frau throws out her chest with an Ahem as if it is about her.Renya somehow shows an embarrassed laughter. Az is displaying a smile as if he is watching something pleasant. Thats right. Fraus master is an amazing person. (Az) S-t-o-p it. Are you making fun of me through excessive praise or what are you planning? (Renya) No, not at all. Im truly respecting you? Renya-sensei. (Az) You, are you holding a grudge over getting scolded by Liaris-sensei the other day? (Renya) Due to Renya glaring at him with half-opened eyes, Az showed a mentally slow look all of a sudden while saying, Just what are you talking about, I wonder? Chapter 53 C It seems to be a trip to the country of Elves I want to go to the country of elves. (Renya) Everyone present at that place opened their eyes widely due to Renyas far too sudden statement. One day all members of the party had gathered in the parlour at afternoon and were in the middle of enjoying the tea brewed by Frau.The tea prepared by Frau is a fairly high-class black tea.Generally, the tea that appears on the market is something which can be called a pitch-black tea. Its taste and flavour are considerably bad.Above that, there are yellow tea, green tea of fairly average quality and the top quality products which are the black teas.From Renyas point of view the green tea tastes delicious enough, but as Frau has a policy of using the best thing available, she is obstinately continuing to use black tea.I want to repay the debts if theres money though, you know, Renya complained, however Frau carelessly stated that she has already begun to repay those little-by-little.As she was somehow getting quite skilful at the production of the magic gems that she is continuing to create with the mana supply provided by Renya, it has apparently reached a situation of her being able to continuously earn a reasonable income.Renya wondered whether it was really alright due to the strange situation of her returning the debt he made to buy the house, but according to Fraus words thats fine because Renya is providing his mana as resource which is then used to earn the money and thus it also feels like the debt is being repaid with the money Renya has earned.Returning to the topic; Shion was about to spew out the black tea which she held in her mouth due to Renyas abrupt and unrestrained statement, but somehow enduring it, she looks at Renya after putting the cup back on the table. Still, thats quite sudden, no? (Shion) Certainly, if you say its sudden, that might be the case, but since we have become able to go there at great pains, dont you want to go there once? Ive never seen an elf. (Renya) I believe they arent interesting living creatures for sightseeing though (Rona) Rona says while she put her cup between her hands. Are they this boring? (Renya) Yes. First, they have high pride. (Rona) Returning the cup to the table, Rona begins to state her arguments as she hits upon them while counting with her fingers. Their faces are beautiful, but its an androgynous type of beauty that is disconnected from reality. Theres almost no distinction between men and women in regards to their bodies. In other words, the men seem to be tiny and the women are all flat as a board. (Rona)(T/N: in the last sentence, Rona means to say that the men got small dicks and not that they are small in height)(ED: lol, dreams of buxom elven women shattered before they could even begin.) Wha-, say what!? (Renya) Renya retorted, flustered, but Rona answered him nonchalantly, Its clear what its about, though I cant really tell since its not like Ive seen the real thing. There are many elves with carefree characters as result of having an excess of usable time due to their longevity. Its a strict race that will hold a grudge for several years if they get angry once, since they are hard to please. They dont show much interest in things like handicraft because they prefer natures items. They build their buildings by using things like trees in their natural state. (Rona) I have a feeling that those points are blended too much by your own personal opinion, but you have extensive knowledge, Rona. (Renya) Isnt it fine to praise me a bit more? (Rona) A somewhat gloomy Shion is glaring at Rona whos smiling cheerfully.If its around this much, I know that as well, seems to be what she definitely wants to say. But still, why do you want to go to the elven country so abruptly? Since the uproar from the other day, the guilds monitoring has become annoying (Renya) After the matter of more than 20 parties getting annihilated in the forest close to the city, the number of looks from the guild towards himself had strangely increased, Renya felt.Until then they had been sporadically loitering around outside the grounds of the house. He noticed the figures of people like that, but now he felt that their frequency has oddly gone up.Its a relief that they arent insolent people who would go as far as entering the house though, thinking that Renya realizes that Frau is fixedly staring his way for some reason. Whats wrong? (Renya) Ah, its nothing ~no. Rather than that, will Frau be staying at home if you end up going to the elven country ~nano? (Frau) Renya hesitates as she has asked looking slightly sad.Its possible for her to go out if she continues to stick to me, but theres the question of whether Frau can pass through the transfer gate like that or not. In Azs explanation, it was mentioned that a single person can barely be sent through the gate which has been installed at the school.If Frau counts as a person, she wont be able to pass through the gate together with Renya. If you can go through the transfer gate, it will be okay to take you along as well. (Renya) Theres no other choice but to try asking Az about that, huh? Renya judged. If Renya goes, well come along as well, but well have to pay the transfer fee ourselves, I guess? (Shion) Shion says.If Im not mistaken, Renya nodded, but he had prepared a reply to deal with that. If you can use the magic gems created by Frau, I have a hunch that it will be fairly cheap. Moreover, Az told me that he has discussed a discount for the usage fee. (Renya) Now that you mention it, thats right, but will it be a pleasure trip? (Rona) Rona asked in a weird way.The act of going on a short-term vacation that requires quite a large amount of funds, isnt very popular in this world.At the most its something occasionally done by nobles and big merchants.Merchants like peddlers who wander all over from one place to the other for the sake of doing business are different, but most of the common citizens die in the city they were born in and grew up.By the way, adventurers arent included in the classification of common citizens. A pleasure trip is no good? (Renya) No, I think its alright once in awhile. (Rona) Rona had an expression on her face of not quite being satisfied, however even Renya doesnt want to travel for nothing but work year in, year out.Occasionally I want to go and have a relaxing time at a spa, he has these moods at times as well.Though I dont know whether the elven country has a spa or not. If its decided, I will request the utilization of the transfer gate from Az for starters and at the same time ask him about the specifications of the leap, huh? (Renya) Shion and I will pack our stuff. Lets bear arms just in case, too. (Rona) Eh? Youre going to take weapons with you on a pleasure trip? (Shion) Renya and Rona dropped their fists onto the head of Shion who spouted such a careless line on top of having a puzzled expression on her face. For the moment the maximum permissible weight is 150 kg. If its below that, it will even be possible to transport two different people together. Although I told you that the usage fee is cheap, you have to pay 1 silver coin per person for nothing but renting the facility if you use your own magic gems. Because theres an adjustment of the destination gate, and as its necessary to contact humans who have gone there previously if the destination is the elven country, the departure will be in 2 days. Do you have any other questions? (Az) Visiting Az, Renya got this answer just now when he told Az that he wants to use the transfer gate.Placing his elbow on top of the business desk in the room provided for his teacher job, Az replied while putting his fingers together.Renya deeply groans due to the truly simple and easy-to-understand answer that makes him want to interrogate Az as to whether he possesses clairvoyance or not. Whats wrong? (Az) Why do you believe that we will use our own magic gems? (Renya) There (Az) He points at Frau, who followed Renya while entrusting the packing to Rona and Shion. Was it Frau? The fairy has been distributing quite a number of magic gems on the market. At present its not at the level of a price collapse, but even the school has begun to pay attention to it. Just how and from where the heck do the gems come from? or such. (Az) Tsk what a bother ~no. (Frau) Frau san? (Renya) Its nothing ~no. It will be alright since I will discuss it with my regular merchant-san in this area ~no. (Frau) Feeling like he heard a somewhat a terribly dark murmur there, Renya stared at Frau, but Frau looked back at him with a sweet smile.She is considerably bold in this aspect as Rona and Shion would have likely averted their gaze, if it were them, Renya admires her.Is it for the sake of starting a business in the store space installed in the house?Frau has connections to several merchants who were introduced to her by Rona and Az.It seems that she is distributing the magic gems to the market through those pipes as well, but Renya isnt aware of the details either. If its done on a large scale, I will be zeroed in on from many sides ~no. Im distributing them at a level that just barely wont stimulate anyone. The schools movements were somewhat unexpectedly fast ~no (Frau) Its not a particular problem if they put you under suspicion because you havent done anything, right? (Az) Az tells Frau who is grinding her teeth tensely something harmless. Im being suspected although I havent done anything wrong ~no. However, its too early to spill that Im the big source ~no. (Frau) Well, the school has the ability to gather intelligence in its own ways. (Az) Since its a school that takes care of noble children, they gather information from their surroundings greedily while paying attention to be discreet about it.There are also many cases where it wouldnt be finished without learning various things given that the ones taking care of them are people.Fraus case was apparently caught in a part of the information gathering net that the school is always spreading out. That part doesnt matter to me at all, but (Renya) Renya shyly interjects.Somehow, hes gotten an impression as if Frau and Az ended up being people from a distant world.Stuff like intelligence gathering or information wars were talks of a world which he wont be able to understand at all, from Renyas point of view. Around how many magic gems are necessary? (Renya) Its around the amount of 1 gold coins worth to start it up once. Its possible to leap in 2 sets with one activation. (Az) As I will be with Frau, Shion, Rona and the luggage around 2 times? In total it will be 5 times, thus 3 sets, huh? Will you be able to prepare the magic gems, Frau? (Renya) If the transfer limit is 150 kg, it will certainly work with only just one adult in full equipment. If its a second person, they will likely go beyond the limit, however there doesnt seem to be a problem to leap together if its Frau and Renya as the numerical value can be below the limit.However, if its the amount of magic gems with a worth of 3 gold coins, it will be quite a bit, if you compare it with the magic cores of the goblins which Renya collected at the pioneers village before.Renya worried whether she would be able to prepare this many, however Frau nodded easily. Thats a piece of cake. I can even prepare those right away ~no. (Frau) Thats amazing, oi (Az) All of it is thanks to master ~nano. (Frau) The mana supply by Renya can be kept up as long as nothing big happens.Frau compressed and stored it away, but of course, no matter how much she compressed the mana there was an upper limit in the storable amount.After obtaining the ability to crystallize the mana, the worry of an overflow occurring apparently vanished, however Renyas maximum level of mana is continuing to increase day by day. Naturally that results in the amount of mana supplied to Frau becoming more in proportion. I wonder how much it would be if we measured my mana now? (Renya) Being told that he has a hopelessly scarce amount of mana after getting it measured precisely once, he was called a monster at the time when he visited Khalils shop a second time.Its not like it was measured accurately, but as I can convert it into considerably large-scale spells and invoke several spells at the same time for a long period, hasnt it increased quite a bit?Renya is wondering. Isnt it at a level of blowing away the city once you cause an explosion alongside a flash of that ball which is used to examine mana capacity? (Az) No, no matter how much I have, that is (Renya) Renya tried to laugh it off thinking that Az probably took the joke too far, however seeing Azs serious expression, he stops his words.After pondering for a little while, Renya asked Az, Are you possibly saying that seriously? (Renya) Correct, Im seriously serious, too. (Az) With that immediate reply and him having nodded gravely, Renya laughs as if being troubled. So far as it goes, Im a human though? (Renya) I know. But, then tell me the reason for your maximum amount of mana increasing this much in such short time. (Az) In the first place, I dont know anyone who acquired an increase such as this, Az continues.How to answer that?Renya ponders for a brief period. One, its the fruits of great effort. (Renya) If it can become like that with only effort, just how many training sessions did I skip? (Az) Az voiced out in utter amazement, but he switched his thinking right away. Oh well, I dont really care about that anyway. Its just you having parts you are talented in. (Az) Master is amazing. (Frau) Frau throws out her chest with an Ahem as if it is about her.Renya somehow shows an embarrassed laughter. Az is displaying a smile as if he is watching something pleasant. Thats right. Fraus master is an amazing person. (Az) S-t-o-p it. Are you making fun of me through excessive praise or what are you planning? (Renya) No, not at all. Im truly respecting you? Renya-sensei. (Az) You, are you holding a grudge over getting scolded by Liaris-sensei the other day? (Renya) Due to Renya glaring at him with half-opened eyes, Az showed a mentally slow look all of a sudden while saying, Just what are you talking about, I wonder? Chapter 54 Chapter 54 C It seems to be a meeting with an elf You will be in the elven country once you leave the long tunnel on the other side of the transfer gate. Master, whats that ~nano? (Frau) Frau, who is walking while holding Renyas hand, looks up at him with a face full of curiosity.Certainly its not like I can answer her frankly It looks like a place that was stolen from a certain authors work in the world I was before. After Renya was pondering about it for a short while, Its somehow an explanation for our current situation, I guess? (Renya) is his passable answer.Exactly two days after requesting the usage of the transfer gate from Az, he received a message that the transfer gate was ready.Stuffing the already gathered baggage into Renyas inventory, the group of four who came to the school mostly empty-handed is led to the room with the transfer gate by Az.Once they finish storing all the baggage in the inventory, they noticed at the last moment that they could save the share of one transfer set.As they are able save that set, they take the effort to do just that.The room was a truly tasteless place which only has the gate, with a height at a level of one adult being able to normally pass through it, embedded into the wall.Once Az casually inserted magic gems into the empty holes located right next to the gate, the gate which was embedded in the wall opened and one could see a gaping, pitch black space spreading on the the other side. Well then, see you later. (Az) Due to Az pointing at that jet-black space with a truly casual attitude, Renya spontaneously retorts, No, no, wait a moment. Whats this? Isnt it usually scary to pass through this? (Renya) Whats scary about it? Isnt it just a hole? (Az) That you cant see anything!? Is it alright to enter this? (Renya) If you couldnt enter it safely, it wouldnt function as gate, now would it? (Az) It was as if Az was asking What is that guy talking about?, but because he has to step into absolute darkness where he cant see anything at all, Renya feels a small amount of fear, though he considered it to be something instinctive.If this was something like the darkness of the night, Renya could grasp the situation within the darkness to a certain degree in some way, however the jet-black darkness on the other side of the gate doesnt trigger a single of Renyas senses. Master. (Frau) Frau lightly tugs Renyas sleeve. Because Frau will enter first, it will be fine for master to follow afterwards by holding hands ~no. (Frau) See, there you go, Renya. Even though she has such tiny body, she is calm, you on the other hand (Az)) If you want, I can go first? (Rona) Frau volunteers to guide him through the path ahead.Az talks while curving the edges of his mouth, looking as if its really funny.Rona suggests she go in first as she is just unable to watch Renya not wanting to enter readily.Being bothered by getting gradually driven to the wall, Renya takes one deep breath. No, I will go. (Renya) Master, I will go through it together with you ~no. (Frau) Although Renya says that and starts to walk, Frau who is probably still worried grasps Renyas hand.And at last Renya expressed his will to start at the spot where one went through the transfer gate.By the way, theres nothing like a long tunnel.Right after Renya passes through the gate, his view changes from jet-black darkness into that of some room made out of wood.A gate was installed in the wall, in the same way, as in the room he entered over there. This side was also a very tasteless room which only has holes right next to the gate to insert magic gems.A single elf stands in front of the gate.The elf has golden hair which looks as if its reaching the their waist and almond eyes with bright green pupils.The long thin ears are emphasizing that its truly an elf.The slender, well-featured look can certainly be called beautiful and its an appearance that wont trigger any kind of discomfort either.Moreover, the elf wears a sky-blue dyed leather breastplate, a dark green tunic and skirt, white knee socks and light brown boots. It was truly an appearance befitting them, if judged by people who have seen them, but Renya has no knowledge in that regard.He has ended up genuinely admiring them with aSo this is an elf. An elf for welcoming ~nano? (Frau) Once Frau who was led by Renyas hand called out, the elf bent at the waist albeit only to a slight degree. Im called Kurowaal(T/N: >> Kurowa~ru > Kurowa~ru <<)and am affiliated with the adventurer training school. I have been asked to serve as your guide over here. (Kurowaal) Guide? (Renya) I dont really remember having asked for a guide though, Renya thinks.Rona and after her, Shion, make an appearance from within the gate behind him. Yes. Thats because it will be troublesome if humans walk around all over of their own accord. (Kurowaal) So we will only follow behind you? (Renya) If you are able to accept it like that, this will finish without you causing an unnecessary disturbance? (Kurowaal) The elf who called themselves Kurowaal declared so without even matching their gaze with Renya.Due to Kurowaals attitude which can be interpreted as being superficially polite but rude in intent, Renya furrows his eyebrows, Fraus expression gradually turns sullen, Shion remains having a blank expression as she doesnt understand the situation and Rona is already about to pick a fight. Although you dont even have any significant buildings, whats up with your way of talking like us not wandering around of our own accord? Its mostly within the forest and the city is unchanging anyway, right? (Rona) I feel like just now some beast which has accumulated a pointless amount of fat spoke in the language of men, but is it a pet or something else? (Kurowaal) Feeling as if the air within the room had frozen over, Renya immediately evacuates from the direct line between Rona and Kurowaal. To call something like this damn troublesome manner of speaking the language of men, what kind of joke is that. (Rona) Even while saying its troublesome, I will give you my praise for being able to use it properly. You are quite the well-educated beast. Are you a new species? (Kurowaal) Heey Renya? (Shion) Since his sleeve was still grasped by Frau, Shion who pulled Renyas shoulder close to her whispers into Renyas ear. What is it, Shion? For now, read the mood. Currently its not the time to have a pointless chat. (Renya) No, well I somehow get that. But, what are those two talking about? (Shion) What are they talking about, you ask (Renya) Its probably just what you hear, Renya started to answer, but he notices even Frau who is holding onto his sleeve is having an expression of questioning it.Why are both of themsuch a thought started to surface in Renyas mind, however he arrived at a single deduction right away. Are those two possibly talking in the elven language? (Renya) I dont know whether its the elven language or not, but I dont understand what Rona is saying. Do you understand it, Renya? (Shion) Even the one asked, Renya himself, doesnt comprehend the reason why he is able to understand the language of elves.As a result of thinking it through for a while, he reaches the conclusion:Otherworld Language is one of the skills I received from the little girl, isnt that likely the reason why Im able to understand even the elven language?This can be regarded as handy and might also be extremely inconvenient, Renya judges.At any rate, Renya himself understands both the language of humans and elves, although he has no memory of the language having been switched either.And very likely this has the same feature even while talking.In other words, Renyas language is one that can be understood by any race in this world as well. This possibility exists.If I dont use this well, its easy to predict that I will end up unable to perform talks at a desired level.As Renya, who is greatly perplexed as he was given a skill with quite the bad usability takes a sidelong glance, Ronas and Kurowaals conversation was getting more and more heated up as time passed. I heard that the human race would visit, but I wasnt told about the visit of a fat beast. (Kurowaal) A thin elf where you cant tell whether its a man or woman cant even tell the difference between beast and human? (Rona) Oh my! Even the eyes of the embodiment of fat are poor. Its pitiful that the level of its intelligence hinders its ability to tell apart men and women. (Kurowaal) Dont you think its laughable for an elf who doesnt mature into an adult unless 200 years have passed to talk about the quality of the human races intelligence? (Rona) Ah, both of you, I believe being on good terms is a nice thing, but (Renya) Renya cut into their conversation as they will apparently quarrel with each other forever, if they are left alone, however being glared at with gazes full of killing intent by both of them, he is at a loss for his next words. Ummm. If I remember correctly, you were called Renya-san, right? I approve of you as human race, but even if you tell me to be on good terms with this monster of fat, Im sorry. Please dont be disappointed because Ive been asked by Az-san over there who is one of the better ones considering he is a human. (Kurowaal) Renya-san. Did you go crazy to ask me something like being on good terms with this skin-and-bones elf whose shape and body looks like a thin toothpick? (Rona) For the time being, Rona, come over here for a moment. (Renya) Getting between the two who are once again glaring at each other, Renya grabs Ronas shoulder and pulls her away.Turning their backs on Kurowaal who fixedly glares in their direction, Renya asks Rona in a whisper, Tell me, why are you so completely belligerent? (Renya) Elves are as you can see yourself, they are a race with a slender body build typical for their species (Rona) Being somewhat embarrassed, Rona answers Renyas question in a subdued whispering voice. In line with this, nice people with proportions befitting the human race are called exceedingly fat by their own standards. Or they will assess someone to have gotten too fat (Rona) So? (Renya) This isnt the first time I came to the country of elves. Previously I came only for a bit as I happened to have a job here, but (Rona) Rona who served as a knight at that time came to the elven country as an important person of the Triden Principiality, but she was exposed to many onlookers as it seems that female knights are unusual for elves, Rona says.And Rona, who was treated as having gained too much weight, or rather as chubby if they are blunt about it going by the standards of elves, was viewed as a subject of ridicule by saying Whats with that fat woman?Of course, because Rona came to lead negotiations between the two countries, she wasnt laughed at all of a sudden when they met face-to-face, but with them doing things like deliberately whispering close to her so that she could hear it, that resulted in her hating elves thoroughly, Rona explained. Being able to speak the language of elves is also because of that? (Renya) Honestly, I dont want to use the language though. Since the pride of elves is pointlessly high, they wont use the common language of the continent. (Rona) The most beautiful and superior language in the world is theirs, is what the majority of elves truly believe, Rona frowned. From my point of view, I cant really think of it being an efficient language if there are many words meaning the same thing or if there are many pointlessly long language modifiers. (Rona) Although that part doesnt matter to me, I got your point, Rona. (Renya) After tapping Ronas shoulder and telling her to go to Shions and Fraus location, Renya faces Kurowaal next.Even more than Kurowaals slim and elegant body, she doesnt appear to be anything but a middle school student from Renyas point of view given that her height is low.Even so, she is emitting an air of having experienced many years and months, huh? The feeling her body gives off isnt the same as its appearance, he grasps immediately. Im sorry for my companion having caused you trouble. (Renya) First he apologizes.The saying Its beneficial to divide by corners because of hate isnt a good position to take in a first meeting. No, I became emotional as well. Im very sorry. (Kurowaal) Unexpectedly Kurowaal bowed towards Renya. He also bowed after having waited for her to lift her face.Since he heard that they have a high pride, Renya who anticipated she would say something sarcastic faces Kurowaal with a surprised expression. Unexpected, is what your face is telling me. Thats not unnatural either though. (Kurowaal) Aah, sorry. I was surprised because I heard that elves are very prideful. Is there some reason? (Renya) Kurowaal intently stared at Renya who asked out of interest, however after a while she beckons Renya with a *fwip fwip* and takes Renya along to a corner of the room away from Ronas group. What Im about to tell you is a secret. Do you understand? (Kurowaal) Got it. I swear that I wont reveal it to anyone else. (Renya) Once Renya has made that vow, Kurowaal brings her face close to Renyas ear and whispers, As a matter of fact in the recent years there has been something like a reform of aesthetic sense even in the elven country. (Kurowaal) Mmh? (Renya) Even women whove got plenty of flesh like your companions are fairly beautiful in their own way or are their sexual abilities simply surpassing those of normal elves? Isnt that superiority? Its such notions (Kurowaal) Mmmh? (Renya) Renya frowned as he feels that the conversation has taken a somewhat weird turn. In other words, whats this about? (Renya) If Im honest, I think that we are jealous. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal announced that while the area around her cheeks blushed slightly with her having sulky face. Renya, unable to realize what might be good as an answer, could do nothing more but stare back at the face of the elf. Chapter 55 Chapter 55 C It seems were being guided around by an elf The elven cities are generally built within forests.Even the city Renyas group visited after leaving the transfer gate was no exception to that as it was within a forest.Because the elves called themselves the people of the forest, they love trees more than sand and rocks. They are a race that desires to live close to trees.Thus, the buildings in elven cities naturally make use of trees, and there are many things which use them as support. In Renyas opinion, there are many buildings where he doesnt comprehend how the heck the buildings themselves are built with such a haphazard design.The room where they emerged after coming out of the transfer gate was one of the rooms of the adventurer training school, which is located in the elven city Grankain(T/N: >> Gurankain > Gurankain <<).Kurowaal, who called herself their guide, is one of the students of the school there. Once again, why is it a student? (Renya) Renya believed that a guide was unnecessary, but even if they would prepare a guide for arguments sake, it should be someone assigned from the teachers side since it is a school. It was slightly difficult for him to imagine a student being nominated for that role.Kurowaal, who acts as guide and departs first on the path towards outside the school from the room with the transfer gate, readily replies while looking over her shoulder, Is that not because I am excellent? (Kurowaal) Kurowaal answered while lightly throwing her chest out in pride, but even if something thats not there is pushed out, its not like the fact that theres nothing will change. I have a feeling that they are making a mistake in their usage of excellent personnel though? (Renya) It shant work well with someone incompetent if you consider it to be the duty of preventing trouble. (Kurowaal) Renya said so in order to provoke her a little bit, but he understands that it didnt have any effect since she makes her statement coldly.Come to think of it, Renya should have lived for more than 94 years all together in his previous life, however the elf in front of him might have easily spent more time than him being alive.If looked at it that way, it will become Renyas first encounter with a being thats older than him since coming to this world. Do elves possess longevity? (Renya) I feel that the conversation took a far too sudden turn, but that is correct. (Kurowaal) How old are you, Kurowaal? I cant grasp it by your appearance at all. (Renya) I will turn 70 this year. (Kurowaal) 70? (Renya) No way, she is younger.Renya, who previously heard Rona saying that elves become adults at around 200 years of age, wonders whether its fine if he considers the age of elves to be about 10 times that of humans.Even if Kurowaals age doesnt amount to 200 years by her appearance, isnt she at least 140 ~ 150 years old?Renya anticipated, but it seems that his guess has been proven wrong.Having pondered about it this far, Renya once again looks at the back of Kurowaal who is going in front of him.Just a moment ago I thought my idea of elves having an age being 10 times that of humans is a mistake, but maybe that idea is correct. Isnt it also possible that the elf in front of me has an age of around 7 years going by human terms?He considered. Something wrong? (Kurowaal) Did she notice the stare of Renya? Kurowaal asks while looking at Renya over her shoulder.Will she be alright walking without looking in front of herself?Renya got slightly worried. Dont worry. I wont bump against the wall even if I dont look ahead. (Kurowaal) Thats also quite efficient The age I heard just now; how much is it amongst elves? (Renya) Kurowaal shows an expression of I wonder what you are talking about? at Renya who asked. Given that master is a Lost, his information about this world here is slightly poor ~no. (Frau) Frau, who walked next to Renya while grasping his hand, explains his circumstances to Kurowaal.Renya thought that it would be only himself who has assistance from his skill, and Rona who can use the elven language within his party, but Frau was also very fluent in talking elvish.Now that it has come to this, only Shion cant join their chat. Shion has abandoned conversing with the elf while donning an expression of having partly given up.Why can Frau fluently speak in the elven language? Due to that question Frau replied, Its because elves and fairies are similar existences.Going by Fraus words, elves seem to be beings similar to half fairies. Lost you say? Thats also quite rare. (Kurowaal) I would appreciate it if you stop treating me like some rare animal. (Renya) Renya responded to Kurowaal, who seemed to be slightly astonished, with a dejected expression. I can understand it, if you are a Lost. If you were a regular member of the human race, I would draw the conclusion that you are an imbecile without any knowledge. (Kurowaal) Each and every word is filled with spite.Renya ends up thinking,she hates the human race very much. Elves take about 40 years after their birth for their outward appearance to become that of an adult. Those 40 years are called the growth period. The period of about 160 years until they reach about 200 years is called adolescence. Only after passing this age an elf is regarded as adult. (Kurowaal) Hee, that means you are in the middle of adolescence, right, Kurowaal? (Renya) Yes, indeed. We gather knowledge and experience in this period of adolescence. I will be treated as a 14~15 year old, going by the age of humans. By the way, although there are some disparities in the life spans, I will live for around 1000 years. (Kurowaal) Its a famous fact that the outer appearance of elves mostly doesnt change either. (Rona) Rona, who walked behind Renya, interjects.From Renyas point of view,is Rona talking in the human language or is she using the elven language? I cant make a distinction, but going by the fact that Kurowaal doesnt show any reaction, she seems to be talking in the human language.In this regard, although Renya tried to experiment by asking Rona, who understands the human language as well as the elven language, about various things, it seems that his words will become audible as elvish if he thinks about talking in the elven language and as human tongue if he thinks about talking in the human language.Since its also similar in cases where I write characters, its an extremely user-friendly skill, Renya admires. Elves who have matured into adults will keep their outward appearance until their death. Given that they have a young outer appearance for a very long time, on top of elders not existing, they were believed to be an immortal race in the days of old. (Rona) Actually, they do grow old properly. Its only that even after childhood, their appearance wont become wrinkled.. However they still age normally, Rona says. Renya I dont comprehend what that fat meat is talking about. I cant praise you for holding a secret talk amongst fellow humans. (Kurowaal) If its that frustrating, how about learning to understand the words of humans? (Rona) Kurowaal changes her expression a bit due to the provocation of Rona.Seeing her reaction, Renya realizes that Rona is apparently stirring her up by deliberately switching to the elvish language. By the way (Rona) Ronas look has a tinge of sharpness. Somehow Im sensing gazes directed at me from all over. (Rona) Renya had also vaguely perceived something in line with that.This has been happening the whole time while they were in the middle of walking within the school building after leaving the room guided by Kurowaal. There were several presences continuing to send unreserved looks from the windows and shadows, although they likely thought that they were doing it stealthily.Because their stares were not focussing on Renya, Frau or Shion, but were only glued to Rona, Renya didnt mind it overly much, however it seems that Rona has also noticed their stares.Women seem to be extremely sensitive towards being watched,Renya assesses.Their presences were so small that one wouldnt notice them, if that wasnt the case. There is no way that its humans who are showering me with such looks in the elven country. These are elven stares, arent they? They are treating me as chubby again and are ridiculing me Very well, I will exterminate all of them. Let me offer them education so that they wont be able to say anything but A big chest is proof of abundant maternity and a big bottom is a symbol of easy childbirth.'' (Rona) Renya drops his shoulders.Because his uneasiness calledWont it develop into a big problem between the races if someone becomes aware of there being elves who were educated in such a manner?, Renya quickly hurls an order at Shion who was behind Rona. Shion, stop her. (Renya) Got it, Renya. (Shion) Shion confirms with a nod to stop Rona who dragged out her quite unrefined mace from within her baggage while letting loose a dark, low laughter.While looking at Shion binding the hands of Rona, who was kicking up a fuss by saying Let-me-go!, behind her back, Renya asked Kurowaal in a whisper, Are the owners of those looks the outcome of the reformation of aesthetic sense? (Renya) Even though its quite disgraceful (Kurowaal) She tries to not let it show on her face as much as possible, but Kurowaal nods while slowly hanging her head in shame.It seems that there are elves among those in the school who appreciate the charm of flesh. They appear to be continuing to send passionate stares at Ronas appearance while lurking in the shadows.From their point of view, we are humans they usually wont be able to see. Moreover Rona possesses outstanding proportions even among humans.Its not really difficult to imagine that they are using this rare opportunity to have a feast for their eyes.That might be great for those looking, but because it exposes the one being watched to rude stares, it becomes a very troublesome matter. The probability of an attack is? (Renya) Renya asks about the probability of the elves starting a suicide attack by succumbing to their urges. I cant completely deny it, but in such a case it wont be handled as a crime, no matter what kind of counter attack we enact upon them. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal states expressionlessly.It wont even be a problem if they end up getting killed in the worst case, if I take this at face value, is also an interpretation. No, rather, I recommend killing them instead. If you can do us the courtesy of eradicating them, its possible that you will receive gratitude from the other elves. (Kurowaal) Are they a minority? The elves who say Big breasts are great too, that is. (Renya) I dont want to talk about it, however currently they are a minority, but they are experiencing rapid growth. (Kurowaal) Renya shrugged his shoulders while Kurowaal was making grinding sounds with her teeth.Renya glances at Rona who is still trying to rampage around. Are you saying that its also fine to exterminate them by releasing that? (Renya) Its no problem, but (Kurowaal) Kurowaal says while her gaze returns to Renyas face after turning it towards Rona. Is that person fairly strong? At the level of being able to fight elves within a forest? (Kurowaal) I wonder? I myself didnt fight against elves, thus its nothing I can judge. (Renya) Since I cannot deny the possibility of that proportion* being taken somewhere after becoming powerless in case she has nothing but half-assed ability, she should depart with that kind of conviction. (Kurowaal)(T/N: *refers to Rona here) As for me, elves had an image of being an indifferent race that possesses longevity, but somehow, after having heard this much, Im starting to regard you as race where men are strangely aggressive for sex, but (Renya) Lets not do something like releasing Rona, no matter what happens, Renya judged.I will be troubled if Rona is made into a plaything by the radical elven faction, once they noticed her.In that case I would reduce them, including the forest, to ashes though, Renya waits for Kurowaals reply while concealing his dangerous thoughts. It would be a blessing for me if you could comprehend it as Its a way of thinking that is in the process of gradually changing with young elves in its centre. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal says it in a flat tone with the words obviously having no feelings packed into them, but without hearing any of her true feelings in those words, Renya continues to ask, And your true opinion is? (Renya) I wont accept the fact that the number of elves who are getting tainted by the humans way of thinking separately with their brains and with their lower half have increased. (Kurowaal) For the time being I have to object on behalf of the human races honour; there arent only such guys? Its a fact that there are many of such fellows, but (Renya) Well, it probably doesnt really matter for the races overall as long as they leave behind offspring, be it with the human race or with their own race. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal expresses her resignation while sighing. Wont that just increase the number of halfs? (Renya) Doesnt she care about the blood getting mixed up?Renya cocked his head in puzzlement. Halfs? (Kurowaal) Master, children born between elves and humans are set to be the race of the mans side ~no. (Frau) Kurowaal holds in her desire to state her opinion of I dont understand what you are talking about.Frau explains to Renya who wracked his brain whether he had said something weird. Therefore, if Rona-ane-sama were to be abducted by elves, all of the produced children would be elves ~nano. (Frau) While believing it to be a cruel example, Renya tries to ask about a different pattern. What if it was a child from Kurowaal and me? (Renya) It will be a human ~no. (Frau) What are you saying!? (Kurowaal) Kurowaal raised her voice in protest while her cheeks became red. No, well, an example, its just an example. (Renya) Thats obvious. Why should I with a human (Kurowaal) The end of the complaining Kurowaals remark was muttered and couldnt be understood.The topic has fallen to quite a dirty level, Renya smiles wryly.What kind of meaning did she attach to that wry smile? Kurowaal turned her face away in a huff and began to give her undivided attention to walking forwards again.While walking to chase after her back, Renya felt a sense of regret wondering whether he should leave them behind as he looks at the appearances of Rona, who is still raising a ruckus in the back, and Shion, who is trying to somehow calm and pacify Rona. Chapter 56 Chapter 56 C It seems to be a discovery and dangerous signs So, Ive been told that your reason for this visit is to go on a pleasure jaunt. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal who guided Renyas party to a place similar to a lounge for the time being prepares a number of chairs, fitting the number of people, around the circular table in the room and sits down on one of them.Glasses for everyone were placed on top of the table. They were filled with some white, cloudy liquid.Rona has a plainly repulsive expression due to the liquid giving off the feeling of being slightly thick.As Renya sits down on a stool while ponderingWhat is she scheming?, Kurowaal offers those drinks. Its a drink called Yolto(T/N: >> Youruto within the city as well. Even if we were able to specify the other party with that, it would only allow us to see them and its very unlikely that we would be able to pursue them if they became serious.They are troublesome opponents, Renya sighs.As Renya thinksI will settle it right away if they try to kidnap Rona, Kurowaal who is next to him informs them that they arrived at the market.A market in the elven country had quite a different atmosphere than that in human country after all.Although an abundance of various types of fruits and vegetables are gathered, the meat was mostly unrefined.There was an array of exquisite fishes, but there wasnt a big variety of meat.In places where people gather its correct to say that there will always be stalls. If its a human market, the smell of roasted meat will waft through it, but the elven stalls have mostly soups and boiled dishes while roasted dishes are missing pretty much. This way is a store dealing in the seasoning you showed interest in, Renya-san. (Kurowaal) The store pointed at by Kurowaal certainly was a shop overflowing with buckets, which were filled with a light brown paste, and jars, which had a likewise light brown liquid in them.Shelving the matter of the gazes for the time being, Renya begins to fiercely investigate the lined-up goods.Going by the smell and appearance there was almost no mistake, but those were soy sauce andmisoRenya knew of.However, the problem is the taste.As it is a different world, I cant definitely say that something outrageous like it having a chocolate taste although it has the appearance ofmisocant happen at all. Id like to sample it a bit, but is that allowed? (Renya) Hearing the word sampling, the shop clerks expression turns sour.I understand his feelings about that, but showing such face while doing business is no good, Renya assesses.However, being the one who wants to taste it, Renya cant strongly demand it either.Especially soy sauce is a seasoning that has to be used up as quickly as possible once you break the seal on it.The longer it gets in contact with air, the more it deteriorates and looses its flavour. Renya understands that its difficult to offer it for sampling. Isnt it possible to at least sample the light-brown paste over there? (Renya) Its fine to say that soy sauce will have most likely the correct taste if theres nothing wrong with the taste of themiso.The ingredients are somewhat different, but its not like it will have a largely deviating taste which exceeds ones imagination, Renya judges.Due to the clerk showing disapproval even then, Kurowaal whispered a few words to him.Since her voice was too low, Renya, who is nearby, couldnt hear it either, but it seemed that the clerk heard it. He stares at Renyas face and withdraws into the interior of the store. Bringing out something like a small, pure white stick, he scoops up a bit of the light brown paste with it and holds it out to Renya.Renya, who took it, noticed that the pure white stick was something made out of some cut ends of vegetables.Guessing that he is supposed to probably eat it just like that, Renya tosses it into his mouth.Because the consistency of the food while being chewed was crisp, the juices of the vegetables spread within his mouth and blend there with the saltiness and the good taste of soy beans.I have a feeling that the saltiness was a bit strong, but its probably a type ofmisothat takes a long time to mature and thus a somewhat larger quantity of salt was put in.Going by the the taste, theres mostly no mistake that this ismiso.Renya unintentionally was about to collapse due to the the dearly missed taste from his previous life, but as its a public place, he endures with an effort and gives his thanks to the clerk. Thank you. I want to buy this, but what is this seasoning called? (Renya) This ismiso. Its a seasoning taught to the elves by a Lost. (Clerk) Renya, who was surprised thatmiso(in katakana)ismiso(in kanji)even in a different world, gets even more astonished by the following words.It seems a pioneer had introduced the method of producing soy sauce andmisoto the elves.Originally the elven beans were boiled and eaten in their green state, but the Lost, who fell on the elven continent, spread and taught us various processing methods to use the beans and the seasoning have been loved by the elves for a long time now, the clerk explains to Renya. That ojou-san over there said that you are a Lost. (Clerk) Thats why I allowed you to sample the seasoning, the clerk smiled.While being grateful for the great achievement of the pioneer, Renya begins to count how much money he has on him right now. Seeing the appearance of such Renya, Frau butts into the conversation. How much can you buy for one gold coin ~no? (Frau) You are outsiders, right? Theres also the share of the regular customers. Im not able to sell you too much since since they also take time to prepare, but if its 3 casks ofmisoand 2 casks of soy sauce, I will sell them for 1 gold coin to you. (Clerk) A single casked had a size looking like around 10 liters would fit in, going by Renyas estimation.He feels that the price is a bit too high, but there are also parts where he cant help but agree if he assumes that its the price correction of a different world.While Renya is hesitating and ponderingHowever, an expense of 1 gold coin is a lot, Frau promptly took out one gold coin from within the pocket of her apron dress and handed it to the clerk. I will buy it with this ~no. (Frau) Oy, Frau (Renya) Master wants to eat this ~no. Thus I will buy it without hesitation ~no. (Frau) There wont be any problems, if I increase the sale of magic gems, Frau brags.Frau boasts of a strength someone like Renya cant match in regards to fund-raising and administrative ability.While storing away the casks, which were laboriously moved from the stores shelves, into his inventory in exchange for the gold coin, the ears of Renya, who earnestly believesMan, Im no match, suddenly picked up the sounds of tumults occurring among the people of the city.Once he turns his face in the direction of the sounds, he can even hear voices similar to the screaming of people and the sound of something heavy travelling.As it seems that the elves, who have good ears, immediately noticed it as well, everyone turns their looks uneasily in that direction and Shion and Rona, who dont understand the situation, draw close to Renya. Renya, what the heck is going on? (Shion) Somehow it seems theres an uproar over there. (Renya) Those are the sounds of horses hooves (Kurowaal) Almost at the same time as Kurowaal mutters that, Renya starts running.Shion followed one step later.Once he starts running, he immediately sees the figure of the horse whos the culprit of the uproar.It looks like a single elf is straddling on its back, but no matter how you look at it, the elves state was weird.Both of the elfs hands, which should grasp the reins, are dangling loosely at the sides. He isnt moving even a twitch while their body has a posture similar to hanging onto the horseback.As if that body couldnt stand the horses swaying, it slides down little by little and in the end fell off the horseback without the elf readjusting their posture. Renya! The elf fell! (Shion) Even faster than Shions shout, Renya steps in strongly.Changing the recoil into movement force, Renya, who abruptly accelerated, catches the body while running alongside the horses flank before the elf can crash into the ground from the horseback.The horse, which lost its rider, rushed ahead without control and in the direction of its heading stood Shion. Shion!? (Renya) You dont say that she intends to take on the charge as it is, Renya wondered, but as expected, theres no realistic method to do so if you consider the horses weight.Shion dodges the approaching horse slightly and grabs the reins, which are swaying due to the force of the horses running, with her left hand. Using those, she nimbly straddled on the horseback. Renya, this horse is quite difficult to handle. (Shion) Shion, who displayed that she was easily able to hold and manipulate the reins during the rampaging state of the horse, calls out to Renya who approached her while holding the fallen elf. Its covered all over in wounds. I dont know where they have come from, but those are quite serious injuries. (Shion) The horse, which is able to move although having serious injuries all over, continues to shed streams of blood alongside its violent movements. Shions clothes have been soaked in that blood here and there, but she doesnt look like she cares about that. Yea, I have a similar feeling here as well. (Renya) Renya, who replied, looks down on the unconscious elf in his hands.The beautiful, well-featured looks made it difficult to distinguish whether its a man or a woman, even if looking from close-by, but since the feeling of the body was reasonably firm, Renya judges that its likely a man.Having a leather armour with a greenjougeon top equipped, his appearance of having a quiver hanging at his waist and carrying a bow on his back made him out as archer.However, his equipment is torn all over, he keeps shedding blood and his quiver is empty.The string of the bow he carried has snapped and it has lost its use. Oy, pull yourself together. What happened? (Renya) Shaking the body of the unconscious elf a bit, the elf opens his eyes, albeit dimly, once Renya calls out to him and looks up to Renya.Moving the cracked lips just a bit, he leaked a hoarse voice. To the government contact Is his consciousness in disorder or hasnt his field of vision settled?The elf, who is carried by Renya, doesnt seem to realize that the other party is a human. Wait, dont talk after all. It will shorten your life. Since theres a priest who can cast healing magic, first comes the treatment (Renya) Please the eastern defence fortress has fallen Doesnt he hear Renyas words anymore? The elf didnt stop talking.Clinging to him as if he wants to pierce his nails partly into the arms of Renya, who is holding his body, he musters his strength and continues to speak words. The Forest Labyrinth has overflown! Stating that, the eyes of the elf become empty.Losing strength from the arms which clung onto Renya, he feebly hangs his head. Renya had no other choice but simply watch it happen. Chapter 56 C It seems to be a discovery and dangerous signs So, Ive been told that your reason for this visit is to go on a pleasure jaunt. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal who guided Renyas party to a place similar to a lounge for the time being prepares a number of chairs, fitting the number of people, around the circular table in the room and sits down on one of them.Glasses for everyone were placed on top of the table. They were filled with some white, cloudy liquid.Rona has a plainly repulsive expression due to the liquid giving off the feeling of being slightly thick.As Renya sits down on a stool while ponderingWhat is she scheming?, Kurowaal offers those drinks. Its a drink called Yolto(T/N: >> Youruto within the city as well. Even if we were able to specify the other party with that, it would only allow us to see them and its very unlikely that we would be able to pursue them if they became serious.They are troublesome opponents, Renya sighs.As Renya thinksI will settle it right away if they try to kidnap Rona, Kurowaal who is next to him informs them that they arrived at the market.A market in the elven country had quite a different atmosphere than that in human country after all.Although an abundance of various types of fruits and vegetables are gathered, the meat was mostly unrefined.There was an array of exquisite fishes, but there wasnt a big variety of meat.In places where people gather its correct to say that there will always be stalls. If its a human market, the smell of roasted meat will waft through it, but the elven stalls have mostly soups and boiled dishes while roasted dishes are missing pretty much. This way is a store dealing in the seasoning you showed interest in, Renya-san. (Kurowaal) The store pointed at by Kurowaal certainly was a shop overflowing with buckets, which were filled with a light brown paste, and jars, which had a likewise light brown liquid in them.Shelving the matter of the gazes for the time being, Renya begins to fiercely investigate the lined-up goods.Going by the smell and appearance there was almost no mistake, but those were soy sauce andmisoRenya knew of.However, the problem is the taste.As it is a different world, I cant definitely say that something outrageous like it having a chocolate taste although it has the appearance ofmisocant happen at all. Id like to sample it a bit, but is that allowed? (Renya) Hearing the word sampling, the shop clerks expression turns sour.I understand his feelings about that, but showing such face while doing business is no good, Renya assesses.However, being the one who wants to taste it, Renya cant strongly demand it either.Especially soy sauce is a seasoning that has to be used up as quickly as possible once you break the seal on it.The longer it gets in contact with air, the more it deteriorates and looses its flavour. Renya understands that its difficult to offer it for sampling. Isnt it possible to at least sample the light-brown paste over there? (Renya) Its fine to say that soy sauce will have most likely the correct taste if theres nothing wrong with the taste of themiso.The ingredients are somewhat different, but its not like it will have a largely deviating taste which exceeds ones imagination, Renya judges.Due to the clerk showing disapproval even then, Kurowaal whispered a few words to him.Since her voice was too low, Renya, who is nearby, couldnt hear it either, but it seemed that the clerk heard it. He stares at Renyas face and withdraws into the interior of the store. Bringing out something like a small, pure white stick, he scoops up a bit of the light brown paste with it and holds it out to Renya.Renya, who took it, noticed that the pure white stick was something made out of some cut ends of vegetables.Guessing that he is supposed to probably eat it just like that, Renya tosses it into his mouth.Because the consistency of the food while being chewed was crisp, the juices of the vegetables spread within his mouth and blend there with the saltiness and the good taste of soy beans.I have a feeling that the saltiness was a bit strong, but its probably a type ofmisothat takes a long time to mature and thus a somewhat larger quantity of salt was put in.Going by the the taste, theres mostly no mistake that this ismiso.Renya unintentionally was about to collapse due to the the dearly missed taste from his previous life, but as its a public place, he endures with an effort and gives his thanks to the clerk. Thank you. I want to buy this, but what is this seasoning called? (Renya) This ismiso. Its a seasoning taught to the elves by a Lost. (Clerk) Renya, who was surprised thatmiso(in katakana)ismiso(in kanji)even in a different world, gets even more astonished by the following words.It seems a pioneer had introduced the method of producing soy sauce andmisoto the elves.Originally the elven beans were boiled and eaten in their green state, but the Lost, who fell on the elven continent, spread and taught us various processing methods to use the beans and the seasoning have been loved by the elves for a long time now, the clerk explains to Renya. That ojou-san over there said that you are a Lost. (Clerk) Thats why I allowed you to sample the seasoning, the clerk smiled.While being grateful for the great achievement of the pioneer, Renya begins to count how much money he has on him right now. Seeing the appearance of such Renya, Frau butts into the conversation. How much can you buy for one gold coin ~no? (Frau) You are outsiders, right? Theres also the share of the regular customers. Im not able to sell you too much since since they also take time to prepare, but if its 3 casks ofmisoand 2 casks of soy sauce, I will sell them for 1 gold coin to you. (Clerk) A single casked had a size looking like around 10 liters would fit in, going by Renyas estimation.He feels that the price is a bit too high, but there are also parts where he cant help but agree if he assumes that its the price correction of a different world.While Renya is hesitating and ponderingHowever, an expense of 1 gold coin is a lot, Frau promptly took out one gold coin from within the pocket of her apron dress and handed it to the clerk. I will buy it with this ~no. (Frau) Oy, Frau (Renya) Master wants to eat this ~no. Thus I will buy it without hesitation ~no. (Frau) There wont be any problems, if I increase the sale of magic gems, Frau brags.Frau boasts of a strength someone like Renya cant match in regards to fund-raising and administrative ability.While storing away the casks, which were laboriously moved from the stores shelves, into his inventory in exchange for the gold coin, the ears of Renya, who earnestly believesMan, Im no match, suddenly picked up the sounds of tumults occurring among the people of the city.Once he turns his face in the direction of the sounds, he can even hear voices similar to the screaming of people and the sound of something heavy travelling.As it seems that the elves, who have good ears, immediately noticed it as well, everyone turns their looks uneasily in that direction and Shion and Rona, who dont understand the situation, draw close to Renya. Renya, what the heck is going on? (Shion) Somehow it seems theres an uproar over there. (Renya) Those are the sounds of horses hooves (Kurowaal) Almost at the same time as Kurowaal mutters that, Renya starts running.Shion followed one step later.Once he starts running, he immediately sees the figure of the horse whos the culprit of the uproar.It looks like a single elf is straddling on its back, but no matter how you look at it, the elves state was weird.Both of the elfs hands, which should grasp the reins, are dangling loosely at the sides. He isnt moving even a twitch while their body has a posture similar to hanging onto the horseback.As if that body couldnt stand the horses swaying, it slides down little by little and in the end fell off the horseback without the elf readjusting their posture. Renya! The elf fell! (Shion) Even faster than Shions shout, Renya steps in strongly.Changing the recoil into movement force, Renya, who abruptly accelerated, catches the body while running alongside the horses flank before the elf can crash into the ground from the horseback.The horse, which lost its rider, rushed ahead without control and in the direction of its heading stood Shion. Shion!? (Renya) You dont say that she intends to take on the charge as it is, Renya wondered, but as expected, theres no realistic method to do so if you consider the horses weight.Shion dodges the approaching horse slightly and grabs the reins, which are swaying due to the force of the horses running, with her left hand. Using those, she nimbly straddled on the horseback. Renya, this horse is quite difficult to handle. (Shion) Shion, who displayed that she was easily able to hold and manipulate the reins during the rampaging state of the horse, calls out to Renya who approached her while holding the fallen elf. Its covered all over in wounds. I dont know where they have come from, but those are quite serious injuries. (Shion) The horse, which is able to move although having serious injuries all over, continues to shed streams of blood alongside its violent movements. Shions clothes have been soaked in that blood here and there, but she doesnt look like she cares about that. Yea, I have a similar feeling here as well. (Renya) Renya, who replied, looks down on the unconscious elf in his hands.The beautiful, well-featured looks made it difficult to distinguish whether its a man or a woman, even if looking from close-by, but since the feeling of the body was reasonably firm, Renya judges that its likely a man.Having a leather armour with a greenjougeon top equipped, his appearance of having a quiver hanging at his waist and carrying a bow on his back made him out as archer.However, his equipment is torn all over, he keeps shedding blood and his quiver is empty.The string of the bow he carried has snapped and it has lost its use. Oy, pull yourself together. What happened? (Renya) Shaking the body of the unconscious elf a bit, the elf opens his eyes, albeit dimly, once Renya calls out to him and looks up to Renya.Moving the cracked lips just a bit, he leaked a hoarse voice. To the government contact Is his consciousness in disorder or hasnt his field of vision settled?The elf, who is carried by Renya, doesnt seem to realize that the other party is a human. Wait, dont talk after all. It will shorten your life. Since theres a priest who can cast healing magic, first comes the treatment (Renya) Please the eastern defence fortress has fallen Doesnt he hear Renyas words anymore? The elf didnt stop talking.Clinging to him as if he wants to pierce his nails partly into the arms of Renya, who is holding his body, he musters his strength and continues to speak words. The Forest Labyrinth has overflown! Stating that, the eyes of the elf become empty.Losing strength from the arms which clung onto Renya, he feebly hangs his head. Renya had no other choice but simply watch it happen. Chapter 57 At the market Renyas group had somehow stopped the rampaging horse and the rider on its back, but although the horse came to a halt, the elf died in Renyas arms. Renya, who is pondering what to do next, gets surrounded by elven guards who arrived without him realizing. While looking surprised, everyone is fenced in and taken away. Once they felt like they will get walked off like this, Renyas surroundings got restive. Although there was the fact that the number of corpses became high in the one digits, the guards, if pushed to say, tried to have Renyas group move with an attitude of asking them to follow since its their request. We probably should comply here obediently, Renya abides them quietly. The horse was taken along by pulling it while Shion was riding it as is, the problem was Rona. She showed signs of resistance, albeit light ones, at the time they were surrounded. Renya became confused whether she hated the elves this much, but persuading the guards that she will take her along herself, Kurowaal grabs Ronas arm and drags her along without any further problems while threatening the male elves so that they dont get close. For some reason not being surrounded by the elves, Frau was almost neglected, but when it came to the matter of Renya being taken away, she climbs on Renyas back as if its only natural and settles with getting a shoulder ride. I wonder how it looks for a human swordsman, who gives a little maid girl a shoulder ride, to be surrounded and taken away by elves if looked at from the side, Renya smiles wryly without understanding the situation. The elf who died in Renyas arms is carefully picked up by the guards and carried away somewhere else. If the words he spoke at deaths door are true, he was likely a soldier of that defence fortress. Renya didnt know how the elves mourned their dead, however Renya prays that the elf, who lost his life while doing his duty, receives a cordial burial. Being surrounded by a great number of elves, Renyas group was taken along into an area enclosed by a fence. There was a building one could regard as a bit unrefined if compared to the other buildings. Since Renyas group has no familiarity with this city to begin with, they completely didnt know what kind of building they were taken into on top of not knowing where they have been led to at all. But, they proceeded to a room of that building as told by the elven guards who wanted them to go along with their guidance. The room, which has a desk, where pitcher filled with something like fruit juice and baskets with sweets that seemed like leaf pies and dried fruits were placed on, and several chairs was a room that had at least a window. However on the other side of the window the figures of guards could be seen. Placing two guards outside the door of the room, they are sincerely told to not leave the room until further instructions once they entered the room. Shion and Rona tried to protest that they were effectively put under arrest, but Renya stopped that. One of the reasons is the notion that its likely pointless to object to it. As for the other reason he suddenly understood, its the words of the soldier at the verge of death whom Renya held. The ones who caught those words should at least have been Renya, who held that soldier in his arms, and Kurowaal, who was close to him. The contents of his words werent normal no matter how you look at it. They are likely intending to control the flow of information, Renya judges while sitting down on a chair. Since Kurowaal wasnt confined in the same room as Renyas group, she is probably giving a report about the situation to someone or she is a person of quite the status. Based on that, they are either obtaining a proof of the information or they are deciding the further plans. That means its unwise for Renyas group to freely move around during the time they are choosing at what time they will announce it to the inhabitants of the city or whether they wont announce it at all. Rona and Shion expressed their dissatisfaction, but as Renya didnt leak any particular complaints that seem like him being dissatisfied, and once they saw him to care-freely sit on a chair, they began to swoop down fiercely on the food on top of the table making him wonder whether they had given up as it was likely futile even if they made a commotion. As Renya watches them pondering whether their eating drive is just a revenge for causing them troubles, Renya quietly moves to the entrance door and lightly knocks on it due to the mountain of sweets decreasing at an astonishing rate. Whats wrong? The voice which comes through the door is that of a young man. Id like to request additional sweets and drinks. At that pace it will be all gone soon. (Renya) There should have been prepared a considerable amount though? Dont take the consumption rate of sweets by female humans lightly. (Renya) There are plans to prepare dinner as well, but will it be insufficient? Once being told so, Renya looks outside the window, but its hard to read the time since there isnt much day light shining through due to them being within a forest. Even so, probably there are still a few hours until dinner time, he was able to assess. With him only judging that its likely a done deal that the amount of sweets wont last for that much time, the matter of them taking even the preparation of dinner into consideration also means that they plan to confine them for at least that long. After leaking a sigh and thinking how troublesome, he called out to the soldier on the other side of the door once again. It wont last at all. Once theyve got nothing to eat anymore, those children are going to start a commotion. (Renya) Please endure somehow. We have agreed to the confinement without asking anything. Please take such level of accommodation into consideration. (Renya) Got it I will arrange for it. Renya floated a bitter smile once he heard one of the supposedly two guards walk away. Although they especially arranged for two to stand on guard, isnt their alertness a bit low for one of them to leave, no matter what kind of errand he was told to do? Renya wondered. Have they prepared a schedule for changing the guards here? If thats not the case, theres also the possibility of calling a third and having them prepare it. Its not a praiseworthy deed to decrease the guards after being asked to do something by the targets of the confinement. However, Renyas group isnt under such a strict observation. With such an unknown rule it might be apparent that they wont be scolded for being incompetent either. Besides, we have absolutely no intention to go berserk. If we intended to rampage, one or two guards wont have any effect either. While thinking that, Renya tried to leave from the door as he had finished his business there, but he was called to halt by the guard on the other side of the door. Hey, theres something I want to ask you a bit. Whats up? (Renya) After all since she eats that much, they are big, I guess? Renya is silent for a little while. After properly thinking about the meaning of the question, Renya muttered while trembling, You are you a reformist? (Renya) What discourtesy. Id like you to call it the elven sect that woke up to a new aesthetic sense. Who the hell cares! Dont enter the room. I will chop you into little pieces if you make a move on my companion. (Renya) While thinking which reminds me, we werent told to hand over our weapons, he takes out the sword belt and katana from his inventory and equips them. He left it as it is as he ended up thinking that it would likely be unnecessary while strolling through the city, but Renya became panicked as a risk factor lurked in an unexpected place. However, the guards voice seemed to be upset. Please stop calling a person a brute or something. Im able to control myself. So, how is it? He might be worth to be praised for his attitude of not shrinking away from the hate turned at him. Renya, who was swayed by such thoughts, opened his mouth after thinking for a while how to answer. I dont know how much elven women eat, but if its little compared to humans, that might be a factor as well. Its a common fact that living creatures wont grow if they dont eat. (Renya) I see. By the way, Id also like to ask what she eats most to have such remarkable growth Dont know. Ask her yourself. (Renya) Dairy products are recommended, it would have been fine even if Renya revealed such knowledge, while not knowing whether its true or not, but as he didnt have any intention to elaborate on this topic, Renya stops the chat by saying that coldly. Given that it was a far too stupid conversation, the situation isnt as severe in fact, is it? Renya thought, but after that even when it got dark outside and after a large amount of sweets and drinks was supplied there were no signs for Renyas group being released. The moment the situation changed was when the day had completely ended. Since there was no light in the room, Renya used the opportunity to turn on the lights with the spell at the ceiling. With a knock on the door, Kurowaal entered together with several guards who brought dinner. Im sorry. We caused you inconveniences. (Kurowaal) In the middle of the guards lining up the food on top of the table Kurowaal apologized to Renyas group for starters. Renya has a feeling that the image of elves being arrogant somehow made a sound as if shattering. Apart from whether its something right or wrong, it gives a good evaluation to properly apologize. You will explain the circumstances, right? (Renya) Of course. However, is it fine to not talk about this during the meal? I was released just seconds before myself too, so (Kurowaal) Kurowaal who seems to be fairly annoyed by the long confinement without eating or drinking anything looks at the dishes lined up on the table. The guards, who carried in the food, bowed after finishing the placement and silently exited the room. I dont mind, but you lot still want to eat? (Renya) Shion and Rona, who should have loaded their stomachs with a considerable amount of sweets and drinks, sit down cheerfully at the seats of the table as if they had another stomach for the dishes. Renya marvelled where the heck such amount of food vanished, but he sits down himself giving up to pursue the matter anymore than that. Since Frau doesnt reach the table if she sits on a chair, she sat down on top of Renyas lap as if it was natural. Frau is fine even if she doesnt particularly eats a meal, but since its not like she cant eat, she was apparently fascinated by the elven cooking she sees for the first time. The dishes, lined up on top of the table, have only a little bit of steamed fish dishes and no meat dishes among them. The rest is mostly mushrooms, vegetables, soy sauce and miso dishes which were either cooked or roasted. Indeed, with this kind of eating habits there wont be any taste with only salt as flavouring. I can imagine that they gladly accepted the existence of soy sauce and miso, Renya thought. At least its agreeable to state that the meaty, pure white mushroom, I dont know the name of though, is a complete dish with only properly roasting it and sprinkling some soy sauce on it, Renya judges. If this was mixed with butter, even if only a piece of it, the level of its taste would rise by yet another level, but unfortunately it seems like the elvess way of thinking still hasnt reached that stage. The taste of the miso soup, which was made out of dashi from mushrooms and crop roots, is splendid. Due to that taste, which made him feel as if it has been a very long time, Renya couldnt help but just being disappointed within his innermost mind that tofu hadnt been put in. It should be possible to make it out of elven beans, but for the elves, who live within forests, obtaining pickled ginger to harden the beans for tofu is probably a problem standing in the way, Renya guesses. (T/N: Not sure on that one, Im no cooking expert after all) If thats not the case, theres no way that my predecessor, who told the elves about soy sauce and miso, makes such a blunt mistake like forgetting to tell them about tofu, Renya concludes. Renya swears to create it one day without fail, but before that his thinking flows into another direction, namely Is there dried beancurd and soy milk, I wonder? It has become necessary to raise money for the sake of obtaining a considerable amount of elven beans no matter what in order to create those. At the time when Renya thoughts began to go even as far as pondering whether its not possible to cultivate them somehow on the human continent, Kurowaal stopped dinning and opened her mouth, Renya-san. The words of the soldier you rescued. (Kurowaal) I havent rescued him. He ended up dying. (Renya) Renya immediately denies Kurowaals statement, but Kurowaal denied Renyas words by shaking her head. If you didnt rescue him from falling of the horse at that place, he would have died without accomplishing his duty. As for the result, he ended up passing away, but theres no mistake that you have saved him. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal says so while staring at him firmly. Renya scratches his cheek without saying a single word. Hes probably embarrassed, Shion smiled while looking at Renyas behaviour. He was a soldier who served at the defence fortress which is east of this city. (Kurowaal) Quietly removing her gaze from Renya, the expression of Kurowaal, who continued her words, is dark. The defence fortress role is to watch the Forest Labyrinth and to protect the city from monsters which frequently appear in the forest. (Kurowaal) Theres a Forest Labyrinth over here as well, you say? (Renya) Renya asks while thinking of the one that was close to the city of Kukrika. The Forest Labyrinth over there is in fact an underground maze which has a forest within befitting its name. It should be a huge labyrinth that continues up to the Miasma Forest in a far distance. Labyrinth Forest is a general name for four labyrinths which exist on all of the four continents. All four of them are existing independently, but all of them are connected to the Miasma Forest. (Kurowaal) The Forest Labyrinth, which is on the human continent, is something vast that reaches dozens of 100 km, but due to Kurowaals statement that theres four similar labyrinths of such level in total, Renya feels a light dizziness. Its at a level of exceeding the limit of Renyas imagination with its far too oversized scale. After you were confined here, the army dispatched a soldier to scout the vicinity of the fortress. A one-way trip with our feet from here to the fortress takes around one hour. Humans will likely get there after two hours. (Kurowaal) And until the entrance of the Forest Labyrinth? (Renya) I guess it would be around 4~5 hours on human feet from the fortress? (Kurowaal) Once you walk through the forest, the speed will definitely fall. If one takes that into consideration as well, the place where Renyas group is right now seems to be a location that doesnt differ overly much from the location of the city of Kukrika which is on the human continent. The report from the scout was the worst. There were around 200 guards and 500 non-combatants in the fortress, but survival is hopeless, or in other words, it was completely destroyed. (Kurowaal) Do you know the number and types of enemies? (Renya) It seems to be a mixed army consisting of ogres, orcs, hobgoblins and goblins as its main constituent, but theres information that demons are mixed in as well. Based on the scale of the army, their numbers are around 20.000 although thats only an approximation. (Kurowaal) Hows the war potential in this place? (Renya) 500 with 200 of them being archers and 300 being infantry. In addition it was officially announced that the students of the adventurer school will be drafted. The number of students is 200. Thus, the entire war potential of this city amounts to 700. (Kurowaal) Due to the statement of Kurowaal who indifferently reported it, Renyas face warped for an instant. As if she didnt notice that, Kurowaal continues her words, In other words, I will deploy as well. Accordingly I have a request for everyone. (Kurowaal) Pausing for a moment, Kurowaal has a short intermission to choose her words. By no means is she going to ask us to help out, is she? Renya worried, but the following words of Kurowaal completely betrayed Renyas expectations. Can I ask you to return to the human continent right away? And, please destroy the transfer gate over there. (Kurowaal) At the market Renyas group had somehow stopped the rampaging horse and the rider on its back, but although the horse came to a halt, the elf died in Renyas arms. Renya, who is pondering what to do next, gets surrounded by elven guards who arrived without him realizing. While looking surprised, everyone is fenced in and taken away. Once they felt like they will get walked off like this, Renyas surroundings got restive. Although there was the fact that the number of corpses became high in the one digits, the guards, if pushed to say, tried to have Renyas group move with an attitude of asking them to follow since its their request. We probably should comply here obediently, Renya abides them quietly. The horse was taken along by pulling it while Shion was riding it as is, the problem was Rona. She showed signs of resistance, albeit light ones, at the time they were surrounded. Renya became confused whether she hated the elves this much, but persuading the guards that she will take her along herself, Kurowaal grabs Ronas arm and drags her along without any further problems while threatening the male elves so that they dont get close. For some reason not being surrounded by the elves, Frau was almost neglected, but when it came to the matter of Renya being taken away, she climbs on Renyas back as if its only natural and settles with getting a shoulder ride. I wonder how it looks for a human swordsman, who gives a little maid girl a shoulder ride, to be surrounded and taken away by elves if looked at from the side, Renya smiles wryly without understanding the situation. The elf who died in Renyas arms is carefully picked up by the guards and carried away somewhere else. If the words he spoke at deaths door are true, he was likely a soldier of that defence fortress. Renya didnt know how the elves mourned their dead, however Renya prays that the elf, who lost his life while doing his duty, receives a cordial burial. Being surrounded by a great number of elves, Renyas group was taken along into an area enclosed by a fence. There was a building one could regard as a bit unrefined if compared to the other buildings. Since Renyas group has no familiarity with this city to begin with, they completely didnt know what kind of building they were taken into on top of not knowing where they have been led to at all. But, they proceeded to a room of that building as told by the elven guards who wanted them to go along with their guidance. The room, which has a desk, where pitcher filled with something like fruit juice and baskets with sweets that seemed like leaf pies and dried fruits were placed on, and several chairs was a room that had at least a window. However on the other side of the window the figures of guards could be seen. Placing two guards outside the door of the room, they are sincerely told to not leave the room until further instructions once they entered the room. Shion and Rona tried to protest that they were effectively put under arrest, but Renya stopped that. One of the reasons is the notion that its likely pointless to object to it. As for the other reason he suddenly understood, its the words of the soldier at the verge of death whom Renya held. The ones who caught those words should at least have been Renya, who held that soldier in his arms, and Kurowaal, who was close to him. The contents of his words werent normal no matter how you look at it. They are likely intending to control the flow of information, Renya judges while sitting down on a chair. Since Kurowaal wasnt confined in the same room as Renyas group, she is probably giving a report about the situation to someone or she is a person of quite the status. Based on that, they are either obtaining a proof of the information or they are deciding the further plans. That means its unwise for Renyas group to freely move around during the time they are choosing at what time they will announce it to the inhabitants of the city or whether they wont announce it at all. Rona and Shion expressed their dissatisfaction, but as Renya didnt leak any particular complaints that seem like him being dissatisfied, and once they saw him to care-freely sit on a chair, they began to swoop down fiercely on the food on top of the table making him wonder whether they had given up as it was likely futile even if they made a commotion. As Renya watches them pondering whether their eating drive is just a revenge for causing them troubles, Renya quietly moves to the entrance door and lightly knocks on it due to the mountain of sweets decreasing at an astonishing rate. Whats wrong? The voice which comes through the door is that of a young man. Id like to request additional sweets and drinks. At that pace it will be all gone soon. (Renya) There should have been prepared a considerable amount though? Dont take the consumption rate of sweets by female humans lightly. (Renya) There are plans to prepare dinner as well, but will it be insufficient? Once being told so, Renya looks outside the window, but its hard to read the time since there isnt much day light shining through due to them being within a forest. Even so, probably there are still a few hours until dinner time, he was able to assess. With him only judging that its likely a done deal that the amount of sweets wont last for that much time, the matter of them taking even the preparation of dinner into consideration also means that they plan to confine them for at least that long. After leaking a sigh and thinking how troublesome, he called out to the soldier on the other side of the door once again. It wont last at all. Once theyve got nothing to eat anymore, those children are going to start a commotion. (Renya) Please endure somehow. We have agreed to the confinement without asking anything. Please take such level of accommodation into consideration. (Renya) Got it I will arrange for it. Renya floated a bitter smile once he heard one of the supposedly two guards walk away. Although they especially arranged for two to stand on guard, isnt their alertness a bit low for one of them to leave, no matter what kind of errand he was told to do? Renya wondered. Have they prepared a schedule for changing the guards here? If thats not the case, theres also the possibility of calling a third and having them prepare it. Its not a praiseworthy deed to decrease the guards after being asked to do something by the targets of the confinement. However, Renyas group isnt under such a strict observation. With such an unknown rule it might be apparent that they wont be scolded for being incompetent either. Besides, we have absolutely no intention to go berserk. If we intended to rampage, one or two guards wont have any effect either. While thinking that, Renya tried to leave from the door as he had finished his business there, but he was called to halt by the guard on the other side of the door. Hey, theres something I want to ask you a bit. Whats up? (Renya) After all since she eats that much, they are big, I guess? Renya is silent for a little while. After properly thinking about the meaning of the question, Renya muttered while trembling, You are you a reformist? (Renya) What discourtesy. Id like you to call it the elven sect that woke up to a new aesthetic sense. Who the hell cares! Dont enter the room. I will chop you into little pieces if you make a move on my companion. (Renya) While thinking which reminds me, we werent told to hand over our weapons, he takes out the sword belt and katana from his inventory and equips them. He left it as it is as he ended up thinking that it would likely be unnecessary while strolling through the city, but Renya became panicked as a risk factor lurked in an unexpected place. However, the guards voice seemed to be upset. Please stop calling a person a brute or something. Im able to control myself. So, how is it? He might be worth to be praised for his attitude of not shrinking away from the hate turned at him. Renya, who was swayed by such thoughts, opened his mouth after thinking for a while how to answer. I dont know how much elven women eat, but if its little compared to humans, that might be a factor as well. Its a common fact that living creatures wont grow if they dont eat. (Renya) I see. By the way, Id also like to ask what she eats most to have such remarkable growth Dont know. Ask her yourself. (Renya) Dairy products are recommended, it would have been fine even if Renya revealed such knowledge, while not knowing whether its true or not, but as he didnt have any intention to elaborate on this topic, Renya stops the chat by saying that coldly. Given that it was a far too stupid conversation, the situation isnt as severe in fact, is it? Renya thought, but after that even when it got dark outside and after a large amount of sweets and drinks was supplied there were no signs for Renyas group being released. The moment the situation changed was when the day had completely ended. Since there was no light in the room, Renya used the opportunity to turn on the lights with the spell at the ceiling. With a knock on the door, Kurowaal entered together with several guards who brought dinner. Im sorry. We caused you inconveniences. (Kurowaal) In the middle of the guards lining up the food on top of the table Kurowaal apologized to Renyas group for starters. Renya has a feeling that the image of elves being arrogant somehow made a sound as if shattering. Apart from whether its something right or wrong, it gives a good evaluation to properly apologize. You will explain the circumstances, right? (Renya) Of course. However, is it fine to not talk about this during the meal? I was released just seconds before myself too, so (Kurowaal) Kurowaal who seems to be fairly annoyed by the long confinement without eating or drinking anything looks at the dishes lined up on the table. The guards, who carried in the food, bowed after finishing the placement and silently exited the room. I dont mind, but you lot still want to eat? (Renya) Shion and Rona, who should have loaded their stomachs with a considerable amount of sweets and drinks, sit down cheerfully at the seats of the table as if they had another stomach for the dishes. Renya marvelled where the heck such amount of food vanished, but he sits down himself giving up to pursue the matter anymore than that. Since Frau doesnt reach the table if she sits on a chair, she sat down on top of Renyas lap as if it was natural. Frau is fine even if she doesnt particularly eats a meal, but since its not like she cant eat, she was apparently fascinated by the elven cooking she sees for the first time. The dishes, lined up on top of the table, have only a little bit of steamed fish dishes and no meat dishes among them. The rest is mostly mushrooms, vegetables, soy sauce and miso dishes which were either cooked or roasted. Indeed, with this kind of eating habits there wont be any taste with only salt as flavouring. I can imagine that they gladly accepted the existence of soy sauce and miso, Renya thought. At least its agreeable to state that the meaty, pure white mushroom, I dont know the name of though, is a complete dish with only properly roasting it and sprinkling some soy sauce on it, Renya judges. If this was mixed with butter, even if only a piece of it, the level of its taste would rise by yet another level, but unfortunately it seems like the elvess way of thinking still hasnt reached that stage. The taste of the miso soup, which was made out of dashi from mushrooms and crop roots, is splendid. Due to that taste, which made him feel as if it has been a very long time, Renya couldnt help but just being disappointed within his innermost mind that tofu hadnt been put in. It should be possible to make it out of elven beans, but for the elves, who live within forests, obtaining pickled ginger to harden the beans for tofu is probably a problem standing in the way, Renya guesses. (T/N: Not sure on that one, Im no cooking expert after all) If thats not the case, theres no way that my predecessor, who told the elves about soy sauce and miso, makes such a blunt mistake like forgetting to tell them about tofu, Renya concludes. Renya swears to create it one day without fail, but before that his thinking flows into another direction, namely Is there dried beancurd and soy milk, I wonder? It has become necessary to raise money for the sake of obtaining a considerable amount of elven beans no matter what in order to create those. At the time when Renya thoughts began to go even as far as pondering whether its not possible to cultivate them somehow on the human continent, Kurowaal stopped dinning and opened her mouth, Renya-san. The words of the soldier you rescued. (Kurowaal) I havent rescued him. He ended up dying. (Renya) Renya immediately denies Kurowaals statement, but Kurowaal denied Renyas words by shaking her head. If you didnt rescue him from falling of the horse at that place, he would have died without accomplishing his duty. As for the result, he ended up passing away, but theres no mistake that you have saved him. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal says so while staring at him firmly. Renya scratches his cheek without saying a single word. Hes probably embarrassed, Shion smiled while looking at Renyas behaviour. He was a soldier who served at the defence fortress which is east of this city. (Kurowaal) Quietly removing her gaze from Renya, the expression of Kurowaal, who continued her words, is dark. The defence fortress role is to watch the Forest Labyrinth and to protect the city from monsters which frequently appear in the forest. (Kurowaal) Theres a Forest Labyrinth over here as well, you say? (Renya) Renya asks while thinking of the one that was close to the city of Kukrika. The Forest Labyrinth over there is in fact an underground maze which has a forest within befitting its name. It should be a huge labyrinth that continues up to the Miasma Forest in a far distance. Labyrinth Forest is a general name for four labyrinths which exist on all of the four continents. All four of them are existing independently, but all of them are connected to the Miasma Forest. (Kurowaal) The Forest Labyrinth, which is on the human continent, is something vast that reaches dozens of 100 km, but due to Kurowaals statement that theres four similar labyrinths of such level in total, Renya feels a light dizziness. Its at a level of exceeding the limit of Renyas imagination with its far too oversized scale. After you were confined here, the army dispatched a soldier to scout the vicinity of the fortress. A one-way trip with our feet from here to the fortress takes around one hour. Humans will likely get there after two hours. (Kurowaal) And until the entrance of the Forest Labyrinth? (Renya) I guess it would be around 4~5 hours on human feet from the fortress? (Kurowaal) Once you walk through the forest, the speed will definitely fall. If one takes that into consideration as well, the place where Renyas group is right now seems to be a location that doesnt differ overly much from the location of the city of Kukrika which is on the human continent. The report from the scout was the worst. There were around 200 guards and 500 non-combatants in the fortress, but survival is hopeless, or in other words, it was completely destroyed. (Kurowaal) Do you know the number and types of enemies? (Renya) It seems to be a mixed army consisting of ogres, orcs, hobgoblins and goblins as its main constituent, but theres information that demons are mixed in as well. Based on the scale of the army, their numbers are around 20.000 although thats only an approximation. (Kurowaal) Hows the war potential in this place? (Renya) 500 with 200 of them being archers and 300 being infantry. In addition it was officially announced that the students of the adventurer school will be drafted. The number of students is 200. Thus, the entire war potential of this city amounts to 700. (Kurowaal) Due to the statement of Kurowaal who indifferently reported it, Renyas face warped for an instant. As if she didnt notice that, Kurowaal continues her words, In other words, I will deploy as well. Accordingly I have a request for everyone. (Kurowaal) Pausing for a moment, Kurowaal has a short intermission to choose her words. By no means is she going to ask us to help out, is she? Renya worried, but the following words of Kurowaal completely betrayed Renyas expectations. Can I ask you to return to the human continent right away? And, please destroy the transfer gate over there. (Kurowaal) Chapter 58 Chapter 58 C It seems to be something to hesitate over A/N: This time even the writer himself is Hmm?The justification is weak, maybe Oy, what the heck do you mean (Renya) Once we closed down the transfer gate on this side, something like monsters suddenly appearing directly in the city of humans might be be possible. Id like you to destroy the gate over there to prevent that. This is an official request from the elves. Although we will destroy the gate on this side after you went back, its just for cautions sake. (Kurowaaal) According to Kurowaal, since its linked as forwarding address of the transfer gate, its not possible to only erase the path to the elven country. At the moment the gate of the elven country is closed down, the means to protect against an invasion of the adventurer school in Kukrika are apparently lost.Thats why she told me that she wants us to destroy both facilities. Since that is built fairly sturdily, it will take some labour to destroy it in a way that it cant be used anymore. Because theres also the nuance that we have to gain time for the citizens to escape to the rear, we will create as much time as possible, but honestly, I think that we wont gain much of it. (Kurowaaal) Thats only obvious. With 700 against 20.000, and moreover, 200 of those 700 are amateurs? There are cities larger than this place here, right? Wont you try to request reinforcements by dispatching a fast horse or such? (Renya) We elves dont uses horses overly much. The defence fortress prepared several fast horses for the sake of the notifying us of danger, but there are none in this city. It will take at least half day even with elven feet until the next closest city. However, the garrison over there has a scale resembling the one here. If its the capital, they should be able to swiftly dispatch 10.000 soldiers, but its a questionable number with 20.000 monsters as opponents. They probably wont dispatch them for the sake of protecting their city. Moreover, the capital is too far away. (Kurowaaal) Without a single wishful thinking she is able provide one fact after the other and yet Kurowaaal is unchanged and normal. We have already given an evacuation announcement and sent a messenger for that sake, but whether they will be in time is doubtful. We havent much time remaining for just evacuating. It seems the monsters are marching slowly from the fortress to here, but if all of us escape, they will likely raise their marching speed to track us down. In other words (Kurowaaal) Kurowaaal gave a hollow laugh here for the first time.To Renya it looked like the face of a resolved soldier and not like that of despair or resignation. Its a necessary sacrifice against the monsters. Even then its very likely a pointless stalling for time, however at least while we are remaining here, they are probably purposely marching slowly. We are able to evacuate an unknown number of citizens in that time and the capital can prepare defensive structures. (Kurowaaal) Hence, they have to die in this place no matter what.Declaring that implicitly, Kurowaaal stared at Renya.Renya bites his lips as he is unable to find words for Kurowaal, who still chose to fight while knowing that they will be definitely overrun if they fight. However, we wont let them through easily. At the very least we will try to take along a higher number of monsters than ours. Renya-san and you guys have to hurry and return to the human continent. Alongside the destruction of the gate, Id like you to take another piece of information with you. (Kurowaaal) Information, it is? (Renya) That soldier said that the Forest Labyrinth overflowed, but thats impossible. If one considers the vastness of the Forest Labyrinth and the frequency of monster spawns, it becomes unthinkable for that labyrinth to overflow. (Kurowaaal) Renya recalled that he had heard that story somewhere as well. Since thats the case, the question remains where the large army of 20.000 came from. (Kurowaaal) Its difficult to imagine an army of such scale to travel without being caught in the surveillance net of the elves.And, if they were caught in the surveillance net, the defence fortress should have sent a message far earlier, too. I dont believe that the soldier reported a lie while being at the verge of death. Considering that, the enemy came from the Forest Labyrinth after all. (Kurowaaal) Theres no way for it to overflow, is what you have said, right? (Renya) Yes, thus pondering about it this way, we came to a conclusion. (Kurowaaal) Kurowaal lowers the tone of her voice and slowly and clearly tells Renyas group in order for it being easy to remember, Probably there isnt only one travelling path from that huge, flourishing Miasma Forest in the Forest Labyrinth. In other words, if you end up travelling that labyrinth all over, wont some special route open up? And, havent the demons, using that, established a gate which is capable of transferring a certain level of gathered monsters all at once? Thats the conclusion we reached. (Kurowaal) Its difficult to create a path and maintain it in a place where there was no path to begin with, however it should be far easier to expand a place, which had originally a path, than creating one from nothing.And cant we also use the same theory when talking about the pathways of the transfer gates, so to say?And, isnt the Forest Labyrinth a common occurrence on all four continents? The chat is over. Now, please go once you finished eating. Im very sorry, but can you arrange for the share of magic gems for returning yourselves? All of the gems on our side will be put into use for the battle after this. We will wave the fee for the gate. After all it will only wander into the pockets of the monsters even if we took it. (Kurowaaal) Stating that in one go, Kurowaaal suddenly pauses and thinks for a bit. But, do the monsters have an opportunity to use the money? (Kurowaaal) I dont know about that, but is it fine? Isnt it a pointless death even if I restrain my words? (Renya) Ahaha you have probably been told that you arent very discreet, havent you? (Kurowaal) You are a suicide candidate. Wont you freely experience the violence of numbers with your body like that? (Renya) Partway Renya dropped his tone as if threatening her, but Kurowaaal laughed at that indifferently. Even if they dont eat this body but play around with it, that still doesnt matter. (Kurowaaal) As Kurowaaal stared back at Renya, a definite determination dwelled in her eyes. At any rate, during that time the enemy troops will stop around me. (Kurowaaal) Renya, it seems she has a firm resolve. (Shion) Shion calls out to Renya who was at a loss for words.Her voice had a tinge of impatience in it. We dont have much time either. If theres an invasion pathway for the monsters in the Forest Labyrinth, then its possible that it will turn into the same situation even in Kukrika. We have to return as soon as possible and report about this matter. (Shion) Renya turns a surprised expression at Shion due to hearing unexpected words from her.It seems that Rona, who understands the elven language, translated the exchange between Renya and Kurowaaal.Due to Renya being certain that Shion wont be able to abandon the elf in front of her once she knows about the details of the talks, he thought that she would simply start talking that she wants to help them somehow.Contrary to his expectations, Shion requests that they should return right away even if it means abandoning the elves.Did Rona foresee that? She looks at Shion without showing a particularly surprised look. Lets go, Renya. Time is valuable. (Shion) Please take care. Though I cant serve as your guide, you will reach the school once you go straight forward to the right on the road right in front of this building. Since the school has been already informed, use the gate as fits, please. After you pass through, we will begin its destruction. I wanted to lead you around the city a bit more, however Im sorry for being unable to accomplish that. (Kurowaal) Urged on by Shion, Renya leaves the room while being led by Fraus hand.Kurowaal sees them off, but at the moment Renya passes through the rooms door, she muttered quietly with a smile, Well then, this is goodbye. (Kurowaaal) Although its night in the forest, the elves city is full of lights and theres no trouble to move through it.However, theres only few people in the city.It looked like the evacuation of the citizens has already begun.Rushing through a city with no people in it, the soldier, who apparently waited for Renyas group at the schools gate, leads them to the room with the transfer gate once they arrived at the school. We dont have overly much time, please hurry. Thanks. Frau, can I leave the magic gems to you? (Shion) Yes, Shion-ane-sama. (Frau) Frau, who was asked by Shion, inserts the magic gems into the gate.The gate, which was filled with mana, opened and the same pitch-black space unfolded as at the time when they came here. Renya, lets go eh, Renya? (Shion) Although he could hear Shions voice, Renya wasnt inclined to move from the spot.In fact, Renya was hesitating.At the time of parting he saw the expression and heard the words of Kurowaaal.Renya couldnt help but feel like he saw that somewhere before.That expression which shows a smile despite being fated to die and while being dragged into a battle even though not wanting to partake in it.Renya doesnt feel anything towards the death of adventurer-like people who thrust their heads into danger willingly.He just thinks that they have passed away willingly since it was what they wished for.Because she is a student of a school training adventurers, that might happen eventually, too.However, on top of being a student, shes still no adventurer. Her resolve and awareness shouldnt have settled properly either.Even if the person herself believed that she resolved herself.Though Kurowaaal is heading into the battle knowing that she will definitely die under those circumstances, she smiled.If I saw such expression somewhere before, then it must likely have been something like the remains of my previous lifes memories, Renya thinks.The problem is, what have I done at the time I saw that expression in my previous life?Was I able to do anything? Or did I simply watch with folded arms without being able to do anything?Even if I try to think about it, its very unlikely for an answer to appear.The answer ended up being erased alongside his memories of his previous life.Nevertheless, if Im asked whether I will go back just like that, the answer is no.If I return to Kukrika while carrying an incomprehensible, gloomy feeling in my mind and stomach, I will end up endlessly worrying over it. If there was at least a reason to simply abduct her. (Renya) In the first place, if theres no reason nor any obligation, its only natural to abandon them, is Renyas stance.Renya has absolutely no intention to yield on that.Although its absolute, theres no other choice but to return unless I bend that.Its my own circumstances, however somehow it ended up turning into a difficult situation, Renya hesitates.In the first place, with that little girl having erased my memories in a half-assed way, I will simply return to Kukrika, report the situation and go back home to sleep, if I dont remember things completely, at the time Renya began to curse that little girl, the guard, who led Renyas group to the transfer gate, timidly opens his mouth. Is it about your guide, Kurowaal? Thats right, but do you know her? (Renya) Yes, since she is currently a student at this school, we have ignored things like social status. However, she is in fact visiting from the imperial capital, Sephirot(T/N: >> Sefuiroto > Roishu Pasu Tifareto > Hasukurodo Soruvaizu > Sefuiroto > Roishu Pasu Tifareto > Hasukurodo Soruvaizu <<), but having wisdom, she picks profit over pride. Second, elves have the image of excelling in magic. Thats not wrong, is it? (Renya) The part which is difficult to understand is to what degree we are excelling at it, but Does he want me to tell him the information as accurate as possible?After pondering for a while, the guard opened his mouth. At least the amount of mana possessed is far beyond that of an average human. And, in regards to wind and water magic, I suppose that human magicians cant get close. Those are specific magic attributes of us elves after all. Why? (Renya) Its a type of magic influenced by the forest. Alright, the garrison is encamped at the eastern side, right? (Renya) Will you be able to manage somehow!? Renya restrains the surprised guard with his hand in order to calm him down. Its a war. There are no absolutes. However, it should be better than getting simply annihilated. Frau and me will go to the actual site. You will protect the gate here. Since we will leave behind the magic gems to start it in the worst case, you will escape by transferring if it gets dangerous. (Renya) Renya! What about us? (Shion) I will give you the magic gems. Wait or transfer as you like. This is my whim after all. (Renya) Once he emphasizes it by stressing that it is his own whim, Shion nodded after casting down her eyes for a moment. Got it. We will wait until the last moment. (Shion) You wont mistake the time to leave? Once you transfer, destroy the gate on the other side right away. And, Frau. (Renya) Renya called out in an apologetic way towards the fairy standing next to him. Sorry, please accompany me. (Renya) Roger, master ~nano. Dont worry, Frau will be together with master ~nano. (Frau) Nodding deeply, Frau grasps Renyas hand. Alright, everyone, lets get started. Lets have His Majesty, the Emperor, and his daughter owe us. (Renya) Looking at Renyas face which smiled brightly, the elven guard got stirred up by some strange feeling and felt anxiety. Chapter 59 The forests night which usually holds a silence was strangely agitated tonight. The location, where all of the 700 elves are encamped, has become bright with the lit-up illuminations of the bonfires albeit it being only at that place within the dark forest. It completely looked like a lone island within an ocean. Elves are able to see even in the night. Many humans believe that, but in reality its only a few who can. As the elves eyes are able to see the differences in temperature, its by no means like they possess an eyesight to see through the darkness of night. And thus lights were indeed necessary no matter what if it turns into a battle during the night, moreover a large-scaled one. In the perfect darkness the large army of monsters doesnt look like anything but a red mass. The wind, which is sweeping through the trees, is tinged with the stench of iron rust and rot. Sometimes sounds of trees being smashed are weaved into it as well. Elves generally have good ears. Its not like their long ears are particularly elegant. For those living within the forest it was extremely convenient to perceive changes in their vicinity or to sense danger by hearing distant sounds, but currently the elves cursed this quality of their ears. The large army of monsters was approaching to the place where the elven garrison has drawn the defence line from a place roughly several kilometres away, however the elves are able to hear the disgusting sounds of their swords and armours rattling as well as their moans and footsteps. And they are able to hear the loud breathing of their elven comrades standing next to them. I will definitely die tonight in this place, was the thought which dominated the elves. Without reinforcements or a refuge, they will likely be killed gruesomely in a way that is only limited by the capability of their imagination. Nevertheless, by killing many per soldier in this place, they believe that with stalling the enemy even a second longer, it will result in help towards the residents who are evacuating in the rear. Theres no one who breaks down or tries to run away. If it was a human army, it was likely they wouldnt be able to do such a thing. Since they have lived for more than a few decades albeit being young elves, they are far calmer than humans in regards to such aspects. Resolving themselves, each of them tightly grasps their weapon. It was at that moment that the ears of the elves, who are lying in wait and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the enemy, heard the footsteps coming running from the back. There are no plans for reinforcements to arrive. There shouldnt be anyone coming from the direction of the city, but the elves undoubtedly can hear those footsteps approaching. Several of them turned their heads to the rear wondering who it was. Its the adventurer Renya = Kurugi! I have something to discuss with the commander Skrod. Please let me through! (Renya) The one who made an appearance from within the darkness was Renya who gave a little girl with a maid appearance a piggyback for some reason. While the elves were noisy wondering who he was, Renya shouts a second time with a slightly irritated voice. There isnt much time, right!? Please let me though quickly! (Renya) Im Skrod, but who are you? (Skrod) The one who stepped forward from within the lined up elves was a woman with a tall stature compared to the other elves, blue eyes and blond hair with a short-cut hairstyle. She wears similar gear to what Kurowaal wore, but at her waist is a small cane, likely the type of item called a wand, hanging. Im the adventurer Renya, who came on a vacation trip here. I have something to tell you. Please listen to me. (Renya) Renya-san!? (Kurowaal) It was Kurowaal who rushed over while raising a voice of surprise. She didnt carry a weapon at the time he saw her in the city, however now there is one rapier each hanging on the left and right side of her waist. Yo, Kurowaal. Been a while. (Renya) Dont Yo me! Why did you come here? (Kurowaal) Shut up and be quiet. Get yourself quietly secured by me. (Renya) Renya grabbed the head of Kurowaal, who had approached, in the style of an iron claw with his right hand and began to constrict it with scraping sounds. Kurowaal struggled in a panic to tear off the hand of Renya with pain travelling through the temples of her forehead, but she whines as she is unable to move at all with their difference in physical strength. O-Ouch! Its extremely painful, Renya-san!? It seems to be cracking!? (Kurowaal) Listen up and stay silent. Faint just like that if you like. I will carry you in no time. (Renya) You, did you hear about that child from some soldier? (Skrod) A bit scorn is packed into those words. Skrod addresses Renya bluntly. Certainly, if you retrieve only that child, you will be able to sell it as favour to His Majesty, the Emperor. Is that all of your business here? (Skrod) A greedy human who came to just recover Kurowaal due to his desire to get a reward, thats probably how Im seen, Renya smiles bitterly. Certainly, thats the easy way, but before I was to do such thing, I would have abandoned them altogether, he isnt able to say that though. How foolish. Listen to people properly. I came to make use of a decent army for a bit. Theres nothing else but me overrunning the enemy. The matter with this child is just an extra while Im at it. (Renya) What an idiot. What kind of things are you saying at this place where we are facing a losing battle? There is no way for there to be a method to overturn such overwhelming superiority in numbers. (Skrod) Skrod flatly denies Renyas words. Renya laughs scornfully at that. The idiot is you. Do you think I expressly came to this place if theres no way to overturn it? What will you do? Will you listen to me? (Renya) Lets hear it then. Please tell me. (Skrod) Renya retorted to Skrod, who said that theres no such method, that there is actually a way. Apparently Skrod immediately felt inclined to listen to Renya after he made that statement. It didnt look like the words of the soldier, who said that she puts priority on utility, were a lie. If the enemy comes attacking with the superiority of numbers, we confront that with superiority of numbers on this side as well. Thats how you deal with this. (Renya) Renyas suggestion was reasonable if you talk of a justified measure, but Skrod immediately denied that. Impossible. Hasnt the other side more than 30 times our numbers? Tell me, where will you find the numbers to upset that disparity? Even if its reinforcement from the human continent, will they come flying here? (Skrod) Its foolish to ask whether they will come. Look at reality. (Renya) He cuts off and discards Skrods objection with a brief comment. Skrods expression becomes huffily, but Renya hasnt the spare time to worry about that. In any case, with the enemy approaching in front of our eyes, its necessary to act quickly. Listen! And do it well. Split those, who are strong in defence magic, and those, who excel at the elven characteristic magic, from among the elves here. Those with characteristic magic have priority. (Renya) And then? (Skrod) Shut your eyes to the amount of damage that will appear in the city. While pulling back the line of defence a bit into the close quarters of the city, cast magic obstructing movement in one area thats likely to become the battlefield and if you are able to fill it with traps, then do just that. There should be something, if its magic that works in the forest, right? Things like confining with grasses or changing the ground into mud. (Renya) There are some spells like that, but thats unreasonable. Just how much mana will be required at what range? (Skrod) If it was an unreasonable suggestion, I wouldnt make it in the first place. I will supply the required mana. (Renya) Frau, who was riding on Renya shoulders, puts both her hands into the pockets of her apron dress and takes out their contents. What she was holding in both her hands was thumbnail-sized magic gems. With Fraus small hands around 10 gems were apparently the limit of what she could hold even if she used both hands, however it should still be a reasonable aggregate amount of mana. However, Skrod shakes her head. It wont be enough with this at all. (Skrod) I havent said thats all of them though. (Renya) Frau unfastens the sleeve button of her apron dress. Once Frau faces the largely opened armhole towards the ground, an amount of the same sized magic gems as those that Frau took out from her pockets, as if it was some kind of joke, drop out. As expected, Skrods expression stiffened and her eyes turned into dots due to the amount of magic gems which began to create a mountain, albeit a small one, while making clinking sounds. Are you surprised, foolish woman? Create a trap area for the enemy army by using these while pulling back little by little. If its not enough, we will provide more. Form a defence encampment with your characteristic magic and defence spells once you arent able to withdraw anymore. (Renya) Being called an idiot, Skrod comes to her senses and starts immediately to hurl orders at her subordinates. At that moment the soldiers promptly pick up the magic gems, which have formed a mountain close to reaching ones waist, from the ground, split up and start to pull back, though slowly. From the point of the monsters views, it might be seen as them drawing back due to being scared. After the elves drew back, thin, long weeds began to grow thickly in a noisy way in a quite wide area. Trees, which have short thorns, and long vines begin to sprout in order to close the gaps. Its a forest barrier. Anyone but elves will be tripped up by that. Be careful since you are no exemption to that either. (Skrod) Skrod pulls Renyas arm. Renya, who released Kurowaal from the iron claw, slowly retreats in the direction of the city together with the elves while being dragged by his arm. Kurowaal advances next to him. I never heard of such large-scaled spell activation. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal said while looking over her shoulder at the vegetation growing one after the other in her back. Even I, whos already living for more than 250 years, has never seen or heard of such a thing either. (Skrod) Skrod, who is pulling Renyas arm, says, however Renya, who suggested the invocation of such large-scaled spell, nonchalantly declared, If thats the case, it will be a good experience. Wont you give me some appreciation? (Renya) If we get saved by that. Rather than that, even if we create a defence encampment by deploying a barrier, we will be overcome sooner or later if we dont decrease the enemys numbers. (Skrod) Skrod will have 200 of the 300 infantrymen devote themselves to the maintenance of the barrier. She planned to hold the encampment with the remaining 100. She intended to have the 200 archers and 200 students to work on the offensive, but one cant expect much results from the 200 students. And she didnt believe that she will be able to prevent the 20.000 monsters from breaking through the barrier with 200 archers either. Its impossible to lower the damage to zero. Please understand that. (Renya) Once Renya, who is still giving Frau a piggyback, said so, Skrod nodded right away. She had the soldiers assemble under the assumption of a total annihilation in the first place. On top of having received a pointer on how its possible to them to return alive, even if its only a part of them, she isnt in a position that she could complain either. Although there are 20.000 monsters, they wont cause any damage if they cant get into fighting distance. The point is, right now we are able to delay the enemys hands reaching us as much as possible with a barrier and an encampment. (Renya) Thats true. (Skrod) In addition, we will continue to defend against the enemys attacks by secluding ourselves in the encampment to the best of our abilities. (Renya) I know that too. However, we will be defeated eventually if we only keep defending. (Skrod) Thats only natural. Frau, how much mana have you left? (Renya) Renya asks while looking up. After folding her arms and thinking for a bit, Frau opened her mouth, The previous mountain consumed half of it ~no. I think that currently the remainder is still around 60% with the share provided by master ~no. (Frau) Since it wont be a problem even if you use it up this time, please use another 5% at the occasion of erecting the encampment. (Renya) Frau nods at Renyas words. The expression of Skrod, who heard that, changes into shock. The amount of magic gems, which earlier produced a mountain, held a number that they could distribute around 10 gems to every soldier. Given that the side of the soldiers, who will deploy the barrier, will use a lot of mana no matter what, the distributed amount was biased towards them though. Even so, her statement means that she can put out around the same number of magic gems once again. Somehow Skrods shock becomes stronger than her surprise at that point. Once you have 10% remaining, I will be in charge of the fire power with my own mana. (Renya) Thats pure foolishness! What can you do all by yourself!? (Skrod) I will use a series of with void magic. I think you can expect quite the fire-power if I use it together with parallel spell formulae. (Renya) E- E-Even so, something like a single magician being able to shoot several of those (Skrod) Im able to activate up to 200 at the same time, but is that not sufficient, I wonder? (Renya) He didnt attempt to go past his limit, but that amount was pretty much possible. Thats what Renya completed confirming. Skrod remains mute with her mouth flapping open and closed unable to decide either way. Kurowaal, who was accompanying them at Renyas side, was already incapable of following the conversation. She has entered a stance of giving up and ignoring it. Even so, it will likely be impossible to exterminate 20.000. I think that it will turn into a melee of crossing swords at the end. Please be ready for that. (Renya) With a mere rapid fire of , it probably wont be only the monsters who will die, Renya murmurs into his chest. Im unable to comprehend, but, got it. (Skrod) It looks like Skrod herself is fully aware that it will be endless if she started to question why and how. And, theres currently no point in asking Renya about that either. Renya-san, you are amazing really, thank you very much. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal has an expression as if she had given up on various things, but even so she puts it into words and gives Renya words of gratitude. What, thats only natural, Frau throws out her chest in pride on top of Renyas head. Master is amazing ~no. Its fine for you to praise him even more ~no. (Frau) Oh, do you mainly intend to survive, even if its unreasonable, for the sake of my reward? (Renya) You have spoiled various things with that, Renya-san (Kurowaal) Even while dropping her shoulders crestfallen, Kurowaal began to feel like they will really be able to survive for some reason. The forests night which usually holds a silence was strangely agitated tonight. The location, where all of the 700 elves are encamped, has become bright with the lit-up illuminations of the bonfires albeit it being only at that place within the dark forest. It completely looked like a lone island within an ocean. Elves are able to see even in the night. Many humans believe that, but in reality its only a few who can. As the elves eyes are able to see the differences in temperature, its by no means like they possess an eyesight to see through the darkness of night. And thus lights were indeed necessary no matter what if it turns into a battle during the night, moreover a large-scaled one. In the perfect darkness the large army of monsters doesnt look like anything but a red mass. The wind, which is sweeping through the trees, is tinged with the stench of iron rust and rot. Sometimes sounds of trees being smashed are weaved into it as well. Elves generally have good ears. Its not like their long ears are particularly elegant. For those living within the forest it was extremely convenient to perceive changes in their vicinity or to sense danger by hearing distant sounds, but currently the elves cursed this quality of their ears. The large army of monsters was approaching to the place where the elven garrison has drawn the defence line from a place roughly several kilometres away, however the elves are able to hear the disgusting sounds of their swords and armours rattling as well as their moans and footsteps. And they are able to hear the loud breathing of their elven comrades standing next to them. I will definitely die tonight in this place, was the thought which dominated the elves. Without reinforcements or a refuge, they will likely be killed gruesomely in a way that is only limited by the capability of their imagination. Nevertheless, by killing many per soldier in this place, they believe that with stalling the enemy even a second longer, it will result in help towards the residents who are evacuating in the rear. Theres no one who breaks down or tries to run away. If it was a human army, it was likely they wouldnt be able to do such a thing. Since they have lived for more than a few decades albeit being young elves, they are far calmer than humans in regards to such aspects. Resolving themselves, each of them tightly grasps their weapon. It was at that moment that the ears of the elves, who are lying in wait and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the enemy, heard the footsteps coming running from the back. There are no plans for reinforcements to arrive. There shouldnt be anyone coming from the direction of the city, but the elves undoubtedly can hear those footsteps approaching. Several of them turned their heads to the rear wondering who it was. Its the adventurer Renya = Kurugi! I have something to discuss with the commander Skrod. Please let me through! (Renya) The one who made an appearance from within the darkness was Renya who gave a little girl with a maid appearance a piggyback for some reason. While the elves were noisy wondering who he was, Renya shouts a second time with a slightly irritated voice. There isnt much time, right!? Please let me though quickly! (Renya) Im Skrod, but who are you? (Skrod) The one who stepped forward from within the lined up elves was a woman with a tall stature compared to the other elves, blue eyes and blond hair with a short-cut hairstyle. She wears similar gear to what Kurowaal wore, but at her waist is a small cane, likely the type of item called a wand, hanging. Im the adventurer Renya, who came on a vacation trip here. I have something to tell you. Please listen to me. (Renya) Renya-san!? (Kurowaal) It was Kurowaal who rushed over while raising a voice of surprise. She didnt carry a weapon at the time he saw her in the city, however now there is one rapier each hanging on the left and right side of her waist. Yo, Kurowaal. Been a while. (Renya) Dont Yo me! Why did you come here? (Kurowaal) Shut up and be quiet. Get yourself quietly secured by me. (Renya) Renya grabbed the head of Kurowaal, who had approached, in the style of an iron claw with his right hand and began to constrict it with scraping sounds. Kurowaal struggled in a panic to tear off the hand of Renya with pain travelling through the temples of her forehead, but she whines as she is unable to move at all with their difference in physical strength. O-Ouch! Its extremely painful, Renya-san!? It seems to be cracking!? (Kurowaal) Listen up and stay silent. Faint just like that if you like. I will carry you in no time. (Renya) You, did you hear about that child from some soldier? (Skrod) A bit scorn is packed into those words. Skrod addresses Renya bluntly. Certainly, if you retrieve only that child, you will be able to sell it as favour to His Majesty, the Emperor. Is that all of your business here? (Skrod) A greedy human who came to just recover Kurowaal due to his desire to get a reward, thats probably how Im seen, Renya smiles bitterly. Certainly, thats the easy way, but before I was to do such thing, I would have abandoned them altogether, he isnt able to say that though. How foolish. Listen to people properly. I came to make use of a decent army for a bit. Theres nothing else but me overrunning the enemy. The matter with this child is just an extra while Im at it. (Renya) What an idiot. What kind of things are you saying at this place where we are facing a losing battle? There is no way for there to be a method to overturn such overwhelming superiority in numbers. (Skrod) Skrod flatly denies Renyas words. Renya laughs scornfully at that. The idiot is you. Do you think I expressly came to this place if theres no way to overturn it? What will you do? Will you listen to me? (Renya) Lets hear it then. Please tell me. (Skrod) Renya retorted to Skrod, who said that theres no such method, that there is actually a way. Apparently Skrod immediately felt inclined to listen to Renya after he made that statement. It didnt look like the words of the soldier, who said that she puts priority on utility, were a lie. If the enemy comes attacking with the superiority of numbers, we confront that with superiority of numbers on this side as well. Thats how you deal with this. (Renya) Renyas suggestion was reasonable if you talk of a justified measure, but Skrod immediately denied that. Impossible. Hasnt the other side more than 30 times our numbers? Tell me, where will you find the numbers to upset that disparity? Even if its reinforcement from the human continent, will they come flying here? (Skrod) Its foolish to ask whether they will come. Look at reality. (Renya) He cuts off and discards Skrods objection with a brief comment. Skrods expression becomes huffily, but Renya hasnt the spare time to worry about that. In any case, with the enemy approaching in front of our eyes, its necessary to act quickly. Listen! And do it well. Split those, who are strong in defence magic, and those, who excel at the elven characteristic magic, from among the elves here. Those with characteristic magic have priority. (Renya) And then? (Skrod) Shut your eyes to the amount of damage that will appear in the city. While pulling back the line of defence a bit into the close quarters of the city, cast magic obstructing movement in one area thats likely to become the battlefield and if you are able to fill it with traps, then do just that. There should be something, if its magic that works in the forest, right? Things like confining with grasses or changing the ground into mud. (Renya) There are some spells like that, but thats unreasonable. Just how much mana will be required at what range? (Skrod) If it was an unreasonable suggestion, I wouldnt make it in the first place. I will supply the required mana. (Renya) Frau, who was riding on Renya shoulders, puts both her hands into the pockets of her apron dress and takes out their contents. What she was holding in both her hands was thumbnail-sized magic gems. With Fraus small hands around 10 gems were apparently the limit of what she could hold even if she used both hands, however it should still be a reasonable aggregate amount of mana. However, Skrod shakes her head. It wont be enough with this at all. (Skrod) I havent said thats all of them though. (Renya) Frau unfastens the sleeve button of her apron dress. Once Frau faces the largely opened armhole towards the ground, an amount of the same sized magic gems as those that Frau took out from her pockets, as if it was some kind of joke, drop out. As expected, Skrods expression stiffened and her eyes turned into dots due to the amount of magic gems which began to create a mountain, albeit a small one, while making clinking sounds. Are you surprised, foolish woman? Create a trap area for the enemy army by using these while pulling back little by little. If its not enough, we will provide more. Form a defence encampment with your characteristic magic and defence spells once you arent able to withdraw anymore. (Renya) Being called an idiot, Skrod comes to her senses and starts immediately to hurl orders at her subordinates. At that moment the soldiers promptly pick up the magic gems, which have formed a mountain close to reaching ones waist, from the ground, split up and start to pull back, though slowly. From the point of the monsters views, it might be seen as them drawing back due to being scared. After the elves drew back, thin, long weeds began to grow thickly in a noisy way in a quite wide area. Trees, which have short thorns, and long vines begin to sprout in order to close the gaps. Its a forest barrier. Anyone but elves will be tripped up by that. Be careful since you are no exemption to that either. (Skrod) Skrod pulls Renyas arm. Renya, who released Kurowaal from the iron claw, slowly retreats in the direction of the city together with the elves while being dragged by his arm. Kurowaal advances next to him. I never heard of such large-scaled spell activation. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal said while looking over her shoulder at the vegetation growing one after the other in her back. Even I, whos already living for more than 250 years, has never seen or heard of such a thing either. (Skrod) Skrod, who is pulling Renyas arm, says, however Renya, who suggested the invocation of such large-scaled spell, nonchalantly declared, If thats the case, it will be a good experience. Wont you give me some appreciation? (Renya) If we get saved by that. Rather than that, even if we create a defence encampment by deploying a barrier, we will be overcome sooner or later if we dont decrease the enemys numbers. (Skrod) Skrod will have 200 of the 300 infantrymen devote themselves to the maintenance of the barrier. She planned to hold the encampment with the remaining 100. She intended to have the 200 archers and 200 students to work on the offensive, but one cant expect much results from the 200 students. And she didnt believe that she will be able to prevent the 20.000 monsters from breaking through the barrier with 200 archers either. Its impossible to lower the damage to zero. Please understand that. (Renya) Once Renya, who is still giving Frau a piggyback, said so, Skrod nodded right away. She had the soldiers assemble under the assumption of a total annihilation in the first place. On top of having received a pointer on how its possible to them to return alive, even if its only a part of them, she isnt in a position that she could complain either. Although there are 20.000 monsters, they wont cause any damage if they cant get into fighting distance. The point is, right now we are able to delay the enemys hands reaching us as much as possible with a barrier and an encampment. (Renya) Thats true. (Skrod) In addition, we will continue to defend against the enemys attacks by secluding ourselves in the encampment to the best of our abilities. (Renya) I know that too. However, we will be defeated eventually if we only keep defending. (Skrod) Thats only natural. Frau, how much mana have you left? (Renya) Renya asks while looking up. After folding her arms and thinking for a bit, Frau opened her mouth, The previous mountain consumed half of it ~no. I think that currently the remainder is still around 60% with the share provided by master ~no. (Frau) Since it wont be a problem even if you use it up this time, please use another 5% at the occasion of erecting the encampment. (Renya) Frau nods at Renyas words. The expression of Skrod, who heard that, changes into shock. The amount of magic gems, which earlier produced a mountain, held a number that they could distribute around 10 gems to every soldier. Given that the side of the soldiers, who will deploy the barrier, will use a lot of mana no matter what, the distributed amount was biased towards them though. Even so, her statement means that she can put out around the same number of magic gems once again. Somehow Skrods shock becomes stronger than her surprise at that point. Once you have 10% remaining, I will be in charge of the fire power with my own mana. (Renya) Thats pure foolishness! What can you do all by yourself!? (Skrod) I will use a series of with void magic. I think you can expect quite the fire-power if I use it together with parallel spell formulae. (Renya) E- E-Even so, something like a single magician being able to shoot several of those (Skrod) Im able to activate up to 200 at the same time, but is that not sufficient, I wonder? (Renya) He didnt attempt to go past his limit, but that amount was pretty much possible. Thats what Renya completed confirming. Skrod remains mute with her mouth flapping open and closed unable to decide either way. Kurowaal, who was accompanying them at Renyas side, was already incapable of following the conversation. She has entered a stance of giving up and ignoring it. Even so, it will likely be impossible to exterminate 20.000. I think that it will turn into a melee of crossing swords at the end. Please be ready for that. (Renya) With a mere rapid fire of , it probably wont be only the monsters who will die, Renya murmurs into his chest. Im unable to comprehend, but, got it. (Skrod) It looks like Skrod herself is fully aware that it will be endless if she started to question why and how. And, theres currently no point in asking Renya about that either. Renya-san, you are amazing really, thank you very much. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal has an expression as if she had given up on various things, but even so she puts it into words and gives Renya words of gratitude. What, thats only natural, Frau throws out her chest in pride on top of Renyas head. Master is amazing ~no. Its fine for you to praise him even more ~no. (Frau) Oh, do you mainly intend to survive, even if its unreasonable, for the sake of my reward? (Renya) You have spoiled various things with that, Renya-san (Kurowaal) Even while dropping her shoulders crestfallen, Kurowaal began to feel like they will really be able to survive for some reason. Chapter 60 The monsters were terribly disgruntled. First, the fortress, which they attacked before, fell without any noteworthy resistance. Moreover, the number of elves inside was far too low compared to the number of monsters in the army. Second, what furthered their dissatisfaction was the fact that it was mostly male elves. The elves who died in battle immediately ended up in the bellies of the monsters who happened to be present at the location. You can say that they were still on the lucky side though. The soldiers, who were caught while being alive, had their equipment torn off, were thinly cut completely like dry-cured ham or such, were pushed around by the monsters and were killed in the end after being tormented until they begged for death. And you can still say that they had a less objectionable way of death. After all the ones who died in the most wretched way were the remaining 20 female elves who worked in the fortress. After the monsters broke or cut off their limbs so that they couldnt escape, they smashed their chins to prevent suicide and passed them thoroughly around amongst themselves. The women, who finally turned into trash that even an orc wouldnt have any interest in, were thrown away just like trash, were shredded into pieces by the hands of goblins and devoured by them. Having fully violated 200 elves, the monsters were still unhappy. With the numbers being scarce and time being short as well, there were plenty of monsters who didnt obtain an elf to play with. Moreover, as the elves are small-built and slender, the amount was overwhelmingly lacking to fill the stomachs of 20.000 monsters. The goblins, who have been entrusted with the vanguard, are going mad. If they end up catching an elf unskilfully, it will surely be snatched away by orcs and ogres. Still, if they end up eating it then and there after killing it, they will likely be able to eat to their hearts content if it goes well without their prey getting stolen. Thus it is necessary for them to fight the elves before any of the other monsters. The goblins wanted to run ahead with all their might if possible, however since it was an order from above for them to march slowly, they arent allowed to break into a run either. It was a fact that the ample dread mixed into the taste of elves at the time they were eaten was great, thus it is an extremely displeasing order for the goblins who want to fill their bellies rather than worrying about the taste. Thats why they were pushing and shoving each other. The goblins marched while looking forward to the attack order as they restrained themselves. Those goblins suddenly noticed that the sensation under their feet changed. What was until now a cold ground transformed into a ground with thickly growing weeds. Those weeds, which possess long and thin leaves, twine themselves around the marching goblins feet and obstruct them. Even if they tore those off with all their strength; if it was once or twice, an extreme effort was necessary just to tear them off, but if its ten-odd all at once, the goblins feet were stopped. Moreover, as the feet of the goblins are hurt by the branches of short trees possessing thorns, the ivies coil around them. The goblins stepped into the elven barrier. That barrier was something so huge that the elves cant recall the existence of such an instance in the past. With its length at 200 meters and its width spanning over one kilometre, it stands in the way of the army of 20.000. The goblins, who cant move anymore, frantically struggle to escape, but its not a barrier that will release their feet that easily. In the end the goblins, who follow without knowing the circumstances, trample over the goblins who have fallen while simply writhing. Being stepped on, the goblins have their bones broken and their flesh crushed while growing restive due to the pain. The goblins, who fell down with their feet getting caught by the goblins who suddenly acted up underfoot, get entwined by the weeds and ivies and also lose the ability to move their body. It would simply end if they stopped, but the goblins, who have large numbers on top of having low intelligence, dont even report the state of affairs. They simply fall down, get trampled on and are crushed. And those who walk over them also fall down. Such an unproductive cycle repeats itself over and over. At the moment considerable losses started to appear among the goblins, the information that the elves had laid out some kind of trap was passed on to the demons, however without suspending their order, they commanded the advance without change. Thats the true nature of the elven barrier, but although the demons realized that its a snare by using weeds and ivies, they decided to use the method of surpassing the trap itself by having the goblins tread it down with their own flesh and blood. Of course, the goblins, who shouldnt be able to notice that intention, march on without thinking anything and are defeated. They create a path for the sake of those following behind them with their own flesh and blood. You have chosen a nasty measure. Even if I cant see it for myself. (Renya) Renya, who heard the situation at the front line from Skrod, frowned. Although there is a watch fire burning at his own position in the dead of the night, its unthinkable for Renya, who is a human, to see the state of things 200 meters ahead. However, the elves can clearly see the details of the circumstance in the elven barrier, Skrod says. The theory behind that was something Renya couldnt comprehend at all, but Skrod simply explained it as the forest blessing the elves. That blessing allows the elves to clearly see the interior of the barrier. Moreover it grants the elves a far stronger strength than usual and the forest even confines the enemies. Originally a single caster can create a barrier of around 10 meters in all directions. That seems to be the limit of what they can barely maintain. The number of elves who are busy with maintaining the barrier is 200. The size of the deployed barrier has become 2000 times that of a normal one. In other words, with each receiving mana supply from Renya, they can maintain a barrier 10 times bigger than normal. It might get a bit ugly. (Renya) Renya made an ominous remark. At his side, Skrod makes a report that the vanguard of the monster army approached up to 150 meters from their position and, as if responding to that, the archers began their shooting. Apparently only the bows of elves can reach up to 200 meters. However, given that the power of the arrows will naturally drop sharply, they decided to start the attack at a distance of 150 meters after balancing range and power. Since thats according to the elves knowledge and experience, Renya doesnt meddle. Renya will begin his attack after the enemy approaches up to 100 meters. That was because the shooting range of is just around that area. It would be also alright to increase the distance, but that will only raise the consumption of mana, Renya judged. This time I dont have much leeway in using my mana. Since Frau has changed the recovered amount into magic gems from the outset, he isnt in a state of having full mana. It seems to be going well, but is there some problem? (Kurowaal) Kurowaals eyes can see the figures of the monsters who are falling into chaos within the barrier due to the descending hail of arrows from above. Once their marching speed gets killed, its a simple matter to hit them even if the arrows are shot roughly thanks to the high number of monsters. Because the archers brought in emergency supplies from the city besides the share they carried with them at the time they heard that a defensive encampment would be built, the number of prepared arrows is plenty making it look like they wont get exhausted. As expected, the goblins are getting irritated by the slowness of advancement and even the orcs, who ended up appearing at the front-line, are collapsing looking similar to hedgehogs after being shot with arrows. You know, I thought the monsters would take a detour once they noticed the barrier. (Renya) The obstructions, requested by Renya, had traps besides movement inhibitions, but since Renya, who was consulted on the place for laying those out, heard that they would work as is after activating once set up without the need to maintain the magic, he concentrated their positioning in locations outside the elven barrier where he estimated them to just appear if they took a detour. All the magic traps were in vain theres that as well, but the fellow who is leading this army has quite the confidence. (Renya) Confidence, you say? (Kurowaal) Even though they view their soldiers as disposable, they are confident enough to have it their own way. Or they have the confidence that they can win with this army even if they loose their soldiers. (Renya) Renya, the distance will soon be down to 100 meters. (Kurowaal) The barriers erosion is fast. Did they switch to breaking through in one go? (Renya) Renya hits the shoulder of Kurowaal, whos next to him, with a tap-tap. He leaves and walks to the edge of the barrier in front of the battle formation. Frau isnt with him now since she is distributing the created magic gems amongst the elves. In the state of possessing Renya, Frau wasnt able to separate from him too far, but as she seems to be growing in power little-by-little in that aspect too, it was currently alright for her be apart from him a bit if its only for some time, according to Fraus words. While there are sounds of wind being cut above his head as the archers are continuing their shooting, the presence of the arrows wasnt a very pleasant feeling, but it couldnt be helped because he had to stand at the front of the battle formation to strike the enemy forces with his magic. Which way? I still cant see them. (Renya) Its straight ahead. Okay, got it. I will begin shooting. (Renya) Renya produces and shoots one mana ball after the other in the space in front of him. Since he doesnt grasp the state of the impact site, he roughly shoots the straight forward in the beginning. Once he got used to it, he altered the spells range or changes the spells to and while while making sure to shoot them in a fan form. As he doesnt know whether the spells, he shot, are hitting or missing, it nothing but an simple operation of discharging mana from Renyas point of view. While measuring the amount of mana he consumed for the spells, the amount he supplies to Frau and the amount he recovers, Renya continues to use magic with a bored-looking expression, however the countenance of the elves, who are watching the impact site, changed. The impact site was truly a picture of Hell. The heads of the goblins, who cant move as they were tripped up, burst open after being hit by magic bullets. The orcs, who spilled their intestines on the grass after wind blades cutting into their bellies, received fire balls into their open wounds next and writhed in pain as they burned up starting with their intestines. The orcs, who defended against the magic bullets with shields, withstood several shots, but losing to the force of the impacts, they drop their shields and then fall to the ground after getting riddled with holes by the magic bullets. The ogres, who have a large body, receive the spells all over their body and hurl blood as well flesh over the goblins behind them after getting transformed into minced meat. Trying to escape after falling into a state of panic, the goblins fall down after being tripped up by the barrier, have their arms blown off by the spells and are crushed underfoot the ogres who are running amok due to rage and pain. They seem to be completely like boats which are swallowed up by rapid streams, Kurowaal thought. Being engulfed by the heaving sea, they are thrown about and broken into pieces as anything and everything vanishes. Ah, somehow this feels like it became fun? (Renya) Renya wasnt aware of the situation, but he apparently got into firing the spells limitlessly albeit he is targeting empty space. The ones running away are the monsters! Those who dont run away are the fairly trained monsters! There isnt any choice except monsters though!? Fuhahahaha! Only a dead monster is a good mon no, if these fellows die, they will turn into undead, wont they? They are monsters who mustnt die either. They are probably unable to become undead No matter how much the monsters preserve, they probably wont become undead as they have turned into pieces of meat, Kurowaal assesses. Originally that wouldnt be the case if they didnt dispose of the corpses by burning them after the battle, but at this rate it would become unnecessary to do so. In exchange it wouldnt be possible to collect the raw materials from the monsters either. Pondering these matters, Kurowaal sighs. It was at the the time she turned her look further inside the barrier. In her sight, which was supported by the assistance of the barrier, Kurowaal saw the figure of that entering the barrier. It was a giant with a height of around 2 meters. All of its body is covered by a black, unrefined armour with only its head exposed. The head, which is the sole thing outside the armour, has long orchid hair carelessly spilling down on its back and the skins colour is dark brown. With its pupils being golden and almond, its ears are long, pointed and slender though not to the degree of those of elves. What is grasped in its hand is a large sword with a size close to that of an elf. Though its thick blade has likely the weight of a human, the man is holding it easily with just his right hand. Renya-san! Its a demon! A demon has entered the barrier. (Kurowaal) They came after all, huh? How troublesome. (Renya) While simply slaying the orcs and ogres, who dont move as they lost their presence of mind, the male demon casually places his feet into the barrier. Just as the weeds and ivies begin to coil themselves around those feet, the man, with a slightly slowed-down walking pace, calmly advances into the barrier while tearing off the weeds and ivies with all his strength. Theres probably no one but me in this place who can directly face a demon as opponent, Renya judges. However, if Renya entertained the demon, the attacks on the monsters in the vicinity would weaken. Having said that, if Renya continued his role as battery, the demon would break through the barrier and thus it would eventually turn it into a free-for-all fight. Either way its impossible to avoid increasing the losses. Renya wavers in his decision. Using that gap, the male demon casts a spell with void magic and creates a flame spear. He held that with his left hand, which isnt burdened with a sword, and casually threw it while aiming at the direction of Renyas group. Defence unit! Show me your endurance! (Skrod) Skrods encouragement reverberates. In response to that, the elves, who were in charge of defending, put their strength into casting spells. The temporarily boosted elven defence unit and the flame spear thrown by the demon clash. The elves field of vision was dyed bright red and vibrations shook the ground. The elven defence unit, which used all its strength, succeeded at defending against the demons attack, however several elves, who suffered from the aftermath, have collapsed right there. The elves, who fell into panic, were evacuated to the rear by the students who currently got nothing to do. There isnt even any time to hesitate, eh? (Renya) By just receiving one attack, the elven defence unit has its power reduced largely. They probably wont last through a second one, Renya assessed. For the sake of him not being able to attack a second time theres no other choice but for Renya to suppress the demon. However, the barrier, which is currently confining the demons, will judge Renya as not being an elf and entwine his feet as well. While it may be true that I will able able to hold down the demon if the barrier is released, the monsters will likely just flood this place here. My feet will be useless, huh? Oh well, theres no other choice but to get it done somehow. (Renya) Once he steps his foot into the barrier, the weeds twine themselves around Renyas foot right away. It wasnt a restriction to the degree of Renya being unable to tear away from, but his mobility could be called mostly dead. Renya-san!? (Kurowaal) I will hold down the demon. Skrod and Kurowaal, please command the archers and the students, though reluctantly, and survive the attack of the small fries somehow. (Renya) He walks with both feet into the effective range of the barrier. While tearing off the coiling weeds, Renya began to proceed to a place separated as far as possible from the encampment to fight with the demon. Fighting too close-by will increase the possibility of dragging the elves into the battle. Renya-san! (Kurowaal) Kurowaal jumped at Renya from behind. She clings to the back of Renya, who is unable to evade with his feet being captured by weeds. Holding Renyas head with both hands, Kurowaal bit her own lips slightly. Oy!? (Renya) Ignoring Renyas voice of protest, Kurowaal fixed Renyas head, she was holding, and pushed her lips, which were soaked with her own blood, on Renyas lips. Renya opens his eyes widely in surprise. And, without understanding the situation, a small stir occurs amongst the elves. Kurowaal continues to kiss him until she makes sure that he has swallowed down the blood, which has been smeared on her lips, by the gulping sound of Renyas throat. After she finished confirming, she releases Renya slowly. After licking with her lips, where blood was still seeping out, with her tongue, she smiled cheerfully and held back Renya, who apparently wanted to say something. Its a sure-fire blessing kiss of an elf. (Kurowaal) Looking at Kurowaal whose cheek is tinged red, albeit only slightly, Renya feels unable to say anything. Blessing, you say (Renya) Underfoot Renya, who attempted to say something, the weeds, which restrained his feet, swiftly withdrew. Moreover, he has become able to see the vicinity, which was plunged in darkness before, vaguely. It seems the kiss of Kurowaal, which was mixed with her blood, caused Renyas body to be recognised as elf by the barrier temporarily. Is that how it works? Should I thank you? (Renya) No, not at all. If you do me the favour of coming back alive, that will be plenty. (Kurowaal) I see Well, then I will leave this place to you. See you later. (Renya) Once again turning in the direction, from where the demon is approaching, Renya began to run within the elven barrier. The monsters were terribly disgruntled. First, the fortress, which they attacked before, fell without any noteworthy resistance. Moreover, the number of elves inside was far too low compared to the number of monsters in the army. Second, what furthered their dissatisfaction was the fact that it was mostly male elves. The elves who died in battle immediately ended up in the bellies of the monsters who happened to be present at the location. You can say that they were still on the lucky side though. The soldiers, who were caught while being alive, had their equipment torn off, were thinly cut completely like dry-cured ham or such, were pushed around by the monsters and were killed in the end after being tormented until they begged for death. And you can still say that they had a less objectionable way of death. After all the ones who died in the most wretched way were the remaining 20 female elves who worked in the fortress. After the monsters broke or cut off their limbs so that they couldnt escape, they smashed their chins to prevent suicide and passed them thoroughly around amongst themselves. The women, who finally turned into trash that even an orc wouldnt have any interest in, were thrown away just like trash, were shredded into pieces by the hands of goblins and devoured by them. Having fully violated 200 elves, the monsters were still unhappy. With the numbers being scarce and time being short as well, there were plenty of monsters who didnt obtain an elf to play with. Moreover, as the elves are small-built and slender, the amount was overwhelmingly lacking to fill the stomachs of 20.000 monsters. The goblins, who have been entrusted with the vanguard, are going mad. If they end up catching an elf unskilfully, it will surely be snatched away by orcs and ogres. Still, if they end up eating it then and there after killing it, they will likely be able to eat to their hearts content if it goes well without their prey getting stolen. Thus it is necessary for them to fight the elves before any of the other monsters. The goblins wanted to run ahead with all their might if possible, however since it was an order from above for them to march slowly, they arent allowed to break into a run either. It was a fact that the ample dread mixed into the taste of elves at the time they were eaten was great, thus it is an extremely displeasing order for the goblins who want to fill their bellies rather than worrying about the taste. Thats why they were pushing and shoving each other. The goblins marched while looking forward to the attack order as they restrained themselves. Those goblins suddenly noticed that the sensation under their feet changed. What was until now a cold ground transformed into a ground with thickly growing weeds. Those weeds, which possess long and thin leaves, twine themselves around the marching goblins feet and obstruct them. Even if they tore those off with all their strength; if it was once or twice, an extreme effort was necessary just to tear them off, but if its ten-odd all at once, the goblins feet were stopped. Moreover, as the feet of the goblins are hurt by the branches of short trees possessing thorns, the ivies coil around them. The goblins stepped into the elven barrier. That barrier was something so huge that the elves cant recall the existence of such an instance in the past. With its length at 200 meters and its width spanning over one kilometre, it stands in the way of the army of 20.000. The goblins, who cant move anymore, frantically struggle to escape, but its not a barrier that will release their feet that easily. In the end the goblins, who follow without knowing the circumstances, trample over the goblins who have fallen while simply writhing. Being stepped on, the goblins have their bones broken and their flesh crushed while growing restive due to the pain. The goblins, who fell down with their feet getting caught by the goblins who suddenly acted up underfoot, get entwined by the weeds and ivies and also lose the ability to move their body. It would simply end if they stopped, but the goblins, who have large numbers on top of having low intelligence, dont even report the state of affairs. They simply fall down, get trampled on and are crushed. And those who walk over them also fall down. Such an unproductive cycle repeats itself over and over. At the moment considerable losses started to appear among the goblins, the information that the elves had laid out some kind of trap was passed on to the demons, however without suspending their order, they commanded the advance without change. Thats the true nature of the elven barrier, but although the demons realized that its a snare by using weeds and ivies, they decided to use the method of surpassing the trap itself by having the goblins tread it down with their own flesh and blood. Of course, the goblins, who shouldnt be able to notice that intention, march on without thinking anything and are defeated. They create a path for the sake of those following behind them with their own flesh and blood. You have chosen a nasty measure. Even if I cant see it for myself. (Renya) Renya, who heard the situation at the front line from Skrod, frowned. Although there is a watch fire burning at his own position in the dead of the night, its unthinkable for Renya, who is a human, to see the state of things 200 meters ahead. However, the elves can clearly see the details of the circumstance in the elven barrier, Skrod says. The theory behind that was something Renya couldnt comprehend at all, but Skrod simply explained it as the forest blessing the elves. That blessing allows the elves to clearly see the interior of the barrier. Moreover it grants the elves a far stronger strength than usual and the forest even confines the enemies. Originally a single caster can create a barrier of around 10 meters in all directions. That seems to be the limit of what they can barely maintain. The number of elves who are busy with maintaining the barrier is 200. The size of the deployed barrier has become 2000 times that of a normal one. In other words, with each receiving mana supply from Renya, they can maintain a barrier 10 times bigger than normal. It might get a bit ugly. (Renya) Renya made an ominous remark. At his side, Skrod makes a report that the vanguard of the monster army approached up to 150 meters from their position and, as if responding to that, the archers began their shooting. Apparently only the bows of elves can reach up to 200 meters. However, given that the power of the arrows will naturally drop sharply, they decided to start the attack at a distance of 150 meters after balancing range and power. Since thats according to the elves knowledge and experience, Renya doesnt meddle. Renya will begin his attack after the enemy approaches up to 100 meters. That was because the shooting range of is just around that area. It would be also alright to increase the distance, but that will only raise the consumption of mana, Renya judged. This time I dont have much leeway in using my mana. Since Frau has changed the recovered amount into magic gems from the outset, he isnt in a state of having full mana. It seems to be going well, but is there some problem? (Kurowaal) Kurowaals eyes can see the figures of the monsters who are falling into chaos within the barrier due to the descending hail of arrows from above. Once their marching speed gets killed, its a simple matter to hit them even if the arrows are shot roughly thanks to the high number of monsters. Because the archers brought in emergency supplies from the city besides the share they carried with them at the time they heard that a defensive encampment would be built, the number of prepared arrows is plenty making it look like they wont get exhausted. As expected, the goblins are getting irritated by the slowness of advancement and even the orcs, who ended up appearing at the front-line, are collapsing looking similar to hedgehogs after being shot with arrows. You know, I thought the monsters would take a detour once they noticed the barrier. (Renya) The obstructions, requested by Renya, had traps besides movement inhibitions, but since Renya, who was consulted on the place for laying those out, heard that they would work as is after activating once set up without the need to maintain the magic, he concentrated their positioning in locations outside the elven barrier where he estimated them to just appear if they took a detour. All the magic traps were in vain theres that as well, but the fellow who is leading this army has quite the confidence. (Renya) Confidence, you say? (Kurowaal) Even though they view their soldiers as disposable, they are confident enough to have it their own way. Or they have the confidence that they can win with this army even if they loose their soldiers. (Renya) Renya, the distance will soon be down to 100 meters. (Kurowaal) The barriers erosion is fast. Did they switch to breaking through in one go? (Renya) Renya hits the shoulder of Kurowaal, whos next to him, with a tap-tap. He leaves and walks to the edge of the barrier in front of the battle formation. Frau isnt with him now since she is distributing the created magic gems amongst the elves. In the state of possessing Renya, Frau wasnt able to separate from him too far, but as she seems to be growing in power little-by-little in that aspect too, it was currently alright for her be apart from him a bit if its only for some time, according to Fraus words. While there are sounds of wind being cut above his head as the archers are continuing their shooting, the presence of the arrows wasnt a very pleasant feeling, but it couldnt be helped because he had to stand at the front of the battle formation to strike the enemy forces with his magic. Which way? I still cant see them. (Renya) Its straight ahead. Okay, got it. I will begin shooting. (Renya) Renya produces and shoots one mana ball after the other in the space in front of him. Since he doesnt grasp the state of the impact site, he roughly shoots the straight forward in the beginning. Once he got used to it, he altered the spells range or changes the spells to and while while making sure to shoot them in a fan form. As he doesnt know whether the spells, he shot, are hitting or missing, it nothing but an simple operation of discharging mana from Renyas point of view. While measuring the amount of mana he consumed for the spells, the amount he supplies to Frau and the amount he recovers, Renya continues to use magic with a bored-looking expression, however the countenance of the elves, who are watching the impact site, changed. The impact site was truly a picture of Hell. The heads of the goblins, who cant move as they were tripped up, burst open after being hit by magic bullets. The orcs, who spilled their intestines on the grass after wind blades cutting into their bellies, received fire balls into their open wounds next and writhed in pain as they burned up starting with their intestines. The orcs, who defended against the magic bullets with shields, withstood several shots, but losing to the force of the impacts, they drop their shields and then fall to the ground after getting riddled with holes by the magic bullets. The ogres, who have a large body, receive the spells all over their body and hurl blood as well flesh over the goblins behind them after getting transformed into minced meat. Trying to escape after falling into a state of panic, the goblins fall down after being tripped up by the barrier, have their arms blown off by the spells and are crushed underfoot the ogres who are running amok due to rage and pain. They seem to be completely like boats which are swallowed up by rapid streams, Kurowaal thought. Being engulfed by the heaving sea, they are thrown about and broken into pieces as anything and everything vanishes. Ah, somehow this feels like it became fun? (Renya) Renya wasnt aware of the situation, but he apparently got into firing the spells limitlessly albeit he is targeting empty space. The ones running away are the monsters! Those who dont run away are the fairly trained monsters! There isnt any choice except monsters though!? Fuhahahaha! Only a dead monster is a good mon no, if these fellows die, they will turn into undead, wont they? They are monsters who mustnt die either. They are probably unable to become undead No matter how much the monsters preserve, they probably wont become undead as they have turned into pieces of meat, Kurowaal assesses. Originally that wouldnt be the case if they didnt dispose of the corpses by burning them after the battle, but at this rate it would become unnecessary to do so. In exchange it wouldnt be possible to collect the raw materials from the monsters either. Pondering these matters, Kurowaal sighs. It was at the the time she turned her look further inside the barrier. In her sight, which was supported by the assistance of the barrier, Kurowaal saw the figure of that entering the barrier. It was a giant with a height of around 2 meters. All of its body is covered by a black, unrefined armour with only its head exposed. The head, which is the sole thing outside the armour, has long orchid hair carelessly spilling down on its back and the skins colour is dark brown. With its pupils being golden and almond, its ears are long, pointed and slender though not to the degree of those of elves. What is grasped in its hand is a large sword with a size close to that of an elf. Though its thick blade has likely the weight of a human, the man is holding it easily with just his right hand. Renya-san! Its a demon! A demon has entered the barrier. (Kurowaal) They came after all, huh? How troublesome. (Renya) While simply slaying the orcs and ogres, who dont move as they lost their presence of mind, the male demon casually places his feet into the barrier. Just as the weeds and ivies begin to coil themselves around those feet, the man, with a slightly slowed-down walking pace, calmly advances into the barrier while tearing off the weeds and ivies with all his strength. Theres probably no one but me in this place who can directly face a demon as opponent, Renya judges. However, if Renya entertained the demon, the attacks on the monsters in the vicinity would weaken. Having said that, if Renya continued his role as battery, the demon would break through the barrier and thus it would eventually turn it into a free-for-all fight. Either way its impossible to avoid increasing the losses. Renya wavers in his decision. Using that gap, the male demon casts a spell with void magic and creates a flame spear. He held that with his left hand, which isnt burdened with a sword, and casually threw it while aiming at the direction of Renyas group. Defence unit! Show me your endurance! (Skrod) Skrods encouragement reverberates. In response to that, the elves, who were in charge of defending, put their strength into casting spells. The temporarily boosted elven defence unit and the flame spear thrown by the demon clash. The elves field of vision was dyed bright red and vibrations shook the ground. The elven defence unit, which used all its strength, succeeded at defending against the demons attack, however several elves, who suffered from the aftermath, have collapsed right there. The elves, who fell into panic, were evacuated to the rear by the students who currently got nothing to do. There isnt even any time to hesitate, eh? (Renya) By just receiving one attack, the elven defence unit has its power reduced largely. They probably wont last through a second one, Renya assessed. For the sake of him not being able to attack a second time theres no other choice but for Renya to suppress the demon. However, the barrier, which is currently confining the demons, will judge Renya as not being an elf and entwine his feet as well. While it may be true that I will able able to hold down the demon if the barrier is released, the monsters will likely just flood this place here. My feet will be useless, huh? Oh well, theres no other choice but to get it done somehow. (Renya) Once he steps his foot into the barrier, the weeds twine themselves around Renyas foot right away. It wasnt a restriction to the degree of Renya being unable to tear away from, but his mobility could be called mostly dead. Renya-san!? (Kurowaal) I will hold down the demon. Skrod and Kurowaal, please command the archers and the students, though reluctantly, and survive the attack of the small fries somehow. (Renya) He walks with both feet into the effective range of the barrier. While tearing off the coiling weeds, Renya began to proceed to a place separated as far as possible from the encampment to fight with the demon. Fighting too close-by will increase the possibility of dragging the elves into the battle. Renya-san! (Kurowaal) Kurowaal jumped at Renya from behind. She clings to the back of Renya, who is unable to evade with his feet being captured by weeds. Holding Renyas head with both hands, Kurowaal bit her own lips slightly. Oy!? (Renya) Ignoring Renyas voice of protest, Kurowaal fixed Renyas head, she was holding, and pushed her lips, which were soaked with her own blood, on Renyas lips. Renya opens his eyes widely in surprise. And, without understanding the situation, a small stir occurs amongst the elves. Kurowaal continues to kiss him until she makes sure that he has swallowed down the blood, which has been smeared on her lips, by the gulping sound of Renyas throat. After she finished confirming, she releases Renya slowly. After licking with her lips, where blood was still seeping out, with her tongue, she smiled cheerfully and held back Renya, who apparently wanted to say something. Its a sure-fire blessing kiss of an elf. (Kurowaal) Looking at Kurowaal whose cheek is tinged red, albeit only slightly, Renya feels unable to say anything. Blessing, you say (Renya) Underfoot Renya, who attempted to say something, the weeds, which restrained his feet, swiftly withdrew. Moreover, he has become able to see the vicinity, which was plunged in darkness before, vaguely. It seems the kiss of Kurowaal, which was mixed with her blood, caused Renyas body to be recognised as elf by the barrier temporarily. Is that how it works? Should I thank you? (Renya) No, not at all. If you do me the favour of coming back alive, that will be plenty. (Kurowaal) I see Well, then I will leave this place to you. See you later. (Renya) Once again turning in the direction, from where the demon is approaching, Renya began to run within the elven barrier. Chapter 61 Chapter 61 C It seems to be the beginning of the battle Oh my! When wondering who might be coming this way, its an awfully rough elf? The male demon raised his voice while casually brandishing the large sword in his right hand.That large sword, which should possess considerable weight, cuts the goblins and orcs in the surroundings assuming them to be hindrances while furthermore pruning the grasses being astir under his feet.It seems that for him grasses and soldiers have mostly the same value.The goblins and orcs as well, although it will be fine if they escape the range of the man brandishing his large sword, they are chased by the elves attacks while stepping into the attack range of the man unbeknownst. Committing such foolishness, they fall to the ground and are cut into several lumps of meat in the blink of an eye. You dont make any distinction between elves and humans either? Aside from having a huge body, the intelligence of demons is low, I guess. (Renya) Halting before he enters the attack range of the large sword swung by the demon, Renya laughs scornfully at the demons words.Even though he is still quite the distance from the large swords point, the wind, the demon created with his sword, was to an extent that the bangs of Renya, who halted, are swaying.While being basked in the swords wind which is tinged with the scent of iron rust, Renya closes his eyes partly and looks at the demons figure.The speed of him swinging the large sword was something frightening, but as a matter of fact, the sword technique of the demon, seen from Renyas eyes, was actually something rough and unrefined.The proof for that is him sometimes finishing the goblins bodies by a style of beating them to death rather than cutting them since the blade movements arent especially precise.It is also hard to say that the large sword is an overly good item.Only its durability appears to be quite something. Its properly bearing the strain although the demon is swinging it with all his might. Huh? Human!? Why is a human fighting together with elves on the elven continent? I guess some idiot picked a fight without sensing the mood when I tried to come here on a pleasure trip. (Renya) Once Renya replied that with a sullen expression to the demon, who is surprised as if seeing something strange, the demon stopped to brandish his large sword and raised a loud laughter after shouldering the sword. You are an unfortunate fellow! To die at your destination! Its not like its particularly decided that its my side that is the unlucky one, now is it? (Renya) Renya indifferently returns those words at the laughing demon.The demon stops laughing as he cant understand what was said. What was that? Its not like its particularly decided that its my side that is the unlucky one, is what I said. (Renya Putting his hand close to his left waist, Renya continues while drawing his left hand to the katanas scabbard. Having picked a fight at the time when I was here, the stupid demons side was unlucky. There is such viewpoint as well, right? (Renya) Haa! When I wondered what you have started to talk about, its the utterance of a fool that doesnt know his own position. Did he feel slightly irritated? He draws the large sword, which leaned against his shoulders, and swings it sideways with all his strength in front of Renya.Several orcs, who once again entered his attack range, drop to the ground while scattering their intestines as they have been cut in two. Renya retreats a half step due to the pressure which assailed him from the front.Though its only a half step, theres no way for Renya to retreat due to simple wind pressure.It was only vaguely, but Renya sensed that the large sword, swung by the demon, was wrapped in mana.Apparently that being mixed into the swords wind gives birth to physical pressure. Do you believe that something like a human can oppose us demons from the front? Well, I wonder about that? (Renya) Due to Renyas evasive answer, a vein surfaced on the demons forehead.He seems to be thinking that Im making fun of him.Hes quite the short-tempered demon, just as Renya was thinking that, the demon made a step in Renyas direction while tearing off the weeds underfoot with snapping sounds.Sensing that he was about to begin attacking, Renya also takes a step towards the demon without retreating.If its a sideways attack, the rate of danger will rise by stepping in.However, from Renyas point of view, the demons movements are extremely large and exaggerated. He will clearly understand whether its a vertical or horizontal slash by the beginning of the attack.The demons next attack was a vertical attack.Renya regarded slipping through a sideways sweep by getting close to the demon coupled with the swords pressure, he felt before, as quite difficult, but if it was a vertical slash, dodging by stepping in wouldnt be complicated.Once he steps in with his body on the right side, the demons attack passes on the side of his body.While looking at the demon who had a surprised expression, Renya grasped the handle of his katana with his right, drew it and cut him in one go as he passed by at the demons flank.The demons left flank was directly cut by Renyas attack, but without the time to ascertain the effect of his own slash, Renya gets away from the demon.In order to chase after Renya, he recovered the blade of the large sword, Renya just dodged.Renya, who safely evaded the demons attack, roughly slashes the orcs and goblins close-by and makes blood fly with his wielded blade while opening a distance to the demon.Its sharpness never changes.Without looking at the cut orcs and goblins who fell to the ground, Renya stares at the blade of his own katana.Theres no indication of the blade being chipped either.Shifting his gaze from the surface of the blade, Renya cocked his head in puzzlement while facing into the direction of the demon. I believe I cut you without a doubt. (Renya) While shouldering the recovered large sword once again, the demon, who turned around in the direction of Renya, shows no sign of being cut.Renya grumbled that he should have been mowed down unmistakably, but while stroking the area where Renyas blade hit, the demon observes Renya with a look as if he has seen something unbelievable. Its the black iron armour. Theres no way it will come off with the strength of a human, is what I want to say, but Once the demon removes his hand a deep cut in the demons armour, around the area where Renyas blade hit, becomes visible.It was a fairly deep cut, but once he looks at the spot, he sees that it doesnt reach the demons body, it was apparent that the armour boasted a considerable thickness. Just what are you? There aint no way for a human to cause such wound!? That only applies to your knowledge about the human race though. (Renya) While using a tone as if he was dealing with an idiot, Renya sent a fed-up look at the demon.To be frank, Renya has thought that the hit just now connected directly.In other words, it was an attack he was quite confident in, but it was thwarted by the armour without even reaching the demons body.It wont be possible to cut him easily.This fact makes Renya perceive it as tedious.If I cant cut him easily, I have to decide the place Im aiming for.In the case that I play it by the book, I got to aim for the wrists and the inner parts of the elbow, which are the joints of the armour, the other side of the knee, the root of the thighs and the area around the armpits, however neither of them is a place that is very simple to aim for.Whats left is just the head which is exposed for some reason, but despite having strengthened his entire body this seriously, the fact of only the head being bare means that the head is a weak point?Renya asks himself.Anyway, I cannot help but feel that he wont die even if I send his head flying.This was something Renya derived from the matter with the Emil, the demon he had seen after coming to this world.Even if he sent Emils arms or head flying; as if being unable to resist it, the image of that demon has left a strong impression in Renyas mind. Earnestly defeating you looks to be troublesome. Demons, huh (Renya) Defeat? Who is going to defeat who? You bastard!? Renya avoids the attack, which is swung down at him after the demon charged in once again, by taking a stance with his legs in an L-shape.However, without even time to switch to the offensive, he make a large leap.In the instant he avoided the vertical cut, the demon stopped his slashing attack with all his strength and changed it into a sideways sweep.The fact of swinging a large sword with one is already absurd, but as expected even Renya couldnt guess the demons brute strength to switch it to a horizontal slash by stopping it halfway.While widening the distance being overwhelmed by the sword wind clad in mana, he incidentally cuts off the torso of an ogre in the middle of leaping back and kills it in one strike. This continuous jumping around is annoying Its better than being pointlessly hard to the point of it being annoying. (Renya) Renya retorts to the demon who is grinding his teeth out of vexation. Tsk, try to exchange blows, human. Dont say absurd things. Do you think that Im able exchange blows with his fellow? (Renya) Theres a large difference in size between the katana, Renya holds, and the large sword, the demon possesses.Considering it normally, theres no way for a katana to be able to have a direct exchange of blows with a large sword.The katana will quickly end up chipping or bending.Renya was astounded by the stupid request the demon was making, but the demon laughed with a broad grin. Then I will have you keep me company in an exchange of blows even if its unreasonable! Brandishing the large sword by holding it above his head, the demon swings it downwards in one go.Renya stops moving for an instant as he isnt able to understand what the demon wants to achieve with a strike that wont breach the distance at all. What he heard close to his ears is the voice of Kurowaal.Renya wasnt able to comprehend what a sword flash means, but suddenly he recalls the physical pressure which accompanied the wind of the sword clad in mana.At the moment he noticed it, it was already too late.In front of Renyas eyes a mana blow, which was fired from the large sword of the demon, approached.Changing the way he holds his katana into grabbing it with both hands reflexively, Renya stops the assaulting mana blow with his katana.Renya doesnt know of its indestructible attribute, however the mana blow scatters in an instant. The real one comes here! Chasing after his own released blow, the demon charged in and struck a single hit after holding the sword aloft while aiming at Renya, who stopped moving to deal with the mana blow.Renya has no time to avoid that attack as he had to defend against the mana blow.Renya clicks his tongue lightly as he had lost any other way but receiving the next strike with the katana.If it ends up receiving the blow of a large sword, the katanas blade will very likely chip or bend.In the worst case the katana itself will break, I guess.Even so, he has no other choice but to receive it.A tool is to the bitter end a tool. I ought to include the possibility of it breaking in my plans.While persuading himself like that, the action Renya chose was to open up to the left with his body at the moment he received the sword attack of the demon, who swings it downwards from a stance of holding it above his head, with the katana while sliding to his right side. It was a move to start an attack with the prepared katana while dealing with the demons attack.Usually, if you slash around the head area like this, it will become the technique called Return a headstrike with a headstrike* in kendo, but Renya is at that point in time thinking that the katanas blade has already broken.(T/N: 淵 for those interested, Im no kendo nut, so not sure if I got this one fully right.)Naturally he doesnt use the blade in the attack.The back of the demon, who became defenceless as he was still dealing with the sinking blow in front of his eyes, becomes completely visible.At this point Renya grasped the pommel of the katana with both hands and struck with it aiming at the demons back.The attack itself will be obstructed by the defence strength of the black armour, but the impact of being hit will be transmitted to the back as is.The demon had his breathing clogged up by the impact, but enduring that, he tries to send a mowing-down attack at Renyas torso in the act of turning around.However, that was an attack which Renya had predicted.Placing his foot on the wrist which tries to change from swinging downwards to mowing down, he latches onto the force of the blow, which was swung with all of the demons might, and lightly lands in the back.Renya, who has landed, looks at the katanas blade with unpleasant emotions.Renya thoughtvery likely it was broken, but he cant find a single nick in the blade of the katana contrary to his expectations.On the the other hand, the demon succumbed to an unbelievable experience once he looks down on his large sword.The blade of the large sword, which cant be compared to a katana in its weight and thickness, had developed a crack, albeit only slightly, with a chip in the blade at the place they exchanged blows. What the fuck is this? You bastard and that weapon! Well, I dont have any intention to explain though. (Renya) Renya, who changed the katanas direction by turning it around in his hand, returns it to the scabbard temporarily.The katana returned to the scabbard without showing any kind of resistance. Its not warped either, huh? Thats quite the durable katana a different world correction? (Renya) What kind of unknown nonsense are you muttering about? The demon says in irritation, but based on the immediately following restart of the battle, his bodys movements have become considerably dull.His body ends up accumulating damage due to the situation of him forcibly launching an attack as immediate counter to the attacks which were accompanied by impacts making him choke while the weeds constraint is simply doing its work below his feet.Renya, who confronted him, concluded that there was zero damage to the katanas blade due to the exchange just now by drawing the blade several times in and out of the scabbard.I absolutely dont know how this works, but as reality is reality, I should simply accept it, Renya judges. So, that means (Renya) Smoothly unsheathing the katana which was in its scabbard and preparing it in both hands, Renya mutters that. Lets have an exchange of blows, just as you wished, in the second round, demon? (Renya) I wont allow the likes of humans to make fun of me! While breathing roughly, the demon sent forth a slashing attack without dropping the power of the attack and this time Renya likewise met that by attacking with a full power slash. Chapter 61 C It seems to be the beginning of the battle Oh my! When wondering who might be coming this way, its an awfully rough elf? The male demon raised his voice while casually brandishing the large sword in his right hand.That large sword, which should possess considerable weight, cuts the goblins and orcs in the surroundings assuming them to be hindrances while furthermore pruning the grasses being astir under his feet.It seems that for him grasses and soldiers have mostly the same value.The goblins and orcs as well, although it will be fine if they escape the range of the man brandishing his large sword, they are chased by the elves attacks while stepping into the attack range of the man unbeknownst. Committing such foolishness, they fall to the ground and are cut into several lumps of meat in the blink of an eye. You dont make any distinction between elves and humans either? Aside from having a huge body, the intelligence of demons is low, I guess. (Renya) Halting before he enters the attack range of the large sword swung by the demon, Renya laughs scornfully at the demons words.Even though he is still quite the distance from the large swords point, the wind, the demon created with his sword, was to an extent that the bangs of Renya, who halted, are swaying.While being basked in the swords wind which is tinged with the scent of iron rust, Renya closes his eyes partly and looks at the demons figure.The speed of him swinging the large sword was something frightening, but as a matter of fact, the sword technique of the demon, seen from Renyas eyes, was actually something rough and unrefined.The proof for that is him sometimes finishing the goblins bodies by a style of beating them to death rather than cutting them since the blade movements arent especially precise.It is also hard to say that the large sword is an overly good item.Only its durability appears to be quite something. Its properly bearing the strain although the demon is swinging it with all his might. Huh? Human!? Why is a human fighting together with elves on the elven continent? I guess some idiot picked a fight without sensing the mood when I tried to come here on a pleasure trip. (Renya) Once Renya replied that with a sullen expression to the demon, who is surprised as if seeing something strange, the demon stopped to brandish his large sword and raised a loud laughter after shouldering the sword. You are an unfortunate fellow! To die at your destination! Its not like its particularly decided that its my side that is the unlucky one, now is it? (Renya) Renya indifferently returns those words at the laughing demon.The demon stops laughing as he cant understand what was said. What was that? Its not like its particularly decided that its my side that is the unlucky one, is what I said. (Renya Putting his hand close to his left waist, Renya continues while drawing his left hand to the katanas scabbard. Having picked a fight at the time when I was here, the stupid demons side was unlucky. There is such viewpoint as well, right? (Renya) Haa! When I wondered what you have started to talk about, its the utterance of a fool that doesnt know his own position. Did he feel slightly irritated? He draws the large sword, which leaned against his shoulders, and swings it sideways with all his strength in front of Renya.Several orcs, who once again entered his attack range, drop to the ground while scattering their intestines as they have been cut in two. Renya retreats a half step due to the pressure which assailed him from the front.Though its only a half step, theres no way for Renya to retreat due to simple wind pressure.It was only vaguely, but Renya sensed that the large sword, swung by the demon, was wrapped in mana.Apparently that being mixed into the swords wind gives birth to physical pressure. Do you believe that something like a human can oppose us demons from the front? Well, I wonder about that? (Renya) Due to Renyas evasive answer, a vein surfaced on the demons forehead.He seems to be thinking that Im making fun of him.Hes quite the short-tempered demon, just as Renya was thinking that, the demon made a step in Renyas direction while tearing off the weeds underfoot with snapping sounds.Sensing that he was about to begin attacking, Renya also takes a step towards the demon without retreating.If its a sideways attack, the rate of danger will rise by stepping in.However, from Renyas point of view, the demons movements are extremely large and exaggerated. He will clearly understand whether its a vertical or horizontal slash by the beginning of the attack.The demons next attack was a vertical attack.Renya regarded slipping through a sideways sweep by getting close to the demon coupled with the swords pressure, he felt before, as quite difficult, but if it was a vertical slash, dodging by stepping in wouldnt be complicated.Once he steps in with his body on the right side, the demons attack passes on the side of his body.While looking at the demon who had a surprised expression, Renya grasped the handle of his katana with his right, drew it and cut him in one go as he passed by at the demons flank.The demons left flank was directly cut by Renyas attack, but without the time to ascertain the effect of his own slash, Renya gets away from the demon.In order to chase after Renya, he recovered the blade of the large sword, Renya just dodged.Renya, who safely evaded the demons attack, roughly slashes the orcs and goblins close-by and makes blood fly with his wielded blade while opening a distance to the demon.Its sharpness never changes.Without looking at the cut orcs and goblins who fell to the ground, Renya stares at the blade of his own katana.Theres no indication of the blade being chipped either.Shifting his gaze from the surface of the blade, Renya cocked his head in puzzlement while facing into the direction of the demon. I believe I cut you without a doubt. (Renya) While shouldering the recovered large sword once again, the demon, who turned around in the direction of Renya, shows no sign of being cut.Renya grumbled that he should have been mowed down unmistakably, but while stroking the area where Renyas blade hit, the demon observes Renya with a look as if he has seen something unbelievable. Its the black iron armour. Theres no way it will come off with the strength of a human, is what I want to say, but Once the demon removes his hand a deep cut in the demons armour, around the area where Renyas blade hit, becomes visible.It was a fairly deep cut, but once he looks at the spot, he sees that it doesnt reach the demons body, it was apparent that the armour boasted a considerable thickness. Just what are you? There aint no way for a human to cause such wound!? That only applies to your knowledge about the human race though. (Renya) While using a tone as if he was dealing with an idiot, Renya sent a fed-up look at the demon.To be frank, Renya has thought that the hit just now connected directly.In other words, it was an attack he was quite confident in, but it was thwarted by the armour without even reaching the demons body.It wont be possible to cut him easily.This fact makes Renya perceive it as tedious.If I cant cut him easily, I have to decide the place Im aiming for.In the case that I play it by the book, I got to aim for the wrists and the inner parts of the elbow, which are the joints of the armour, the other side of the knee, the root of the thighs and the area around the armpits, however neither of them is a place that is very simple to aim for.Whats left is just the head which is exposed for some reason, but despite having strengthened his entire body this seriously, the fact of only the head being bare means that the head is a weak point?Renya asks himself.Anyway, I cannot help but feel that he wont die even if I send his head flying.This was something Renya derived from the matter with the Emil, the demon he had seen after coming to this world.Even if he sent Emils arms or head flying; as if being unable to resist it, the image of that demon has left a strong impression in Renyas mind. Earnestly defeating you looks to be troublesome. Demons, huh (Renya) Defeat? Who is going to defeat who? You bastard!? Renya avoids the attack, which is swung down at him after the demon charged in once again, by taking a stance with his legs in an L-shape.However, without even time to switch to the offensive, he make a large leap.In the instant he avoided the vertical cut, the demon stopped his slashing attack with all his strength and changed it into a sideways sweep.The fact of swinging a large sword with one is already absurd, but as expected even Renya couldnt guess the demons brute strength to switch it to a horizontal slash by stopping it halfway.While widening the distance being overwhelmed by the sword wind clad in mana, he incidentally cuts off the torso of an ogre in the middle of leaping back and kills it in one strike. This continuous jumping around is annoying Its better than being pointlessly hard to the point of it being annoying. (Renya) Renya retorts to the demon who is grinding his teeth out of vexation. Tsk, try to exchange blows, human. Dont say absurd things. Do you think that Im able exchange blows with his fellow? (Renya) Theres a large difference in size between the katana, Renya holds, and the large sword, the demon possesses.Considering it normally, theres no way for a katana to be able to have a direct exchange of blows with a large sword.The katana will quickly end up chipping or bending.Renya was astounded by the stupid request the demon was making, but the demon laughed with a broad grin. Then I will have you keep me company in an exchange of blows even if its unreasonable! Brandishing the large sword by holding it above his head, the demon swings it downwards in one go.Renya stops moving for an instant as he isnt able to understand what the demon wants to achieve with a strike that wont breach the distance at all. What he heard close to his ears is the voice of Kurowaal.Renya wasnt able to comprehend what a sword flash means, but suddenly he recalls the physical pressure which accompanied the wind of the sword clad in mana.At the moment he noticed it, it was already too late.In front of Renyas eyes a mana blow, which was fired from the large sword of the demon, approached.Changing the way he holds his katana into grabbing it with both hands reflexively, Renya stops the assaulting mana blow with his katana.Renya doesnt know of its indestructible attribute, however the mana blow scatters in an instant. The real one comes here! Chasing after his own released blow, the demon charged in and struck a single hit after holding the sword aloft while aiming at Renya, who stopped moving to deal with the mana blow.Renya has no time to avoid that attack as he had to defend against the mana blow.Renya clicks his tongue lightly as he had lost any other way but receiving the next strike with the katana.If it ends up receiving the blow of a large sword, the katanas blade will very likely chip or bend.In the worst case the katana itself will break, I guess.Even so, he has no other choice but to receive it.A tool is to the bitter end a tool. I ought to include the possibility of it breaking in my plans.While persuading himself like that, the action Renya chose was to open up to the left with his body at the moment he received the sword attack of the demon, who swings it downwards from a stance of holding it above his head, with the katana while sliding to his right side. It was a move to start an attack with the prepared katana while dealing with the demons attack.Usually, if you slash around the head area like this, it will become the technique called Return a headstrike with a headstrike* in kendo, but Renya is at that point in time thinking that the katanas blade has already broken.(T/N: 淵 for those interested, Im no kendo nut, so not sure if I got this one fully right.)Naturally he doesnt use the blade in the attack.The back of the demon, who became defenceless as he was still dealing with the sinking blow in front of his eyes, becomes completely visible.At this point Renya grasped the pommel of the katana with both hands and struck with it aiming at the demons back.The attack itself will be obstructed by the defence strength of the black armour, but the impact of being hit will be transmitted to the back as is.The demon had his breathing clogged up by the impact, but enduring that, he tries to send a mowing-down attack at Renyas torso in the act of turning around.However, that was an attack which Renya had predicted.Placing his foot on the wrist which tries to change from swinging downwards to mowing down, he latches onto the force of the blow, which was swung with all of the demons might, and lightly lands in the back.Renya, who has landed, looks at the katanas blade with unpleasant emotions.Renya thoughtvery likely it was broken, but he cant find a single nick in the blade of the katana contrary to his expectations.On the the other hand, the demon succumbed to an unbelievable experience once he looks down on his large sword.The blade of the large sword, which cant be compared to a katana in its weight and thickness, had developed a crack, albeit only slightly, with a chip in the blade at the place they exchanged blows. What the fuck is this? You bastard and that weapon! Well, I dont have any intention to explain though. (Renya) Renya, who changed the katanas direction by turning it around in his hand, returns it to the scabbard temporarily.The katana returned to the scabbard without showing any kind of resistance. Its not warped either, huh? Thats quite the durable katana a different world correction? (Renya) What kind of unknown nonsense are you muttering about? The demon says in irritation, but based on the immediately following restart of the battle, his bodys movements have become considerably dull.His body ends up accumulating damage due to the situation of him forcibly launching an attack as immediate counter to the attacks which were accompanied by impacts making him choke while the weeds constraint is simply doing its work below his feet.Renya, who confronted him, concluded that there was zero damage to the katanas blade due to the exchange just now by drawing the blade several times in and out of the scabbard.I absolutely dont know how this works, but as reality is reality, I should simply accept it, Renya judges. So, that means (Renya) Smoothly unsheathing the katana which was in its scabbard and preparing it in both hands, Renya mutters that. Lets have an exchange of blows, just as you wished, in the second round, demon? (Renya) I wont allow the likes of humans to make fun of me! While breathing roughly, the demon sent forth a slashing attack without dropping the power of the attack and this time Renya likewise met that by attacking with a full power slash. Chapter 62 An unbelievable spectacle unfolded on the battlefield. A male human in black clothes, who is around one or two heads smaller than the demon, grasps the blade of a thin katana and receives, wards off and repels the blows of a large sword, which likely would mean certain death if it hit, released by a demon with his entire body clad in a black armour. You know, theres no need for something like that once I get used to it, oy? While raising a laughter, Renya repels the demons attacks one after the other. Each time the large sword and the katana clash, sparks are sent flying and a high-pitched metallic sound reverberates to the surroundings. The large sword, which was repelled by Renya, has its trajectory twisted and is hurled in a direction not intended by the demon, however each time that happened, the demon forcibly returned it into the proper trajectory with brute strength and connected it to the next attack. Th-is! Fuck! No matter how much the demon roars, no matter with how much strength he wields his large sword, the trajectories of Renyas slashes never become unstable. Extremely accurately he repels the demons large sword and once in a while his blade reaches the black-full-body armour. Due to Renyas slashes gradually increasing in speed during the rally, the demons expression is tinged with impatience. The demon, who was at last defeated after countless exchanges, temporarily leaped back to recover and regain control. Not chasing there, Renya addresses the demon in a slightly kill-joyed voice. So you pull back? Thats a poor move, isnt it? (Renya) What are!? In front of the demon, who was about to answer, more than 10 parallel activated approach from Renya. The demon barely cleared away four magic bullets from those thrown at him with his large sword, but at the moment the blade met with the 5th magic bullet, the large sword broke unable to endure the strain at last. Throwing away the large sword which lost its intended use, the demon roars with mana charged into his voice. Overwhelmed by the magic power, the remaining magic bullets scattered in the air. Thats also a bad move. Why do you prefer defence over evasion, I wonder? (Renya) Renyas voice resounded from right beside the demon. Renya sunk his fist into the face of the demon who turned in the direction of the voice in panic. The demon, who wants to somehow open up a distance, jumps back at will with the momentum of being hit, takes out a large sword from empty space and restrains Renya by immediately taking a stance. Blood flowed in drops from his mouth and nose. A void storage user, huh? Although thats amazing, since your own strength is pointlessly high, your combat techniques are clumsy. (Renya) Renya says with an amazed tone while shaking his limp right hand he just used to hit. Before one knows it, the katana has been sheathed into the scabbard at his waist. So, now that your weapon is brand new, come at me quickly. (Renya) The demon doesnt return any words even when he is beckoned. If you look at his body with only your eyes, the armour, which should boast of a considerable defence strength, is riddled all over with cuts similar to gouging it out deeply. Its the places hit by Renya. It should have been an article of rare beauty which cant be even scratched by something like a human weapon, but the armour worn by the demon has ended up tattered in the exchange of blows with Renya in a short time. Once you turn your sight at the discarded large sword, the result of the exchange can be seen over there as well since the large sword is cover all over in cracks. It was something Renya doesnt know, but this demon wields swords which have his own mana loaded into them. Thats why its far more sturdy than a regular sword and its power is high as well. On top of that its possible to use long range attacks with it. And in addition to that it could even repel spells. The demon harbours fear due to the fact that such large sword didnt withstand Renyas slashes. Its an impossible story for a human weapon. Whats with that weapon!? Where the hell did you get it!? I bartered it from a peddler. (Renya) The demon becomes speechless due to the readily given reply. Thats impossible! Something like a peddler dealing with such goods is Although thats what you say, the truth is the truth, you know. (Renya) Although she was certainly a suspicious peddler, Renya adds in his mind. I received it in exchange for a 10th grade item called bamboo sword. Somehow grade 10 seems to be amazingly rare. (Renya) 10th grade!? An artefact!? Ah, somehow it had such an explanation added to it, I think. (Renya) Renya indifferently nods to the words of the demon which resembled a scream. No matter how surprised the demon is, Renya isnt able to understand why thats the case. Are you an idiot!? If its an artefact, its a remainder of the age of gods! Even if you travel all continents of this world, its an item that doesnt exist except in legends!? And you exchanged that, you say!? Hee, thats amazing. (Renya) The demon stresses it with a force that bubbles foam from his mouth, however for Renya it doesnt click even now. To begin with, since it was an item I received from that little girl at the time I was send over to the world here, isnt it obvious for it to wear the name of being a remainder of the age of gods? Thats the extent of Renyas thoughts. Moreover, no matter how amazing you call it, the thing itself is a bamboo sword. From Renyas point of view, he cant understand whats so great about that at all. What the hell are you? Due to Renyas expression not changing overly much, the demon stared at him with a look as if he is seeing a ghost, but pulling himself together right away he yells out loudly so that it echoes in the vicinity. Soldiers! Confine this guy! Oh? (Renya) Renya tilts his head to the side due to the strange order the demon began to give. Goblins and orcs, who heard the demons order, started to surround Renya. Whoa! Even if you were to spur on these fellows this late in the game (Renya) You lot! Confine this guy! I will return to the country! Haa? (Renya) Renya frowned asking himself what is that guy talking about?, but the demon doesnt care about that. At that time the matter with the elven race had already completely vanished from within the demons mind. Rather than such trivial matter, if I dont immediately return to the country with the information of this weird human, is the thought that is driving him. Not only can he fight above equal with me, who is a demon, in the body of a human, but he has a history of having possessed an artefact. Moreover, letting go of that he obtained a weapon that isnt imaginable with common sense as item. Even though its already abnormal for a human to fight with a demon by himself, the normally unthinkable idea of letting go of an artefact and instead obtaining a weapon is an absurdity. Moreover, although its just my intuition, wasnt the existence of this human the driving force behind the scenes for the tenacious resistance of the elves this time? The demon wonders. Isnt it possible that this will become a threat for the demons? He considered. Human man! I want you to draw back here! Let me just hear you name first! Introduce yourself! What kind of stupid bullshit are you spouting? (Renya) Renya, who was utterly amazed, looks fleetingly at the orcs and goblins crowding around him. Although its for an instant, the feet of the monsters stopped due to the pressure in his gaze. Although its only a small amount of time, this instant is more than enough for Renya. While displaying one rotation by turning around his body right there, the flash of unsheathing his katana from the scabbard runs through the bodies of the monsters, who surrounded Renya, splits them apart in an instant and changes them into meat. Without even looking at the lumps of meat dropping on the ground, Renya ran while aiming at the demon who is in the process of switching to escape. The monsters, who stand in the way as they loyally execute their orders, are cut on the spot and spill their blood on the ground. This monster is!? Even though the demon released a slash in desperation in order to mow him down, it doesnt reach Renyas body. In the next instant when the demon thought he dodged it, Renyas figure stood right in front of the demons eyes. Who told you that its fine to run away? (Renya) The point of the katana, which is held by the asking Renya, is piercing very deeply into the demons right thigh from right in front. A groan rose from the demons throat due to the delayed pain. Renya, who turned around the katana with a grinding sound as if wrenching open that wound, extracts the katana from the thigh after spending plenty of time to enlarge the wound. Spilling the blood which followed the pulled out katana, the demon reflexively drops his large sword and goes down on his knees, but Renya sends a flying kick at the collar of the demon, who had lowered his body due to him falling to his knees, and makes his body topple to the ground. Hey, hey! Something like letting go of your weapon during combat, you really cant be helped. (Renya) Once Renya points at it while sighing, the demon sidles up to his own weapon while trying to crawl. Did he finally realize that he had dropped it? Renya, who went ahead before the demon can grab the hilt of his weapon with his hand, sent the large sword flying by kicking it into a distance where the hands of the demon wont reach. Its a weapon you let go of once, so dont expect it to be usable a second time, werent you taught that? (Renya) Guu, this! Is the side of the foot, which was pierced by the katana, restricted? The demon wasnt able to stand up even if he tried to do so, but somehow he advances by struggling on the ground to get away from Renya. Renya looked at that appearance with a cold gaze, however before long he slowly followed him while carrying the drawn katana in his hand. D-Dont come! Something like trying to run away at this point in time, theres no way for such a selfish story to pass, right? (Renya) His words are very calm, but the atmosphere emitted by him is changing little by little. While feeling something cold travel down his spine, the demon cried. Soldiers! Kill this guy! Save me! Once again asking such unreasonable things (Renya) Rather than the demon, who is crawling on the ground, the speed of Renya, who is walking normally, is naturally faster. Renya, who caught up right away, casually raised the katana overhead. In response to that, the demon raises his left arm and protects his head. The black iron armour had certainly suffered deep cuts from Renyas slashes, but there still isnt a place where it has been cut apart. The demon thought that it was something that will be able to protect him plentifully. I mostly grasped the way to cut that. (Renya) He swings down the katana quietly and soundlessly. It wasnt a fast sword attack, but it was a very calm hit that caused a somewhat painful reaction. The demon, who watched that in a daze, isnt able to do anything but simply stare as the left arm, which was severed from the area around the elbow together with the black iron armour, drops without being able to say anything after several seconds since the katana passed through. First off, theres no way for the current me to let goblins and orcs get close to me, is there? (Renya) Renya says while looking down on the demon who began to writhe in the attacking pain while he suppresses the blood, which spouts out from the cut off elbow, with his right hand. His look is ice cold and his thick thirst for blood is spreading to the surroundings. Since the time when the atmosphere around Renya began to change, the monsters have left in order to escape from Renya. That was their nature, which sensed something dangerous to their lives, being able to use its intuition albeit having low intelligence. They know, whether they want to or not, whats in the range of thats hands is close to looking into the abyss of hell and it wont be strange for them getting kicked down there at any time. Once they understood that, no matter how small their intelligence may be, even among the monsters like goblins and orcs there isnt a single one to do something reckless like trying to approach Renya. Theres finally only left to do you in. You wont escape this late in the game, right? Oy? (Renya) Theres no reply to the inquiring words of Renya. Renyas words dont reach the ears of the demon who had his arm cut off and sent flying. Renya, who looks at that demons state with a sullen expression, once more swings the katana at the area around the left legs knee in a casual manner. The black iron armour, which caught Renyas slashes, albeit only somehow, until now, was unbelievably torn to pieces and the demons left foot was completely cut off from the knee. Stop! Please stop! Stop, you say? (Renya) Please stop it! Please save me! Once he replies to the question by the voice of Renya, who was filled with blood thirst, the demon begins to beg for his life as he had already lost any shame and honour. A-A human doing something like this to us, do you think that it will simply end with this!? You, are you speaking from a superior or from an inferior position? How about at least deciding on one of them? (Renya) The demon tries to get away from Renya with his remaining limbs. The blood, which flows out from the wounds at the limbs which were cut off, had quite the force and quantity. While thinking I guess he wont last long if its like this, Renya gets close to the struggling demon after picking up the demons large sword he kicked away himself, traps his foot with his body and turns him over so that he is lying face down. His aim is the border between hips and torso which are the moveable parts. Once he stabs that part with all his strength while holding the demons large sword in a backhand grip, the large sword penetrates the demons body from a gap in the armour and and affixes his body to the ground. The scream of the demon echoed throughout the forests night. An unbelievable spectacle unfolded on the battlefield. A male human in black clothes, who is around one or two heads smaller than the demon, grasps the blade of a thin katana and receives, wards off and repels the blows of a large sword, which likely would mean certain death if it hit, released by a demon with his entire body clad in a black armour. You know, theres no need for something like that once I get used to it, oy? While raising a laughter, Renya repels the demons attacks one after the other. Each time the large sword and the katana clash, sparks are sent flying and a high-pitched metallic sound reverberates to the surroundings. The large sword, which was repelled by Renya, has its trajectory twisted and is hurled in a direction not intended by the demon, however each time that happened, the demon forcibly returned it into the proper trajectory with brute strength and connected it to the next attack. Th-is! Fuck! No matter how much the demon roars, no matter with how much strength he wields his large sword, the trajectories of Renyas slashes never become unstable. Extremely accurately he repels the demons large sword and once in a while his blade reaches the black-full-body armour. Due to Renyas slashes gradually increasing in speed during the rally, the demons expression is tinged with impatience. The demon, who was at last defeated after countless exchanges, temporarily leaped back to recover and regain control. Not chasing there, Renya addresses the demon in a slightly kill-joyed voice. So you pull back? Thats a poor move, isnt it? (Renya) What are!? In front of the demon, who was about to answer, more than 10 parallel activated approach from Renya. The demon barely cleared away four magic bullets from those thrown at him with his large sword, but at the moment the blade met with the 5th magic bullet, the large sword broke unable to endure the strain at last. Throwing away the large sword which lost its intended use, the demon roars with mana charged into his voice. Overwhelmed by the magic power, the remaining magic bullets scattered in the air. Thats also a bad move. Why do you prefer defence over evasion, I wonder? (Renya) Renyas voice resounded from right beside the demon. Renya sunk his fist into the face of the demon who turned in the direction of the voice in panic. The demon, who wants to somehow open up a distance, jumps back at will with the momentum of being hit, takes out a large sword from empty space and restrains Renya by immediately taking a stance. Blood flowed in drops from his mouth and nose. A void storage user, huh? Although thats amazing, since your own strength is pointlessly high, your combat techniques are clumsy. (Renya) Renya says with an amazed tone while shaking his limp right hand he just used to hit. Before one knows it, the katana has been sheathed into the scabbard at his waist. So, now that your weapon is brand new, come at me quickly. (Renya) The demon doesnt return any words even when he is beckoned. If you look at his body with only your eyes, the armour, which should boast of a considerable defence strength, is riddled all over with cuts similar to gouging it out deeply. Its the places hit by Renya. It should have been an article of rare beauty which cant be even scratched by something like a human weapon, but the armour worn by the demon has ended up tattered in the exchange of blows with Renya in a short time. Once you turn your sight at the discarded large sword, the result of the exchange can be seen over there as well since the large sword is cover all over in cracks. It was something Renya doesnt know, but this demon wields swords which have his own mana loaded into them. Thats why its far more sturdy than a regular sword and its power is high as well. On top of that its possible to use long range attacks with it. And in addition to that it could even repel spells. The demon harbours fear due to the fact that such large sword didnt withstand Renyas slashes. Its an impossible story for a human weapon. Whats with that weapon!? Where the hell did you get it!? I bartered it from a peddler. (Renya) The demon becomes speechless due to the readily given reply. Thats impossible! Something like a peddler dealing with such goods is Although thats what you say, the truth is the truth, you know. (Renya) Although she was certainly a suspicious peddler, Renya adds in his mind. I received it in exchange for a 10th grade item called bamboo sword. Somehow grade 10 seems to be amazingly rare. (Renya) 10th grade!? An artefact!? Ah, somehow it had such an explanation added to it, I think. (Renya) Renya indifferently nods to the words of the demon which resembled a scream. No matter how surprised the demon is, Renya isnt able to understand why thats the case. Are you an idiot!? If its an artefact, its a remainder of the age of gods! Even if you travel all continents of this world, its an item that doesnt exist except in legends!? And you exchanged that, you say!? Hee, thats amazing. (Renya) The demon stresses it with a force that bubbles foam from his mouth, however for Renya it doesnt click even now. To begin with, since it was an item I received from that little girl at the time I was send over to the world here, isnt it obvious for it to wear the name of being a remainder of the age of gods? Thats the extent of Renyas thoughts. Moreover, no matter how amazing you call it, the thing itself is a bamboo sword. From Renyas point of view, he cant understand whats so great about that at all. What the hell are you? Due to Renyas expression not changing overly much, the demon stared at him with a look as if he is seeing a ghost, but pulling himself together right away he yells out loudly so that it echoes in the vicinity. Soldiers! Confine this guy! Oh? (Renya) Renya tilts his head to the side due to the strange order the demon began to give. Goblins and orcs, who heard the demons order, started to surround Renya. Whoa! Even if you were to spur on these fellows this late in the game (Renya) You lot! Confine this guy! I will return to the country! Haa? (Renya) Renya frowned asking himself what is that guy talking about?, but the demon doesnt care about that. At that time the matter with the elven race had already completely vanished from within the demons mind. Rather than such trivial matter, if I dont immediately return to the country with the information of this weird human, is the thought that is driving him. Not only can he fight above equal with me, who is a demon, in the body of a human, but he has a history of having possessed an artefact. Moreover, letting go of that he obtained a weapon that isnt imaginable with common sense as item. Even though its already abnormal for a human to fight with a demon by himself, the normally unthinkable idea of letting go of an artefact and instead obtaining a weapon is an absurdity. Moreover, although its just my intuition, wasnt the existence of this human the driving force behind the scenes for the tenacious resistance of the elves this time? The demon wonders. Isnt it possible that this will become a threat for the demons? He considered. Human man! I want you to draw back here! Let me just hear you name first! Introduce yourself! What kind of stupid bullshit are you spouting? (Renya) Renya, who was utterly amazed, looks fleetingly at the orcs and goblins crowding around him. Although its for an instant, the feet of the monsters stopped due to the pressure in his gaze. Although its only a small amount of time, this instant is more than enough for Renya. While displaying one rotation by turning around his body right there, the flash of unsheathing his katana from the scabbard runs through the bodies of the monsters, who surrounded Renya, splits them apart in an instant and changes them into meat. Without even looking at the lumps of meat dropping on the ground, Renya ran while aiming at the demon who is in the process of switching to escape. The monsters, who stand in the way as they loyally execute their orders, are cut on the spot and spill their blood on the ground. This monster is!? Even though the demon released a slash in desperation in order to mow him down, it doesnt reach Renyas body. In the next instant when the demon thought he dodged it, Renyas figure stood right in front of the demons eyes. Who told you that its fine to run away? (Renya) The point of the katana, which is held by the asking Renya, is piercing very deeply into the demons right thigh from right in front. A groan rose from the demons throat due to the delayed pain. Renya, who turned around the katana with a grinding sound as if wrenching open that wound, extracts the katana from the thigh after spending plenty of time to enlarge the wound. Spilling the blood which followed the pulled out katana, the demon reflexively drops his large sword and goes down on his knees, but Renya sends a flying kick at the collar of the demon, who had lowered his body due to him falling to his knees, and makes his body topple to the ground. Hey, hey! Something like letting go of your weapon during combat, you really cant be helped. (Renya) Once Renya points at it while sighing, the demon sidles up to his own weapon while trying to crawl. Did he finally realize that he had dropped it? Renya, who went ahead before the demon can grab the hilt of his weapon with his hand, sent the large sword flying by kicking it into a distance where the hands of the demon wont reach. Its a weapon you let go of once, so dont expect it to be usable a second time, werent you taught that? (Renya) Guu, this! Is the side of the foot, which was pierced by the katana, restricted? The demon wasnt able to stand up even if he tried to do so, but somehow he advances by struggling on the ground to get away from Renya. Renya looked at that appearance with a cold gaze, however before long he slowly followed him while carrying the drawn katana in his hand. D-Dont come! Something like trying to run away at this point in time, theres no way for such a selfish story to pass, right? (Renya) His words are very calm, but the atmosphere emitted by him is changing little by little. While feeling something cold travel down his spine, the demon cried. Soldiers! Kill this guy! Save me! Once again asking such unreasonable things (Renya) Rather than the demon, who is crawling on the ground, the speed of Renya, who is walking normally, is naturally faster. Renya, who caught up right away, casually raised the katana overhead. In response to that, the demon raises his left arm and protects his head. The black iron armour had certainly suffered deep cuts from Renyas slashes, but there still isnt a place where it has been cut apart. The demon thought that it was something that will be able to protect him plentifully. I mostly grasped the way to cut that. (Renya) He swings down the katana quietly and soundlessly. It wasnt a fast sword attack, but it was a very calm hit that caused a somewhat painful reaction. The demon, who watched that in a daze, isnt able to do anything but simply stare as the left arm, which was severed from the area around the elbow together with the black iron armour, drops without being able to say anything after several seconds since the katana passed through. First off, theres no way for the current me to let goblins and orcs get close to me, is there? (Renya) Renya says while looking down on the demon who began to writhe in the attacking pain while he suppresses the blood, which spouts out from the cut off elbow, with his right hand. His look is ice cold and his thick thirst for blood is spreading to the surroundings. Since the time when the atmosphere around Renya began to change, the monsters have left in order to escape from Renya. That was their nature, which sensed something dangerous to their lives, being able to use its intuition albeit having low intelligence. They know, whether they want to or not, whats in the range of thats hands is close to looking into the abyss of hell and it wont be strange for them getting kicked down there at any time. Once they understood that, no matter how small their intelligence may be, even among the monsters like goblins and orcs there isnt a single one to do something reckless like trying to approach Renya. Theres finally only left to do you in. You wont escape this late in the game, right? Oy? (Renya) Theres no reply to the inquiring words of Renya. Renyas words dont reach the ears of the demon who had his arm cut off and sent flying. Renya, who looks at that demons state with a sullen expression, once more swings the katana at the area around the left legs knee in a casual manner. The black iron armour, which caught Renyas slashes, albeit only somehow, until now, was unbelievably torn to pieces and the demons left foot was completely cut off from the knee. Stop! Please stop! Stop, you say? (Renya) Please stop it! Please save me! Once he replies to the question by the voice of Renya, who was filled with blood thirst, the demon begins to beg for his life as he had already lost any shame and honour. A-A human doing something like this to us, do you think that it will simply end with this!? You, are you speaking from a superior or from an inferior position? How about at least deciding on one of them? (Renya) The demon tries to get away from Renya with his remaining limbs. The blood, which flows out from the wounds at the limbs which were cut off, had quite the force and quantity. While thinking I guess he wont last long if its like this, Renya gets close to the struggling demon after picking up the demons large sword he kicked away himself, traps his foot with his body and turns him over so that he is lying face down. His aim is the border between hips and torso which are the moveable parts. Once he stabs that part with all his strength while holding the demons large sword in a backhand grip, the large sword penetrates the demons body from a gap in the armour and and affixes his body to the ground. The scream of the demon echoed throughout the forests night. Chapter 63 It was a very strange scene of a man, who exceeds two meters in height, to be stitched to the ground by a sword piercing through his back in a state of him having lost an arm and a leg. If seen from the eyes of a human, that unbelievable spectacle would make them doubt reality or the contents of their own brain, but Renya doesnt have any kind of deep emotions about it. Renya, who looked down on the demon who isnt stopping to struggle, as he is trying to escape or because of the pain, while the blood is gushing out, stepped on the hilt of the stabbed-in large sword and drove in the blade further deep down so that the demon cant pull it out at all. Without listening to the scream which was raised for a second time, Renya surveys the situation in his vicinity. Although Renya held out for quite long and the elves did their very best by taking over the offensive from him, a number of 20.000 isnt an amount which will collapse easily and quickly after all. The number of deaths on the battlefield is to an extent that the air within the forest is tinged with the stench of blood. Moreover, the monsters are continuing their attack. However, that happened while the number of attacks went down, albeit only little by little. Its likely that the news of the defeat of the demon, who is the head of the army, is spreading amongst the monsters, Renya guesses. If the head is gone, a common army will be reduced to a disorderly mob, no matter how many numbers they had. Moreover, where a crowd of monsters which arent overly bright is concerned, once a strong person gets defeated, its difficult for the ones under them to continue fighting. And yet the war is still continuing. How truly troublesome. (Renya) Once he grinds the hilt of the large sword while stepping on it, the scream of the demon, which doesnt consist of any words, raises in tone. It looked like he was incessantly talking about something, but Renya doesnt know what he is saying. Although it is entering his ears as words, he cant bring himself to understand it in any way. Once he tries to forcibly understand the words, it seems to be an endless repetition of the same old phrases like Stop, Save me and If you do such things. Thats completely cryptic, Renya shrugs his shoulders. If this was about a general of an army, who properly treated the soldiers of the defence fortress and the elves working in there as prisoners, I would be able to show sympathy. As you guys felt that you treated us properly, it is an extremely respectable demand to wish for our treatment to follow that example as well. However, although Renya hasnt seen the actual site, the demon and monsters should have trampled down the defence fortress to their hearts content. Without any scruples they should have done deeds, which are too disgusting to even imagine, to the soldiers and the women working in the fortress to a degree that there arent even any corpses left. For such person to start talking about doing something about their treatment just because the positions have been reversed is really laughable, Renya thinks. Since they came and started a violent war, they shouldnt be in any position to complain if they get annihilated in reverse. Once he starts to think like that, Renya considers the demon, who is making a racket by squealing around under his feet, as extremely disgusting and thus tramples down the hilt of large sword even more without any hesitation. You know, how about trying to reflect on your actions a bit? (Renya) While hearing the demons scream go to the yet highest level, Renya addresses the demon below his feet. The sound of his voice is very gentle, but that gentleness basks the demon in terror instead. Reflecting on what you lot did, are you expecting for a fraction that you will be allowed to receive help? If you really believe that, Im impressed of your fairly naive way of thinking. (Renya) Renya said it like that, but theres also another reason why he doesnt feel inclined to let the demon under his feet escape. Once this demon saw the weapon of Renya, he started to talk about returning to his country. That means, this demon probably recognised me as threat or risk factor, Renya assesses. In other words, if this demon returns to his country alive, the information There is a dangerous person called Renya = Kunugi among the human race will become known by the demons. Renya didnt believe that he is such a dangerous being even a bit, however the issue is how the other side will think about that. If he ended up getting such label once, the demons would likely try to take some measures against Renya at any opportunity. Renya didnt consider that as great problem, but if its possible, it wont hurt to keep the amount of problems small. It will be a great joy for him, if he can live by eating suitably delicious stuff, having a comfortable home and somewhat serve people, who are a good addition in those areas, until his life span ends. Although I will ward off sparks that rain or fall down, I dont want to increase the sparks on my own accord. Though, am I not naturally plunging into a downpour of sparks voluntarily, Renya thinks occasionally. Theres nothing but giving up on that as it cant be helped that there are inconsistent situations. No matter how much I dont waver, even if I wish for an uniform way of life, thats not something I can decide. Enough of that (Renya) In order to check the true identity of the voice he heard during the battle, Renya focusses his mind. The technique, which is called telepathic communication, was something Renya was able to use as well, albeit it was only somewhat, as he used it with Frau once in a while. (Renya) (Kurowaal) The reply came right away. Setting aside his light surprise whether theres a place which is soft or swelling, though its for the time being, Renya continues the conversation. (Renya) (Kurowaal) (Renya) I might have taken a hit if not for Kurowaals warning at the time the demon launched his attack. Its not so bad if its about spells, but from the view point of Renya, who is no more than a self-proclaimed normal swordsman, something like a sword flash being hurled at him exceeds the scope of his imagination. (Kurowaal) (Renya) (Kurowaal) Impatience is mixed in her voice, or rather her thoughts. While wondering whether the situation was that bad, Renya answered. (Renya) In Renyas opinion the defence would be somehow successful with only the elves by maintaining the elven barrier as long as the mana for attacking didnt become insufficient and if there was no demon. Even without that, before Renya entered into combat with the demon, he had decreased the enemy numbers considerably. There are also many monsters who killed themselves. Casualties will certainly appear, but that wont lead to a collapse, he believed. (Kurowaal) (Renya) (Kurowaal) (Renya) Renya inclines his head to the side thinking that his choice might be a bit inadequate while answering. The telepathic communication with Kurowaal gives him the impression that he has still much more leeway around the area of inserting erotic topics as reward. In fact, thats because he noticed that she was apparently at her wits end to the degree of not minding her appearance. The thing called telepathic communication is like a direct connection between minds and conveys quite directly things like wavering in the emotions of the person you talk with. (Renya) (Kurowaal) Finally, while listening to the thoughts of Kurowaal who started to cry, Renya returns to the elven encampment by hastening his walking, though only a bit. Speaking of the conclusion, with Renya joining the fray, the defence line at the elven encampment became stable really easily and the scales of war tilted to predominance for the elven side. A great number of monsters switched to escape at the moment the demon, who was the head of the army, was defeated. Even the monsters who hid from Renyas eyes and had quite the will-power to steadily think that they will go back once they eat an elf, are at a loss how to continue with the do-or-die resistance of the elves and understand, even if only reluctantly, that anymore fighting will just increase the casualties once Renya came running with great haste. However, at the time they realized it, it was already too late. The monsters, who persisted against the elves to the bitter end, are cut and pierced. It turned into a mess for them and their corpses littered the ground. I-I thought I was going to die (Kurowaal) At the time the sky dawns faintly, almost all elves are sitting on the ground due to total exhaustion. Kurowaal, who said that, was gasping roughly while likewise sitting among them. With her clothes being torn all over, she is in a terrible state as she has moreover stains of blood everywhere. At the time when the battle was about to end it turned several times into close combat with monsters who passed through the barrier. Each time Kurowaal and the students of the school were thrown at the approaching monsters to achieve a numerical superiority and repelled them at any time. Even though they had an absolute superiority in numbers it was the first time for most of the schools students to directly cross weapons with monsters. In addition to the physical fatigue, their mental weariness was large. Such an exaggeration. It wasnt a big deal, was it? I even dealt with the demon. (Renya) The only one being full of spirit among everyone that doesnt feel like moving is Renya. He is endlessly repeating the work of piling up the corpses of monsters, who have been stopped in the wilderness, scattered about in a range separated from the elven barrier which became the battlefield and whom he drags in in numbers of 5-6 at once, into a mountain after quickly dismantling them. He is collecting the magic cores for the time being, although the ones from orcs and goblins are of low quality. If its ogre class, the quality of the magic core will gradually become good. Moreover, Renya, who was taught by Kurowaal that its apparently possible to sell the ogres horn as raw material, ran around to gather the corpses as if it counts for anything. By the way, the ogres horns will become raw materials for strong nourishment medicines if you grind them into a powder after drying them in the sun. 20.000 against 700!? Even without including the demon, I believe that was a completely a losing battle. (Kurowaal) Can you really describe it as losing battle if you can launch spells ceaselessly without having to worry about mana running out and moreover with an adequate barrier established at the encampment? (Renya) Once Renya says Though I intended to do it quite easily, Kurowaal, who has no energy to rebute, sinks into silence. Certainly, if there wasnt any mana supply from Renya, theres no doubt that it would have turned into a much more horrible battle. Since we probably would be unable to deploy such huge barrier in the first place, we might have been going Hii Hii under the belly of a orc about right now after getting crushed by the violence of numbers, Kurowaal is able to understand that as well. Compared to that, its likely no exaggeration to say that he did it fairly easily. If possible, I never want to do it again. (Kurowaal) I cant promise you that at all. (Renya) Right next to Renya, who is laughing while saying that, Frau is digging a hole with all her might. Although she is digging a hole into the ground with utmost effort after having borrowed something from an elven soldier, which he apparently brought along with the intention to dig a trench, Kurowaal doesnt know at all what the heck she is planning to use that hole for. During the battle Frau worked quite a bit while joining the soldiers as well, but theres absolutely no hint of fatigue visible in her case. Not only that. The hole, she is digging silently, has become quite large. One can see how Frau has been wholeheartedly digging the hole without rest. For the time being, please return to the city once and bring some oil and wood, Kurowaal. (Renya) Thats fine with me. But what will you use it for? (Kurowaal) Theres plenty of monster corpses remaining in the wilderness. (Renya) Renya says while surveying the battlefield which began to be illuminated by daylight. Dont you have to deal with the aftermath? (Renya) Thats indeed right. I will get it arranged right away. And lets get help by choosing the people with minor injuries from among the soldiers. (Kurowaal) That will save me troubles. After this there will be an event, too. (Renya) Kurowaal felt somewhat uneasy due to the word event, but, without questioning it, she selects the soldiers to help Renya and goes to get the arrangements in order for carrying firewood and oil from the city. Frau, do you have something string-like which is durable and resistant to fire? (Renya) Master, use this ~no. It wont burn. It wont snap even if you pull 10 ogres with it ~no. (Frau) Renya receives the bundle of ropes held out by Frau. Thats amazing. (Renya) Finishing the series of work, Kurowaal, who temporarily returned to the city, prepared the firewood and oil requested by Renya and, while at it, went to explain the situation to Shion and Rona, who remained on standby at the transfer gate. Kurowaal asked the two, who heard about Renyas safety, to return to the city of Kukrika and entrusted them with her wish that they bring back the news about what happened here and what might happen on the human continent. The two of them certainly agreed with her and passed through the transfer gate after asking Kurowaal to give Renya a message that they went back ahead. Kurowaal, who saw the twos backs off with a smile, returns to Renyas location while pulling the a cart with their luggage. Thereupon she saw Renya and Frau doing strange work. While the soldiers, who helped out, watched over them with a somewhat complicated expression, Renya was constructing something by joining thick wood together crosswise. After looking at that, Kurowaal isnt able to see what they are intending to do at all, but it looks like they are assembling a quite the thick live tree. Umm, Renya. I brought the firewood and oil. (Kurowaal) Once she calls out to him timidly, Renya raises his face as if he had just noticed the existence of Kurowaal. Ah, good job. (Renya) And, I have a verbal message from Shion-san. Im told that they will return to the human continent ahead of you since they understand that you are safe. (Kurowaal) I see. Thats true. I guess they have to go back to report about this times matter. (Renya) Even while nodding, Renyas hands doesnt stop to work. Once he is able to link up the stand of the cross, Renya goes to pull a black object, that was left in a slightly separated place, with dragging sounds. Kurowaal, who looked towards that object, had her breath taken away. The light purple hair was sullied with blood and dirt. The entire body is covered by a black iron armour, but the left forearm up to the elbow and the left foot up to the knee are missing. A large sword is embedded into the body from the backside. Kurowaal immediately wondered whether its a corpse, but a short while looking at it she realizes that its still alive albeit breathing only faintly. T-That, is that possibly. (Kurowaal) Ah, yea. This times ringleader-like demon. (Renya) He heaves the demon, whom he dragged along, on to of the cross stand in order to for it to lie on its belly. Given that the large sword is pierced into its back, its not possible to have it face up. From there on he drives the blade, which is sticking out from the belly into the cross stand by hitting the hilt of the sword into the bodys back. Although it raises a frail voice, Renya ignores that, stretches both arms on the pole of the horizontal part of the cross and binds the area around the elbows with a rope, he got from Frau. Then he places both legs onto the vertical part of the cross and binds them with a rope around the area of the knees. Once he erects the cross in the central part of the hole, dug by Frau with all her might, it completes the irregular crucifixion stand. Alright, all thats left is to lay out firewood, oil and corpses of monsters under this guys feet. (Renya) The elven soldiers had somewhat a feeling to draw back due to Renya proclaiming this with a smile, however since its a fact that it wont do if they dont deal with the monster corpses, they start the work to move the monster corpses, which are still scattered about in the area, into the hole and onto the hill, which piled up after Renya pulled out the magic cores. At the time they recovered their stamina somewhat, the majority of people, who participated in the battle, join in on the work and are able to pile up the monster corpses in the holes, Frau dug out at a quick pace, in elven wave tactics. Under his feet, Renya said, but the finished mountain has ended up with a height burying the area around the demons chest completely. You bastards doing such a thing wont finish with this Kurowaal, can you please ignite it quickly since hes troublesome? (Renya) Eh? I have to do it? (Kurowaal) Disregarding the voice of the demon which is audible in fragments, Renya told that Kurowaal and Kurowaal returned a question with an expression of surprise. Well, as long as its an elf, anyone will do though. Vengeance for the elves of the defence fortress, thats the implication it has besides, I believe you wont be able to get much experience in setting a demon on fire, right? (Renya) Thats true as well well then. (Kurowaal) While the other elven soldiers watch attentively, Kurowaal, who takes one step forward, raises her voice and says to the demon, Demon! This is the fire of retribution for those of the fortress you killed cold bloodedly! Drop to hell after enjoying it to your hearts content! (Kurowaal) St- Sto- p! Without even having an ear for the demons constrained voice, Kurowaal casts . The mountain, which was plentifully drenched in oil, immediately raises a red flame and begins to burst into thunderous flames. Within the piled up mountain the demon, who was the only one breathing in there, raised a painful scream as its burning alive. Because it is tough as thoughtless living creature, the demon will likely continue to burn for a considerable time until the end of its life. Among the elves, who watch over that scene with various emotions within their chests, only Renya and Frau were moving as usual. Ah, its finished, its finally done. I wonder what I will receive as reward? (Renya) Something that will turn into money or something that will be delicious is great, Frau thinks ~no. (Frau) Cant you please shut up for a bit? Kurowaal thought while gazing at the black smoke which is enveloping the flaring fire alongside listening to the demons screams that are mixed within. It was a very strange scene of a man, who exceeds two meters in height, to be stitched to the ground by a sword piercing through his back in a state of him having lost an arm and a leg. If seen from the eyes of a human, that unbelievable spectacle would make them doubt reality or the contents of their own brain, but Renya doesnt have any kind of deep emotions about it. Renya, who looked down on the demon who isnt stopping to struggle, as he is trying to escape or because of the pain, while the blood is gushing out, stepped on the hilt of the stabbed-in large sword and drove in the blade further deep down so that the demon cant pull it out at all. Without listening to the scream which was raised for a second time, Renya surveys the situation in his vicinity. Although Renya held out for quite long and the elves did their very best by taking over the offensive from him, a number of 20.000 isnt an amount which will collapse easily and quickly after all. The number of deaths on the battlefield is to an extent that the air within the forest is tinged with the stench of blood. Moreover, the monsters are continuing their attack. However, that happened while the number of attacks went down, albeit only little by little. Its likely that the news of the defeat of the demon, who is the head of the army, is spreading amongst the monsters, Renya guesses. If the head is gone, a common army will be reduced to a disorderly mob, no matter how many numbers they had. Moreover, where a crowd of monsters which arent overly bright is concerned, once a strong person gets defeated, its difficult for the ones under them to continue fighting. And yet the war is still continuing. How truly troublesome. (Renya) Once he grinds the hilt of the large sword while stepping on it, the scream of the demon, which doesnt consist of any words, raises in tone. It looked like he was incessantly talking about something, but Renya doesnt know what he is saying. Although it is entering his ears as words, he cant bring himself to understand it in any way. Once he tries to forcibly understand the words, it seems to be an endless repetition of the same old phrases like Stop, Save me and If you do such things. Thats completely cryptic, Renya shrugs his shoulders. If this was about a general of an army, who properly treated the soldiers of the defence fortress and the elves working in there as prisoners, I would be able to show sympathy. As you guys felt that you treated us properly, it is an extremely respectable demand to wish for our treatment to follow that example as well. However, although Renya hasnt seen the actual site, the demon and monsters should have trampled down the defence fortress to their hearts content. Without any scruples they should have done deeds, which are too disgusting to even imagine, to the soldiers and the women working in the fortress to a degree that there arent even any corpses left. For such person to start talking about doing something about their treatment just because the positions have been reversed is really laughable, Renya thinks. Since they came and started a violent war, they shouldnt be in any position to complain if they get annihilated in reverse. Once he starts to think like that, Renya considers the demon, who is making a racket by squealing around under his feet, as extremely disgusting and thus tramples down the hilt of large sword even more without any hesitation. You know, how about trying to reflect on your actions a bit? (Renya) While hearing the demons scream go to the yet highest level, Renya addresses the demon below his feet. The sound of his voice is very gentle, but that gentleness basks the demon in terror instead. Reflecting on what you lot did, are you expecting for a fraction that you will be allowed to receive help? If you really believe that, Im impressed of your fairly naive way of thinking. (Renya) Renya said it like that, but theres also another reason why he doesnt feel inclined to let the demon under his feet escape. Once this demon saw the weapon of Renya, he started to talk about returning to his country. That means, this demon probably recognised me as threat or risk factor, Renya assesses. In other words, if this demon returns to his country alive, the information There is a dangerous person called Renya = Kunugi among the human race will become known by the demons. Renya didnt believe that he is such a dangerous being even a bit, however the issue is how the other side will think about that. If he ended up getting such label once, the demons would likely try to take some measures against Renya at any opportunity. Renya didnt consider that as great problem, but if its possible, it wont hurt to keep the amount of problems small. It will be a great joy for him, if he can live by eating suitably delicious stuff, having a comfortable home and somewhat serve people, who are a good addition in those areas, until his life span ends. Although I will ward off sparks that rain or fall down, I dont want to increase the sparks on my own accord. Though, am I not naturally plunging into a downpour of sparks voluntarily, Renya thinks occasionally. Theres nothing but giving up on that as it cant be helped that there are inconsistent situations. No matter how much I dont waver, even if I wish for an uniform way of life, thats not something I can decide. Enough of that (Renya) In order to check the true identity of the voice he heard during the battle, Renya focusses his mind. The technique, which is called telepathic communication, was something Renya was able to use as well, albeit it was only somewhat, as he used it with Frau once in a while. (Renya) (Kurowaal) The reply came right away. Setting aside his light surprise whether theres a place which is soft or swelling, though its for the time being, Renya continues the conversation. (Renya) (Kurowaal) (Renya) I might have taken a hit if not for Kurowaals warning at the time the demon launched his attack. Its not so bad if its about spells, but from the view point of Renya, who is no more than a self-proclaimed normal swordsman, something like a sword flash being hurled at him exceeds the scope of his imagination. (Kurowaal) (Renya) (Kurowaal) Impatience is mixed in her voice, or rather her thoughts. While wondering whether the situation was that bad, Renya answered. (Renya) In Renyas opinion the defence would be somehow successful with only the elves by maintaining the elven barrier as long as the mana for attacking didnt become insufficient and if there was no demon. Even without that, before Renya entered into combat with the demon, he had decreased the enemy numbers considerably. There are also many monsters who killed themselves. Casualties will certainly appear, but that wont lead to a collapse, he believed. (Kurowaal) (Renya) (Kurowaal) (Renya) Renya inclines his head to the side thinking that his choice might be a bit inadequate while answering. The telepathic communication with Kurowaal gives him the impression that he has still much more leeway around the area of inserting erotic topics as reward. In fact, thats because he noticed that she was apparently at her wits end to the degree of not minding her appearance. The thing called telepathic communication is like a direct connection between minds and conveys quite directly things like wavering in the emotions of the person you talk with. (Renya) (Kurowaal) Finally, while listening to the thoughts of Kurowaal who started to cry, Renya returns to the elven encampment by hastening his walking, though only a bit. Speaking of the conclusion, with Renya joining the fray, the defence line at the elven encampment became stable really easily and the scales of war tilted to predominance for the elven side. A great number of monsters switched to escape at the moment the demon, who was the head of the army, was defeated. Even the monsters who hid from Renyas eyes and had quite the will-power to steadily think that they will go back once they eat an elf, are at a loss how to continue with the do-or-die resistance of the elves and understand, even if only reluctantly, that anymore fighting will just increase the casualties once Renya came running with great haste. However, at the time they realized it, it was already too late. The monsters, who persisted against the elves to the bitter end, are cut and pierced. It turned into a mess for them and their corpses littered the ground. I-I thought I was going to die (Kurowaal) At the time the sky dawns faintly, almost all elves are sitting on the ground due to total exhaustion. Kurowaal, who said that, was gasping roughly while likewise sitting among them. With her clothes being torn all over, she is in a terrible state as she has moreover stains of blood everywhere. At the time when the battle was about to end it turned several times into close combat with monsters who passed through the barrier. Each time Kurowaal and the students of the school were thrown at the approaching monsters to achieve a numerical superiority and repelled them at any time. Even though they had an absolute superiority in numbers it was the first time for most of the schools students to directly cross weapons with monsters. In addition to the physical fatigue, their mental weariness was large. Such an exaggeration. It wasnt a big deal, was it? I even dealt with the demon. (Renya) The only one being full of spirit among everyone that doesnt feel like moving is Renya. He is endlessly repeating the work of piling up the corpses of monsters, who have been stopped in the wilderness, scattered about in a range separated from the elven barrier which became the battlefield and whom he drags in in numbers of 5-6 at once, into a mountain after quickly dismantling them. He is collecting the magic cores for the time being, although the ones from orcs and goblins are of low quality. If its ogre class, the quality of the magic core will gradually become good. Moreover, Renya, who was taught by Kurowaal that its apparently possible to sell the ogres horn as raw material, ran around to gather the corpses as if it counts for anything. By the way, the ogres horns will become raw materials for strong nourishment medicines if you grind them into a powder after drying them in the sun. 20.000 against 700!? Even without including the demon, I believe that was a completely a losing battle. (Kurowaal) Can you really describe it as losing battle if you can launch spells ceaselessly without having to worry about mana running out and moreover with an adequate barrier established at the encampment? (Renya) Once Renya says Though I intended to do it quite easily, Kurowaal, who has no energy to rebute, sinks into silence. Certainly, if there wasnt any mana supply from Renya, theres no doubt that it would have turned into a much more horrible battle. Since we probably would be unable to deploy such huge barrier in the first place, we might have been going Hii Hii under the belly of a orc about right now after getting crushed by the violence of numbers, Kurowaal is able to understand that as well. Compared to that, its likely no exaggeration to say that he did it fairly easily. If possible, I never want to do it again. (Kurowaal) I cant promise you that at all. (Renya) Right next to Renya, who is laughing while saying that, Frau is digging a hole with all her might. Although she is digging a hole into the ground with utmost effort after having borrowed something from an elven soldier, which he apparently brought along with the intention to dig a trench, Kurowaal doesnt know at all what the heck she is planning to use that hole for. During the battle Frau worked quite a bit while joining the soldiers as well, but theres absolutely no hint of fatigue visible in her case. Not only that. The hole, she is digging silently, has become quite large. One can see how Frau has been wholeheartedly digging the hole without rest. For the time being, please return to the city once and bring some oil and wood, Kurowaal. (Renya) Thats fine with me. But what will you use it for? (Kurowaal) Theres plenty of monster corpses remaining in the wilderness. (Renya) Renya says while surveying the battlefield which began to be illuminated by daylight. Dont you have to deal with the aftermath? (Renya) Thats indeed right. I will get it arranged right away. And lets get help by choosing the people with minor injuries from among the soldiers. (Kurowaal) That will save me troubles. After this there will be an event, too. (Renya) Kurowaal felt somewhat uneasy due to the word event, but, without questioning it, she selects the soldiers to help Renya and goes to get the arrangements in order for carrying firewood and oil from the city. Frau, do you have something string-like which is durable and resistant to fire? (Renya) Master, use this ~no. It wont burn. It wont snap even if you pull 10 ogres with it ~no. (Frau) Renya receives the bundle of ropes held out by Frau. Thats amazing. (Renya) Finishing the series of work, Kurowaal, who temporarily returned to the city, prepared the firewood and oil requested by Renya and, while at it, went to explain the situation to Shion and Rona, who remained on standby at the transfer gate. Kurowaal asked the two, who heard about Renyas safety, to return to the city of Kukrika and entrusted them with her wish that they bring back the news about what happened here and what might happen on the human continent. The two of them certainly agreed with her and passed through the transfer gate after asking Kurowaal to give Renya a message that they went back ahead. Kurowaal, who saw the twos backs off with a smile, returns to Renyas location while pulling the a cart with their luggage. Thereupon she saw Renya and Frau doing strange work. While the soldiers, who helped out, watched over them with a somewhat complicated expression, Renya was constructing something by joining thick wood together crosswise. After looking at that, Kurowaal isnt able to see what they are intending to do at all, but it looks like they are assembling a quite the thick live tree. Umm, Renya. I brought the firewood and oil. (Kurowaal) Once she calls out to him timidly, Renya raises his face as if he had just noticed the existence of Kurowaal. Ah, good job. (Renya) And, I have a verbal message from Shion-san. Im told that they will return to the human continent ahead of you since they understand that you are safe. (Kurowaal) I see. Thats true. I guess they have to go back to report about this times matter. (Renya) Even while nodding, Renyas hands doesnt stop to work. Once he is able to link up the stand of the cross, Renya goes to pull a black object, that was left in a slightly separated place, with dragging sounds. Kurowaal, who looked towards that object, had her breath taken away. The light purple hair was sullied with blood and dirt. The entire body is covered by a black iron armour, but the left forearm up to the elbow and the left foot up to the knee are missing. A large sword is embedded into the body from the backside. Kurowaal immediately wondered whether its a corpse, but a short while looking at it she realizes that its still alive albeit breathing only faintly. T-That, is that possibly. (Kurowaal) Ah, yea. This times ringleader-like demon. (Renya) He heaves the demon, whom he dragged along, on to of the cross stand in order to for it to lie on its belly. Given that the large sword is pierced into its back, its not possible to have it face up. From there on he drives the blade, which is sticking out from the belly into the cross stand by hitting the hilt of the sword into the bodys back. Although it raises a frail voice, Renya ignores that, stretches both arms on the pole of the horizontal part of the cross and binds the area around the elbows with a rope, he got from Frau. Then he places both legs onto the vertical part of the cross and binds them with a rope around the area of the knees. Once he erects the cross in the central part of the hole, dug by Frau with all her might, it completes the irregular crucifixion stand. Alright, all thats left is to lay out firewood, oil and corpses of monsters under this guys feet. (Renya) The elven soldiers had somewhat a feeling to draw back due to Renya proclaiming this with a smile, however since its a fact that it wont do if they dont deal with the monster corpses, they start the work to move the monster corpses, which are still scattered about in the area, into the hole and onto the hill, which piled up after Renya pulled out the magic cores. At the time they recovered their stamina somewhat, the majority of people, who participated in the battle, join in on the work and are able to pile up the monster corpses in the holes, Frau dug out at a quick pace, in elven wave tactics. Under his feet, Renya said, but the finished mountain has ended up with a height burying the area around the demons chest completely. You bastards doing such a thing wont finish with this Kurowaal, can you please ignite it quickly since hes troublesome? (Renya) Eh? I have to do it? (Kurowaal) Disregarding the voice of the demon which is audible in fragments, Renya told that Kurowaal and Kurowaal returned a question with an expression of surprise. Well, as long as its an elf, anyone will do though. Vengeance for the elves of the defence fortress, thats the implication it has besides, I believe you wont be able to get much experience in setting a demon on fire, right? (Renya) Thats true as well well then. (Kurowaal) While the other elven soldiers watch attentively, Kurowaal, who takes one step forward, raises her voice and says to the demon, Demon! This is the fire of retribution for those of the fortress you killed cold bloodedly! Drop to hell after enjoying it to your hearts content! (Kurowaal) St- Sto- p! Without even having an ear for the demons constrained voice, Kurowaal casts . The mountain, which was plentifully drenched in oil, immediately raises a red flame and begins to burst into thunderous flames. Within the piled up mountain the demon, who was the only one breathing in there, raised a painful scream as its burning alive. Because it is tough as thoughtless living creature, the demon will likely continue to burn for a considerable time until the end of its life. Among the elves, who watch over that scene with various emotions within their chests, only Renya and Frau were moving as usual. Ah, its finished, its finally done. I wonder what I will receive as reward? (Renya) Something that will turn into money or something that will be delicious is great, Frau thinks ~no. (Frau) Cant you please shut up for a bit? Kurowaal thought while gazing at the black smoke which is enveloping the flaring fire alongside listening to the demons screams that are mixed within. Chapter 64 Chapter 64 C It seems a famous person has come Why did it turn out like this?Renya thought while absent-mindedly rubbing the cup in his hands.What has been poured into the cup is a tea that has a taste resembling what is called green tea in his previous world.There are different kinds of black and green tea in this world as well, but although black tea has doubtlessly the taste of black tea, the green tea, drunk in the elven country, is somehow different, Renya had a feeling.Even though its scent and taste resembles the green tea of my previous world, I cant help but feel that theres a sweetness and an unique fragrance in the green tea, albeit only faintly.Although it is kind of like green tea, doesnt it have a smell of fresh wood?Renya wonders.Likely the preservation method is to store it by putting it into some wooden container, but didnt the smell of that container end up permeating the leaves?Thats Renyas conjecture.Its not a disgusting taste, but I cannot deny the impression that it has killed the refreshing aroma of tea all the same.As for the sweetness, Renya doesnt want to believe it overly much, but he wonders whether sugar has been added.According to Renyas knowledge there were people who drank something like green tea with sugar and milk in his previous world, but its not something he is fond of no matter what.Summing it up, this beverage, he was offered, was something that didnt suit Renyas taste.Well, it cant be helped, he persuades himself.Its a truly impolite act to nitpick over the food offered even if I consider the differences in taste between elves and humans, Renya judges.Setting aside his pondering related to tea, Renya looks at the situation he has been plunged into.On top of his knees, Frau is sipping tea holding the cup with both hands while blowing on it to cool it down.He has a feeling that giving her a shoulder ride or letting her sit on his knees has practically become her usual manner, but Renya allows it since theres no real harm in doing so either.On Renyas left there is Rona in her priestess garb who is tasting the tea while holding the cup with both hands as well.Although she has a calm expression, Renya felt uneasy about seeing her expression looking somewhat jealous when she occasionally glanced at Fraus situation. However, since it has no relation to grasping his current circumstances, he has decided that he didnt see that.Even further on the left was Shion who had an appearance as if her clothes were those of a shrine maiden, if going by the design, with her usual black tunic and red hakama. She continues to send a gaze, as if threatening, to the opposite side of the table with the cup left standing there as is.The one who is at the destination of that gaze is Kurowaal.Without hesitation she is returning a glare at Shion with her cup being untouched as well.Did something happen between those two?There wasnt any cause Renya was aware of, but it was definitely something dangerous going by the mood.Theres a reason for this.If you make a round trip by going through the transfer gate and returning it is also necessary to delay it by two days for various formalities in the case the destination being the elven country.Without letting we just went back and forth a moment ago, so let us return simply pass, the procedure is for the sake of redoing it from the beginning again.Using that, Kurowaal tried to take Renya along to the imperial capital, which is the capital city of the elven country, during those two days after Shion and Rona returned to the city of Kukrika.On paper it was to discuss and hand over the reward.In truth, after inviting Renya deeply into the elven country, she had the intention of asking him to take permanent residence there without returning to the human continent if possible.Even more than the benefit of detaining Renya, who possesses such an incredible mana and fighting strength, in the elven country, it has originated from Kurowaal herself not wishing for Renya to go back.The title emperors daughter, albeit it might be the 35th, is capable of exercising this much authority.Although its a digression, but if you have a pedigree with an accordingly prosperous status in the elven country, its not unusual for the number of sons and daughters to surpass 30.If you are able to support them after producing them, there probably wont be any feelings of guilt in making them either, is the elves sense of value. Because they possess life spans and youthfulness which make that possible, thats something natural, one might say.The elves fertility is fairly strong in this world.If that wasnt the case, the elves likely wouldnt be able to conquer a continent with only one race.Lets return to the story.Kurowaals plan ran into troubles because of the resistance by Renya who sensed her intentions, even if just slightly, but it was Shion who gave it the final blow.Shion, who originally shouldnt have been able to return within those two days, easily came back to the elven country the next day.As expected, even Kurowaal was surprised by that.She re-examined the formalities in panic, however it looked like Shion got the permission to use the transfer gate with the quite forceful method of bypassing the regular formalities.Its not like thats impossible.Its not like it was impossible, but one has to be able to request a suitable authority for the sake of doing that.Kurowaal was in a hurry to simply get Renyas promise to go to the imperial capital before Shion returns to Renyas location. Shion barged in while Kurowaal was in the middle of persuading Renya.Just like that Shion, who quickly grasped what kind of situation it was, began to quarrel with Kurowaal, it started to turn into mayhem and in the end Renya swiftly silenced Shion and Kurowaal by freely using both of his hands as iron claws while smiling cheerfully.While being suspicious what kind of quarrel came into existence without translation between the human and elvish language, Renya gave them a warning that he will break off with them if they persist on kicking up a fuss any further and, since it was unbearable for them to get separated from him, Shion and Kurowaal only glared at each other.With Rona and Frau maintaining an indifferent stance towards this whole spectacle, the elven guard nearby, who started to ponder how Renya was able to cope with such situations, politely called out to Renya telling him to go to the guest room due to the arrival of a visitor.And like that we arrived in the present time, but, Renya turns a fed-up look to the head of the table.The one sitting there was, in a single word, a handsome man.The existence called anikemen.With beautifully arranged blonde hair which is short and silky, I guess theres no doubt that 9 out of 10 people would look back twice, if they pass him, wondering whether hes a woman with that well-featured look.The light green attire, he is wearing, is adorned with ornaments at a level of not being gaudy although they are gorgeous. He is grasping a bishops staff, which has jewels embedded, in his slender and supple hand.Behind him there are several fully armed elven soldiers. They are waiting for orders while standing at attention with quite the nervousness which matched the atmosphere caused by the sitting person. It was easy to guess that this is an elf with a considerable social status. Hey are you the real deal? (Renya) While wondering whether he is the real deal, Renya tries to ask in order to make sure more or less.Kurowaal previously explained who this person was, but he isnt quite able to believe it, or rather the actual feeling hasnt sunk in yet.Thinking normally, the person Kurowaal talked about shouldnt be able to go out readily.Even when Renya pointed a look of distrust at him, that person at the head of the table didnt seem to take any offence and only tilted his head to the head slightly.With each of his movements being strangely refined, Renya thinks that he is the real deal after all. Real deal, that means? The replying voice is a low and beautiful voice that is well able to pass.It contains a charm to it at the level of possibly paralysing one with only a whisper close to ones ears. What Im asking is whether the you, whos visiting in front of me, is really Royce Pas Tifalet who is from the viewpoint of a human like me an unbelievable studhorse who made 35 children? (Renya) Due to Renyas question, the the air in the room froze, is not what happened.Just as before the the soldiers had tense expressions. The person himself, who was denounced as studhorse, has a so-so, calm expression where one doesnt know whether he has heard it or not.So far as it goes, Shions and Ronas expressions became stiff. Kurowaal has fallen onto the table and isnt moving anymore, even not a twitch. Lets answer with no if its that question. Renya believed that he would undoubtedly lose his temper, however the person at the head of the table shook his head slowly left and right in a graceful manner and denied Renyas question.Wondering whether it was the overflowing elegance in the act of shaking his head or the tremendousness of a noble person, Renya was immediately puzzled.That answer means that the person in front of me isnt his Majesty, the Emperor, Kurowaal talked about. Isnt that so? What do you mean? (Renya) That is. The person at the head of the table continues his words after straightening himself a bit. Theres no doubt that Im the 12th Emperor called Royce Pas Tifalet. (Royce) I see? (Renya) But, although its an unbelievable story from the standpoint of a human like you, the number of children I produced surpasses more than 100 if you also include the illegitimate children that havent been acknowledged. The number of children I produced with my legal wife is certainly 35, but its a mistake if you say that its all of my children, therefore I answered with no. (Royce) Hey, you worthless father? Acknowledge them (Renya) Father-sama!? (Kurowaal) The words of Renya, who even said them in a low threatening sound, overlap with the scream of Kurowaal who apparently heard about this for the first time.Was she surprised by the number or was she surprised by His Majestys, the Emperors manner of putting everything on the table without holding back?Rona slides down from her seat while Shion, who doesnt understand the elven language, is blinking her eyes in surprise not understanding what has happened.Only Frau, who is on top of Renyas knees, still cools cup filled with tea by blowing at it. Worthless father is unwarranted. All of them are growing up without any inconveniences within my capabilities. (Royce) Your resourcefulness is wonderful, old man but, what will you do about the succession of the imperial throne? (Renya) Rona has returned to the seat she slid down from before.At the time of her sliding down several soldiers in the back of His Majesty, the Emperor, had turned a look at her, you might as well call staring, as her breasts shook and her thighs became exposed to a dangerous degree. The wave of reformists has reached even this far?Renya asks himself while trembling. Theres no need for worry. Since my rule will likely continue for further 300 years, we will somehow deal with it in the meantime. (Royce) Perish, elves (Renya) Renya-san I do understand your feelings, but since its pretty much my country (Kurowaal) Kurowaal doesnt seem to have recovered from the shock she suffered by hearing the truth for the first time, but even so she somehow squeezes out her voice. Due to pitying her somewhat, Renya decided to avoid pursuing the matter any further. So, you are called Renya? I heard that this city received your protection from the attack by the monster army on this occasion. First I ought to give you my thanks. Thanks to you it finished with a great number of my soldiers and people not dying. I shall demonstrate my gratitude like this. (Royce) Seeing the emperor bowing his head to Renya, a stir occurred amongst the elves.Meanwhile Renya waves his hand, looking reluctant. Please stop. This was something I did following my own intentions. (Renya) Try asking what you desire then? (Royce) The emperor asked him while raising his head. Renya says in a state of thinking it over while counting with his fingers, Umm, that is. A stable supply of soy sauce andmisoor some rare food would be nice. The best would be something that is difficult to obtain on the human continent. If Alos has corps, Id like those too. And metals, Id like to be able to simply get them if types of precious metals are possible. You have something like that, dont you? Materials that have rare metals or foils attached? That elven unique magic is nice. Id like to be taught if its possible to do so. And Id like to have one house. Its fine if its small. I dont particularly intend to live in it, but theres nothing better than having plenty of bases. Its not like I wont accept it if you give me territory or such? Since I wont enter nobility, please restrict it to the right to collect taxes. And then~ (Renya) As expected, you are too greedy, I think~ (Shion) Shion who received a translation of what Renya is saying by Rona, mutters in astonishment. His Majesty, the Emperor, went as far as expressly asking me what I desire. It doesnt cost anyone anything if its only desires. (Renya) Naturally Renya doesnt look timid either.The emperor, who silently listened to Renyas demands, bent himself over the table, placed his elbows down, crossed his fingers and said while firmly staring at Renya. This me has the rank of emperor, therefore I cant grant all of your desires at present. (Royce) What a pompous way of talking. Its fine to frankly say that Im an idiot desiring too much. (Renya) No, if you consider the value of all lives of the soldiers and inhabitants in a single city, granting territory feels like going a bit too far, but besides that the rest is fine. Ah, it would be better if you gave up on learning our unique magic. That has the prerequisite of being of the elven race. (Royce) Then, except territory, you will give me everything else, you are saying? (Renya) No matter how you put it, isnt he far too generous?Renya wonders.The emperor shook his head to Renyas question. I will even bestow territory to you if you accept a single condition that I present. How about it? (Royce) While fixedly looking into Renyas eyes, the emperors mouth showed a crooked grin. Chapter 64 C It seems a famous person has come Why did it turn out like this?Renya thought while absent-mindedly rubbing the cup in his hands.What has been poured into the cup is a tea that has a taste resembling what is called green tea in his previous world.There are different kinds of black and green tea in this world as well, but although black tea has doubtlessly the taste of black tea, the green tea, drunk in the elven country, is somehow different, Renya had a feeling.Even though its scent and taste resembles the green tea of my previous world, I cant help but feel that theres a sweetness and an unique fragrance in the green tea, albeit only faintly.Although it is kind of like green tea, doesnt it have a smell of fresh wood?Renya wonders.Likely the preservation method is to store it by putting it into some wooden container, but didnt the smell of that container end up permeating the leaves?Thats Renyas conjecture.Its not a disgusting taste, but I cannot deny the impression that it has killed the refreshing aroma of tea all the same.As for the sweetness, Renya doesnt want to believe it overly much, but he wonders whether sugar has been added.According to Renyas knowledge there were people who drank something like green tea with sugar and milk in his previous world, but its not something he is fond of no matter what.Summing it up, this beverage, he was offered, was something that didnt suit Renyas taste.Well, it cant be helped, he persuades himself.Its a truly impolite act to nitpick over the food offered even if I consider the differences in taste between elves and humans, Renya judges.Setting aside his pondering related to tea, Renya looks at the situation he has been plunged into.On top of his knees, Frau is sipping tea holding the cup with both hands while blowing on it to cool it down.He has a feeling that giving her a shoulder ride or letting her sit on his knees has practically become her usual manner, but Renya allows it since theres no real harm in doing so either.On Renyas left there is Rona in her priestess garb who is tasting the tea while holding the cup with both hands as well.Although she has a calm expression, Renya felt uneasy about seeing her expression looking somewhat jealous when she occasionally glanced at Fraus situation. However, since it has no relation to grasping his current circumstances, he has decided that he didnt see that.Even further on the left was Shion who had an appearance as if her clothes were those of a shrine maiden, if going by the design, with her usual black tunic and red hakama. She continues to send a gaze, as if threatening, to the opposite side of the table with the cup left standing there as is.The one who is at the destination of that gaze is Kurowaal.Without hesitation she is returning a glare at Shion with her cup being untouched as well.Did something happen between those two?There wasnt any cause Renya was aware of, but it was definitely something dangerous going by the mood.Theres a reason for this.If you make a round trip by going through the transfer gate and returning it is also necessary to delay it by two days for various formalities in the case the destination being the elven country.Without letting we just went back and forth a moment ago, so let us return simply pass, the procedure is for the sake of redoing it from the beginning again.Using that, Kurowaal tried to take Renya along to the imperial capital, which is the capital city of the elven country, during those two days after Shion and Rona returned to the city of Kukrika.On paper it was to discuss and hand over the reward.In truth, after inviting Renya deeply into the elven country, she had the intention of asking him to take permanent residence there without returning to the human continent if possible.Even more than the benefit of detaining Renya, who possesses such an incredible mana and fighting strength, in the elven country, it has originated from Kurowaal herself not wishing for Renya to go back.The title emperors daughter, albeit it might be the 35th, is capable of exercising this much authority.Although its a digression, but if you have a pedigree with an accordingly prosperous status in the elven country, its not unusual for the number of sons and daughters to surpass 30.If you are able to support them after producing them, there probably wont be any feelings of guilt in making them either, is the elves sense of value. Because they possess life spans and youthfulness which make that possible, thats something natural, one might say.The elves fertility is fairly strong in this world.If that wasnt the case, the elves likely wouldnt be able to conquer a continent with only one race.Lets return to the story.Kurowaals plan ran into troubles because of the resistance by Renya who sensed her intentions, even if just slightly, but it was Shion who gave it the final blow.Shion, who originally shouldnt have been able to return within those two days, easily came back to the elven country the next day.As expected, even Kurowaal was surprised by that.She re-examined the formalities in panic, however it looked like Shion got the permission to use the transfer gate with the quite forceful method of bypassing the regular formalities.Its not like thats impossible.Its not like it was impossible, but one has to be able to request a suitable authority for the sake of doing that.Kurowaal was in a hurry to simply get Renyas promise to go to the imperial capital before Shion returns to Renyas location. Shion barged in while Kurowaal was in the middle of persuading Renya.Just like that Shion, who quickly grasped what kind of situation it was, began to quarrel with Kurowaal, it started to turn into mayhem and in the end Renya swiftly silenced Shion and Kurowaal by freely using both of his hands as iron claws while smiling cheerfully.While being suspicious what kind of quarrel came into existence without translation between the human and elvish language, Renya gave them a warning that he will break off with them if they persist on kicking up a fuss any further and, since it was unbearable for them to get separated from him, Shion and Kurowaal only glared at each other.With Rona and Frau maintaining an indifferent stance towards this whole spectacle, the elven guard nearby, who started to ponder how Renya was able to cope with such situations, politely called out to Renya telling him to go to the guest room due to the arrival of a visitor.And like that we arrived in the present time, but, Renya turns a fed-up look to the head of the table.The one sitting there was, in a single word, a handsome man.The existence called anikemen.With beautifully arranged blonde hair which is short and silky, I guess theres no doubt that 9 out of 10 people would look back twice, if they pass him, wondering whether hes a woman with that well-featured look.The light green attire, he is wearing, is adorned with ornaments at a level of not being gaudy although they are gorgeous. He is grasping a bishops staff, which has jewels embedded, in his slender and supple hand.Behind him there are several fully armed elven soldiers. They are waiting for orders while standing at attention with quite the nervousness which matched the atmosphere caused by the sitting person. It was easy to guess that this is an elf with a considerable social status. Hey are you the real deal? (Renya) While wondering whether he is the real deal, Renya tries to ask in order to make sure more or less.Kurowaal previously explained who this person was, but he isnt quite able to believe it, or rather the actual feeling hasnt sunk in yet.Thinking normally, the person Kurowaal talked about shouldnt be able to go out readily.Even when Renya pointed a look of distrust at him, that person at the head of the table didnt seem to take any offence and only tilted his head to the head slightly.With each of his movements being strangely refined, Renya thinks that he is the real deal after all. Real deal, that means? The replying voice is a low and beautiful voice that is well able to pass.It contains a charm to it at the level of possibly paralysing one with only a whisper close to ones ears. What Im asking is whether the you, whos visiting in front of me, is really Royce Pas Tifalet who is from the viewpoint of a human like me an unbelievable studhorse who made 35 children? (Renya) Due to Renyas question, the the air in the room froze, is not what happened.Just as before the the soldiers had tense expressions. The person himself, who was denounced as studhorse, has a so-so, calm expression where one doesnt know whether he has heard it or not.So far as it goes, Shions and Ronas expressions became stiff. Kurowaal has fallen onto the table and isnt moving anymore, even not a twitch. Lets answer with no if its that question. Renya believed that he would undoubtedly lose his temper, however the person at the head of the table shook his head slowly left and right in a graceful manner and denied Renyas question.Wondering whether it was the overflowing elegance in the act of shaking his head or the tremendousness of a noble person, Renya was immediately puzzled.That answer means that the person in front of me isnt his Majesty, the Emperor, Kurowaal talked about. Isnt that so? What do you mean? (Renya) That is. The person at the head of the table continues his words after straightening himself a bit. Theres no doubt that Im the 12th Emperor called Royce Pas Tifalet. (Royce) I see? (Renya) But, although its an unbelievable story from the standpoint of a human like you, the number of children I produced surpasses more than 100 if you also include the illegitimate children that havent been acknowledged. The number of children I produced with my legal wife is certainly 35, but its a mistake if you say that its all of my children, therefore I answered with no. (Royce) Hey, you worthless father? Acknowledge them (Renya) Father-sama!? (Kurowaal) The words of Renya, who even said them in a low threatening sound, overlap with the scream of Kurowaal who apparently heard about this for the first time.Was she surprised by the number or was she surprised by His Majestys, the Emperors manner of putting everything on the table without holding back?Rona slides down from her seat while Shion, who doesnt understand the elven language, is blinking her eyes in surprise not understanding what has happened.Only Frau, who is on top of Renyas knees, still cools cup filled with tea by blowing at it. Worthless father is unwarranted. All of them are growing up without any inconveniences within my capabilities. (Royce) Your resourcefulness is wonderful, old man but, what will you do about the succession of the imperial throne? (Renya) Rona has returned to the seat she slid down from before.At the time of her sliding down several soldiers in the back of His Majesty, the Emperor, had turned a look at her, you might as well call staring, as her breasts shook and her thighs became exposed to a dangerous degree. The wave of reformists has reached even this far?Renya asks himself while trembling. Theres no need for worry. Since my rule will likely continue for further 300 years, we will somehow deal with it in the meantime. (Royce) Perish, elves (Renya) Renya-san I do understand your feelings, but since its pretty much my country (Kurowaal) Kurowaal doesnt seem to have recovered from the shock she suffered by hearing the truth for the first time, but even so she somehow squeezes out her voice. Due to pitying her somewhat, Renya decided to avoid pursuing the matter any further. So, you are called Renya? I heard that this city received your protection from the attack by the monster army on this occasion. First I ought to give you my thanks. Thanks to you it finished with a great number of my soldiers and people not dying. I shall demonstrate my gratitude like this. (Royce) Seeing the emperor bowing his head to Renya, a stir occurred amongst the elves.Meanwhile Renya waves his hand, looking reluctant. Please stop. This was something I did following my own intentions. (Renya) Try asking what you desire then? (Royce) The emperor asked him while raising his head. Renya says in a state of thinking it over while counting with his fingers, Umm, that is. A stable supply of soy sauce andmisoor some rare food would be nice. The best would be something that is difficult to obtain on the human continent. If Alos has corps, Id like those too. And metals, Id like to be able to simply get them if types of precious metals are possible. You have something like that, dont you? Materials that have rare metals or foils attached? That elven unique magic is nice. Id like to be taught if its possible to do so. And Id like to have one house. Its fine if its small. I dont particularly intend to live in it, but theres nothing better than having plenty of bases. Its not like I wont accept it if you give me territory or such? Since I wont enter nobility, please restrict it to the right to collect taxes. And then~ (Renya) As expected, you are too greedy, I think~ (Shion) Shion who received a translation of what Renya is saying by Rona, mutters in astonishment. His Majesty, the Emperor, went as far as expressly asking me what I desire. It doesnt cost anyone anything if its only desires. (Renya) Naturally Renya doesnt look timid either.The emperor, who silently listened to Renyas demands, bent himself over the table, placed his elbows down, crossed his fingers and said while firmly staring at Renya. This me has the rank of emperor, therefore I cant grant all of your desires at present. (Royce) What a pompous way of talking. Its fine to frankly say that Im an idiot desiring too much. (Renya) No, if you consider the value of all lives of the soldiers and inhabitants in a single city, granting territory feels like going a bit too far, but besides that the rest is fine. Ah, it would be better if you gave up on learning our unique magic. That has the prerequisite of being of the elven race. (Royce) Then, except territory, you will give me everything else, you are saying? (Renya) No matter how you put it, isnt he far too generous?Renya wonders.The emperor shook his head to Renyas question. I will even bestow territory to you if you accept a single condition that I present. How about it? (Royce) While fixedly looking into Renyas eyes, the emperors mouth showed a crooked grin. Chapter 65 Chapter 65 C It seems we have increased by one person Then I dont want it. All I want are things given without strings attached. (Renya) Without even listening to the details of the condition mentioned by the emperor, Renya instantly replied without even showing any interest.Having been given that answer, the emperor opens his eyes in slight surprise. I havent talked about my condition yet though? (Royce) Its fine without you talking about it. No matter what condition it might be, the answer will be no. (Renya) Renya clearly brushes off the emperors statement.As if he didnt want to hear these words of denial, the emperor continued as before. If you enter the imperial family by marrying my daughter Kurowaal, is what I intended to say though? (Royce) I refuse. Youre fucking kidding me. (Renya) Renya refused without delay, but once he sees Kurowaals expression with a glance, there are tears dripping down from her eyes and she is gazing in Renyas direction.Why is she crying!?Renya was flustered, but once he tried to ponder about it carefully, he suddenly realized that his answer towards the question whether he wants to marry this girl might also be interpreted as him completely denying this girls charm completely depending on how its heard. He hurries to follow up in panic. I-Its not particularly like I want to say something like Kurowaal has no charm or that there is no worth in marrying her since thats not how it is, dont cry, Kurowaal. Doesnt it look like Im somehow a villain here? (Renya) Even if you readily gave an answer due to being troubled to some degree it somewhat feels like you completely denied me as woman. (Kurowaal) Due to Kurowaal saying that while sniffling consecutively, Renya feels strangely guiltyeven though I shouldnt have done anything particular bad. I told you, thats not what I mean. Even without a chest, your points as woman are high, right? (Renya) Delivering the final blow, you are cruel, Renya (Kurowaal) Kurowaal stopped crying more or less, but her expression didnt clear up. If her points as woman are high, may I inquire about the reason for your refusal? (Royce) Watching the situation cheerfully, the emperor opens his mouth.Snorting a little, Renya looked at the emperors face again. First off, becoming a member of the imperial family or such is impossible, isnt it? On that occasion, I heard that Kurowaal is currently 70 years old. No matter how long I may live, I wont get older than 100 years, but even if I have her keep me company until then, the age of 170 years means for an elf that she is still a minor, right? (Renya) Regarding the imperial family, seeing that Im currently the highest authority it will work out one way or another though? Im capable of using the power of the state even if theres someone voicing objections. Besides, setting her mental age aside, her body is that of an adult, therefore her age wont turn into a problem, I think? (Royce) Kurowaal toppled over towards the back together with her chair due to the words of the emperor he stated nonchalantly.Because her head clashed onto the ground while making quite the loud sound, the soldiers, who were on standby in the back of the emperor, dashed forward to help her up in a hurry.The discerning eyes of Shion and Rona, who are observing the situation, aimed at the elven emperor reached a profound level of chilliness. Renya gently lowers Frau from his lap on the ground and stands up after drawing back his chair. Hey, Kurowaal. (Renya) Ooouuuch yes? (Kurowaal) Having her name abruptly called, Kurowaal replies while standing up and rubbing her head which hit the ground strongly.While looking at such Kurowaal, Renya hit the katana, which is hoisted at his waist, with a *pon* without changing his expression. Do you have the intention to cause a coup dtat or similar? (Renya) What!? (Kurowaal) Kurowaal, who heard a somewhat preposterous and dangerous word, unintentionally returns a question with a question.The expressions of the soldiers, who tried to help up Kurowaal, froze as one could expect. You know, I have a feeling that it would be best to have you sit on the imperial throne after killing His Majesty, the Emperor here. (Renya) Ha ha ha. Just those words deserve to be judged as high treason, but lets ignore them since this isnt an official venue either. (Royce) The emperor showed a bright smile, but Shion and Rona didnt miss him leaking a bit of sweat on his face.As result of Renyas attention focussing on the emperor, there wasnt any effect on Shion and Rona, however it looked like there was a fragment of seriousness mixed into the voice and expression of Renya. In that case, I shall change the direction of the talks a bit. Let me give you your reward. I feel regretful that its not a territory, but I cant hand it over to someone who has no peerage, therefore theres nothing left but for you to give up on that. (Royce) So? (Renya) Moreover wont you look after my daughter, Kurowaal, as a request from me, the emperor? Of course our side will take care of all the various expenses. (Royce) How is that any different from me taking her as wife? (Renya) Renyas look is as if he is watching something shady, but the emperor doesnt seem to mind at all. I havent told you to marry her. Neither am I telling you to not marry her. Though Id like you to take responsibility if you have an affair with her. (Royce) So? (Renya) Its fine with you keeping her at your side. How about that if its just this much? (Royce) Renya ponders about the emperors words for a while.Speaking honestly, it was something he wanted to refuse right away.However, there are also circumstances that Renya cant decline upfront.Going by the expression and atmosphere of the emperor and the flow of the talks, which is indicating that its not something Renya himself wishes, one could guess that this emperor is trying to push Kurowaal onto Renya at all costs for some reason.In other words, he will likely use all usable means, is a feasible prediction.Its still fine if its at the level of compromising and gentle persuasion, but various troubles will spring up if it turns into him using threats and force.Even if Im still fine with that, it will cause huge effects to my surroundings.The situation wont change even if we scurry back to the city of Kukrika.If its the emperor of the elves, he can probably use the transfer gate as much as he likes.If he ends up using the power of his nation on that occasion, you might say that even the Trident Principality will definitely put emphasis on the emperors wishes if they weigh the opinions of the emperor and a mere adventurer.If I consider this, it might be best to say that its not an overly excellent plan to freely turn him down here. Renya-san, Im requesting it as well. Please allow me to travel with you. (Kurowaal) Seeing Renya staying silent and thinking it over, Kurowaal interjects. My base of operations is located in a human city on the human continent. The matter of her accompanying me, is it really fine for me to take Kurowaal along to the human continent? (Renya) Renya tried to turn it down wondering whether he cant turn the talks in a direction where the other side will give up after all, but parent and child readily end up accepting it. Even that I dont mind. You dont mind either, right, Kurowaal? (Royce) No, I dont, father-sama. (Kurowaal) While watching Kurowaal who displays a distinct nod, Renya breathes out quietly.As for Renya, he is somehow able to understand why Kurowaal wants to follow him.The first reason is doubtlessly because I assisted in the battle against the monsters.Although Renya didnt know at what point in time he hit Kurowaals soft spot, he grasps that she likely ended up getting somehow emotionally attached to him during that battle at least.What Renya didnt comprehend were the intentions of the emperor.At the beginning Renya thought that the emperor is maybe trying to tie him to the elven country.For this reason I was probably given an usually unthinkable treatment of obtaining territory, being given patronage by the imperial family and taking Kurowaal as wife.However, Renya cant see the idea behind the request of having Kurowaal accompany him after he refused those.If he wanted to attach a collar to Renyas neck, Kurowaal would be inadequate.At least Kurowaal isnt able to influence the actions of Renya.All the more once he returns to the human continent.Living on the human continent should be accompanied by quite a few difficulties for Kurowaal who hasnt lived anywhere but the elven country until now. She will likely lack the free time to do something to Renya.The emperor himself should understand that too, but based on that Renya cant understand the aim of him wanting her to travel with Renya at all.There shouldnt be any ulterior motive, but I totally cant see the backside of it.What are you planning?Renya glares at the face of the emperor, but the emperor in question wards off Renyas stare as something that doesnt concern him at all while not having a single change on his expression.Renya continued like that for a while, however he slowly opens his mouth after quite a bit of time has passed. Since you will be living on the human continent, you will of course learn the common language, right? (Renya) Renya, who heard that the elves with their high pride dont use something like the human language, but he tried to broach that topic as last struggle.He will be able to confidently reject them if the emperor or Kurowaal mention that she wont use such language in this place.However, Kurowaal immediately answered Renya. I will do my best to learn it! (Kurowaal) Where did the setting of elves having a high pride came from?Renya is at his withs end in his mind.Rather, arent they far more honest than that bunch of human nobles?He assesses. To say nothing of living expenses and such, your side will take care of that, right? (Renya) Of course. I wont act as shamelessly as asking you to provide for the costs while entrusting my daughter to you. I promise you that everything from, daily necessities to money will be covered by us. However, Id like you to provide a room for my daughter to live in. (Royce) Will he decline if theres no room?Renya thought about that for an instant, but stopped that thought right away.One wouldnt be able to call Kurowaal accompanying me if she took an inn by herself, he judged.Since it has reached this point, I feel like there wont be any issue whatsoever to accept her living in a place close to me. Frau, can you prepare a room? (Renya) Theres a place which was originally a childs room ~no. It will be possible if I clear it out ~no. (Frau) How about your burden if we increase the load by one more person, Frau? (Renya) No problem ~no. But (Frau) At this point Frau looks fixedly at the eyes of Kurowaal for the first time.Kurowaal looks back without getting overpowered by that look thats similar to an appraisal. Id like you to abide to what Frau says in the mansion ~no. You have no problem with that, do you? (Frau) I dont mind. Pleased to meet you. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal bows to Frau.Seeing that, Frau removes her sight from Kurowaal looking somewhat satisfied and said while returning her attention to the cup with tea in it again, Master, Frau has no objection ~no. (Frau) Im against it, Renya. (Rona) Rona, who up till then devoted herself to translating the elven language for Shion, voiced out her opinion. Kurowaal-san is an imperial princess directly descending from His Majesty, the Emperor. If something happened to her, it might create an international issue between the Trident Principality and the Elven nation. (Rona) I see. That worry is justified. (Royce) Nodding once towards Ronas statement, the emperor faces Renya. In that case, regarding the safety of my daughter, lets make it that its fine even if you dont guarantee it. As this is a condition I agreed upon by myself, we will write it down. So, how about it? Of course, as someone who will live right next to her, Im talking about it from a standpoint of expecting you to be accordingly mindful of that. (Royce) There has to be a limit to lavish hospitality as well. In other words, you are saying if Kurowaal experiences something dangerous, you wont accuse me of any crimes even if she happens to die due to me not dealing with it? (Renya) As youve said. You have no objection to that either, right, Kurowaal? (Royce) No, father-sama. (Kurowaal) Hey, as somehow just about everything is weird about this, wont you honestly confess what you are scheming, Your Majesty, Emperor-sama? (Renya) Renya asks while glaring at the emperor due to the suggestion of absolutely impossible conditions if once considers it sensibly.Even if he say that theres nothing behind it, who will believe that? Its scandalous to frame me of scheming. (Royce) Making a sad expression which is expressing that such accusation is really unthinkable, the emperor says, If you are telling me that you want to listen to the truth, I will tell you though. Theres not a single thing like schemes or pretence. (Royce) Tell me since I want to hear it? (Renya) If thats the case, lets talk honestly. (Royce) *cough* with a single clearing of his throat, the emperor begins to speak with a serious expression. Although you might say that Kurowaal is directly descending from me, she likely wont have any chance to even get anywhere close to the talks about the imperial succession as her position is low since shes my 35th daughter. In other words, she has no important position and thus her existence wont be taken into serious consideration. (Royce) Oy? (Renya) Father-sama? (Kurowaal) Both, Kurowaal and Renya, retort at that, but the emperor continues as if he didnt hear anything. And so, even if she passed away in some situation, the impact will be small. (Royce) (Renya & Kurowaal) Renya and Kurowaal are speechless.They are simply staring at the face of the emperor talking fluently with half-opened eyes. Moreover, if she is within the country, she will only cause pointless expenses. Concretely, we have to pretty much provide appropriate things for a daughter of the emperor going as far as a housing and everything from food to clothes. (Royce) Pointless it is, father-sama? (Kurowaal) Since the official stance is that theres no reason for her being allowed to have the same level of livelihood over there on the human continent, if she accompanies you, it can be expected to become a large cost reduction. (Royce) Although thats likely the truth, its cruel, oy. (Renya) Moreover, this chain of talks isnt something ordered by the emperor but something coming from what the person herself wishes for, thus its possible for me to put it into effect without any feelings of guilt. (Royce) As if saying hows that?, the emperor shows a satisfied smile.Kurowaal, who had a somewhat blank expression, tells Renya in a mutter while facing him, Renya-san Im considering whether I should seriously consider a coup dtat, but (Kurowaal) I see call me once you put it into practise since I will help you. For the time being, come with us. It has become somewhat pathetic. (Renya) Sorry, Renya-san. Sorry for the troubles. (Kurowaal) Did they regard Kurowaals appearance of lowering her head as very pitiable?Shion, who was against it before, held her tongue and Shion stayed silent as she completely missed the timing to cut into the conversation.Kurowaal ended up being quite downhearted, but the reason for that, the emperor, laughs radiantly. The talks seem to have been settled. How splendid, how splendid. (Royce) Strangely everyone, who happened to be present in the room except the emperor himself, doubted whether this emperor will really continue to reign for 300 more years. Chapter 65 C It seems we have increased by one person Then I dont want it. All I want are things given without strings attached. (Renya) Without even listening to the details of the condition mentioned by the emperor, Renya instantly replied without even showing any interest.Having been given that answer, the emperor opens his eyes in slight surprise. I havent talked about my condition yet though? (Royce) Its fine without you talking about it. No matter what condition it might be, the answer will be no. (Renya) Renya clearly brushes off the emperors statement.As if he didnt want to hear these words of denial, the emperor continued as before. If you enter the imperial family by marrying my daughter Kurowaal, is what I intended to say though? (Royce) I refuse. Youre fucking kidding me. (Renya) Renya refused without delay, but once he sees Kurowaals expression with a glance, there are tears dripping down from her eyes and she is gazing in Renyas direction.Why is she crying!?Renya was flustered, but once he tried to ponder about it carefully, he suddenly realized that his answer towards the question whether he wants to marry this girl might also be interpreted as him completely denying this girls charm completely depending on how its heard. He hurries to follow up in panic. I-Its not particularly like I want to say something like Kurowaal has no charm or that there is no worth in marrying her since thats not how it is, dont cry, Kurowaal. Doesnt it look like Im somehow a villain here? (Renya) Even if you readily gave an answer due to being troubled to some degree it somewhat feels like you completely denied me as woman. (Kurowaal) Due to Kurowaal saying that while sniffling consecutively, Renya feels strangely guiltyeven though I shouldnt have done anything particular bad. I told you, thats not what I mean. Even without a chest, your points as woman are high, right? (Renya) Delivering the final blow, you are cruel, Renya (Kurowaal) Kurowaal stopped crying more or less, but her expression didnt clear up. If her points as woman are high, may I inquire about the reason for your refusal? (Royce) Watching the situation cheerfully, the emperor opens his mouth.Snorting a little, Renya looked at the emperors face again. First off, becoming a member of the imperial family or such is impossible, isnt it? On that occasion, I heard that Kurowaal is currently 70 years old. No matter how long I may live, I wont get older than 100 years, but even if I have her keep me company until then, the age of 170 years means for an elf that she is still a minor, right? (Renya) Regarding the imperial family, seeing that Im currently the highest authority it will work out one way or another though? Im capable of using the power of the state even if theres someone voicing objections. Besides, setting her mental age aside, her body is that of an adult, therefore her age wont turn into a problem, I think? (Royce) Kurowaal toppled over towards the back together with her chair due to the words of the emperor he stated nonchalantly.Because her head clashed onto the ground while making quite the loud sound, the soldiers, who were on standby in the back of the emperor, dashed forward to help her up in a hurry.The discerning eyes of Shion and Rona, who are observing the situation, aimed at the elven emperor reached a profound level of chilliness. Renya gently lowers Frau from his lap on the ground and stands up after drawing back his chair. Hey, Kurowaal. (Renya) Ooouuuch yes? (Kurowaal) Having her name abruptly called, Kurowaal replies while standing up and rubbing her head which hit the ground strongly.While looking at such Kurowaal, Renya hit the katana, which is hoisted at his waist, with a *pon* without changing his expression. Do you have the intention to cause a coup dtat or similar? (Renya) What!? (Kurowaal) Kurowaal, who heard a somewhat preposterous and dangerous word, unintentionally returns a question with a question.The expressions of the soldiers, who tried to help up Kurowaal, froze as one could expect. You know, I have a feeling that it would be best to have you sit on the imperial throne after killing His Majesty, the Emperor here. (Renya) Ha ha ha. Just those words deserve to be judged as high treason, but lets ignore them since this isnt an official venue either. (Royce) The emperor showed a bright smile, but Shion and Rona didnt miss him leaking a bit of sweat on his face.As result of Renyas attention focussing on the emperor, there wasnt any effect on Shion and Rona, however it looked like there was a fragment of seriousness mixed into the voice and expression of Renya. In that case, I shall change the direction of the talks a bit. Let me give you your reward. I feel regretful that its not a territory, but I cant hand it over to someone who has no peerage, therefore theres nothing left but for you to give up on that. (Royce) So? (Renya) Moreover wont you look after my daughter, Kurowaal, as a request from me, the emperor? Of course our side will take care of all the various expenses. (Royce) How is that any different from me taking her as wife? (Renya) Renyas look is as if he is watching something shady, but the emperor doesnt seem to mind at all. I havent told you to marry her. Neither am I telling you to not marry her. Though Id like you to take responsibility if you have an affair with her. (Royce) So? (Renya) Its fine with you keeping her at your side. How about that if its just this much? (Royce) Renya ponders about the emperors words for a while.Speaking honestly, it was something he wanted to refuse right away.However, there are also circumstances that Renya cant decline upfront.Going by the expression and atmosphere of the emperor and the flow of the talks, which is indicating that its not something Renya himself wishes, one could guess that this emperor is trying to push Kurowaal onto Renya at all costs for some reason.In other words, he will likely use all usable means, is a feasible prediction.Its still fine if its at the level of compromising and gentle persuasion, but various troubles will spring up if it turns into him using threats and force.Even if Im still fine with that, it will cause huge effects to my surroundings.The situation wont change even if we scurry back to the city of Kukrika.If its the emperor of the elves, he can probably use the transfer gate as much as he likes.If he ends up using the power of his nation on that occasion, you might say that even the Trident Principality will definitely put emphasis on the emperors wishes if they weigh the opinions of the emperor and a mere adventurer.If I consider this, it might be best to say that its not an overly excellent plan to freely turn him down here. Renya-san, Im requesting it as well. Please allow me to travel with you. (Kurowaal) Seeing Renya staying silent and thinking it over, Kurowaal interjects. My base of operations is located in a human city on the human continent. The matter of her accompanying me, is it really fine for me to take Kurowaal along to the human continent? (Renya) Renya tried to turn it down wondering whether he cant turn the talks in a direction where the other side will give up after all, but parent and child readily end up accepting it. Even that I dont mind. You dont mind either, right, Kurowaal? (Royce) No, I dont, father-sama. (Kurowaal) While watching Kurowaal who displays a distinct nod, Renya breathes out quietly.As for Renya, he is somehow able to understand why Kurowaal wants to follow him.The first reason is doubtlessly because I assisted in the battle against the monsters.Although Renya didnt know at what point in time he hit Kurowaals soft spot, he grasps that she likely ended up getting somehow emotionally attached to him during that battle at least.What Renya didnt comprehend were the intentions of the emperor.At the beginning Renya thought that the emperor is maybe trying to tie him to the elven country.For this reason I was probably given an usually unthinkable treatment of obtaining territory, being given patronage by the imperial family and taking Kurowaal as wife.However, Renya cant see the idea behind the request of having Kurowaal accompany him after he refused those.If he wanted to attach a collar to Renyas neck, Kurowaal would be inadequate.At least Kurowaal isnt able to influence the actions of Renya.All the more once he returns to the human continent.Living on the human continent should be accompanied by quite a few difficulties for Kurowaal who hasnt lived anywhere but the elven country until now. She will likely lack the free time to do something to Renya.The emperor himself should understand that too, but based on that Renya cant understand the aim of him wanting her to travel with Renya at all.There shouldnt be any ulterior motive, but I totally cant see the backside of it.What are you planning?Renya glares at the face of the emperor, but the emperor in question wards off Renyas stare as something that doesnt concern him at all while not having a single change on his expression.Renya continued like that for a while, however he slowly opens his mouth after quite a bit of time has passed. Since you will be living on the human continent, you will of course learn the common language, right? (Renya) Renya, who heard that the elves with their high pride dont use something like the human language, but he tried to broach that topic as last struggle.He will be able to confidently reject them if the emperor or Kurowaal mention that she wont use such language in this place.However, Kurowaal immediately answered Renya. I will do my best to learn it! (Kurowaal) Where did the setting of elves having a high pride came from?Renya is at his withs end in his mind.Rather, arent they far more honest than that bunch of human nobles?He assesses. To say nothing of living expenses and such, your side will take care of that, right? (Renya) Of course. I wont act as shamelessly as asking you to provide for the costs while entrusting my daughter to you. I promise you that everything from, daily necessities to money will be covered by us. However, Id like you to provide a room for my daughter to live in. (Royce) Will he decline if theres no room?Renya thought about that for an instant, but stopped that thought right away.One wouldnt be able to call Kurowaal accompanying me if she took an inn by herself, he judged.Since it has reached this point, I feel like there wont be any issue whatsoever to accept her living in a place close to me. Frau, can you prepare a room? (Renya) Theres a place which was originally a childs room ~no. It will be possible if I clear it out ~no. (Frau) How about your burden if we increase the load by one more person, Frau? (Renya) No problem ~no. But (Frau) At this point Frau looks fixedly at the eyes of Kurowaal for the first time.Kurowaal looks back without getting overpowered by that look thats similar to an appraisal. Id like you to abide to what Frau says in the mansion ~no. You have no problem with that, do you? (Frau) I dont mind. Pleased to meet you. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal bows to Frau.Seeing that, Frau removes her sight from Kurowaal looking somewhat satisfied and said while returning her attention to the cup with tea in it again, Master, Frau has no objection ~no. (Frau) Im against it, Renya. (Rona) Rona, who up till then devoted herself to translating the elven language for Shion, voiced out her opinion. Kurowaal-san is an imperial princess directly descending from His Majesty, the Emperor. If something happened to her, it might create an international issue between the Trident Principality and the Elven nation. (Rona) I see. That worry is justified. (Royce) Nodding once towards Ronas statement, the emperor faces Renya. In that case, regarding the safety of my daughter, lets make it that its fine even if you dont guarantee it. As this is a condition I agreed upon by myself, we will write it down. So, how about it? Of course, as someone who will live right next to her, Im talking about it from a standpoint of expecting you to be accordingly mindful of that. (Royce) There has to be a limit to lavish hospitality as well. In other words, you are saying if Kurowaal experiences something dangerous, you wont accuse me of any crimes even if she happens to die due to me not dealing with it? (Renya) As youve said. You have no objection to that either, right, Kurowaal? (Royce) No, father-sama. (Kurowaal) Hey, as somehow just about everything is weird about this, wont you honestly confess what you are scheming, Your Majesty, Emperor-sama? (Renya) Renya asks while glaring at the emperor due to the suggestion of absolutely impossible conditions if once considers it sensibly.Even if he say that theres nothing behind it, who will believe that? Its scandalous to frame me of scheming. (Royce) Making a sad expression which is expressing that such accusation is really unthinkable, the emperor says, If you are telling me that you want to listen to the truth, I will tell you though. Theres not a single thing like schemes or pretence. (Royce) Tell me since I want to hear it? (Renya) If thats the case, lets talk honestly. (Royce) *cough* with a single clearing of his throat, the emperor begins to speak with a serious expression. Although you might say that Kurowaal is directly descending from me, she likely wont have any chance to even get anywhere close to the talks about the imperial succession as her position is low since shes my 35th daughter. In other words, she has no important position and thus her existence wont be taken into serious consideration. (Royce) Oy? (Renya) Father-sama? (Kurowaal) Both, Kurowaal and Renya, retort at that, but the emperor continues as if he didnt hear anything. And so, even if she passed away in some situation, the impact will be small. (Royce) (Renya & Kurowaal) Renya and Kurowaal are speechless.They are simply staring at the face of the emperor talking fluently with half-opened eyes. Moreover, if she is within the country, she will only cause pointless expenses. Concretely, we have to pretty much provide appropriate things for a daughter of the emperor going as far as a housing and everything from food to clothes. (Royce) Pointless it is, father-sama? (Kurowaal) Since the official stance is that theres no reason for her being allowed to have the same level of livelihood over there on the human continent, if she accompanies you, it can be expected to become a large cost reduction. (Royce) Although thats likely the truth, its cruel, oy. (Renya) Moreover, this chain of talks isnt something ordered by the emperor but something coming from what the person herself wishes for, thus its possible for me to put it into effect without any feelings of guilt. (Royce) As if saying hows that?, the emperor shows a satisfied smile.Kurowaal, who had a somewhat blank expression, tells Renya in a mutter while facing him, Renya-san Im considering whether I should seriously consider a coup dtat, but (Kurowaal) I see call me once you put it into practise since I will help you. For the time being, come with us. It has become somewhat pathetic. (Renya) Sorry, Renya-san. Sorry for the troubles. (Kurowaal) Did they regard Kurowaals appearance of lowering her head as very pitiable?Shion, who was against it before, held her tongue and Shion stayed silent as she completely missed the timing to cut into the conversation.Kurowaal ended up being quite downhearted, but the reason for that, the emperor, laughs radiantly. The talks seem to have been settled. How splendid, how splendid. (Royce) Strangely everyone, who happened to be present in the room except the emperor himself, doubted whether this emperor will really continue to reign for 300 more years. Chapter 66 Its a terribly high-priced, amazingly sturdy and yet dreadfully pointless item.As for its performance, I wont know unless I use it.Probably the elves really dont believe in their wildest dreams that I will use their treasured metals as material for cooking utensils. There shouldnt be any elf who would do such an eccentric thing either.Or rather, cooking utensils themselves dont exist in this world in the first place.The beginning of this event is after Renya and the others returned from the elven country.After returning to the city, Shion and Rona are often absent due to going out frequently. Kurowaal, who followed them from the elven country, is studying under Frau, who is able to speak in the human common language as well as the elven language. She was frantically trying to learn the common language.The education of Kurowaal was entrusted to Frau.Shion isnt able to speak the elven language and Rona didnt want to get involved overly much with an elf.As for Renya, he is completely useless in this case.He is able to write and speak the elven language and the common language at any rate, but the person himself, who is using those, isnt able to comprehend why he is able to use them at all.Renya himself is convinced that he is using the Japanese language in speech and written word.It looks like those are changed into the language of this world at the moment he speaks or writes the words, but from Renyas point of view the words he is using and the characters he is writing are all intended to be in Japanese.This was translated byInfinite Novel Translations.Thus he isnt be able to teach her.Renya wondered whether Kurowaal dislikes being taught by Frau, who is a fairy that hasnt lived for such a long time since being born, as person who is 70 years old herself, but Kurowaal has accepted her role as student very obediently and it has reached the point of her calling Frau teacher(T/N: sensei).Due to her excessively obedient manner, Renya tried to question Rona whether elves are really arrogant and full of pride, but her answer was something terribly vague like such elves exist as well.For ten-odd days, Renya had far too much free time.The debt at the time of buying this house ended up being quickly repaid when Fraus magic gem sales got on track.The real estate agent, who had resolved himself for the debt repayment to prolong endlessly, had a pleased expression due to the unexpectedly swift repayment.Moreover, the magic gems, which were distributed while being cautious of not breaking their market price, have been securing an extremely stable funds income as compact items put up for sale in the store space of the mansion.Once it had become like this, there was no necessity for them to force themselves to turn up at the guild and to finish requests.Even so, after being told by Rona that their registration will be revoked if they dont show their faces there at all and are judged as people who wont do any work, it became necessary to go there occasionally, but still, the frequency had fallen.In other words, Renya, who had nothing to do, spent his days by doing requests, which look like they can be finished right away in a close-by location, from the guild by himself or by tending the store, but one day packages from the elven country arrived at Renyas place.Those, which took several elves for pulling the carts, started with Kurowaals personal belongings and furniture and went on with the metals promised to Renya by the elven emperor, money, gems, a number of precious metals and moreover a large quantity ofmisoand soy sauce, a number of vegetables, that cant be found on human markets, and a large amount of rice which was stored in wooden boxes.While they were at it, they added several book volumes and cards as well as documents guaranteeing Kurowaals social status on the human continent.As for the consumable goods, we will provide resupply as soon as we receive the notice that they ran out, but since theres no way for us to eternally provide those for free, we will soon demand a certain amount of money, the elves left those words and departed.Deciding to ignore the inevitable situation of it causing quite the uproar in the surroundings due to the visit of a large amount of elves one usually dont encounter on the human continent, Renya, who was the only one having free time, immediately started to check the items in the packages.Asmisoand soy sauce are goods that can be preserved for a long time, he tossed them all together into the storehouse.As for stuff like vegetables, he decided to storage them in the preservation cellar of the kitchen so that those can be eaten after frying or boiling them, but the problem was the rice.Being called alos, this produce is rice-like no matter how one looks at it.I will cook and sample it right away, Renya judged but then a problem came up.There was no cookware for the sake of cooking rice in the kitchen.When Renya tried to ask Frau, who is in charge of the housework, he was told that something like cooking it until its fluffy isnt done for rice in this world as its popular cooking use is to boil it and then put it together with ingredients and soup into some kinds of thin hot pots, just like paella in his previous world.Once that came to light, he wondered whether this worlds rice is Indian rice and not Japonica rice, but the rice, which was stored in the boxes, can only be regarded as Japonica rice as far as Renya is able to judge it.Theres no other choice but to try eating it then, Renya decided to create cookware.At first he thought about making an iron pot, however he felt like it was in some ways oversized as cookware for the sake of trying to eat the rice experimentally.Thus Renya decided to produce a cooking utensil.In the beginning he planned to use iron as material for the cooking utensil, but Renya, who felt like the smell of iron would permeate the food somehow, considered another material.He pondered first about using gold so that there would be no smell permeability and that it would be strong against corrosion, but as theres no gold amongst the items he received as reward, he immediately dismissed the idea as melting down money had the stench of a crime.If its like this, there is no fitting material.Theres no way for something like aluminium to exist in this world over here, when Renya was thinking stuff like that an ingot of mithril, that was included in the reward, caught his attention.It has an attribute of being light, durable and corrosion-resistant, is what Renya heard about the traits of mithril.Support the translator by reading it atInfinite Novel TranslationsIsnt that a metal that can be interpreted as aluminium alloy then?He ended up wondering.Once he made up his mind, he was quick at getting started.Putting it into the fire of the workshops hearth, he melted down the mithril ingot and what ended up being created in the blink of an eye was the item which emerged at the beginning. I feel like Kurowaal will get really angry if she sees this. (Renya) It cant be helped that I ended up making it.Even when he tries to persuade himself like this, Renya cant stop having a cold sweat thinking about the time it gets leaked.There can already be nothing done except using it only secretly and feigning ignorance by storing it away in my inventory after usage, huh?At the moment Renya began to think that, he feels the presence of a person at the workshops entrance.Being far too occupied with the worthlessness of the item he created, Renya was late in noticing that presence.Once he looked towards the entrance in panic, the entrance door was opened a bit and he saw green eyes peeking inside. Kurowaal, huh? Why are you sneaking around for? (Renya) Renya-san, You seemed- busy with- work. (Kurowaal) The reply of Kurowaal, who came inside through the open door while looking a bit bashful, is extremely stiff.The reason why she is talking while thinking and stuttering is because she was told by Renya that she has to use the common language.Kurowaal desperately studied under Frau, but she is unable to use the common language for anything but barely keeping up a conversation somehow.If one considered the time when she started learning, you could say that shes learning at an astounding rate though. What- are you- making? (Kurowaal) Ah well. I made a tool to cook the grain I received from the elven country, however (Renya) Judging that it might cause strange suspicions if he tried to hide it, Renya decides to talk about it honestly. This is it. Its a tool to cook the grain called alos or such. (Renya) Renya-san, this is, possibly? (Kurowaal) Its probably that possibility. I made it out of mithril. (Renya) Renya said while feeling scared in his heart what kind of reaction she will return, but Kurowaals response was unexpectedly calm.Picking up the cooking utensil she likely sees for the first time, she examines it all over by looking at it and turning it over. Cooking- tool? (Kurowaal) Yes. You wash alos with water in this, put the same amount of water into it, close the lid and finish cooking it over a fire. (Renya) Do- you want- to try- making- it- right away? (Kurowaal) Yes, I want. Unless I dont try using it for the time being say, arent you angry? (Renya) Kurowaal looks far more strangely than the face of Renya who says that while looking strangely. Angry- about- what? (Kurowaal) Well, you see, mithril is a treasured, precious metal for elves, isnt it? Isnt there originally a proper way to use it for a totally different purpose? (Renya) (Kurowaal) Doesnt she know whether its fine to say something though she wants to or cant she say it as she is sorting the common language sentences in her head?Kurowaal is fretting.Renya tried to wait for a while, but there was no indication of her speaking. Its alright to use the elven language. (Renya) Ah, yes. Renya-san, what the heck is the proper way of using mithril? (Renya) Being asked in reverse, Renya returns a reply after pondering about it for a bit. Well, isnt it logical to use it as material for armours or weapons as standard after all? (Renya) Thats the reason why elves hid mithril. Well, its something we were able to do because the majority of mining spots is located in the elven country. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal said while frequently gazing at the cooking utensil made by Renya. Certainly, armour, which used mithril as material, boasts a higher performance than armours made with common metals. However, mithril is a light, durable, long-lasting and beautiful metal by nature. I believe its incorrect to say that it cant be used for anything but armours. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal continued while returning the cooking utensil she finished examining roughly. Isnt it fine to use it for cookware? If the people of this world favoured the usage of mithril for such purpose, the elves wouldnt do something like hiding mithril, I believe? (Kurowaal) While holding the cooking utensil she returned, Renya nods with a complicated expression. Well, Im able to understand it somehow, but theres also the argument that its somewhat difficult to make the mithril, I received, into a weapon. (Renya) I dont think there any necessity for you to hold back, is there? The share, which was given to you, Renya-san, has been handed over to you with the approval of father-sama, who is the elven emperor, to use it as you see fit. Its also a fact that mithril-made weapons have an excelling performance. (Kurowaal) I see, in that case I can use it without worry, huh? (Renya) Please let me- participate- if you- use it- in your experiments. (Kurowaal) Did she finish saying what she wanted to say?Kurowaal apparently returned to using the common language again.For Renya, who hears the elven language and the common language in the same way, there was not a single advantage to it since it just makes it difficult for him to follow her, but since he told her Use the human language since you are on the human continent, theres no way for him to overturn that at this point in time either.She will probably be able to handle the common language sooner or later if its Kurowaal, thus I will put up with it for a while, Renya decided. Thats right. I want to see how things will turn out with my cooking methods. (Renya) Master. (Frau) Renya, who said Lets go to the kitchen then to take along Kurowaal, is detained by Frau who stood in the workshops entrance before he became aware of it. It looks like we have a visitor ~no. (Frau) Who is it? (Renya) I think its probably Liaris-sensei ~no. (Frau) Searching his memories for a moment as Renya doesnt know who that is even when he heard the name, he recalled the face of the woman who works together with Az as teacher at the adventurer school after a little while.Losing in a mock battle with her students, he received a request from Az that he should do something about her class that caused a disruption. It was a story from quite a bit ago, but Renya has no memory of accepting a visit from that Liaris.He has doubts just what kind of business she has with him, but as he immediately understood that he wont resolve those doubts unless he listens about it to the person herself, Renya tells Frau, Please guide her to the dining hall since we will carry out experiments to cook rice in the kitchen. (Renya) Got it ~no. (Frau) Giving a single nod, Frau heads towards the main gate to welcome her.After seeing her off, Renya headed to the kitchen while taking Kurowaal along. Is it- fine- although- theres a visitor? (Kurowaal) Isnt it totally fine as its a visit without appointment? Since shes related to my friend, I believe she wont say anything annoying. (Renya) If something happens, I will have Az smooth it over, swallowing those words, Renya passed through the door of the kitchen for the time being. Its a terribly high-priced, amazingly sturdy and yet dreadfully pointless item.As for its performance, I wont know unless I use it.Probably the elves really dont believe in their wildest dreams that I will use their treasured metals as material for cooking utensils. There shouldnt be any elf who would do such an eccentric thing either.Or rather, cooking utensils themselves dont exist in this world in the first place.The beginning of this event is after Renya and the others returned from the elven country.After returning to the city, Shion and Rona are often absent due to going out frequently. Kurowaal, who followed them from the elven country, is studying under Frau, who is able to speak in the human common language as well as the elven language. She was frantically trying to learn the common language.The education of Kurowaal was entrusted to Frau.Shion isnt able to speak the elven language and Rona didnt want to get involved overly much with an elf.As for Renya, he is completely useless in this case.He is able to write and speak the elven language and the common language at any rate, but the person himself, who is using those, isnt able to comprehend why he is able to use them at all.Renya himself is convinced that he is using the Japanese language in speech and written word.It looks like those are changed into the language of this world at the moment he speaks or writes the words, but from Renyas point of view the words he is using and the characters he is writing are all intended to be in Japanese.This was translated byInfinite Novel Translations.Thus he isnt be able to teach her.Renya wondered whether Kurowaal dislikes being taught by Frau, who is a fairy that hasnt lived for such a long time since being born, as person who is 70 years old herself, but Kurowaal has accepted her role as student very obediently and it has reached the point of her calling Frau teacher(T/N: sensei).Due to her excessively obedient manner, Renya tried to question Rona whether elves are really arrogant and full of pride, but her answer was something terribly vague like such elves exist as well.For ten-odd days, Renya had far too much free time.The debt at the time of buying this house ended up being quickly repaid when Fraus magic gem sales got on track.The real estate agent, who had resolved himself for the debt repayment to prolong endlessly, had a pleased expression due to the unexpectedly swift repayment.Moreover, the magic gems, which were distributed while being cautious of not breaking their market price, have been securing an extremely stable funds income as compact items put up for sale in the store space of the mansion.Once it had become like this, there was no necessity for them to force themselves to turn up at the guild and to finish requests.Even so, after being told by Rona that their registration will be revoked if they dont show their faces there at all and are judged as people who wont do any work, it became necessary to go there occasionally, but still, the frequency had fallen.In other words, Renya, who had nothing to do, spent his days by doing requests, which look like they can be finished right away in a close-by location, from the guild by himself or by tending the store, but one day packages from the elven country arrived at Renyas place.Those, which took several elves for pulling the carts, started with Kurowaals personal belongings and furniture and went on with the metals promised to Renya by the elven emperor, money, gems, a number of precious metals and moreover a large quantity ofmisoand soy sauce, a number of vegetables, that cant be found on human markets, and a large amount of rice which was stored in wooden boxes.While they were at it, they added several book volumes and cards as well as documents guaranteeing Kurowaals social status on the human continent.As for the consumable goods, we will provide resupply as soon as we receive the notice that they ran out, but since theres no way for us to eternally provide those for free, we will soon demand a certain amount of money, the elves left those words and departed.Deciding to ignore the inevitable situation of it causing quite the uproar in the surroundings due to the visit of a large amount of elves one usually dont encounter on the human continent, Renya, who was the only one having free time, immediately started to check the items in the packages.Asmisoand soy sauce are goods that can be preserved for a long time, he tossed them all together into the storehouse.As for stuff like vegetables, he decided to storage them in the preservation cellar of the kitchen so that those can be eaten after frying or boiling them, but the problem was the rice.Being called alos, this produce is rice-like no matter how one looks at it.I will cook and sample it right away, Renya judged but then a problem came up.There was no cookware for the sake of cooking rice in the kitchen.When Renya tried to ask Frau, who is in charge of the housework, he was told that something like cooking it until its fluffy isnt done for rice in this world as its popular cooking use is to boil it and then put it together with ingredients and soup into some kinds of thin hot pots, just like paella in his previous world.Once that came to light, he wondered whether this worlds rice is Indian rice and not Japonica rice, but the rice, which was stored in the boxes, can only be regarded as Japonica rice as far as Renya is able to judge it.Theres no other choice but to try eating it then, Renya decided to create cookware.At first he thought about making an iron pot, however he felt like it was in some ways oversized as cookware for the sake of trying to eat the rice experimentally.Thus Renya decided to produce a cooking utensil.In the beginning he planned to use iron as material for the cooking utensil, but Renya, who felt like the smell of iron would permeate the food somehow, considered another material.He pondered first about using gold so that there would be no smell permeability and that it would be strong against corrosion, but as theres no gold amongst the items he received as reward, he immediately dismissed the idea as melting down money had the stench of a crime.If its like this, there is no fitting material.Theres no way for something like aluminium to exist in this world over here, when Renya was thinking stuff like that an ingot of mithril, that was included in the reward, caught his attention.It has an attribute of being light, durable and corrosion-resistant, is what Renya heard about the traits of mithril.Support the translator by reading it atInfinite Novel TranslationsIsnt that a metal that can be interpreted as aluminium alloy then?He ended up wondering.Once he made up his mind, he was quick at getting started.Putting it into the fire of the workshops hearth, he melted down the mithril ingot and what ended up being created in the blink of an eye was the item which emerged at the beginning. I feel like Kurowaal will get really angry if she sees this. (Renya) It cant be helped that I ended up making it.Even when he tries to persuade himself like this, Renya cant stop having a cold sweat thinking about the time it gets leaked.There can already be nothing done except using it only secretly and feigning ignorance by storing it away in my inventory after usage, huh?At the moment Renya began to think that, he feels the presence of a person at the workshops entrance.Being far too occupied with the worthlessness of the item he created, Renya was late in noticing that presence.Once he looked towards the entrance in panic, the entrance door was opened a bit and he saw green eyes peeking inside. Kurowaal, huh? Why are you sneaking around for? (Renya) Renya-san, You seemed- busy with- work. (Kurowaal) The reply of Kurowaal, who came inside through the open door while looking a bit bashful, is extremely stiff.The reason why she is talking while thinking and stuttering is because she was told by Renya that she has to use the common language.Kurowaal desperately studied under Frau, but she is unable to use the common language for anything but barely keeping up a conversation somehow.If one considered the time when she started learning, you could say that shes learning at an astounding rate though. What- are you- making? (Kurowaal) Ah well. I made a tool to cook the grain I received from the elven country, however (Renya) Judging that it might cause strange suspicions if he tried to hide it, Renya decides to talk about it honestly. This is it. Its a tool to cook the grain called alos or such. (Renya) Renya-san, this is, possibly? (Kurowaal) Its probably that possibility. I made it out of mithril. (Renya) Renya said while feeling scared in his heart what kind of reaction she will return, but Kurowaals response was unexpectedly calm.Picking up the cooking utensil she likely sees for the first time, she examines it all over by looking at it and turning it over. Cooking- tool? (Kurowaal) Yes. You wash alos with water in this, put the same amount of water into it, close the lid and finish cooking it over a fire. (Renya) Do- you want- to try- making- it- right away? (Kurowaal) Yes, I want. Unless I dont try using it for the time being say, arent you angry? (Renya) Kurowaal looks far more strangely than the face of Renya who says that while looking strangely. Angry- about- what? (Kurowaal) Well, you see, mithril is a treasured, precious metal for elves, isnt it? Isnt there originally a proper way to use it for a totally different purpose? (Renya) (Kurowaal) Doesnt she know whether its fine to say something though she wants to or cant she say it as she is sorting the common language sentences in her head?Kurowaal is fretting.Renya tried to wait for a while, but there was no indication of her speaking. Its alright to use the elven language. (Renya) Ah, yes. Renya-san, what the heck is the proper way of using mithril? (Renya) Being asked in reverse, Renya returns a reply after pondering about it for a bit. Well, isnt it logical to use it as material for armours or weapons as standard after all? (Renya) Thats the reason why elves hid mithril. Well, its something we were able to do because the majority of mining spots is located in the elven country. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal said while frequently gazing at the cooking utensil made by Renya. Certainly, armour, which used mithril as material, boasts a higher performance than armours made with common metals. However, mithril is a light, durable, long-lasting and beautiful metal by nature. I believe its incorrect to say that it cant be used for anything but armours. (Kurowaal) Kurowaal continued while returning the cooking utensil she finished examining roughly. Isnt it fine to use it for cookware? If the people of this world favoured the usage of mithril for such purpose, the elves wouldnt do something like hiding mithril, I believe? (Kurowaal) While holding the cooking utensil she returned, Renya nods with a complicated expression. Well, Im able to understand it somehow, but theres also the argument that its somewhat difficult to make the mithril, I received, into a weapon. (Renya) I dont think there any necessity for you to hold back, is there? The share, which was given to you, Renya-san, has been handed over to you with the approval of father-sama, who is the elven emperor, to use it as you see fit. Its also a fact that mithril-made weapons have an excelling performance. (Kurowaal) I see, in that case I can use it without worry, huh? (Renya) Please let me- participate- if you- use it- in your experiments. (Kurowaal) Did she finish saying what she wanted to say?Kurowaal apparently returned to using the common language again.For Renya, who hears the elven language and the common language in the same way, there was not a single advantage to it since it just makes it difficult for him to follow her, but since he told her Use the human language since you are on the human continent, theres no way for him to overturn that at this point in time either.She will probably be able to handle the common language sooner or later if its Kurowaal, thus I will put up with it for a while, Renya decided. Thats right. I want to see how things will turn out with my cooking methods. (Renya) Master. (Frau) Renya, who said Lets go to the kitchen then to take along Kurowaal, is detained by Frau who stood in the workshops entrance before he became aware of it. It looks like we have a visitor ~no. (Frau) Who is it? (Renya) I think its probably Liaris-sensei ~no. (Frau) Searching his memories for a moment as Renya doesnt know who that is even when he heard the name, he recalled the face of the woman who works together with Az as teacher at the adventurer school after a little while.Losing in a mock battle with her students, he received a request from Az that he should do something about her class that caused a disruption. It was a story from quite a bit ago, but Renya has no memory of accepting a visit from that Liaris.He has doubts just what kind of business she has with him, but as he immediately understood that he wont resolve those doubts unless he listens about it to the person herself, Renya tells Frau, Please guide her to the dining hall since we will carry out experiments to cook rice in the kitchen. (Renya) Got it ~no. (Frau) Giving a single nod, Frau heads towards the main gate to welcome her.After seeing her off, Renya headed to the kitchen while taking Kurowaal along. Is it- fine- although- theres a visitor? (Kurowaal) Isnt it totally fine as its a visit without appointment? Since shes related to my friend, I believe she wont say anything annoying. (Renya) If something happens, I will have Az smooth it over, swallowing those words, Renya passed through the door of the kitchen for the time being. Chapter 67 Chapter 67 C It seems to be the cooking of rice Theres a reason why Renya didnt choose the garden as place to test the rice cooker.This is because Frau usually keeps telling Renya, Shion and the others over and over that theres a total fire ban in the garden.As for the reason, Frau didnt feel like telling them as it was a secret related to her housework, but since she appealed it quite frantically and very seriously, it was recognised between Renyas party as a rule they should adhere to.Renya wonders whether theres something explosive buried in a place he doesnt know about, but theres no one except Frau that knows that his prediction isnt necessarily that far off the mark.Because of that Renya tried to use the kitchen as experiment site, however one cant say that a regular kitchen table fits overly much for using a rice cooker.However, there was something just fitting installed in the kitchen of Renyas home.If one takes a look at it, it appears to be a simple stone cylinder.At first Renya asked What the heck is this? and he didnt understand why it was installed in the kitchen, but after examining it in various ways, he understood that it was apparently a tsubokama* called a tandoor* in his previous world.(T/N: Tsubokama or ظ is an iron jar, tandoor or ɩ` is some kind of stone cylinder where you burn fire inside, kind of like a closed up fire place, google for pictures using the kanji)Once he tried to ask Frau, he was told that it was usually used for grilling stuff like meat by hanging it over it.Wont it cook well once I place a stick above this and hang the rice cooker on it?was what Renya thought. Umm (Liaris)Owned by Infinite Novel Translations First I have to examine the cooked rice before cooking rice.If I mix small grained rice and broken rice, it will end up causing irregularities in the cooking.Since it will take far too much time to thoroughly check everything no matter how you look at it, I will cut it short and create a reliable delicacy of the cooked rices flavour without trying to thoroughly check it beforehand. Renya -san? (Liaris) Whats very important for the cooking of rice is the quality and quantity of water.Around 60% to 70% of the cooked rice contains water.In other words, its no exaggeration to say that water controls the taste of the cooked rice.Its wrong to put too much effort into washing the rice.It will cause cracks to the precious rice.One has to replace the water several times with a feeling of quickly removing the dirt from the surface.There are certainly arguments questioning whether its fine to shake it up and down after putting it in the cooker, but Renya didnt fuss over washing the rice with his hands.After finishing that, its necessary for the water to be properly absorbed by the rice.If one cooks it just like that, the core will remain and it wont become delicious after cooking. Umm? Renya-san, hey, listen to me? (Liaris) Leave him alone for a while ~no. Probably he is doing something very important right now ~no. (Frau) Everything related to water in Renyas home uses water that was made with magic.The principle was simple for Renya, but this water wont have any impurities due to simply being made with magic.It could be considered to be close to the item called pure water in my previous world, but one could say this was suitable water to cook rice.Since it has no flavour and peculiarities, it wont hinder the rices taste.Once the work of letting the rice absorb the water is finished, the work will change to putting that rice into the rice cooker. I, I came to consult with Renya-san, but (Liaris) If- you disturb- the current- Renya-san, he- wont be- able to- listen to you, even- if you- talk to- him. (Croire) Uwaah!? An elf is talking in the human language!? (Liaris) You should be more surprised about an elf being here before that ~no. (Frau) Huh? Ah, now that you mention it why an elf!? Whys an elf here!? (Liaris) Putting the rice, which had completely absorbed the water, into the rice cooker, he fills in water yet again.Although the commonly proper rate is supposed to be 1 rice to 1,2 water, Renya lowers the amount of water a bit as hes fond of slightly hard rice, if pushed to say.Once he closed the lit, he ignited the fire.Copyright by Infinite Novel TranslationsSince its originally difficult to remove the soot sticking to the exterior of the rice cooker if its held directly of the fire, theres the easy measure of coating it thinly with mud or such before igniting the fire, but since even the fire is something induced by magic in Renyas home, there wont be any soot.Thats why he adjusts it while putting it directly over the flame as it is. Various things happened ~no. Here, some tea ~nano. (Frau) Ah, thanks. Black tea, is it? You are using a good one. (Liaris) Later I will bring green tea. Master told me that green tea is absolutely necessary when eating cooked rice ~no. (Frau) Eh? Before I realized I became a food sampler? (Liaris) You- should- go with- the flow. You might- give- Renya- -san a bad- mood- if you- refuse- untactfully. Ah- Im- called- Croire. Please- treat me- well. (Croire) How very courteous. Im called Liaris. Im working as teacher at the adventurer school of Kukrika. (Liaris) There was even a song about the condition of the fire going something like The fire begins to burn weakly while going poof poof* in my previous world, but if you change it into numbers, its 5 minutes on low fire, 5 minutes on a medium flame, 5 minutes on a strong flame, 10 minutes with a low flame and lastly steaming it for 10 minutes. The total cooking takes 35 minutes.(T/N: The fire burns weakly while going poof poof, dont remove the lid even if a baby cries is a phrase used to put the fires condition in order while cooking rice in a hearth. It was an oral tradition handed down during the time when rice cookers hadnt spread yet. There are various versions of it too.)If there are people saying one should measure it precisely theres also people who go with observation while watching the rices state, but if pushed to say, Renyas view inclined to the latter.People, who said that, are those who change the requirements largely depending on things like the circumstances in the surroundings.Renya concludes that he should adjust it ad hoc while watching the situation after referencing to the numbers. Liaris. Whats your business with master today ~nano? (Frau) Just a bit I want to consult about Az-kun. (Liaris) Az- -san? (Croire) He is masters friend, a school teacher and Liaris lover ~nano. (Frau) Eh!? No, well, that is thats right though. (Liaris) Love- consultation- with Renya- -san? You cant- say- he is- suitable for- that- though, I think? (Croire) She plainly said something cruel, but Frau agrees with her opinion ~nano. (Frau) Once taken off the fire, the steaming work starts.There are people who teach that one should cook the rice with steam by turning the rice cooker upside down, but since the water vapour wont have any path to escape if you actually turn it upside down, its not recommended to turn it over as the rice will become soggy.The correct way of steaming is to place it besides the fire while leaving it as is.The operation of turning over the rice cooker is originally for the sake of removing the stuck soot with leaves and grass at the bottom while the inside of the rice cooker is still hot. Before realizing that became associated with the steaming.Thats the knowledge residing in Renyas head.In other words, its an unnecessary task for Renya who uses magic fire that leaves no soot. One might even say that its a pointless action that will only lower the taste of the cooked rice. Although its just by the way, but fellows, who are scared of failing, cook it boldly with a strong flame from the beginning. It will be cooked with an average quality if one waits for around 15 minutes with it cooking on a low flame once it whistles and spills over. (Renya) To whom are you explaining ~no, master? (Frau) Well, I wonder who? (Renya) Opening the lid once the steaming finished will combine the water vapour with the rice to make the rice fluffy.Its a measure to cook delicious rice as the extra moisture will escape with this. Since its an experiment this time, lets try eating it as is for the time being, shall we? (Renya) The cooked rice is served into the four small bowls prepared by Frau.After telling them to eat it with a spoon as there are no chopsticks, Renya tries a mouthful himself.His impression after having tried it is:the taste is passable, the sweetness is weak and the aroma is light.Even so, Renyas mouth slackens unintentionally as the result has a proper quality to be allowed to be called a rice meal.Reading it somewhere else but at Infinite Novel Translations means you are supporting thieves! Its nice and warm ~nano. (Frau) Its a cooking method I havent seen yet, but its delicious, this. (Liaris) Its- great- as it has- no core- and is- soft. Renya-san- you are- quite- skilled. (Croire) While listening to the individual impressions of all three, he once again scoops up the remaining rice after wetting his hand with water once and slowly grasps the hot rice while enduring.Originally its correct to grasp theonigirigently as it contains air, but Renya moulded theonigiriwhile putting strength into it, though only a bit.Spreading out a wire mesh net on top of the tandoor at this point, he places theonigiri, he just held, on it and carefully grills it while coating it with the soy sauce, he received from the elves, with a brush.The aromatic smell of burning soy sauce begins to spread in the kitchen and, just as expected, the looks of the three gather on Renyas hands. Renya-san, its a very shameless talk for a food sampler, but is there a share for the amount of people of that? (Liaris) Dont worry as I will of course shape four of those. This time its a prototype, but I will make many of those next time, if they are popular. Although I say that, since theres a limit of cooking with the rice cooker, it might be necessary to prepare a suitable iron pot. As I will contact you at the time I make them, come together with Az to eat with us. (Renya) Eh, ah yes. (Liaris) It was just a bit, but a shadow fell on Liariss face.Coating theonigiriwith soy sauce while flipping it over so as to not burn it too much, Renya asks, Did you tell me what you wanted from me? I heard its about Az, but what exactly? (Renya) Yes. I considered bringing up such talk as rude, but (Liaris) Liaris looked like it was hard to talk about it, however Renya waved his hand in a manner of opening it with a flapping. Dont mind it. Even if its a story completely not worth considering, I will first listen to it. (Renya) Just like Az wants to have a favourable relationship with Renya, Renya himself thought that he wants to keep a good relation with Az as well.That Azs lover came visiting as she has something to talk about.I wonder what kind of silly story it is, Renya believes that it wont do if he doesnt listen to it at least. Renya-san, do you know of Az-kuns full name? (Liaris) What was it?He wavers for an instant.Renya recalled having heard it quite some time ago, but he cant remember it right away.Renya, who pondered about it while listening to the sound of grilling the rice and soy sauce for a while, voices out a name, he had dragged out from the depths of his memories somehow. Az Hound, wasnt it? That was his family name, wasnt it? (Renya) Yes. His family name is that Hound, but this is the family name of an Earl household in Trident Principality. (Liaris) The Trident Principality is a duchy and thus theres no king.Instead the duchy is governed by being called Archduke. The noble ranks below that are Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron and, continuing with the lower nobles, Knight and Lesser Knight.(T/N: The last rank would be either Semi-Knight or Associate Knight, but both sound kind of weird, so I will go with Lesser Knight)In other words, theres an Earl household called Hound in the Trident Principality and Az originates from there.Since its a high rank if you count from the top, one might say its a pedigree of a high social status. That guy was the young master of a fine family. (Renya) He seems to be pretty much the second son. It looks like its unnecessary for him to succeed the title though. (Liaris) Its a delicate situation, Renya judges.It looks theres the duty for the eldest son to succeed the house as legitimate child, but the second son will be required to marry a daughter of another household to deepen the ties or to go around helping the eldest son.Considering the situation, it should be a rare case for someone to lead a wilful life as adventurer like Az. It looks like half of it is him running away from home. (Liaris) What did she read from Renyas expression? Liaris gives an additional explanation. Did it appear on my face? So, hows that related to our talk? (Renya) Actually, most recently, I was officially proposed to by Az-kun, but (Liaris) What kind of face did he make when he confessed? If the person himself heard that it must have been quite the sight, he would become bright red from anger, Renya thinks.If I perceived it beforehand, I would have gone to take a peek at all costs, he head a slightly frustrated feeling. That is, congratulations. Isnt that a great story? (Renya)Belongs to Infinite Novel Translations Liaris expression doesnt clear up with Renyas words of blessing. Thanks however, I have no family name. Im simply Liaris my family is of commoner birth. (Liaris) Hmm? (Renya) Az-kun told me that he doesnt mind. As he left his home similar to running away, he wont care about whatever they might say this late in the game. But, concerning the commoner me associating with Az-kun it looks like there will be various interfering from Az-kuns familys side. (Liaris) In other words, its that? You will be secretly removed by Azs home as hindrance due to Az and you going out? Its not a difficult situation, but it looks like the settlement will be quite difficult. Pretending it to be some kind of accident, we will simply do them in with a bang after gathering them in one place? (Renya) Eh? Why are you progressing in the direction of crushing the Earl household, Renya-san? (Liaris) Is it something else? Once Renya tilted his head to the side, the flustered Liaris shook her head left and right with a force as if her head will be torn off and fly away. Then, what kind of talk do you want to have with me? I dont want to boast but except the use of force Im really not that reliable. (Renya) Turning over theonigiri, he once again applies soy sauce on it.If he applies too much of it, the taste of the soy sauce will become too strong, but Renya liked the state of it being coated fairly well.If the affinity with soy sauce is good, I have to challenge anonigirigrilled withmisonext, he considers. No matter what I say to Az-kuns esteemed family, they will ask for a certain level of achievements. (Liaris) Thats impossible if you continues as school teacher, is what you mean? (Renya) How many years would it take? During that time I will always feel bad for continuing to put my answer to Az-kun on hold. (Liaris) Ah, she hasnt answered him yet, Renya considers he consideration of Az feelings just a bit pitiable.Az will likely feel more dead than alive until he receives a proper reply since the reply was delayed just when he gathered quite the courage to actually confess.Not receiving a proper reply of yes or no is a situation that will cause problems to pop up that will become a hindrance to his daily life.It was easy to expect a positive reply as long as theres no interruption by his family going by the flow of the talks and the mood. Therefore I came to consult with you, Renya-san. (Liaris) I see, certainly it was a story that I usually would likely refuse right away if it was a story unrelated to me.However, the other party is Az and his lover.In short, if we provide fame and achievements to Liaris by finishing some large request of the guild, it will likely become possible to ignore Az home even if they come butting in, thats the story. Liaris, is your adventurer registration still valid? (Renya) Yes, even if one becomes a school teacher, the registration itself will remain valid. (Liaris) While ponderingwell then, what shall we do, Renya picks up the grilled soy sauceonigirifrom the net and tosses it to Liaris.Liaris catches it directly with a feeling of it being reflexive. Ah eh, its hot!? Hot~~~!? Its hot, Renya-san!? (Liaris) Eat it after it cooled down on a plate. (Renya)Visit Infinite Novel Translations Renya- -san. Its- a nice- scent. Please- give me- one- too. (Croire) Master, Frau as well! (Frau) Croire and Frau push out their plates with a force that one might ask whether they are schoolchildren without lunches.Lets try discuss matters once Shion and Rona return while placing the grilledonigirion their plates, huh?Renya decided. Chapter 67 C It seems to be the cooking of rice Theres a reason why Renya didnt choose the garden as place to test the rice cooker.This is because Frau usually keeps telling Renya, Shion and the others over and over that theres a total fire ban in the garden.As for the reason, Frau didnt feel like telling them as it was a secret related to her housework, but since she appealed it quite frantically and very seriously, it was recognised between Renyas party as a rule they should adhere to.Renya wonders whether theres something explosive buried in a place he doesnt know about, but theres no one except Frau that knows that his prediction isnt necessarily that far off the mark.Because of that Renya tried to use the kitchen as experiment site, however one cant say that a regular kitchen table fits overly much for using a rice cooker.However, there was something just fitting installed in the kitchen of Renyas home.If one takes a look at it, it appears to be a simple stone cylinder.At first Renya asked What the heck is this? and he didnt understand why it was installed in the kitchen, but after examining it in various ways, he understood that it was apparently a tsubokama* called a tandoor* in his previous world.(T/N: Tsubokama or ظ is an iron jar, tandoor or ɩ` is some kind of stone cylinder where you burn fire inside, kind of like a closed up fire place, google for pictures using the kanji)Once he tried to ask Frau, he was told that it was usually used for grilling stuff like meat by hanging it over it.Wont it cook well once I place a stick above this and hang the rice cooker on it?was what Renya thought. Umm (Liaris)Owned by Infinite Novel Translations First I have to examine the cooked rice before cooking rice.If I mix small grained rice and broken rice, it will end up causing irregularities in the cooking.Since it will take far too much time to thoroughly check everything no matter how you look at it, I will cut it short and create a reliable delicacy of the cooked rices flavour without trying to thoroughly check it beforehand. Renya -san? (Liaris) Whats very important for the cooking of rice is the quality and quantity of water.Around 60% to 70% of the cooked rice contains water.In other words, its no exaggeration to say that water controls the taste of the cooked rice.Its wrong to put too much effort into washing the rice.It will cause cracks to the precious rice.One has to replace the water several times with a feeling of quickly removing the dirt from the surface.There are certainly arguments questioning whether its fine to shake it up and down after putting it in the cooker, but Renya didnt fuss over washing the rice with his hands.After finishing that, its necessary for the water to be properly absorbed by the rice.If one cooks it just like that, the core will remain and it wont become delicious after cooking. Umm? Renya-san, hey, listen to me? (Liaris) Leave him alone for a while ~no. Probably he is doing something very important right now ~no. (Frau) Everything related to water in Renyas home uses water that was made with magic.The principle was simple for Renya, but this water wont have any impurities due to simply being made with magic.It could be considered to be close to the item called pure water in my previous world, but one could say this was suitable water to cook rice.Since it has no flavour and peculiarities, it wont hinder the rices taste.Once the work of letting the rice absorb the water is finished, the work will change to putting that rice into the rice cooker. I, I came to consult with Renya-san, but (Liaris) If- you disturb- the current- Renya-san, he- wont be- able to- listen to you, even- if you- talk to- him. (Croire) Uwaah!? An elf is talking in the human language!? (Liaris) You should be more surprised about an elf being here before that ~no. (Frau) Huh? Ah, now that you mention it why an elf!? Whys an elf here!? (Liaris) Putting the rice, which had completely absorbed the water, into the rice cooker, he fills in water yet again.Although the commonly proper rate is supposed to be 1 rice to 1,2 water, Renya lowers the amount of water a bit as hes fond of slightly hard rice, if pushed to say.Once he closed the lit, he ignited the fire.Copyright by Infinite Novel TranslationsSince its originally difficult to remove the soot sticking to the exterior of the rice cooker if its held directly of the fire, theres the easy measure of coating it thinly with mud or such before igniting the fire, but since even the fire is something induced by magic in Renyas home, there wont be any soot.Thats why he adjusts it while putting it directly over the flame as it is. Various things happened ~no. Here, some tea ~nano. (Frau) Ah, thanks. Black tea, is it? You are using a good one. (Liaris) Later I will bring green tea. Master told me that green tea is absolutely necessary when eating cooked rice ~no. (Frau) Eh? Before I realized I became a food sampler? (Liaris) You- should- go with- the flow. You might- give- Renya- -san a bad- mood- if you- refuse- untactfully. Ah- Im- called- Croire. Please- treat me- well. (Croire) How very courteous. Im called Liaris. Im working as teacher at the adventurer school of Kukrika. (Liaris) There was even a song about the condition of the fire going something like The fire begins to burn weakly while going poof poof* in my previous world, but if you change it into numbers, its 5 minutes on low fire, 5 minutes on a medium flame, 5 minutes on a strong flame, 10 minutes with a low flame and lastly steaming it for 10 minutes. The total cooking takes 35 minutes.(T/N: The fire burns weakly while going poof poof, dont remove the lid even if a baby cries is a phrase used to put the fires condition in order while cooking rice in a hearth. It was an oral tradition handed down during the time when rice cookers hadnt spread yet. There are various versions of it too.)If there are people saying one should measure it precisely theres also people who go with observation while watching the rices state, but if pushed to say, Renyas view inclined to the latter.People, who said that, are those who change the requirements largely depending on things like the circumstances in the surroundings.Renya concludes that he should adjust it ad hoc while watching the situation after referencing to the numbers. Liaris. Whats your business with master today ~nano? (Frau) Just a bit I want to consult about Az-kun. (Liaris) Az- -san? (Croire) He is masters friend, a school teacher and Liaris lover ~nano. (Frau) Eh!? No, well, that is thats right though. (Liaris) Love- consultation- with Renya- -san? You cant- say- he is- suitable for- that- though, I think? (Croire) She plainly said something cruel, but Frau agrees with her opinion ~nano. (Frau) Once taken off the fire, the steaming work starts.There are people who teach that one should cook the rice with steam by turning the rice cooker upside down, but since the water vapour wont have any path to escape if you actually turn it upside down, its not recommended to turn it over as the rice will become soggy.The correct way of steaming is to place it besides the fire while leaving it as is.The operation of turning over the rice cooker is originally for the sake of removing the stuck soot with leaves and grass at the bottom while the inside of the rice cooker is still hot. Before realizing that became associated with the steaming.Thats the knowledge residing in Renyas head.In other words, its an unnecessary task for Renya who uses magic fire that leaves no soot. One might even say that its a pointless action that will only lower the taste of the cooked rice. Although its just by the way, but fellows, who are scared of failing, cook it boldly with a strong flame from the beginning. It will be cooked with an average quality if one waits for around 15 minutes with it cooking on a low flame once it whistles and spills over. (Renya) To whom are you explaining ~no, master? (Frau) Well, I wonder who? (Renya) Opening the lid once the steaming finished will combine the water vapour with the rice to make the rice fluffy.Its a measure to cook delicious rice as the extra moisture will escape with this. Since its an experiment this time, lets try eating it as is for the time being, shall we? (Renya) The cooked rice is served into the four small bowls prepared by Frau.After telling them to eat it with a spoon as there are no chopsticks, Renya tries a mouthful himself.His impression after having tried it is:the taste is passable, the sweetness is weak and the aroma is light.Even so, Renyas mouth slackens unintentionally as the result has a proper quality to be allowed to be called a rice meal.Reading it somewhere else but at Infinite Novel Translations means you are supporting thieves! Its nice and warm ~nano. (Frau) Its a cooking method I havent seen yet, but its delicious, this. (Liaris) Its- great- as it has- no core- and is- soft. Renya-san- you are- quite- skilled. (Croire) While listening to the individual impressions of all three, he once again scoops up the remaining rice after wetting his hand with water once and slowly grasps the hot rice while enduring.Originally its correct to grasp theonigirigently as it contains air, but Renya moulded theonigiriwhile putting strength into it, though only a bit.Spreading out a wire mesh net on top of the tandoor at this point, he places theonigiri, he just held, on it and carefully grills it while coating it with the soy sauce, he received from the elves, with a brush.The aromatic smell of burning soy sauce begins to spread in the kitchen and, just as expected, the looks of the three gather on Renyas hands. Renya-san, its a very shameless talk for a food sampler, but is there a share for the amount of people of that? (Liaris) Dont worry as I will of course shape four of those. This time its a prototype, but I will make many of those next time, if they are popular. Although I say that, since theres a limit of cooking with the rice cooker, it might be necessary to prepare a suitable iron pot. As I will contact you at the time I make them, come together with Az to eat with us. (Renya) Eh, ah yes. (Liaris) It was just a bit, but a shadow fell on Liariss face.Coating theonigiriwith soy sauce while flipping it over so as to not burn it too much, Renya asks, Did you tell me what you wanted from me? I heard its about Az, but what exactly? (Renya) Yes. I considered bringing up such talk as rude, but (Liaris) Liaris looked like it was hard to talk about it, however Renya waved his hand in a manner of opening it with a flapping. Dont mind it. Even if its a story completely not worth considering, I will first listen to it. (Renya) Just like Az wants to have a favourable relationship with Renya, Renya himself thought that he wants to keep a good relation with Az as well.That Azs lover came visiting as she has something to talk about.I wonder what kind of silly story it is, Renya believes that it wont do if he doesnt listen to it at least. Renya-san, do you know of Az-kuns full name? (Liaris) What was it?He wavers for an instant.Renya recalled having heard it quite some time ago, but he cant remember it right away.Renya, who pondered about it while listening to the sound of grilling the rice and soy sauce for a while, voices out a name, he had dragged out from the depths of his memories somehow. Az Hound, wasnt it? That was his family name, wasnt it? (Renya) Yes. His family name is that Hound, but this is the family name of an Earl household in Trident Principality. (Liaris) The Trident Principality is a duchy and thus theres no king.Instead the duchy is governed by being called Archduke. The noble ranks below that are Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron and, continuing with the lower nobles, Knight and Lesser Knight.(T/N: The last rank would be either Semi-Knight or Associate Knight, but both sound kind of weird, so I will go with Lesser Knight)In other words, theres an Earl household called Hound in the Trident Principality and Az originates from there.Since its a high rank if you count from the top, one might say its a pedigree of a high social status. That guy was the young master of a fine family. (Renya) He seems to be pretty much the second son. It looks like its unnecessary for him to succeed the title though. (Liaris) Its a delicate situation, Renya judges.It looks theres the duty for the eldest son to succeed the house as legitimate child, but the second son will be required to marry a daughter of another household to deepen the ties or to go around helping the eldest son.Considering the situation, it should be a rare case for someone to lead a wilful life as adventurer like Az. It looks like half of it is him running away from home. (Liaris) What did she read from Renyas expression? Liaris gives an additional explanation. Did it appear on my face? So, hows that related to our talk? (Renya) Actually, most recently, I was officially proposed to by Az-kun, but (Liaris) What kind of face did he make when he confessed? If the person himself heard that it must have been quite the sight, he would become bright red from anger, Renya thinks.If I perceived it beforehand, I would have gone to take a peek at all costs, he head a slightly frustrated feeling. That is, congratulations. Isnt that a great story? (Renya)Belongs to Infinite Novel Translations Liaris expression doesnt clear up with Renyas words of blessing. Thanks however, I have no family name. Im simply Liaris my family is of commoner birth. (Liaris) Hmm? (Renya) Az-kun told me that he doesnt mind. As he left his home similar to running away, he wont care about whatever they might say this late in the game. But, concerning the commoner me associating with Az-kun it looks like there will be various interfering from Az-kuns familys side. (Liaris) In other words, its that? You will be secretly removed by Azs home as hindrance due to Az and you going out? Its not a difficult situation, but it looks like the settlement will be quite difficult. Pretending it to be some kind of accident, we will simply do them in with a bang after gathering them in one place? (Renya) Eh? Why are you progressing in the direction of crushing the Earl household, Renya-san? (Liaris) Is it something else? Once Renya tilted his head to the side, the flustered Liaris shook her head left and right with a force as if her head will be torn off and fly away. Then, what kind of talk do you want to have with me? I dont want to boast but except the use of force Im really not that reliable. (Renya) Turning over theonigiri, he once again applies soy sauce on it.If he applies too much of it, the taste of the soy sauce will become too strong, but Renya liked the state of it being coated fairly well.If the affinity with soy sauce is good, I have to challenge anonigirigrilled withmisonext, he considers. No matter what I say to Az-kuns esteemed family, they will ask for a certain level of achievements. (Liaris) Thats impossible if you continues as school teacher, is what you mean? (Renya) How many years would it take? During that time I will always feel bad for continuing to put my answer to Az-kun on hold. (Liaris) Ah, she hasnt answered him yet, Renya considers he consideration of Az feelings just a bit pitiable.Az will likely feel more dead than alive until he receives a proper reply since the reply was delayed just when he gathered quite the courage to actually confess.Not receiving a proper reply of yes or no is a situation that will cause problems to pop up that will become a hindrance to his daily life.It was easy to expect a positive reply as long as theres no interruption by his family going by the flow of the talks and the mood. Therefore I came to consult with you, Renya-san. (Liaris) I see, certainly it was a story that I usually would likely refuse right away if it was a story unrelated to me.However, the other party is Az and his lover.In short, if we provide fame and achievements to Liaris by finishing some large request of the guild, it will likely become possible to ignore Az home even if they come butting in, thats the story. Liaris, is your adventurer registration still valid? (Renya) Yes, even if one becomes a school teacher, the registration itself will remain valid. (Liaris) While ponderingwell then, what shall we do, Renya picks up the grilled soy sauceonigirifrom the net and tosses it to Liaris.Liaris catches it directly with a feeling of it being reflexive. Ah eh, its hot!? Hot~~~!? Its hot, Renya-san!? (Liaris) Eat it after it cooled down on a plate. (Renya)Visit Infinite Novel Translations Renya- -san. Its- a nice- scent. Please- give me- one- too. (Croire) Master, Frau as well! (Frau) Croire and Frau push out their plates with a force that one might ask whether they are schoolchildren without lunches.Lets try discuss matters once Shion and Rona return while placing the grilledonigirion their plates, huh?Renya decided. Chapter 68 Chapter 68 C It seems to be the choice of a subjugation target Theres always notices with requests posted on the guilds message board to an extent that one might be baffled by their amount.However, the requests posted there are either awfully easy or those where failure doesnt matter. There are few people who know that there are suitable substitutes.If really important requests and difficult requests were to be exposed in an unspecified large number to the eyes of all adventurers, that wouldnt be a good thing either.Requests of that type are secretly passed over to adventurers who have the appropriate skills and whom the guild deems suitable.Naturally if they accomplish such requests, the fame and reward, they can earn with that, cannot be compared to requests like the ones written on the guilds message board.Having said that, its not like such requests exist all the time.In the end Renya decided to accept a request from Liaris.He tried to consult with Shion and Rona, too, but their answer was that they wouldnt be able to accompany him as they were busy with various other issues though they couldnt talk about the details.Because of the information brought from the elven country the other day, continuous monitoring has been set up at the entrance to the Forest Labyrinth which is located in the forest that had been mostly destroyed by Renya and the construction of a fortress with a reasonable scale nearby has started with a quick pace.Theres a rumour that they are hurrying the formation of the garrison after having decided a permanent stationing of soldiers.As expected, its not like they can station a garrison there that will be able to repulse a group of monsters at the scale as the one which attacked the elven country. The fort puts emphasis on defence strength. Apparently there have been installed several escape doors so that the soldiers can escape swiftly in an emergency.Renya is somehow able to understand that Rona is busy related to that.Rona is calling herself a priestess for the time being, but in reality shes a Knight.You can pretty much call her an expert of military affairs in Kukrika which is close to the front lines.Even if she has been invited by that side, its nothing particularly weird.In contrast, what was odd was Shion being busy.I dont have the slightest idea about the reason for her being busy.Even if one considers her as combat potential, she is just a mere sword-woman and if compared with Renya, she doesnt possess anything but skills that fall far behind him.Its difficult to imagine for her to be summoned to get involved with the garrison.Although its very doubtful, theres no method to check whether she has been asked either.Its also possible for her to come for a talk sooner or later, if theres some problem.Around this point Renya stops thinking about this matter. There are- no- good- requests- here-, you know-? (Croire) Croire, who gazed at the message board, says.Renya made sure to have Croire accompany him as much as possible when he went out.Realising from the reaction of Liaris at the time she saw Croire, humans are generally surprised by seeing an elf.This was a reaction caused by their curiosity, but if thats the case, they will likely stop being surprised each and every time once they are able to see an elf at a rate that doesnt make it unusual, is Renyas idea.However, thats also no reason for having Croire wandering aimlessly by herself all over.Saying shes unusual can also be paraphrased into her having rare value.Renya doesnt know whether the situation of the public order in the city of Kukrika is satisfactory, but he cant definitely state that theres no kidnapping.And, in case such criminals became conscious of Croires existence, it might be possible for Croire, who would let them strike it rich, to experience a dangerous situation.Since thats the case, theres nothing left but for Renya himself to act as Croires guard and stay together with her. Well its not like we can idle around with a suitably moderate request either. (Renya) Theres a single reason why Renya decided to accept Liaris request.Thats because of the reward presented to Renya by Liaris.Liaris, who carried out requests as regular adventurer before she became a school teacher, offered Renya to hand over everything as long as its money she possesses herself and items she gathered in her adventuring days.As for the items she collected, Liaris, who apparently got a methodical character, wrote all of them on a list.Theres such stuff, Liaris gave that list, she brought along when she visited, to Renya. Seeing that list, Renya discovered an item that caught his eyes.The entry for that was written like this:No way, was Renyas frank impression.There was for some unknown reason only one item, which applies to this description, within Renyas knowledge.By staring at them, the scenery of the underworld emerges in ones mind and they will end up summoning what shouldnt be called. Its that.However, this is knowledge from my previous world, its quite unlikely for the same thing to exist in a different world.Even so, the resemblance is too much.For arguments sake, if its something else, there wont be any problem.However, if it was the same item as the one to be found in Renyas knowledge, its a far too dangerous item to be in the hands of a mere adventurer.While that may be true, I cant say it will be safe in my hands either, but as I understand at least what it is, it should be difficult for me to make mistakes in its treatment.In order to not appear overly unnatural, Renya told Liaris that he would accept the request on the condition of being given some money and goods, several items, that appear to be magic handicraft, and that small metal box as reward.Of course, in case he obtained the small box successfully, he intends to consult with Frau and to seal it away so that it wont ever be touched by people. At any rate, I dont quite understand what kind of job meets Liaris expectations. (Renya) A job- where you- can say- she- succeeded as- adventurer? (Croire) Certainly its very unlikely for it to become some crazy story where shes tossed into the vicinity of an orc nest and told to kill 100 orcs by herself, right? (Renya) Once you assess the phrase of killing 100 orcs, it might be taken in a different meaning, Renya thinks.In that case it would turn into the previous talk about fame or achievements and so on. Basically- it has to- be doable- by Liaris-san? (Croire) No, thats likely unreasonable, but you cant definitely call it her achievement if she doesnt fight herself to some extent, right? (Renya) Even if it was a talk about Renya searching as well as killing it and letting the credit go to Liaris, Renya himself doesnt mind at all, but it might get easily revealed if the person herself doesnt do anything.In that case, if she fought a bit, even if Im responsible for the greater parts, it will probably easier for her to say that its her achievement, Renya assessed. It will be fine even if she just stabs the target, thats half dead from my attacks, to finish it off, but I wonder just what kind of monster is convenient for that? (Renya) If it was- about an- elf-, I- could tell-, but if its- about a- human, I dont- know. (Croire) If its an elf, whats required for them to defeat to be regarded as remarkable? (Renya) That will- be a- manticore. (Croire) The monster called manticore is a monster living in forests and a being that has a strong appetite.It has wings similar to the membrane of bats and a tail with with a scorpion stinger attached.It is said that it possesses the body of a lion with a human face. It even has the nuisance of using magic even though only lower grade one.At any rate, it is a monster that eats well. If its elves or beasts, as long as its something that can enter its mouth, it will eat endlessly. Among the elves it was decided to exterminate it as soon as it was discovered while treating it as harmful monster.Since it has a brutal and uncontrollable nature, the act of crushing this manticore alone will warrant high praises for such an extremely honourable deed among the elves, Croire explained.In elven language.As it was impossible to explain it in common language, Croire gave up quickly, but she became teary-eyed from receiving Renyas iron claw, albeit a weak one, once she finished her explanation. Dont start rattling on and on in the elvish language all of a sudden, you idiot. (Renya) You are- cruel, Renya-san. Im seeing- stars- in front of- my eyes. (Croire) Dont worry as it will go away sooner or later. However, I wonder whether Liaris defeating a manticore will be a cause for her to be regarded as remarkable? (Renya) Moreover, will we be able to find it?, theres such a worry as well.As there are many large forests in the elven country, it looks like manticores themselves are monsters that appear fairly frequently, but one cant say that its the same on the human continent.Theres far less forests compared to the elven country. Since its normal for adventurers or a subjugation unit from the country to be dispatched as soon as such dangerous monsters are found, its difficult to find them as they lurk deep in the forests. Oh, ni-chan, its been a while. What did you do to have caught such extreme beauty? Coming to his senses from his thoughts due to the sudden voice directed at him, Renya turns his look in the direction of the voices owner.The one who was there was not only a middle-aged man but also an adventurer who had an appearance and equipment that made it really clear that he worked his way up.Renya, who rememberedits a face Ive seen somewhere, lightly greets him after recalling that its the adventurer who previously gave him information about the forest octopuses.Earlier than Renyas greeting, Croire bowed while smiling cheerfully.It looks like she apparently reacted to the word beauty. Its been a while. Didnt you participate in the forest subjugation request, ossan*? (Renya)(T/N: means middle-aged man in a slight derogative way, but kind of hard to put it in a proper English word) I intended to do so. But since my buddy told me that he received work in another matter and that I should go there, I wasnt able to participate. Well, if I think about it now, it was quite fortunate. Ive heard that almost all of those, who joined in on that request, were killed. I see. Which reminds me, the information from the other day saved me quite a bit of trouble. Those forest octopuses were certainly delicious. (Renya) The middle-aged adventurer makes a slightly surprised expression due to Renyas words. You managed to survive, didnt you? Thats amazing. It was probably good luck. (Renya) You are absolutely right. It is said that the forest was destroyed almost completely. Moreover that it was the deed of demons. It looks like theres currently an uproar about them building a fortress with a garrison in that neighbourhood. It has been turned into a deed by demons?Renya is slightly surprised about the information he heard for the first time.Certainly, calling it a natural disaster lacks persuasive power.Even if Renya decided to claim it, no one would probably believe him.Since that the case, the way of accusing the demons of being at fault for everything is easy. It seems to be something that is easily believable. So, ni-chan, why the hack are you pulling such difficult face in front of the message board eh, the beauty next to you is an elf!? Finally having noticed Croires ears, the adventurer raised a loud voice in surprise.Croires smile changes into something similar to being slightly troubled. Renya tells the adventurer while sighing once, Please dont raise your voice too much. It would be pitiful, if she became frightened. (Renya) Ah, yea, sorry. I have been doing this business for a long time, but leave alone counting elves on a hand, I havent seen them at all. I wronged you, too,ojou-chan. No, no need- to do- that. (Croire) Oy, ni-chan. The elf talked in the common language At the moment she is studying. Dont worry, the difficulties will vanish before long, too. (Renya) How unbelievable wont the higher ups of the city indulge in a bloodshed tomorrow? Due to the adventurer declaring that somewhat dumbfoundedly, Renya decided to try asking as he had nothing to lose anyway. There are a bit of special circumstances and its only for short term, however theres a fellow who wants to raise achievements in order to obtain agreement from quite a noble. (Renya) A noble, eh? Aint it difficult to just get their agreement as those fellows always find a way to find fault one way or the other? Thats true. We have taken that matter repeatedly into account. Dont you happen to know about a monster where even a noble likely wont be able to complain if its subjugated? (Renya) Well, I dont know The adventurer placed his hand on his chin and thought for a while and finally opened his mouth after he put his thoughts in order, If you want to obtain such an achievement, theres no point in talking about small fry. There aint no doubt that if you finish off one demon, there wont be anything beyond that necessary, but no matter how many lives youve got, it wont be enough if you fought against such a thing. Hmm. (Renya) Otherwise, isnt at least something like a dragon living inside the group of rocky mountains where the is located at, I wonder? Eh? The Hermits Tomb is close-by. A dragon is dwelling this close to the city? (Renya) The gathering of rocky mountains, where the Hermits Tomb can be found, is a place where Renya went once.Its a place that is just roughly 20 km away from the city.Renya pondered about the question whether it is a good thing for a dragon to dwell this close, but the adventurer denied Renyas words by shaking his head left and right. Ni-chan, do you remember at least the geography of the surroundings of the city, you are in? I told you that the dragons dwelling is deep inside the group of rocky mountains, right? It takes a few hours to walk to the gathering of rocky mountains, but you wont arrive there unless you advance north for another full day between the rocky mountains from thereon. Furthermore, you wont get there if you go at it half-heartedly since monsters appear on the way. Sub-dragons appear in that area, too. Sub-dragons? (Renya) Its wyvrens or rock dragons. They are weaker than a dragon, but that doesnt change the fact that they are formidable enemies. Will those guys turn into reasonable achievements? (Renya) That is, it will be no good if its only one or two, but if you defeat a number of them, it will likely result in quite an achievement. Is that so? If we go, we will generally run into a dragon? (Renya) Well, thats mostly certain, but ni-chan, do you seriously intend to go? Renya answered the adventurer donning a shocked expression with a smile. It looks like an opponent that lives in a place where I dont have to search overly much. If its impossible to subjugate them, it looks like I will be able to use the move of making do with defeating a number of those sub-dragons in the vicinity. (Renya) Its- unlikely for- there to be- a subjugation- request, but- it appears that- you can- make money- from- the raw materials. (Croire) The elfs look isnt overly surprised due to Renya talking about it thoughtlessly.Usually, if you were to talk about dragons, they are monsters above A-rank which can be defeated one way or another by adventurers joining together into a bigger party, but do these guys really know about that, I wonder, the middle-aged adventurer became worried. Chapter 68 C It seems to be the choice of a subjugation target Theres always notices with requests posted on the guilds message board to an extent that one might be baffled by their amount.However, the requests posted there are either awfully easy or those where failure doesnt matter. There are few people who know that there are suitable substitutes.If really important requests and difficult requests were to be exposed in an unspecified large number to the eyes of all adventurers, that wouldnt be a good thing either.Requests of that type are secretly passed over to adventurers who have the appropriate skills and whom the guild deems suitable.Naturally if they accomplish such requests, the fame and reward, they can earn with that, cannot be compared to requests like the ones written on the guilds message board.Having said that, its not like such requests exist all the time.In the end Renya decided to accept a request from Liaris.He tried to consult with Shion and Rona, too, but their answer was that they wouldnt be able to accompany him as they were busy with various other issues though they couldnt talk about the details.Because of the information brought from the elven country the other day, continuous monitoring has been set up at the entrance to the Forest Labyrinth which is located in the forest that had been mostly destroyed by Renya and the construction of a fortress with a reasonable scale nearby has started with a quick pace.Theres a rumour that they are hurrying the formation of the garrison after having decided a permanent stationing of soldiers.As expected, its not like they can station a garrison there that will be able to repulse a group of monsters at the scale as the one which attacked the elven country. The fort puts emphasis on defence strength. Apparently there have been installed several escape doors so that the soldiers can escape swiftly in an emergency.Renya is somehow able to understand that Rona is busy related to that.Rona is calling herself a priestess for the time being, but in reality shes a Knight.You can pretty much call her an expert of military affairs in Kukrika which is close to the front lines.Even if she has been invited by that side, its nothing particularly weird.In contrast, what was odd was Shion being busy.I dont have the slightest idea about the reason for her being busy.Even if one considers her as combat potential, she is just a mere sword-woman and if compared with Renya, she doesnt possess anything but skills that fall far behind him.Its difficult to imagine for her to be summoned to get involved with the garrison.Although its very doubtful, theres no method to check whether she has been asked either.Its also possible for her to come for a talk sooner or later, if theres some problem.Around this point Renya stops thinking about this matter. There are- no- good- requests- here-, you know-? (Croire) Croire, who gazed at the message board, says.Renya made sure to have Croire accompany him as much as possible when he went out.Realising from the reaction of Liaris at the time she saw Croire, humans are generally surprised by seeing an elf.This was a reaction caused by their curiosity, but if thats the case, they will likely stop being surprised each and every time once they are able to see an elf at a rate that doesnt make it unusual, is Renyas idea.However, thats also no reason for having Croire wandering aimlessly by herself all over.Saying shes unusual can also be paraphrased into her having rare value.Renya doesnt know whether the situation of the public order in the city of Kukrika is satisfactory, but he cant definitely state that theres no kidnapping.And, in case such criminals became conscious of Croires existence, it might be possible for Croire, who would let them strike it rich, to experience a dangerous situation.Since thats the case, theres nothing left but for Renya himself to act as Croires guard and stay together with her. Well its not like we can idle around with a suitably moderate request either. (Renya) Theres a single reason why Renya decided to accept Liaris request.Thats because of the reward presented to Renya by Liaris.Liaris, who carried out requests as regular adventurer before she became a school teacher, offered Renya to hand over everything as long as its money she possesses herself and items she gathered in her adventuring days.As for the items she collected, Liaris, who apparently got a methodical character, wrote all of them on a list.Theres such stuff, Liaris gave that list, she brought along when she visited, to Renya. Seeing that list, Renya discovered an item that caught his eyes.The entry for that was written like this:No way, was Renyas frank impression.There was for some unknown reason only one item, which applies to this description, within Renyas knowledge.By staring at them, the scenery of the underworld emerges in ones mind and they will end up summoning what shouldnt be called. Its that.However, this is knowledge from my previous world, its quite unlikely for the same thing to exist in a different world.Even so, the resemblance is too much.For arguments sake, if its something else, there wont be any problem.However, if it was the same item as the one to be found in Renyas knowledge, its a far too dangerous item to be in the hands of a mere adventurer.While that may be true, I cant say it will be safe in my hands either, but as I understand at least what it is, it should be difficult for me to make mistakes in its treatment.In order to not appear overly unnatural, Renya told Liaris that he would accept the request on the condition of being given some money and goods, several items, that appear to be magic handicraft, and that small metal box as reward.Of course, in case he obtained the small box successfully, he intends to consult with Frau and to seal it away so that it wont ever be touched by people. At any rate, I dont quite understand what kind of job meets Liaris expectations. (Renya) A job- where you- can say- she- succeeded as- adventurer? (Croire) Certainly its very unlikely for it to become some crazy story where shes tossed into the vicinity of an orc nest and told to kill 100 orcs by herself, right? (Renya) Once you assess the phrase of killing 100 orcs, it might be taken in a different meaning, Renya thinks.In that case it would turn into the previous talk about fame or achievements and so on. Basically- it has to- be doable- by Liaris-san? (Croire) No, thats likely unreasonable, but you cant definitely call it her achievement if she doesnt fight herself to some extent, right? (Renya) Even if it was a talk about Renya searching as well as killing it and letting the credit go to Liaris, Renya himself doesnt mind at all, but it might get easily revealed if the person herself doesnt do anything.In that case, if she fought a bit, even if Im responsible for the greater parts, it will probably easier for her to say that its her achievement, Renya assessed. It will be fine even if she just stabs the target, thats half dead from my attacks, to finish it off, but I wonder just what kind of monster is convenient for that? (Renya) If it was- about an- elf-, I- could tell-, but if its- about a- human, I dont- know. (Croire) If its an elf, whats required for them to defeat to be regarded as remarkable? (Renya) That will- be a- manticore. (Croire) The monster called manticore is a monster living in forests and a being that has a strong appetite.It has wings similar to the membrane of bats and a tail with with a scorpion stinger attached.It is said that it possesses the body of a lion with a human face. It even has the nuisance of using magic even though only lower grade one.At any rate, it is a monster that eats well. If its elves or beasts, as long as its something that can enter its mouth, it will eat endlessly. Among the elves it was decided to exterminate it as soon as it was discovered while treating it as harmful monster.Since it has a brutal and uncontrollable nature, the act of crushing this manticore alone will warrant high praises for such an extremely honourable deed among the elves, Croire explained.In elven language.As it was impossible to explain it in common language, Croire gave up quickly, but she became teary-eyed from receiving Renyas iron claw, albeit a weak one, once she finished her explanation. Dont start rattling on and on in the elvish language all of a sudden, you idiot. (Renya) You are- cruel, Renya-san. Im seeing- stars- in front of- my eyes. (Croire) Dont worry as it will go away sooner or later. However, I wonder whether Liaris defeating a manticore will be a cause for her to be regarded as remarkable? (Renya) Moreover, will we be able to find it?, theres such a worry as well.As there are many large forests in the elven country, it looks like manticores themselves are monsters that appear fairly frequently, but one cant say that its the same on the human continent.Theres far less forests compared to the elven country. Since its normal for adventurers or a subjugation unit from the country to be dispatched as soon as such dangerous monsters are found, its difficult to find them as they lurk deep in the forests. Oh, ni-chan, its been a while. What did you do to have caught such extreme beauty? Coming to his senses from his thoughts due to the sudden voice directed at him, Renya turns his look in the direction of the voices owner.The one who was there was not only a middle-aged man but also an adventurer who had an appearance and equipment that made it really clear that he worked his way up.Renya, who rememberedits a face Ive seen somewhere, lightly greets him after recalling that its the adventurer who previously gave him information about the forest octopuses.Earlier than Renyas greeting, Croire bowed while smiling cheerfully.It looks like she apparently reacted to the word beauty. Its been a while. Didnt you participate in the forest subjugation request, ossan*? (Renya)(T/N: means middle-aged man in a slight derogative way, but kind of hard to put it in a proper English word) I intended to do so. But since my buddy told me that he received work in another matter and that I should go there, I wasnt able to participate. Well, if I think about it now, it was quite fortunate. Ive heard that almost all of those, who joined in on that request, were killed. I see. Which reminds me, the information from the other day saved me quite a bit of trouble. Those forest octopuses were certainly delicious. (Renya) The middle-aged adventurer makes a slightly surprised expression due to Renyas words. You managed to survive, didnt you? Thats amazing. It was probably good luck. (Renya) You are absolutely right. It is said that the forest was destroyed almost completely. Moreover that it was the deed of demons. It looks like theres currently an uproar about them building a fortress with a garrison in that neighbourhood. It has been turned into a deed by demons?Renya is slightly surprised about the information he heard for the first time.Certainly, calling it a natural disaster lacks persuasive power.Even if Renya decided to claim it, no one would probably believe him.Since that the case, the way of accusing the demons of being at fault for everything is easy. It seems to be something that is easily believable. So, ni-chan, why the hack are you pulling such difficult face in front of the message board eh, the beauty next to you is an elf!? Finally having noticed Croires ears, the adventurer raised a loud voice in surprise.Croires smile changes into something similar to being slightly troubled. Renya tells the adventurer while sighing once, Please dont raise your voice too much. It would be pitiful, if she became frightened. (Renya) Ah, yea, sorry. I have been doing this business for a long time, but leave alone counting elves on a hand, I havent seen them at all. I wronged you, too,ojou-chan. No, no need- to do- that. (Croire) Oy, ni-chan. The elf talked in the common language At the moment she is studying. Dont worry, the difficulties will vanish before long, too. (Renya) How unbelievable wont the higher ups of the city indulge in a bloodshed tomorrow? Due to the adventurer declaring that somewhat dumbfoundedly, Renya decided to try asking as he had nothing to lose anyway. There are a bit of special circumstances and its only for short term, however theres a fellow who wants to raise achievements in order to obtain agreement from quite a noble. (Renya) A noble, eh? Aint it difficult to just get their agreement as those fellows always find a way to find fault one way or the other? Thats true. We have taken that matter repeatedly into account. Dont you happen to know about a monster where even a noble likely wont be able to complain if its subjugated? (Renya) Well, I dont know The adventurer placed his hand on his chin and thought for a while and finally opened his mouth after he put his thoughts in order, If you want to obtain such an achievement, theres no point in talking about small fry. There aint no doubt that if you finish off one demon, there wont be anything beyond that necessary, but no matter how many lives youve got, it wont be enough if you fought against such a thing. Hmm. (Renya) Otherwise, isnt at least something like a dragon living inside the group of rocky mountains where the is located at, I wonder? Eh? The Hermits Tomb is close-by. A dragon is dwelling this close to the city? (Renya) The gathering of rocky mountains, where the Hermits Tomb can be found, is a place where Renya went once.Its a place that is just roughly 20 km away from the city.Renya pondered about the question whether it is a good thing for a dragon to dwell this close, but the adventurer denied Renyas words by shaking his head left and right. Ni-chan, do you remember at least the geography of the surroundings of the city, you are in? I told you that the dragons dwelling is deep inside the group of rocky mountains, right? It takes a few hours to walk to the gathering of rocky mountains, but you wont arrive there unless you advance north for another full day between the rocky mountains from thereon. Furthermore, you wont get there if you go at it half-heartedly since monsters appear on the way. Sub-dragons appear in that area, too. Sub-dragons? (Renya) Its wyvrens or rock dragons. They are weaker than a dragon, but that doesnt change the fact that they are formidable enemies. Will those guys turn into reasonable achievements? (Renya) That is, it will be no good if its only one or two, but if you defeat a number of them, it will likely result in quite an achievement. Is that so? If we go, we will generally run into a dragon? (Renya) Well, thats mostly certain, but ni-chan, do you seriously intend to go? Renya answered the adventurer donning a shocked expression with a smile. It looks like an opponent that lives in a place where I dont have to search overly much. If its impossible to subjugate them, it looks like I will be able to use the move of making do with defeating a number of those sub-dragons in the vicinity. (Renya) Its- unlikely for- there to be- a subjugation- request, but- it appears that- you can- make money- from- the raw materials. (Croire) The elfs look isnt overly surprised due to Renya talking about it thoughtlessly.Usually, if you were to talk about dragons, they are monsters above A-rank which can be defeated one way or another by adventurers joining together into a bigger party, but do these guys really know about that, I wonder, the middle-aged adventurer became worried. Chapter 69 Chapter 69 C It seems to be the beginning of the subjugation Renya harbours the impressionI wonder if it went slightly amiss?due to the attire of Croire who is walking next to him.They are in the middle of a road that cant be even called a road as its trying to weave its way through the mountain scenery which could be simply called a field of rocks. They had to push through until quite deep into the group of rocky mountains where the Tomb of the Recluse supposedly lies and which is the location they are aiming for.Originally things started after questioning what will happen if you can make a mithril ingot as thin and wide-spread as possible by simply striking it. Renya noticed that mithril keeps a moderate durability once it becomes completely spread-out and thin like a gold leaf when he tried to hit it thoroughly.If its like this, isnt it possible to create something resembling what is called a gold threat in my previous world?and handed it over to Frauas I probably should request an expert related to fibres to handle it.Frau, who received a rustling mithril foil thats thinner than paper from Renya, returned to Renyas location making a troubled expression after having asked something from Shion, Rona and Croire. What happened? (Renya) Shion-ane-sama has said that something like mithril equipment is unusable and wasteful ~no. For Rona-ane-sama it looks like white is no good because she has decided on black for her priestess garb ~no. Only Croire-chan is okay with anything as long as she can wear it. (Frau) I dont understand why Im expected to make clothes for the female camp, but since it has become like this, isnt it fine for you to create a complete set for Croire for the time being? (Renya) Thats what I shall do ~no. Is it fine for Frau to make her own share as well? (Frau) I dont mind, but I intend to pass you what Id like you to create as prototype, you know. (Renya) It seems that the talk has suddenly turned into officially creating equipment, but once he sees Frau being full of spirit to give it a go, Renya decided to leave it alone not caring what she has to do or wants to do without any intention to meddle any further.There was something Renya had to do.Without informing Liaris of the destination, he simply told her to make sure being able to take days off from school at any time as they would proceed with a meeting once they were able to finish the common preparations.Once they gathered and bought the necessary materials in the city, Renya began to create a certain something after secluding himself in the workshop.Its an indispensable equipment for Liaris to be allowed to accompany them on something like a dragon subjugation as its a task not accomplish-able for a normal low-ranking adventurer.What he created after taking a full day is an extremely boorish complete set of a full body armour.All of it is covered in bulky steel armour. Its an item where one will immediately know that its likely not supposed to be worn by a human if one considers its weight.Renya affixed one layer of the same mithril foil, he had given to Frau, all around the armour, regardless of back or front side.Renya realized it while working with it, but the metal called mithril had a level of strength that could be called somewhat more durable than iron as raw material.Even while processing it, he was able to treat it very normally just like the usual equipment.Although it wasnt completely the same, Renya couldnt consider it a raw material that has overly much meaning except its rarity.It was at the time he stabbed it with a small iron knife, he created as trial, that he noticed his perception of mithril being mistaken.Of course, Renya tried to stab iron with a mithril knife as well, but far from stabbing the iron, it just caused a high-pitched clanking sound. Being disappointed by the mithril being useless, he tried to seriously slash the iron with the mithril knife after he decided to melt it down.As result, the mithril blade split the lump of iron, he cut at, into two from the place where the blade bit into the iron without it breaking either.Renya, who was surprised by the overly lacking resistance, guesseddoesnt it seem like the metal called mithril is a metal that changes its property responding to the users intention?This was later on supported by the explanation from Croire.Apparently mithril is a telepathic material which understands its users intention, absorbs their mana and changes its property by consuming that mana.In other words, at the time of processing it, it would react to the intention of wanting to process it and thus it would accordingly become easier to process it. It was something said to become strong against fire and cold and turn solid after reacting to the will of protection once it was made into shields or armour.The rice cooker, which was created by Renya, has a property of being usable as regular rice cooker because no ones hand touched it while it was held into the fire. In case it was an utensil that will be touched by simple contemporaries like a fry pan, it will be reduced to a defective tool that wont let any heat through as long as some of the people using it silently pray for it to not be hot.What Renya created after he understood that is a full-body armour with a mithril coating which is definitely far too heavy to walk and wear with the power of a human. Its an- armour-? (Croire) Yea, well you might be reluctant about it, Croire, but its something necessary. (Renya) If I normally take along Liaris on a dragon subjugation, she will definitely die.Even if she just received the after-effects of something like proper breath attack, there was no doubt that she would likely be on the verge of death.Therefore, what Renya created is that armour which is one-sidedly devoted to defence power.Because he was worried about its defensive strength with just Liaris mana, he installed plenty of magic gems he had received from Frau, but as result Renya couldnt see it as anything but a gorgeous coffin from his point of view.At any rate, its an item where she wont be able to take one step while wearing it.Its fine to say that it has no practical use.Even Croire, who didnt think overly well of Renya using the mithril for an armour at first, shows an expression filled with curiosity wondering just how the heck will she use that with its current lack of practical use?As it looks that it will become troublesome in various ways if I explain it, Renya stored it away just like that in his inventory. Its-fine-. Apart from- that, what do- you think, about- this attire? (Croire) While saying this, what Croire showed was the attire she is currently wearing while walking next to Renya.From the top, a snow white long-sleeved shirt, a likewise snow white gown, a similarly snow white flare skirt and below that, knee-high jet-black socks.Her hands have black gloves where the fingers are not covered and her feet are outfitted with high laced boots that reach up to below her knees.The shirt and skirt have been made using something as luxurious as mithril foil that was stitched in with silver threads. Dazzlingly shining when basked by the daylight, she turned into a fairytale-like beauty coupled with the beauty of elves, but one might also say that she stands out too much in a certain meaning.At least, along the path through the dreary rocky mountains she was extremely like a sore thumb with her conspicuousness.The one one following while out of breath from behind them is Liaris.Even though she came here for a subjugation, she wears her usual city attire without even having a sword or any armour.Going by her own judgement, she cannot help but calling it madness, but those are Renyas instructions. It suits you. Its very cute. But isnt that an attire that is a bit unfitting for a mountain hike? (Renya) Thats- also true-. But-, as those- socks- and such- are very durable- Frau-san- made them- so my feet- wont be- injured. (Croire) Re-Renya-san? Just how far do we have to walk have you said? In such dress I (Liaris) Mmh? (Renya) Ah, no, its not like I want to complain or anything like that though. (Liaris) Did she think Renya would take offence? Liaris waved her hand and head in panic, but Renya raised his voice in reaction to something totally different. Croire, does it look like something is flying up in the sky ahead? (Renya) Renya-san-, your eyes- are good. I think- thats a- wyvren. The distance- is around- 600m. (Croire) I see. Just the right target for some testing before the real deal. Liaris, this way. (Renya) Ye-Yes? (Liaris) Liaris, who doesnt understand at all what will happen after this, approaches Renya while being beckoned by him.In front of her eyes Renya took out the mithril-coated full body armour from his inventory.Once he lays it down on the ground so that it faces up and quickly unfastens its clasps, the whole armour opens into two parts. Renya instructs Liaris to lie down into the part of the armour that is lying on the ground. Umm, what the heck? (Liaris) Theres no time. Listen, lie down quickly. (Renya) Renya-san-, that side- seems to- have noticed- us. (Croire) Once he directed his sight ahead of the path upon Croires warning, he saw the wyvren flying this way slowly.The wyvren is a sub-dragon which is a large fore-footed lizard that has wings made out of bat-like membranes.Its overall length is around 3 m. Although it doesnt use any kind of breath, it has a stinger at the tip of its tail that possesses a powerful paralysing poison, is the information Renya heard at the guild.As for its strength; its not hopelessly powerful, but as its definitely classified as strong monster, it views adventurers, who arent used to attacks from the sky, as easy prey. Its coming this way. Look! Get inside fast! (Renya) U-Understood. (Liaris) Liaris lies down in the armour in a hurry.Confirming that, Renya shuts the lid right away and fastens the clasps. Renya-san-, its here! (Croire) Please defend against the first attack! (Renya) You are saying something splendidly unreasonable, arent you? (Croire) Croire, who confronted the wyvren that tries to hit her with its hind-legs as it nose-dives from the sky, cried loudly while cursing at Renya in the elven language. ! (Croire) The flight of the wyvren, that was going to attack, is disturbed by the rolled up wind.Did it think it might crash to the ground if it started a forced attack? They wyvren temporarily abandons its attack and takes a distance by circling.Its jaw, that had jagged fangs lined up, raised a terribly grating roar. Renya-san! That guys is calling its friends! (Croire) Hey, Croire. (Renya) What is it!? The second time will be quite close, Im sure! (Croire) That skirt its an impregnable wall, isnt it* (Renya)(T/N: expresses disappointment) Due to Renya saying that calmly, Croires cheek became slightly red while shes holding down her skirts hem. If you want to see, I will roll it up for you as much as you like! Bah, what am I saying!? (Croire) That will get you fired up once more, wont it? (Renya) While laughing frivolously, Renya, who fixed the last fastener, calls out to Liaris whos inside the armour. Listen up, Liaris. If you dont want to die, desperately pray to become tough. Got it? Its also fine to think about you hating pain or you not wanting to die. At any rate, be proactive about it, understood? (Renya) Y-Yes! (Liaris) Alright, get ready in various ways. (Renya) Eh!? (Liaris) Liaris was flooded with scruples due to Renyas remark, but she was already in a situation where escape by her own power was impossible.Its an armour where the person inside cant remove the armour with their own hands if they are even unable to get up thanks to its weight.Once he took his eyes off Liaris and looked up to the sky, the number of wyvrens, who were observing the situation over here while circling, had increased to four. They are increasing! They have increased, Renya-san! (Croire) Since the shouting Croire started to talk fluently she has likely been continuously using the elven language. Alright, lets go, Liaris. Its okay, I have experimented with it myself more or less! (Renya) O-Okay? (Liaris) Non-attribute, enhanced activation, . (Renya) Hyaa (Liaris) The armour, which was stretched out on the ground, jumped up to the sky with a terrific force while leaving a short scream behind.Likely the scream itself was something long-lasting, but it probably became quickly inaudible as she ended up attaining quite the altitude, Renya judged.The manipulation spell is a non-attribute spell which moves items without using ones hands.For a common magic practitioner its a spell that allows moving item, which are at the level of being holdable by one hand, with a suitable momentum. Never, ever is it a spell that can lift up something to a distance where a scream cant be heard and that lightly raises an armour with a weight, that makes it sink into the ground, by only one person.Its a technique accomplishing a questionable cutting of corners by making an item reach a place with magic by using only its initial force without continuing to prolong the spells effect in addition to an amplification of the effect by consuming large amounts of mana.In other words, for Renya its a feeling of playing a juggling game with the heavy armour, which had Liaris inside, with an invisible, huge hand.Even the wyvrens, who are circling above Renyas head, were apparently surprised by this. Their attention turned towards the armour which suddenly came flying.In that instant Renya activated the second manipulation of the spell and threw Liaris body vigorously at one of the wyvrens.The wyvren took evasive measures in panic, but it was already too late at the moment it realized the approach.The mumbling and screaming lump of metal clashes into the abdomen at the flank of the wyvren that failed to evade.At that moment the wyvren raised a scream and the abdomens flesh at the flank burst open.Scattering around fragments of flesh and drops of blood, the wyvren falls down.At that time theres already a sudden change in the flight direction of Liaris body. It blows off the head of another wyvren.Ahead of the look of Croire, who is gazing at the sky in a daze while being taken aback, the armour, which had Liaris inside and continued to freely soar through the sky, pierces the bodies of two more wyvrens and comes down just like that.Falling down to a location visible by Renya and Croire, it lands gently on the ground after being stopped as if being caught by an invisible hand just on the verge of crashing into the ground. Renya -san (Croire) Did her eyes roll over?Croire turns a somewhat accusing gaze at Renya due to the armours posture of not moving with a twitch anymore and only raising groans of uh uh. Hasnt Liaris defeated four wyvrens with this? (Renya) The sounds of four dead wyvren bodies crashing to the groundin succession reverberated in the surroundings of Renya who declared that nonchalantly without showing any remorse. Chapter 69 C It seems to be the beginning of the subjugation Renya harbours the impressionI wonder if it went slightly amiss?due to the attire of Croire who is walking next to him.They are in the middle of a road that cant be even called a road as its trying to weave its way through the mountain scenery which could be simply called a field of rocks. They had to push through until quite deep into the group of rocky mountains where the Tomb of the Recluse supposedly lies and which is the location they are aiming for.Originally things started after questioning what will happen if you can make a mithril ingot as thin and wide-spread as possible by simply striking it. Renya noticed that mithril keeps a moderate durability once it becomes completely spread-out and thin like a gold leaf when he tried to hit it thoroughly.If its like this, isnt it possible to create something resembling what is called a gold threat in my previous world?and handed it over to Frauas I probably should request an expert related to fibres to handle it.Frau, who received a rustling mithril foil thats thinner than paper from Renya, returned to Renyas location making a troubled expression after having asked something from Shion, Rona and Croire. What happened? (Renya) Shion-ane-sama has said that something like mithril equipment is unusable and wasteful ~no. For Rona-ane-sama it looks like white is no good because she has decided on black for her priestess garb ~no. Only Croire-chan is okay with anything as long as she can wear it. (Frau) I dont understand why Im expected to make clothes for the female camp, but since it has become like this, isnt it fine for you to create a complete set for Croire for the time being? (Renya) Thats what I shall do ~no. Is it fine for Frau to make her own share as well? (Frau) I dont mind, but I intend to pass you what Id like you to create as prototype, you know. (Renya) It seems that the talk has suddenly turned into officially creating equipment, but once he sees Frau being full of spirit to give it a go, Renya decided to leave it alone not caring what she has to do or wants to do without any intention to meddle any further.There was something Renya had to do.Without informing Liaris of the destination, he simply told her to make sure being able to take days off from school at any time as they would proceed with a meeting once they were able to finish the common preparations.Once they gathered and bought the necessary materials in the city, Renya began to create a certain something after secluding himself in the workshop.Its an indispensable equipment for Liaris to be allowed to accompany them on something like a dragon subjugation as its a task not accomplish-able for a normal low-ranking adventurer.What he created after taking a full day is an extremely boorish complete set of a full body armour.All of it is covered in bulky steel armour. Its an item where one will immediately know that its likely not supposed to be worn by a human if one considers its weight.Renya affixed one layer of the same mithril foil, he had given to Frau, all around the armour, regardless of back or front side.Renya realized it while working with it, but the metal called mithril had a level of strength that could be called somewhat more durable than iron as raw material.Even while processing it, he was able to treat it very normally just like the usual equipment.Although it wasnt completely the same, Renya couldnt consider it a raw material that has overly much meaning except its rarity.It was at the time he stabbed it with a small iron knife, he created as trial, that he noticed his perception of mithril being mistaken.Of course, Renya tried to stab iron with a mithril knife as well, but far from stabbing the iron, it just caused a high-pitched clanking sound. Being disappointed by the mithril being useless, he tried to seriously slash the iron with the mithril knife after he decided to melt it down.As result, the mithril blade split the lump of iron, he cut at, into two from the place where the blade bit into the iron without it breaking either.Renya, who was surprised by the overly lacking resistance, guesseddoesnt it seem like the metal called mithril is a metal that changes its property responding to the users intention?This was later on supported by the explanation from Croire.Apparently mithril is a telepathic material which understands its users intention, absorbs their mana and changes its property by consuming that mana.In other words, at the time of processing it, it would react to the intention of wanting to process it and thus it would accordingly become easier to process it. It was something said to become strong against fire and cold and turn solid after reacting to the will of protection once it was made into shields or armour.The rice cooker, which was created by Renya, has a property of being usable as regular rice cooker because no ones hand touched it while it was held into the fire. In case it was an utensil that will be touched by simple contemporaries like a fry pan, it will be reduced to a defective tool that wont let any heat through as long as some of the people using it silently pray for it to not be hot.What Renya created after he understood that is a full-body armour with a mithril coating which is definitely far too heavy to walk and wear with the power of a human. Its an- armour-? (Croire) Yea, well you might be reluctant about it, Croire, but its something necessary. (Renya) If I normally take along Liaris on a dragon subjugation, she will definitely die.Even if she just received the after-effects of something like proper breath attack, there was no doubt that she would likely be on the verge of death.Therefore, what Renya created is that armour which is one-sidedly devoted to defence power.Because he was worried about its defensive strength with just Liaris mana, he installed plenty of magic gems he had received from Frau, but as result Renya couldnt see it as anything but a gorgeous coffin from his point of view.At any rate, its an item where she wont be able to take one step while wearing it.Its fine to say that it has no practical use.Even Croire, who didnt think overly well of Renya using the mithril for an armour at first, shows an expression filled with curiosity wondering just how the heck will she use that with its current lack of practical use?As it looks that it will become troublesome in various ways if I explain it, Renya stored it away just like that in his inventory. Its-fine-. Apart from- that, what do- you think, about- this attire? (Croire) While saying this, what Croire showed was the attire she is currently wearing while walking next to Renya.From the top, a snow white long-sleeved shirt, a likewise snow white gown, a similarly snow white flare skirt and below that, knee-high jet-black socks.Her hands have black gloves where the fingers are not covered and her feet are outfitted with high laced boots that reach up to below her knees.The shirt and skirt have been made using something as luxurious as mithril foil that was stitched in with silver threads. Dazzlingly shining when basked by the daylight, she turned into a fairytale-like beauty coupled with the beauty of elves, but one might also say that she stands out too much in a certain meaning.At least, along the path through the dreary rocky mountains she was extremely like a sore thumb with her conspicuousness.The one one following while out of breath from behind them is Liaris.Even though she came here for a subjugation, she wears her usual city attire without even having a sword or any armour.Going by her own judgement, she cannot help but calling it madness, but those are Renyas instructions. It suits you. Its very cute. But isnt that an attire that is a bit unfitting for a mountain hike? (Renya) Thats- also true-. But-, as those- socks- and such- are very durable- Frau-san- made them- so my feet- wont be- injured. (Croire) Re-Renya-san? Just how far do we have to walk have you said? In such dress I (Liaris) Mmh? (Renya) Ah, no, its not like I want to complain or anything like that though. (Liaris) Did she think Renya would take offence? Liaris waved her hand and head in panic, but Renya raised his voice in reaction to something totally different. Croire, does it look like something is flying up in the sky ahead? (Renya) Renya-san-, your eyes- are good. I think- thats a- wyvren. The distance- is around- 600m. (Croire) I see. Just the right target for some testing before the real deal. Liaris, this way. (Renya) Ye-Yes? (Liaris) Liaris, who doesnt understand at all what will happen after this, approaches Renya while being beckoned by him.In front of her eyes Renya took out the mithril-coated full body armour from his inventory.Once he lays it down on the ground so that it faces up and quickly unfastens its clasps, the whole armour opens into two parts. Renya instructs Liaris to lie down into the part of the armour that is lying on the ground. Umm, what the heck? (Liaris) Theres no time. Listen, lie down quickly. (Renya) Renya-san-, that side- seems to- have noticed- us. (Croire) Once he directed his sight ahead of the path upon Croires warning, he saw the wyvren flying this way slowly.The wyvren is a sub-dragon which is a large fore-footed lizard that has wings made out of bat-like membranes.Its overall length is around 3 m. Although it doesnt use any kind of breath, it has a stinger at the tip of its tail that possesses a powerful paralysing poison, is the information Renya heard at the guild.As for its strength; its not hopelessly powerful, but as its definitely classified as strong monster, it views adventurers, who arent used to attacks from the sky, as easy prey. Its coming this way. Look! Get inside fast! (Renya) U-Understood. (Liaris) Liaris lies down in the armour in a hurry.Confirming that, Renya shuts the lid right away and fastens the clasps. Renya-san-, its here! (Croire) Please defend against the first attack! (Renya) You are saying something splendidly unreasonable, arent you? (Croire) Croire, who confronted the wyvren that tries to hit her with its hind-legs as it nose-dives from the sky, cried loudly while cursing at Renya in the elven language. ! (Croire) The flight of the wyvren, that was going to attack, is disturbed by the rolled up wind.Did it think it might crash to the ground if it started a forced attack? They wyvren temporarily abandons its attack and takes a distance by circling.Its jaw, that had jagged fangs lined up, raised a terribly grating roar. Renya-san! That guys is calling its friends! (Croire) Hey, Croire. (Renya) What is it!? The second time will be quite close, Im sure! (Croire) That skirt its an impregnable wall, isnt it* (Renya)(T/N: expresses disappointment) Due to Renya saying that calmly, Croires cheek became slightly red while shes holding down her skirts hem. If you want to see, I will roll it up for you as much as you like! Bah, what am I saying!? (Croire) That will get you fired up once more, wont it? (Renya) While laughing frivolously, Renya, who fixed the last fastener, calls out to Liaris whos inside the armour. Listen up, Liaris. If you dont want to die, desperately pray to become tough. Got it? Its also fine to think about you hating pain or you not wanting to die. At any rate, be proactive about it, understood? (Renya) Y-Yes! (Liaris) Alright, get ready in various ways. (Renya) Eh!? (Liaris) Liaris was flooded with scruples due to Renyas remark, but she was already in a situation where escape by her own power was impossible.Its an armour where the person inside cant remove the armour with their own hands if they are even unable to get up thanks to its weight.Once he took his eyes off Liaris and looked up to the sky, the number of wyvrens, who were observing the situation over here while circling, had increased to four. They are increasing! They have increased, Renya-san! (Croire) Since the shouting Croire started to talk fluently she has likely been continuously using the elven language. Alright, lets go, Liaris. Its okay, I have experimented with it myself more or less! (Renya) O-Okay? (Liaris) Non-attribute, enhanced activation, . (Renya) Hyaa (Liaris) The armour, which was stretched out on the ground, jumped up to the sky with a terrific force while leaving a short scream behind.Likely the scream itself was something long-lasting, but it probably became quickly inaudible as she ended up attaining quite the altitude, Renya judged.The manipulation spell is a non-attribute spell which moves items without using ones hands.For a common magic practitioner its a spell that allows moving item, which are at the level of being holdable by one hand, with a suitable momentum. Never, ever is it a spell that can lift up something to a distance where a scream cant be heard and that lightly raises an armour with a weight, that makes it sink into the ground, by only one person.Its a technique accomplishing a questionable cutting of corners by making an item reach a place with magic by using only its initial force without continuing to prolong the spells effect in addition to an amplification of the effect by consuming large amounts of mana.In other words, for Renya its a feeling of playing a juggling game with the heavy armour, which had Liaris inside, with an invisible, huge hand.Even the wyvrens, who are circling above Renyas head, were apparently surprised by this. Their attention turned towards the armour which suddenly came flying.In that instant Renya activated the second manipulation of the spell and threw Liaris body vigorously at one of the wyvrens.The wyvren took evasive measures in panic, but it was already too late at the moment it realized the approach.The mumbling and screaming lump of metal clashes into the abdomen at the flank of the wyvren that failed to evade.At that moment the wyvren raised a scream and the abdomens flesh at the flank burst open.Scattering around fragments of flesh and drops of blood, the wyvren falls down.At that time theres already a sudden change in the flight direction of Liaris body. It blows off the head of another wyvren.Ahead of the look of Croire, who is gazing at the sky in a daze while being taken aback, the armour, which had Liaris inside and continued to freely soar through the sky, pierces the bodies of two more wyvrens and comes down just like that.Falling down to a location visible by Renya and Croire, it lands gently on the ground after being stopped as if being caught by an invisible hand just on the verge of crashing into the ground. Renya -san (Croire) Did her eyes roll over?Croire turns a somewhat accusing gaze at Renya due to the armours posture of not moving with a twitch anymore and only raising groans of uh uh. Hasnt Liaris defeated four wyvrens with this? (Renya) The sounds of four dead wyvren bodies crashing to the groundin succession reverberated in the surroundings of Renya who declared that nonchalantly without showing any remorse. Chapter 70 Chapter 70 C It seems to be Liaris great activity The mithril-made daggers blade runs across the body of a wyvren.The tough scales and skin, which are not penetrated easily if its a normal blade, have almost no feeling of a resistance-like repulsion towards the mithril blade, which absorbed the will and mana of its wielder, and are cut open easily.Read the chapter at Infinite Novel Translations!The scales dont have much value as raw material since they are nothing more than fairly tough, but even so they are in demand as raw materials for low-priced armours. Once you apply various treatments on them, they can also become an ingredient for medicine.Since the skin is versatile on top of being durable, it fetches quite the high price as raw material.Once you clear away the scales and skin, a whitish flesh will become visible below them.Its great that theres no need to drain the blood as it has a large hole in the abdomen and the heads gone, while thinking that, Renya briskly cuts out that flesh.This part isnt circulating on the market overly much, or rather the fault lies in the lack of a supply source, but since Renya heard that its a very delicious ingredient, which kept the refined taste of its fat while having a soft meat quality, he properly dressed the meat and put it into his inventory.However, it doesnt seem like we will be able to eat all of it. Mainly the meat from the breast, back, leg, the area around the neck and the tail are usable as ingredient.Moreover, once he makes his way to the internal organs, theres a candy-sized magic gem just above the heart.Of course he secures that.Its an item that Renya doesnt regard as anything but having the value of glass marble by now due to the mass-production by Frau, but its not like Renya has a leeway to the extent of neglecting and not collecting an item that can be turned into money.Moreover, Renya was dying to secure the entrails as ingredients, but since he hesitates to make the stomach and guts of a carnivorous monster into ingredients, he leaves them alone although hes interested in them.I thought that at least the heart and liver would be alright, but although I was able to guess which is the heart since its moving, I dont know at all which is the liver.Even if I consider that this might be it somehow or another, I dont have any confidence in my judgement.Its a kind of animal that didnt exist in my previous world after all.If I think that it might be the liver, theres remaining the possibility of it being something completely different of which I dont even know the name no matter what.In the end Renya hesitated quite a bit and tearfully decided to give up on securing the liver.Even if I wanted an advice, Croire has said that she hasnt done something like the dismantling of a wyvren and the other person isThinking up to this point, Renya looks up to the sky.There, with a feeling of having given up in a lot of ways, human-shaped steel is flying in the air with both its arms and legs swinging around while they are dangling loosely.When that body soared once again through the sky, a flower of bright red blood bloomed in the sky. 15 targets have been shot down (Croire) Croires voice has a somewhat hollow tone.At the beginning she was clamouring around next to Renya, but stopping to make a fuss as time passed, she now limited herself to simply gazing with a somewhat distance look at the whereabouts of Liaris, who is continuing to soar through the sky, and the dismantling of Renya donning an expression of having given up in various ways as well. Although wyvrens are welcome, rock dragons are no good. They have no use. (Renya) Are they lured in by the smell of the spilled blood of the dead wyvrens?One sub-dragon after the other appeared at the location of Renya and the others.Most of them were wyvrens, but sometimes theres a rock dragon mixed in as well.Just as its name states, the rock dragons have their whole body covered by a hard skin which is rugged and tough like a rock. The damage transmission through plain blows wasnt good.He tried to defeat them by changing it into a showering of Liaris blows as it couldnt be helped, but once they were brought down, their hard skin became a hindrance in the dismantling next.Moreover, with that skin being too hard, it isnt suited for processing either.Is the moving of that heavy body for the purpose of delivering a finishing blow?The flesh was also tough and hard to chew.As result of his expectationmaybe theres delicious meat hiding below the hard skinbeing betrayed, Renya felt disappointed.As its not possible to eat it and raw materials cant be harvested either due to its plain toughness and sturdiness, its a harassment-like monster.After having defeated several of them, Renya chops them up with wind magic as soon as he finds them and leaves them as they are.Given that they are completely scattered after having been turned into mince meat, theres no concern about them changing into undead. However, if this skirmish ends up being this showy I have a feeling that its fine even if we dont go especially for a dragon in reverse. (Renya) Do- you intend- to- defeat a- dragon- with that- as well? (Croire) Thats right Its difficult to speak about having participated in the battle, if she doesnt land at least one hit, right? (Renya) Even in- the current- state its- hard to call- it like- that, I- believe. (Croire) Is that so? Renya looks up to the armour flying above his head.Certainly, the one doing the manipulation is me, but its an unmistakable fact that they wyvrens are defeated by the ramming attacks of Liaris whos inside the armour, if you only look at the results.However, its nothing more but the person herself having absolutely no freedom of action.Even if they were to examine the authenticity with a divination*, its likely unthinkable for them to judge it as lie, Renya is certain of that.(T/N: I misinterpreted the wording in the chapter where Renya, Shion and Rona come to the gate of Kukrika for the first time. The kanji is g (houjutsu) which translates as practising law or art of law, but as a magic spell is meant here and as it seems to be connected to faith, I will translate it as divination) I wonder if the dragon wont come this way, too, due to being tempted by the smell of blood? (Renya) If it did so, it would save us the trouble of searching for it, Renya says.While hiding on the other side of her faint smile the thoughtif possible, I dont want to encounter it though, Croire says, Do you want- me to look- for it? (Croire) Are you able to? (Renya) Croire nods towards Renya who asks with a slightly surprised expression. Can you even use the divination ? (Renya) Elves- arent able- to use- divination. Thats- because we- dont believe- in god. (Croire) Then, how will you do it? (Renya) For the- time- being, leave it- to- me, please. (Croire) Once she takes over by hitting her chest with a *pon*, Croire focusses her consciousness.Its not a type of magic.This translation belongs to Infinite Novel Translations!It cant be called skill either.Instead it was something named Amplification of Perception the elves possess from the time of their birth.Originally it is used to probe the state of the surroundings within a forest, but even if they arent in a forest, they perceive things like the sound of wind, scents, slight vibrations and sounds and although its only vaguely, they are able to picture the scenery of quite a range in their minds.Of course this isnt something they have usually deployed.As long as they dont think about wanting to use it, its something similar to a hidden talent.If that wasnt the case, the elves would continuously be scared of small sounds and faint presences while leading their everydays lives.Elves wont usually use this ability at places where there are other races besides them.Thats because that would expose one of their powers.And thus there are only few people who know about the elves possessing such ability.Currently, Croire who judged to use that ability in front of Renya has first the feeling thatit wont particularly hurt if I show it to Renyaand second,if I dont find the dragon quickly, Liaris will likely continue crashing into wyvrens and rock dragons forever while being swung around in the sky, she believed.Beginning to spread the range of her perception, Croire immediately noticed two unusual phenomenons.One is her own range of perception.If its a normal elf, the range is limited to a circle of several hundred meters in diameter.Very skilled elves barely reach a space of one to two kilometres.However, the perception of Croire, who went full throttle from the beginning, easily surpasses 2 km and spread up to places reaching 3 km.That change doesnt stop with the perception, but also extends to my skill in magic, my swordsmanship and my agility, Croire realized.Its a change that occurred after she fought the monster army together with Renya.What happened to my own body?Although Croire didnt understand it, she isnt in a bad condition. Given that its not a bad situation either, she doesnt care about it overly much.Maybe its influenced by performing the last rites to the demon as was recommended to me by Renyais the level of her thinking about it.The second phenomenon is an event happening within her extended perception.Croire picked up several big reactions within the sphere of her perception.As those were powerful reactions that couldnt be compared to wyvrens, Croire thoughtisnt that likely the response of the dragons?Although she thought that, it was particularly incomprehensible for all those reactions to simultaneously move with quite the speed in a direction away from the location where Renya and the others are.Moreover, as for incomprehensible situations; in a place with a slightly opened level ground that was somewhat apart from them, only one largish reaction has stayed behind, but its not trying to move from its location at all.What the heck are these reactions representing?Unable to understand it, Croire tilts her head to the side.Renya, who looked at her state from the side, sees Croire tilting her head and calls out to her. Did you discover something? (Renya) In this- direction (Croire) Croire pointed in the direction of the reaction that doesnt move. Its a- large- reaction, but- its only- one. And, I dont- understand the- reason. (Croire) Uh huh. (Renya)Translation at Infinite Novel Translations As its a bit- larger- reaction, many are- moving- away from- it. (Croire) If one considered only the whereabouts of the reaction, they wouldnt get away even if trying to escape, but speaking of dragons, they are high-classed beings that can also be called the strongest monsters.Since there are all kinds albeit being labelled as dragon, it wasnt like all of them were transcending existences, but even the lowest ranked dragon, on top of having to gather several a-rank adventurer parties, they would need to resolve themselves for a considerable amount of losses as theres no mistake in it being a formidable enemy.If it comes to superior dragons there even exist specimen which have combat ability to degree of the possibility of failure being quite high even if a country embarks onto a subjugation en masse.The dragons, who are inhabiting this group of rocky mountains, seem to be relatively low-ranking dragonsCroire has investigated beforehand, but even so they arent opponents that you can flee from with a party that has only three people. They are running away? (Renya) Such is- the reaction. However, for them- to have chosen- to run- away- this easily (Croire) It might be, Croire changes her thinking in the middle of her words.The monster called dragon is also intelligent. It seems to be quite the clever creature.Given that usually a dragon has very few meetings with beings who can match it, there are no situations for a dragon to force it to flee, but currently among the members who have come to hunt them, there are pretty much normal beings like Croire herself and Liaris who is flying in the air, but the problem is Renya.Boasting of a mana capacity thats simply able to shoulder almost all of the mana used by an army by himself, he is the owner of the ability to slaughter even that demon in one-on-one combat.Regarding the aspect of danger, isnt this person already rivalling a dragon?Such thoughts gain strength within Croire.Those dont seem to be such foolish considerations, Croire believed. Whats wrong? (Renya) No, nothing. So. Only one- reaction has- remained- ahead of- here. (Croire) Did it fall behind in escaping? (Renya) I wonder- about that? If it- intends- to run away, it will- escape- quickly, I think. But, the- reaction isnt- moving from- its- place. (Croire) Is it a dragon, I wonder? (Renya) Even if he asks, I dont know that much.Croire shrugged her shoulders.Reading this anywhere else but at Infinite Novel Translations means you are supporting thieves. Going by- its size, the- possibility is- high, I think. (Croire) Well then, shall we check up on that one? (Renya) Saying this, Renya turns his look towards Liaris who is soaring through the air.The armour, which flew through the skies with Liaris inside, directly descended to the location of Renya and Croire while being guided by Renyas look. It completely stopped close to the ground. Liaris, are you awake? Could she have possibly lost consciousness or died? (Renya) R-Renya-san this treatment is far too cruel (Liaris) The broken voice of Liaris was audible.Being swung around to such an extent, she apparently felt at ease with not losing her consciousness even when she was thrown around.Seeing that mithril is a metal that reacts to the will of the person having it equipped, its effect will decrease considerably if its wearer faints and loses consciousness.While being conscious the person equipping it wont receive almost no damage that might turn into an injury even if the treatment is fairly relentless, Renya finishes his confirmation. Since we found something dragon-like, we will go there. Are you able to keep up your motivation properly? (Renya) I- I will do my best. (Liaris) Due to the unexpectedly clear answer, albeit it coming across in a murmur, Renya judgesits still fine for the next while.Because weight is weight after all, Renya was worried about the consumption of mana while transporting the armour, however although he certainly expended a large quantity of mana if assessing what was used by now, its also not an amount that cant be maintained either.Given that it will take time to equip it once again if taken off temporarily, Renya decides to transport the armour with the spell as is. Well, then lets go? (Renya) Urging on Croire, Renya heads towards the place where the reaction, which Croire sensed, is located at.Renya and Croire, who walked for a while, came out at a slightly open place before long and immediately came across an unbelievable spectacle there. Hey what do you think is that? (Renya) Even if- you ask- me (Croire)Copyright by Infinite Novel Translations The spectacle, which appeared in front of Renya and the others, was a somewhat indescribable view.It was the slightly opened space according to what Croire felt, but in the middle of that place a red-scaled dragon with a length of around 10 metres struggled violently while being tied at the neck with thick chains which were nailed to the ground on one side. Chapter 70 C It seems to be Liaris great activity The mithril-made daggers blade runs across the body of a wyvren.The tough scales and skin, which are not penetrated easily if its a normal blade, have almost no feeling of a resistance-like repulsion towards the mithril blade, which absorbed the will and mana of its wielder, and are cut open easily.Read the chapter at Infinite Novel Translations!The scales dont have much value as raw material since they are nothing more than fairly tough, but even so they are in demand as raw materials for low-priced armours. Once you apply various treatments on them, they can also become an ingredient for medicine.Since the skin is versatile on top of being durable, it fetches quite the high price as raw material.Once you clear away the scales and skin, a whitish flesh will become visible below them.Its great that theres no need to drain the blood as it has a large hole in the abdomen and the heads gone, while thinking that, Renya briskly cuts out that flesh.This part isnt circulating on the market overly much, or rather the fault lies in the lack of a supply source, but since Renya heard that its a very delicious ingredient, which kept the refined taste of its fat while having a soft meat quality, he properly dressed the meat and put it into his inventory.However, it doesnt seem like we will be able to eat all of it. Mainly the meat from the breast, back, leg, the area around the neck and the tail are usable as ingredient.Moreover, once he makes his way to the internal organs, theres a candy-sized magic gem just above the heart.Of course he secures that.Its an item that Renya doesnt regard as anything but having the value of glass marble by now due to the mass-production by Frau, but its not like Renya has a leeway to the extent of neglecting and not collecting an item that can be turned into money.Moreover, Renya was dying to secure the entrails as ingredients, but since he hesitates to make the stomach and guts of a carnivorous monster into ingredients, he leaves them alone although hes interested in them.I thought that at least the heart and liver would be alright, but although I was able to guess which is the heart since its moving, I dont know at all which is the liver.Even if I consider that this might be it somehow or another, I dont have any confidence in my judgement.Its a kind of animal that didnt exist in my previous world after all.If I think that it might be the liver, theres remaining the possibility of it being something completely different of which I dont even know the name no matter what.In the end Renya hesitated quite a bit and tearfully decided to give up on securing the liver.Even if I wanted an advice, Croire has said that she hasnt done something like the dismantling of a wyvren and the other person isThinking up to this point, Renya looks up to the sky.There, with a feeling of having given up in a lot of ways, human-shaped steel is flying in the air with both its arms and legs swinging around while they are dangling loosely.When that body soared once again through the sky, a flower of bright red blood bloomed in the sky. 15 targets have been shot down (Croire) Croires voice has a somewhat hollow tone.At the beginning she was clamouring around next to Renya, but stopping to make a fuss as time passed, she now limited herself to simply gazing with a somewhat distance look at the whereabouts of Liaris, who is continuing to soar through the sky, and the dismantling of Renya donning an expression of having given up in various ways as well. Although wyvrens are welcome, rock dragons are no good. They have no use. (Renya) Are they lured in by the smell of the spilled blood of the dead wyvrens?One sub-dragon after the other appeared at the location of Renya and the others.Most of them were wyvrens, but sometimes theres a rock dragon mixed in as well.Just as its name states, the rock dragons have their whole body covered by a hard skin which is rugged and tough like a rock. The damage transmission through plain blows wasnt good.He tried to defeat them by changing it into a showering of Liaris blows as it couldnt be helped, but once they were brought down, their hard skin became a hindrance in the dismantling next.Moreover, with that skin being too hard, it isnt suited for processing either.Is the moving of that heavy body for the purpose of delivering a finishing blow?The flesh was also tough and hard to chew.As result of his expectationmaybe theres delicious meat hiding below the hard skinbeing betrayed, Renya felt disappointed.As its not possible to eat it and raw materials cant be harvested either due to its plain toughness and sturdiness, its a harassment-like monster.After having defeated several of them, Renya chops them up with wind magic as soon as he finds them and leaves them as they are.Given that they are completely scattered after having been turned into mince meat, theres no concern about them changing into undead. However, if this skirmish ends up being this showy I have a feeling that its fine even if we dont go especially for a dragon in reverse. (Renya) Do- you intend- to- defeat a- dragon- with that- as well? (Croire) Thats right Its difficult to speak about having participated in the battle, if she doesnt land at least one hit, right? (Renya) Even in- the current- state its- hard to call- it like- that, I- believe. (Croire) Is that so? Renya looks up to the armour flying above his head.Certainly, the one doing the manipulation is me, but its an unmistakable fact that they wyvrens are defeated by the ramming attacks of Liaris whos inside the armour, if you only look at the results.However, its nothing more but the person herself having absolutely no freedom of action.Even if they were to examine the authenticity with a divination*, its likely unthinkable for them to judge it as lie, Renya is certain of that.(T/N: I misinterpreted the wording in the chapter where Renya, Shion and Rona come to the gate of Kukrika for the first time. The kanji is g (houjutsu) which translates as practising law or art of law, but as a magic spell is meant here and as it seems to be connected to faith, I will translate it as divination) I wonder if the dragon wont come this way, too, due to being tempted by the smell of blood? (Renya) If it did so, it would save us the trouble of searching for it, Renya says.While hiding on the other side of her faint smile the thoughtif possible, I dont want to encounter it though, Croire says, Do you want- me to look- for it? (Croire) Are you able to? (Renya) Croire nods towards Renya who asks with a slightly surprised expression. Can you even use the divination ? (Renya) Elves- arent able- to use- divination. Thats- because we- dont believe- in god. (Croire) Then, how will you do it? (Renya) For the- time- being, leave it- to- me, please. (Croire) Once she takes over by hitting her chest with a *pon*, Croire focusses her consciousness.Its not a type of magic.This translation belongs to Infinite Novel Translations!It cant be called skill either.Instead it was something named Amplification of Perception the elves possess from the time of their birth.Originally it is used to probe the state of the surroundings within a forest, but even if they arent in a forest, they perceive things like the sound of wind, scents, slight vibrations and sounds and although its only vaguely, they are able to picture the scenery of quite a range in their minds.Of course this isnt something they have usually deployed.As long as they dont think about wanting to use it, its something similar to a hidden talent.If that wasnt the case, the elves would continuously be scared of small sounds and faint presences while leading their everydays lives.Elves wont usually use this ability at places where there are other races besides them.Thats because that would expose one of their powers.And thus there are only few people who know about the elves possessing such ability.Currently, Croire who judged to use that ability in front of Renya has first the feeling thatit wont particularly hurt if I show it to Renyaand second,if I dont find the dragon quickly, Liaris will likely continue crashing into wyvrens and rock dragons forever while being swung around in the sky, she believed.Beginning to spread the range of her perception, Croire immediately noticed two unusual phenomenons.One is her own range of perception.If its a normal elf, the range is limited to a circle of several hundred meters in diameter.Very skilled elves barely reach a space of one to two kilometres.However, the perception of Croire, who went full throttle from the beginning, easily surpasses 2 km and spread up to places reaching 3 km.That change doesnt stop with the perception, but also extends to my skill in magic, my swordsmanship and my agility, Croire realized.Its a change that occurred after she fought the monster army together with Renya.What happened to my own body?Although Croire didnt understand it, she isnt in a bad condition. Given that its not a bad situation either, she doesnt care about it overly much.Maybe its influenced by performing the last rites to the demon as was recommended to me by Renyais the level of her thinking about it.The second phenomenon is an event happening within her extended perception.Croire picked up several big reactions within the sphere of her perception.As those were powerful reactions that couldnt be compared to wyvrens, Croire thoughtisnt that likely the response of the dragons?Although she thought that, it was particularly incomprehensible for all those reactions to simultaneously move with quite the speed in a direction away from the location where Renya and the others are.Moreover, as for incomprehensible situations; in a place with a slightly opened level ground that was somewhat apart from them, only one largish reaction has stayed behind, but its not trying to move from its location at all.What the heck are these reactions representing?Unable to understand it, Croire tilts her head to the side.Renya, who looked at her state from the side, sees Croire tilting her head and calls out to her. Did you discover something? (Renya) In this- direction (Croire) Croire pointed in the direction of the reaction that doesnt move. Its a- large- reaction, but- its only- one. And, I dont- understand the- reason. (Croire) Uh huh. (Renya)Translation at Infinite Novel Translations As its a bit- larger- reaction, many are- moving- away from- it. (Croire) If one considered only the whereabouts of the reaction, they wouldnt get away even if trying to escape, but speaking of dragons, they are high-classed beings that can also be called the strongest monsters.Since there are all kinds albeit being labelled as dragon, it wasnt like all of them were transcending existences, but even the lowest ranked dragon, on top of having to gather several a-rank adventurer parties, they would need to resolve themselves for a considerable amount of losses as theres no mistake in it being a formidable enemy.If it comes to superior dragons there even exist specimen which have combat ability to degree of the possibility of failure being quite high even if a country embarks onto a subjugation en masse.The dragons, who are inhabiting this group of rocky mountains, seem to be relatively low-ranking dragonsCroire has investigated beforehand, but even so they arent opponents that you can flee from with a party that has only three people. They are running away? (Renya) Such is- the reaction. However, for them- to have chosen- to run- away- this easily (Croire) It might be, Croire changes her thinking in the middle of her words.The monster called dragon is also intelligent. It seems to be quite the clever creature.Given that usually a dragon has very few meetings with beings who can match it, there are no situations for a dragon to force it to flee, but currently among the members who have come to hunt them, there are pretty much normal beings like Croire herself and Liaris who is flying in the air, but the problem is Renya.Boasting of a mana capacity thats simply able to shoulder almost all of the mana used by an army by himself, he is the owner of the ability to slaughter even that demon in one-on-one combat.Regarding the aspect of danger, isnt this person already rivalling a dragon?Such thoughts gain strength within Croire.Those dont seem to be such foolish considerations, Croire believed. Whats wrong? (Renya) No, nothing. So. Only one- reaction has- remained- ahead of- here. (Croire) Did it fall behind in escaping? (Renya) I wonder- about that? If it- intends- to run away, it will- escape- quickly, I think. But, the- reaction isnt- moving from- its- place. (Croire) Is it a dragon, I wonder? (Renya) Even if he asks, I dont know that much.Croire shrugged her shoulders.Reading this anywhere else but at Infinite Novel Translations means you are supporting thieves. Going by- its size, the- possibility is- high, I think. (Croire) Well then, shall we check up on that one? (Renya) Saying this, Renya turns his look towards Liaris who is soaring through the air.The armour, which flew through the skies with Liaris inside, directly descended to the location of Renya and Croire while being guided by Renyas look. It completely stopped close to the ground. Liaris, are you awake? Could she have possibly lost consciousness or died? (Renya) R-Renya-san this treatment is far too cruel (Liaris) The broken voice of Liaris was audible.Being swung around to such an extent, she apparently felt at ease with not losing her consciousness even when she was thrown around.Seeing that mithril is a metal that reacts to the will of the person having it equipped, its effect will decrease considerably if its wearer faints and loses consciousness.While being conscious the person equipping it wont receive almost no damage that might turn into an injury even if the treatment is fairly relentless, Renya finishes his confirmation. Since we found something dragon-like, we will go there. Are you able to keep up your motivation properly? (Renya) I- I will do my best. (Liaris) Due to the unexpectedly clear answer, albeit it coming across in a murmur, Renya judgesits still fine for the next while.Because weight is weight after all, Renya was worried about the consumption of mana while transporting the armour, however although he certainly expended a large quantity of mana if assessing what was used by now, its also not an amount that cant be maintained either.Given that it will take time to equip it once again if taken off temporarily, Renya decides to transport the armour with the spell as is. Well, then lets go? (Renya) Urging on Croire, Renya heads towards the place where the reaction, which Croire sensed, is located at.Renya and Croire, who walked for a while, came out at a slightly open place before long and immediately came across an unbelievable spectacle there. Hey what do you think is that? (Renya) Even if- you ask- me (Croire)Copyright by Infinite Novel Translations The spectacle, which appeared in front of Renya and the others, was a somewhat indescribable view.It was the slightly opened space according to what Croire felt, but in the middle of that place a red-scaled dragon with a length of around 10 metres struggled violently while being tied at the neck with thick chains which were nailed to the ground on one side. Chapter 71 Chapter 71 C It seems to be left behind Within the flow of a terribly relaxed or very idiotic mood, Renya hides himself in the shadow of a close-by rock while being somewhat apologetic to some extent and observes the situation by quietly peeking out from the shadows.Since the armour with Liaris is lightly floating in the air above his head, there was no meaning in him hiding, but for some reason Renya felt that it wont do if he doesnt do that.Croire sticks to Renyas back with a look that tells that vaguely as well.Ahead of their looks an red-scaled dragon earnestly struggles trying to somehow tear off or uproot the chains binding it.Although a part of the chains is embedded into the ground, are they affixed very deeply and strongly after all?Theres absolutely no indication of it being able to pull them out.The detailed thickness of the chains main part couldnt be grasped from Renyas location, but they appear to be considerably robust. The dragon raises its roar while pulling at them, however the chains are unyielding no matter how much it tears at them.Is it a special material or are they reinforced with magic?In any case, if the chains have the mere strength to completely confine the actions of a 10-metre-class monster, they are likely no normal items, Renya judges, but he doesnt know their origin.As he puts that question aside for the time being, theres one problem he has to think about urgently.That problem is why that unusual item is twined around the neck of a dragon at this place.Is it about the dragon being confined here?First off, theres no doubt that its impossible for it to have happened naturally.Since thats the case, its something done intentionally by someone, is how it will play out, but in that case the problem that pops up next is what kind of intention there was behind doing such thing.There likely has been a being possessing quite the ability to be able to restrain a dragons movements by attaching a collar to its neck.However, if its a being that has this much ability; if they came for example to hunt dragons, it will be a simple talk about them quickly hunting them, killing them and taking them home. If the objective is to capture it, the meaning in affixing a part of the chains to the ground is incomprehensible.Is it restrained for the tine while they are bringing some kind of means to transport it?At the time Renya began to think about that, Croire called for his attention by lightly poking Renyas back. Whats up? (Renya) Something- is hanging- down at the- area around- that dragons- neck. (Croire) Renya, who strained his eyes after being told that, noticed that something like a name plate of a dog or cat is certainly swaying limply at the dragons neck just as Croire said.Something was apparently written on the surface of that plate, which possessed a metallic lustre, but Renya is unable to tell whats stated their with his eyesight. It has some writing, but I cant read it. You dont say its really a name plate!? Are there folks who make dragons into their pets? (Renya) Thats too- absurd. Among- the human- countries- there also are- countries who- have soldiers- that ride- dragons. But, the ones- they are possessing- are- at most- wyvrens. (Croire) By the way, lesser dragons and dragons are something totally different, Croire showed her vast knowledge by explaining it.Lesser dragon is a word that categorizes dragon-like monsters such as wyvrens, rock dragons, drakes or sea serpents while leaving dragons out of it. Dragon* specifies only dragon*.(T/N: First time the author uses the kanji ryuu, second time its the katakana version doragon) It seems- there were- knights- who rode- dragons- in ancient- times- as well. But currently- there isnt- even a single- one of- those existing. (Croire) I see. If thats the case, who the hell has done such thing? (Renya) I dont- know. Though- I dont- know, the words- written on- that- plate are- somehow (Croire) Somehow? (Renya) They have- a feeling- of being- written- as gift. (Croire) Unintentionally looking back, Renya and Croire stare at each others faces.Renya started to say something stupid, but he holds his tongue seeing that Croire, who looked back at him, has an expression of completely not agreeing with her own words. A gift from who to who? (Renya) I wonder? (Croire) Due to the casual response from Croire, which is as if to say theres no way for me to know, is there?, Renya thinks that its only natural. For the time being lets have Liaris hit it? (Renya) I will be finally launched at a dragon. (Liaris) Liaris say as if muttering quietly with a voice filled completely with a feeling of resignation. At my last moments I havent properly answered to Az-kun (Liaris) Oi, why are you emitting an atmosphere of dying? Wont you lose your dignity to meet with Az if you die? (Renya) Her not moving with even a twitch is actually because she cant move inside due to the weight of the armour, but due to Liaris murmurs dripping out from within that armour, Renya crisply hits its surface with his palm while showing an expression as if to say that it would be regrettable.Because he ended up hitting the surface which has been sullied with blood, Renya wipes the blood, which ended up sticking to his palm, on the surface of the rock they are hiding at. I told you that I finished the experiment satisfactorily, right? Even if you clash into a rock at the highest speed, you wont have to worry about receiving damage at the level of it being painful if you stay conscious properly. (Renya) Az-kun I, was defiled (Liaris) Dont say such scandalous words. To be defiled; its mostly blood, right? (Renya) At the time when Renya thought of that method of attacking, he considered to make the armour completely encapsulated at the beginning. Otherwise blood and other stuff will pour inside through the gaps at the time it crashes into monsters. He easily predicted for it to become a miserable situation for the person staying inside.But, he gave up immediately on that matter.If its closed air-tightly, the person inside will of course suffocate.Rather, in order to get rid of the possibility of suffocation, I should create gaps all over, he judged.Theres the possibility of clogged blood and meat pieces plugging up a half-baked gap.And thus Renya made small holes and slits all over the armour and improved the breath-ability.Thanks to that there was absolutely no chance of suffocating, but instead blood and other stuff freely gets inside the armour. I want to wash my body its sticky and smells of blood (Liaris) Endure for now as I will prepare a hot bath later. (Renya) Yes (Liaris) Renya, who turned in the direction of the dragon as he decided to have Liaris, who apparently fixed her resolution finally, take off vigorously, has a flabbergasted expression after desisting from throwing Liaris at the spectacle it had become over there.Croire, who has already turned that way, has still a distant and blank look.Over there, the dragon had given up on tearing off the chains, but Renya saw a scene that exceeded his imagination as the dragon is cowering while covering its own head with its forefeet after taking a stance of laying down.It appears that it sensed Renya moving into attack preparations, but shutting its eyes tightly and trembling slightly, its figure looks somewhat pathetic and ridiculous no matter how much it has the large build of a dragon.As expected, even Renya wasnt able to ruthlessly inflict a blow with the scene in front of him. Oi, dragon over there. (Renya) He didnt know how far the skill of another world language, he possesses, would work, but Renya tried to call out to the dragon while praying silently that he will be able to communicate with it.The dragon, which was called out by Renya, opens only one of the tightly closed eyes and looks in the direction of Renya to observe the state of affairs.Renya presumes that its apparently able to understand him from the dragons state. If you dont have any intention to attack us, answer or lightly strike the ground once with your tail. (Renya) The frail dragon hit the ground with its tail with a *thump*Seeing that, Renya comes out from shade of the rock, he hid at, while preparing to be able to deploy defensive magic at any time.Behind him the armour with Liaris slowly descended to the ground. Common language- is understood- by the- dragon. (Croire) Due to the surprised words of Croire, Renya understands that there is apparently no exclusive language to communicate with dragons.If there was, Renyas language skill should translate his words by using that language. Croire, can you remove Liaris armour please since I will have a little chat with that dragon? (Renya) Got- it. If I- dont lift- it up- and- wipe the exterior- before removing- it, I wont- know- where its fine- to- touch, this (Croire) He takes out a cask filled with water and a dust cloth from within his inventory and hands them to Croire who hesitates to touch the armour in front of her which has become sticky with clotted blood and pieces of meat. And then Renya approaches the dragon by himself.Renya walked while being tense as he cant say when the dragon will suddenly move, but without changing from its posture of laying down, the dragon chases Renyas movements with its one open eye.Before long Renya approached the dragon up to a distance where he can touch its body and gently placed his palm on its body.At the moment Renyas palm touched its body the dragon shivered with a start, but once it understands that Renya wont do anything beyond that, it returns little-by-little to the state of trembling lightly.Renya realizes that its frightened quite a bit, but he doesnt know whats scaring it this much.For the time being he tries to gently stroke the dragons body with his touching palm. Its scales are hard after all. Its a great material. Theres nothing to criticize about their elasticity either. Doesnt it have quite the fleshiness based on the feeling of the scales bouncing back after being pushed lightly. (Renya) Since its body is quite big, its meat is certainly bright red or such Renya mutters.Hearing his muttering, the dragon trembles largely. Of all things its eyes started to spill tears in large drops.Renya, who checked the fleshiness of the dragon with the thumbs of both hands completely like a merchant assessing the meat quality of beef cattle, is startled after noticing the dragon having burst into tears, but remembering right away that this dragon understands the words of man, he follows up in a hurry. Well, its not like I particularly decided to eat you (Renya) Due to the voice she heard all of a sudden, Croire, who was struggling with the clasps of Liaris armour, looks in the direction of Renya with a surprised expression. Telepathic communication? (Croire) Its best if its possible to understand each other, however why were you tied by chains at such place? Moreover, theres even a gift plate hanging down does your owner wish to eat you? (Renya) The dragon, who denied it right away, begins to explain about the situation it was put into. I see? (Renya) Being asked, Renya tilts his head in contemplation.Flies is probably about the wyvrens as they are seen by the dragons, but I have no clue about the outrageous thing it talks about. Oh? Maybe its about throwing around the armour, which is rolling around over there, with the spell? (Renya) Once pointing at the lump of metal which had its clasps starting to be released somehow while Croire is struggling heavily, the dragon lifted its head only a bit after separating its feet from the head they covered and took a long hard look at Renya. Wyvren extermination. (Renya) Being answered immediately, the dragon thoroughly put its chin on the ground and covered its head with both its forefeet again due to the merciless method. They decided to escape, but since they thought that I would be able to come after them if they simply ran away, they decided to leave one behind to cut off the tail of a lizard? Are you maybe the weakest individual of the dragons around here? (Renya) Once Renya says that to continue the rest of its speech, the dragon shows a somewhat pathetic-looking expression. So they even attached a collar connected to chains and a gift plate out of politeness? Arent you guys pretty much the powerful kind of monsters? (Renya) Indeed, it should be impossible to tear it off, Renya looks at the chains connected to the collar of the dragon.Because those are chains used by dragons to restrain dragons, theres no way its possible to tear it off with the power of a dragon. If its a dragon of the superior or ancient type, it will certainly boast of a strength at a level making it possible to name it the strongest, but this dragon calls itself a normal dragon. From the viewpoint of humans its surely a strong monster, however if it fought with a demon of a reasonable standing, one can say its at the level of being killed easily. While feeling the two doubts ofwhats up with its frankness, I wonder?and his surpriseyou are a male?, Renya hit the dragons skin covered by scales with a *slap* while thinkingwell, what to do about this? Chapter 71 C It seems to be left behind Within the flow of a terribly relaxed or very idiotic mood, Renya hides himself in the shadow of a close-by rock while being somewhat apologetic to some extent and observes the situation by quietly peeking out from the shadows.Since the armour with Liaris is lightly floating in the air above his head, there was no meaning in him hiding, but for some reason Renya felt that it wont do if he doesnt do that.Croire sticks to Renyas back with a look that tells that vaguely as well.Ahead of their looks an red-scaled dragon earnestly struggles trying to somehow tear off or uproot the chains binding it.Although a part of the chains is embedded into the ground, are they affixed very deeply and strongly after all?Theres absolutely no indication of it being able to pull them out.The detailed thickness of the chains main part couldnt be grasped from Renyas location, but they appear to be considerably robust. The dragon raises its roar while pulling at them, however the chains are unyielding no matter how much it tears at them.Is it a special material or are they reinforced with magic?In any case, if the chains have the mere strength to completely confine the actions of a 10-metre-class monster, they are likely no normal items, Renya judges, but he doesnt know their origin.As he puts that question aside for the time being, theres one problem he has to think about urgently.That problem is why that unusual item is twined around the neck of a dragon at this place.Is it about the dragon being confined here?First off, theres no doubt that its impossible for it to have happened naturally.Since thats the case, its something done intentionally by someone, is how it will play out, but in that case the problem that pops up next is what kind of intention there was behind doing such thing.There likely has been a being possessing quite the ability to be able to restrain a dragons movements by attaching a collar to its neck.However, if its a being that has this much ability; if they came for example to hunt dragons, it will be a simple talk about them quickly hunting them, killing them and taking them home. If the objective is to capture it, the meaning in affixing a part of the chains to the ground is incomprehensible.Is it restrained for the tine while they are bringing some kind of means to transport it?At the time Renya began to think about that, Croire called for his attention by lightly poking Renyas back. Whats up? (Renya) Something- is hanging- down at the- area around- that dragons- neck. (Croire) Renya, who strained his eyes after being told that, noticed that something like a name plate of a dog or cat is certainly swaying limply at the dragons neck just as Croire said.Something was apparently written on the surface of that plate, which possessed a metallic lustre, but Renya is unable to tell whats stated their with his eyesight. It has some writing, but I cant read it. You dont say its really a name plate!? Are there folks who make dragons into their pets? (Renya) Thats too- absurd. Among- the human- countries- there also are- countries who- have soldiers- that ride- dragons. But, the ones- they are possessing- are- at most- wyvrens. (Croire) By the way, lesser dragons and dragons are something totally different, Croire showed her vast knowledge by explaining it.Lesser dragon is a word that categorizes dragon-like monsters such as wyvrens, rock dragons, drakes or sea serpents while leaving dragons out of it. Dragon* specifies only dragon*.(T/N: First time the author uses the kanji ryuu, second time its the katakana version doragon) It seems- there were- knights- who rode- dragons- in ancient- times- as well. But currently- there isnt- even a single- one of- those existing. (Croire) I see. If thats the case, who the hell has done such thing? (Renya) I dont- know. Though- I dont- know, the words- written on- that- plate are- somehow (Croire) Somehow? (Renya) They have- a feeling- of being- written- as gift. (Croire) Unintentionally looking back, Renya and Croire stare at each others faces.Renya started to say something stupid, but he holds his tongue seeing that Croire, who looked back at him, has an expression of completely not agreeing with her own words. A gift from who to who? (Renya) I wonder? (Croire) Due to the casual response from Croire, which is as if to say theres no way for me to know, is there?, Renya thinks that its only natural. For the time being lets have Liaris hit it? (Renya) I will be finally launched at a dragon. (Liaris) Liaris say as if muttering quietly with a voice filled completely with a feeling of resignation. At my last moments I havent properly answered to Az-kun (Liaris) Oi, why are you emitting an atmosphere of dying? Wont you lose your dignity to meet with Az if you die? (Renya) Her not moving with even a twitch is actually because she cant move inside due to the weight of the armour, but due to Liaris murmurs dripping out from within that armour, Renya crisply hits its surface with his palm while showing an expression as if to say that it would be regrettable.Because he ended up hitting the surface which has been sullied with blood, Renya wipes the blood, which ended up sticking to his palm, on the surface of the rock they are hiding at. I told you that I finished the experiment satisfactorily, right? Even if you clash into a rock at the highest speed, you wont have to worry about receiving damage at the level of it being painful if you stay conscious properly. (Renya) Az-kun I, was defiled (Liaris) Dont say such scandalous words. To be defiled; its mostly blood, right? (Renya) At the time when Renya thought of that method of attacking, he considered to make the armour completely encapsulated at the beginning.Otherwise blood and other stuff will pour inside through the gaps at the time it crashes into monsters. He easily predicted for it to become a miserable situation for the person staying inside.But, he gave up immediately on that matter.If its closed air-tightly, the person inside will of course suffocate.Rather, in order to get rid of the possibility of suffocation, I should create gaps all over, he judged.Theres the possibility of clogged blood and meat pieces plugging up a half-baked gap.And thus Renya made small holes and slits all over the armour and improved the breath-ability.Thanks to that there was absolutely no chance of suffocating, but instead blood and other stuff freely gets inside the armour. I want to wash my body its sticky and smells of blood (Liaris) Endure for now as I will prepare a hot bath later. (Renya) Yes (Liaris) Renya, who turned in the direction of the dragon as he decided to have Liaris, who apparently fixed her resolution finally, take off vigorously, has a flabbergasted expression after desisting from throwing Liaris at the spectacle it had become over there.Croire, who has already turned that way, has still a distant and blank look.Over there, the dragon had given up on tearing off the chains, but Renya saw a scene that exceeded his imagination as the dragon is cowering while covering its own head with its forefeet after taking a stance of laying down.It appears that it sensed Renya moving into attack preparations, but shutting its eyes tightly and trembling slightly, its figure looks somewhat pathetic and ridiculous no matter how much it has the large build of a dragon.As expected, even Renya wasnt able to ruthlessly inflict a blow with the scene in front of him. Oi, dragon over there. (Renya) He didnt know how far the skill of another world language, he possesses, would work, but Renya tried to call out to the dragon while praying silently that he will be able to communicate with it.The dragon, which was called out by Renya, opens only one of the tightly closed eyes and looks in the direction of Renya to observe the state of affairs.Renya presumes that its apparently able to understand him from the dragons state. If you dont have any intention to attack us, answer or lightly strike the ground once with your tail. (Renya) The frail dragon hit the ground with its tail with a *thump*Seeing that, Renya comes out from shade of the rock, he hid at, while preparing to be able to deploy defensive magic at any time.Behind him the armour with Liaris slowly descended to the ground. Common language- is understood- by the- dragon. (Croire) Due to the surprised words of Croire, Renya understands that there is apparently no exclusive language to communicate with dragons.If there was, Renyas language skill should translate his words by using that language. Croire, can you remove Liaris armour please since I will have a little chat with that dragon? (Renya) Got- it. If I- dont lift- it up- and- wipe the exterior- before removing- it, I wont- know- where its fine- to- touch, this (Croire) He takes out a cask filled with water and a dust cloth from within his inventory and hands them to Croire who hesitates to touch the armour in front of her which has become sticky with clotted blood and pieces of meat. And then Renya approaches the dragon by himself.Renya walked while being tense as he cant say when the dragon will suddenly move, but without changing from its posture of laying down, the dragon chases Renyas movements with its one open eye.Before long Renya approached the dragon up to a distance where he can touch its body and gently placed his palm on its body.At the moment Renyas palm touched its body the dragon shivered with a start, but once it understands that Renya wont do anything beyond that, it returns little-by-little to the state of trembling lightly.Renya realizes that its frightened quite a bit, but he doesnt know whats scaring it this much.For the time being he tries to gently stroke the dragons body with his touching palm. Its scales are hard after all. Its a great material. Theres nothing to criticize about their elasticity either. Doesnt it have quite the fleshiness based on the feeling of the scales bouncing back after being pushed lightly. (Renya) Since its body is quite big, its meat is certainly bright red or such Renya mutters.Hearing his muttering, the dragon trembles largely. Of all things its eyes started to spill tears in large drops.Renya, who checked the fleshiness of the dragon with the thumbs of both hands completely like a merchant assessing the meat quality of beef cattle, is startled after noticing the dragon having burst into tears, but remembering right away that this dragon understands the words of man, he follows up in a hurry. Well, its not like I particularly decided to eat you (Renya) Due to the voice she heard all of a sudden, Croire, who was struggling with the clasps of Liaris armour, looks in the direction of Renya with a surprised expression. Telepathic communication? (Croire) Its best if its possible to understand each other, however why were you tied by chains at such place? Moreover, theres even a gift plate hanging down does your owner wish to eat you? (Renya) The dragon, who denied it right away, begins to explain about the situation it was put into. I see? (Renya) Being asked, Renya tilts his head in contemplation.Flies is probably about the wyvrens as they are seen by the dragons, but I have no clue about the outrageous thing it talks about. Oh? Maybe its about throwing around the armour, which is rolling around over there, with the spell? (Renya) Once pointing at the lump of metal which had its clasps starting to be released somehow while Croire is struggling heavily, the dragon lifted its head only a bit after separating its feet from the head they covered and took a long hard look at Renya. Wyvren extermination. (Renya) Being answered immediately, the dragon thoroughly put its chin on the ground and covered its head with both its forefeet again due to the merciless method. They decided to escape, but since they thought that I would be able to come after them if they simply ran away, they decided to leave one behind to cut off the tail of a lizard? Are you maybe the weakest individual of the dragons around here? (Renya) Once Renya says that to continue the rest of its speech, the dragon shows a somewhat pathetic-looking expression. So they even attached a collar connected to chains and a gift plate out of politeness? Arent you guys pretty much the powerful kind of monsters? (Renya) Indeed, it should be impossible to tear it off, Renya looks at the chains connected to the collar of the dragon.Because those are chains used by dragons to restrain dragons, theres no way its possible to tear it off with the power of a dragon. If its a dragon of the superior or ancient type, it will certainly boast of a strength at a level making it possible to name it the strongest, but this dragon calls itself a normal dragon. From the viewpoint of humans its surely a strong monster, however if it fought with a demon of a reasonable standing, one can say its at the level of being killed easily. While feeling the two doubts ofwhats up with its frankness, I wonder?and his surpriseyou are a male?, Renya hit the dragons skin covered by scales with a *slap* while thinkingwell, what to do about this? Chapter 72 Chapter 72 C It seems something came Renya gathers his thoughts.Assuming that the several rock dragons wont count towards the current military gains as we didnt fetch the subjugation proofs, there is still the result of 15 subjugated wyvrens remaining.Given that I have collected the magic cores, those will easily serve as evidence.Even if we try to report all of it as Liaris military gains, as they likely wont be able to believe and accept the entire story, Liaris will be able to at least claim about 7 wyvrens as her own half of it, Renya predicts,but its unclear how much the subjugation of 7 wyvrens will be worth as achievement.From Renyas standpoint, he doesnt feel it as considerable degree of difficulty to have subjugated those wyvrens because he recognizes it as the wyvren having crashed after being hit by a heavy armour.I dont think it will become an achievement no matter how many of them were defeated seeing that its possible to defeat them this easily, he just thinks.In reality wyvrens and rock dragons are monsters with a power level that can probably brought down one way or the other by a party of C-rank adventurers. They arent monsters you can earn money with through numbers.However, Liaris, who is the only person who can point out such matter in this place, is still stuck within the heavy armour. Its not like Croire, who tried to get her out of it with her utmost effort, possesses that much knowledge about the ability of adventurers either. It was a situation where there was no one able to point out that Renyas thinking was wrong.Renya looks down at the dragon which is cowering at the side.Theres no doubt that we probably will have to subjugate a dragon.No matter what kind of fairy-tale it is, those, who subjugated a dragon, will be awarded with the most prestige.Thats likely not any different in this world either, Renya believes.But, if he is asked whether he is able to subjugate this dragon, who is frantically begging for its life while shrinking down his large build as much as possible, without any compassion, Renya wont be able to answer anything but no.If it was an opponent that faced him properly, he had the confidence of being able to crush them underfoot while laughing at them even if its such a frail being, but Renya wants to avoid turning his fists against an opponent who pleads to be spared.Not to mention that this dragon hasnt caused any kind of harm to Renya and the others to begin with.He ends up hesitating to kill the dragon, who harbours no hostility although one cant say that its harmless either, with his own hands, even if its for the sake of his friends lover.For example it was even a dragon who frankly admitted he wants to make out with a female.For example it was even a dragon who frankly admitted he wants to make out with a female.For example it I have a feeling that it will be fine if we hunt something suitable. (Renya) Renya, who started to believe that theres no meaning in an existence like a dragon that became flirty, says that in a flat voice and the dragon, who is still in a posture of prostrating itself, hits the ground with his tail with a *flop flop* in order to protest against this. Hmm, anything, eh? (Renya) That means it pretty much made a pledge, Renya thinks.The magic core will be necessary by all means as proof of a dragon subjugation.Since the magic core is located above the dragons heart or within its head, theres no other option but to try opening the chest or head in order to take it out.And, even though Renya has means to open those, he doesnt happen to have the skill to restore those back to their original state at hand.If you leave the opened chest or head of most living creatures alone, they will die.Well, how annoying, Renya folded his arms.Looking up to the sky wondering what he should do, Renya discovered that when he returned his sight to the dragon once again.From Renyas view its in a place facing towards the dragon on its other side.It suddenly stood there without any chain of reasoning. Yaa, hello. That, which abruptly raised its right hand and greeted them, had an appearance similar to a badly made stuffed toy that was wrapped in bandages, if one has to describe it.Has it been wrapped in considerably thick bandages? Or is there a person inside? At any rate, the lump of bandages had more or less the shape of a person, but its showing a smooth body that ended up painting over all the information like revealing its gender and race.Even the area around the head doesnt expose its eyes and mouth. I wonder if it can see like this? And why isnt its voice muffled?Those question are popping up one after the other.The voice was pretty much that of a woman with its high pitch. Huh? Wont you reply to my greetings? Just where the heck did you appear from? (Renya) Given that there are precedents of him not having felt a presence, he isnt surprised to such an extent.However, the fact that it suddenly appeared without even Croire, who possesses quite the sharp sense of hearing, noticing it, was plenty to even give Renya a surprise.Renya asks somewhat absent-mindedly without being able to recover from that shock, but he naturally places his hand on the katana at his waist.Due to his action, which has changed into a partially conditioned reflex for Renya, the lump of bandages pushed out both its hands in front of it in a hurry. Wait, wait. Im not a particularly suspicious person. Im just a passing-by Bandages-san. While thinking that theres likely no way for Bandages to simply pass by, Renya glares at it. Arent there shady parts with such a self-introduction? (Renya) While standing ready with the intention to cut it down alongside the dragon, which is between them, if necessary, Renya turns a fleeting glance in Croires direction.Croire had frantically worked at removing the armour with Liaris in it until the bandages appeared, but did she quickly sense Renyas reaction? It appeared that she has hidden in the shade of a rock and is secretly looking over here.Of course the armour has been left alone as is.It could be said to be only natural since Croire wouldnt be even able to drag it along with her arm strength. And it can also be said that for Liaris being inside the armour is the safest place anyway. You seem to be troubled, eh? Dont you feel like trying to consult with this kind, passing-by Bandages-san here? Renya laughed scornfully at the words of the lump of bandages which asked while leaning its upper body forward. A fellow, who asks for a consultation with this type of invitation, is a fool. (Renya) Is that so? I think that there are many people who will get excited and jump at that good luck though. The Bandages hit the dragons body with a hand, that was pushed out, with a *pon pon*The dragon shows no indication of moving while looking at the lump of bandages with the same gaze as it faced Renya. Let me guess your problem? Dont you want to use this dragon here one way or the other? Renya doesnt answer.How did the bandages take his silence? It continues in an unchanged tone. Since it will probably easy if you simply kill it, theres also a reason why you dont want to kill it, I guess? You (Renya) Though its somehow possible for me. What will you do? Due to the signs of Renya strengthening his vigilance, the Bandages spins around while spreading both its hands without caring at all.Doesnt it think anything at all about its behaviour being full of gaps? Or does it believe that theres no necessity for it to mind about someone like Renya who can slash it at any time? What do you plan to do? (Renya) Renya asked while keeping an alert eye on the actions of Bandages.Bandages stops to turn around and hits the dragons body with a *pon pon* again. It depends on what you want to do, doesnt it? For example, if you just want to take out the magic core The lump of bandages tucks up both its hands.Seeing variously shaped blades showing up, accompanied by metallic sounds, from the gaps in between the bandages, Renya moved his body back a bit.Hasnt it caught sight of Renyas state? Bandages loudly declares, If its me, Im capable of dismantling this dragon without it dying. The dragon temporarily shook its large body due to the thoughtlessly dangerous statement.Renya tries to ask one thing while sighing lightly at the dragons state. Have you prepared anaesthesia and such? (Renya) Huh? Once Renya asks the question to Bandages which immediately retracts the blades it took out just a minute ago, it replies in a somewhat idiotic voice, Anaesthesia, anaesthesia you say. Is something like dismantling impossible without anaesthesia? Ah, it will be alright. It wont die though it will be a pain to the degree of dying. (Renya) The dragons face becomes stiff due to the words of Bandages which were stated quite indifferently.Renya shook his head while thinking that hes probably watching something exceedingly strange now. No matter how you put it, thats far too cruel. (Renya) Due to Renya saying something like performing an open surgery on the chest without anaesthesia in a state of being conscious is likely unendurable if done just like that, Bandages groans while doing something like folding its arms.Although he realizes that it wants to fold its arms which are a lump of bandages as well, they dont come together at all. Then ah, thats right. If the dragon acknowledges it, I can also do it so that it will get enslaved. Due to the word enslavement, Renyas face moves with a twitch.It meant that the magic core, gouged out from that monster, would be necessary to show it as proof that it was subjugated, but in that case it would become necessary to kill the dragon in front of him no matter what.Otherwise it would be necessary to forever watch the agony of the dragon which had its magic core taken out without anaesthesia.However, there shouldnt be anything more convincing, without the necessity of troublesome processing either, if they show the actual article with it was captured at great difficulty though.But, no matter what, Renya is worried about the lack of suspiciousness because of the stuffed toy in front of him.It would still be fine if there was just a bit of hostility, but its strangely friendly to a great extent.Renya has no stuffed toy or bandage acquaintances.In other words, even though he doesnt remember having a friendly interaction with those, this lump of bandages is talking to him intimately without minding Renya putting his hand on a weapon. Just who the heck are you? (Renya) Well, isnt it fine after we finish various things? Bandages tries to shelve the question, but Renya has no intention to let that pass.Once he unsheathes the katana in a smooth motion, he thrusts its point at the place where the face of Bandages is likely situated. Does anyone depend on a party they dont know? (Renya) Renya intended to apply a light pressure, but it apparently didnt get through to Bandages at all. Eh? Ah, Are you telling me that you want to see my face? W-Wait a moment, okay? Well, I didnt predict that for them to getting attached this much after the medical treatment, thus will it be alright if I dont something unreasonable, I wonder? If I do it too fiercely, it will become a strain, but I think its possible to correct them though. What are you mumbling about? (Renya) Without showing an interest in the thrust-out point of the katana at all, the lump of bandages began to mumble something while flapping both its arms.In front of the astonished Renya, the lump of bandages which was like that for a little while, gives a single nod with an alright before long. Okaay. I will remove the bandages. Saying that, it started to tamper with its own body while using both arms which had been changed into bandage-shrouded tubes.The lump of bandages, which struggled for a while ahead of Renya, who is staring at it with a doubtful look while wondering whether the bandages will come off, stopped moving soon and after pondering for a bit, it came walking in front of Renya circling around the intervening body of the dragon.Due to that overly defenceless act, Renya sheathes the thrust-out katana in its scabbard reflexively. What? (Renya) It looks like I cant get them off by myself. Wont you please remove them for me? The lump of bandages holds out both hands while requesting that.So, how did you coil those bandages around, Renya wanted to ask, but he feels like it would dodge answering if he said that or give a strange answer.While harbouring somewhat dissatisfied thoughts, Renya started to unravel the bandages of a held-out hand, as prompted.However, this unexpectedly became a very troublesome task as Renya had foreseen.At any rate, its bandages that have been coiled around until they have become quite dense.Its a state where one doesnt know at all just how thick the layers are and whats inside. Its not a half-hearted amount of bandages.In other words, even as he unwraps and unwraps, bandages appear one after the other.Even though the unwrapped bandages begin to form a mountain underfoot, theres no indication that whatevers inside will become visible.Isnt it in fact bandages down to the core without anyone being inside?Even as he thinks that, the amount of bandages is piling up under Renyas feet. Yaa, sorry for troubling you this much. But, it was necessary to use that many bandages. The patient Bandages raised its voice as if smiling bitterly while the bandages are getting removed by Renya.Which reminds me, just where the heck did the blades, which came out from in-between the gaps in the bandages earlier, go?At the time Renya began to harbour such question, a slender white arm showed up from within the bandages which were removed at last. Chapter 72 C It seems something came Renya gathers his thoughts.Assuming that the several rock dragons wont count towards the current military gains as we didnt fetch the subjugation proofs, there is still the result of 15 subjugated wyvrens remaining.Given that I have collected the magic cores, those will easily serve as evidence.Even if we try to report all of it as Liaris military gains, as they likely wont be able to believe and accept the entire story, Liaris will be able to at least claim about 7 wyvrens as her own half of it, Renya predicts,but its unclear how much the subjugation of 7 wyvrens will be worth as achievement.From Renyas standpoint, he doesnt feel it as considerable degree of difficulty to have subjugated those wyvrens because he recognizes it as the wyvren having crashed after being hit by a heavy armour.I dont think it will become an achievement no matter how many of them were defeated seeing that its possible to defeat them this easily, he just thinks.In reality wyvrens and rock dragons are monsters with a power level that can probably brought down one way or the other by a party of C-rank adventurers. They arent monsters you can earn money with through numbers.However, Liaris, who is the only person who can point out such matter in this place, is still stuck within the heavy armour. Its not like Croire, who tried to get her out of it with her utmost effort, possesses that much knowledge about the ability of adventurers either. It was a situation where there was no one able to point out that Renyas thinking was wrong.Renya looks down at the dragon which is cowering at the side.Theres no doubt that we probably will have to subjugate a dragon.No matter what kind of fairy-tale it is, those, who subjugated a dragon, will be awarded with the most prestige.Thats likely not any different in this world either, Renya believes.But, if he is asked whether he is able to subjugate this dragon, who is frantically begging for its life while shrinking down his large build as much as possible, without any compassion, Renya wont be able to answer anything but no.If it was an opponent that faced him properly, he had the confidence of being able to crush them underfoot while laughing at them even if its such a frail being, but Renya wants to avoid turning his fists against an opponent who pleads to be spared.Not to mention that this dragon hasnt caused any kind of harm to Renya and the others to begin with.He ends up hesitating to kill the dragon, who harbours no hostility although one cant say that its harmless either, with his own hands, even if its for the sake of his friends lover.For example it was even a dragon who frankly admitted he wants to make out with a female.For example it was even a dragon who frankly admitted he wants to make out with a female.For example it I have a feeling that it will be fine if we hunt something suitable. (Renya) Renya, who started to believe that theres no meaning in an existence like a dragon that became flirty, says that in a flat voice and the dragon, who is still in a posture of prostrating itself, hits the ground with his tail with a *flop flop* in order to protest against this. Hmm, anything, eh? (Renya) That means it pretty much made a pledge, Renya thinks.The magic core will be necessary by all means as proof of a dragon subjugation.Since the magic core is located above the dragons heart or within its head, theres no other option but to try opening the chest or head in order to take it out.And, even though Renya has means to open those, he doesnt happen to have the skill to restore those back to their original state at hand.If you leave the opened chest or head of most living creatures alone, they will die.Well, how annoying, Renya folded his arms.Looking up to the sky wondering what he should do, Renya discovered that when he returned his sight to the dragon once again.From Renyas view its in a place facing towards the dragon on its other side.It suddenly stood there without any chain of reasoning. Yaa, hello. That, which abruptly raised its right hand and greeted them, had an appearance similar to a badly made stuffed toy that was wrapped in bandages, if one has to describe it.Has it been wrapped in considerably thick bandages? Or is there a person inside? At any rate, the lump of bandages had more or less the shape of a person, but its showing a smooth body that ended up painting over all the information like revealing its gender and race.Even the area around the head doesnt expose its eyes and mouth. I wonder if it can see like this? And why isnt its voice muffled?Those question are popping up one after the other.The voice was pretty much that of a woman with its high pitch. Huh? Wont you reply to my greetings? Just where the heck did you appear from? (Renya) Given that there are precedents of him not having felt a presence, he isnt surprised to such an extent.However, the fact that it suddenly appeared without even Croire, who possesses quite the sharp sense of hearing, noticing it, was plenty to even give Renya a surprise.Renya asks somewhat absent-mindedly without being able to recover from that shock, but he naturally places his hand on the katana at his waist.Due to his action, which has changed into a partially conditioned reflex for Renya, the lump of bandages pushed out both its hands in front of it in a hurry. Wait, wait. Im not a particularly suspicious person. Im just a passing-by Bandages-san. While thinking that theres likely no way for Bandages to simply pass by, Renya glares at it. Arent there shady parts with such a self-introduction? (Renya) While standing ready with the intention to cut it down alongside the dragon, which is between them, if necessary, Renya turns a fleeting glance in Croires direction.Croire had frantically worked at removing the armour with Liaris in it until the bandages appeared, but did she quickly sense Renyas reaction? It appeared that she has hidden in the shade of a rock and is secretly looking over here.Of course the armour has been left alone as is.It could be said to be only natural since Croire wouldnt be even able to drag it along with her arm strength. And it can also be said that for Liaris being inside the armour is the safest place anyway. You seem to be troubled, eh? Dont you feel like trying to consult with this kind, passing-by Bandages-san here? Renya laughed scornfully at the words of the lump of bandages which asked while leaning its upper body forward. A fellow, who asks for a consultation with this type of invitation, is a fool. (Renya) Is that so? I think that there are many people who will get excited and jump at that good luck though. The Bandages hit the dragons body with a hand, that was pushed out, with a *pon pon*The dragon shows no indication of moving while looking at the lump of bandages with the same gaze as it faced Renya. Let me guess your problem? Dont you want to use this dragon here one way or the other? Renya doesnt answer.How did the bandages take his silence? It continues in an unchanged tone. Since it will probably easy if you simply kill it, theres also a reason why you dont want to kill it, I guess? You (Renya) Though its somehow possible for me. What will you do? Due to the signs of Renya strengthening his vigilance, the Bandages spins around while spreading both its hands without caring at all.Doesnt it think anything at all about its behaviour being full of gaps? Or does it believe that theres no necessity for it to mind about someone like Renya who can slash it at any time? What do you plan to do? (Renya) Renya asked while keeping an alert eye on the actions of Bandages.Bandages stops to turn around and hits the dragons body with a *pon pon* again. It depends on what you want to do, doesnt it? For example, if you just want to take out the magic core The lump of bandages tucks up both its hands.Seeing variously shaped blades showing up, accompanied by metallic sounds, from the gaps in between the bandages, Renya moved his body back a bit.Hasnt it caught sight of Renyas state? Bandages loudly declares, If its me, Im capable of dismantling this dragon without it dying. The dragon temporarily shook its large body due to the thoughtlessly dangerous statement.Renya tries to ask one thing while sighing lightly at the dragons state. Have you prepared anaesthesia and such? (Renya) Huh? Once Renya asks the question to Bandages which immediately retracts the blades it took out just a minute ago, it replies in a somewhat idiotic voice, Anaesthesia, anaesthesia you say. Is something like dismantling impossible without anaesthesia? Ah, it will be alright. It wont die though it will be a pain to the degree of dying. (Renya) The dragons face becomes stiff due to the words of Bandages which were stated quite indifferently.Renya shook his head while thinking that hes probably watching something exceedingly strange now. No matter how you put it, thats far too cruel. (Renya) Due to Renya saying something like performing an open surgery on the chest without anaesthesia in a state of being conscious is likely unendurable if done just like that, Bandages groans while doing something like folding its arms.Although he realizes that it wants to fold its arms which are a lump of bandages as well, they dont come together at all. Then ah, thats right. If the dragon acknowledges it, I can also do it so that it will get enslaved. Due to the word enslavement, Renyas face moves with a twitch.It meant that the magic core, gouged out from that monster, would be necessary to show it as proof that it was subjugated, but in that case it would become necessary to kill the dragon in front of him no matter what.Otherwise it would be necessary to forever watch the agony of the dragon which had its magic core taken out without anaesthesia.However, there shouldnt be anything more convincing, without the necessity of troublesome processing either, if they show the actual article with it was captured at great difficulty though.But, no matter what, Renya is worried about the lack of suspiciousness because of the stuffed toy in front of him.It would still be fine if there was just a bit of hostility, but its strangely friendly to a great extent.Renya has no stuffed toy or bandage acquaintances.In other words, even though he doesnt remember having a friendly interaction with those, this lump of bandages is talking to him intimately without minding Renya putting his hand on a weapon. Just who the heck are you? (Renya) Well, isnt it fine after we finish various things? Bandages tries to shelve the question, but Renya has no intention to let that pass.Once he unsheathes the katana in a smooth motion, he thrusts its point at the place where the face of Bandages is likely situated. Does anyone depend on a party they dont know? (Renya) Renya intended to apply a light pressure, but it apparently didnt get through to Bandages at all. Eh? Ah, Are you telling me that you want to see my face? W-Wait a moment, okay? Well, I didnt predict that for them to getting attached this much after the medical treatment, thus will it be alright if I dont something unreasonable, I wonder? If I do it too fiercely, it will become a strain, but I think its possible to correct them though. What are you mumbling about? (Renya) Without showing an interest in the thrust-out point of the katana at all, the lump of bandages began to mumble something while flapping both its arms.In front of the astonished Renya, the lump of bandages which was like that for a little while, gives a single nod with an alright before long. Okaay. I will remove the bandages. Saying that, it started to tamper with its own body while using both arms which had been changed into bandage-shrouded tubes.The lump of bandages, which struggled for a while ahead of Renya, who is staring at it with a doubtful look while wondering whether the bandages will come off, stopped moving soon and after pondering for a bit, it came walking in front of Renya circling around the intervening body of the dragon.Due to that overly defenceless act, Renya sheathes the thrust-out katana in its scabbard reflexively. What? (Renya) It looks like I cant get them off by myself. Wont you please remove them for me? The lump of bandages holds out both hands while requesting that.So, how did you coil those bandages around, Renya wanted to ask, but he feels like it would dodge answering if he said that or give a strange answer.While harbouring somewhat dissatisfied thoughts, Renya started to unravel the bandages of a held-out hand, as prompted.However, this unexpectedly became a very troublesome task as Renya had foreseen.At any rate, its bandages that have been coiled around until they have become quite dense.Its a state where one doesnt know at all just how thick the layers are and whats inside. Its not a half-hearted amount of bandages.In other words, even as he unwraps and unwraps, bandages appear one after the other.Even though the unwrapped bandages begin to form a mountain underfoot, theres no indication that whatevers inside will become visible.Isnt it in fact bandages down to the core without anyone being inside?Even as he thinks that, the amount of bandages is piling up under Renyas feet. Yaa, sorry for troubling you this much. But, it was necessary to use that many bandages. The patient Bandages raised its voice as if smiling bitterly while the bandages are getting removed by Renya.Which reminds me, just where the heck did the blades, which came out from in-between the gaps in the bandages earlier, go?At the time Renya began to harbour such question, a slender white arm showed up from within the bandages which were removed at last. Chapter 73 Chapter 73 C It seems to be the true identity of Bandages Under his feet an amount of bandagesto the degree of the pile rising to his ankles has fallen.In the current situation of him standing directly in the middle of that, Renya fixedly stared at the white arm that appeared from within the bandages.From its appearance there was almost no doubt that it was the arm of a woman.And in addition to that it doesnt seem like that arm has carried out things like manual labour or fighting. Its a supple arm that has almost no muscles on it.Since Shion and Rona are practising swinging a long sword and mace respectively, their arms have proper muscles even while retaining a certain extent of femininity.Although Croire has an amount of muscles that mostly cant be seen from her outward appearance as should be expected of those called elves, she was still in a fairly trained state if one looks properly.However, that arm, which dug its way out from within the bandages, is an arm giving an impression of a so called young lady from a good family due to its fleshiness which Renya had not once see in his whole life.Does that mean theres a young lady of a good pedigree hidden within those bandages?Renya thought for an instant, but immediately denied that thought as impossible.The current location being the dwelling of a dragon with wyvrens and such buzzing about close-by is a completely dangerous place. Its not a place where a young lady of a good pedigree takes a carefree stroll while having her body wrapped in a large amount of bandages.Moreover, the other party is alone.Since theres no indication of anyone accompanying her either, theres no way that shes a young lady. Since your arm came out, will you be able to unwrap the rest by yourself? (Renya) In the first place, if she isnt the owner of an ability at the level of Renya, it should have been difficult for her to even come as far as to this place.Just how the hell did the owner of this arm get to such place?While Renya felt such a doubt, Bandages already held out her other hand towards Renya once he asked. What is it? (Renya) I dont want to stop in the middle of it, you know. Since I started to work on it, I wonder if you cant unwrap them until the end for me? Renya stops himself from askingAre you screwing around with me?After taking a deep breath in order to calm down himself, he took the hand which was held out towards him. Got it, stand still. (Renya) Answering like that, Renya unwraps the bandages coiled around the other arm while secretly making the neglected armour with Liaris in it float with the spell and carries it to the shade where Croire has hidden.In case it becomes a situation where they have to escape, it will be fine if they abandon the armour, but its not like they can leave Liaris, who is inside, behind.In that case, it wont do without Liaris getting quickly out of the armour in preparation for the time when something happens.Theres also the option of transporting it with the spell , but I cant say for sure that it will be possible in an emergency to do so.Pretending to meet slight, unexpected difficulties while untying the bandages, Renya gains time. Sorry for troubling you. Good grief. Whats the intention behind using such large amount of bandages (Renya) It was the medical treatment for a little bit largish technique. It was a necessary measure to preserve until it became stable, wasnt it? What kind of thing did you there you are, it got off. (Renya) When Renya said that, both hands of Bandages were freed from bandages.Her body, legs and head are still in a state of being enveloped in thick layers of bandages. After having thick poles on both sides made out of bandages, the spectacle of slender, female arms stretching out instead can only be called eerie or ridiculous. Renya doesnt know which one though. Next the head, please. Do it yourself (Renya) Pretty please, Renya-kun. Renyas expression gets tense due to the voice that contained a smile. You know my name? (Renya) Fufu rather than that, please remove the bandages on my head, okay? The elven young lady in the back needs time to rescue the human stuck within that armour, doesnt she? Due to Bandages giggling lightly, Renya clicks his tongue without even trying to hide it.Even if it cant be helped that Croires movements had been exposed, Renya didnt expect at all for this suspicious character to know his name. It will be alright even if you arent that vigilant? If you are worried, I can put my hands together behind my back like this. The lump of bandages puts both her arms, which became free, behind her own back and linked the fingers of both hands.Renya was a bit lost at this point.Do I continue to remove the bandages just as Ive been told or do I cut her down by drawing my sword at this point-blank range? Those are the two options.After a small amount of hesitation, Renya started to remove the bandages on the head part.Its not like I cant kill her by using a blade, he thought,but at present theres still no reason to cut her down.Killing because they are strange, because they are suspicious; that doesnt depend on anything but the result of cutting until it merely results in finishing without cutting.Its the act of a fool to hold back power without using it, but its a stupid deed to use it without considering the place where its to be used.Even the bandages coiled around the head are stacked in an unbelievable amount.Its skilfully done to have this much bandages completely twining around the face without her suffocating, Renya secretly admired.Once he removes the bandages swiftly, the hidden face becomes exposed.Renya, who kept taking a long and hard look at that exposed face from point-blank range, was puzzled within his mind.It was a face of a little girl he hadnt seen since coming to this world.Her hair is put together into a side tail and has an orchid colour. Her skin, rather than appearing as transparent, it is abnormally white.Her ears have a very human-like shape, but her deep crimson pupils, which were filled with an impish light, feel just a little different from those of humans if one looks from nearby.It was fairly difficult to guess the age by just her face, butgoing by my impression, she feels a bit younger that Shion, I guess, Renya estimated. Be that as it may, Renya closely gazes at that face.It seemed like the other party knew Renyas name, but no matter how many times he searched his memory, Renya didnt remember the face in front of him after all.Then it means that the other party knows about Renya one-sidedly, is how it works out, butI cant predict from whom, of those who know me, the information might have been handed down.The little girl stares at Renya quizzical expression with a friendly grin as if seeing something amusing. Say? Did we meet somewhere before? (Renya) Thats right. I have encountered you once. The reply returned towards Renyas question confuses him even further.Though even Renya remember someone when he meets them once, he doesnt recall her voice and face at all.Even though my body should be young, my brain is likely still that from my previous existence, behind Renya, who began to hold doubts towards his own memory, a small, short yell from Croire was audible.Is there some kind of trouble?turning his head, Croire, who was looking this way while appearing only a bit from within the rocks shade, yelled ahead of Renyas look. Renya-sana! Please get away from that fellow! That fellow is a demon! (Croire) She is quite flustered, huh?The words she was using were in the elven language.For a moment Renya doesnt understand what Croire is saying. In the next moment he turns around towards the little girl while drawing the katana at his waist. And then that motion stops.While understanding that Renya had entered a combat stance, the little girl, without even trying to defend, showed a giggle narrowing her impish eyes. Thats a good decision. Wouldnt it be a bad if you cant take even one step after drawing? The bandages, which were neglected on the ground, entangle around Renyas feet.Even without a strength to degree of constricting him, due to the bandages properly sealing his motion, Renya yelled without him turning around to his back, Croire! Take Liaris and run away! (Renya) No, no, elf-ojousan. You are called Croire, I guess? It will be alright even if you dont escape? The voice, which contained a smile, is pointed at Croire.Croire, who showed up from within the rocks shade, glared at the little girl while putting herself on guard and said, Leaving you behind, theres no way I can simply escape like that, Renya-san! (Croire) The elven language, huh Im slightly bad at that. I wonder if you can understand me? My words, that is. Release Renya-san! (Croire) Thats unreasonable, isnt it? After all I will end up getting cut down once I release him. The little girl hit her head with a *tap tap* using a hand. Its no good if I dont change the colour of my hair as expected. What do you mean? (Renya) Renya asks while holding the hilt of his katana in his hand.The little girl showed a slightly perplexed expression due to Renyas question. You know, that is because orchid hair is a trait of demons, isnt it? To be accurate, orchid hair and dark brow skin. And in addition the shape of the pupils. (Croire) Without taking her eyes off the little girls movements, Croire, who is standing ready, supplemented. However, except for the hair colour, you arent conforming to the traits of demons what kind of person are you? (Croire) A demon-like person, I guess? Well, for the time being. The little girl quickly drops the hand which was hitting her head.With just that much of an action her orchid hair is dyed in a deep crimson colour.Seeing that, Croire opened her eyes widely. S-Such a something like a demon changing their hair colour (Croire) Croires voice trembles.What the little girl in front of Renya did was apparently an action that caused quite the shock to her for some reason. Whats this about? (Renya) For demons their orchid hair is a proof of their pride. They believe in quite the old-fashioned sense of values, dont they? Rather than that The little demon girl looks fleetingly at Renyas hand which is placed on the katana.If he draws, he has the range and timing enabling him to cut her, but Renya doesnt move.As if completely restraining Renya, the bandages, which are entangled around his feet, have changed their pressure. I have an inexhaustible amount of curiosity regarding that katana as well, but for the time being, wont you release your hand from it and take off the remaining bandages? The little girls height was around one or two points of view lower than Renyas.Naturally, from the little girls point of view she has to glance upwards as Renya is towering above her.However, I cant feel anything but the upturned eyes of that little girl being a calculated action. What was that? (Renya) The little demon girl didnt loose her smile while tampering with the bandages which were covering a part of her body and said towards Renya who asked that question, I believe that its no good to give up on something, you started, midway. You who the heck are you? (Renya) He reflexively fills the hand, which held up the scabbard, with strength.Once asked by Renya, who is still in a state of being able to draw in an instant if he has only one chance, the little girl kept her mouth shut after trying to answer once. After pondering for a short while, she answered while laughing extremely happily. I will give you an answer once you remove the bandages on my body? Once the little girl says that while pinching the bandages around her collar, Renyas expression turns bitter.Do I start an attack? Or do I follow the girls words?After a while Renya released his hand from the katana while making sure to to not take his eyes off the little girl.In Renyas opinion, the attack speed of the bandages, which are already entangled around his feet, should be faster than his own sword-drawing speed.He doesnt know how strong the bandages are, but since she deliberately twined them around his feet, it might be an item that can immediately sever something at the level of Renyas feet.It might be a result that is plenty worth it for the inhabitants of this world if one can defeat a demon in exchange for the amputation of both their feet, but from Renyas viewpoint its not like the demons are his natural enemy at all. The little girl in front of him didnt show any indication to start an attack at present even if the truth is different.So, if thats the case, it will be better to answer the demand of the opponent for the time being, I guess, Renya judged.Even the amount of bandages twined around the body of the little girl seemed to be a considerable amount if one considered the imagined body of the little girl.This seems to be once again a task that will take some time, at the time Renya placed his hand on the bandages, the little demon girl quietly stood on tiptoes and brought her lips close to Renyas ear.The little demon girl whispered into the ear of Renya, who couldnt move due to the sudden action of hers, Im, you know, Emil Rajah, a researcher. (Emil) Haa!? (Renya) The hand of the surprised Renya is unintentionally filled with strength.It was to such a degree that it took quite the time and labour to untangle the bandages on the head with his hand.The bandages, which were wrapped around the little girls body, easily came off without delay up to the area around her waist and dropped to the ground.In front of Renya, who stood stock still in a daze, the white skin, which depict gentle curves from the scape of her neck, lays bare. The line of the distinctly standing-out collarbone and the pair of soft hills, which kept their shape due to the girls youth while being moderate, were swaying with a tremble dependent on the girls slight movements. Chapter 73 C It seems to be the true identity of Bandages Under his feet an amount of bandagesto the degree of the pile rising to his ankles has fallen.In the current situation of him standing directly in the middle of that, Renya fixedly stared at the white arm that appeared from within the bandages.From its appearance there was almost no doubt that it was the arm of a woman.And in addition to that it doesnt seem like that arm has carried out things like manual labour or fighting. Its a supple arm that has almost no muscles on it.Since Shion and Rona are practising swinging a long sword and mace respectively, their arms have proper muscles even while retaining a certain extent of femininity.Although Croire has an amount of muscles that mostly cant be seen from her outward appearance as should be expected of those called elves, she was still in a fairly trained state if one looks properly.However, that arm, which dug its way out from within the bandages, is an arm giving an impression of a so called young lady from a good family due to its fleshiness which Renya had not once see in his whole life.Does that mean theres a young lady of a good pedigree hidden within those bandages?Renya thought for an instant, but immediately denied that thought as impossible.The current location being the dwelling of a dragon with wyvrens and such buzzing about close-by is a completely dangerous place. Its not a place where a young lady of a good pedigree takes a carefree stroll while having her body wrapped in a large amount of bandages.Moreover, the other party is alone.Since theres no indication of anyone accompanying her either, theres no way that shes a young lady. Since your arm came out, will you be able to unwrap the rest by yourself? (Renya) In the first place, if she isnt the owner of an ability at the level of Renya, it should have been difficult for her to even come as far as to this place.Just how the hell did the owner of this arm get to such place?While Renya felt such a doubt, Bandages already held out her other hand towards Renya once he asked. What is it? (Renya) I dont want to stop in the middle of it, you know. Since I started to work on it, I wonder if you cant unwrap them until the end for me? Renya stops himself from askingAre you screwing around with me?After taking a deep breath in order to calm down himself, he took the hand which was held out towards him. Got it, stand still. (Renya) Answering like that, Renya unwraps the bandages coiled around the other arm while secretly making the neglected armour with Liaris in it float with the spell and carries it to the shade where Croire has hidden.In case it becomes a situation where they have to escape, it will be fine if they abandon the armour, but its not like they can leave Liaris, who is inside, behind.In that case, it wont do without Liaris getting quickly out of the armour in preparation for the time when something happens.Theres also the option of transporting it with the spell , but I cant say for sure that it will be possible in an emergency to do so.Pretending to meet slight, unexpected difficulties while untying the bandages, Renya gains time. Sorry for troubling you. Good grief. Whats the intention behind using such large amount of bandages (Renya) It was the medical treatment for a little bit largish technique. It was a necessary measure to preserve until it became stable, wasnt it? What kind of thing did you there you are, it got off. (Renya) When Renya said that, both hands of Bandages were freed from bandages.Her body, legs and head are still in a state of being enveloped in thick layers of bandages. After having thick poles on both sides made out of bandages, the spectacle of slender, female arms stretching out instead can only be called eerie or ridiculous. Renya doesnt know which one though. Next the head, please. Do it yourself (Renya) Pretty please, Renya-kun. Renyas expression gets tense due to the voice that contained a smile. You know my name? (Renya) Fufu rather than that, please remove the bandages on my head, okay? The elven young lady in the back needs time to rescue the human stuck within that armour, doesnt she? Due to Bandages giggling lightly, Renya clicks his tongue without even trying to hide it.Even if it cant be helped that Croires movements had been exposed, Renya didnt expect at all for this suspicious character to know his name. It will be alright even if you arent that vigilant? If you are worried, I can put my hands together behind my back like this. The lump of bandages puts both her arms, which became free, behind her own back and linked the fingers of both hands.Renya was a bit lost at this point.Do I continue to remove the bandages just as Ive been told or do I cut her down by drawing my sword at this point-blank range? Those are the two options.After a small amount of hesitation, Renya started to remove the bandages on the head part.Its not like I cant kill her by using a blade, he thought,but at present theres still no reason to cut her down.Killing because they are strange, because they are suspicious; that doesnt depend on anything but the result of cutting until it merely results in finishing without cutting.Its the act of a fool to hold back power without using it, but its a stupid deed to use it without considering the place where its to be used.Even the bandages coiled around the head are stacked in an unbelievable amount.Its skilfully done to have this much bandages completely twining around the face without her suffocating, Renya secretly admired.Once he removes the bandages swiftly, the hidden face becomes exposed.Renya, who kept taking a long and hard look at that exposed face from point-blank range, was puzzled within his mind.It was a face of a little girl he hadnt seen since coming to this world.Her hair is put together into a side tail and has an orchid colour. Her skin, rather than appearing as transparent, it is abnormally white.Her ears have a very human-like shape, but her deep crimson pupils, which were filled with an impish light, feel just a little different from those of humans if one looks from nearby.It was fairly difficult to guess the age by just her face, butgoing by my impression, she feels a bit younger that Shion, I guess, Renya estimated.Be that as it may, Renya closely gazes at that face.It seemed like the other party knew Renyas name, but no matter how many times he searched his memory, Renya didnt remember the face in front of him after all.Then it means that the other party knows about Renya one-sidedly, is how it works out, butI cant predict from whom, of those who know me, the information might have been handed down.The little girl stares at Renya quizzical expression with a friendly grin as if seeing something amusing. Say? Did we meet somewhere before? (Renya) Thats right. I have encountered you once. The reply returned towards Renyas question confuses him even further.Though even Renya remember someone when he meets them once, he doesnt recall her voice and face at all.Even though my body should be young, my brain is likely still that from my previous existence, behind Renya, who began to hold doubts towards his own memory, a small, short yell from Croire was audible.Is there some kind of trouble?turning his head, Croire, who was looking this way while appearing only a bit from within the rocks shade, yelled ahead of Renyas look. Renya-sana! Please get away from that fellow! That fellow is a demon! (Croire) She is quite flustered, huh?The words she was using were in the elven language.For a moment Renya doesnt understand what Croire is saying. In the next moment he turns around towards the little girl while drawing the katana at his waist. And then that motion stops.While understanding that Renya had entered a combat stance, the little girl, without even trying to defend, showed a giggle narrowing her impish eyes. Thats a good decision. Wouldnt it be a bad if you cant take even one step after drawing? The bandages, which were neglected on the ground, entangle around Renyas feet.Even without a strength to degree of constricting him, due to the bandages properly sealing his motion, Renya yelled without him turning around to his back, Croire! Take Liaris and run away! (Renya) No, no, elf-ojousan. You are called Croire, I guess? It will be alright even if you dont escape? The voice, which contained a smile, is pointed at Croire.Croire, who showed up from within the rocks shade, glared at the little girl while putting herself on guard and said, Leaving you behind, theres no way I can simply escape like that, Renya-san! (Croire) The elven language, huh Im slightly bad at that. I wonder if you can understand me? My words, that is. Release Renya-san! (Croire) Thats unreasonable, isnt it? After all I will end up getting cut down once I release him. The little girl hit her head with a *tap tap* using a hand. Its no good if I dont change the colour of my hair as expected. What do you mean? (Renya) Renya asks while holding the hilt of his katana in his hand.The little girl showed a slightly perplexed expression due to Renyas question. You know, that is because orchid hair is a trait of demons, isnt it? To be accurate, orchid hair and dark brow skin. And in addition the shape of the pupils. (Croire) Without taking her eyes off the little girls movements, Croire, who is standing ready, supplemented. However, except for the hair colour, you arent conforming to the traits of demons what kind of person are you? (Croire) A demon-like person, I guess? Well, for the time being. The little girl quickly drops the hand which was hitting her head.With just that much of an action her orchid hair is dyed in a deep crimson colour.Seeing that, Croire opened her eyes widely. S-Such a something like a demon changing their hair colour (Croire) Croires voice trembles.What the little girl in front of Renya did was apparently an action that caused quite the shock to her for some reason. Whats this about? (Renya) For demons their orchid hair is a proof of their pride. They believe in quite the old-fashioned sense of values, dont they? Rather than that The little demon girl looks fleetingly at Renyas hand which is placed on the katana.If he draws, he has the range and timing enabling him to cut her, but Renya doesnt move.As if completely restraining Renya, the bandages, which are entangled around his feet, have changed their pressure. I have an inexhaustible amount of curiosity regarding that katana as well, but for the time being, wont you release your hand from it and take off the remaining bandages? The little girls height was around one or two points of view lower than Renyas.Naturally, from the little girls point of view she has to glance upwards as Renya is towering above her.However, I cant feel anything but the upturned eyes of that little girl being a calculated action. What was that? (Renya) The little demon girl didnt loose her smile while tampering with the bandages which were covering a part of her body and said towards Renya who asked that question, I believe that its no good to give up on something, you started, midway. You who the heck are you? (Renya) He reflexively fills the hand, which held up the scabbard, with strength.Once asked by Renya, who is still in a state of being able to draw in an instant if he has only one chance, the little girl kept her mouth shut after trying to answer once. After pondering for a short while, she answered while laughing extremely happily. I will give you an answer once you remove the bandages on my body? Once the little girl says that while pinching the bandages around her collar, Renyas expression turns bitter.Do I start an attack? Or do I follow the girls words?After a while Renya released his hand from the katana while making sure to to not take his eyes off the little girl.In Renyas opinion, the attack speed of the bandages, which are already entangled around his feet, should be faster than his own sword-drawing speed.He doesnt know how strong the bandages are, but since she deliberately twined them around his feet, it might be an item that can immediately sever something at the level of Renyas feet.It might be a result that is plenty worth it for the inhabitants of this world if one can defeat a demon in exchange for the amputation of both their feet, but from Renyas viewpoint its not like the demons are his natural enemy at all. The little girl in front of him didnt show any indication to start an attack at present even if the truth is different.So, if thats the case, it will be better to answer the demand of the opponent for the time being, I guess, Renya judged.Even the amount of bandages twined around the body of the little girl seemed to be a considerable amount if one considered the imagined body of the little girl.This seems to be once again a task that will take some time, at the time Renya placed his hand on the bandages, the little demon girl quietly stood on tiptoes and brought her lips close to Renyas ear.The little demon girl whispered into the ear of Renya, who couldnt move due to the sudden action of hers, Im, you know, Emil Rajah, a researcher. (Emil) Haa!? (Renya) The hand of the surprised Renya is unintentionally filled with strength.It was to such a degree that it took quite the time and labour to untangle the bandages on the head with his hand.The bandages, which were wrapped around the little girls body, easily came off without delay up to the area around her waist and dropped to the ground.In front of Renya, who stood stock still in a daze, the white skin, which depict gentle curves from the scape of her neck, lays bare. The line of the distinctly standing-out collarbone and the pair of soft hills, which kept their shape due to the girls youth while being moderate, were swaying with a tremble dependent on the girls slight movements. Chapter 75 Chapter 75 C It seems to be Liaris and the dragon For now theres a method to use that dragon lying down over there. (Emil) Stepping up to the dragon, Emil places her hand on its head with a *pon*Did it already give up?The dragon shows no reaction even with Emil putting her hand on it. What are you planning to do, with this? (Emil) At first I thought it would be fine to defeat and storage it. (Renya) Renyas sight faces towards the direction of the lying armour.Since Croire has stopped the removal of the armour midway, Liaris is still inside it.While thinkingshe isnt very unwilling to be in there though, Renya walked up to the armour and opened it after quickly unfastening its clasps.Just as expected by Renya, the blood of the crushed wyvrens and rock dragons has entered into the armour and its insides appear to be covered in a bright red gooey mass.Speaking of a saving grace, their blood doesnt appear to smell as much as I thought, huh?Because the armours inside is that muddled, Liaris, who was inside it, has naturally become muddled to the same extent.Liaris, who suddenly got up with half her body from within the finally opened armour, fixedly looked up at Renya with her bloodstained face. Whats wrong? (Renya) I wanted to be rescued a lot earlier. (Liaris) Liaris says in a somewhat hollow and spiteful manner.Renya doesnt comprehend her feelings of wanting to make even a single complaint such as on top of being neglected in a state of not knowing what might have happened outside the armour, a woman of marriageable age is muddled with blood and other stuff.Liaris crawls out from within the armour while having the appearance of being sullied by bloody dirt and stands up. It couldnt be helped. The priority for that was low. (Renya) Renya, who quickly cut down Liariss protest-like words, asks Emil while pointing at Liaris, That dragon. Is it possible for that one to enslave it? (Renya) Ignoring the startled Liaris and Croire for the time being, Renya asked Emil and Emil, after pondering for a short while scratching her head, said, Its possible, but isnt that too wasteful? (Emil) I dont particularly need a dragon or such. (Renya) If you present it to the country, a big-shot or such, they will remember you auspiciously though? (Emil) Renya jeers at Emils remark by laughing scornfully. How foolish. Why would I have to give them such a present to curry favour with them? (Renya) Isnt it a good thing to side with powerful or influential people? (Emil) Emil mentions something resembling a sound argument, but it was fully understandable from her tone of voice that she doesnt believe that.Its because shes a demon, or rather its probably owed to her own character, but it doesnt seem like shes regarding the word powerful or influential person(T/N: its one word in Japanese after all)as a waste of paper either. Please make it possible to enslave the dragon to this one since I dont care about such stuff. (Renya) Umm Renya-san? Just what the heck (Liaris) Ah, Liaris. for the sake of swiftly obtaining strength and achievements, I will have you become a dragoon by enslaving this dragon to you. (Renya) Ha? (Liaris) Due to Renyas far too excessive statement, Liaris comprehensive faculty apparently wasnt able to catch up.But, from Renyas point of view, he considered it to be a truly good idea.In addition to the achievement of having captured a dragon, it means that Liaris will at least obtain the war potential of a dragon by enslaving it.However, if we had only subjugated it, there would likely people come forth doubting us with didnt she rely on Renya?, but if, on top of seeing the dragon in front of their eyes, it listens to the order from Liaris, such back-biting people should disappear, he assessed.Even if they appeared for arguments sake, it would all be resolved with a single order of Liaris to burn them to ashes if they become too troublesome. I wont do that!? (Liaris) Oh, did that just leak out from my mouth? However, dont you think that its an ingenious idea? (Renya) Well, thats certainly true. But, am I able to raise something like a dragon? (Liaris) Its a dragon called the weakest among the dragons of this area, according to its own evaluation.Above it definitely not being an existence that can be kept within the city, something like a building that can serve as stable where she can store the dragon, albeit its frame isnt very oversized either, doesnt exist in Kukrika.However, while that may be true, its not a being that can be left at large in the citys outskirts. Emil, do something about it. (Renya) Arent you handling your own workers a bit too roughly? (Emil) Although the figure of Emil, who was completely entrusted with the problem, complaints with a grumble, That dragon and the young lady you are called Liaris or such, right? Since they will be linked within their thoughts, isnt it fine if we let it live in this place usually so that it can come once called? As its a distance that will take just two days if treated by human feet, wont it be right away there if its a dragon that can fly? (Emil) The hand of Emil which was placed on the head of the dragon who mentioned its worries, thoroughly sinks into the dragons head.Screaming through its thoughts, it opens its mouth gapingly and the body of the dragon, who fainted, begins to convulse with a start each time Emil performs some operation. Renya and Croire, who saw that, felt cold sweat streaming down their cheeks. Differing from wyvrens and such, theres always a magic gem within the head of a dragon, right? Apart from the magic core, this is called the dragon gem Carbuncle. (Emil) Emil pulls out her hand from the dragons head with a short *slurp*As if she didnt do anything at all, there are no traces of Emils hand having been thrust into the dragons head until moments ago after she withdrew her hand.Between the extracted fingers of Emil theres a small red and transparent gem.After Emil turned that, which can be actually seen as cultivated currant on the first glance, lightly around between her fingers, she heads in the direction of Liaris. Liaris-san, say aah'' (Emil) Haa say, who is this person? Well its fine I guess aah. (Liaris) Emil flicked the red gem with her index finger into the mouth of Liaris who opened it as told.Due to the foreign substance that suddenly entered inside, the surprised Liaris closes her mouth and ends up gulping it down on the spur of the moment. Ueeh!? What did you make me swallow there!? (Liaris) The dragon gem. I had you swallow a small scrape of it. (Emil) Why!? (Liaris) I told you, didnt I? Its for linking your minds. Thanks to the dragon gem you swallowed being absorbed, your and the dragons thoughts will be linked. As this is a private path between the two of you, you will be connected even if you are quite a distance away from each other. (Emil) I dont believe the dragon will do what I tell it just because our thoughts are linked, though? (Liaris) Emil returned a smile towards Liaris reasonable doubt. Its alright. I placed a little trick on the dragon gem remaining within its head. Well, theres the way of it being cancelled in case of its contractor dying, thus wont you resign yourself for around 100 years, unlucky dragon-kun? (Emil) The dragon, who returned to reality from its state of having fainted and raised not only its thoughts but also a somewhat strange voice, nodded in answer to Emils words.Liaris apparently wasnt yet able to believe in the words spoken by Emil, but she approached the dragon with a feeling that could be called timid.She tries to get close and the existence crouching over there is certainly a tall dragon thats also hailed as roughly the strongest among all existing monsters.From Liaris point of view, its usually a being that will settle her death at the moment she encountered it, but its figure of cowering on the ground with its chin completely like a crushed pet dog is strange far beyond her scope of imagination.Is it my imagination?Its gaze, which feels frail, is intently fixed on Liaris who came approaching. Its sufficient to use common language for the orders. The reply will come via telepathic communication. (Emil) Being told by Emil, Liaris took a single breath and clearly told the dragon after calming down herself, Dra-kun, hand! (Liaris) Dra kun, huh? It cant be called something human, but you dont have any sense. (Renya) Renya-kun, you think so as well? The one who felt slightly dizzy just now is (Emil) Renya curbs his eyebrows and in front of Emil, who says that while floating a powerless smile, the dragon, who was named as Dra-kun, has a very reluctant expression, but his own front toe gently touched the hand held out by Liaris.The toe, which had a dragons claw attached to it, would have likely torn Liaris slender arm to shreds without any kind of resistance if it touched her with the usual strength of a dragon, but seeing it touch Liaris hand gently in order to not scratch it, Liaris was finally able to understand that the dragon will really listen to her commands. Well then, enough about that Croire? (Renya) I know even if you dont tell me. Treat Emil-san like a human, is what its about, right? (Croire) I feel extremely sorry, but can I ask that of you? (Renya) This will be difficult to ask of Croire whose brethren were just recently killed by a demon in great numbers, huh?Renya wonders.Even if you try considering it from the reality that the thinking demons are bad will normally be overlooked, its quite the unreasonable demand to have Croire ignore the matter of Emil entering the city, Renya understands that as well.Luckily, Liaris has ended up accepting being indebted while not having the leeway to think over the real identity of Emil because she was within the armour or because the enslavement of the dragon was decided in a rush at parts that have no relation to the persons own intentions.Giving up on some less objectionable parts rather than neglecting Emil, Croire should agree with as well even if she puts out some bargaining point, Renya thought, but Croires answer was something truly quick and simple. Got it. (Croire) Thats fine? Even though the one who is asking you is me, but (Renya) Isnt it difficult to disagree as free-loader? (Croire) Croire smiles wryly. Besides, if I act as good woman who has the perception to read the air here it seems like I will be able to obtain a favour. (Croire) Its fine even if I owe you one, but its not impossible on an emotional level? (Renya) That is, a bit. That is after being asked what Im thinking once I heard about the people who died in the fortress. However, since its a mood similar to running away from such unpleasant friction, I wonder what to think about one of the same race as the demon who came attacking, is what I also believe. (Croire) You are a capable woman (Emil) Even if thinking with your head, there are many cases where one cant find a clear solution within their heart.Renya, who feels like he would say even more troublesome things if he were placed in the same situation, nodded in admiration towards Croires words.Croire smiles cheerfully while looking at Renya. Its fine if you fall in love with me, you know? (Croire) No, I will have to fully follow that emperor if I fall in love with you, right? Thats a bit detestable. (Renya) Muuh theres a third wheel at an unexpected place (Croire) I feel sorry as it seems Im a nuisance at a point of you having a nice relationship going, but. (Emil) Croire brooded while showing a difficult expression.Choosing the timing when to interrupt the conversation between Renya and Croire, Emil called out to them. Wont we withdraw since the matter is settled, I wonder? Im feeling bad for them as we are continuing to occupy the dragons dwelling as long as we like. (Emil) What insincere words (Renya) Emil swings his index finger with a ts ts due to Renyas disgusted voice. Your thinking is shallow, Renya-kun. Its a gap moe in such a world (Emil) Shut up, hentai. (Renya) Discarding her in a single stroke, Renya began to give swift orders after a backward glance towards the speechless Emil. Croire will guard the surroundings. Liaris, please standby obediently with the dragon. I will cut the chain during that time. (Renya) You can cut this? This is a chain binding a dragon, isnt it? (Liaris) Liaris asks while gently caressing the dragons snout.If you consider it normally, theres no way to cut a chain, which has the strength to restrain a dragon, that easily.Theres no way that it can be cut, but Renya unsheathes the katana at his waist, places the base of its blade gently on the chain and pulls it only once like that.With only that action, the chain was cut apart too quickly and fell to the ground. Well, with such a feeling. (Renya) Haa well, its Renya-san (Liaris) Liaris, who agreed in a strange way, points at the note and collar still attached to the dragons neck. Wont you remove those? (Liaris) Theres no particular problem even if they are left as is, is there? (Renya) The dragon, who still had the note with Gift written on dangling from its neck, has a terribly sad expression upon hearing Renyas words, but Renya, who knew that its an article that wont cause any problems no matter what the dragon does or how it acts, takes no notice of the dragons look. Well then, lets return while riding that guy, huh? (Renya) Eh? You want to fly until Kukrika while riding on a dragon, Renya-san!? It will cause a panic in the city! (Croire) It will be fine if we walk while taking the dragon along after landing at a spot slightly away from the city, right? At any rate (Renya) Renya looks at the dragon.Doing a complete change from its previous sad expression, the dragons feelings told him that it was already too late to say anything. Can 4 people ride on it? (Renya) Umm (Liaris) Liaris matches her eyes with the dragon and stares at it for a little while.Removing her look from it before long, Liaris turns around to Renya. It looks like it will probably be alright. (Liaris) I see. Well, it will have to work out somehow with will-power even if its a bit unreasonable, huh? Im worried about our security since theres no saddle though. (Renya) If thats the case, leave it to me. (Emil) Emil takes out a bundle of bandages from within her coat.Emil took out an amount to the degree that one would wreck their brain wondering just where the heck she stored such amount of bandages. Let me package you with these so that you dont fall off. (Emil) Do it normally? Don use a strange method of binding us? Absolutely, okay? (Renya) You dont trust me. Its alright. Leave it to me. (Emil) Renya wasnt able to erase his uneasy thoughts and feelings after all due to Emil promising it readily without due consideration. Chapter 75 C It seems to be Liaris and the dragon For now theres a method to use that dragon lying down over there. (Emil) Stepping up to the dragon, Emil places her hand on its head with a *pon*Did it already give up?The dragon shows no reaction even with Emil putting her hand on it. What are you planning to do, with this? (Emil) At first I thought it would be fine to defeat and storage it. (Renya) Renyas sight faces towards the direction of the lying armour.Since Croire has stopped the removal of the armour midway, Liaris is still inside it.While thinkingshe isnt very unwilling to be in there though, Renya walked up to the armour and opened it after quickly unfastening its clasps.Just as expected by Renya, the blood of the crushed wyvrens and rock dragons has entered into the armour and its insides appear to be covered in a bright red gooey mass.Speaking of a saving grace, their blood doesnt appear to smell as much as I thought, huh?Because the armours inside is that muddled, Liaris, who was inside it, has naturally become muddled to the same extent.Liaris, who suddenly got up with half her body from within the finally opened armour, fixedly looked up at Renya with her bloodstained face. Whats wrong? (Renya) I wanted to be rescued a lot earlier. (Liaris) Liaris says in a somewhat hollow and spiteful manner.Renya doesnt comprehend her feelings of wanting to make even a single complaint such as on top of being neglected in a state of not knowing what might have happened outside the armour, a woman of marriageable age is muddled with blood and other stuff.Liaris crawls out from within the armour while having the appearance of being sullied by bloody dirt and stands up. It couldnt be helped. The priority for that was low. (Renya) Renya, who quickly cut down Liariss protest-like words, asks Emil while pointing at Liaris, That dragon. Is it possible for that one to enslave it? (Renya) Ignoring the startled Liaris and Croire for the time being, Renya asked Emil and Emil, after pondering for a short while scratching her head, said, Its possible, but isnt that too wasteful? (Emil) I dont particularly need a dragon or such. (Renya) If you present it to the country, a big-shot or such, they will remember you auspiciously though? (Emil) Renya jeers at Emils remark by laughing scornfully. How foolish. Why would I have to give them such a present to curry favour with them? (Renya) Isnt it a good thing to side with powerful or influential people? (Emil) Emil mentions something resembling a sound argument, but it was fully understandable from her tone of voice that she doesnt believe that.Its because shes a demon, or rather its probably owed to her own character, but it doesnt seem like shes regarding the word powerful or influential person(T/N: its one word in Japanese after all)as a waste of paper either. Please make it possible to enslave the dragon to this one since I dont care about such stuff. (Renya) Umm Renya-san? Just what the heck (Liaris) Ah, Liaris. for the sake of swiftly obtaining strength and achievements, I will have you become a dragoon by enslaving this dragon to you. (Renya) Ha? (Liaris) Due to Renyas far too excessive statement, Liaris comprehensive faculty apparently wasnt able to catch up.But, from Renyas point of view, he considered it to be a truly good idea.In addition to the achievement of having captured a dragon, it means that Liaris will at least obtain the war potential of a dragon by enslaving it.However, if we had only subjugated it, there would likely people come forth doubting us with didnt she rely on Renya?, but if, on top of seeing the dragon in front of their eyes, it listens to the order from Liaris, such back-biting people should disappear, he assessed.Even if they appeared for arguments sake, it would all be resolved with a single order of Liaris to burn them to ashes if they become too troublesome. I wont do that!? (Liaris) Oh, did that just leak out from my mouth? However, dont you think that its an ingenious idea? (Renya) Well, thats certainly true. But, am I able to raise something like a dragon? (Liaris) Its a dragon called the weakest among the dragons of this area, according to its own evaluation.Above it definitely not being an existence that can be kept within the city, something like a building that can serve as stable where she can store the dragon, albeit its frame isnt very oversized either, doesnt exist in Kukrika.However, while that may be true, its not a being that can be left at large in the citys outskirts. Emil, do something about it. (Renya) Arent you handling your own workers a bit too roughly? (Emil) Although the figure of Emil, who was completely entrusted with the problem, complaints with a grumble, That dragon and the young lady you are called Liaris or such, right? Since they will be linked within their thoughts, isnt it fine if we let it live in this place usually so that it can come once called? As its a distance that will take just two days if treated by human feet, wont it be right away there if its a dragon that can fly? (Emil) The hand of Emil which was placed on the head of the dragon who mentioned its worries, thoroughly sinks into the dragons head.Screaming through its thoughts, it opens its mouth gapingly and the body of the dragon, who fainted, begins to convulse with a start each time Emil performs some operation. Renya and Croire, who saw that, felt cold sweat streaming down their cheeks. Differing from wyvrens and such, theres always a magic gem within the head of a dragon, right? Apart from the magic core, this is called the dragon gem Carbuncle. (Emil) Emil pulls out her hand from the dragons head with a short *slurp*As if she didnt do anything at all, there are no traces of Emils hand having been thrust into the dragons head until moments ago after she withdrew her hand.Between the extracted fingers of Emil theres a small red and transparent gem.After Emil turned that, which can be actually seen as cultivated currant on the first glance, lightly around between her fingers, she heads in the direction of Liaris. Liaris-san, say aah'' (Emil) Haa say, who is this person? Well its fine I guess aah. (Liaris) Emil flicked the red gem with her index finger into the mouth of Liaris who opened it as told.Due to the foreign substance that suddenly entered inside, the surprised Liaris closes her mouth and ends up gulping it down on the spur of the moment. Ueeh!? What did you make me swallow there!? (Liaris) The dragon gem. I had you swallow a small scrape of it. (Emil) Why!? (Liaris) I told you, didnt I? Its for linking your minds. Thanks to the dragon gem you swallowed being absorbed, your and the dragons thoughts will be linked. As this is a private path between the two of you, you will be connected even if you are quite a distance away from each other. (Emil) I dont believe the dragon will do what I tell it just because our thoughts are linked, though? (Liaris) Emil returned a smile towards Liaris reasonable doubt. Its alright. I placed a little trick on the dragon gem remaining within its head. Well, theres the way of it being cancelled in case of its contractor dying, thus wont you resign yourself for around 100 years, unlucky dragon-kun? (Emil) The dragon, who returned to reality from its state of having fainted and raised not only its thoughts but also a somewhat strange voice, nodded in answer to Emils words.Liaris apparently wasnt yet able to believe in the words spoken by Emil, but she approached the dragon with a feeling that could be called timid.She tries to get close and the existence crouching over there is certainly a tall dragon thats also hailed as roughly the strongest among all existing monsters.From Liaris point of view, its usually a being that will settle her death at the moment she encountered it, but its figure of cowering on the ground with its chin completely like a crushed pet dog is strange far beyond her scope of imagination.Is it my imagination?Its gaze, which feels frail, is intently fixed on Liaris who came approaching. Its sufficient to use common language for the orders. The reply will come via telepathic communication. (Emil) Being told by Emil, Liaris took a single breath and clearly told the dragon after calming down herself, Dra-kun, hand! (Liaris) Dra kun, huh? It cant be called something human, but you dont have any sense. (Renya) Renya-kun, you think so as well? The one who felt slightly dizzy just now is (Emil) Renya curbs his eyebrows and in front of Emil, who says that while floating a powerless smile, the dragon, who was named as Dra-kun, has a very reluctant expression, but his own front toe gently touched the hand held out by Liaris.The toe, which had a dragons claw attached to it, would have likely torn Liaris slender arm to shreds without any kind of resistance if it touched her with the usual strength of a dragon, but seeing it touch Liaris hand gently in order to not scratch it, Liaris was finally able to understand that the dragon will really listen to her commands. Well then, enough about that Croire? (Renya) I know even if you dont tell me. Treat Emil-san like a human, is what its about, right? (Croire) I feel extremely sorry, but can I ask that of you? (Renya) This will be difficult to ask of Croire whose brethren were just recently killed by a demon in great numbers, huh?Renya wonders.Even if you try considering it from the reality that the thinking demons are bad will normally be overlooked, its quite the unreasonable demand to have Croire ignore the matter of Emil entering the city, Renya understands that as well.Luckily, Liaris has ended up accepting being indebted while not having the leeway to think over the real identity of Emil because she was within the armour or because the enslavement of the dragon was decided in a rush at parts that have no relation to the persons own intentions.Giving up on some less objectionable parts rather than neglecting Emil, Croire should agree with as well even if she puts out some bargaining point, Renya thought, but Croires answer was something truly quick and simple. Got it. (Croire) Thats fine? Even though the one who is asking you is me, but (Renya) Isnt it difficult to disagree as free-loader? (Croire) Croire smiles wryly. Besides, if I act as good woman who has the perception to read the air here it seems like I will be able to obtain a favour. (Croire) Its fine even if I owe you one, but its not impossible on an emotional level? (Renya) That is, a bit. That is after being asked what Im thinking once I heard about the people who died in the fortress. However, since its a mood similar to running away from such unpleasant friction, I wonder what to think about one of the same race as the demon who came attacking, is what I also believe. (Croire) You are a capable woman (Emil) Even if thinking with your head, there are many cases where one cant find a clear solution within their heart.Renya, who feels like he would say even more troublesome things if he were placed in the same situation, nodded in admiration towards Croires words.Croire smiles cheerfully while looking at Renya. Its fine if you fall in love with me, you know? (Croire) No, I will have to fully follow that emperor if I fall in love with you, right? Thats a bit detestable. (Renya) Muuh theres a third wheel at an unexpected place (Croire) I feel sorry as it seems Im a nuisance at a point of you having a nice relationship going, but. (Emil) Croire brooded while showing a difficult expression.Choosing the timing when to interrupt the conversation between Renya and Croire, Emil called out to them. Wont we withdraw since the matter is settled, I wonder? Im feeling bad for them as we are continuing to occupy the dragons dwelling as long as we like. (Emil) What insincere words (Renya) Emil swings his index finger with a ts ts due to Renyas disgusted voice. Your thinking is shallow, Renya-kun. Its a gap moe in such a world (Emil) Shut up, hentai. (Renya) Discarding her in a single stroke, Renya began to give swift orders after a backward glance towards the speechless Emil. Croire will guard the surroundings. Liaris, please standby obediently with the dragon. I will cut the chain during that time. (Renya) You can cut this? This is a chain binding a dragon, isnt it? (Liaris) Liaris asks while gently caressing the dragons snout.If you consider it normally, theres no way to cut a chain, which has the strength to restrain a dragon, that easily.Theres no way that it can be cut, but Renya unsheathes the katana at his waist, places the base of its blade gently on the chain and pulls it only once like that.With only that action, the chain was cut apart too quickly and fell to the ground. Well, with such a feeling. (Renya) Haa well, its Renya-san (Liaris) Liaris, who agreed in a strange way, points at the note and collar still attached to the dragons neck. Wont you remove those? (Liaris) Theres no particular problem even if they are left as is, is there? (Renya) The dragon, who still had the note with Gift written on dangling from its neck, has a terribly sad expression upon hearing Renyas words, but Renya, who knew that its an article that wont cause any problems no matter what the dragon does or how it acts, takes no notice of the dragons look. Well then, lets return while riding that guy, huh? (Renya) Eh? You want to fly until Kukrika while riding on a dragon, Renya-san!? It will cause a panic in the city! (Croire) It will be fine if we walk while taking the dragon along after landing at a spot slightly away from the city, right? At any rate (Renya) Renya looks at the dragon.Doing a complete change from its previous sad expression, the dragons feelings told him that it was already too late to say anything. Can 4 people ride on it? (Renya) Umm (Liaris) Liaris matches her eyes with the dragon and stares at it for a little while.Removing her look from it before long, Liaris turns around to Renya. It looks like it will probably be alright. (Liaris) I see. Well, it will have to work out somehow with will-power even if its a bit unreasonable, huh? Im worried about our security since theres no saddle though. (Renya) If thats the case, leave it to me. (Emil) Emil takes out a bundle of bandages from within her coat.Emil took out an amount to the degree that one would wreck their brain wondering just where the heck she stored such amount of bandages. Let me package you with these so that you dont fall off. (Emil) Do it normally? Don use a strange method of binding us? Absolutely, okay? (Renya) You dont trust me. Its alright. Leave it to me. (Emil) Renya wasnt able to erase his uneasy thoughts and feelings after all due to Emil promising it readily without due consideration. Chapter 75.5 Chapter 75.5 C It seems to be interlude 9 Your Majesty, the Emperor, was that really alright with you? Royce pas Tifalet, who was lost in his thoughts while resting his elbow on the thrones armrest returns his consciousness to reality due to the voice which addressed him from the side.There was literally a mountain of things he had to think about.Needless to talk about domestic affairs and diplomacy, human and military affairs are also within the range of needing the approval of the emperor.Moreover, in recent times the movements of the monsters flowing in from the direction of the Miasma Forest are becoming vigorous and things like the supply trains to the defence cities at the front line are turning into extremely headache-inducing problems.If he pondered about those to find the best solution for everything, there wouldnt be enough time in the least even if spends all of his long elven life on that task.Of course, the problems, which are forming piles, cant be expected to be kept on hold until then either. Theres no other way but to solve them by believing that the policies, he thought of, are the best possible moves to make.Once he looks at the owner of the voice which interrupted his thinking, it was the Imperial Lance Corporal who is always accompanying him at his side.This man, who served on this post for a long time, is one of the few people who kept Royce company regardless whether it was during official or private affairs from the time before he became emperor until now.Royce, who knows that man since the time he was still nothing but a regular soldier, likes his diligent and honest character since the time when he was still the crown prince until now that he had become the emperor himself and trusts him to a degree of entrusting the heavy responsibility of leading the Imperial Guards to him.For that man its unthinkable that he considers him interrupting the emperors thinking a good thing and thus, since he still called out to me, that means its about a fairly important matter, I guess?Royce assessed. With that, what matter exactly do you mean? (Royce) Having absolutely no clue, Royce asked back to the Imperial Lance Corporal.Based on his position as Imperial Guard, this man never started a conversation regarding politics until now.Although he has a considerably high status, its only natural if one says that its reasonable for a soldier, but thinking of it now, I dont understand what this man called out to me about.The asked Imperial Lance Corporal shifts his gaze around in order to examine the surroundings.The place they are currently at is the audience hall. Its a place thats totally unsuited for a private talk, but as theres free time between the last official business and the next right now, there were currently only the emperor and the Imperial Lance Corporal at that place. I dont mind. Talk. Its likely a topic thats somewhat problematic, but I will treat it as talk that never happened on this occasion now. (Royce) Watching the state of the Imperial Lance Corporal who looks like he wont talk easily, Royce presses the conversation on by saying that.If the emperor himself says so, it will be dealt with as something that never happened no matter what kind of details are mentioned in this place.Although, if someone, who is present at that place, listens in, and takes action against the will of the emperor by taking the information outside and starting to talk about it in a manner of That time it was that talk, they will be ruined by being punished with suitable charges handed down from above.The Imperial Lance Corporal, who received the authorization of the emperor, talks slowly while visibly choosing his words. Its about Her Highness, the Imperial Princess Croire, who went to the place of the young human man. Oh you have probably investigated it indirectly? She is in good health, right? (Royce) It seems that shes doing well, but since the place is an area ruled by the humans, theres no way for us to observe her continuously as we arent able to move too conspicuously either. Seen from the elven country, the human continent is on the other side with the demon country in-between them.Theres also the means called transfer gate, however not only isnt it something that can be used at a moments notice but the current state was that their eyes were naturally restricted to only very few means to observe Croire.Incidentally, not knowing about those under their supervision was something fortunate for them.If they had placed plenty of observer near Croire, they would have been aware of the fact that she would enter a dragons dwelling with Renya in advance and it is easy to imagine that it would become a pandemonium for the human and elven side due to the elves likely taking various measures to stop that from happening by any means.Moreover, given that even the observers at Renyas home arent able to move too flashily since they are short of hands, they were limited to a level of watching them from a distance. But if they had enough manpower and took action to infiltrate Renyas home, there was no mistaking that they would be wrecking their brains about what has happened as Frau would have changed the infiltrators into a mountain of elven corpses around this time. If shes in good health, theres no problem. (Royce) However wont having such a farewell cause nothing but worry for Her Highness, the princess? Besides, with the way of entrusting her to a young human man after being told about it in such a manner, it will create problems due to the treatment of Her Highness, the princess Imperial Lance Corporal, you are a nice man. (Royce) Due to the words of the emperor which contained a smile, the Imperial Lance Corporal stands on ceremony at that place.Royce, who watched his appearance with an expression being all smiles, continued his words even further, I believe it to be welcome and pleasant for your feelings of worrying about Croire, who is my my daughter, to go to such an extent. (Royce) Such words are wasted on a person like me. However, I think that those worries are probably pointless. If Croire is my daughter, she will probably comprehend. That human he was called Renya or such? That man likely understands the contents of that conversation as well. (Royce) So, you are saying? Didnt he understand the words of the emperor?Due to the Imperial Lance Corporal asking back with a curious expression, Royce changed his smiled into a wry one. You are a man who isnt suited overly much for strategizing. Well, it wasnt something that can be called strategizing either though. First I said that I would marry my daughter to that man. This is an impossible story, isnt it? I attached the condition of it being at that time though. (Royce) It will vanish as its an unreasonable story anyway? Well, I wonder about that. Its not evident whether he might possibly reach the point of being worth the insolence of marrying Croire, but thats something I dont know now. (Royce) His Majesty, the Emperor, is giving that human quite the high evaluation, while being surprised, the Imperial Lance Corporal waits for the next words of the emperor. Pressing unreasonable demands in the beginning, I will lower the conditions from there on. Its a worn-out technique, but unexpectedly there arent many means that fit better. You are also able to rephrase it into it having a high certainty to work just because its worn-out. Once I talk about something light like Croires treatment after that, I will be able to garner a certain extent of sympathy next. Even if its seen through by those two, it will become possible to induce different sympathies next. (Royce) That is? The sympathy due to me being extremely worried about the situation so that I tell him that I want him to take care of my daughter even to the point of using such moves although Im a person whos also an emperor. Its an underhanded tactic, therefore it means that he will be able to guess my distress. Will the emperor go this far, is what he will ask himself. (Royce) Deeply leaning on the throne, Royce took a single deep breath and continued. Its not clear until how far he will take up my arguments on top of to what extend he would understand it, but even if he didnt realize it at all, for arguments sake, he might consider Croire, who will be treated like that, as pitiful next. Either way, its not stupid. That person is likely a nice man as well. (Royce) You have thought about various things, havent you? Did he finally grasp it?The emperor directs a tired smile at the Imperial Lance Corporal who seemed to admire him. Its because Im the emperor. A single word can influence the situation greatly, thus I have to uselessly consider every single word. Im wondering everyday whether there isnt anyone who wants to switch with me as its a job thats not worth it at all. Throwing my days away by having doubts in my mind about various matters like this, I want to spend my life by making children while admiring plants. (Royce) After spending a little time on choosing his words, the Imperial Lance Corporal, who doesnt know whether its fine to tell the emperor who mentions such outrageous things without any hesitation, talks with a feeling of wanting to state it at last, Im well aware that its disrespectful, but do you still intend to make more? What about your esteemed wife? Spending this much time, those are the words you say?Royce smiled bitterly. Lets ignore that its certainly disrespectful. That person told me that she wants to have 10 more. (Royce) Im glad to hear that your conjugal affection is doing well. The Imperial Lance Corporal, who said that while bowing, is the politeness in person, but the feelings put into his bow are conveying the Imperial Lance Corporals state of being disgusted within his innermost thoughts while thinkingthis is hopelessin reality.Pretending to not have noticed that, the emperor said to the Imperial Lance Corporal with a smile, You should strive to follow my example as well. Being stuck to the stove due to you only caring about work, your esteemed wife likely feels lonely. (Royce) Though thats something I want to do its quite difficult in the current situation. I guess so. Certainly, the current situation isnt very good. (Royce) The emperors expression changed into something sour and glum.The information, which was drawn up from the lower parts of the organisation, has been delivered to the emperor after passing through the hands of various people.That information told Royce successively that the elven country was in a state of being surrounded. The movements of the monsters are too lively. Moreover, the number of monsters spilling out from the Miasma Forest is strangely high compared to usual. (Royce) The demons are making some moves after all? I dont want that to be so, I think, but in the current situation, we are unable to confirm or deny it. However, its certain that its not an average year. It means that we cant be negligent in our vigilance. (Royce) If it looks that it will turn out like this, it will be painful to have missed out on the chance to have kept that man called Renya. The existence of Renya, who is able to boost his allies war potential several times over while being only one person, was certainly something they want to keep at arms length whether he likes it or not if seen from the standpoint that he is someone who can take charge of the soldiers by himself.However, the emperor swung his head left and right at the words of the Imperial Lance Corporal. No, you can also say that it was fortunate for us to not have kept him at arms length instead. (Royce) So, you are saying? If I kept that person close-by, I wouldnt use him. And if I used him, he would likely raise quite the military gains. But, that man is a human. There will probably will be many who wont find it amusing to give an important position in the elven nation to a human. (Royce) The more of an active role he played, the more excellent he was, the more it might result in him becoming a seed of discontent among those working in the same organization and he would receive the jealousy of those who are serving the emperor from below.If Renya was at least an elf, Royce ended up wishing, but it is nothing more than a futile act to the degree of hoping for something that wont happen. If you consider it like that, it can be said that placing my daughter close-by to that man is a fortuitous luck, too. At least, as long as she is at his side, that man probably wont become an obstacle for Croire. Also, theres no other place as safe as at the side of that man on the human continent. (Royce) Its too bad that Croire is a woman and that Renya was a man, Royce thinks without voicing it out.If the two make a child, for arguments sake, it will be born as human child with a probability of almost 100%.That didnt mean that there was no precedent of a child being born as the race of the womans side, albeit it was very rare, but in the live of Royce, which is adding up to several hundred years, its something that was reported to him only in several cases.If you put this in reverse, even if the imperial family of the elven country was annihilated, for example, its truly lamentable if I consider that it would have been possible to definitely keep the lineage alive, Royce judges. As reality is reality, we ought to accept it as it is. (Royce) It looks like the time for the next official business has arrived now.The Imperial Lance Corporal returns to his usual place behind the throne.While listening to the preliminary announcement of the name of the person, who visited to have an audience in the audience hall, being read out loud, Royce muttered quietly and switched his thoughts over to the solution of the next problem. Chapter 75.5 C It seems to be interlude 9 Your Majesty, the Emperor, was that really alright with you? Royce pas Tifalet, who was lost in his thoughts while resting his elbow on the thrones armrest returns his consciousness to reality due to the voice which addressed him from the side.There was literally a mountain of things he had to think about.Needless to talk about domestic affairs and diplomacy, human and military affairs are also within the range of needing the approval of the emperor.Moreover, in recent times the movements of the monsters flowing in from the direction of the Miasma Forest are becoming vigorous and things like the supply trains to the defence cities at the front line are turning into extremely headache-inducing problems.If he pondered about those to find the best solution for everything, there wouldnt be enough time in the least even if spends all of his long elven life on that task.Of course, the problems, which are forming piles, cant be expected to be kept on hold until then either. Theres no other way but to solve them by believing that the policies, he thought of, are the best possible moves to make.Once he looks at the owner of the voice which interrupted his thinking, it was the Imperial Lance Corporal who is always accompanying him at his side.This man, who served on this post for a long time, is one of the few people who kept Royce company regardless whether it was during official or private affairs from the time before he became emperor until now.Royce, who knows that man since the time he was still nothing but a regular soldier, likes his diligent and honest character since the time when he was still the crown prince until now that he had become the emperor himself and trusts him to a degree of entrusting the heavy responsibility of leading the Imperial Guards to him.For that man its unthinkable that he considers him interrupting the emperors thinking a good thing and thus, since he still called out to me, that means its about a fairly important matter, I guess?Royce assessed. With that, what matter exactly do you mean? (Royce) Having absolutely no clue, Royce asked back to the Imperial Lance Corporal.Based on his position as Imperial Guard, this man never started a conversation regarding politics until now.Although he has a considerably high status, its only natural if one says that its reasonable for a soldier, but thinking of it now, I dont understand what this man called out to me about.The asked Imperial Lance Corporal shifts his gaze around in order to examine the surroundings.The place they are currently at is the audience hall. Its a place thats totally unsuited for a private talk, but as theres free time between the last official business and the next right now, there were currently only the emperor and the Imperial Lance Corporal at that place. I dont mind. Talk. Its likely a topic thats somewhat problematic, but I will treat it as talk that never happened on this occasion now. (Royce) Watching the state of the Imperial Lance Corporal who looks like he wont talk easily, Royce presses the conversation on by saying that.If the emperor himself says so, it will be dealt with as something that never happened no matter what kind of details are mentioned in this place.Although, if someone, who is present at that place, listens in, and takes action against the will of the emperor by taking the information outside and starting to talk about it in a manner of That time it was that talk, they will be ruined by being punished with suitable charges handed down from above.The Imperial Lance Corporal, who received the authorization of the emperor, talks slowly while visibly choosing his words. Its about Her Highness, the Imperial Princess Croire, who went to the place of the young human man. Oh you have probably investigated it indirectly? She is in good health, right? (Royce) It seems that shes doing well, but since the place is an area ruled by the humans, theres no way for us to observe her continuously as we arent able to move too conspicuously either. Seen from the elven country, the human continent is on the other side with the demon country in-between them.Theres also the means called transfer gate, however not only isnt it something that can be used at a moments notice but the current state was that their eyes were naturally restricted to only very few means to observe Croire.Incidentally, not knowing about those under their supervision was something fortunate for them.If they had placed plenty of observer near Croire, they would have been aware of the fact that she would enter a dragons dwelling with Renya in advance and it is easy to imagine that it would become a pandemonium for the human and elven side due to the elves likely taking various measures to stop that from happening by any means.Moreover, given that even the observers at Renyas home arent able to move too flashily since they are short of hands, they were limited to a level of watching them from a distance. But if they had enough manpower and took action to infiltrate Renyas home, there was no mistaking that they would be wrecking their brains about what has happened as Frau would have changed the infiltrators into a mountain of elven corpses around this time. If shes in good health, theres no problem. (Royce) However wont having such a farewell cause nothing but worry for Her Highness, the princess? Besides, with the way of entrusting her to a young human man after being told about it in such a manner, it will create problems due to the treatment of Her Highness, the princess Imperial Lance Corporal, you are a nice man. (Royce) Due to the words of the emperor which contained a smile, the Imperial Lance Corporal stands on ceremony at that place.Royce, who watched his appearance with an expression being all smiles, continued his words even further, I believe it to be welcome and pleasant for your feelings of worrying about Croire, who is my my daughter, to go to such an extent. (Royce) Such words are wasted on a person like me. However, I think that those worries are probably pointless. If Croire is my daughter, she will probably comprehend. That human he was called Renya or such? That man likely understands the contents of that conversation as well. (Royce) So, you are saying? Didnt he understand the words of the emperor?Due to the Imperial Lance Corporal asking back with a curious expression, Royce changed his smiled into a wry one. You are a man who isnt suited overly much for strategizing. Well, it wasnt something that can be called strategizing either though. First I said that I would marry my daughter to that man. This is an impossible story, isnt it? I attached the condition of it being at that time though. (Royce) It will vanish as its an unreasonable story anyway? Well, I wonder about that. Its not evident whether he might possibly reach the point of being worth the insolence of marrying Croire, but thats something I dont know now. (Royce) His Majesty, the Emperor, is giving that human quite the high evaluation, while being surprised, the Imperial Lance Corporal waits for the next words of the emperor. Pressing unreasonable demands in the beginning, I will lower the conditions from there on. Its a worn-out technique, but unexpectedly there arent many means that fit better. You are also able to rephrase it into it having a high certainty to work just because its worn-out. Once I talk about something light like Croires treatment after that, I will be able to garner a certain extent of sympathy next. Even if its seen through by those two, it will become possible to induce different sympathies next. (Royce) That is? The sympathy due to me being extremely worried about the situation so that I tell him that I want him to take care of my daughter even to the point of using such moves although Im a person whos also an emperor. Its an underhanded tactic, therefore it means that he will be able to guess my distress. Will the emperor go this far, is what he will ask himself. (Royce) Deeply leaning on the throne, Royce took a single deep breath and continued. Its not clear until how far he will take up my arguments on top of to what extend he would understand it, but even if he didnt realize it at all, for arguments sake, he might consider Croire, who will be treated like that, as pitiful next. Either way, its not stupid. That person is likely a nice man as well. (Royce) You have thought about various things, havent you? Did he finally grasp it?The emperor directs a tired smile at the Imperial Lance Corporal who seemed to admire him. Its because Im the emperor. A single word can influence the situation greatly, thus I have to uselessly consider every single word. Im wondering everyday whether there isnt anyone who wants to switch with me as its a job thats not worth it at all. Throwing my days away by having doubts in my mind about various matters like this, I want to spend my life by making children while admiring plants. (Royce) After spending a little time on choosing his words, the Imperial Lance Corporal, who doesnt know whether its fine to tell the emperor who mentions such outrageous things without any hesitation, talks with a feeling of wanting to state it at last, Im well aware that its disrespectful, but do you still intend to make more? What about your esteemed wife? Spending this much time, those are the words you say?Royce smiled bitterly. Lets ignore that its certainly disrespectful. That person told me that she wants to have 10 more. (Royce) Im glad to hear that your conjugal affection is doing well. The Imperial Lance Corporal, who said that while bowing, is the politeness in person, but the feelings put into his bow are conveying the Imperial Lance Corporals state of being disgusted within his innermost thoughts while thinkingthis is hopelessin reality.Pretending to not have noticed that, the emperor said to the Imperial Lance Corporal with a smile, You should strive to follow my example as well. Being stuck to the stove due to you only caring about work, your esteemed wife likely feels lonely. (Royce) Though thats something I want to do its quite difficult in the current situation. I guess so. Certainly, the current situation isnt very good. (Royce) The emperors expression changed into something sour and glum.The information, which was drawn up from the lower parts of the organisation, has been delivered to the emperor after passing through the hands of various people.That information told Royce successively that the elven country was in a state of being surrounded. The movements of the monsters are too lively. Moreover, the number of monsters spilling out from the Miasma Forest is strangely high compared to usual. (Royce) The demons are making some moves after all? I dont want that to be so, I think, but in the current situation, we are unable to confirm or deny it. However, its certain that its not an average year. It means that we cant be negligent in our vigilance. (Royce) If it looks that it will turn out like this, it will be painful to have missed out on the chance to have kept that man called Renya. The existence of Renya, who is able to boost his allies war potential several times over while being only one person, was certainly something they want to keep at arms length whether he likes it or not if seen from the standpoint that he is someone who can take charge of the soldiers by himself.However, the emperor swung his head left and right at the words of the Imperial Lance Corporal. No, you can also say that it was fortunate for us to not have kept him at arms length instead. (Royce) So, you are saying? If I kept that person close-by, I wouldnt use him. And if I used him, he would likely raise quite the military gains. But, that man is a human. There will probably will be many who wont find it amusing to give an important position in the elven nation to a human. (Royce) The more of an active role he played, the more excellent he was, the more it might result in him becoming a seed of discontent among those working in the same organization and he would receive the jealousy of those who are serving the emperor from below.If Renya was at least an elf, Royce ended up wishing, but it is nothing more than a futile act to the degree of hoping for something that wont happen. If you consider it like that, it can be said that placing my daughter close-by to that man is a fortuitous luck, too. At least, as long as she is at his side, that man probably wont become an obstacle for Croire. Also, theres no other place as safe as at the side of that man on the human continent. (Royce) Its too bad that Croire is a woman and that Renya was a man, Royce thinks without voicing it out.If the two make a child, for arguments sake, it will be born as human child with a probability of almost 100%.That didnt mean that there was no precedent of a child being born as the race of the womans side, albeit it was very rare, but in the live of Royce, which is adding up to several hundred years, its something that was reported to him only in several cases.If you put this in reverse, even if the imperial family of the elven country was annihilated, for example, its truly lamentable if I consider that it would have been possible to definitely keep the lineage alive, Royce judges. As reality is reality, we ought to accept it as it is. (Royce) It looks like the time for the next official business has arrived now.The Imperial Lance Corporal returns to his usual place behind the throne.While listening to the preliminary announcement of the name of the person, who visited to have an audience in the audience hall, being read out loud, Royce muttered quietly and switched his thoughts over to the solution of the next problem. Chapter 76 Chapter 76 C It seems to be the return of the dragoons That day was a totally common and ordinary day.That was until the soldier, who was on duty in the watch tower, discovered a small black object as dot in the distant sky.Being the first discoverer, the soldier at first thought that it was just a bird or something like that.That was until that discovered object exposed its peculiar silhouette of possessing a long neck on a large trunk.Its something thats almost never witnessed in the city of Kukrika.They knew that their dwelling was located two days away by foot from the city, but it almost never happened that they left from there.The notification of a dragons approach was relayed between the soldiers in a flash.Having set up many large ballistae right away, the travellers and merchants, who were waiting for the citys entry examination, are hurriedly evacuated inside.The stationed soldiers of the army and guards of the city are immediately gathered. Beginning to suddenly circle at a place that was close in distance, if seen from the dragons view, it started to revolve around the same location.Once it did that, it became possible to confirm the colour of the dragon which has approached. Because of its vivid red scales they realized that the dragon was a red dragon which is one of the superior kinds and moreover a fire dragon that is endowed with the fire attribute.Due to the fact that it was a superior kind and furthermore a fire dragon, which have a wild temperament even at the best of times, the soldiers were enveloped by nervousness.If they make a single mistake in dealing with it, its an opponent, that wont just cause losses among the soldiers but also is quite capable of turning a single city into ashes. The commissioned officers, who took charge of the forces, couldnt hide their misgivings and anxieties.Why suddenly a dragon? was a question shared by those who happened to be present at that situation.And at the same time they cursed the fact of them being present at the location today.Its still better if its a limited airspace like a cave, but a dragon, which is able to freely soar through the sky, cant be reached by humans hands most of the times.Even just hitting it with an attack will require next-to-impossible skill.Even if they hit it with a lucky shot from a large ballista and only in case of a quite definite hit, they would be able to pierce the tough scales of the dragon. An attack, that missed its centre or just grazed it, will be repelled without even causing any pain and will be of little significance to a dragon.Even though attacks from the ground mostly wont hit, the dragon will be able to ceaselessly hit them with its lethal breath attack from the sky as it pleases.A red dragons breath is fire in accordance to its attribute. Its said that it can melt metal if it hits directly.Of course it will be death by burning for humans, if they are bathed in it.Even without a direct hit, theres danger to ones life by just inhaling the searing air in the aftermath.There were sorcerers among the guards and stationed soldiers, but it was an extremely questionable matter whether they would be able to defend against a dragons breath with their sorcery.There is no time to have the citys inhabitants take shelter either.At the time the soldiers began to harden their heroic determination of wanting to keep it to the least damage to the city by driving it away even in exchange for their lives, new information came in.It was unforeseen and unbelievable information for the soldiers. Although it seems we somehow contacted them, their performance is surprisingly good. (Renya) The soldiers have stopped preparing their weapons on the ground at a far distance. Watching them moving on with the removal of the installed large ballistae, Renya felt relieved.Renya thought that it likely wouldnt be a problem if they slowly approached the city after landing at a slightly separated location, just as planned first, but when they were flying at quite the distance, he observed the citys side starting to set up their interception system and realized that his prediction was far too na?ve.Even if you say its just one dragon, it seems that the existence called dragon was seen that much as a threat by humans.While taking hold of the reins-like bandages which were coiled around the dragons neck, Renya pondersWell, what to do next then?while feeling the body temperature of Croire who is clinging to his back.By the way, Liaris has been fixed in a state of being completely packaged by bandages at a part of the dragons back. Emil was laughing greatly while sitting towards the opposite direction of the movements direction at the base of the tail. Renya-san, at this- rate it will- turn into- a battle- with the soldiers- on- ground. (Croire) Thats right, isnt it? If that happens, there will likely be casualties. (Renya) Renya wants to avoid that, but theres no means for communicating with the surface.At last after brooding about it, Renya orders the dragon to circle at the bare distance where attacks from the ground wont hit and attempted to set up a telepathic communication with Frau as a test since he has nothing to lose anyway.Renya was worried about the distance, but after somehow connecting to Frau, Renya quickly explained the situation and asked Frau to relay that to the soldiers by having either Shion or Rona acting as bridge. Frau immediately explains that to Rona, who was just then at home, and asks her to tell this to the soldiers.Once Rona met with the commanders of the guards by making free use of her authority as Knight which seemed to still be intact more or less, she persuaded them, who didnt want to believe the information she brought at all, and the organization of an interception was cancelled.In this situation the commanders, who didnt want to believe Ronas story at all, probably cant be blamed.If they immediately believed being told that a dragon, who has come flying, is harmless, those people would be either utterly foolish and incapable commanders, who have a field of flowers in their head, or otherwise quite the bigwigs.Renya himself, who requested them to explain the circumstances to the soldiers, didnt think at all that they would be able to make the soldiers believe in that. However, since he thoughtIt will be just fine if they dont come attacking us pointlessly, I guess, he slightly doubted his eyes when they began to withdraw the ballistae.Afterwards Renya tried to ask Rona what kind of method she used, but her reply was the brief comment Its a secret.Renya, who realized that she apparently used quite a bit of national authority by guessing from her expression, decides to avoid pursuing it any further.Putting that aside, once Renya, who understood that the worry of being intercepted apparently vanished, tells the dragon to be cautious after hitting its neck, he points at a place at quite the distance from the city of Kukrika and orders it to go down there.Originally thats the task of Liaris who is the slave master, but since Liaris is restrained by bandages in order for her to cling to the back of the dragon, she isnt able to look at the state of affairs in the vicinity or to give out any orders.She wasnt capable of skilfully keeping balance on top of the dragons back by herself like Renya and Emil.I dont know whether she might be able to handle the dragon once a proper saddle is eventually attached to it, but in the current situation its not possible to do that either.Croire had no problems with keeping balance, but although she couldnt endure the wind pressure during the flight because of the elven lightness of body weight, she has escaped being packaged by clinging to Renya. At least protect Liaris from the wind pressure at the times she gets on, wont you? (Renya) Given that they flew slowly to some extent, it wasnt a wind pressure that was unbearable for Renya,but if the dragon flew at full speed, wouldnt it turn into a situation where it would be likely difficult to breath?Renya wonders.It would be fine if she completely wrapped up herself in a defensive barrier to oppose this, but as Liaris is a warrior, one might say that she is utterly inept at sorcery.Since thats the case, it will result in the dragon not being able to release all of its power in case Liaris is riding it, but since the dragon itself is capable of manipulating sorcery, it can protect its rider.The dragon answered Renya, who emphasizes that the dragon has to properly do that, Dont add a -sama to my name. Your master is Liaris after all. (Renya) Renya wrecks his brain whether it would be really necessary to form a contract with the aim of enslaving that fellow, if he reacts that obediently, however as this dragons response towards Renya is abnormal, theres usually no such obedient dragon.Its a digression, but his name has been officially decided to be Dra-kun.Seeing that it was decided by Liaris whos his master, there was no objection from anyone.It simply didnt matter at all for the three people besides Liaris though.The dragon Dra-kun slowly descends at the site designated by Renya.Dra-kun, who got close to the ground before long and successfully displayed a landing with a delicacy unsuitable for his large build where one almost couldnt sense the impact, probably because there were people on his back, looked back at Renya and the others with a somewhat proud and the so-called self-satisfied look. (Dra-kun) Im telling you just for cautions sake, but your master is Liaris, okay? If said specifically, your owner is that thing which has been tied to your back over there, got it? (Renya) Renya has become somewhat worried.From then on it became a very tiring period for Renya.On top of releasing Liaris from the dragons back and having Liaris hold the chain which is still hanging down from the dragons neck, Liaris was apparently leading the dragon but in reality the dragon approached the city at a slow pace matching the speed of Liaris, but probably because they instinctively felt fear due to the approach of a large dragon, even though they were told that its harmless in advance, the soldiers succumbed to a light panic.Since the commanders, who tried to suppress that somehow, requested from Renya that theyd like him to have the dragon not approach the city until the situation has calmed down, the Liaris + dragon pair was left alone at place away from the city.Although Renya, Emil and Croire tried to enter the city quickly by themselves, they were dragged away in a partially forced way to one of the military facilities and then asked for a detailed explanation of the circumstances.Renya would usually struggle against that, but this time he went along obediently probably because he felt guilty to some extent for having caused even the dispatch of the army and for the inhabitants of the city being frightened due to them.At that facility he explained the details of the recent events, but this took extremely much time.As for Renya he wanted to say that the explanation was without even a single lie, but as the uproar about the dragon wouldnt even matter if he talked about the true identity of Emil, he tried to explain after deciding to talk about them expecting a contract from the dragon and how they were able to enslave it, however not a single of the military authorities consented to his explanation.Of course that can only be called natural.In regards to the crushing of the sub-dragons, they were quickly able to believe in it with him showing the dismantled raw materials after having taken them out from his void storage.Of course, the one who defeated all of them is Liaris, Renya explains.The problem was about them having brought along a dragon.The dragons, which cause such an uproar with just one of them having appeared, not only escaped from Renyas group recognising them as dangerous existences but even made an offer to form a contract with one neglected dragon for the sake of protecting themselves. Theres no way that anyone would believe such story.As expected Renya lost his temper after being doubted that much, but he, who just barely desisted as such behaviour could only be called natural if one thinks calmly about it, told the commanding officers that he would even comply with a verdict of authenticity by Judgement.The commanding officers, who were told that, hesitated as one would expect.They werent able to simply agree with the situation being as it is, but the adventurer, who came to give a report, has even declared that he is willing to accept an investigation by Judgement.Moreover, regardless whether they believe in that report or not, its a fact that the dragon is listening to what he is told by a person and is calmly crouching outside the city. On top of that, the woman, who had her clothes dyed in bright red blood, is sitting there with a somewhat sulky expression.What has made Liaris sulky is her having been left behind outside the city by herself and in addition to that being surrounded by soldiers which watch her with greatest caution.Adding to that was also the fact that she was ordered to wait there until Renyas groups investigation finishes.If they keep the person, who has enslaved that dragon, waiting any longer, its unknown when her displeasure might explode.Do they carry out an investigation with Judgement while being scared of incurring the displeasure of those who subdued the dragon?Or do they ignore the progress how it has reached this point as facts are facts anyway?Since they lost their way due to their doubts, they decided to choose the latter in the end.Rather than spoiling the mood of the person, who has enslaved the dragon, in this place by just doubting their suspicions, they judged that it would likely be a lot more profitable for them being able to rely on that person when something happened and thus had her triumphantly return to the city in a good mood.Of course the commanding officers immediately dispatched a messenger holding the report An adventurer, who subdued a dragon, appeared in the city of Kukrika to the capital city of Trident Principality.That signified the arrival of an extinct, real dragoon as told in old stories.This information spread throughout the entire human continent in the twinkling of an eye and Liaris name became well-known overnight as hero, who is known by anyone, alongside her nickname Bloody Dragoon.Thanks to this achievement, Liaris was officially appointed as Viscount by the Archduke of Trident Principality and was granted the family name Granatrot(T/N: >> Gurana~toloto Dont add a -sama to my name. Your master is Liaris after all. (Renya) Renya wrecks his brain whether it would be really necessary to form a contract with the aim of enslaving that fellow, if he reacts that obediently, however as this dragons response towards Renya is abnormal, theres usually no such obedient dragon.Its a digression, but his name has been officially decided to be Dra-kun.Seeing that it was decided by Liaris whos his master, there was no objection from anyone.It simply didnt matter at all for the three people besides Liaris though.The dragon Dra-kun slowly descends at the site designated by Renya.Dra-kun, who got close to the ground before long and successfully displayed a landing with a delicacy unsuitable for his large build where one almost couldnt sense the impact, probably because there were people on his back, looked back at Renya and the others with a somewhat proud and the so-called self-satisfied look. (Dra-kun) Im telling you just for cautions sake, but your master is Liaris, okay? If said specifically, your owner is that thing which has been tied to your back over there, got it? (Renya) Renya has become somewhat worried.From then on it became a very tiring period for Renya.On top of releasing Liaris from the dragons back and having Liaris hold the chain which is still hanging down from the dragons neck, Liaris was apparently leading the dragon but in reality the dragon approached the city at a slow pace matching the speed of Liaris, but probably because they instinctively felt fear due to the approach of a large dragon, even though they were told that its harmless in advance, the soldiers succumbed to a light panic.Since the commanders, who tried to suppress that somehow, requested from Renya that theyd like him to have the dragon not approach the city until the situation has calmed down, the Liaris + dragon pair was left alone at place away from the city.Although Renya, Emil and Croire tried to enter the city quickly by themselves, they were dragged away in a partially forced way to one of the military facilities and then asked for a detailed explanation of the circumstances.Renya would usually struggle against that, but this time he went along obediently probably because he felt guilty to some extent for having caused even the dispatch of the army and for the inhabitants of the city being frightened due to them.At that facility he explained the details of the recent events, but this took extremely much time.As for Renya he wanted to say that the explanation was without even a single lie, but as the uproar about the dragon wouldnt even matter if he talked about the true identity of Emil, he tried to explain after deciding to talk about them expecting a contract from the dragon and how they were able to enslave it, however not a single of the military authorities consented to his explanation.Of course that can only be called natural.In regards to the crushing of the sub-dragons, they were quickly able to believe in it with him showing the dismantled raw materials after having taken them out from his void storage.Of course, the one who defeated all of them is Liaris, Renya explains.The problem was about them having brought along a dragon.The dragons, which cause such an uproar with just one of them having appeared, not only escaped from Renyas group recognising them as dangerous existences but even made an offer to form a contract with one neglected dragon for the sake of protecting themselves. Theres no way that anyone would believe such story.As expected Renya lost his temper after being doubted that much, but he, who just barely desisted as such behaviour could only be called natural if one thinks calmly about it, told the commanding officers that he would even comply with a verdict of authenticity by Judgement.The commanding officers, who were told that, hesitated as one would expect.They werent able to simply agree with the situation being as it is, but the adventurer, who came to give a report, has even declared that he is willing to accept an investigation by Judgement.Moreover, regardless whether they believe in that report or not, its a fact that the dragon is listening to what he is told by a person and is calmly crouching outside the city. On top of that, the woman, who had her clothes dyed in bright red blood, is sitting there with a somewhat sulky expression.What has made Liaris sulky is her having been left behind outside the city by herself and in addition to that being surrounded by soldiers which watch her with greatest caution.Adding to that was also the fact that she was ordered to wait there until Renyas groups investigation finishes.If they keep the person, who has enslaved that dragon, waiting any longer, its unknown when her displeasure might explode.Do they carry out an investigation with Judgement while being scared of incurring the displeasure of those who subdued the dragon?Or do they ignore the progress how it has reached this point as facts are facts anyway?Since they lost their way due to their doubts, they decided to choose the latter in the end.Rather than spoiling the mood of the person, who has enslaved the dragon, in this place by just doubting their suspicions, they judged that it would likely be a lot more profitable for them being able to rely on that person when something happened and thus had her triumphantly return to the city in a good mood.Of course the commanding officers immediately dispatched a messenger holding the report An adventurer, who subdued a dragon, appeared in the city of Kukrika to the capital city of Trident Principality.That signified the arrival of an extinct, real dragoon as told in old stories.This information spread throughout the entire human continent in the twinkling of an eye and Liaris name became well-known overnight as hero, who is known by anyone, alongside her nickname Bloody Dragoon.Thanks to this achievement, Liaris was officially appointed as Viscount by the Archduke of Trident Principality and was granted the family name Granatrot(T/N: >> Gurana~toloto <<).(T/N: A shade of red in German, word play on her being the bloody dragoon, I guess)This was treated as being limited to her life time and furthermore was an honorary position that held no territory, but it resulted in Liaris formally joining the ranks of nobles from here on out.Its one rank below an Earl household, but due to being supported by the military power of a dragon, Liaris won fame as noble of established reputation. I became a noble before I realized moreover, I ended up being a Viscount, Az-kun. (Liaris) After the chain of events passed like a storm, Az cant hide his shock from Liaris, who mutters that in a daze. Ummm isnt that far over the top, Renya? (Az) Dont say that. Be happy since the unromantic meddlers are gone with this, Az. (Renya) Thats right, Az-kun! With this it finally reached the point that I can answer your words from the other day while having confidence! (Liaris) Liaris (Az) Ah (Liaris) After their looks matched for a moment, Az and Liaris averted their sight from each other looking embarrassed while blushing.While that scene has a feeling as if spitting out tons of sugar from ones mouth, they have become happy on their own accord*, Renya turned his look towards the day after tomorrow with a somewhat sulky mood. Chapter 77 Chapter 77 C It seems to be a text taking a glimpse in-between the arcs Starting retrieval of data in sequence from route one once again. Currently 5% of all routes have been completely blocked. The damage ratio towards the world over there is going back and forth between the line of 2%, but its recognised as being in permissible range. The summoning rate has surpassed 41% and is still further rising. Its mortifying that the success rate of interception has been cut at 40%. At any rate, as the distance is close, the other side has ended up seizing the initiative discovering summoning routes, intercepting those. Ah, its no good, it was bypassed through another route. The erosion rate will rise once again. Beginning the mental obstruction towards the practitioners at the summoning site this way is impossible as well. Since the supervisor of the human race has deployed a vast jamming, they have successfully narrowed down the target. Confirmed 98% ineffectiveness of the released virus. Although 2% are on standby or reserve, theres no possibility of a restart. Their barrier is far too strong shall I release it again? Acknowledged. Or rather, toss it at them continuously until the other side admits defeat. It might turn into a slight hindrance for the other processes. Roger. I will mix in a subspecies, that received an update, and eject it. Umm Master? (Giliel) Sensing a mood that she is in a state of being somehow strangely excited, Giliel raised her voice shyly.The place where Giliel is currently located at is a huge room which was buried in some quite unknown machines within a barrier.A little girl is standing in a daunting pose in its centre. Countless terminals have been deployed in her surroundings. The angels, who had a translucent visor equipped as if hiding their eyes in front of the terminals, hit input terminals, somehow similar to keyboards, with typing sounds while entering lines with unknown meanings. Im very sorry for disturbing you while you are busy, but what kind of clamour is this? (Giliel) The details of the operation? The furniture of the room? Which of those do you want to hear about? Id like to ask about both, but (Giliel) If its about the room, I changed its design to look Cyberpunk-like. Its cool, isnt it? (God)(T/N: Cyberpunk as reference the genre type of Science Fiction I guess) Having been told that, Giliel turns around in a circle and surveys her surroundings.The rooms ceiling was high and its walls were large, but machines with uncertain utility had been tightly inserted there so that those walls were completely filled. They are showing gauges, where its unclear what their are representing, and spitting out numbers that make no sense even if you look at them.She didnt know whether thats cool seen from the standpoint of a person who likes that kind of situation where the light of gauges is blinking in a gloomy room, but Giliel has no such hobby. Does it have any meaning, that? (Giliel) If its meaning, then no! (God) Giliel feels fed up after the little girl stated that decisively.Nevertheless, pulling herself together one way or the other, Giliel tries to throw another question at her. Then, what about the side of the operation details? (Giliel) That one is (God) The little girl, who looks at the work-in-progress of the angels while making a sound of grinding her teeth out of vexation, said over her should looking annoyed while strongly clenching her fists, We are obstructing the ritual of hero summoning. (God) You are obstructing it? (Giliel) Yes, it looks just like this, but what we are actually doing is retrieving the data of each worlds route from the previous world of the summoned towards the summoning site and destroying them once we discover the traces of summoning mana. The mana for using summoning magic formulae is enormous. As its impossible for just one caster, they are sending the mana to the summoneds original world by branching it through several routes. The somewhat larger routes, which allow large amounts of mana to be sent all at once, have been closed from the start. However, theres an infinite number of routes. Since we dont know which and just when they will use a specific route, close to half of the ritual has ended up finishing already. (God) Even with you here, master? (Giliel) Due to Giliels way of telling her that in a slightly surprised manner, the little girl faced her and showed a smile that wasnt like that of a little girl at all but rather like that of a worn-out grandmother. If I were almighty, we wouldnt have such difficulties. (God) Is.. that so? Is it not possible to stop the summoning itself? (Giliel) Thats impossible. In the long run our side will end up falling behind. Even if its possible to delay them, preventing it is impossible. (God) Giliel tries to express her question, she suddenly came up with, due to the little girl showing quite the frustrated expression. Be that as it may, why are you trying to hinder the summoning? Seeing that a demon king has appeared among the demons, wont it be out of the question if theres no hero for the human race? (Giliel) Thats why. (God) The little girl looks at Giliel, who is frowning due to not understanding the meaning, with the eyes of a teacher that sees a completely incapable pupil. Giliel, do you know of shogi? (God) Y-Yes. Its one of the games of the world where that Renya-san lived. (Giliel) Thats right. That ones a game where both sides try to take each others king, however the number of game pieces changes depending on ones competency. But you know, there are game pieces whose numbers wont decrease no matter what. (God) That is the king and the opposing king, right? (Giliel) Yes, its those. Without them it wont become a game. It is similar to thejindorigame over here. (God) Did the anger towards the supervisor of that world well up in her while talking?The little girls eyes are tinged with a dangerous glim.As expected, since she has stopped them once before, she probably wont wield her power entrusting all of it to her anger without thinking, Giliel thought, but this little girl, whos still angry after all, was an extremely scary being even from Giliels standpoint. Theres a demon king and theres a hero. With the game pieces being all together for the first time, it will turn into a game. It will be out of the question if either side is missing. (God) In other words, as long as you interfere with the summoning of a hero here, master, thejindoriin that world wont begin, is what you mean? (Giliel) Thats how it is. If possible, I wanted to stop it completely, but that was in vain after all. (God) Huh? Now that you mention it, if it happens as youve said, wont it this time become a game just between the humans and the demons? (Giliel) Completely ignoring the little girl who has a grim impression hanging in the air, Giliel voices out a doubt that occurred in her mind.Why is it only the humans who summon heroes from another world in that world in all ages and countries, Giliel, who had unlimited knowledge, wondered going by the records of other races having carried out the hero summoning ritual. Theres no way for that to happen, right? Its just the humans trying to summon a hero from another world. The other races will simply choose a hero from amidst their ranks. (God) In that case, have the other races already finished choosing their heroes? (Giliel) No, not yet. (God) The little girl answered while scratching her head roughly. The setting is that the humans hero summoning will become the trigger for the appearance of heroes among the other races. Therefore, if we are able to thwart this hero summoning, the game wont start no matter how eager the demons are to play it. (God) Is that so? However, you ended up blundering on its prevention, right? (Giliel) You you are becoming somewhat annoying. (God) Giliel, who was glared at with a fleeting glance of the little girl, becomes flustered and looks in the other direction.Giliels mood improved just a bit after seeing the state of the little girl, who is as a matter of fact her superior, failing without being unable to accomplish it, but she didnt know what kind of suffering she would experience if she honestly answered to such matter.Moreover, given that she feels that the little girl would perceive that by just looking into her eyes, Giliel averts her look frantically. Well, its fine. If you consider the influence towards the origin of the summoned and the summons destination, it would be difficult to prevent it completely. It will just work if we completely block all the routes connecting them. (God) May I also ask for the reason why you didnt do that? (Giliel) Thats simple. It will probably become a mess for either world. (God) The little girl points at a monitor where one of the angels was peering into.Countless numbers were lining up there and those numbers were changing moment by moment, but some among them dont fluctuate while showing a zero in a red colour.Just the numerical value of the gauge, which is installed next to that monitor, shows 0.02 and goes up or down. This is a route surveillance monitor and thats what the thing does. (God) Haa. (Giliel) Those red zeros are the routes which have been blocked. At the current point in time, 5% of all known routes have been blocked. As result natural disasters have started to occur in the world where Renya-san came from. Since its not possible to go on like this for a long time, we probably should release the blockade already. Even if we continue blocking them, we wont be able to stop the summoning. (God) Thats right, isnt it. If it just turns into a bother, you should release the blockade, shouldnt you? (Giliel) Somehow, you alone have quite the non-serious attitude. (God) Giliel stated bluntly and readily.The little girl feels very dissatisfied with that.The little girl suspectedis that fellow maybe not understanding even half of what Im telling her?, but this was merely nothing more than a difference in reaction brought down by a difference in their respective roles. Well, its not in the range of my work. Even if I were to advise you strongly one way or the other, theres no way that the likes of me is able to do something that master isnt able to do, right? (Giliel) Thats a sound argument, however you are starting to get on my nerves (God) Thats you venting your anger, master. So, have you decided to cease this large-scaled interference operation? (Giliel) Yes, it will only be stalling even if we continue it and wont bring any results. Preserving at this point will also increase the costs. (God) Once she has decided that, her moving to action is fast.With the words Little girls withdrawal!, the angels, who were clattering on the keyboards in front of the monitors until then, disassemble the room itself and withdraw somewhere with a level of skill, that can also be regarded as some kind of joke, as Giliel didnt understand at all on what kind of principle it happened.The gloomy computer room, that looked like it would become a near future-like cyberpunk stage, vanishes in the blink of an eye and transforms into the usual, empty space which is pure white as far as they eyes can see.The angels, who performed the withdrawal, bowed while saying Thank your for your hard work all together and once once they confirmed that there was nothing left to clean up, they flew away in a far, unknown distance.They probably returned to their other jobs, Giliel judges.For those girls the kind of skit over here should have been an irregular job. Since we stopped stalling them, they hero will likely be summoned right away. (God) The little girl mutters while seeing off the angels who flew away. Well, it begins from the selection of the person to be summoned, goes on to the request of crossing of the boundary and the explanation the current situation by the supervisor of the human race and then that human has to consent to it Since its also a standard flow for choosing some gifts or attaching some hero-like skills, it will still take some time until the heros advent even if the summoning itself is successful, I think. (God) There are many troublesome formalities, eh? Isnt it fine if you see the hero off by attaching some suitable skill or gift thats necessary? (Giliel) Due to Giliel being astonished by adopting such an inefficient method, the little girl looked at Giliel in a state of being even more astonished at her. Hey, you. For the supervisor of a world, the appearance with the feeling of Oh hero in front of the person who was summoned, isnt that a momentarily dreamy and beautiful event if they are supervisors? (God) For real? To what extent have their brains been corrupted? (Giliel) I dont know, but isnt it inevitable as its a fact? (God) Master, did you actually want to talk about such feelings? (Giliel) Dont lump me together with them! The little girl drew closer to Giliel with a terribly unpleasant face and responded by yelling. Somewhere not here.Sometime not now.In a space with no time and place.He woke up in that spot which cant be described as anything but ambiguous.What he sees when he looks at his body is a single woman which had a simple white cloth wrapped around her body and naturally flowing, long, green hair. You are? This place is? The green-haired woman interrupted his questioning voice and closed his eyelids with her graceful, white hand.The perfume and warmth, he feels from the palm placed on his eyelids, calm down his emotions. Ooh hero. Id like to give you my thanks for answering the call of the weak. The green-haired woman tells him solemnly.With his eyelids being closed, he couldnt see what kind of expression the woman had as she spoke those words, butshes certainly wearing a kind expression with such voice that is filled with affectionhe believed.And she, believing that he is certainly thinking just that, lifted the edges of her mouth just a bit. Chapter 77 C It seems to be a text taking a glimpse in-between the arcs Starting retrieval of data in sequence from route one once again. Currently 5% of all routes have been completely blocked. The damage ratio towards the world over there is going back and forth between the line of 2%, but its recognised as being in permissible range. The summoning rate has surpassed 41% and is still further rising. Its mortifying that the success rate of interception has been cut at 40%. At any rate, as the distance is close, the other side has ended up seizing the initiative discovering summoning routes, intercepting those. Ah, its no good, it was bypassed through another route. The erosion rate will rise once again. Beginning the mental obstruction towards the practitioners at the summoning site this way is impossible as well. Since the supervisor of the human race has deployed a vast jamming, they have successfully narrowed down the target. Confirmed 98% ineffectiveness of the released virus. Although 2% are on standby or reserve, theres no possibility of a restart. Their barrier is far too strong shall I release it again? Acknowledged. Or rather, toss it at them continuously until the other side admits defeat. It might turn into a slight hindrance for the other processes. Roger. I will mix in a subspecies, that received an update, and eject it. Umm Master? (Giliel) Sensing a mood that she is in a state of being somehow strangely excited, Giliel raised her voice shyly.The place where Giliel is currently located at is a huge room which was buried in some quite unknown machines within a barrier.A little girl is standing in a daunting pose in its centre. Countless terminals have been deployed in her surroundings. The angels, who had a translucent visor equipped as if hiding their eyes in front of the terminals, hit input terminals, somehow similar to keyboards, with typing sounds while entering lines with unknown meanings. Im very sorry for disturbing you while you are busy, but what kind of clamour is this? (Giliel) The details of the operation? The furniture of the room? Which of those do you want to hear about? Id like to ask about both, but (Giliel) If its about the room, I changed its design to look Cyberpunk-like. Its cool, isnt it? (God)(T/N: Cyberpunk as reference the genre type of Science Fiction I guess) Having been told that, Giliel turns around in a circle and surveys her surroundings.The rooms ceiling was high and its walls were large, but machines with uncertain utility had been tightly inserted there so that those walls were completely filled. They are showing gauges, where its unclear what their are representing, and spitting out numbers that make no sense even if you look at them.She didnt know whether thats cool seen from the standpoint of a person who likes that kind of situation where the light of gauges is blinking in a gloomy room, but Giliel has no such hobby. Does it have any meaning, that? (Giliel) If its meaning, then no! (God) Giliel feels fed up after the little girl stated that decisively.Nevertheless, pulling herself together one way or the other, Giliel tries to throw another question at her. Then, what about the side of the operation details? (Giliel) That one is (God) The little girl, who looks at the work-in-progress of the angels while making a sound of grinding her teeth out of vexation, said over her should looking annoyed while strongly clenching her fists, We are obstructing the ritual of hero summoning. (God) You are obstructing it? (Giliel) Yes, it looks just like this, but what we are actually doing is retrieving the data of each worlds route from the previous world of the summoned towards the summoning site and destroying them once we discover the traces of summoning mana. The mana for using summoning magic formulae is enormous. As its impossible for just one caster, they are sending the mana to the summoneds original world by branching it through several routes. The somewhat larger routes, which allow large amounts of mana to be sent all at once, have been closed from the start. However, theres an infinite number of routes. Since we dont know which and just when they will use a specific route, close to half of the ritual has ended up finishing already. (God) Even with you here, master? (Giliel) Due to Giliels way of telling her that in a slightly surprised manner, the little girl faced her and showed a smile that wasnt like that of a little girl at all but rather like that of a worn-out grandmother. If I were almighty, we wouldnt have such difficulties. (God) Is.. that so? Is it not possible to stop the summoning itself? (Giliel) Thats impossible. In the long run our side will end up falling behind. Even if its possible to delay them, preventing it is impossible. (God) Giliel tries to express her question, she suddenly came up with, due to the little girl showing quite the frustrated expression. Be that as it may, why are you trying to hinder the summoning? Seeing that a demon king has appeared among the demons, wont it be out of the question if theres no hero for the human race? (Giliel) Thats why. (God) The little girl looks at Giliel, who is frowning due to not understanding the meaning, with the eyes of a teacher that sees a completely incapable pupil. Giliel, do you know of shogi? (God) Y-Yes. Its one of the games of the world where that Renya-san lived. (Giliel) Thats right. That ones a game where both sides try to take each others king, however the number of game pieces changes depending on ones competency. But you know, there are game pieces whose numbers wont decrease no matter what. (God) That is the king and the opposing king, right? (Giliel) Yes, its those. Without them it wont become a game. It is similar to thejindorigame over here. (God) Did the anger towards the supervisor of that world well up in her while talking?The little girls eyes are tinged with a dangerous glim.As expected, since she has stopped them once before, she probably wont wield her power entrusting all of it to her anger without thinking, Giliel thought, but this little girl, whos still angry after all, was an extremely scary being even from Giliels standpoint. Theres a demon king and theres a hero. With the game pieces being all together for the first time, it will turn into a game. It will be out of the question if either side is missing. (God) In other words, as long as you interfere with the summoning of a hero here, master, thejindoriin that world wont begin, is what you mean? (Giliel) Thats how it is. If possible, I wanted to stop it completely, but that was in vain after all. (God) Huh? Now that you mention it, if it happens as youve said, wont it this time become a game just between the humans and the demons? (Giliel) Completely ignoring the little girl who has a grim impression hanging in the air, Giliel voices out a doubt that occurred in her mind.Why is it only the humans who summon heroes from another world in that world in all ages and countries, Giliel, who had unlimited knowledge, wondered going by the records of other races having carried out the hero summoning ritual. Theres no way for that to happen, right? Its just the humans trying to summon a hero from another world. The other races will simply choose a hero from amidst their ranks. (God) In that case, have the other races already finished choosing their heroes? (Giliel) No, not yet. (God) The little girl answered while scratching her head roughly. The setting is that the humans hero summoning will become the trigger for the appearance of heroes among the other races. Therefore, if we are able to thwart this hero summoning, the game wont start no matter how eager the demons are to play it. (God) Is that so? However, you ended up blundering on its prevention, right? (Giliel) You you are becoming somewhat annoying. (God) Giliel, who was glared at with a fleeting glance of the little girl, becomes flustered and looks in the other direction.Giliels mood improved just a bit after seeing the state of the little girl, who is as a matter of fact her superior, failing without being unable to accomplish it, but she didnt know what kind of suffering she would experience if she honestly answered to such matter.Moreover, given that she feels that the little girl would perceive that by just looking into her eyes, Giliel averts her look frantically. Well, its fine. If you consider the influence towards the origin of the summoned and the summons destination, it would be difficult to prevent it completely. It will just work if we completely block all the routes connecting them. (God) May I also ask for the reason why you didnt do that? (Giliel) Thats simple. It will probably become a mess for either world. (God) The little girl points at a monitor where one of the angels was peering into.Countless numbers were lining up there and those numbers were changing moment by moment, but some among them dont fluctuate while showing a zero in a red colour.Just the numerical value of the gauge, which is installed next to that monitor, shows 0.02 and goes up or down. This is a route surveillance monitor and thats what the thing does. (God) Haa. (Giliel) Those red zeros are the routes which have been blocked. At the current point in time, 5% of all known routes have been blocked. As result natural disasters have started to occur in the world where Renya-san came from. Since its not possible to go on like this for a long time, we probably should release the blockade already. Even if we continue blocking them, we wont be able to stop the summoning. (God) Thats right, isnt it. If it just turns into a bother, you should release the blockade, shouldnt you? (Giliel) Somehow, you alone have quite the non-serious attitude. (God) Giliel stated bluntly and readily.The little girl feels very dissatisfied with that.The little girl suspectedis that fellow maybe not understanding even half of what Im telling her?, but this was merely nothing more than a difference in reaction brought down by a difference in their respective roles. Well, its not in the range of my work. Even if I were to advise you strongly one way or the other, theres no way that the likes of me is able to do something that master isnt able to do, right? (Giliel) Thats a sound argument, however you are starting to get on my nerves (God) Thats you venting your anger, master. So, have you decided to cease this large-scaled interference operation? (Giliel) Yes, it will only be stalling even if we continue it and wont bring any results. Preserving at this point will also increase the costs. (God) Once she has decided that, her moving to action is fast.With the words Little girls withdrawal!, the angels, who were clattering on the keyboards in front of the monitors until then, disassemble the room itself and withdraw somewhere with a level of skill, that can also be regarded as some kind of joke, as Giliel didnt understand at all on what kind of principle it happened.The gloomy computer room, that looked like it would become a near future-like cyberpunk stage, vanishes in the blink of an eye and transforms into the usual, empty space which is pure white as far as they eyes can see.The angels, who performed the withdrawal, bowed while saying Thank your for your hard work all together and once once they confirmed that there was nothing left to clean up, they flew away in a far, unknown distance.They probably returned to their other jobs, Giliel judges.For those girls the kind of skit over here should have been an irregular job. Since we stopped stalling them, they hero will likely be summoned right away. (God) The little girl mutters while seeing off the angels who flew away. Well, it begins from the selection of the person to be summoned, goes on to the request of crossing of the boundary and the explanation the current situation by the supervisor of the human race and then that human has to consent to it Since its also a standard flow for choosing some gifts or attaching some hero-like skills, it will still take some time until the heros advent even if the summoning itself is successful, I think. (God) There are many troublesome formalities, eh? Isnt it fine if you see the hero off by attaching some suitable skill or gift thats necessary? (Giliel) Due to Giliel being astonished by adopting such an inefficient method, the little girl looked at Giliel in a state of being even more astonished at her. Hey, you. For the supervisor of a world, the appearance with the feeling of Oh hero in front of the person who was summoned, isnt that a momentarily dreamy and beautiful event if they are supervisors? (God) For real? To what extent have their brains been corrupted? (Giliel) I dont know, but isnt it inevitable as its a fact? (God) Master, did you actually want to talk about such feelings? (Giliel) Dont lump me together with them! The little girl drew closer to Giliel with a terribly unpleasant face and responded by yelling. Somewhere not here.Sometime not now.In a space with no time and place.He woke up in that spot which cant be described as anything but ambiguous.What he sees when he looks at his body is a single woman which had a simple white cloth wrapped around her body and naturally flowing, long, green hair. You are? This place is? The green-haired woman interrupted his questioning voice and closed his eyelids with her graceful, white hand.The perfume and warmth, he feels from the palm placed on his eyelids, calm down his emotions. Ooh hero. Id like to give you my thanks for answering the call of the weak. The green-haired woman tells him solemnly.With his eyelids being closed, he couldnt see what kind of expression the woman had as she spoke those words, butshes certainly wearing a kind expression with such voice that is filled with affectionhe believed.And she, believing that he is certainly thinking just that, lifted the edges of her mouth just a bit. Chapter 78 Chapter 78 C It seems to be a night assault 2 Daytime was very noisy, Renya recalled while sitting half up on top of his bed.From going to a dragon subjugation while taking Liaris along until arriving at the current point in time; it was a clamour that plentifully involved even the surroundings and not only Liaris herself which would have been only natural.Its something obvious, but the dragon Dra-kun quickly returned to the mountains after being introduced all over.Thats a reasonable measure since only his existence near them will give birth to alertness and nervousness which is unwanted by the surroundings.Another reason was also the abnormal increase in feed cost.Although Liaris joined the ranks of nobles, her salary is pretty much paid by the country.Liaris, who didnt prepare anything as she ended up becoming a Viscount far too sudden, was granted quite the large amount of money as funds by the country to cover the costs of preparations in addition to her salary.That means, that money is in order for her buy ornaments and clothes that befit her social status.Until then Liaris lived in the teachers dormitory of the adventurer training school, but a mansion was also prepared for her as its likely bad for a person, who has a rank of nobility, to live in a dormitory.Originally she should have been offered to live in a high-class residential area where nobles and their-likes live, but a problem sprung up at that point.For the mansion of Liaris, where a dragon might arrive or depart in emergencies, a garden, which could at least fit a dragon, was necessary first of all. For this reason Liaris mansion wasnt built in the residential area but in the commercial district and moreover very close to Renyas home.Although several small shops had been already built there, they were all dismantled right away once the building of Liaris mansion was decided and a splendid mansion was completed leaving people to look at in blank amazement.They likely pulled some strings behind the scenes for this, Renya judges.Although thats no more than guessing, what likely ended up making the decision was a dragon coming to an area with a dense population if they made Liaris live in the residential area.The citizens and nobles probably indicated their disapproval to this.Even if they understand that its poses no danger and that Liaris has it properly under control as ally, it seems that a dragons appearance is still something that triggers an instinctive fear within them after all.The military district being no good has probably the same reason, Renya assessed.What decided for her to take up residence in the commercial district is that theres many shops in the commercial district but theres only few population living there in comparison to other districts.It seems they deemed there will likely be little damage even if something happens.Incidentally, for it to be built close to Renyas home can be regarded as transparent intention of Please take care of it in case something happens.Renya felt somewhat hazy about this, but since its not a bad thing to have a friend live nearby, he decided to ignore the the intentions of someone from somewhere.Although its a digression, but it looks like it was decided for Az to live in Liaris mansion.Az came to explain to Renya while blushing around his face and averting his sight after giving the doubtful reasoning of Since Liaris complained that it would be lonely to live in a large mansion by herself, but unable to bear the looks of Renya and the others, who all grinned broadly, he ended up apologizing and asking them Id like you to pardon me from pursuing the matter any further.As for the reward to be paid to Renya by Liaris; because of the celebration of a new home, Renya decided to not accept most of the valuable articles.However, as that article was what decided for Renya to accept Liariss request, he took custody of it together with other dummy articles.At first Renya considered destroying it as he is apparently able to defeat most things with his katana, however not knowing whether he is able to destroy it in the first place as it is what it is, assuming he can place a certain degree of trust in it being the real article, he gives up on its destruction as its something where he doesnt know what will happen if he ended up destroying it.Calling Frau and Emil instead, he consulted with them about his wish for the article to not reach the hands of people since its something extremely dangerous, without talking about the origins of the item itself. Placing it in a box, Renya made with the leftovers of the mithril he received from the elves, he had Emil cast a reinforced seal after welding the upper part so that the lid cant be opened. Frau dug a deep pit in the garden, the mithril box was placed inside and it was thoroughly covered with hardened soil.Frau planted vegetation, which is quite unknown to Renya who has called it extremely dangerous, on the section of the hardened soil making it impossible for people to approach. It looks like a kind of poisonous plant that was transformed with mana. Though just touching will be alright, if you cut or burn it it will likely become very interesting. (Emil) Emil runs her finger on top of the thin leaves of the grown weed while facing it with an entranced look.At the time Renya came back to the house while bringing Emil along, everyone except Croire looked at Renya with expressions implicating the remark Did you return with yet another girl?Its only Croire who is aware of Emils true identity, but with her meeting Emil in the middle of this times subjugation, Emil being troubled on her further prospects and furthermore with Croire being a person having received helped in the dragon capture, she followed up on Renya though it apparently didnt have much of an effect.That Emil, while receiving a tour all over the house from Frau, raised a shout of joy just as they were passing through the garden and plunged into the vegetation that is growing there. She remained in a state of not moving from there all day.The other members didnt comprehend at all what touched Emils heartstrings, but once Emil, who in the end examined the gardens vegetation to her hearts content, got to know that its Frau who is looking after the garden, she roughly carried Frau away, occupied the basement and became extremely friendly with Frau for some reason after they came out.During that course of events it was decided that the basement would become Emils room.From Renyas standpoint, he considered to create a room by destroying a part used by the storehouse for the sake of Emil since there was no free room, but seeing the figures of Frau and Emil, who merrily brought in furniture provided from somewhere, he stopped pondering over this matter while thinkingit doesnt particularly matter if the person herself is fine with that.Although it had been repeatedly put off for one reason or the other, it was today that they held the long-awaited welcome party for Az and Liaris since they moved into the neighbourhood.The many dishes, which were prepared by cooking, roasting and stewing wyvren meat, which they have in large quantities, together with the ingredients, they received from the elven country, by Frau and Renya putting all their skills to use, became something extravagant to the degree of Az making the remark I havent tasted such cooking even as noble after seeing the dishes.Throwing a large amount of alcohol into the mix there, Az and Liaris were sent home when the party was in the act of being a huge success and after cleaning up it had completely become night in an instant. Renya retired to his room after quickly taking a bath, but it didnt take much time for him to get up on top of his bed after suddenly being woken up. The interior of the room is pitch black with the windows curtains being lowered and there being no light source. Renya is unable to see anything in this state even if he uses his eyes.His vicinity is wrapped in complete silence. A creaking sound like a small scraping, is audible from the direction of the rooms entrance and although its only one sound it was to degree of becoming an earache.Renya had an idea about the true nature of that sound.Renya, who sat on the edge of the bed after removing the blanket which was wrapped around his body, activates a weakened Light spell.A pale light, which appeared in the centre of the room, illuminates the room albeit weakly and Renyas eyes become able to see what is causing the small scraping sound.It was a net hanging from the ceiling.Renya, who has been previously attacked by Rona, though he invited her inside his room by himself, decided to plant a trap at the rooms entrance at the time of sleeping with the implication of not making a strange mistake rather than for self-protection.If someone steps into it, a net will be launched from a device, that was installed on the floor. It was something that makes an intruder hang from the ceiling while being entangled by a rope that runs along the wall on top of capturing them, but it seems like someone was caught in that.The sound of small scraping comes from the rope, that is suspending the net from the ceiling, rubbing against the beams of the ceiling where it has been set up.Releasing a sigh, Renya looks at the inside of the net which is higher than his point of view after sitting on the bed.The one who is swaying to and fro while showing a despondent expression with her body contracted by the net was Shion.It seems she came creeping in about the time I went to bed.With an appearance of her feet, shoulders and chest being boldly exposed by what is called a tank top with hot-pants according to Renyas knowledge, it was probably a situation that would usually greatly arouse the lust of the opposite sex, but due to the spectacle of her lightly swaying after being captured by the net, it induces laughter rather than arousal. Placing his hand on his forehead in order to suppress a headache, Renya addresses Shion who doesnt say a single word while hanging her head in shame. I have two questions. Though first of all, I believe the door was more or less locked? (Renya) Asking Frau, I had her open it for me. (Shion) Shions answer was just as Renya expected.Renya doesnt understand something well, but he somehow feels like something is loitering around the grounds of the mansion while they are sleeping.Frau doesnt say anything about it. Because that unknown something erases its presence quickly and cant be seen when he gets up to go to the toilet in the night, Renya has decided to not say anything, but theres no way for the act of sneaking into the room of another member during the time such things are there to not be exposed to Frau.Even if you think about this, Fraus authorisation is something difficult to pursuit in various ways when I think about it. The second question: Although it vaguely adheres to my expectations if you got Fraus authorization what for did you come here? (Renya) Having been asked, Shion squirmed around within the net for a little while, but eventually resolved herself, properly looked into Renyas eyes and clearly stated, I came for ayobai. (Shion) Look here (Renya) While thinkingas expected, huh?, Renya says with a tired voice.The inhabitants of this world are living fast or have low timidity towards such act? They have a tendency to form sexual relations by making an immediate move and believe to go for it as theres no time like the present.Renya doesnt know whether that talk is limited to Shion and Rona or whether its the common sense of this world. He didnt have any intention at all to investigate it either, but if pushed to say, Renya, who acts by the traits of a Japanese who have a disposition of being herbivores, cant be bothered to usher them in with just a lets go for a home run in any way. Such a thing is likely no good for a woman of marriageable age, is it? (Renya) Why? I dont understand the reason for it to be no good. (Shion) Being asked back in reverse with a blank expression, Renya gives up reflexively from it becoming a sermon with A woman of marriageable age has to be more modest.As the other party has the intention to have a sexual relation anyway, she will come with the intention to have sex once again.In case she switched it to isnt the rest your problem since its okay from my side?, it doesnt look like we will be able to come up with an effective objection.The expression of Shion, who attached a different meaning to the silence of Renya who ponderedwell then, what to say to persuade her?, becomes gloomy. Its no good if its me after all. (Shion) Ah, no, wait a minute. Im currently at the point of gathering my thoughts. Thats right, having sex in such manner er, rather because you are giving me your love, my fortune of being born as male will likely be used up, but even if your sides fine with it, I dont think it has penetrated this far on my side. For the time being Im not starving to the degree that I will devour any meal set before my eyes either. Therefore, such stuff will be after properly spending time together for a little bit longer (Renya) Ah, actually I wanted to do that. However, I dont have much time remaining anymore. (Shion) Being told that in a serious tone, Renya looks closely at Shion.As setting for saying such kind of line, the most standard reason is not having much time in life remaining due to having inflicted some incurable disease, or something like that I guess.However, no matter how much Renya looks, Shion has no symptoms of that.Given that Renya is no doctor, he isnt able to make out any trends visible by professionals, however after watching Shion, the expression that she wont see tomorrow is still far off.Since thats the case it has to be a different reason, thinking that far, Renya recalls the conversation he had with Rona previously.Rona and Shion were born into quite good families, Renya was told.In that case its imaginable as reason that there was some time limit prepared ahead of time between Shion and her family, is what this is about. Is it an issue related to your family? (Renya) Once Renya asks while thinkinganyway, its also troublesome because its a story related to a pedigree of nobility or such, Shion is surprised temporarily and immediately returns to an expression signifying her agreement. Which reminds me, Rona had indirectly talked about that. (Renya) Theres no denial, thus it means I was apparently right.After Shion showed an expression of hesitating albeit only a little, she stared at Renya with a serious look. Renya, it might be a story that has no relation to you, but would you listen to it? (Shion) Well, I have nothing planned for tomorrow. If its to the extent of listening, I can do that. (Renya) Once Renya nodded after saying that, he urged on Shion with his gaze to continue. Chapter 78 C It seems to be a night assault 2 Daytime was very noisy, Renya recalled while sitting half up on top of his bed.From going to a dragon subjugation while taking Liaris along until arriving at the current point in time; it was a clamour that plentifully involved even the surroundings and not only Liaris herself which would have been only natural.Its something obvious, but the dragon Dra-kun quickly returned to the mountains after being introduced all over.Thats a reasonable measure since only his existence near them will give birth to alertness and nervousness which is unwanted by the surroundings.Another reason was also the abnormal increase in feed cost.Although Liaris joined the ranks of nobles, her salary is pretty much paid by the country.Liaris, who didnt prepare anything as she ended up becoming a Viscount far too sudden, was granted quite the large amount of money as funds by the country to cover the costs of preparations in addition to her salary.That means, that money is in order for her buy ornaments and clothes that befit her social status.Until then Liaris lived in the teachers dormitory of the adventurer training school, but a mansion was also prepared for her as its likely bad for a person, who has a rank of nobility, to live in a dormitory.Originally she should have been offered to live in a high-class residential area where nobles and their-likes live, but a problem sprung up at that point.For the mansion of Liaris, where a dragon might arrive or depart in emergencies, a garden, which could at least fit a dragon, was necessary first of all. For this reason Liaris mansion wasnt built in the residential area but in the commercial district and moreover very close to Renyas home.Although several small shops had been already built there, they were all dismantled right away once the building of Liaris mansion was decided and a splendid mansion was completed leaving people to look at in blank amazement.They likely pulled some strings behind the scenes for this, Renya judges.Although thats no more than guessing, what likely ended up making the decision was a dragon coming to an area with a dense population if they made Liaris live in the residential area.The citizens and nobles probably indicated their disapproval to this.Even if they understand that its poses no danger and that Liaris has it properly under control as ally, it seems that a dragons appearance is still something that triggers an instinctive fear within them after all.The military district being no good has probably the same reason, Renya assessed.What decided for her to take up residence in the commercial district is that theres many shops in the commercial district but theres only few population living there in comparison to other districts.It seems they deemed there will likely be little damage even if something happens.Incidentally, for it to be built close to Renyas home can be regarded as transparent intention of Please take care of it in case something happens.Renya felt somewhat hazy about this, but since its not a bad thing to have a friend live nearby, he decided to ignore the the intentions of someone from somewhere.Although its a digression, but it looks like it was decided for Az to live in Liaris mansion.Az came to explain to Renya while blushing around his face and averting his sight after giving the doubtful reasoning of Since Liaris complained that it would be lonely to live in a large mansion by herself, but unable to bear the looks of Renya and the others, who all grinned broadly, he ended up apologizing and asking them Id like you to pardon me from pursuing the matter any further.As for the reward to be paid to Renya by Liaris; because of the celebration of a new home, Renya decided to not accept most of the valuable articles.However, as that article was what decided for Renya to accept Liariss request, he took custody of it together with other dummy articles.At first Renya considered destroying it as he is apparently able to defeat most things with his katana, however not knowing whether he is able to destroy it in the first place as it is what it is, assuming he can place a certain degree of trust in it being the real article, he gives up on its destruction as its something where he doesnt know what will happen if he ended up destroying it.Calling Frau and Emil instead, he consulted with them about his wish for the article to not reach the hands of people since its something extremely dangerous, without talking about the origins of the item itself. Placing it in a box, Renya made with the leftovers of the mithril he received from the elves, he had Emil cast a reinforced seal after welding the upper part so that the lid cant be opened. Frau dug a deep pit in the garden, the mithril box was placed inside and it was thoroughly covered with hardened soil.Frau planted vegetation, which is quite unknown to Renya who has called it extremely dangerous, on the section of the hardened soil making it impossible for people to approach. It looks like a kind of poisonous plant that was transformed with mana. Though just touching will be alright, if you cut or burn it it will likely become very interesting. (Emil) Emil runs her finger on top of the thin leaves of the grown weed while facing it with an entranced look.At the time Renya came back to the house while bringing Emil along, everyone except Croire looked at Renya with expressions implicating the remark Did you return with yet another girl?Its only Croire who is aware of Emils true identity, but with her meeting Emil in the middle of this times subjugation, Emil being troubled on her further prospects and furthermore with Croire being a person having received helped in the dragon capture, she followed up on Renya though it apparently didnt have much of an effect.That Emil, while receiving a tour all over the house from Frau, raised a shout of joy just as they were passing through the garden and plunged into the vegetation that is growing there. She remained in a state of not moving from there all day.The other members didnt comprehend at all what touched Emils heartstrings, but once Emil, who in the end examined the gardens vegetation to her hearts content, got to know that its Frau who is looking after the garden, she roughly carried Frau away, occupied the basement and became extremely friendly with Frau for some reason after they came out.During that course of events it was decided that the basement would become Emils room.From Renyas standpoint, he considered to create a room by destroying a part used by the storehouse for the sake of Emil since there was no free room, but seeing the figures of Frau and Emil, who merrily brought in furniture provided from somewhere, he stopped pondering over this matter while thinkingit doesnt particularly matter if the person herself is fine with that.Although it had been repeatedly put off for one reason or the other, it was today that they held the long-awaited welcome party for Az and Liaris since they moved into the neighbourhood.The many dishes, which were prepared by cooking, roasting and stewing wyvren meat, which they have in large quantities, together with the ingredients, they received from the elven country, by Frau and Renya putting all their skills to use, became something extravagant to the degree of Az making the remark I havent tasted such cooking even as noble after seeing the dishes.Throwing a large amount of alcohol into the mix there, Az and Liaris were sent home when the party was in the act of being a huge success and after cleaning up it had completely become night in an instant. Renya retired to his room after quickly taking a bath, but it didnt take much time for him to get up on top of his bed after suddenly being woken up.The interior of the room is pitch black with the windows curtains being lowered and there being no light source. Renya is unable to see anything in this state even if he uses his eyes.His vicinity is wrapped in complete silence. A creaking sound like a small scraping, is audible from the direction of the rooms entrance and although its only one sound it was to degree of becoming an earache.Renya had an idea about the true nature of that sound.Renya, who sat on the edge of the bed after removing the blanket which was wrapped around his body, activates a weakened Light spell.A pale light, which appeared in the centre of the room, illuminates the room albeit weakly and Renyas eyes become able to see what is causing the small scraping sound.It was a net hanging from the ceiling.Renya, who has been previously attacked by Rona, though he invited her inside his room by himself, decided to plant a trap at the rooms entrance at the time of sleeping with the implication of not making a strange mistake rather than for self-protection.If someone steps into it, a net will be launched from a device, that was installed on the floor. It was something that makes an intruder hang from the ceiling while being entangled by a rope that runs along the wall on top of capturing them, but it seems like someone was caught in that.The sound of small scraping comes from the rope, that is suspending the net from the ceiling, rubbing against the beams of the ceiling where it has been set up.Releasing a sigh, Renya looks at the inside of the net which is higher than his point of view after sitting on the bed.The one who is swaying to and fro while showing a despondent expression with her body contracted by the net was Shion.It seems she came creeping in about the time I went to bed.With an appearance of her feet, shoulders and chest being boldly exposed by what is called a tank top with hot-pants according to Renyas knowledge, it was probably a situation that would usually greatly arouse the lust of the opposite sex, but due to the spectacle of her lightly swaying after being captured by the net, it induces laughter rather than arousal. Placing his hand on his forehead in order to suppress a headache, Renya addresses Shion who doesnt say a single word while hanging her head in shame. I have two questions. Though first of all, I believe the door was more or less locked? (Renya) Asking Frau, I had her open it for me. (Shion) Shions answer was just as Renya expected.Renya doesnt understand something well, but he somehow feels like something is loitering around the grounds of the mansion while they are sleeping.Frau doesnt say anything about it. Because that unknown something erases its presence quickly and cant be seen when he gets up to go to the toilet in the night, Renya has decided to not say anything, but theres no way for the act of sneaking into the room of another member during the time such things are there to not be exposed to Frau.Even if you think about this, Fraus authorisation is something difficult to pursuit in various ways when I think about it. The second question: Although it vaguely adheres to my expectations if you got Fraus authorization what for did you come here? (Renya) Having been asked, Shion squirmed around within the net for a little while, but eventually resolved herself, properly looked into Renyas eyes and clearly stated, I came for ayobai. (Shion) Look here (Renya) While thinkingas expected, huh?, Renya says with a tired voice.The inhabitants of this world are living fast or have low timidity towards such act? They have a tendency to form sexual relations by making an immediate move and believe to go for it as theres no time like the present.Renya doesnt know whether that talk is limited to Shion and Rona or whether its the common sense of this world. He didnt have any intention at all to investigate it either, but if pushed to say, Renya, who acts by the traits of a Japanese who have a disposition of being herbivores, cant be bothered to usher them in with just a lets go for a home run in any way. Such a thing is likely no good for a woman of marriageable age, is it? (Renya) Why? I dont understand the reason for it to be no good. (Shion) Being asked back in reverse with a blank expression, Renya gives up reflexively from it becoming a sermon with A woman of marriageable age has to be more modest.As the other party has the intention to have a sexual relation anyway, she will come with the intention to have sex once again.In case she switched it to isnt the rest your problem since its okay from my side?, it doesnt look like we will be able to come up with an effective objection.The expression of Shion, who attached a different meaning to the silence of Renya who ponderedwell then, what to say to persuade her?, becomes gloomy. Its no good if its me after all. (Shion) Ah, no, wait a minute. Im currently at the point of gathering my thoughts. Thats right, having sex in such manner er, rather because you are giving me your love, my fortune of being born as male will likely be used up, but even if your sides fine with it, I dont think it has penetrated this far on my side. For the time being Im not starving to the degree that I will devour any meal set before my eyes either. Therefore, such stuff will be after properly spending time together for a little bit longer (Renya) Ah, actually I wanted to do that. However, I dont have much time remaining anymore. (Shion) Being told that in a serious tone, Renya looks closely at Shion.As setting for saying such kind of line, the most standard reason is not having much time in life remaining due to having inflicted some incurable disease, or something like that I guess.However, no matter how much Renya looks, Shion has no symptoms of that.Given that Renya is no doctor, he isnt able to make out any trends visible by professionals, however after watching Shion, the expression that she wont see tomorrow is still far off.Since thats the case it has to be a different reason, thinking that far, Renya recalls the conversation he had with Rona previously.Rona and Shion were born into quite good families, Renya was told.In that case its imaginable as reason that there was some time limit prepared ahead of time between Shion and her family, is what this is about. Is it an issue related to your family? (Renya) Once Renya asks while thinkinganyway, its also troublesome because its a story related to a pedigree of nobility or such, Shion is surprised temporarily and immediately returns to an expression signifying her agreement. Which reminds me, Rona had indirectly talked about that. (Renya) Theres no denial, thus it means I was apparently right.After Shion showed an expression of hesitating albeit only a little, she stared at Renya with a serious look. Renya, it might be a story that has no relation to you, but would you listen to it? (Shion) Well, I have nothing planned for tomorrow. If its to the extent of listening, I can do that. (Renya) Once Renya nodded after saying that, he urged on Shion with his gaze to continue. Chapter 79 Chapter 79 C It seems to be the confession after the assault While Shion corrects her posture by squirming within the suspended net, Renya shifts his attention with a fleeting glance to the side of his bed.Although theres Fraus bed, which she made because of her powerful wish Frau has to be there no matter what, Frau currently isnt present.Likely, after she opened the doors lock for Shion, she probably went outside the room to not become a hindrance for the events afterwards.In a certain sense it can be seen as Fraus consideration of Please enjoy slowly, but probably its something else, Renya thinks.If it was the enjoy slowly and so on, Frau should have told Shion about the existence of the trap at the entrances door.Her not having mentioned it means that she either approved of Shions action and decided to leave the further events to fate or she probably found the aspect of not telling her amusing in some way. Its likely one of those two.As she was able to prepare for Renya who pondered about such stuff, Shion begins to talk, Renya, I think you are strangely dumb in regards to things that dont interest you. (Shion) What a terrible thing to say out of the blue, but certainly, I dont care about stuff that doesnt interest me. (Renya) When Renya readily affirms that, Shion smiles wryly. Going by the circumstances, have you even forgotten the name of this country? (Shion) I remember it. Its Trident Principality. (Renya) Then, the name of the Archduke there? (Shion) Dont know. (Renya) Since that was inconsequential information, Renya replied immediately.Not knowing something like the name of the countrys leader doesnt cause particular problems in living ones life.Even in the world where Renya been before, the number of people, who cant answer after being asked for the full name of the prime minister of their own country, should add up to a reasonable amount.As theres no particular gain even if you know it, its also not like there will be some loss by not knowing it.The level of importance of that information was no more than that. Being the country closest to the Miasma Forest, its fine to say that this Trident Principality plays a role similar to that of a wall for the human continent. Because of that its national power is boasting to be second in rank on the human continent. By the way, first rank belongs to the Holy Kingdom ruling the continents centre. (Shion) Renya wondered whether this will become a study session in geography or world history after listening up to this point, but deciding to let Shion talk about what she wants to say for the time being, he stays silent and urges her on ahead. Her Excellency the Archduchess of that Trident Principality is a woman called Lydia. Her full name is Lydia Femme Fatale. (Shion) Mmh? That means (Renya) Due to Renya interjecting by doubting his hearing, Shion nods and puts a hand on her own chest. Yes, Im Shion Femme Fatale. As daughter of Her Excellency the Archduchess of Trident Principality, Im the first princess. Her Excellency the Archduchess is my mother. (Shion) If he said that he wasnt surprised, it would be a lie, but it wasnt like it could be said that Renya was extremely surprised either.He had the expectationshe has likely a fairly high social standing, but although he surely didnt think that it would even go as far as her being the daughter of the countrys leader, as theres currently Croire, who is the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor even if shes ranked as 35th, its not something at the level of causing an eye-popping astonishment for him either.As his thinking apparently appeared on his expression, Shion smiles. Well, certainly the feeling that its a bit late in the game is strong. (Shion) It was obvious from my expression, huh? Excuse me for that. Even so, it turns out to be quite a distinguished position, that, right? (Renya) Thats true. If you limit it to the human continent, its distinguished to the extent of there not being that many people who can afford to not bow their head to me. Im more or less the next Archduchess as first successor, if it becomes reality. (Shion) (Frau) Renya somehow endures not bursting into laughter due to the voice of Frau suddenly resounding in his mind.She seems to be eavesdropping on the conversation from somewhere through the path between Renya and Frau.Thats probably your impression after hearing Shion call herself the next Archduchess, but even if I tell you that there are parts which I can agree with, your timing is far too bad, Renya sent a thought of protest. If it becomes reality, so its about that actually not happening? (Renya) Shion gave a nod to Renya who asked to prevent him hearing that as slip of tongue. Renya, you are probably thinking this as well, but Im not very smart if speaking the unvarnished truth. (Shion) As he hesitates to say yes or no, Renya stays silent towards Shions remark.If he relaxed his attention a bit, he would burst into laughter though, especially as there were also Fraus words from before. Honestly spoken, I dont believe that I will be able to put up with the heavy responsibilities of an Archduchess. Im confident that I will likely put the country itself in jeopardy. (Shion) Stifling the exclamations Arent you an useless kid!? I knew it, though!, Renya somehow held himself back to reflexively give her atsukkomi.Even so, isnt it an important aspect that the useless child has analysed herself properly as being an useless child?He also thinks.From Renyas standpoint, the person called Shionis far too impulsive and is unable to read her surroundings much. Because she puts too much importance on ideals, she doesnt perceive reality properly.That was his impression.Renya doesnt believe that to be something bad.Its fine if she follows up with her surroundings if its in the range of being patchable. If thats close to impossible, its also an option to give up and persuade with logic fervently.Once he considered it like that, he felt like Shion explained her actions adequately so far.In other words, from her point of view the populace of Trident Principality are targets to be protected and existences that cant be abandoned even if it was impossible or at the borderline of possibility.Regarding this, theres also the idea that its the responsibility of a stateswoman to choose those to be discarded, but likely Shion didnt receive education to that extent.What made her quickly retreat in the elven country was that it was an incident in another country. Since it was about the people of another country being the targets to be protected, not only didnt she reach out her hand and sword, but moreover it was for the sake of learning that this danger might reach her own country.Shion changed the evaluation criteria, thats within herself, in her own way, he thought and also believed that shes a simple, idiotic child but Renya feels guilty though only slightly. Fortunately I have a younger sister whos quite capable. That girl is smart to a degree that cant be compared with me. Therefore I decided to relinquish my Archduchess inheritor rights and hand it over to my younger sister. (Shion) Question number one: At the time I went reform those idiots at school, there was a noble with the surname Fatale though? (Renya) That ones from our branch. I was a bit shocked when I heard that she met you, Renya. It would be fine if she didnt say anything unnecessary, but I was worried. It saved me troubles that she apparently didnt mention anything. (Shion) Question number two: Didnt your little sister-san hate getting such troublesome matter pushed onto her? (Renya) If I leave the decisions of this country to ane-sama, that method might be reliable, I ended up being told. In the first place it seems like my little sister wanted to be my support as advisor after making me the Archduchess, but I think I ended up making some mistake in regards to that matter. (Shion) I see, I understand. So, hows that related to you having not much time left?(Renya) A hero summoning ritual was carried out in the Holy Kingdom. (Shion) Shion continues to hang her head in shame. I think you are aware that Rona and me have recently moved around in regards to various matters, but in addition to the information brought back from the elven country, the reports from the soldiers guarding the Forest Labyrinth, the investigation of the Miasma Forest and so forth, it all points to the demons appearances and the activity of the monsters becoming lively recently. And the direct investigation of the demon continent because of the news of many people who went there, the Holy Kingdom reached a conclusion. Namely, the appearance of a demon king is close or they have already made their appearance. (Shion) After the hero summoning, next its the advent of a demon king?Renya think with a feeling of astonishment without showing it on his expression.No matter how he thinks about it, it cant be regarded as anything but a game story, but from the view point of this world, all of it is reality.Which reminds me, Renya recalls.Emil did say that the demon country is currently turbulent in various ways.Is it because of the appearance of a demon king or why? Although she has absolutely no intention to talk about the real situation going by what I heard from Emil, cant that be called an educated guess?Renya wonders. The thing called hero summoning, is that about summoning someone from a different world like with the Lost? (Renya) Ah, whats different from a Lost is that the summoned person possesses powers qualifying them as hero. (Shion) The story still doesnt add up though? (Renya) Demon King or Hero are certainly serious matters, I guess, but how does that connect to Shions time limit?That aspect still isnt clear to Renya.Or rather than not being clear, he has even a feeling that its gradually getting more distant from Shion. If the next explanation from here on is heard by you, Renya, I have a hunch that I will be terribly made fun of though. (Shion) Yea? (Renya) First, the summoned hero will always be a man. I dont know the reason, but I think thats likely because they can be requested to fight with the demon king. This times no exception either and its seems to be a man again. (Shion) That was an argument which even Renya could agree with more or less.If its only a talk about the act of battle, as distinction and not discrimination, thats suited for men. One can say thats quite obvious. We hope and wish for the summoned hero to fight the demon king in order for this world to be saved, but umm, how to say it. With the summoned hero being a young man even if we request that of him, that is (Shion) You are somewhat evasive. (Renya) E-Even I dont want to explain such thing with a serious face. (Shion) Shion protest while swaying in the suspended net with creaking sounds.Once Renya tries guessing from her state, Shion seems to be quite embarrassed.Renya cocks his head in puzzlement wondering where the reason for her being embarrassed about the information related to the hero summoning might be, but as theres no way for Shion to know about Renyas pondering, she continues the explanation. Its about which would give a better impression to the hero for currying favours with him and requesting him to save the world, a withered old man, a filthy middle-aged man or a young woman? (Shion) Im able to understand that somehow. In the first place, in any kind of story its a princess who tells the wish to the hero. However, thats the task of the princess of the country where he was summoned. Isnt that a story that has no relation to you, Shion, since you ended up falling off the stage of politics? (Renya) Falling off, you say Renya, you are quite the cruel fellow. (Shion) No matter how much you gloss over facts, they still remain facts. (Renya) Well fine, its certainly true. For example right, Renya, which one do you prefer, black or blond hair? (Shion) Even while thinkingthats yet another quite unrelated question, Renya answers honestly. My preferences dont depend on stuff like hair colour or skin tone though? (Renya) Nuu lets change it to a figurative speech. For example, lets assume the summoned hero likes women with big c-chests. (Shion) Okay. (Renya) Now, the princess, who requests him to help us in case she had an extremely small chest, dont you think that the probability for the hero to harbour good will towards the princes becomes low? (Shion) Though he thinksthe talk has become very common all of a sudden, Renya tries to consider it.In the first place, at the point time he answers with Yes, got it after being requested something like saving the world, that will define him as an idiot,Renya believes,but how about it if the one who asked for that favour would be a princess who matches his own tastes very much?Wont it at least raise the success rate more than a middle-aged man, an elder, a macho or anikemen?If I consider that, I assume its predictable though there will be some other aspects apart from what Shion says, too. I cant believe it to be true by no means, but related to the hero summoning carried out in that Holy Kingdom, in order to win the favour of the hero? (Renya) After selecting one representative princess from each country, they are supposed to meet with the hero. As this is an agreement from time immemorial, each nation is demanded to abide to it. (Shion) Wondering whether he didnt mishear by chance the words said by Shion which are a continuation of Renyas words, Renya calmly said after leaving plenty of time in-between and confirming that he didnt make a mistake in his hearing, You guys are idiots, arent you? (Renya) Its not like Im the one who decided it! (Shion) Shion shouts with a bright red face to the extent that it can be seen in the semi-darkness.Even while thinking that a loud voice in the night will likely bother the neighbourhood, Renya considers that it might be an unexpectedly good move.Even if I try to give it one reason or the other, its a part that can become a weak point of anyone as its the weakness of falling in love.In any kind of story the heroine is an essential part for the hero. Besides, the heroine being shackled or tied is something that happens in many fantasy stories.Moreover I have a hunch that the probability, that there are men who end up thinking Lets fight for this world while misunderstanding something, isnt that low if they are given a beautiful maiden and are set up as Hero-sama.While that might be true, Renya is unwilling to honestly say something like Thats a great move even under threat. In other words that means? Originally your younger sister has been chosen as representative princess, but yielding the inheritance rights to her, you dont want to have your younger sister take such sacrifice-like duty as she already ended up being forced into the role as successor which she has accepted and which holds a heavy responsibility, is what you say? (Renya) If I were in my original social position, there would be arguments that I should be chosen. (Shion) To make matters worse, if the result might be for the Trident Principality to lose an excellent next Archduchess. (Renya) Rather than that happening, its probably better if I went, right? I still havent lost the social standing of being the first princess. (Shion) Well however theres just one thing. Just because you go to meet the hero, its not like its particularly decided that you will be devoured by the hero (Renya) If you dont match his tastes, wont you be sent back without you having a sexual relation with him? Due to Renya asking that, Shion answered, Rona investigated it in advance It seems he has already met with several princesses, but without exception (Shion) The phrases ending faded into quietness and couldnt be heard.They are probably words she doesnt want to voice out overly much, Renya avoids pursuing the matter. As its something prosperous its very enviable. Its just by the way, but is there any penalty in case only one was chosen after he had sexual relations with all of them? (Renya) Theres no way for that to happen, right? The other party is a hero. (Shion) Then I guess the probability for her to be devoured is high because of three reasons, Renya assesses.First, the reason that no one wont grab the chance if its the woman making the advance.Renya didnt know what kind of ritual the hero summoning was, butI think theres no way for it being a ritual to summon an elderly person like me, he judges.Since they are wishing for him to fight, the summoning target is likely a young man.If he is told Go ahead and do as you like with beautiful princess gathered from each nation in front of his eyes, he would be an extremely virtuous man if he is able to endure at this point, Renya thought.Second, the objective of self-protection.If he understands that the other parties are princesses with high social standing, one can also say that being passionate with them will connect to protecting himself.The princesses, who were sent there, are children of other people, too.Their parents are even the kings of each nation who sent them.If a person, who was on intimate terms with their own child, asked for their support for some reason, it should be something quite difficult to refuse.If he ignored the princesses own will and relied on force, it would likely result in him being ousted by the parents side instead, but in the case of a hero theres no reason for him to be condemned as he only has an affair with them after having them presented with a Here you go.Third, the possibility of him simply being a lustful man.This doesnt even require any explanation.He will likely devour what was prepared for him. I intended to understand it in my mind, but I havent managed to sort my feelings theres nothing in particular for me to lose to the point of being told that its adultery after exposing that Im no virgin anymore because of that. If thats the case, before that happens, with you I ended up thinking, but I didnt consider your feelings, Renya. Sorry. Im stupid after all. (Shion) No, well, being chosen as your partner in such situation is something that makes me happy, but just because you are pressed by the circumstances, its a bit, you know, after all, I think. So, when will you go to meet that hero then? (Renya) Given that it seems various things have to be prepared, I have to depart to the Holy City of the Holy Kingdom tomorrow. (Shion) Hmm (Renya) Renya thrusts his hand below the pillow of Fraus bed which is right next to him.Certainly there was a single, small earthenware bottle stored there.Out of kindness a paper with an instruction how to use the poison has been attached on the bottle. Renya? That is? (Shion) Mmh? Well just a little something. (Renya) Once he views it in the magic light, the instruction, written with careful handwriting, states following: I see (Renya) Opening the lid of the bottle, he spills its contents on top of his palm.Without hesitation Renya left four of the small, pitch black pills on top of his palm and returned the bottle under Fraus pillow. Renya, please remove the net. I will return to my own room. Im very sorry about tonight. In truth (Shion) Without realizing what Renya is doing, Shion says such things.Grasping the pills with his left hand, Renya got up from the bed, walked to the entrance and pressed a hidden button installed in the wall.Responding to that, the rope, which suspended the net from the ceiling, extends slowly and lowers the net slowly to the ground.Once the net has reached the floor, it isnt that difficult to get out from within.Shion, who came out after enlarging the nets hole, tries to leave Renyas room just like that but is stopped by Renya holding out his hand. Renya? (Shion) Shion calls his name without understanding the meaning of his behaviour.Without answering, Renya stuffs all the pills, he held in his left hand, into his mouth, grabs Shions left hand with his right hand and hugs the hip of Shion, who leaned no him due to apparently staggering, with his left arm.Renyas height is higher.Shion, who looked at him with upturned eyes, doesnt understand what the hells going on while being hugged by Renya and simply stares motionlessly at Renyas face approaching her own.Once Renya separates his right hand from Shions left hand, he puts his right arm around Shions back as well.Its so that she cant run away.Its also called, being captured. Nmu (Shion) In order to not give the surprised Shion time to think, Renya placed his lips on hers.Moreover, once he sends two pills into Shions mouth with a quick mouth-to-mouth feeding, he preserves that state until Shion swallows them down.While unable to comprehend what is happening, Shion made a small sound with her throat and ended up swallowing the pills received from Renya.After confirming that, Renya gulps down the pills remaining within his own mouth.Furthermore, after spending time to savour Shions lips to his hearts content since it was a rare chance, he slowly separated his lips from hers. Renya what the heck? (Shion) Shion asks with a somewhat drowsy expression while in a posture of being hugged by Renya.While thinkingthe effect of the poison still hasnt appeared, Renya holds up the body of Shion, which ended up having lost all its strength, in his arms and carries her.Reflecting that it might have been unpleasant to receive a deep kiss all of a sudden for a first-timer maiden, Renya quietly whispered into Shions ear, Sleep for a while since I will keep you company as well. (Renya) Due to Shion gazing at Renya while having a flushed face without understanding the meaning of what she was told, Renya showed her a broad grin. Chapter 79 C It seems to be the confession after the assault While Shion corrects her posture by squirming within the suspended net, Renya shifts his attention with a fleeting glance to the side of his bed.Although theres Fraus bed, which she made because of her powerful wish Frau has to be there no matter what, Frau currently isnt present.Likely, after she opened the doors lock for Shion, she probably went outside the room to not become a hindrance for the events afterwards.In a certain sense it can be seen as Fraus consideration of Please enjoy slowly, but probably its something else, Renya thinks.If it was the enjoy slowly and so on, Frau should have told Shion about the existence of the trap at the entrances door.Her not having mentioned it means that she either approved of Shions action and decided to leave the further events to fate or she probably found the aspect of not telling her amusing in some way. Its likely one of those two.As she was able to prepare for Renya who pondered about such stuff, Shion begins to talk, Renya, I think you are strangely dumb in regards to things that dont interest you. (Shion) What a terrible thing to say out of the blue, but certainly, I dont care about stuff that doesnt interest me. (Renya) When Renya readily affirms that, Shion smiles wryly. Going by the circumstances, have you even forgotten the name of this country? (Shion) I remember it. Its Trident Principality. (Renya) Then, the name of the Archduke there? (Shion) Dont know. (Renya) Since that was inconsequential information, Renya replied immediately.Not knowing something like the name of the countrys leader doesnt cause particular problems in living ones life.Even in the world where Renya been before, the number of people, who cant answer after being asked for the full name of the prime minister of their own country, should add up to a reasonable amount.As theres no particular gain even if you know it, its also not like there will be some loss by not knowing it.The level of importance of that information was no more than that. Being the country closest to the Miasma Forest, its fine to say that this Trident Principality plays a role similar to that of a wall for the human continent. Because of that its national power is boasting to be second in rank on the human continent. By the way, first rank belongs to the Holy Kingdom ruling the continents centre. (Shion) Renya wondered whether this will become a study session in geography or world history after listening up to this point, but deciding to let Shion talk about what she wants to say for the time being, he stays silent and urges her on ahead. Her Excellency the Archduchess of that Trident Principality is a woman called Lydia. Her full name is Lydia Femme Fatale. (Shion) Mmh? That means (Renya) Due to Renya interjecting by doubting his hearing, Shion nods and puts a hand on her own chest. Yes, Im Shion Femme Fatale. As daughter of Her Excellency the Archduchess of Trident Principality, Im the first princess. Her Excellency the Archduchess is my mother. (Shion) If he said that he wasnt surprised, it would be a lie, but it wasnt like it could be said that Renya was extremely surprised either.He had the expectationshe has likely a fairly high social standing, but although he surely didnt think that it would even go as far as her being the daughter of the countrys leader, as theres currently Croire, who is the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor even if shes ranked as 35th, its not something at the level of causing an eye-popping astonishment for him either.As his thinking apparently appeared on his expression, Shion smiles. Well, certainly the feeling that its a bit late in the game is strong. (Shion) It was obvious from my expression, huh? Excuse me for that. Even so, it turns out to be quite a distinguished position, that, right? (Renya) Thats true. If you limit it to the human continent, its distinguished to the extent of there not being that many people who can afford to not bow their head to me. Im more or less the next Archduchess as first successor, if it becomes reality. (Shion) (Frau) Renya somehow endures not bursting into laughter due to the voice of Frau suddenly resounding in his mind.She seems to be eavesdropping on the conversation from somewhere through the path between Renya and Frau.Thats probably your impression after hearing Shion call herself the next Archduchess, but even if I tell you that there are parts which I can agree with, your timing is far too bad, Renya sent a thought of protest. If it becomes reality, so its about that actually not happening? (Renya) Shion gave a nod to Renya who asked to prevent him hearing that as slip of tongue. Renya, you are probably thinking this as well, but Im not very smart if speaking the unvarnished truth. (Shion) As he hesitates to say yes or no, Renya stays silent towards Shions remark.If he relaxed his attention a bit, he would burst into laughter though, especially as there were also Fraus words from before. Honestly spoken, I dont believe that I will be able to put up with the heavy responsibilities of an Archduchess. Im confident that I will likely put the country itself in jeopardy. (Shion) Stifling the exclamations Arent you an useless kid!? I knew it, though!, Renya somehow held himself back to reflexively give her atsukkomi.Even so, isnt it an important aspect that the useless child has analysed herself properly as being an useless child?He also thinks.From Renyas standpoint, the person called Shionis far too impulsive and is unable to read her surroundings much. Because she puts too much importance on ideals, she doesnt perceive reality properly.That was his impression.Renya doesnt believe that to be something bad.Its fine if she follows up with her surroundings if its in the range of being patchable. If thats close to impossible, its also an option to give up and persuade with logic fervently.Once he considered it like that, he felt like Shion explained her actions adequately so far.In other words, from her point of view the populace of Trident Principality are targets to be protected and existences that cant be abandoned even if it was impossible or at the borderline of possibility.Regarding this, theres also the idea that its the responsibility of a stateswoman to choose those to be discarded, but likely Shion didnt receive education to that extent.What made her quickly retreat in the elven country was that it was an incident in another country. Since it was about the people of another country being the targets to be protected, not only didnt she reach out her hand and sword, but moreover it was for the sake of learning that this danger might reach her own country.Shion changed the evaluation criteria, thats within herself, in her own way, he thought and also believed that shes a simple, idiotic child but Renya feels guilty though only slightly. Fortunately I have a younger sister whos quite capable. That girl is smart to a degree that cant be compared with me. Therefore I decided to relinquish my Archduchess inheritor rights and hand it over to my younger sister. (Shion) Question number one: At the time I went reform those idiots at school, there was a noble with the surname Fatale though? (Renya) That ones from our branch. I was a bit shocked when I heard that she met you, Renya. It would be fine if she didnt say anything unnecessary, but I was worried. It saved me troubles that she apparently didnt mention anything. (Shion) Question number two: Didnt your little sister-san hate getting such troublesome matter pushed onto her? (Renya) If I leave the decisions of this country to ane-sama, that method might be reliable, I ended up being told. In the first place it seems like my little sister wanted to be my support as advisor after making me the Archduchess, but I think I ended up making some mistake in regards to that matter. (Shion) I see, I understand. So, hows that related to you having not much time left?(Renya) A hero summoning ritual was carried out in the Holy Kingdom. (Shion) Shion continues to hang her head in shame. I think you are aware that Rona and me have recently moved around in regards to various matters, but in addition to the information brought back from the elven country, the reports from the soldiers guarding the Forest Labyrinth, the investigation of the Miasma Forest and so forth, it all points to the demons appearances and the activity of the monsters becoming lively recently. And the direct investigation of the demon continent because of the news of many people who went there, the Holy Kingdom reached a conclusion. Namely, the appearance of a demon king is close or they have already made their appearance. (Shion) After the hero summoning, next its the advent of a demon king?Renya think with a feeling of astonishment without showing it on his expression.No matter how he thinks about it, it cant be regarded as anything but a game story, but from the view point of this world, all of it is reality.Which reminds me, Renya recalls.Emil did say that the demon country is currently turbulent in various ways.Is it because of the appearance of a demon king or why? Although she has absolutely no intention to talk about the real situation going by what I heard from Emil, cant that be called an educated guess?Renya wonders. The thing called hero summoning, is that about summoning someone from a different world like with the Lost? (Renya) Ah, whats different from a Lost is that the summoned person possesses powers qualifying them as hero. (Shion) The story still doesnt add up though? (Renya) Demon King or Hero are certainly serious matters, I guess, but how does that connect to Shions time limit?That aspect still isnt clear to Renya.Or rather than not being clear, he has even a feeling that its gradually getting more distant from Shion. If the next explanation from here on is heard by you, Renya, I have a hunch that I will be terribly made fun of though. (Shion) Yea? (Renya) First, the summoned hero will always be a man. I dont know the reason, but I think thats likely because they can be requested to fight with the demon king. This times no exception either and its seems to be a man again. (Shion) That was an argument which even Renya could agree with more or less.If its only a talk about the act of battle, as distinction and not discrimination, thats suited for men. One can say thats quite obvious. We hope and wish for the summoned hero to fight the demon king in order for this world to be saved, but umm, how to say it. With the summoned hero being a young man even if we request that of him, that is (Shion) You are somewhat evasive. (Renya) E-Even I dont want to explain such thing with a serious face. (Shion) Shion protest while swaying in the suspended net with creaking sounds.Once Renya tries guessing from her state, Shion seems to be quite embarrassed.Renya cocks his head in puzzlement wondering where the reason for her being embarrassed about the information related to the hero summoning might be, but as theres no way for Shion to know about Renyas pondering, she continues the explanation. Its about which would give a better impression to the hero for currying favours with him and requesting him to save the world, a withered old man, a filthy middle-aged man or a young woman? (Shion) Im able to understand that somehow. In the first place, in any kind of story its a princess who tells the wish to the hero. However, thats the task of the princess of the country where he was summoned. Isnt that a story that has no relation to you, Shion, since you ended up falling off the stage of politics? (Renya) Falling off, you say Renya, you are quite the cruel fellow. (Shion) No matter how much you gloss over facts, they still remain facts. (Renya) Well fine, its certainly true. For example right, Renya, which one do you prefer, black or blond hair? (Shion) Even while thinkingthats yet another quite unrelated question, Renya answers honestly. My preferences dont depend on stuff like hair colour or skin tone though? (Renya) Nuu lets change it to a figurative speech. For example, lets assume the summoned hero likes women with big c-chests. (Shion) Okay. (Renya) Now, the princess, who requests him to help us in case she had an extremely small chest, dont you think that the probability for the hero to harbour good will towards the princes becomes low? (Shion) Though he thinksthe talk has become very common all of a sudden, Renya tries to consider it.In the first place, at the point time he answers with Yes, got it after being requested something like saving the world, that will define him as an idiot,Renya believes,but how about it if the one who asked for that favour would be a princess who matches his own tastes very much?Wont it at least raise the success rate more than a middle-aged man, an elder, a macho or anikemen?If I consider that, I assume its predictable though there will be some other aspects apart from what Shion says, too. I cant believe it to be true by no means, but related to the hero summoning carried out in that Holy Kingdom, in order to win the favour of the hero? (Renya) After selecting one representative princess from each country, they are supposed to meet with the hero. As this is an agreement from time immemorial, each nation is demanded to abide to it. (Shion) Wondering whether he didnt mishear by chance the words said by Shion which are a continuation of Renyas words, Renya calmly said after leaving plenty of time in-between and confirming that he didnt make a mistake in his hearing, You guys are idiots, arent you? (Renya) Its not like Im the one who decided it! (Shion) Shion shouts with a bright red face to the extent that it can be seen in the semi-darkness.Even while thinking that a loud voice in the night will likely bother the neighbourhood, Renya considers that it might be an unexpectedly good move.Even if I try to give it one reason or the other, its a part that can become a weak point of anyone as its the weakness of falling in love.In any kind of story the heroine is an essential part for the hero. Besides, the heroine being shackled or tied is something that happens in many fantasy stories.Moreover I have a hunch that the probability, that there are men who end up thinking Lets fight for this world while misunderstanding something, isnt that low if they are given a beautiful maiden and are set up as Hero-sama.While that might be true, Renya is unwilling to honestly say something like Thats a great move even under threat. In other words that means? Originally your younger sister has been chosen as representative princess, but yielding the inheritance rights to her, you dont want to have your younger sister take such sacrifice-like duty as she already ended up being forced into the role as successor which she has accepted and which holds a heavy responsibility, is what you say? (Renya) If I were in my original social position, there would be arguments that I should be chosen. (Shion) To make matters worse, if the result might be for the Trident Principality to lose an excellent next Archduchess. (Renya) Rather than that happening, its probably better if I went, right? I still havent lost the social standing of being the first princess. (Shion) Well however theres just one thing. Just because you go to meet the hero, its not like its particularly decided that you will be devoured by the hero (Renya) If you dont match his tastes, wont you be sent back without you having a sexual relation with him? Due to Renya asking that, Shion answered, Rona investigated it in advance It seems he has already met with several princesses, but without exception (Shion) The phrases ending faded into quietness and couldnt be heard.They are probably words she doesnt want to voice out overly much, Renya avoids pursuing the matter. As its something prosperous its very enviable. Its just by the way, but is there any penalty in case only one was chosen after he had sexual relations with all of them? (Renya) Theres no way for that to happen, right? The other party is a hero. (Shion) Then I guess the probability for her to be devoured is high because of three reasons, Renya assesses.First, the reason that no one wont grab the chance if its the woman making the advance.Renya didnt know what kind of ritual the hero summoning was, butI think theres no way for it being a ritual to summon an elderly person like me, he judges.Since they are wishing for him to fight, the summoning target is likely a young man.If he is told Go ahead and do as you like with beautiful princess gathered from each nation in front of his eyes, he would be an extremely virtuous man if he is able to endure at this point, Renya thought.Second, the objective of self-protection.If he understands that the other parties are princesses with high social standing, one can also say that being passionate with them will connect to protecting himself.The princesses, who were sent there, are children of other people, too.Their parents are even the kings of each nation who sent them.If a person, who was on intimate terms with their own child, asked for their support for some reason, it should be something quite difficult to refuse.If he ignored the princesses own will and relied on force, it would likely result in him being ousted by the parents side instead, but in the case of a hero theres no reason for him to be condemned as he only has an affair with them after having them presented with a Here you go.Third, the possibility of him simply being a lustful man.This doesnt even require any explanation.He will likely devour what was prepared for him. I intended to understand it in my mind, but I havent managed to sort my feelings theres nothing in particular for me to lose to the point of being told that its adultery after exposing that Im no virgin anymore because of that. If thats the case, before that happens, with you I ended up thinking, but I didnt consider your feelings, Renya. Sorry. Im stupid after all. (Shion) No, well, being chosen as your partner in such situation is something that makes me happy, but just because you are pressed by the circumstances, its a bit, you know, after all, I think. So, when will you go to meet that hero then? (Renya) Given that it seems various things have to be prepared, I have to depart to the Holy City of the Holy Kingdom tomorrow. (Shion) Hmm (Renya) Renya thrusts his hand below the pillow of Fraus bed which is right next to him.Certainly there was a single, small earthenware bottle stored there.Out of kindness a paper with an instruction how to use the poison has been attached on the bottle. Renya? That is? (Shion) Mmh? Well just a little something. (Renya) Once he views it in the magic light, the instruction, written with careful handwriting, states following: I see (Renya) Opening the lid of the bottle, he spills its contents on top of his palm.Without hesitation Renya left four of the small, pitch black pills on top of his palm and returned the bottle under Fraus pillow. Renya, please remove the net. I will return to my own room. Im very sorry about tonight. In truth (Shion) Without realizing what Renya is doing, Shion says such things.Grasping the pills with his left hand, Renya got up from the bed, walked to the entrance and pressed a hidden button installed in the wall.Responding to that, the rope, which suspended the net from the ceiling, extends slowly and lowers the net slowly to the ground.Once the net has reached the floor, it isnt that difficult to get out from within.Shion, who came out after enlarging the nets hole, tries to leave Renyas room just like that but is stopped by Renya holding out his hand. Renya? (Shion) Shion calls his name without understanding the meaning of his behaviour.Without answering, Renya stuffs all the pills, he held in his left hand, into his mouth, grabs Shions left hand with his right hand and hugs the hip of Shion, who leaned no him due to apparently staggering, with his left arm.Renyas height is higher.Shion, who looked at him with upturned eyes, doesnt understand what the hells going on while being hugged by Renya and simply stares motionlessly at Renyas face approaching her own.Once Renya separates his right hand from Shions left hand, he puts his right arm around Shions back as well.Its so that she cant run away.Its also called, being captured. Nmu (Shion) In order to not give the surprised Shion time to think, Renya placed his lips on hers.Moreover, once he sends two pills into Shions mouth with a quick mouth-to-mouth feeding, he preserves that state until Shion swallows them down.While unable to comprehend what is happening, Shion made a small sound with her throat and ended up swallowing the pills received from Renya.After confirming that, Renya gulps down the pills remaining within his own mouth.Furthermore, after spending time to savour Shions lips to his hearts content since it was a rare chance, he slowly separated his lips from hers. Renya what the heck? (Shion) Shion asks with a somewhat drowsy expression while in a posture of being hugged by Renya.While thinkingthe effect of the poison still hasnt appeared, Renya holds up the body of Shion, which ended up having lost all its strength, in his arms and carries her.Reflecting that it might have been unpleasant to receive a deep kiss all of a sudden for a first-timer maiden, Renya quietly whispered into Shions ear, Sleep for a while since I will keep you company as well. (Renya) Due to Shion gazing at Renya while having a flushed face without understanding the meaning of what she was told, Renya showed her a broad grin. Chapter 80 Chapter 80 C It seems to be a little conspiracy Yes, then I want to begin the meeting for the first lets-laugh-loudly-while-pointing-at-the-hero-after-making-him-cry-by-beating-him-up planning draft ~no. (Frau) Oy, wait for heavens sake just wait a bit (Renya) Renya, who was prostrating on the table with a feeling of gasping, tries to somehow rein in the remark of Frau who has raised her voice.His face is somewhat feverish and his look is slightly hollow.With a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, he doesnt seem healthy no matter how you look at it.Originally that shouldnt have happened to a degree that one might say its almost impossible for Renya to enter such a state.Renya has the skill Healthy Body.Its a skill that tries to keep Renyas body in the very best condition. Even if he was afflicted by sickness or poison and even if those were at the level of being instantly fatal for arguments sake, its a skill capable of enduring those and rejecting them in a short time.Thanks to this skill being continuously active, or in other words being a passive skill, Renya is in a state where he wont fall ill or even if he does, his health will recover immediately. But what Renya noticed last night was that he is able to turn it OFF for some unknown reason.For the sake of confining Shion, Renya had her swallow poison by feeding it to her mouth-to-mouth, however as its bad for settling his feelings by feigning ignorance, he decided to swallow the same amount of poison he had her swallow, but then realized,wont it be detoxified by the skill Healthy Body right away?At the moment he thought this would be bad, the message Do you wish to turn the Healthy Body skill OFF temporarily? popped up in his field of vision.Using the help function right away, Renya, who confirmed that this skill could be turned ON and OFF, changed the Healthy Body skill to OFF.Putting down Shion, whom he carried, on the bed before the delayed type of poison began to show its effect, he was suddenly assaulted by dizziness when he pondered whether he should try to consult about the steps from here on out with Rona and the others at dawn for the time being.While placing his hand on the wall reflexively, Renya, who crumbled down to the floor starting with his knees, wonderedhows this an average degree of feverwhile spilling cold sweat due to stomach ache, nausea and violent shakes that attacked him.At the same time he was unable to trust that its really non-lethal after actually experiencing the feeling himself although Frau said that its pretty much non-lethal in case such poison assaulted Shions body.Due to a level of lethargy that made him even unable to support his body after placing both hands on the wall, Renya gave Frau the instruction via telepathic communication to see to Shions nursing by calling Rona and his consciousness snapped off right after that.Renya doesnt know what happened after that.Once he noticed that it became morning, Renya was put to sleep on his own bed and his clothes were completely changed to something else from what he wore at the time when he went to bed.Frau was sitting besides the bed and fixedly stared at Renya. For some reason Emil had sneaked into the futon while nude and clung to Renyas body. Master, did you wake up ~nano? (Frau) Renya tried to answer Fraus question, but as his throat was dry, his voice didnt come out.It was just a sound like husky groaning that escaped from his lips, but due to that sound Emil, who was clinging to Renya, woke up. Renya! Good grief, whats this all about? It isnt very dexterous to get close to death with a combination technique of high fever and dehydration within your own home, is it? (Emil) Master, I havent heard with what method you made Shion-ane swallow it. But, at the moment you held four pills in your mouth, its penetration had already started ~no. It was on the verge of getting really dangerous ~no. (Frau) That means me having made her swallow it with mouth-to-mouth feeding has been apparently completely leaked to Frau.Certainly, as theres a mucous membrane within the mouth, that was a logical fact even if I didnt expect for the poison to enter from there at the time I held it in my mouth.Maybe the expectation of sharing a kiss with Shion made me restless after I put it in my mouth.If I consider it like that, I ended up doing something quite embarrassing, Renya reflects. For the time being, Renya, its better if you drink water Is it fine for me to give it you orally? (Emil) Smiling impishly, Emil asks while helping Renyas upper body to sit up, Renya has no spare energy to answer.From the issue of him not reacting, Emil, who guessed that Renya wasnt in a state where she could mess around with him overly much, applied a water jug, she retrieved from somewhere, to Renyas mouth and made him hold the water in his mouth.Due to the sensation of cold water flowing into his parched and thirsty throat, Renya felt his consciousness returning, albeit only a bit. Sorry I was too much of a dunce. (Renya) Yea, really. Well for me its fine either way since I was able to use it as excuse to slip into your bed while nude though. (Emil) Emil said that in a jesting tone, but Renya actually knew without being told that she likely tried to warm him up somewhat as he was shivering due to the chills coming from the high fever.Frau and Croire have too small bodies in comparison to Renya and Rona was likely unable to take her hands off Shions nursing. Sorry, Emil. You have my gratitude put something on. (Renya) Renya, who thinksthe other party might be a demon, but it wont do without me immediately expressing my gratitude in regards to her having nursed me, squeezes out those words somehow while being hugged by Emil.After showing a slightly astonished expression due to being told that, Emil quietly turned her look towards the distance. It doesnt really matter though. Even I would be troubled if you died. (Emil) For the time being, since it was non-lethal. poison, I wont die that easily, will I? (Renya) Its not about dying due to poison ~no. (Frau) Frau said nonchalantly. However, there was the possibility of you dying due to being unable to resist its effects ~no. (Frau) Oy? (Renya) What is called a lethal poison is one that will reliably kill you as long as you dont treat it after swallowing it ~no. Even if you dont treat this one, you will only suffer high fever and vomiting ~no. However, I cant deny the possibility of death due to the inability of enduring dehydration and fever ~no. (Frau) I-Is Shion alright? (Renya) Renya was flustered as he made her swallow something fairly bad, but Frau shrugged her shoulders and told him that it was something harmless. For Shion-ane-sama its just a fever at the level of her being unable to stand up and walk ~nano. Probably master ended up taking over all of the bad symptoms ~no. (Frau) She is alright? (Renya) Alright or whatever, while laying in a futon and being nursed by Rona, she was idling around with a somewhat slovenly smile. And Rona told me, please tell Renya todays departure was postponed because of the persons poor physical shape. (Emil) Renya feels relieved due to Emils words.It seems only the strong symptoms of its effect were absorbed into Renyas body at the time he held the pills in his mouth. Apparently only a relatively weak poison reached Shions body.Even so, as it was a fever at the level of her being unable to stand up and walk, Renyas objective was accomplished. Well then, Renya. (Emil) Crawling out of the futon, Emil said while putting on her underwear.Renya believed that Emil had only black underwear because of a vague image, but contrary to his expectations, it was pure white underwear which had fine lace ornaments added in. The expression of Emil, who puts them on, seems to be extremely happy for some reason. You will tell us what happened last night, right? (Emil) When he is told so with a smile, he might have been able to feign ignorance if it was the usual him, but since he has shown his shortcomings by having to be nursed for one night due to getting weakened by a fever, there are no means for Renya to resist it.Thus, after he was made to spill all the details of last nights conversation with Shion, the first words of what Frau said were strange.Given that she didnt want to continue even though they are talking in Renyas bedroom just as usual, they moved the place to the parlour.Although Renyas at the parlour after changing his clothes properly, does his body feel sluggish because of the high fever after all? He doesnt feel like moving and is in a state of mostly fallen prostrate while he at least rises his body from atop the table occasionally. Master, I know how you feel ~no. But if its this painful, I think I should detoxify you ~no. (Frau) Since its a poison created by Frau, Frau naturally possesses the antidote.She isnt an idiot that will use poison without having an antidote. No, but on Shion since I have forced that condition on her for three days, only me having it easy means (Renya) I feel like it will be fine even if you dont care about it much though. (Emil) Smiling while looking at Renya, who is completely exhausted, as something very interesting, Emil says with a friendly grin. Certainly, the fever seemed to be painful. However, that person appears to be light-headed and foolish for some other reason. (Emil) Renya-san, she uttered ufufu~ ~no. (Frau) The way of having her swallow it was likely wrong?Renya ponders while lying on the table.However, if I made her swallow it the normal way, Shion might have succumbed to an even worse condition.If its just a generation of the fevers effects after filtering them through Renyas body, this will be painful for Renya, but since thats a good thing, he wonderswasnt it a good method to have her swallow it through mouth-to-mouth feeding? Well, lets put that aside for the moment (Renya) Renya-kun, your face is red. (Emil) Averting his face from the grinning face of Emil, Renya switches the skill Healthy Body ON for just a bit.Suppressing only the intense stomach ache and nausea, he reverts it to OFF once again at the moment when just the fever is remaining.Shion apparently didnt have any symptoms of stomach ache and nausea.So, in that case Renya himself has no obligation to suffer those symptoms. Leave me alone. Its a fact that it wont do unless we dont take some measures against that hero or whatever. Im not the kind of person able to offer my friends to some unknown fellow with unknown circumstances. (Renya) Even if you say that, is there some move capable of beating him? Certainly theres no way for you to get him done in with a single strike, right? (Emil) Even if rotten, hes the human races hope. He is the hero that will become the key against the demon kings army ~nano. If we handle it unskilfully, its very likely to turn the entirety of the human race into our enemies ~no. (Frau) At that time I will act as fake hero by killing the demon king. (Renya) Is that so~? (Emil) Though she doesnt change her expression, Emil felt cold sweat streaming down her back.Emil is classified by her peculiar personality, but as demon she feels pretty much only little respect and awe towards the one called demon king.Of course, in regards to consenting or refusing the demon kings existence, Emil has absolutely no intention to talk even if she was asked by Renya for example, however she feels something frightening in regards to Renya who carelessly talks about killing the demon king. For the time being we will peacefully no, theres no need for that. I want to pick a method of finishing it without allowing Shion to leave. (Renya) That sounds like you dont wish to hear our opinion, doesnt it? (Emil) Croire-ane-sama not having been called here says everything, I believe ~no. (Frau) Just as Frau says, Renya didnt invite Croire to this consultation.The matter is about human nobles, he has told Croire, but in that case he should have originally left Emil out of the loop as well.For Renya theres a reason to deliberately invite Emil to this. After this Emil will (Renya) Looking at the item on top of the table taken out by Renya, Emil nods as if to state her agreement. Certainly doing it like that, the rest will be my field of expertise. (Emil) And, in order for Frau to stock up on that (Renya)(T/N Eligible to change as kept very obscure what they are talking about and the kanji can mean various things) Master, in that case you can leave it to Frau ~no. I have already stocked up a really amazing ((amount)) of that ~no. (Frau) Frau takes responsibility after hitting her chest with a single *pon*.Because of that confident behaviour, Renya ends up believing that she will definitely bring out something far more terrific than he requested, but since theres no particular problem with that, he judges to let her do as she likes. By the way, can you maintain Shions condition like that? (Renya) Leave that side to me as well ~no. I will do it so that Rona-ane-sama doesnt realize ~no. For how long? (Frau) It will be fine if its at least the number of days it takes to make a round-trip to the Holy City and two additional days after this. (Renya) That will probably be alright ~nano. (Frau) Although Renya didnt know how many days it would take afterwards, Frau affirmed it without even asking about the exact number. Emil, Id like you to conceal the prepared item though? It will become troublesome if its exposed. (Renya) I shall hide it perfectly now then. I will display my best ability so that they definitely dont realize its existence. (Emil) Picking up the item he placed on the table by Renya, Emil, who tosses it into the pocket of her coat, nodded her head to Renyas request. Well then, it looks like it will get fun. Will you go to the Holy City, Renya? (Emil) Well, yeah. I will secretly slip in somewhere. (Renya) Id like you to take me along by all means. Lets make that the reward for this times request. (Emil) Dont cause an uproar, okay? (Renya) Got it, master. Lets later invite members that look to be suitable? (Emil) Frau, please take care of making the necessary arrangements towards Rona. This time she has to cooperate. (Renya) Roger, master ~nano. (Frau) Once Frau answered, Emil and Frau saluted towards Renya almost at the same time.Due to the excessively matching timing, Renya tilts his head to the side wondering what they are doing. I will accomplish the order from master no matter how ~nano. (Frau) For the time being, since you have to take part in the operation, Renya-kun no, master, you should rest your body. (Emil) Before Renya says anything, Emil hods up Renyas body easily.It was the princess carry Renya performed on Shion last night. Come now, lets return to bed, Renya-kun, okay? (Emil) Wai-, oy, wait. I can walk myself! (Renya) No, no, something like making master walk himself we will properly sleep together this night as well if you are a good boy. (Emil) Renya tried to somehow get away from Emil who looks happy, but after struggling for a while, he stops moving due to complete exhaustion.As he moved vigorously in a state of having a fever, he apparently ended up fainting.Thanks to his overcompensating skills, Renya doesnt use up all his strength that often.There was almost no situation where he stopped moving up to this point. The efficacy of that poison might be a bit too strong ~no (Frau) Frau muttered in a whisper while seeing off the back of Emil who is carrying Renya gleefully.Its Fraus special poisonWitch Hunt of InsanityWitch Hunt of Madness.Dragged out from Renyas knowledge, its name originates from the five stages of torture carried out to draw out a confession at witch hunts in the different world.In the user manual there hasnt been written anything but the effects up to four pills, but as for the fifth pill that wasnt mentioned, that, which was until then a non-lethal drug, transforms into a poison definitely killing the person who takes it. I should prepare a weaker drug ~no. (Frau) Well, the matter is over, after lightly reflecting, Frau floated away lightly. Chapter 80 C It seems to be a little conspiracy Yes, then I want to begin the meeting for the first lets-laugh-loudly-while-pointing-at-the-hero-after-making-him-cry-by-beating-him-up planning draft ~no. (Frau) Oy, wait for heavens sake just wait a bit (Renya) Renya, who was prostrating on the table with a feeling of gasping, tries to somehow rein in the remark of Frau who has raised her voice.His face is somewhat feverish and his look is slightly hollow.With a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, he doesnt seem healthy no matter how you look at it.Originally that shouldnt have happened to a degree that one might say its almost impossible for Renya to enter such a state.Renya has the skill Healthy Body.Its a skill that tries to keep Renyas body in the very best condition. Even if he was afflicted by sickness or poison and even if those were at the level of being instantly fatal for arguments sake, its a skill capable of enduring those and rejecting them in a short time.Thanks to this skill being continuously active, or in other words being a passive skill, Renya is in a state where he wont fall ill or even if he does, his health will recover immediately. But what Renya noticed last night was that he is able to turn it OFF for some unknown reason.For the sake of confining Shion, Renya had her swallow poison by feeding it to her mouth-to-mouth, however as its bad for settling his feelings by feigning ignorance, he decided to swallow the same amount of poison he had her swallow, but then realized,wont it be detoxified by the skill Healthy Body right away?At the moment he thought this would be bad, the message Do you wish to turn the Healthy Body skill OFF temporarily? popped up in his field of vision.Using the help function right away, Renya, who confirmed that this skill could be turned ON and OFF, changed the Healthy Body skill to OFF.Putting down Shion, whom he carried, on the bed before the delayed type of poison began to show its effect, he was suddenly assaulted by dizziness when he pondered whether he should try to consult about the steps from here on out with Rona and the others at dawn for the time being.While placing his hand on the wall reflexively, Renya, who crumbled down to the floor starting with his knees, wonderedhows this an average degree of feverwhile spilling cold sweat due to stomach ache, nausea and violent shakes that attacked him.At the same time he was unable to trust that its really non-lethal after actually experiencing the feeling himself although Frau said that its pretty much non-lethal in case such poison assaulted Shions body.Due to a level of lethargy that made him even unable to support his body after placing both hands on the wall, Renya gave Frau the instruction via telepathic communication to see to Shions nursing by calling Rona and his consciousness snapped off right after that.Renya doesnt know what happened after that.Once he noticed that it became morning, Renya was put to sleep on his own bed and his clothes were completely changed to something else from what he wore at the time when he went to bed.Frau was sitting besides the bed and fixedly stared at Renya. For some reason Emil had sneaked into the futon while nude and clung to Renyas body. Master, did you wake up ~nano? (Frau) Renya tried to answer Fraus question, but as his throat was dry, his voice didnt come out.It was just a sound like husky groaning that escaped from his lips, but due to that sound Emil, who was clinging to Renya, woke up. Renya! Good grief, whats this all about? It isnt very dexterous to get close to death with a combination technique of high fever and dehydration within your own home, is it? (Emil) Master, I havent heard with what method you made Shion-ane swallow it. But, at the moment you held four pills in your mouth, its penetration had already started ~no. It was on the verge of getting really dangerous ~no. (Frau) That means me having made her swallow it with mouth-to-mouth feeding has been apparently completely leaked to Frau.Certainly, as theres a mucous membrane within the mouth, that was a logical fact even if I didnt expect for the poison to enter from there at the time I held it in my mouth.Maybe the expectation of sharing a kiss with Shion made me restless after I put it in my mouth.If I consider it like that, I ended up doing something quite embarrassing, Renya reflects. For the time being, Renya, its better if you drink water Is it fine for me to give it you orally? (Emil) Smiling impishly, Emil asks while helping Renyas upper body to sit up, Renya has no spare energy to answer.From the issue of him not reacting, Emil, who guessed that Renya wasnt in a state where she could mess around with him overly much, applied a water jug, she retrieved from somewhere, to Renyas mouth and made him hold the water in his mouth.Due to the sensation of cold water flowing into his parched and thirsty throat, Renya felt his consciousness returning, albeit only a bit. Sorry I was too much of a dunce. (Renya) Yea, really. Well for me its fine either way since I was able to use it as excuse to slip into your bed while nude though. (Emil) Emil said that in a jesting tone, but Renya actually knew without being told that she likely tried to warm him up somewhat as he was shivering due to the chills coming from the high fever.Frau and Croire have too small bodies in comparison to Renya and Rona was likely unable to take her hands off Shions nursing. Sorry, Emil. You have my gratitude put something on. (Renya) Renya, who thinksthe other party might be a demon, but it wont do without me immediately expressing my gratitude in regards to her having nursed me, squeezes out those words somehow while being hugged by Emil.After showing a slightly astonished expression due to being told that, Emil quietly turned her look towards the distance. It doesnt really matter though. Even I would be troubled if you died. (Emil) For the time being, since it was non-lethal. poison, I wont die that easily, will I? (Renya) Its not about dying due to poison ~no. (Frau) Frau said nonchalantly. However, there was the possibility of you dying due to being unable to resist its effects ~no. (Frau) Oy? (Renya) What is called a lethal poison is one that will reliably kill you as long as you dont treat it after swallowing it ~no. Even if you dont treat this one, you will only suffer high fever and vomiting ~no. However, I cant deny the possibility of death due to the inability of enduring dehydration and fever ~no. (Frau) I-Is Shion alright? (Renya) Renya was flustered as he made her swallow something fairly bad, but Frau shrugged her shoulders and told him that it was something harmless. For Shion-ane-sama its just a fever at the level of her being unable to stand up and walk ~nano. Probably master ended up taking over all of the bad symptoms ~no. (Frau) She is alright? (Renya) Alright or whatever, while laying in a futon and being nursed by Rona, she was idling around with a somewhat slovenly smile. And Rona told me, please tell Renya todays departure was postponed because of the persons poor physical shape. (Emil) Renya feels relieved due to Emils words.It seems only the strong symptoms of its effect were absorbed into Renyas body at the time he held the pills in his mouth. Apparently only a relatively weak poison reached Shions body.Even so, as it was a fever at the level of her being unable to stand up and walk, Renyas objective was accomplished. Well then, Renya. (Emil) Crawling out of the futon, Emil said while putting on her underwear.Renya believed that Emil had only black underwear because of a vague image, but contrary to his expectations, it was pure white underwear which had fine lace ornaments added in.The expression of Emil, who puts them on, seems to be extremely happy for some reason. You will tell us what happened last night, right? (Emil) When he is told so with a smile, he might have been able to feign ignorance if it was the usual him, but since he has shown his shortcomings by having to be nursed for one night due to getting weakened by a fever, there are no means for Renya to resist it.Thus, after he was made to spill all the details of last nights conversation with Shion, the first words of what Frau said were strange.Given that she didnt want to continue even though they are talking in Renyas bedroom just as usual, they moved the place to the parlour.Although Renyas at the parlour after changing his clothes properly, does his body feel sluggish because of the high fever after all? He doesnt feel like moving and is in a state of mostly fallen prostrate while he at least rises his body from atop the table occasionally. Master, I know how you feel ~no. But if its this painful, I think I should detoxify you ~no. (Frau) Since its a poison created by Frau, Frau naturally possesses the antidote.She isnt an idiot that will use poison without having an antidote. No, but on Shion since I have forced that condition on her for three days, only me having it easy means (Renya) I feel like it will be fine even if you dont care about it much though. (Emil) Smiling while looking at Renya, who is completely exhausted, as something very interesting, Emil says with a friendly grin. Certainly, the fever seemed to be painful. However, that person appears to be light-headed and foolish for some other reason. (Emil) Renya-san, she uttered ufufu~ ~no. (Frau) The way of having her swallow it was likely wrong?Renya ponders while lying on the table.However, if I made her swallow it the normal way, Shion might have succumbed to an even worse condition.If its just a generation of the fevers effects after filtering them through Renyas body, this will be painful for Renya, but since thats a good thing, he wonderswasnt it a good method to have her swallow it through mouth-to-mouth feeding? Well, lets put that aside for the moment (Renya) Renya-kun, your face is red. (Emil) Averting his face from the grinning face of Emil, Renya switches the skill Healthy Body ON for just a bit.Suppressing only the intense stomach ache and nausea, he reverts it to OFF once again at the moment when just the fever is remaining.Shion apparently didnt have any symptoms of stomach ache and nausea.So, in that case Renya himself has no obligation to suffer those symptoms. Leave me alone. Its a fact that it wont do unless we dont take some measures against that hero or whatever. Im not the kind of person able to offer my friends to some unknown fellow with unknown circumstances. (Renya) Even if you say that, is there some move capable of beating him? Certainly theres no way for you to get him done in with a single strike, right? (Emil) Even if rotten, hes the human races hope. He is the hero that will become the key against the demon kings army ~nano. If we handle it unskilfully, its very likely to turn the entirety of the human race into our enemies ~no. (Frau) At that time I will act as fake hero by killing the demon king. (Renya) Is that so~? (Emil) Though she doesnt change her expression, Emil felt cold sweat streaming down her back.Emil is classified by her peculiar personality, but as demon she feels pretty much only little respect and awe towards the one called demon king.Of course, in regards to consenting or refusing the demon kings existence, Emil has absolutely no intention to talk even if she was asked by Renya for example, however she feels something frightening in regards to Renya who carelessly talks about killing the demon king. For the time being we will peacefully no, theres no need for that. I want to pick a method of finishing it without allowing Shion to leave. (Renya) That sounds like you dont wish to hear our opinion, doesnt it? (Emil) Croire-ane-sama not having been called here says everything, I believe ~no. (Frau) Just as Frau says, Renya didnt invite Croire to this consultation.The matter is about human nobles, he has told Croire, but in that case he should have originally left Emil out of the loop as well.For Renya theres a reason to deliberately invite Emil to this. After this Emil will (Renya) Looking at the item on top of the table taken out by Renya, Emil nods as if to state her agreement. Certainly doing it like that, the rest will be my field of expertise. (Emil) And, in order for Frau to stock up on that (Renya)(T/N Eligible to change as kept very obscure what they are talking about and the kanji can mean various things) Master, in that case you can leave it to Frau ~no. I have already stocked up a really amazing ((amount)) of that ~no. (Frau) Frau takes responsibility after hitting her chest with a single *pon*.Because of that confident behaviour, Renya ends up believing that she will definitely bring out something far more terrific than he requested, but since theres no particular problem with that, he judges to let her do as she likes. By the way, can you maintain Shions condition like that? (Renya) Leave that side to me as well ~no. I will do it so that Rona-ane-sama doesnt realize ~no. For how long? (Frau) It will be fine if its at least the number of days it takes to make a round-trip to the Holy City and two additional days after this. (Renya) That will probably be alright ~nano. (Frau) Although Renya didnt know how many days it would take afterwards, Frau affirmed it without even asking about the exact number. Emil, Id like you to conceal the prepared item though? It will become troublesome if its exposed. (Renya) I shall hide it perfectly now then. I will display my best ability so that they definitely dont realize its existence. (Emil) Picking up the item he placed on the table by Renya, Emil, who tosses it into the pocket of her coat, nodded her head to Renyas request. Well then, it looks like it will get fun. Will you go to the Holy City, Renya? (Emil) Well, yeah. I will secretly slip in somewhere. (Renya) Id like you to take me along by all means. Lets make that the reward for this times request. (Emil) Dont cause an uproar, okay? (Renya) Got it, master. Lets later invite members that look to be suitable? (Emil) Frau, please take care of making the necessary arrangements towards Rona. This time she has to cooperate. (Renya) Roger, master ~nano. (Frau) Once Frau answered, Emil and Frau saluted towards Renya almost at the same time.Due to the excessively matching timing, Renya tilts his head to the side wondering what they are doing. I will accomplish the order from master no matter how ~nano. (Frau) For the time being, since you have to take part in the operation, Renya-kun no, master, you should rest your body. (Emil) Before Renya says anything, Emil hods up Renyas body easily.It was the princess carry Renya performed on Shion last night. Come now, lets return to bed, Renya-kun, okay? (Emil) Wai-, oy, wait. I can walk myself! (Renya) No, no, something like making master walk himself we will properly sleep together this night as well if you are a good boy. (Emil) Renya tried to somehow get away from Emil who looks happy, but after struggling for a while, he stops moving due to complete exhaustion.As he moved vigorously in a state of having a fever, he apparently ended up fainting.Thanks to his overcompensating skills, Renya doesnt use up all his strength that often.There was almost no situation where he stopped moving up to this point. The efficacy of that poison might be a bit too strong ~no (Frau) Frau muttered in a whisper while seeing off the back of Emil who is carrying Renya gleefully.Its Fraus special poisonWitch Hunt of InsanityWitch Hunt of Madness.Dragged out from Renyas knowledge, its name originates from the five stages of torture carried out to draw out a confession at witch hunts in the different world.In the user manual there hasnt been written anything but the effects up to four pills, but as for the fifth pill that wasnt mentioned, that, which was until then a non-lethal drug, transforms into a poison definitely killing the person who takes it. I should prepare a weaker drug ~no. (Frau) Well, the matter is over, after lightly reflecting, Frau floated away lightly. Chapter 81 Chapter 81 C It seems to be preparations and work It was a work that causes a somewhat strange feeling for Renya, as it means that he would investigate the world he is currently at once more.I wonder why I have neglected to do that until now, Renya ponders and tries to excuse it withhavent I just neglected it until it became necessary since it would be unused knowledge otherwise?But in this world, which he considers investigating now, even the residents havent investigated things like geography with precision as if it was natural. He ends up realizing that.Since this was the result he obtained from the information he couldgather from normal citizens, he didnt actually know whether there is even more detailed information in the hands of those people who have a position like managing the government.First, theres no map like the ones Renya saw in his previous world.Even when he tries to investigate the route to move from city to city, there isnt anything circulating but information at the level of You will get there once you follow this main road, joking aside.As expected, this stumped even Renya.Just on paper, theres no way to investigate the route from Kukrika to the Holy City.As a last resort, Renya spurs on his feverish body, sallies forth to a bar in the city of Kukrika and sizes a suitable merchant-like appearing middle-aged man. While treating him to booze and food, he tried to endeavour in fishing for information.As aresult, he learned that it takes around one week with a carriage until the city called Gooshu, which is the capital city of Trident Principality, from the city of Kukrika.Passing the principalitys border from Gooshu, its a distance of close to three weeks via carriage to the Holy City which is the capital city of the Holy Kingdom.In that case, by a rough calculation in my head, its around 600 ~ 700 km from Kukrika to Gooshu.And Gooshu and the Holy City are more than 2000 km apart.After he heard that story, Renya was dejected by the pointless vastness of the continent where he currently resides, and once again gave instructions to Frau to end Shions maintenance of the status quo at a suitable point in time.Just by going and returning it will take 2 months according to my calculations.If Shion is left in a bedridden state for 2 months, the muscles in her whole body will definitely deteriorate.With only a few days of being completely bedridden, those called humans quickly wither away to a degree of being able to actually feel the weakening of their muscle strength.In order to recover those, it will be necessary to train the body several times the number of days spent resting.Tentatively Shion is a swordswoman.Despite being inexperienced even at the best of times, the day where Shion will become a decent swordswomanwill fade away into the far distance if she ends up losing her physical strength even more.That was something Renya couldnt bring himself to do as he was probably classified as a swordsman in this world, too.Even if told that its in exchange for Shions chastity.Besides, it would be a simple story if she is in a condition where she cant be moved, but likely Shions situation cant be influenced if things advance, especially in a condition where she can be moved, Renya thought.If I look at it from that side, I can also say that the vastness of the continents in this world is working towards a good direction for me.Even incase it goes in a bad direction, for example, I will push through with persistence for her sake, is Renyas intention. This time I will take care of watching the house. (Croire) Its Croire who quickly made the offer to house-sit at this phase.Being an elf, she goes out normally if its around the city of Kukrika, but she seems to be a bit reluctant to make an appearance at a city with a high population like the capital city of Trident Principality.Furthermore, the existences called elves have apparently many matters they bear in mind about the existence called Holy Kingdom. That place holds the biggest authority as a sacred place where they worship the human god, but I have heard that on top of that there are many people who despise other races due to the doctrine of human supremacy. If the elf me entered their capital, I will likely sow a seed of trouble to the degree of feeling discouraged even if Im caught, sold and thrown away before long. (Croire) Croire says while laying bare her unpleasant feelings on her face. Honestly said, I believe its fine if they perish after using this times hero disturbance as an excuse. (Croire) Croire you are talking in the elven language, right? (Renya) Shion-san is on the sickbed. And since Rona isnt here as shes nursing Shion, isnt that fine? (Croire) Now that she has said it, currently all of the members, who can move within Renyas home, are those who can speak elvish.Rather than that, the only one who cant speak it was Shion.For her to be minding Ronas existence is probably because she is sensitive towards slander against the Holy Kingdom as Rona is a priest, isnt it?It appeared after he considered it. For the human race its monotheism you know. (Renya) Although the name of their god is unknown. This is, well, not only limited to the humans, but also the same for the elves. (Croire) Really? (Renya) Yes, as its insolent to speak the name of God, it hasnt been handed down through the ages. This is also the same for the angels who are attending to God. (Croire) It was a piece of knowledge he was taught in an unexpected place. How about your side, Emil? (Renya) Its going well is hard to say, I guess. At any rate, I have to assemble that completely in a few days, right? Its already a lightning speed construction without me even sparing time to sleep. Its fine as it seems to be interesting though. (Emil) Emil was in the middle of producing the item requested by Renya.The only ones who know what they might be talking about are just Renya, Emil and Frau. Shion and Rona, of course, and even Croire havent been informed.The manufacturing location is mainly carried out in the basement to where one can go down from the workshop. The details of that work were decided to be a secret by Renya. However, if its only about making it, its simple, but as you have attached various restrictions, Renya-kun (Emil) No, well, thats its scrapping condition. (Renya) Well, thats true. Besides, even going by Renyas and the others feelings, it will be accompanied with feelings of guilt no matter whether you use it or are made to use it unless its an item that can be discarded at any time. (Emil) That is, well (Renya) Its alright, Renya-kun. Well, leave it to me. (Emil) In contrast to Emils work which is carried out in absolute secrecy behind the scenes, Fraus part was openly done at the workshop.However, besides Renya theres no one who comes and watches the details of her work.If you ask why, thats because that work not only gave an extremely bad feeling, but also stunk considerably. Master, Id like you bring me the jar over there ~no. (Frau) Her appearance of cooking gently while tossing various raw materials inside the large iron pot which was hanging from the ceiling above the hearth, that has been installed in the workshop, was just like a magician from tales. Renya, who was asked by Frau, who is stirring the contents of the iron pot in such state, picks up several jars which are on the top of a table. Which of them? (Renya) Its that bright red jar ~nano. (Frau) Whats inside the jars was classified by various colours.Once Renya grasps a jar, which has been coloured in redness to the degree of being sickening, from among them, he hands it over to Frau.The pitch black smoke, which rises from the iron pot, is something that causes a stimulus strong to the degree of causing one to be unable to stop tearing up and coughing if inhaled directly. It was the kind of smoke capable of causing various complaints by the neighbours to start flooding in if its released outside as is, but after Frau asked Renya, he gathers this irritating ample smoke together with wind sorcery and makes it scatter by making it rise up to the sky in one go. With that, the problem was cleared.There was nothing Frau herself couldnt deal with if its about simple wind sorcery, but she lacked the ability to eject this smoke up to a height where it wont harm other people.And so it has turned into a situation where its indispensable for Renya to always be next to Frau during her work progress. What the heck are the contents of that? (Renya) Poison glands of large scorpions ~no. (Frau) Opening the jars lid, Frau throws its contents straight away into the iron pot.What emerged from inside was a lump looking like pitch black dyed intestines. Thats poison, isnt it? (Renya) Yes, its poison ~nano. (Frau) I know I have placed the request, but will that be alright? (Renya) The iron pot, which contained something like a black liquid and clod-like objects, begins to give off an even denser smoke.Renya condenses it all together and scatters it after launching it to quite the altitude.During that work progress, a message appeared in Renyas field of vision. Hey, Frau. Lv.3 poison, what kind of poison is that? (Renya) Its a gentle poison ~nano. Its possible to counteract it with intermediate applied magic* ~no. (Frau)(T/N: Still struggling how to finally call it. Its of the same system as the Judgement thingy used to check whether ones lying but the author never gives a clear classification of the various magic systems used C houjutsu (g) ) Isnt that at a level where its already unmanageable by elementary applied magic if spilt?Renya wonders.At the same time the doubt, whether its okay to irresponsibly dump such a thing, wells up within him.However, for Renya its necessary to discharge that smoke somewhere even if he felt doubts about it.Also, the knowledge and skill to change it into something harmless arent in Renyas hands.Did she notice Renya having a complicated expression in front of the lump of smoke, which was locked up after gathering it with the wind? Frau said, without resting the hand which is stirring the iron pot, Even if you dont worry about it, it will become harmless after deteriorating for around one day once it gets in contact with the atmosphere ~no. (Frau) I see. (Renya) Even so, in order to not harm someone by mistake, he decided to launch it up to a height where it cant be properly seen anymore. Master, if you are surprised by that level of poison, you wont be able to use something like the poison Im currently making ~no. (Frau) Will it have such harsh efficiency? (Renya) Hmm (Frau) Placing her right hand on her chin and while grasping the stick, with which she is stirring the contents of the iron pot, she continues her work of turning it around so that the contents wont get burned or stuck. Before long Frau, who pondered a bit. mentions something frightening. If its about level, it will become Lv. 9. Its a level where detoxification will fail with high probability even if you use an exclusive antidote for it. If its applied magic, it will be inefficient in counteracting it even with high-level anti-poison applied magic. If its an antidote like those that can be bought in shops, detoxification is absolutely impossible ~no. And even with a high-level healing medicine like an unusually effective medicine or cure-all, it wont be possible to completely heal it at all. (Frau) Eh? (Renya) Renya felt like he heard something absurd, but the chattering Frau continues to explain indifferently as if its something trivial. The effect is mostly permanent ~nano. If the target was once affected, even healing featured by high-level applied magic will be impossible. By the way, the pharmacists, who can make this level of poison can be counted on one hand even if you talk about the vast continent ~no. (Frau) Why can you make that, Frau? (Renya) Renya tries to throw the question, which appears just naturally, at her.Due to that question, Fraus movement stopped for a moment.However, as it was really just for an instant, she resumes the mixing work right away. Now that you ask me that, I certainly dont know why I can make it ~no. (Frau) Wait a minute (Renya) Frau should be originally a fairy specialised in clothing and accessories ~nano. However, for some reason, I can make it ~no. (Frau) Why is that so, I wonder? Frau tilts her head to the side.Renya judged that he probably wont get an answer at this point even if he tried to pursue the matter any further due to that gesture, but in reality, Frau happened to know about that aspect.That was something related to the people who were fairly frequently sent into Renyas mansion.At the point in time they intruded into Renyas mansion, they turned into corpses at a rate of 100% as of now.Their remains have been used as an important source of nutrients for the things living in the garden, but their souls, or rather their spirits have become the feed of the things living in a part of the basement. The majority of what Frau ended up bringing in are circumstances unbeknown even to Renya.As if only natural, all of their possessed experiences and knowledge has come to Frau.Likely, someone among those people was an expert in poisons, Frau assesses.However, this isnt something I have to tell Renya, Frau judges, too. Rather than such stuff, master, did you finish laying the groundwork with Rona-ane-sama ~no? (Frau) Well, pretty much I asked her to cooperate with us after explaining that its concerning Shions chastity. (Renya) Thats straightforward ~no. (Frau) If its related to this times matter, Ronas cooperation was essential no matter what.To begin with, with just Renya, Emil and Frau, they wont be able to create an argument for the upper ranks of Trident Principality. They cant obtain the time and date of departing to the Holy City and the detailed information of the route either.Considering it from the side of Trident Principality, she is the first princess albeit having no succession rights.They cannot help being anxious that she will be attacked for that reason if its leaked to thieves in case things go wrong.Thus, that information was concealed to quite a degree. Because Shion collapsed all of a sudden, it has caused an uproar in the surroundings. (Rona) Rona, who was requested to cooperate, mentioned in a complaining manner once she was made to listen to the situation of a drug being administered to Shion by Renya.Even so, once she heard that Renyas action was for the sake of it not turning into a situation which Shion doesnt wish for, she agreed to cooperate without having any choice. All of it is for Shion, is why Im ignoring it. And, believing that it can be handled one way or the other if its you, Renya, let me give you my information as well. (Rona) Saying that Rona illegally tells Renya the details of the information she knows.Of course, thats a deed which bears the danger of being charged with a serious crime if exposed.Renya said that he has the intention to kidnap Shion as well as Rona and then to escape to the vicinity of the elven country if it ends up getting exposed. The departure was postponed due to her bad physical condition. However, it was decided that we will depart early in the morning three days later instead of today. (Rona) What if Shions physical condition still hasnt recovered? (Renya) The official stance is that its wrong to keep Hero-sama waiting any longer. Their real attention is that it probably doesnt matter whether her consciousness is ambiguous due to her bad physical condition as it will be fine as long as she can lie down on a bed. There apparently was support for such heresy (Rona) Rona, who came to report the new information, told them while grinding her teeth out of vexation, but that was the second day after Shion collapsed.Renya frowns due to such excessive motive.Certainly, as its their aim, it probably doesnt matter whether the person herself is conscious or not, but you cant argue that its not related to whether her physical condition is good or bad. However, arent they going beyond the level of sleaze-bags too much?Renya ends up wondering. There are fools among nobles With just the feeding of Shion to the hero being delayed, they start talking about stuff like the heros impression likely becoming worse even Her Majesty, the Archduchess, couldnt restrain those opinions. (Rona) Due to Rona having glazed eyes as her rage goes beyond making a full turn, Renya taps her shoulder and tells her just list the names of those idiots afterwards.Renya continued questioning Rona, who apparently restrained her anger somewhat thanks to his words, Even if they say that a one-way trip to the Holy City takes about one month, right? (Renya) Yes, but since its impossible to talk in such easygoing way, a magic ship will be used to go by flight. (Rona) Whats that? (Renya) Renya tries to ask Rona about the details of the word, he heard for the first time, but Rona shook her head hurriedly. I dont know the details about it either. Its a ship that travels on land and moves with sorcery. Thats all I know. (Rona) Renya didnt comprehend that explanation at all, but deciding to not bother about the details, he only thinksits probably a way to go to the Holy City while moving at high-speed. How much time does that ship require to get to the Holy City? (Renya) Two days, it seems. Since I never boarded it either, its difficult for me to ascertain whether its the truth or not. (Rona) If its the truth, thats a vehicle with quite the speed.Moreover, its probably something quite big, Renya guessed.No matter how much they say that their objective is to present Shion to the hero, they shouldnt do something like sending a princess to the Holy City by herself. As there naturally should be a proper scale of attendants attached to her, there wont be any meaning without a movement method that can deliver all of them at once. Its fine if theres a gap for me to smuggle in, but in the worst case I have no other choice but to use another route. (Renya) Its one troublesome matter after the other, Renya breathed out very deeply. Chapter 81 C It seems to be preparations and work It was a work that causes a somewhat strange feeling for Renya, as it means that he would investigate the world he is currently at once more.I wonder why I have neglected to do that until now, Renya ponders and tries to excuse it withhavent I just neglected it until it became necessary since it would be unused knowledge otherwise?But in this world, which he considers investigating now, even the residents havent investigated things like geography with precision as if it was natural. He ends up realizing that.Since this was the result he obtained from the information he couldgather from normal citizens, he didnt actually know whether there is even more detailed information in the hands of those people who have a position like managing the government.First, theres no map like the ones Renya saw in his previous world.Even when he tries to investigate the route to move from city to city, there isnt anything circulating but information at the level of You will get there once you follow this main road, joking aside.As expected, this stumped even Renya.Just on paper, theres no way to investigate the route from Kukrika to the Holy City.As a last resort, Renya spurs on his feverish body, sallies forth to a bar in the city of Kukrika and sizes a suitable merchant-like appearing middle-aged man. While treating him to booze and food, he tried to endeavour in fishing for information.As aresult, he learned that it takes around one week with a carriage until the city called Gooshu, which is the capital city of Trident Principality, from the city of Kukrika.Passing the principalitys border from Gooshu, its a distance of close to three weeks via carriage to the Holy City which is the capital city of the Holy Kingdom.In that case, by a rough calculation in my head, its around 600 ~ 700 km from Kukrika to Gooshu.And Gooshu and the Holy City are more than 2000 km apart.After he heard that story, Renya was dejected by the pointless vastness of the continent where he currently resides, and once again gave instructions to Frau to end Shions maintenance of the status quo at a suitable point in time.Just by going and returning it will take 2 months according to my calculations.If Shion is left in a bedridden state for 2 months, the muscles in her whole body will definitely deteriorate.With only a few days of being completely bedridden, those called humans quickly wither away to a degree of being able to actually feel the weakening of their muscle strength.In order to recover those, it will be necessary to train the body several times the number of days spent resting.Tentatively Shion is a swordswoman.Despite being inexperienced even at the best of times, the day where Shion will become a decent swordswomanwill fade away into the far distance if she ends up losing her physical strength even more.That was something Renya couldnt bring himself to do as he was probably classified as a swordsman in this world, too.Even if told that its in exchange for Shions chastity.Besides, it would be a simple story if she is in a condition where she cant be moved, but likely Shions situation cant be influenced if things advance, especially in a condition where she can be moved, Renya thought.If I look at it from that side, I can also say that the vastness of the continents in this world is working towards a good direction for me.Even incase it goes in a bad direction, for example, I will push through with persistence for her sake, is Renyas intention. This time I will take care of watching the house. (Croire) Its Croire who quickly made the offer to house-sit at this phase.Being an elf, she goes out normally if its around the city of Kukrika, but she seems to be a bit reluctant to make an appearance at a city with a high population like the capital city of Trident Principality.Furthermore, the existences called elves have apparently many matters they bear in mind about the existence called Holy Kingdom. That place holds the biggest authority as a sacred place where they worship the human god, but I have heard that on top of that there are many people who despise other races due to the doctrine of human supremacy. If the elf me entered their capital, I will likely sow a seed of trouble to the degree of feeling discouraged even if Im caught, sold and thrown away before long. (Croire) Croire says while laying bare her unpleasant feelings on her face. Honestly said, I believe its fine if they perish after using this times hero disturbance as an excuse. (Croire) Croire you are talking in the elven language, right? (Renya) Shion-san is on the sickbed. And since Rona isnt here as shes nursing Shion, isnt that fine? (Croire) Now that she has said it, currently all of the members, who can move within Renyas home, are those who can speak elvish.Rather than that, the only one who cant speak it was Shion.For her to be minding Ronas existence is probably because she is sensitive towards slander against the Holy Kingdom as Rona is a priest, isnt it?It appeared after he considered it. For the human race its monotheism you know. (Renya) Although the name of their god is unknown. This is, well, not only limited to the humans, but also the same for the elves. (Croire) Really? (Renya) Yes, as its insolent to speak the name of God, it hasnt been handed down through the ages. This is also the same for the angels who are attending to God. (Croire) It was a piece of knowledge he was taught in an unexpected place. How about your side, Emil? (Renya) Its going well is hard to say, I guess. At any rate, I have to assemble that completely in a few days, right? Its already a lightning speed construction without me even sparing time to sleep. Its fine as it seems to be interesting though. (Emil) Emil was in the middle of producing the item requested by Renya.The only ones who know what they might be talking about are just Renya, Emil and Frau. Shion and Rona, of course, and even Croire havent been informed.The manufacturing location is mainly carried out in the basement to where one can go down from the workshop. The details of that work were decided to be a secret by Renya. However, if its only about making it, its simple, but as you have attached various restrictions, Renya-kun (Emil) No, well, thats its scrapping condition. (Renya) Well, thats true. Besides, even going by Renyas and the others feelings, it will be accompanied with feelings of guilt no matter whether you use it or are made to use it unless its an item that can be discarded at any time. (Emil) That is, well (Renya) Its alright, Renya-kun. Well, leave it to me. (Emil) In contrast to Emils work which is carried out in absolute secrecy behind the scenes, Fraus part was openly done at the workshop.However, besides Renya theres no one who comes and watches the details of her work.If you ask why, thats because that work not only gave an extremely bad feeling, but also stunk considerably. Master, Id like you bring me the jar over there ~no. (Frau) Her appearance of cooking gently while tossing various raw materials inside the large iron pot which was hanging from the ceiling above the hearth, that has been installed in the workshop, was just like a magician from tales. Renya, who was asked by Frau, who is stirring the contents of the iron pot in such state, picks up several jars which are on the top of a table. Which of them? (Renya) Its that bright red jar ~nano. (Frau) Whats inside the jars was classified by various colours.Once Renya grasps a jar, which has been coloured in redness to the degree of being sickening, from among them, he hands it over to Frau.The pitch black smoke, which rises from the iron pot, is something that causes a stimulus strong to the degree of causing one to be unable to stop tearing up and coughing if inhaled directly. It was the kind of smoke capable of causing various complaints by the neighbours to start flooding in if its released outside as is, but after Frau asked Renya, he gathers this irritating ample smoke together with wind sorcery and makes it scatter by making it rise up to the sky in one go. With that, the problem was cleared.There was nothing Frau herself couldnt deal with if its about simple wind sorcery, but she lacked the ability to eject this smoke up to a height where it wont harm other people.And so it has turned into a situation where its indispensable for Renya to always be next to Frau during her work progress. What the heck are the contents of that? (Renya) Poison glands of large scorpions ~no. (Frau) Opening the jars lid, Frau throws its contents straight away into the iron pot.What emerged from inside was a lump looking like pitch black dyed intestines. Thats poison, isnt it? (Renya) Yes, its poison ~nano. (Frau) I know I have placed the request, but will that be alright? (Renya) The iron pot, which contained something like a black liquid and clod-like objects, begins to give off an even denser smoke.Renya condenses it all together and scatters it after launching it to quite the altitude.During that work progress, a message appeared in Renyas field of vision. Hey, Frau. Lv.3 poison, what kind of poison is that? (Renya) Its a gentle poison ~nano. Its possible to counteract it with intermediate applied magic* ~no. (Frau)(T/N: Still struggling how to finally call it. Its of the same system as the Judgement thingy used to check whether ones lying but the author never gives a clear classification of the various magic systems used C houjutsu (g) ) Isnt that at a level where its already unmanageable by elementary applied magic if spilt?Renya wonders.At the same time the doubt, whether its okay to irresponsibly dump such a thing, wells up within him.However, for Renya its necessary to discharge that smoke somewhere even if he felt doubts about it.Also, the knowledge and skill to change it into something harmless arent in Renyas hands.Did she notice Renya having a complicated expression in front of the lump of smoke, which was locked up after gathering it with the wind? Frau said, without resting the hand which is stirring the iron pot, Even if you dont worry about it, it will become harmless after deteriorating for around one day once it gets in contact with the atmosphere ~no. (Frau) I see. (Renya) Even so, in order to not harm someone by mistake, he decided to launch it up to a height where it cant be properly seen anymore. Master, if you are surprised by that level of poison, you wont be able to use something like the poison Im currently making ~no. (Frau) Will it have such harsh efficiency? (Renya) Hmm (Frau) Placing her right hand on her chin and while grasping the stick, with which she is stirring the contents of the iron pot, she continues her work of turning it around so that the contents wont get burned or stuck. Before long Frau, who pondered a bit. mentions something frightening. If its about level, it will become Lv. 9. Its a level where detoxification will fail with high probability even if you use an exclusive antidote for it. If its applied magic, it will be inefficient in counteracting it even with high-level anti-poison applied magic. If its an antidote like those that can be bought in shops, detoxification is absolutely impossible ~no. And even with a high-level healing medicine like an unusually effective medicine or cure-all, it wont be possible to completely heal it at all. (Frau) Eh? (Renya) Renya felt like he heard something absurd, but the chattering Frau continues to explain indifferently as if its something trivial. The effect is mostly permanent ~nano. If the target was once affected, even healing featured by high-level applied magic will be impossible. By the way, the pharmacists, who can make this level of poison can be counted on one hand even if you talk about the vast continent ~no. (Frau) Why can you make that, Frau? (Renya) Renya tries to throw the question, which appears just naturally, at her.Due to that question, Fraus movement stopped for a moment.However, as it was really just for an instant, she resumes the mixing work right away. Now that you ask me that, I certainly dont know why I can make it ~no. (Frau) Wait a minute (Renya) Frau should be originally a fairy specialised in clothing and accessories ~nano. However, for some reason, I can make it ~no. (Frau) Why is that so, I wonder? Frau tilts her head to the side.Renya judged that he probably wont get an answer at this point even if he tried to pursue the matter any further due to that gesture, but in reality, Frau happened to know about that aspect.That was something related to the people who were fairly frequently sent into Renyas mansion.At the point in time they intruded into Renyas mansion, they turned into corpses at a rate of 100% as of now.Their remains have been used as an important source of nutrients for the things living in the garden, but their souls, or rather their spirits have become the feed of the things living in a part of the basement. The majority of what Frau ended up bringing in are circumstances unbeknown even to Renya.As if only natural, all of their possessed experiences and knowledge has come to Frau.Likely, someone among those people was an expert in poisons, Frau assesses.However, this isnt something I have to tell Renya, Frau judges, too. Rather than such stuff, master, did you finish laying the groundwork with Rona-ane-sama ~no? (Frau) Well, pretty much I asked her to cooperate with us after explaining that its concerning Shions chastity. (Renya) Thats straightforward ~no. (Frau) If its related to this times matter, Ronas cooperation was essential no matter what.To begin with, with just Renya, Emil and Frau, they wont be able to create an argument for the upper ranks of Trident Principality. They cant obtain the time and date of departing to the Holy City and the detailed information of the route either.Considering it from the side of Trident Principality, she is the first princess albeit having no succession rights.They cannot help being anxious that she will be attacked for that reason if its leaked to thieves in case things go wrong.Thus, that information was concealed to quite a degree. Because Shion collapsed all of a sudden, it has caused an uproar in the surroundings. (Rona) Rona, who was requested to cooperate, mentioned in a complaining manner once she was made to listen to the situation of a drug being administered to Shion by Renya.Even so, once she heard that Renyas action was for the sake of it not turning into a situation which Shion doesnt wish for, she agreed to cooperate without having any choice. All of it is for Shion, is why Im ignoring it. And, believing that it can be handled one way or the other if its you, Renya, let me give you my information as well. (Rona) Saying that Rona illegally tells Renya the details of the information she knows.Of course, thats a deed which bears the danger of being charged with a serious crime if exposed.Renya said that he has the intention to kidnap Shion as well as Rona and then to escape to the vicinity of the elven country if it ends up getting exposed. The departure was postponed due to her bad physical condition. However, it was decided that we will depart early in the morning three days later instead of today. (Rona) What if Shions physical condition still hasnt recovered? (Renya) The official stance is that its wrong to keep Hero-sama waiting any longer. Their real attention is that it probably doesnt matter whether her consciousness is ambiguous due to her bad physical condition as it will be fine as long as she can lie down on a bed. There apparently was support for such heresy (Rona) Rona, who came to report the new information, told them while grinding her teeth out of vexation, but that was the second day after Shion collapsed.Renya frowns due to such excessive motive.Certainly, as its their aim, it probably doesnt matter whether the person herself is conscious or not, but you cant argue that its not related to whether her physical condition is good or bad. However, arent they going beyond the level of sleaze-bags too much?Renya ends up wondering. There are fools among nobles With just the feeding of Shion to the hero being delayed, they start talking about stuff like the heros impression likely becoming worse even Her Majesty, the Archduchess, couldnt restrain those opinions. (Rona) Due to Rona having glazed eyes as her rage goes beyond making a full turn, Renya taps her shoulder and tells her just list the names of those idiots afterwards.Renya continued questioning Rona, who apparently restrained her anger somewhat thanks to his words, Even if they say that a one-way trip to the Holy City takes about one month, right? (Renya) Yes, but since its impossible to talk in such easygoing way, a magic ship will be used to go by flight. (Rona) Whats that? (Renya) Renya tries to ask Rona about the details of the word, he heard for the first time, but Rona shook her head hurriedly. I dont know the details about it either. Its a ship that travels on land and moves with sorcery. Thats all I know. (Rona) Renya didnt comprehend that explanation at all, but deciding to not bother about the details, he only thinksits probably a way to go to the Holy City while moving at high-speed. How much time does that ship require to get to the Holy City? (Renya) Two days, it seems. Since I never boarded it either, its difficult for me to ascertain whether its the truth or not. (Rona) If its the truth, thats a vehicle with quite the speed.Moreover, its probably something quite big, Renya guessed.No matter how much they say that their objective is to present Shion to the hero, they shouldnt do something like sending a princess to the Holy City by herself. As there naturally should be a proper scale of attendants attached to her, there wont be any meaning without a movement method that can deliver all of them at once. Its fine if theres a gap for me to smuggle in, but in the worst case I have no other choice but to use another route. (Renya) Its one troublesome matter after the other, Renya breathed out very deeply. Chapter 82 Chapter 82 C It seems to be the time of departure That, which came to a halt in the outskirts of the city of Kukrika, was on time three days later after Rona told Renya the date and time of the departure.As its something that cant be seen often, the inhabitants of the city ignore their own jobs and gather to watch it. With the opening of street stalls aiming for the curious onlookers who assembled, its surroundings have suddenly been plunged into an excessively merry state.Renya, who doesnt like noisiness much, stood at a slightly separate place of that whirlpool of clamouring and gazed at its appearance from atop a buildings roof.If described in a brief comment, it was a boorish mass of metal.As for its shape, it appears to be similar to the snails of his previous world.Its size is roughly 100 meters in over-all length going by Renyas eye measurement.There are no wheels attached to it.Regarding the information related to this, Emil taught Renya the details excessively.Its fuel is magic gems.Consuming a mountain of those, its apparently advancing with its main body floating slightly above the ground in order to travel no matter how bad the road might be.Simultaneously its proceeding forward by gushing out wind with an intense force through the propeller that has been installed at the rear of its main body.Course changes are carried out by using small propellers which are set up all over its main body.Describing it as the different world version of a huge hovercraft can be said to be mostly accurate, is Renyas understanding.As an object, which takes tremendous expenses in regards to any kind of operation and maintenance, its generally very rarely made use of, according to the information from Rona.As for the circumstances that led to bringing out such ship, one is the nobles of Trident Principality regarding the existence called hero very highly.And the other is the recently abundant supply of magic gems on the market. Thus, its possible to fly with it due to the situation where its relatively easy to secure the necessary amount of magic gems for operating it.Renya, who heard that, was secretly troubled asking himselfisnt that because of me?By no means, even Renya could consider that the magic gems, which have flown into the market via Frau, would be used to cause a problem in such a place.Ahead of the view of Renya, who curses in his mind withDamn it!a stir occurred among the onlookers.A woman, that wrapped up her body with a light blue dress made an appearance on the path, which was created by soldiers splitting onlookers apart, while bringing her attending court ladies and soldiers along.The black hair, which is usually tied into a ponytail at the height of her head, flows down her back with a natural feeling. Her appearance, with her body clad in a dress of the princess line, was that of a young woman who wont be ashamed no matter where she presents herself.Unintentionally the saying fine feathers make fine birds pops into Renyas head.Right next to her she is accompanied by a blonde-haired woman who concealed her body with a priestess garb.Her proportions, that can easily be recognised even if seen from a far distance, are at the level of causing jeering voices even from among the onlookers.Of course, such voices ceased right away after the warning of a soldier, who is guarding the surroundings, and a single glare of the person herself.Renya, who saw their figures off until they vanished inside the magic ship after they came out from within the onlookers, looks at the ship, which began to gush out wind from its rear while raising a roaring sound, floating slightly before long and takes a small breath.He doesnt know how many tons that ship weights, but the wind force, which is spit out in order to obtain propulsive power, is tremendous.Fearing to be swallowed up by that, there were no onlookers behind the ship, but the aftermath of the dispersed cloud of dust completely assaults the onlookers and screams, as well as angry voices, reach Renyas ears. Up to here there are no problems, I guess. (Renya) Renya mutters to himself while watching the ship steadily picking up speed albeit slowly.Unable to advance along the highway due to its large build, the ship proceeds to a slightly separated place.Whats different from a hovercraft is the aspect that it can continue to advance at a constant speed once it finishes accelerating because its floating due to sorcery.Making the propellers at various places on the hull reversing their direction at the time of stopping, it apparently comes forcibly to a halt by having the hull touch down on the ground by suspending the floating once the speed has fallen to a certain extent.It can be called a truly rough vehicle, but Renya somehow ended up liking that roughness.I wonder if its something I can also build myself after downsizing it?He even ponders.It would be nice if I could get smuggled on that ship though, Renya regrets.Renya tried to scheme various plans whether he cant get on the ship with Ronas help, but the escorting soldiers, as well as the attending court ladies, have their person and personal IDs strictly checked and thus there was absolutely no gap to slip onto the ship secretly.Even if he tried changing places with someone, a person, who might accept such thing, will never be chosen as attending member from the very start due to their thorough style. Thus Renya has early given up on the plan of smuggling in.The method of pursuing them through a transfer gate didnt work as the Holy City wasnt registered as transfer gate destination.The people, who look after the Holy City, apparently hated moving via transfer. Since its the sacred capital, which worships God, its seen as blasphemy towards God to enter it by transferring in. It seems to be the embodiment of the intention come entering by walking properly.Its a truly troublesome group of people, Renyas evaluation towards the Holy City is in a state of falling before he even goes there.Flying on a dragon after asking Liaris, that was also a complicated story. A dragon is an existence that will cause a city to switch into high alert even if its figure was merely seen in a far distance.If he tried flying close to a large city like the Holy City on a dragon, its like telling them please shoot me down.Flying by sorcery was a bit unreasonable, too.If it was only Renya by himself, he had a hunch that he could manage one way or the other, but Emil forcefully insisted on being taken along. Im someone who has largely contributed this time, right? (Emil) Yeah, well (Renya) You wont tell me that you are leaving me behind or such, will you? (Emil) Being urged with a smile while having his collar grasped, Renya couldnt help but shake his head sideways.Reluctantly thinking of an alternate plan, Renya tells Emil about it.If she were to tell him that its impossible, Renya planned to say to her that she should give up on coming along then, but due to the knowledge of Renya, who conveyed it with a feeling that could be called vague, Emil got into it with a terrifying force.What Renya explained to Emil is the existence of a 2 and 4 cycling piston structure and something like an engine that used those.In addition, a suspension to reduce the vibrations and something like a transmission that made use of gears.Presenting that, which is slightly fragmentary in his knowledge, to Emil, Renya explained it with a feeling at the level of it being possible to build something called a car once those parts were combined. But, after repeating various trials and errors while taking one night to integrate those, Emil took out a large amount of materials from Renyas workshop and ended up adopting her ideas into a single work in one day.Carrying its construction out at the same time of the troublesome item creation, which was originally requested by Renya, Renya couldnt form any words due to his shock at the time he saw the completed work.The detailed mechanism was gibberish even for Renya who provided the inspiration, but the parts, which he could somehow understand from the words of Emil who explained proudly, are the framework, which has been made out of an alloy of mithril and steel and has been covered by wyvern leather, and the fuel being magic gems.As for the principle, using gears as an intermediary through a crank axis at the engine, which operates via compressed air that uses wind sorcery, it travels by conveying the movement to the tires which used twined wyvern wing membranes as a substitute for gum.As brazen four-wheel-drive and because it has furthermore a suspension equipped, it apparently possesses a performance that makes it possible to travel ignoring the roads state.Being able to carry out the speed adjustment by switching gears with a single operation lever from the drivers seat, its even capable of going backwards.That drivers seat is fully equipped with even a handbrake in addition to foot levers for breaking and accelerating.Boasting a theoretical upper limit of 300 horse-power with four people on board, it was the birth of a different world auto-mobile that might be called perfect.It has golem control via alchemy and a combination of implementation techniques, Emil says, but Renya wasnt able to understand at all what it will be able to do if it has such things.At this time Renya felt like he was made to realize the demons dreadfulness for the first time.That car was currently stopped next to the building which Renya has climbed.In the drivers seat Emil is sitting with her usual tube top bra, hot-pants and coat. The intake holes, which have been installed at the cars body, are thunderously sucking up air and the car is in a state where it can depart at any time. Renya, how long are you going to see them off? Shouldnt we depart soon? (Emil) Going by the tone of her voice, Emil apparently cant wait to depart any longer.Its probably inevitable that she promptly wants to try running this new car at full power. Im coming now. (Renya) Giving a short reply, Renya jumps off the roof, and once he lands without a sound due to using his knee as cushioning, he opens the cars door and climbs into the passengers seat.The chair uses a cloth which was weaved into a fabric by Frau earnestly working at it and has a nice feeling.After sinking his body deeply into it, coiling the belt, which was provided for the sake of safety, around his waist.Although Renya didnt even tell Emil about seat belts, this demons obsession reaches as far as the safety aspect. There are proper seat belts and air cushions for the sake of protecting the passengers, in case the car crashed into something, installed.A professional engineer is frightening, Renya believed from the bottom of his heart.Since she has said that this isnt her field of expertise, I dont want to know overly much how far Emils meticulousness can go in her field of expertise, Renya judges.Once she made sure that Renya got on, Emil turns a small lever at the drivers seat to the side.Because strong glass with high transparency to the degree of being usable for stuff like the windscreen still doesnt exist in this world, this is a switch to deploy a barrier as glass substitute which was brought in by Emil as last resort.Because of this, the entire body of the car is covered by a single barrier. It protects the car and its passengers from being hit by pebbles, dust clouds and wind pressure at the time of moving at high speed. It might be a bit cramped, but please put up with it. (Renya) Renya said so while looking back over his shoulder to the rear seat.A person, who wore a black, baggy robe covering them entirely and hid their face behind a white mask on the back seat of the four-seater, is sitting in a state of having properly fastened the belt on their side as well.Being called out by Renya, that person nodded deeply once.After confirming that, Renya returns his look to the front. Alright, please get going. (Renya) Okie, lets go. (Emil) Emil suddenly stepped onto the accelerator faster than Renya can restrain her with a Wait a moment due to the pitch in her voice.The car takes off swiftly with an acceleration that presses his body into the seat.Due to the appearance of an object, which they have never been seen before, travelling at a great speed while raising a low hum, screams are raised by the citys residents, but Emil gradually increases the speed while not minding such things. We have to recover the part of starting late, dont we! (Emil) Emil, who says that in an extremely happy voice, is in a state of completely stepping onto the accelerator.Naturally, as this is a car built by Emil, it doesnt have a device called limiter as its attached to the cars of his former world.In other words, it will speed up as long as she keeps stepping on the accelerator until the limit of its performance. We are still in the city! Restrain yourself a bit! (Renya) Due to the scenery of the city passing by as if flying, even Renya is flustered as expected, but Emil doesnt possess something like good hearing. Ahaha! Impossible! Theres no way for me to stop such fun! (Emil) Originally the vibrations will become terrifying if one drives with such a speed on top of a stone paving with an extreme unevenness, and the damage to the people, who are riding inside, will become substantial, but with the suspension, which was installed in the cars body, the vibrations are somehow absorbed and suppressed to a reasonable level.Nevertheless, as the vibrations couldnt be completely kept down, Renya and the others jolted up and down. Ah, geez! Have it your way! Just dont run someone over! (Renya) Leave it to me~! (Emil) Emil promises without due consideration to Renya who gives up on restraining Emil quickly. Chapter 82 C It seems to be the time of departure That, which came to a halt in the outskirts of the city of Kukrika, was on time three days later after Rona told Renya the date and time of the departure.As its something that cant be seen often, the inhabitants of the city ignore their own jobs and gather to watch it. With the opening of street stalls aiming for the curious onlookers who assembled, its surroundings have suddenly been plunged into an excessively merry state.Renya, who doesnt like noisiness much, stood at a slightly separate place of that whirlpool of clamouring and gazed at its appearance from atop a buildings roof.If described in a brief comment, it was a boorish mass of metal.As for its shape, it appears to be similar to the snails of his previous world.Its size is roughly 100 meters in over-all length going by Renyas eye measurement.There are no wheels attached to it.Regarding the information related to this, Emil taught Renya the details excessively.Its fuel is magic gems.Consuming a mountain of those, its apparently advancing with its main body floating slightly above the ground in order to travel no matter how bad the road might be.Simultaneously its proceeding forward by gushing out wind with an intense force through the propeller that has been installed at the rear of its main body.Course changes are carried out by using small propellers which are set up all over its main body.Describing it as the different world version of a huge hovercraft can be said to be mostly accurate, is Renyas understanding.As an object, which takes tremendous expenses in regards to any kind of operation and maintenance, its generally very rarely made use of, according to the information from Rona.As for the circumstances that led to bringing out such ship, one is the nobles of Trident Principality regarding the existence called hero very highly.And the other is the recently abundant supply of magic gems on the market. Thus, its possible to fly with it due to the situation where its relatively easy to secure the necessary amount of magic gems for operating it.Renya, who heard that, was secretly troubled asking himselfisnt that because of me?By no means, even Renya could consider that the magic gems, which have flown into the market via Frau, would be used to cause a problem in such a place.Ahead of the view of Renya, who curses in his mind withDamn it!a stir occurred among the onlookers.A woman, that wrapped up her body with a light blue dress made an appearance on the path, which was created by soldiers splitting onlookers apart, while bringing her attending court ladies and soldiers along.The black hair, which is usually tied into a ponytail at the height of her head, flows down her back with a natural feeling. Her appearance, with her body clad in a dress of the princess line, was that of a young woman who wont be ashamed no matter where she presents herself.Unintentionally the saying fine feathers make fine birds pops into Renyas head.Right next to her she is accompanied by a blonde-haired woman who concealed her body with a priestess garb.Her proportions, that can easily be recognised even if seen from a far distance, are at the level of causing jeering voices even from among the onlookers.Of course, such voices ceased right away after the warning of a soldier, who is guarding the surroundings, and a single glare of the person herself.Renya, who saw their figures off until they vanished inside the magic ship after they came out from within the onlookers, looks at the ship, which began to gush out wind from its rear while raising a roaring sound, floating slightly before long and takes a small breath.He doesnt know how many tons that ship weights, but the wind force, which is spit out in order to obtain propulsive power, is tremendous.Fearing to be swallowed up by that, there were no onlookers behind the ship, but the aftermath of the dispersed cloud of dust completely assaults the onlookers and screams, as well as angry voices, reach Renyas ears. Up to here there are no problems, I guess. (Renya) Renya mutters to himself while watching the ship steadily picking up speed albeit slowly.Unable to advance along the highway due to its large build, the ship proceeds to a slightly separated place.Whats different from a hovercraft is the aspect that it can continue to advance at a constant speed once it finishes accelerating because its floating due to sorcery.Making the propellers at various places on the hull reversing their direction at the time of stopping, it apparently comes forcibly to a halt by having the hull touch down on the ground by suspending the floating once the speed has fallen to a certain extent.It can be called a truly rough vehicle, but Renya somehow ended up liking that roughness.I wonder if its something I can also build myself after downsizing it?He even ponders.It would be nice if I could get smuggled on that ship though, Renya regrets.Renya tried to scheme various plans whether he cant get on the ship with Ronas help, but the escorting soldiers, as well as the attending court ladies, have their person and personal IDs strictly checked and thus there was absolutely no gap to slip onto the ship secretly.Even if he tried changing places with someone, a person, who might accept such thing, will never be chosen as attending member from the very start due to their thorough style. Thus Renya has early given up on the plan of smuggling in.The method of pursuing them through a transfer gate didnt work as the Holy City wasnt registered as transfer gate destination.The people, who look after the Holy City, apparently hated moving via transfer. Since its the sacred capital, which worships God, its seen as blasphemy towards God to enter it by transferring in. It seems to be the embodiment of the intention come entering by walking properly.Its a truly troublesome group of people, Renyas evaluation towards the Holy City is in a state of falling before he even goes there.Flying on a dragon after asking Liaris, that was also a complicated story.A dragon is an existence that will cause a city to switch into high alert even if its figure was merely seen in a far distance.If he tried flying close to a large city like the Holy City on a dragon, its like telling them please shoot me down.Flying by sorcery was a bit unreasonable, too.If it was only Renya by himself, he had a hunch that he could manage one way or the other, but Emil forcefully insisted on being taken along. Im someone who has largely contributed this time, right? (Emil) Yeah, well (Renya) You wont tell me that you are leaving me behind or such, will you? (Emil) Being urged with a smile while having his collar grasped, Renya couldnt help but shake his head sideways.Reluctantly thinking of an alternate plan, Renya tells Emil about it.If she were to tell him that its impossible, Renya planned to say to her that she should give up on coming along then, but due to the knowledge of Renya, who conveyed it with a feeling that could be called vague, Emil got into it with a terrifying force.What Renya explained to Emil is the existence of a 2 and 4 cycling piston structure and something like an engine that used those.In addition, a suspension to reduce the vibrations and something like a transmission that made use of gears.Presenting that, which is slightly fragmentary in his knowledge, to Emil, Renya explained it with a feeling at the level of it being possible to build something called a car once those parts were combined. But, after repeating various trials and errors while taking one night to integrate those, Emil took out a large amount of materials from Renyas workshop and ended up adopting her ideas into a single work in one day.Carrying its construction out at the same time of the troublesome item creation, which was originally requested by Renya, Renya couldnt form any words due to his shock at the time he saw the completed work.The detailed mechanism was gibberish even for Renya who provided the inspiration, but the parts, which he could somehow understand from the words of Emil who explained proudly, are the framework, which has been made out of an alloy of mithril and steel and has been covered by wyvern leather, and the fuel being magic gems.As for the principle, using gears as an intermediary through a crank axis at the engine, which operates via compressed air that uses wind sorcery, it travels by conveying the movement to the tires which used twined wyvern wing membranes as a substitute for gum.As brazen four-wheel-drive and because it has furthermore a suspension equipped, it apparently possesses a performance that makes it possible to travel ignoring the roads state.Being able to carry out the speed adjustment by switching gears with a single operation lever from the drivers seat, its even capable of going backwards.That drivers seat is fully equipped with even a handbrake in addition to foot levers for breaking and accelerating.Boasting a theoretical upper limit of 300 horse-power with four people on board, it was the birth of a different world auto-mobile that might be called perfect.It has golem control via alchemy and a combination of implementation techniques, Emil says, but Renya wasnt able to understand at all what it will be able to do if it has such things.At this time Renya felt like he was made to realize the demons dreadfulness for the first time.That car was currently stopped next to the building which Renya has climbed.In the drivers seat Emil is sitting with her usual tube top bra, hot-pants and coat. The intake holes, which have been installed at the cars body, are thunderously sucking up air and the car is in a state where it can depart at any time. Renya, how long are you going to see them off? Shouldnt we depart soon? (Emil) Going by the tone of her voice, Emil apparently cant wait to depart any longer.Its probably inevitable that she promptly wants to try running this new car at full power. Im coming now. (Renya) Giving a short reply, Renya jumps off the roof, and once he lands without a sound due to using his knee as cushioning, he opens the cars door and climbs into the passengers seat.The chair uses a cloth which was weaved into a fabric by Frau earnestly working at it and has a nice feeling.After sinking his body deeply into it, coiling the belt, which was provided for the sake of safety, around his waist.Although Renya didnt even tell Emil about seat belts, this demons obsession reaches as far as the safety aspect. There are proper seat belts and air cushions for the sake of protecting the passengers, in case the car crashed into something, installed.A professional engineer is frightening, Renya believed from the bottom of his heart.Since she has said that this isnt her field of expertise, I dont want to know overly much how far Emils meticulousness can go in her field of expertise, Renya judges.Once she made sure that Renya got on, Emil turns a small lever at the drivers seat to the side.Because strong glass with high transparency to the degree of being usable for stuff like the windscreen still doesnt exist in this world, this is a switch to deploy a barrier as glass substitute which was brought in by Emil as last resort.Because of this, the entire body of the car is covered by a single barrier. It protects the car and its passengers from being hit by pebbles, dust clouds and wind pressure at the time of moving at high speed. It might be a bit cramped, but please put up with it. (Renya) Renya said so while looking back over his shoulder to the rear seat.A person, who wore a black, baggy robe covering them entirely and hid their face behind a white mask on the back seat of the four-seater, is sitting in a state of having properly fastened the belt on their side as well.Being called out by Renya, that person nodded deeply once.After confirming that, Renya returns his look to the front. Alright, please get going. (Renya) Okie, lets go. (Emil) Emil suddenly stepped onto the accelerator faster than Renya can restrain her with a Wait a moment due to the pitch in her voice.The car takes off swiftly with an acceleration that presses his body into the seat.Due to the appearance of an object, which they have never been seen before, travelling at a great speed while raising a low hum, screams are raised by the citys residents, but Emil gradually increases the speed while not minding such things. We have to recover the part of starting late, dont we! (Emil) Emil, who says that in an extremely happy voice, is in a state of completely stepping onto the accelerator.Naturally, as this is a car built by Emil, it doesnt have a device called limiter as its attached to the cars of his former world.In other words, it will speed up as long as she keeps stepping on the accelerator until the limit of its performance. We are still in the city! Restrain yourself a bit! (Renya) Due to the scenery of the city passing by as if flying, even Renya is flustered as expected, but Emil doesnt possess something like good hearing. Ahaha! Impossible! Theres no way for me to stop such fun! (Emil) Originally the vibrations will become terrifying if one drives with such a speed on top of a stone paving with an extreme unevenness, and the damage to the people, who are riding inside, will become substantial, but with the suspension, which was installed in the cars body, the vibrations are somehow absorbed and suppressed to a reasonable level.Nevertheless, as the vibrations couldnt be completely kept down, Renya and the others jolted up and down. Ah, geez! Have it your way! Just dont run someone over! (Renya) Leave it to me~! (Emil) Emil promises without due consideration to Renya who gives up on restraining Emil quickly. Chapter 83 Chapter 83 C It seems to be the Hero and the Goddess Lets once again reincarnate you who regrettably died. Fortunately you possess the strength of a powerful soul. Its truly a strength befitting for being called a hero. Id like you to save the world while holding that strength. To me such power to me is Listen properly, I mutter in my mind.A fool that is staring at his own hands while trembling all over with a feeling like the power that was hidden in my hands er, rather its this times hero-kun. However the strength of his soul, how to say it, doesnt even posses a fraction of a mysterious power.Theres no particular reason for him having been chosen either.To begin with, as his intellect is a bit lacking with him dying young, he is one among the souls I tried to pick out from around 100 others by setting the selection criterion to fairly decent facial features.Among the possible selection criteria, this ones nice for transferring a person after telling them that they died.Theres often a god who tells them If you go to the world over there, your previous existence in your former world will be deleted. Thats really exhausting.Being able to frequently make such efforts, you have my admiration.At any rate, it would be bad if not all of their karma in their former world was erased.If even a bit is left behind, in the corner of the mind of someone from that world, a memory like Which reminds me, what happened to that fellow at that time, I wonder? would end up remaining.If that happens, it will be a disaster.Theres a proberb stating A single ant hole is also just a dike of 1000*. Because if one remembers, it will cause a chain reaction of everyone remembering little by little. It will likely turn into a situation that develops into a major incident.(T/N: Because of a small carelessness and negligence, something serious will happen)If its the soul of a person, who has already died, this also means that person doesnt exist in that world anymore. Therefore what happens afterwards is no problem either.Its because they will have to move fairly actively at the place they were reincarnated to.On top of that, they will have to do various things like making acquaintances, lovers and children in that world.If one considers those points, I have no idea about the merit of sending an old man to a different world.Expressly reincarnating such a soul in a different world; do you do that for having him bask in the sun?If there was a being doing something like that, wouldnt that being be a big idiot, I wonder?I have somewhat a feeling that something just now travelled down my spine, but I guess its my imagination?Putting that aside, currently hero-kun, who is trembling out of excitement in front of my eyes, is important.Hes slightly dim-witted, or to put it in other words, its fine to call him quite the idiot. But if he was too smart, he would see through my plan or give my side unpredictable conditions.Sometimes those called humans outwit even us who are beings that are called gods.Theres even a religion where its described that they ate the fruit of wisdom after being lured by a snake in ancient times, but as a single individual I fully want to agree with that.Regarding the matter of retaining the facial features at his last moments, I dont feel like theres even any necessity to explain.Not a chance, if hero-san had a face as if it was crushed after being run over and moreover looked like a toad No way! Who would be able to set up such person as brave?He likely wouldnt be approached by someone acting as heroine. The heck, he wouldnt be even able to make friends he can rely on either, I believe.Humans prattling bullshit such as the heart is more important than the outward appearance while looking like they were sent flying somewhere with their loose teeth are doing that just for their own convenience, but in the end ones face determines the first impression.Besides, since I myself have to add gifts and skills, the so-called cheats, to that person afterwards, I would be reluctant to do so if the other party had a face as if it was cut in three and had added parts of orcs, goblins and slimes to it. It would be unpleasant for me, right?However, I wouldnt have been able to gather many souls this time if I had limited it to beauty too much.Thats because beauty in itself is actually a fairly rare skill.Thus, reasonable beauty is just enough. Currently, the world, to which you are heading, is suffering in fear of the shadow of a wicked demon king. In order to dispel the distress of the people and to regain the light in the world once more, your power is needed. I see, this is a different world transfer so that means I will receive cheat skills from here on out, have a large mana pool, fight repeatedly with a holy sword, yield large quantities of profits by making money out of my different world knowledge and lead a rose-coloured life with many beautiful women swarming me. That a somehow amazing dream. Is he alright, this guy?No, well, I will give it to him though, cheat skills or such.I will raise his stamina and mana to the limit of humans. In that case, I will leave his vitality at approximately the same level though.Also, holy swords, if I remember correctly there should be many of those, which were used by previous heroes in the past, left behind over there.However, as the one fighting will be you yourself, there wont be any meaning if you cant master the technical skills.A three year old child wont be a match for an elementary schooler, who is riding a bicycle, even if it was placed into a F1 racer, but does this person understand that?Moreover, as for profiting largely with different world knowledge, judging from what Ive seen after lightly peeking at the contents of your head, I feel like theres no stock of knowledge that can be turned into money, however what is this person planning to sell to make money?Although I felt like hes somewhat no good, lets simply proceed as it would extremely bothersome to restart from the selection once more. Goddess-sama! Huh? Ah, yes? How may I help you? Hero-kun called out to me while I was brooding.For some reason he is looking this way with sparkling eyes. I wonder just what the hell happened. A hero is popular with women, right? Th That is, umm, I expect that you will receive gratitude from very many people. What is he is talking about all of a sudden, this hero-kun?Maybe that kind of desire is strong in him.If he properly does the things he has to do, I dont particularly care. How to build a harem or a garden of roses in our world isnt something that I know about though. Then, then! Haa? First as reward in advance, in this place with Goddess-sama, one ti Before he was able to finish his sentence, I flung a right straight with all my power at hero-kuns face.My prided blow, which has quite the cutting edge by using my hips properly, clearly seized Hero-kuns face and pulverized his head in one go.Since hes still in the state of being just a soul that hasnt incarnated, he will return to his original shape with the passage of time even if his head is scattered in all directions or his limbs are torn off.Even so, given that his actions and thinking are suspended, lets remodel him now so that he can be guided in his thinking to not come up with unnecessary things.Good grief, talk about investing time and effort. Ha!? Just what the heck You apparently lost yourself due to the heavy responsibility imposed on you. Thats something inevitable. I solemnly convey to Hero-kun who restarted after a while. Rather than that, as you will enter the world as hero, I think that you want to be granted blessings by me. Finally I will be given cheat skills! Hero-kun is delighted and his eyes sparkle due to my words.However, does he understand, I wonder?In the beginning I told you that you have the power of a strong soul.That its a suitable power to be called a hero.Then, why do I have to deliberatedly grant further blessings of a goddess to hero-kun who should be possessing such power?If one thinks about it for a bit, they will realize that its strange, though the majority doesnt notice it.Maybe he conveniently understands it as something thats necessary for him to display that power.In reality, I have to grant at least a few blessings to him, as he is an existence that will quickly end up dying otherwise. First as power for the sake of fighting. Then, the highest levels of the and skills for all attributes. And which is necessary to lead a life in the different world. And then, lets raise your stamina and mana to the limit.(T/N: g C houjutsu C Kind of tricky to find a good word for it. Its not the usual meaning of magic as used in the West but more the chinese understanding along the line of taoistic thoughts e.g. alchemistic pills etc.) Goddess-sama! I would be happy if I could make slaves though. I, who firmly endured wanting to say This low-life, was successful at facing him with a somewhat forced smile.Even though I have been telling him that I want him to save the world, he wants to make slaves. Just whats inside that head of his?I also have the feeling that its pointless even if I mention it. In the first place, the slogan of saving that world itself is a lie though. Got it, lets grant you the skill of as well. It will be troublesome if he can bend their will even if they decline.As expected, the skill being used limitlessly without any restriction will be problematic, thus I will secretly add the condition that it will only show its effect if the other party consents. As for weapons, since there are items called holy swords in this world, it will be alright if you use those. These cant be used by anyone but those possessing which is your inherent skill. Thats the truth.On each of these events, which happened several times until now, I allowed the heroes to keep weapons, named holy swords, that possess broken skills, but since the weapon itself was always left behind once the hero died, weapons that are called holy swords are actually quite common over there.However, since they are nothing more but sturdy and heavy weapons for someone who doesnt possess the hero skill, they had no practical use for ordinary people.In my eyes they are items which dont leave the region of oversized garbage, but royalty and the priests over there seem to be extremely happily collecting those. What about armour? Now that he mentions it, I wonder why theres no holy shield or holy armour even though there are holy swords.I try to remember, but I cant think of any reason.Probably the reasoning is at the level of attack is the best defence or its bothersome to create them, I think. Lets see its fine for you to use things that already exist, but let me give you as well. You will have to gather the raw materials by yourself though. Since I hate it that the things I create take time and effort, lets have him make it by himself.Its a lovely skill allowing one to make an armour with a single creation without doing something bothersome such as blacksmithing.Contrary to my expectations that he will be pleased with it, this hero dissed it in an outrageous manner. Eeh? Its usability is bad. I swallowed down the words I will beat you to death due to hero-kun looking like he wanted to say that its really troublesome.Id like someone to praise me for somehow bearing it with the area around my cheeks having a cramp for an instant.It looks like both of us think that its troublesome. Well, since you will have to defeat monsters and such for raising your level, it will be fine as I feel that you will gather the raw materials on the way. What else can I get you? Id like to think that its no crime for me to have really considered for a moment whether to turn down this guy and send in someone else.Rather, I hoped that he will die to a critcal hit from a goblin or slime around the first town, but since it will then result in me losing the game with that creepy demon supervisor, I will have him duke it out with the demon king. I will limit myself to just putting a curse on him.Ah, thats no good. I ended up attaching the on him.This is something that lets one fail things that anyone else does successfully, so to speak, its something that causes an enforced fumbling, but since its impossible to take it back now, lets have him deal with it as is.It might become great joke material after all. Oh hero, greed is no virtue. Rather than that, for the sake of saving the troubled people quickly Eeh! Since you are telling me to save the world, its only fair to give me at least this much of a service, right? You have to go. Losing your ego inside the circle of reincarnation will just turn you into a different kind of living being, is what I want to tell him, but I will endure here with a goddess-like smile. Then, oh Hero, what kind of skills do you desire? I shall grant you only two. However, please acknowledge that its impossible to grant you a request, that will disturb the worlds balance too much, for someone who maintains that world. Just two? Im sorry, but this body is one that preserves the world and thus I cannot afford to spare too much energy on it. Guess it cant be helped then, I will endure with it being only two. You have quite the guts to confront a goddess with an arrogant attitude.Lets pray that the demon king will make this guy suffer nicely. First Id like to have an enhancement of that specific area of night activity after all. Got it. Aside from the requests repulsiveness, this is nothing too difficult to realize.I pondered whether I should attach a horses thing to him as harrassment, but lets pass on that since it will only cause trouble to the residents over there.I have a feeling that it will be really hillarious to see the troubled looks of the ojou-samas, who grew up as sheltered princesses, after being told to do it with that one way or another, but as one would expect, that would be too pitiful.Well, its fine as they will suffer quite a bit from making children at a mad pace either way.I dont have any intention to hold a sense of responsibility though. Then, please give me some amazing ability that belongs to just me. There should be some illness for such a behaviour, but I forgot what it was called.Because its something trivial, I wondered whether I should have him emit noxious gas or such, but if I allow him to have something too powerful, the demon kings side and the other races heroes will bring out powerful skills in order to compete and that will result in inflated combat abilites. As that will only lengthen the interval until the next event, I have to pass him a skill with a bit of consideration.Or rather, that whatever-works viewpoint, I wonder, just what kind of ability does he want? Then, hero-sama. According to your wish, I shall grant you the skill . As its a skill that will raise the abilities of those, who were recognised to be under your command, by several times, it will be extremely useful at the time of battle. Of course, if you were to join a party, hero-sama, it will be possible to use it on the members of that party. Since its quite the powerful ability, it has the limit of being usable 3 times per day attached to it. Goddess-sama, how stingy. I raised my head with the gloomy emotion of dont think that I will forever be your smiling goddess, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that I just have to endure until I transfer this guy.If that wasnt the case, my emotions would be reflected on my face. Hero-sama, the time for you to set off will come any time now. The people of the world over there are continuing the ceremony of wishing for the descent of a hero-sama. The ceremony, which should have originally finished a lot faster, took an awfully long time this time.The obstruction from somewhere is likely masters deed.Since that lady has said that we own the regulatory authority of the world over here, Id like her to stop meddling in strange ways soon. I see, then I have to go, I guess. Yes, hero-sama. Please, save the Its alright, leave it to me. Having been given this many cheats, Im peerless and invincible. I dont think thats the case though, is what I thought but I didnt voice it out.With the descent of the humans hero in that world as key, the heroes of the other races will probably appear, too.If this hero moves about as he likes with his character as it is, he will likely get into conflict with the heroes of the other races. The subjugation target, the demon king, should possess abilities to the degree that a single hero wont stand a chance against him.However, theres no necessity to pass the information about that to the hero. Well then, hero-sama ah, that reminds me, I think I still didnt learn your name yet. Me? Im Yatsufusa. Yatsufusa Yuuki. I see, then, Yuuki-sama, good fortunes of war. With a timing making it unknown whether he finished hearing my words or not, hero Yuukis figure vanished as if it was erased.After making sure that he was gone, I sighed very deeply.Somehow hes a hero that makes me feel like he wont last very long.If he doesnt last, so shall it be. I dont really care either way.As long as the human countries have spare energy remaining to summon a hero, it wont turn into a game over.It might be a good idea to make some kind of oracle and call the next hero before the current hero retires. I wont lose this time!! Likely the supervisors of the other races are now hurriedly searching for hero candidates from among the races they are in charge of.This event, generally it ends with no winner as the overall exhaustion becomes too much. Afterwards we will be given a rank by assigning evaluation points, but this time I have to win no matter what.I reaffirmed my determination by firmly clenching my fists in the space where only I existed. Chapter 83 C It seems to be the Hero and the Goddess Lets once again reincarnate you who regrettably died. Fortunately you possess the strength of a powerful soul. Its truly a strength befitting for being called a hero. Id like you to save the world while holding that strength. To me such power to me is Listen properly, I mutter in my mind.A fool that is staring at his own hands while trembling all over with a feeling like the power that was hidden in my hands er, rather its this times hero-kun. However the strength of his soul, how to say it, doesnt even posses a fraction of a mysterious power.Theres no particular reason for him having been chosen either.To begin with, as his intellect is a bit lacking with him dying young, he is one among the souls I tried to pick out from around 100 others by setting the selection criterion to fairly decent facial features.Among the possible selection criteria, this ones nice for transferring a person after telling them that they died.Theres often a god who tells them If you go to the world over there, your previous existence in your former world will be deleted. Thats really exhausting.Being able to frequently make such efforts, you have my admiration.At any rate, it would be bad if not all of their karma in their former world was erased.If even a bit is left behind, in the corner of the mind of someone from that world, a memory like Which reminds me, what happened to that fellow at that time, I wonder? would end up remaining.If that happens, it will be a disaster.Theres a proberb stating A single ant hole is also just a dike of 1000*. Because if one remembers, it will cause a chain reaction of everyone remembering little by little. It will likely turn into a situation that develops into a major incident.(T/N: Because of a small carelessness and negligence, something serious will happen)If its the soul of a person, who has already died, this also means that person doesnt exist in that world anymore. Therefore what happens afterwards is no problem either.Its because they will have to move fairly actively at the place they were reincarnated to.On top of that, they will have to do various things like making acquaintances, lovers and children in that world.If one considers those points, I have no idea about the merit of sending an old man to a different world.Expressly reincarnating such a soul in a different world; do you do that for having him bask in the sun?If there was a being doing something like that, wouldnt that being be a big idiot, I wonder?I have somewhat a feeling that something just now travelled down my spine, but I guess its my imagination?Putting that aside, currently hero-kun, who is trembling out of excitement in front of my eyes, is important.Hes slightly dim-witted, or to put it in other words, its fine to call him quite the idiot. But if he was too smart, he would see through my plan or give my side unpredictable conditions.Sometimes those called humans outwit even us who are beings that are called gods.Theres even a religion where its described that they ate the fruit of wisdom after being lured by a snake in ancient times, but as a single individual I fully want to agree with that.Regarding the matter of retaining the facial features at his last moments, I dont feel like theres even any necessity to explain.Not a chance, if hero-san had a face as if it was crushed after being run over and moreover looked like a toad No way! Who would be able to set up such person as brave?He likely wouldnt be approached by someone acting as heroine. The heck, he wouldnt be even able to make friends he can rely on either, I believe.Humans prattling bullshit such as the heart is more important than the outward appearance while looking like they were sent flying somewhere with their loose teeth are doing that just for their own convenience, but in the end ones face determines the first impression.Besides, since I myself have to add gifts and skills, the so-called cheats, to that person afterwards, I would be reluctant to do so if the other party had a face as if it was cut in three and had added parts of orcs, goblins and slimes to it. It would be unpleasant for me, right?However, I wouldnt have been able to gather many souls this time if I had limited it to beauty too much.Thats because beauty in itself is actually a fairly rare skill.Thus, reasonable beauty is just enough. Currently, the world, to which you are heading, is suffering in fear of the shadow of a wicked demon king. In order to dispel the distress of the people and to regain the light in the world once more, your power is needed. I see, this is a different world transfer so that means I will receive cheat skills from here on out, have a large mana pool, fight repeatedly with a holy sword, yield large quantities of profits by making money out of my different world knowledge and lead a rose-coloured life with many beautiful women swarming me. That a somehow amazing dream. Is he alright, this guy?No, well, I will give it to him though, cheat skills or such.I will raise his stamina and mana to the limit of humans. In that case, I will leave his vitality at approximately the same level though.Also, holy swords, if I remember correctly there should be many of those, which were used by previous heroes in the past, left behind over there.However, as the one fighting will be you yourself, there wont be any meaning if you cant master the technical skills.A three year old child wont be a match for an elementary schooler, who is riding a bicycle, even if it was placed into a F1 racer, but does this person understand that?Moreover, as for profiting largely with different world knowledge, judging from what Ive seen after lightly peeking at the contents of your head, I feel like theres no stock of knowledge that can be turned into money, however what is this person planning to sell to make money?Although I felt like hes somewhat no good, lets simply proceed as it would extremely bothersome to restart from the selection once more. Goddess-sama! Huh? Ah, yes? How may I help you? Hero-kun called out to me while I was brooding.For some reason he is looking this way with sparkling eyes. I wonder just what the hell happened. A hero is popular with women, right? Th That is, umm, I expect that you will receive gratitude from very many people. What is he is talking about all of a sudden, this hero-kun?Maybe that kind of desire is strong in him.If he properly does the things he has to do, I dont particularly care. How to build a harem or a garden of roses in our world isnt something that I know about though. Then, then! Haa? First as reward in advance, in this place with Goddess-sama, one ti Before he was able to finish his sentence, I flung a right straight with all my power at hero-kuns face.My prided blow, which has quite the cutting edge by using my hips properly, clearly seized Hero-kuns face and pulverized his head in one go.Since hes still in the state of being just a soul that hasnt incarnated, he will return to his original shape with the passage of time even if his head is scattered in all directions or his limbs are torn off.Even so, given that his actions and thinking are suspended, lets remodel him now so that he can be guided in his thinking to not come up with unnecessary things.Good grief, talk about investing time and effort. Ha!? Just what the heck You apparently lost yourself due to the heavy responsibility imposed on you. Thats something inevitable. I solemnly convey to Hero-kun who restarted after a while. Rather than that, as you will enter the world as hero, I think that you want to be granted blessings by me. Finally I will be given cheat skills! Hero-kun is delighted and his eyes sparkle due to my words.However, does he understand, I wonder?In the beginning I told you that you have the power of a strong soul.That its a suitable power to be called a hero.Then, why do I have to deliberatedly grant further blessings of a goddess to hero-kun who should be possessing such power?If one thinks about it for a bit, they will realize that its strange, though the majority doesnt notice it.Maybe he conveniently understands it as something thats necessary for him to display that power.In reality, I have to grant at least a few blessings to him, as he is an existence that will quickly end up dying otherwise. First as power for the sake of fighting. Then, the highest levels of the and skills for all attributes. And which is necessary to lead a life in the different world. And then, lets raise your stamina and mana to the limit.(T/N: g C houjutsu C Kind of tricky to find a good word for it. Its not the usual meaning of magic as used in the West but more the chinese understanding along the line of taoistic thoughts e.g. alchemistic pills etc.) Goddess-sama! I would be happy if I could make slaves though. I, who firmly endured wanting to say This low-life, was successful at facing him with a somewhat forced smile.Even though I have been telling him that I want him to save the world, he wants to make slaves. Just whats inside that head of his?I also have the feeling that its pointless even if I mention it. In the first place, the slogan of saving that world itself is a lie though. Got it, lets grant you the skill of as well. It will be troublesome if he can bend their will even if they decline.As expected, the skill being used limitlessly without any restriction will be problematic, thus I will secretly add the condition that it will only show its effect if the other party consents. As for weapons, since there are items called holy swords in this world, it will be alright if you use those. These cant be used by anyone but those possessing which is your inherent skill. Thats the truth.On each of these events, which happened several times until now, I allowed the heroes to keep weapons, named holy swords, that possess broken skills, but since the weapon itself was always left behind once the hero died, weapons that are called holy swords are actually quite common over there.However, since they are nothing more but sturdy and heavy weapons for someone who doesnt possess the hero skill, they had no practical use for ordinary people.In my eyes they are items which dont leave the region of oversized garbage, but royalty and the priests over there seem to be extremely happily collecting those. What about armour? Now that he mentions it, I wonder why theres no holy shield or holy armour even though there are holy swords.I try to remember, but I cant think of any reason.Probably the reasoning is at the level of attack is the best defence or its bothersome to create them, I think. Lets see its fine for you to use things that already exist, but let me give you as well. You will have to gather the raw materials by yourself though. Since I hate it that the things I create take time and effort, lets have him make it by himself.Its a lovely skill allowing one to make an armour with a single creation without doing something bothersome such as blacksmithing.Contrary to my expectations that he will be pleased with it, this hero dissed it in an outrageous manner. Eeh? Its usability is bad. I swallowed down the words I will beat you to death due to hero-kun looking like he wanted to say that its really troublesome.Id like someone to praise me for somehow bearing it with the area around my cheeks having a cramp for an instant.It looks like both of us think that its troublesome. Well, since you will have to defeat monsters and such for raising your level, it will be fine as I feel that you will gather the raw materials on the way. What else can I get you? Id like to think that its no crime for me to have really considered for a moment whether to turn down this guy and send in someone else.Rather, I hoped that he will die to a critcal hit from a goblin or slime around the first town, but since it will then result in me losing the game with that creepy demon supervisor, I will have him duke it out with the demon king. I will limit myself to just putting a curse on him.Ah, thats no good. I ended up attaching the on him.This is something that lets one fail things that anyone else does successfully, so to speak, its something that causes an enforced fumbling, but since its impossible to take it back now, lets have him deal with it as is.It might become great joke material after all. Oh hero, greed is no virtue. Rather than that, for the sake of saving the troubled people quickly Eeh! Since you are telling me to save the world, its only fair to give me at least this much of a service, right? You have to go. Losing your ego inside the circle of reincarnation will just turn you into a different kind of living being, is what I want to tell him, but I will endure here with a goddess-like smile. Then, oh Hero, what kind of skills do you desire? I shall grant you only two. However, please acknowledge that its impossible to grant you a request, that will disturb the worlds balance too much, for someone who maintains that world. Just two? Im sorry, but this body is one that preserves the world and thus I cannot afford to spare too much energy on it. Guess it cant be helped then, I will endure with it being only two. You have quite the guts to confront a goddess with an arrogant attitude.Lets pray that the demon king will make this guy suffer nicely. First Id like to have an enhancement of that specific area of night activity after all. Got it. Aside from the requests repulsiveness, this is nothing too difficult to realize.I pondered whether I should attach a horses thing to him as harrassment, but lets pass on that since it will only cause trouble to the residents over there.I have a feeling that it will be really hillarious to see the troubled looks of the ojou-samas, who grew up as sheltered princesses, after being told to do it with that one way or another, but as one would expect, that would be too pitiful.Well, its fine as they will suffer quite a bit from making children at a mad pace either way.I dont have any intention to hold a sense of responsibility though. Then, please give me some amazing ability that belongs to just me. There should be some illness for such a behaviour, but I forgot what it was called.Because its something trivial, I wondered whether I should have him emit noxious gas or such, but if I allow him to have something too powerful, the demon kings side and the other races heroes will bring out powerful skills in order to compete and that will result in inflated combat abilites. As that will only lengthen the interval until the next event, I have to pass him a skill with a bit of consideration.Or rather, that whatever-works viewpoint, I wonder, just what kind of ability does he want? Then, hero-sama. According to your wish, I shall grant you the skill . As its a skill that will raise the abilities of those, who were recognised to be under your command, by several times, it will be extremely useful at the time of battle. Of course, if you were to join a party, hero-sama, it will be possible to use it on the members of that party. Since its quite the powerful ability, it has the limit of being usable 3 times per day attached to it. Goddess-sama, how stingy. I raised my head with the gloomy emotion of dont think that I will forever be your smiling goddess, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that I just have to endure until I transfer this guy.If that wasnt the case, my emotions would be reflected on my face. Hero-sama, the time for you to set off will come any time now. The people of the world over there are continuing the ceremony of wishing for the descent of a hero-sama. The ceremony, which should have originally finished a lot faster, took an awfully long time this time.The obstruction from somewhere is likely masters deed.Since that lady has said that we own the regulatory authority of the world over here, Id like her to stop meddling in strange ways soon. I see, then I have to go, I guess. Yes, hero-sama. Please, save the Its alright, leave it to me. Having been given this many cheats, Im peerless and invincible. I dont think thats the case though, is what I thought but I didnt voice it out.With the descent of the humans hero in that world as key, the heroes of the other races will probably appear, too.If this hero moves about as he likes with his character as it is, he will likely get into conflict with the heroes of the other races. The subjugation target, the demon king, should possess abilities to the degree that a single hero wont stand a chance against him.However, theres no necessity to pass the information about that to the hero. Well then, hero-sama ah, that reminds me, I think I still didnt learn your name yet. Me? Im Yatsufusa. Yatsufusa Yuuki. I see, then, Yuuki-sama, good fortunes of war. With a timing making it unknown whether he finished hearing my words or not, hero Yuukis figure vanished as if it was erased.After making sure that he was gone, I sighed very deeply.Somehow hes a hero that makes me feel like he wont last very long.If he doesnt last, so shall it be. I dont really care either way.As long as the human countries have spare energy remaining to summon a hero, it wont turn into a game over.It might be a good idea to make some kind of oracle and call the next hero before the current hero retires. I wont lose this time!! Likely the supervisors of the other races are now hurriedly searching for hero candidates from among the races they are in charge of.This event, generally it ends with no winner as the overall exhaustion becomes too much. Afterwards we will be given a rank by assigning evaluation points, but this time I have to win no matter what.I reaffirmed my determination by firmly clenching my fists in the space where only I existed. Chapter 84 Chapter 84 C It seems to be the infiltration into the Holy City Starting from the conclusion, Renyas party took a mere 12 hours to arrive after their departure.With almost no breaks along the way, they flat out forced their travel after the sun went down with magic lights.En route, they easily overtook the magic ship that went ahead.The magic ship, which proceeded by floating a bit above the ground, can adjust the direction its travelling by slightly using its propellers after accelerating once. Thus its advance is actually quite calm, but that wont work for the car containing Renyas group.The mysterious object roared loudly with a speed which overwhelmingly exceeds that of the magic ship, blowing up a cloud of dust with its wheels; as a result the soldiers apparently strengthened their alertness on the magic ships side, and it turned into a situation where they aimed the ships armaments installed on the ships exterior at Renya and the others. However, ignoring those completely, Emil made the wheels drift and spin in the direction of the ships movement as much as she liked, and in the end, passed the magic ship by going full throttle on the accelerator.Thus, after Emil indulged to her hearts content in the provoking action of hurling the risen-up cloud of dust at the magic ship, the soldiers on the magic ships side had no other choice but to dumbfoundedly see the mysterious object off, leaving the magic ship in a lurch with a laughter echoing back to them.Of course Emil ended up getting plentifully scolded by Renya while having her head grabbed in a vise-like iron claw afterwards.Incidentally, their travel created a situation of several reports reaching the guild about a monster as yet unknown that roars loudly while shining brightly, but the people in question had no way of knowing about that.As for the check at the national border; they avoided that by making a large detour.Of course, thats obviously a criminal act, but they had no other choice, since Renya thought that it would be bad if they left behind any kind of records that they passed the border.The alibi for the time they are absent from the city of Kukrika has been entrusted to Frau.Unlike the magic ship that cant travel on anything but level ground due to its large size, Renyas groups car was capable of driving even on fairly bad roads with many bumps as long as the wheels could touch the ground.However, the worse the road got, the more the frames shaking intensified. Renya was barely able to endure it, but the masked person sitting in the rear seat was tormented by a terrible car sickness. It resulted in a state of them gasping for air when they finally arrived in the holy city.As expected, its impossible to enter the holy city while driving the car, Renya thought. They got off the car quite a distance away from the holy city and approached on foot.Renya stored the car in his [Inventory].Renya was worried whether it would fit since it was fairly big, but him being able to easily store it by using 2 inventory slots, made him surprised all the more.Once he observes the entrance from the shade of a rock that was slightly away from the entrance gate, he sees that the holy city is the type of place surrounded by high walls all over, and it seems necessary to receive a check-up by the soldiers at the gate in order to enter inside.Usually it would be an inspection which would finish with him showing his guild card and paying a certain amount of money, but Renya has absolutely no intention to pass through that examination.After he hides his face by wrapping it up with a cloth so that only his eyes are peeking out, he carries the masked person on his back.Making sure that Emil had her face hidden in a similar manner, Renya dashed out of the hiding place they used to observe the situation at the gate.The soldiers raise their voices among each other due to the suspicious human shadow approaching all of a sudden, but Renya ignores them completely.After he ran up close to the wall, he bent his knees once, filled them with strength, and jumped up. Ha? While someones awfully idiotic voice resounded, Renyas body lightly flew up to the top of the wall, landed there for a moment, and immediately jumped off from there.Going by Renyas estimation, the wall is around 7~8 meters tall.Its definitely not a height a human can reach by jumping, much less with a person on their back.Even so, after coming to this different world and being well aware that his common sense is way off in various ways, Renya had a feeling that its somehow possible for him. Since he boosted his momentum with wind magic as support, he didnt have any doubt that he would be able to jump up.That is, however, definitely not the same for the soldiers guarding the gate.Unable to understand the event taking place in front of their eyes, moreover, not willing to accept it as reality, they easily fell into a state of being unable to think.Their thinking restarted a while after Renya jumped off the wall and vanished into the city.All of those who ended up seeing that looked at each other, and asked with just their eyes whether what happened in front of them was reality or a daydream. One of them let his feelings show by mumbling, Im sure I just saw a bad dream, didnt I? Taking that line as a trigger for some reason, the soldiers return to their posts again as if nothing happened.At the same time, voices were raised by the travellers who happened to be present, but the soldiers completely ignored these and tried not to pay attention to them.Its a safe bet the root of their behaviour was founded in their fear, not wanting to get involved with a monster that can overtake a wall with such a height.It is a digression, but Emil easily jumped over the wall using her own abilities, without landing once like Renya or using magic as support.One can say being burdened with the weight of only one person is the difference, but its also a fact that proves the high physical ability of demons.Having jumped over the wall, Renya immediately removes the cloth covering his face and stores it in his [Inventory]. He continues to run under cover without stopping his feet. Renya-kun, although we managed to get away from the gate in this course of events, what do you plan to do from now on? (Emil) As Renya tries to get away from the gate and wall at high speed for the time being, Emil, who runs next to him without falling behind at all, asks him that. First we look for an inn, I guess. (Renya) No matter what we do after this, first, I have to lower the person on my back at some quiet place, Renya judges.After the severe car sickness, on top of being forced to walk for quite a long distance, and put up with the series of absurd maneuvers while escaping the gate, that person is leaning against Renyas back completely limp. I wonder whether we can find one, an inn, that is. (Emil) As they avoided the checkpoint and the holy citys gate, Renyas group currently has no means to prove their own identity. I think somewhere there will be an inn where we can stay at, as long as we fork over the money to do so, but the problem is (Renya) Renya muttered those words as he stopped in an alley with no people. Im completely unfamiliar with this city, I guess? (Renya) Its the first time for me as well, to come to the Holy City. (Emil) If its an inn, probably in that direction The masked person, who leaned on Renyas back, pointed in a direction with a slightly trembling finger, but Renya shook his head right away. In case of regular inns, they will always demand identification papers, wont they? (Renya) Then? A place with little pedestrian traffic right, wheres a place that looks like a slum? There must be one in the Holy City as well, right? (Renya) From the beginning, Renya doesnt believe in the existence of a world without a single shadow, where gods power shines widely even unto the lower classes.If theres light, there will always be a shadow somewhere.And, the stronger that light becomes, the deeper the shadows grow. There are three gates in the Holy City: east, south and west, but theres no gate in the north. No matter from where you look at the city, theres an elegant castle in its centre.With that playing a central role, the locations close to the centre are flourishing places, Renya assesses.In that case, the slum-like places are surely situated at parts of the citys outer circumferences, but this time these sections are close to the gates, with their intense traffic of people coming and going.If the slums are the first thing people entering the holy city see, it will give the city a really bad reputation.For that reason they didnt build a gate in the north, gathering such people along the northern wall. I see, close to the northern wall, eh? Once they knew the location, it was no trouble for Renya and Emil to go there.Even if they dont know the way, it doesnt matter as long as they move along the roofs.The two easily jumped over the protective wall surrounding the city after all.Climbing on the roof of a building was easy.Of course, the masked person remained on Renyas back as is.Once they go up on top of a roof from the deserted alley, they attract the attention of some people.However, the very low number of residents that noticed Renyas group didnt report them as suspicious characters to the guards, even if they called out to Renya and the others.The reason for that is that Renyas groups moving speed was far too fast.At the time they wondered whether something was there or not, they couldnt see them anymore.Moreover, Renyas group makes almost no sound.Due to the twos footsteps being silent even as they jump from one roof to the other, those who were able to guess that it was likely people running there, close their mouths while pretending not having seen anything.The bodily movements of those two had deviated from common sense to such an extent.Emil, who was running behind Renya, harboured such thoughts as well.Not only can he still run atop the roofs keeping his bodys balance while carrying a person on his back, but he doesnt cause any sounds at the time of jumping and landing either.Even from the point of view of Emil, whos a demon, Renyas movements are abnormal.Emil wondered whether he is wearing some very special boots, but no matter how she looks at them, those are nothing more but ordinary boots. The way of using his knees and ankles I think? (Emil) Using it as an actual reference, Emil tries to imitate him while following his movements with her eyes.While shes doing that, the two quickly arrive at the northern part of the holy city.Jumping off the roof and landing on the ground, Renya surveys the surroundings around him.Buildings similar to ruins, and objects that cant be called buildings are lining up in this city block, which is completely surrounded by tall buildings as if to hide it from sight. It was a place with the stench of garbage and decaying flesh lingering in the air.At the roadside, there are small figures of people that wore rags, and old people lying directly on the ground while exposing their thin, decaying limbs.There are also women who tempt clients by exposing their unhealthy-looking skin as much as possible.Furthermore, there are ruffians with bad looks, who covered their bodies in misappropriated armours with leather or supplemented by metal plates.In their hands, they are tightly grasping a great variety of drawn weapons, likely sullied with a considerable large amount of blood no matter how you look at them. The masked person on Renyas back reflexively fills their hands with strength and grabs Renyas shoulders.Speaking of Renya, he sighs with a somewhat disgusted mood, due to his impression that they are really too blatant. Emil next to him continues to stare at Renyas movements while smiling as if theres something funny about it. Oi, you guys didnt you come down from above just now? One man from the group of bad-looking men starts to talk to Renya.Hes a middle-aged man who had small swords hanging on both sides of his leather armour, and hid one of his eyes behind an eyepatch.His unkempt, ruffled hair is filthy and oily, and he stinks with a bad stench if you just get close to him. We didnt know the way, so we got here from above. It didnt seem like the man understood Renyas words about getting here from above, but even the man was apparently capable of understanding the part about not knowing the way. Outsiders? Do ya understand where ya are? Is it because they realized that Renya and the others arent residents of the holy city? The ruffians atmosphere changes.His stare stickily licked Emils body all over. Emils smile transformed into an extremely displeased one. Somehow, yes. We are looking for an inn, but do you know a good place? (Renya) You an idiot? Inns are at the main street. Something like an inn, there aint any in a place like this. Really? Then we will search somewhere else. (Renya) Wait, sonny. If ya ask others bout something, ya gotta pay, right? I aint tellin ya to leave behind all ya have. Just leave that nee-chan oer there. Dont worry, well return her after we finish our business with her. Judging that he wont be able to obtain the necessary information, Renya tried to turn his back on the man, but the mans voice stops his feet.While turning and looking around, he can see that the women and elderly, who were at the roadside until now, quickly left towards somewhere after sensing the dangerous mood.The bad-looking ruffians, who were behind the man that called out to Renya, raise the weapons in their hands as if unnaturally showing them off, and slowly come closer. Renya tapped Emils shoulder while looking at them with the feeling of seeing something foolish. Emil, it looks like they are asking for you. (Renya) Those words of Renya were a permission for Emil.Being allowed to make a move, Emils face was warped as it exposed her discomfort, but her eyes were filled with joy and her lips slanted upwards into the shape of a crescent moon. Is it fine for me to deal with everyone here? (Emil) Annihilate them, they are troublesome If you can search for information from their corpses, please extract the one pointing us to a reasonably clean inn where we can stay by paying money. Can you do that? (Renya) Leave it to me. (Emil) Making the cuff of her coat flutter, Emil leaves from in front of Renya.Seeing her petite figure approach, all the ruffian broke out into laughter. Ah right, be obedient and dont look at us with scornful eyes, okay? You are annoying. (Emil) One of the men misunderstood Emils approach as her having resolved herself. He went in front and tried to grab Emil, but the arm casually swung by Emil mowed down the place where the mans head was. As the mans head vanished, a vividly red flower bloomed on a dirty wall so much that it sticks out like a sore thumb.The ruffians dumbfoundedly watch the collapsing figure of the man, while a fountain of blood vigorously gushes out from the necks section, unable to understand what might have happened there. Aah, damn it! If I crush the head, extracting the information wont work, will it? (Emil) Emil grumbles while swinging her slender and flexible arms, which dont seem like they could tear a mans head off as if it wasnt there at all moments ago. You all are too fragile, arent you? You are torn to pieces with me just pushing a bit. Dont you think so? (Emil) Emil taps the shoulder of another man while asking.Even though it should have only been that much, the mans body, which had its shoulder hit, is slapped into the ground, where it bursts into fresh blood and flesh in a grand manner while causing a damp sound.The ruffians, who had two of their group killed in the twinkling of an eye, are unable to voice out any words, and cant move a single step due to the overwhelming violence.Only Emils sigh echoes in the space dominated by silence. Haa moderation is difficult. It looks like I barely avoided breaking the head though. (Emil) Treating the head that is rolling around after being torn off the body of the man that was slapped into the ground just like a ball with her feet, Emil gazes at the ruffians, who began to emit greasy sweat as their faces turned pale, while smiling sweetly. Well then, lets get it done quickly. My master desires information and my companion is exhausted. (Emil) Without pleading for their lives, the ruffians werent allowed to even run away.It didnt take that much time until an end was put to their exceedingly immoral lives. Chapter 84 C It seems to be the infiltration into the Holy City Starting from the conclusion, Renyas party took a mere 12 hours to arrive after their departure.With almost no breaks along the way, they flat out forced their travel after the sun went down with magic lights.En route, they easily overtook the magic ship that went ahead.The magic ship, which proceeded by floating a bit above the ground, can adjust the direction its travelling by slightly using its propellers after accelerating once. Thus its advance is actually quite calm, but that wont work for the car containing Renyas group.The mysterious object roared loudly with a speed which overwhelmingly exceeds that of the magic ship, blowing up a cloud of dust with its wheels; as a result the soldiers apparently strengthened their alertness on the magic ships side, and it turned into a situation where they aimed the ships armaments installed on the ships exterior at Renya and the others. However, ignoring those completely, Emil made the wheels drift and spin in the direction of the ships movement as much as she liked, and in the end, passed the magic ship by going full throttle on the accelerator.Thus, after Emil indulged to her hearts content in the provoking action of hurling the risen-up cloud of dust at the magic ship, the soldiers on the magic ships side had no other choice but to dumbfoundedly see the mysterious object off, leaving the magic ship in a lurch with a laughter echoing back to them.Of course Emil ended up getting plentifully scolded by Renya while having her head grabbed in a vise-like iron claw afterwards.Incidentally, their travel created a situation of several reports reaching the guild about a monster as yet unknown that roars loudly while shining brightly, but the people in question had no way of knowing about that.As for the check at the national border; they avoided that by making a large detour.Of course, thats obviously a criminal act, but they had no other choice, since Renya thought that it would be bad if they left behind any kind of records that they passed the border.The alibi for the time they are absent from the city of Kukrika has been entrusted to Frau.Unlike the magic ship that cant travel on anything but level ground due to its large size, Renyas groups car was capable of driving even on fairly bad roads with many bumps as long as the wheels could touch the ground.However, the worse the road got, the more the frames shaking intensified. Renya was barely able to endure it, but the masked person sitting in the rear seat was tormented by a terrible car sickness. It resulted in a state of them gasping for air when they finally arrived in the holy city.As expected, its impossible to enter the holy city while driving the car, Renya thought. They got off the car quite a distance away from the holy city and approached on foot.Renya stored the car in his [Inventory].Renya was worried whether it would fit since it was fairly big, but him being able to easily store it by using 2 inventory slots, made him surprised all the more.Once he observes the entrance from the shade of a rock that was slightly away from the entrance gate, he sees that the holy city is the type of place surrounded by high walls all over, and it seems necessary to receive a check-up by the soldiers at the gate in order to enter inside.Usually it would be an inspection which would finish with him showing his guild card and paying a certain amount of money, but Renya has absolutely no intention to pass through that examination.After he hides his face by wrapping it up with a cloth so that only his eyes are peeking out, he carries the masked person on his back.Making sure that Emil had her face hidden in a similar manner, Renya dashed out of the hiding place they used to observe the situation at the gate.The soldiers raise their voices among each other due to the suspicious human shadow approaching all of a sudden, but Renya ignores them completely.After he ran up close to the wall, he bent his knees once, filled them with strength, and jumped up. Ha? While someones awfully idiotic voice resounded, Renyas body lightly flew up to the top of the wall, landed there for a moment, and immediately jumped off from there.Going by Renyas estimation, the wall is around 7~8 meters tall.Its definitely not a height a human can reach by jumping, much less with a person on their back.Even so, after coming to this different world and being well aware that his common sense is way off in various ways, Renya had a feeling that its somehow possible for him. Since he boosted his momentum with wind magic as support, he didnt have any doubt that he would be able to jump up.That is, however, definitely not the same for the soldiers guarding the gate.Unable to understand the event taking place in front of their eyes, moreover, not willing to accept it as reality, they easily fell into a state of being unable to think.Their thinking restarted a while after Renya jumped off the wall and vanished into the city.All of those who ended up seeing that looked at each other, and asked with just their eyes whether what happened in front of them was reality or a daydream. One of them let his feelings show by mumbling, Im sure I just saw a bad dream, didnt I? Taking that line as a trigger for some reason, the soldiers return to their posts again as if nothing happened.At the same time, voices were raised by the travellers who happened to be present, but the soldiers completely ignored these and tried not to pay attention to them.Its a safe bet the root of their behaviour was founded in their fear, not wanting to get involved with a monster that can overtake a wall with such a height.It is a digression, but Emil easily jumped over the wall using her own abilities, without landing once like Renya or using magic as support.One can say being burdened with the weight of only one person is the difference, but its also a fact that proves the high physical ability of demons.Having jumped over the wall, Renya immediately removes the cloth covering his face and stores it in his [Inventory]. He continues to run under cover without stopping his feet. Renya-kun, although we managed to get away from the gate in this course of events, what do you plan to do from now on? (Emil) As Renya tries to get away from the gate and wall at high speed for the time being, Emil, who runs next to him without falling behind at all, asks him that. First we look for an inn, I guess. (Renya) No matter what we do after this, first, I have to lower the person on my back at some quiet place, Renya judges.After the severe car sickness, on top of being forced to walk for quite a long distance, and put up with the series of absurd maneuvers while escaping the gate, that person is leaning against Renyas back completely limp. I wonder whether we can find one, an inn, that is. (Emil) As they avoided the checkpoint and the holy citys gate, Renyas group currently has no means to prove their own identity. I think somewhere there will be an inn where we can stay at, as long as we fork over the money to do so, but the problem is (Renya) Renya muttered those words as he stopped in an alley with no people. Im completely unfamiliar with this city, I guess? (Renya) Its the first time for me as well, to come to the Holy City. (Emil) If its an inn, probably in that direction The masked person, who leaned on Renyas back, pointed in a direction with a slightly trembling finger, but Renya shook his head right away. In case of regular inns, they will always demand identification papers, wont they? (Renya) Then? A place with little pedestrian traffic right, wheres a place that looks like a slum? There must be one in the Holy City as well, right? (Renya) From the beginning, Renya doesnt believe in the existence of a world without a single shadow, where gods power shines widely even unto the lower classes.If theres light, there will always be a shadow somewhere.And, the stronger that light becomes, the deeper the shadows grow. There are three gates in the Holy City: east, south and west, but theres no gate in the north. No matter from where you look at the city, theres an elegant castle in its centre.With that playing a central role, the locations close to the centre are flourishing places, Renya assesses.In that case, the slum-like places are surely situated at parts of the citys outer circumferences, but this time these sections are close to the gates, with their intense traffic of people coming and going.If the slums are the first thing people entering the holy city see, it will give the city a really bad reputation.For that reason they didnt build a gate in the north, gathering such people along the northern wall. I see, close to the northern wall, eh? Once they knew the location, it was no trouble for Renya and Emil to go there.Even if they dont know the way, it doesnt matter as long as they move along the roofs.The two easily jumped over the protective wall surrounding the city after all.Climbing on the roof of a building was easy.Of course, the masked person remained on Renyas back as is.Once they go up on top of a roof from the deserted alley, they attract the attention of some people.However, the very low number of residents that noticed Renyas group didnt report them as suspicious characters to the guards, even if they called out to Renya and the others.The reason for that is that Renyas groups moving speed was far too fast.At the time they wondered whether something was there or not, they couldnt see them anymore.Moreover, Renyas group makes almost no sound.Due to the twos footsteps being silent even as they jump from one roof to the other, those who were able to guess that it was likely people running there, close their mouths while pretending not having seen anything.The bodily movements of those two had deviated from common sense to such an extent.Emil, who was running behind Renya, harboured such thoughts as well.Not only can he still run atop the roofs keeping his bodys balance while carrying a person on his back, but he doesnt cause any sounds at the time of jumping and landing either.Even from the point of view of Emil, whos a demon, Renyas movements are abnormal.Emil wondered whether he is wearing some very special boots, but no matter how she looks at them, those are nothing more but ordinary boots. The way of using his knees and ankles I think? (Emil) Using it as an actual reference, Emil tries to imitate him while following his movements with her eyes.While shes doing that, the two quickly arrive at the northern part of the holy city.Jumping off the roof and landing on the ground, Renya surveys the surroundings around him.Buildings similar to ruins, and objects that cant be called buildings are lining up in this city block, which is completely surrounded by tall buildings as if to hide it from sight. It was a place with the stench of garbage and decaying flesh lingering in the air.At the roadside, there are small figures of people that wore rags, and old people lying directly on the ground while exposing their thin, decaying limbs.There are also women who tempt clients by exposing their unhealthy-looking skin as much as possible.Furthermore, there are ruffians with bad looks, who covered their bodies in misappropriated armours with leather or supplemented by metal plates.In their hands, they are tightly grasping a great variety of drawn weapons, likely sullied with a considerable large amount of blood no matter how you look at them. The masked person on Renyas back reflexively fills their hands with strength and grabs Renyas shoulders.Speaking of Renya, he sighs with a somewhat disgusted mood, due to his impression that they are really too blatant. Emil next to him continues to stare at Renyas movements while smiling as if theres something funny about it. Oi, you guys didnt you come down from above just now? One man from the group of bad-looking men starts to talk to Renya.Hes a middle-aged man who had small swords hanging on both sides of his leather armour, and hid one of his eyes behind an eyepatch.His unkempt, ruffled hair is filthy and oily, and he stinks with a bad stench if you just get close to him. We didnt know the way, so we got here from above. It didnt seem like the man understood Renyas words about getting here from above, but even the man was apparently capable of understanding the part about not knowing the way. Outsiders? Do ya understand where ya are? Is it because they realized that Renya and the others arent residents of the holy city? The ruffians atmosphere changes.His stare stickily licked Emils body all over. Emils smile transformed into an extremely displeased one. Somehow, yes. We are looking for an inn, but do you know a good place? (Renya) You an idiot? Inns are at the main street. Something like an inn, there aint any in a place like this. Really? Then we will search somewhere else. (Renya) Wait, sonny. If ya ask others bout something, ya gotta pay, right? I aint tellin ya to leave behind all ya have. Just leave that nee-chan oer there. Dont worry, well return her after we finish our business with her. Judging that he wont be able to obtain the necessary information, Renya tried to turn his back on the man, but the mans voice stops his feet.While turning and looking around, he can see that the women and elderly, who were at the roadside until now, quickly left towards somewhere after sensing the dangerous mood.The bad-looking ruffians, who were behind the man that called out to Renya, raise the weapons in their hands as if unnaturally showing them off, and slowly come closer. Renya tapped Emils shoulder while looking at them with the feeling of seeing something foolish. Emil, it looks like they are asking for you. (Renya) Those words of Renya were a permission for Emil.Being allowed to make a move, Emils face was warped as it exposed her discomfort, but her eyes were filled with joy and her lips slanted upwards into the shape of a crescent moon. Is it fine for me to deal with everyone here? (Emil) Annihilate them, they are troublesome If you can search for information from their corpses, please extract the one pointing us to a reasonably clean inn where we can stay by paying money. Can you do that? (Renya) Leave it to me. (Emil) Making the cuff of her coat flutter, Emil leaves from in front of Renya.Seeing her petite figure approach, all the ruffian broke out into laughter. Ah right, be obedient and dont look at us with scornful eyes, okay? You are annoying. (Emil) One of the men misunderstood Emils approach as her having resolved herself. He went in front and tried to grab Emil, but the arm casually swung by Emil mowed down the place where the mans head was. As the mans head vanished, a vividly red flower bloomed on a dirty wall so much that it sticks out like a sore thumb.The ruffians dumbfoundedly watch the collapsing figure of the man, while a fountain of blood vigorously gushes out from the necks section, unable to understand what might have happened there. Aah, damn it! If I crush the head, extracting the information wont work, will it? (Emil) Emil grumbles while swinging her slender and flexible arms, which dont seem like they could tear a mans head off as if it wasnt there at all moments ago. You all are too fragile, arent you? You are torn to pieces with me just pushing a bit. Dont you think so? (Emil) Emil taps the shoulder of another man while asking.Even though it should have only been that much, the mans body, which had its shoulder hit, is slapped into the ground, where it bursts into fresh blood and flesh in a grand manner while causing a damp sound.The ruffians, who had two of their group killed in the twinkling of an eye, are unable to voice out any words, and cant move a single step due to the overwhelming violence.Only Emils sigh echoes in the space dominated by silence. Haa moderation is difficult. It looks like I barely avoided breaking the head though. (Emil) Treating the head that is rolling around after being torn off the body of the man that was slapped into the ground just like a ball with her feet, Emil gazes at the ruffians, who began to emit greasy sweat as their faces turned pale, while smiling sweetly. Well then, lets get it done quickly. My master desires information and my companion is exhausted. (Emil) Without pleading for their lives, the ruffians werent allowed to even run away.It didnt take that much time until an end was put to their exceedingly immoral lives. Chapter 85 Chapter 85 C It seems to be the infiltration into the Holy City 2 Uhh yeah it feels unpleasant, doesnt it? (Emil) Hearing Emil groaning for some reason, Renyas expression shows worry, albeit only a bit.Merely taking a few minutes to mash the ruffians who picked a fight with her into paste, Emil, after lining up in one row all the ruffians who had turned into peaceful lone heads, casts some kind of spell while mumbling something under her breath and extracted the information. Thats something that happened just an hour ago.Even while pulling out the information from the ruffians heads, Emil didnt try to hide her displeasure and furrowed her eyebrows.If Renya were allowed to speak about Emil, he would say her character is that of a tenacious demon who wont die unless getting sprinkled with detergent, being splashed with hot water, or having slippers thrown at her. But the current Emils outward appearance is that of a little girl befitting the description of petite and cute.There are also cases where ones character is strongly influenced by their outward appearance. Hasnt her mood been killed due to the large amount of blood and freshly severed heads?Renya was concerned. Are you okay? If you feel unwell, we can also rest a bit (Renya) Oh, Renya-kun, you are being kind. How unusual. (Emil) Once in a while that happens as well. (Renya) Renya says with a disappointed expression.Emil waved her hands lightly while laughing. Its fine, its fine. Well, just a bit; its because their extracted memories really were like those (Emil) Those? (Renya) Experiences of surrounding people, beating the hell out of them, stripping them, gang-raping them, murdering them? (Emil) It appears that it was something occurring everyday.It looked like Emil was saying that she feels unwell because of the way she personally experienced it; it was as if being forced to watch the same events from their memories, in all kinds of different angles, since there were many ruffians.However, Renya thinks.Didnt you do even crueler things?Emil looks extremely displeased, as she apparently guessed Renyas thinking from his expression. Can I have you not mix up research goals with doing it for the sake of pleasure? (Emil) No, well I think in the end its the same though. (Renya) No! Absolutely not! Is it that the mouth that spouts such ridiculous stuff? Very well, let me shut it up until you understand that its something totally different! Mmh~ (Emil) Stop it, you idiot! Dont grab my collar and pull it to yourself! Dont get close while pursing your lips! Dont shut your eyes!! (Renya) You say that, but isnt this a place for that? (Emil) Saying that, Emil surveys the surroundings.Currently they were in a room with a huge bed that was decorated gaudily to the extreme.In the end, they finished reviewing the memories of the ruffians who attacked them. But their memories had absolutely no entries of inns like the ones Renya had looked for.Seemingly in exchange, they apparently contained excessive details of nothing but brothels and the so-called traditional love hotels.After pondering about it for a bit, Renya instructs Emil to lead them to the most expensive traditional love hotel from the obtained information.A traditional love hotel is basically an inn for men to bring women along and spend a pleasurable time with them*.(T/N: Been a bit more liberal here as the raw stayed indistinct with leading to that thing which sounds like a huge cringefest)If one ignores various matters, its possible to stay the night.Moreover, as it only has one intended use, things like checking ones identity papers shouldnt be carried out.Why are there such facilities in the holy city though? The masked person muttered, but from Renyas point of view it would have actually been strange for them to not exist.Because people live as people do, its simply something that cant be avoided even if its criticized sharply.If it was possible to completely shut those facilities down, the ones living there would undoubtedly not be humans.They would be something else completely. Certainly this is such an establishment, but that doesnt mean that we came here to do such things. (Renya) When Renya declared that clearly, Emil made a terribly disappointed expression.At the time when Renyas party arrived at the inn, the man appearing to be the inns owner, after throwing a cold glance at Renya and the others, said in a curt tone, 5 silver coins for one night. Theres no meal. Theres a bath, but tell me if hot water is needed. It will cost extra. Although he had a brusqueness as if he was annoyed by people, Renya regarded that way of interacting as likeable.Telling the other party only about the essential things, he doesnt pry unnecessarily.Isnt he the ideal owner of a traditional love hotel?Renya wonders.While thinking about such things, Renya threw down 5 gold coins in front of the owner.A slight degree of change was visible in the unsociable expression of the owner, due to Renya suddenly paying 100 times the lodging expenses, casually. The most spacious room will do. Id also like to have hot water. Cant I have you arrange meals as well? (Renya) Due to the change on the owners face, Renya judged that he had a chance and shortly told him the things he requires.After pondering for a while, the owner asked Renya as to confirm, These gold coins, are they part of the entire prepayment? Renya nodded without changing his expression while thinking He took the bait after all. Of course. Since we will impose on you for several nights, please tell me if its insufficient and I will pay the rest. Please hold onto it if theres some left. (Renya) Once Renya asks How about it?, the owner takes the gold coins placed in front of him, takes out a bell from his pocket, and makes it lightly ring once.As if in reaction to that sound, a single female employee showed up from within the inn.She has features that dont leave much of an impact due to her plain attire. This one will attend to you. Just tell her your business. In case there isnt enough money, you will be told by her. I will prepare the best among our rooms. Is it fine with that? The power of gold coins is great after all, Renya assesses.For the inns owner, Renya is an excessively good guest with good liquidity. The owner apparently decided to accept all of Renyas requests after judging that he will likely be able to get quite the profit if he humours Renya. That helps. Thank you. (Renya) While expressing his gratitude, Renya adds one more gold coin. Enjoy your stay. Hearing from behind them the words of the owner, who became a bit more affable in comparison to the beginning, Renyas group arrived at a room after being guided there.The rooms furniture setup was really simple.There is a flashily decorated bed with a canopy attached to it, and a size that would still have a place left for sleeping, even if you let 4 people sleep side-by-side in the middle. Besides that, theres only a depository that appears to have valuables inside, a chair and a dresser.There are also several windows, apparently for the sake of illumination. They are small and furthermore cant be opened due to their fixed fitting.The female employee left a small bell behind, telling them to ring it if theres some business, and exited the room.Of course, Renya doesnt forget to quietly bribe that employee with several silver coins when she was leaving.Even though shes astonished about the coins in her hand being silver coins, she smiles broadly and bows. After seeing the employee off, Renya throws himself down on the large bed in the shape of .The masked person appears to be nervous and sits down on the beds edge with a stiff body. Apparently seeing it for the first time, Emil seems to be very interested in such a place of the human race. She walks around the room in circles while examining it all over. What will we do after this? Being asked by the masked person sitting at the beds edge, Renya immediately replied without rising his body, Sleep. Im worn-out. (Renya) It was slightly late afternoon when they left the city of Kukrika.They entered the holy city early in the morning.Being shaken around in a car for half a day throughout the night, while avoiding the check point, and then bypassing the gate, exhausted Renya very much.Even though one might say that, he actually had recovered his stamina instantly due to the Regeneration skill, but had a mood of wanting to sleep due to exhaustion, unbeknownst whether emotionally or mentally anyway. Please wake me up once the sun goes down. Its fine for you to do as you please, but going outside is not recommended, okay? (Renya) Then I will sleep as well. What will you do? (Emil) Emil asks the masked person. I want to sleep a bit, too. Then all of us will happily sleep together. (Emil) How did it turn out like this? If all three of us sleep, who will wake us up geh, if you guys sleep on the bed, I will take the floor (Renya) Dont make me say it! (Emil) While diving into the bed, Emil drove her elbow into Renyas solar plexus, who is lying in a posture.No matter how much you call her build petit, its a blow that packed the entire body weight of Emil. A blow into a place that, if directly attacked even under normal circumstances, blocks ones breathing.Renya, who was unprepared as he relaxed his attention due to finally being able to sleep, ended up receiving it fully.As expected, if it was done with the full power of a demon, he likely would have fallen into a state of having several entrails torn and coughing up blood. But as Emil apparently hit him in jest, he didnt take that much damage. However, it still causes Renya trouble to breathe, leading to agony.Taking a posture of sleeping together by clinging to the right half of the suffering Renya, and changing Renyas right shoulder into a pillow, Emil beckoned the masked person. Since I will be borrowing this side, you take the other. (Emil) Ah, yes. Say ing yes here thats wro ng, right? (Renya) The masked person smoothly slips their body, unhindered, on Renyas left side without taking off the black robe or the mask.Though it takes the form of this side gently snuggling up to Renya, his left arm is still used as pillow.Renya voices out his objection after painfully gasping, but he cant get either Emil or the masked person to pay any attention to him.Moreover, since both his arms are used as pillows, he has fallen into a situation where he cant move about. Okay, good night. Ah, its alright to leave the task of waking everyone up to me. (Emil) Have a good night. You guys hey (Renya) Renya tried to somehow extract his arms and shoulders from below the twos heads, but the masked persons side appears to be quite tired. The masked person starts to raise a small sleeping breath in almost no time.I guess they got worn-out quite a bit during the forced travel, Renya judges.Since he vaguely grasped the level of the masked persons exhaustion, Renya gave up on moving, since it could turn out badly if he wakes them up by squirming around after they got their long-awaited rest. You are gentle, Renya-kun. (Emil) Shut up hurry up and fall asleep. I will do so as well. (Renya) Due to Emils teasing tone, Renya shuts his eyes while judging that he should fall asleep quickly in this situation. I will sleep, but hey what will we do after the sun goes down? (Emil) Once he opens his eyes and turns his face her way, after being asked that, his eyes meet with Emils. She is staring at him as if probing Renyas expression, while being in a state of being glued to him as she uses his shoulder as a pillow.While locking eyes with Emil, Renya says, You guys will stay here while you eat dinner. (Renya) And you, Renya-kun? (Emil) I will theres a place I want to go to for a bit. (Renya) Where is it? Can you tell me, too? (Emil) Though you already know it, Renya thinks, but it seems that Emil wants to hear it from his mouth no matter what.For an instant, Renya considered whether he should deceive her by telling her something else, but in his mind, Renya was confident that he most likely wouldnt be able to deceive Emil.Rather than hurting her feelings by telling her something awkward, theres less demerit in telling her the truth, I guess.Coming to that conclusion, Renya said, I will sneak into the royal castle. (Renya) I see, for a preliminary examination of hero-kun, I suppose? (Emil) Its said that it will take two days for that huge ship to travel here from Kukrika, thus Shions group will arrive around tomorrow evening, right? This is my forecast, but wont the course of events after that be: her dressing up, and then being matched up with the hero during an evening party or such? (Renya) Its also possible they will take it slow, starting from an audience on the day after, giving her rest for one night. But if the hero is, as the rumours say, the type who devours anything without making any difference, he probably wont be capable of waiting patiently for a woman who came to meet him, will he?Renya ponders.If I consider that the hero wants to messily devour her as soon as possible, this forecast is the closest match, Renya was able to imagine. You might be on the right track there. So, once the evening party comes to an end, we will storm in during their pleasure time, you say? (Emil) Can you really say that considering your current outward appearance? Well, though the actual performance will be close to it, theres no way I will agree with doing it unprepared. Besides, its necessary to check whether the hero himself has a character as the rumours claim. (Renya) What Renya knows about the hero at present is all he was told by Shion.Since it has been investigated by Rona, its credibility is high, I think, but I should try to ascertain it with my own eyes once after all, Renya believes.In case the rumours were lies and the hero was actually truly splendid, Renya would completely end up playing the villains role here due to picking a fight while believing in the rumours.And not only that; its not unlikely for that to result in losing someone who is a trump card for the fight against the demon king. Is there anything I can help you with? (Emil) Apparently she finished asking what she wanted to know. Emil closes her eyes quietly. The best would be for you to stay here while protecting this place. (Renya) Renya says, wondering what to say, if she asked him to take her along into the royal castle, to turn her down.No matter how you put it, I feel slightly reluctant to trespass the royal castle of the Holy Kingdom, which can be called the heart of the human races strongest power, while taking a demon along.However, he stopped that pointless worrying. Ro~ger. Well then, good night, master. (Emil) Good night. Dream well. (Renya) Adding one more phrase, Renya closes his eyes as well.It looks like he accumulated far more fatigue than he himself expected. It didnt take that much time until Renyas consciousness succumbed to his sleepiness. Chapter 85 C It seems to be the infiltration into the Holy City 2 Uhh yeah it feels unpleasant, doesnt it? (Emil) Hearing Emil groaning for some reason, Renyas expression shows worry, albeit only a bit.Merely taking a few minutes to mash the ruffians who picked a fight with her into paste, Emil, after lining up in one row all the ruffians who had turned into peaceful lone heads, casts some kind of spell while mumbling something under her breath and extracted the information. Thats something that happened just an hour ago.Even while pulling out the information from the ruffians heads, Emil didnt try to hide her displeasure and furrowed her eyebrows.If Renya were allowed to speak about Emil, he would say her character is that of a tenacious demon who wont die unless getting sprinkled with detergent, being splashed with hot water, or having slippers thrown at her. But the current Emils outward appearance is that of a little girl befitting the description of petite and cute.There are also cases where ones character is strongly influenced by their outward appearance. Hasnt her mood been killed due to the large amount of blood and freshly severed heads?Renya was concerned. Are you okay? If you feel unwell, we can also rest a bit (Renya) Oh, Renya-kun, you are being kind. How unusual. (Emil) Once in a while that happens as well. (Renya) Renya says with a disappointed expression.Emil waved her hands lightly while laughing. Its fine, its fine. Well, just a bit; its because their extracted memories really were like those (Emil) Those? (Renya) Experiences of surrounding people, beating the hell out of them, stripping them, gang-raping them, murdering them? (Emil) It appears that it was something occurring everyday.It looked like Emil was saying that she feels unwell because of the way she personally experienced it; it was as if being forced to watch the same events from their memories, in all kinds of different angles, since there were many ruffians.However, Renya thinks.Didnt you do even crueler things?Emil looks extremely displeased, as she apparently guessed Renyas thinking from his expression. Can I have you not mix up research goals with doing it for the sake of pleasure? (Emil) No, well I think in the end its the same though. (Renya) No! Absolutely not! Is it that the mouth that spouts such ridiculous stuff? Very well, let me shut it up until you understand that its something totally different! Mmh~ (Emil) Stop it, you idiot! Dont grab my collar and pull it to yourself! Dont get close while pursing your lips! Dont shut your eyes!! (Renya) You say that, but isnt this a place for that? (Emil) Saying that, Emil surveys the surroundings.Currently they were in a room with a huge bed that was decorated gaudily to the extreme.In the end, they finished reviewing the memories of the ruffians who attacked them. But their memories had absolutely no entries of inns like the ones Renya had looked for.Seemingly in exchange, they apparently contained excessive details of nothing but brothels and the so-called traditional love hotels.After pondering about it for a bit, Renya instructs Emil to lead them to the most expensive traditional love hotel from the obtained information.A traditional love hotel is basically an inn for men to bring women along and spend a pleasurable time with them*.(T/N: Been a bit more liberal here as the raw stayed indistinct with leading to that thing which sounds like a huge cringefest)If one ignores various matters, its possible to stay the night.Moreover, as it only has one intended use, things like checking ones identity papers shouldnt be carried out.Why are there such facilities in the holy city though? The masked person muttered, but from Renyas point of view it would have actually been strange for them to not exist.Because people live as people do, its simply something that cant be avoided even if its criticized sharply.If it was possible to completely shut those facilities down, the ones living there would undoubtedly not be humans.They would be something else completely. Certainly this is such an establishment, but that doesnt mean that we came here to do such things. (Renya) When Renya declared that clearly, Emil made a terribly disappointed expression.At the time when Renyas party arrived at the inn, the man appearing to be the inns owner, after throwing a cold glance at Renya and the others, said in a curt tone, 5 silver coins for one night. Theres no meal. Theres a bath, but tell me if hot water is needed. It will cost extra. Although he had a brusqueness as if he was annoyed by people, Renya regarded that way of interacting as likeable.Telling the other party only about the essential things, he doesnt pry unnecessarily.Isnt he the ideal owner of a traditional love hotel?Renya wonders.While thinking about such things, Renya threw down 5 gold coins in front of the owner.A slight degree of change was visible in the unsociable expression of the owner, due to Renya suddenly paying 100 times the lodging expenses, casually. The most spacious room will do. Id also like to have hot water. Cant I have you arrange meals as well? (Renya) Due to the change on the owners face, Renya judged that he had a chance and shortly told him the things he requires.After pondering for a while, the owner asked Renya as to confirm, These gold coins, are they part of the entire prepayment? Renya nodded without changing his expression while thinking He took the bait after all. Of course. Since we will impose on you for several nights, please tell me if its insufficient and I will pay the rest. Please hold onto it if theres some left. (Renya) Once Renya asks How about it?, the owner takes the gold coins placed in front of him, takes out a bell from his pocket, and makes it lightly ring once.As if in reaction to that sound, a single female employee showed up from within the inn.She has features that dont leave much of an impact due to her plain attire. This one will attend to you. Just tell her your business. In case there isnt enough money, you will be told by her. I will prepare the best among our rooms. Is it fine with that? The power of gold coins is great after all, Renya assesses.For the inns owner, Renya is an excessively good guest with good liquidity. The owner apparently decided to accept all of Renyas requests after judging that he will likely be able to get quite the profit if he humours Renya. That helps. Thank you. (Renya) While expressing his gratitude, Renya adds one more gold coin. Enjoy your stay. Hearing from behind them the words of the owner, who became a bit more affable in comparison to the beginning, Renyas group arrived at a room after being guided there.The rooms furniture setup was really simple.There is a flashily decorated bed with a canopy attached to it, and a size that would still have a place left for sleeping, even if you let 4 people sleep side-by-side in the middle. Besides that, theres only a depository that appears to have valuables inside, a chair and a dresser.There are also several windows, apparently for the sake of illumination. They are small and furthermore cant be opened due to their fixed fitting.The female employee left a small bell behind, telling them to ring it if theres some business, and exited the room.Of course, Renya doesnt forget to quietly bribe that employee with several silver coins when she was leaving.Even though shes astonished about the coins in her hand being silver coins, she smiles broadly and bows. After seeing the employee off, Renya throws himself down on the large bed in the shape of .The masked person appears to be nervous and sits down on the beds edge with a stiff body. Apparently seeing it for the first time, Emil seems to be very interested in such a place of the human race. She walks around the room in circles while examining it all over. What will we do after this? Being asked by the masked person sitting at the beds edge, Renya immediately replied without rising his body, Sleep. Im worn-out. (Renya) It was slightly late afternoon when they left the city of Kukrika.They entered the holy city early in the morning.Being shaken around in a car for half a day throughout the night, while avoiding the check point, and then bypassing the gate, exhausted Renya very much.Even though one might say that, he actually had recovered his stamina instantly due to the Regeneration skill, but had a mood of wanting to sleep due to exhaustion, unbeknownst whether emotionally or mentally anyway. Please wake me up once the sun goes down. Its fine for you to do as you please, but going outside is not recommended, okay? (Renya) Then I will sleep as well. What will you do? (Emil) Emil asks the masked person. I want to sleep a bit, too. Then all of us will happily sleep together. (Emil) How did it turn out like this? If all three of us sleep, who will wake us up geh, if you guys sleep on the bed, I will take the floor (Renya) Dont make me say it! (Emil) While diving into the bed, Emil drove her elbow into Renyas solar plexus, who is lying in a posture.No matter how much you call her build petit, its a blow that packed the entire body weight of Emil. A blow into a place that, if directly attacked even under normal circumstances, blocks ones breathing.Renya, who was unprepared as he relaxed his attention due to finally being able to sleep, ended up receiving it fully.As expected, if it was done with the full power of a demon, he likely would have fallen into a state of having several entrails torn and coughing up blood. But as Emil apparently hit him in jest, he didnt take that much damage. However, it still causes Renya trouble to breathe, leading to agony.Taking a posture of sleeping together by clinging to the right half of the suffering Renya, and changing Renyas right shoulder into a pillow, Emil beckoned the masked person. Since I will be borrowing this side, you take the other. (Emil) Ah, yes. Say ing yes here thats wro ng, right? (Renya) The masked person smoothly slips their body, unhindered, on Renyas left side without taking off the black robe or the mask.Though it takes the form of this side gently snuggling up to Renya, his left arm is still used as pillow.Renya voices out his objection after painfully gasping, but he cant get either Emil or the masked person to pay any attention to him.Moreover, since both his arms are used as pillows, he has fallen into a situation where he cant move about. Okay, good night. Ah, its alright to leave the task of waking everyone up to me. (Emil) Have a good night. You guys hey (Renya) Renya tried to somehow extract his arms and shoulders from below the twos heads, but the masked persons side appears to be quite tired. The masked person starts to raise a small sleeping breath in almost no time.I guess they got worn-out quite a bit during the forced travel, Renya judges.Since he vaguely grasped the level of the masked persons exhaustion, Renya gave up on moving, since it could turn out badly if he wakes them up by squirming around after they got their long-awaited rest. You are gentle, Renya-kun. (Emil) Shut up hurry up and fall asleep. I will do so as well. (Renya) Due to Emils teasing tone, Renya shuts his eyes while judging that he should fall asleep quickly in this situation. I will sleep, but hey what will we do after the sun goes down? (Emil) Once he opens his eyes and turns his face her way, after being asked that, his eyes meet with Emils. She is staring at him as if probing Renyas expression, while being in a state of being glued to him as she uses his shoulder as a pillow.While locking eyes with Emil, Renya says, You guys will stay here while you eat dinner. (Renya) And you, Renya-kun? (Emil) I will theres a place I want to go to for a bit. (Renya) Where is it? Can you tell me, too? (Emil) Though you already know it, Renya thinks, but it seems that Emil wants to hear it from his mouth no matter what.For an instant, Renya considered whether he should deceive her by telling her something else, but in his mind, Renya was confident that he most likely wouldnt be able to deceive Emil.Rather than hurting her feelings by telling her something awkward, theres less demerit in telling her the truth, I guess.Coming to that conclusion, Renya said, I will sneak into the royal castle. (Renya) I see, for a preliminary examination of hero-kun, I suppose? (Emil) Its said that it will take two days for that huge ship to travel here from Kukrika, thus Shions group will arrive around tomorrow evening, right? This is my forecast, but wont the course of events after that be: her dressing up, and then being matched up with the hero during an evening party or such? (Renya) Its also possible they will take it slow, starting from an audience on the day after, giving her rest for one night. But if the hero is, as the rumours say, the type who devours anything without making any difference, he probably wont be capable of waiting patiently for a woman who came to meet him, will he?Renya ponders.If I consider that the hero wants to messily devour her as soon as possible, this forecast is the closest match, Renya was able to imagine. You might be on the right track there. So, once the evening party comes to an end, we will storm in during their pleasure time, you say? (Emil) Can you really say that considering your current outward appearance? Well, though the actual performance will be close to it, theres no way I will agree with doing it unprepared. Besides, its necessary to check whether the hero himself has a character as the rumours claim. (Renya) What Renya knows about the hero at present is all he was told by Shion.Since it has been investigated by Rona, its credibility is high, I think, but I should try to ascertain it with my own eyes once after all, Renya believes.In case the rumours were lies and the hero was actually truly splendid, Renya would completely end up playing the villains role here due to picking a fight while believing in the rumours.And not only that; its not unlikely for that to result in losing someone who is a trump card for the fight against the demon king. Is there anything I can help you with? (Emil) Apparently she finished asking what she wanted to know. Emil closes her eyes quietly. The best would be for you to stay here while protecting this place. (Renya) Renya says, wondering what to say, if she asked him to take her along into the royal castle, to turn her down.No matter how you put it, I feel slightly reluctant to trespass the royal castle of the Holy Kingdom, which can be called the heart of the human races strongest power, while taking a demon along.However, he stopped that pointless worrying. Ro~ger. Well then, good night, master. (Emil) Good night. Dream well. (Renya) Adding one more phrase, Renya closes his eyes as well.It looks like he accumulated far more fatigue than he himself expected. It didnt take that much time until Renyas consciousness succumbed to his sleepiness. Chapter 86 Chapter 86 C It seems to be an infiltration of the royal castle Even though its called a castle in short, it possessed a wide variety of structures depending on the purpose of each new addition, and the era they were built.Some parts were built during times of war, and were solid boorish structures meant to be used as fortresses. Other sections were built during peace times, and focused more on an elegant appearance instead of function.On top of possessing such knowledge, Renya receives a somewhat extremely mismatched impression once he sees the royal castle located in the centre of this Holy City.The wall surrounding the castle was built higher than the wall around the Holy City, but with only one gate. There was also another moat surrounding the Castle Walls which was too wide for one to jump over, even though it was slightly narrower than the outer moat which was filled deeply and widely with water.The wall has stones with a width, height and depth of 1 m piling up. With something similar to mortar plastered on them, the overall wall has become pure white.Since its several meters thick, it probably has the shape of mud walls on both sides with stones in-between, Renya assumes.At a fixed interval, there are square shaped watchtower-like structures on the castle gate. Several soldiers have the duty to stand watch there continuously.The massive castle gate was made entirely out of iron, and heavy enough that no thought went to human operation and required a machine to have been installed for heaving it open and shut from the beginning. Once one passes the inner moat, theres a garden continuing until the castle. Leaving that garden, one finally arrives at the entrance to the castle.Its exterior defence looks reasonably tough, but if one talks about the castles main part, Renyas information isnt clear on the interior at all. He had the impression that he must not feel like its ignoring utility and putting emphasis on appearance in any way as long as he looks at it from the outside.Just like the castle walls, the buildings walls are pure white after having been coated with something like mortar. Theres no doubt about its beauty.However, there are many minarets with ambiguous usefulness standing out. Renya feels like theres exceedingly many blind spots.Furthermore, the main castle doesnt look like it possesses installations such as slits for firing arrows while defending, and places that are filled with soldiers.Additionally soil was piled up right below the castle for some reason. It was also a mystery why the castles base was at a slightly higher place than the castle walls.Renya worriesisnt there any meaning in the castle walls?, but thanks to this, it results in parts of the the royal castle being visible from anywhere you look in the Holy City.Basically, the installations and personnel for defence are deployed outside the main castle. Because of that the main castle itself is an otherworld-like structure, Renya concluded. Even if trespassing is difficult to some extent, its not impossible to get in, huh? (Renya) On top of the Holy Citys circumference being surrounded by a wall, the castles circumference is surrounded by an even higher castle wall. I guess quite a cowardly king is living there, he ends up judging.The place where Renya is currently located at is on top of the roof of a minaret which boasts the tallest height within the royal castle.Renya, who took a nap while peacefully lining up with the other two, was properly woken up by Emil after sunset.While stifling a yawn due to his remaining drowsiness, he summoned the employee with the bell and requested the preparation of hot water and dinner for three. After he confirmed the arrival of those, Renya quietly left the inn.He intended to say that hes going outside to breathe some fresh air for a change of mood if he was questioned by someone, but luckily he didnt encounter anyone and left the inn. As he tried to go to the royal castle, Renya realized he didnt know the route to get there after all. While heading to the middle of the city through guesswork as a last resort, he decided to run along the buildings roofs in the same manner as the time he came to the slums.Concealing his face again with the cloth he took out from his inventory, Renya continued running on top of a roof. As he approached the castle, Renya saw its surroundings being protected by a high castle wall and clicked his tongue slightly.Even if I try to run around the castles circumference once, there wont be any place where I can enter except the main gate. The moats width exceeds 20 m as well.No matter how much Renyas ability is surpassing that of humans, its not a distance he can jump across.Renya, who pondered what he should do, takes some distance by separating from the castle temporarily, starts running with all his might in order to guarantee a plentiful approach run, and casts wind magic from the reference point of the roofs edge towards his own back the instant he jumps off while aiming for the castle wall.The cast spell is something called and is originally used to confine an opponent or to throw their posture off-balance with a powerful wind, but he decided to try lengthening his jump distance by blowing it against his own back.That attempt half-succeeded and half-failed.Renya thought it would be fine if he could jump far enough to at least cling to the castle wall, but the generated wind easily blew Renyas body away due to the strength caused by the charged mana.Renyas body, which was whirled up very high in the air, quickly went beyond the castle wall and would have passed the garden to be thrown against the castle inner wall.Renya quickly deployed thespell from the opposite direction and was able to somehow kill the momentum and perform an emergency landing on the castles roof.There were a lot of other spells to use if it was only about jumping, but the reason he didnt use those was in case of a magic sensitive barrier-like protection being deployed over the entire castle.However, that worry was apparently pointless. The spell he cast to slow himself down activated without any kind of impediment. Theres also no sign of him having triggered something like an alarm.Renya believes that to be careless, but if you think about it properly, something like a defence barrier and detection net deployed over the entire castle at normal times will end up costing an outrageous amount of money to maintain. Such things very likely exist in case of emergency though, thinking that far, Renya cocks his head in contemplation all the same.Considering it normally, the information that a suspicious character broke through the entrance gate of the Holy City should have been reported to the castle.If theres such a report, it wont be odd for the castle to adopt some kind of precautionary stance.Just what the hell is wrong with them maintaining that completely defenceless, normal state?He wonders.There was no reason for Renya to know about it, but the soldiers present when Renyas group broke through didnt report it to their superior.If they did, the castles alertness certainly would have changed into an high alert just as Renya thought. But with them being unable to believe what they saw, they intentionally kept silent due to the fear of having to take some kind of responsibility had they really reported the incident to their superior just like that.The act of pretending to ignore a problem due to them wanting to protect their position above all else is not a praisable act for a soldier.That alone was an indication of the low training level of the soldiers of this Holy City, but theres no expectation for Renya to understand that either.After trying to ponder about it for a while, Renya, who concluded that theres no way to reach an answer no matter how long he thinks it over, abandons the thoughts concerning that and starts with another matter.Its about where the hero stays within this castle.Although there was no way for him to make an educated guess from the get-go, he has several ideas about how to narrow down the conditions.First of all, hes probably not at a lower floor.Thats because there are soldiers acting as guards and patrols at the lower places. At least there are peoples eyes everywhere.Since there also exist owners of peculiar fetishes like getting aroused by being seen, its not something I can say with absolute confidence. But if he possesses a normal way of thinking, he will decide that its better to not be seen by people in case he does you-know-what during the night.Second, theres no doubt that its a room with a window, I think.He guesses that from the fact that the other party are young women of royalty and nobility.Even in a completely dark room devoid of any windows, it might be romantic if he laboriously relies on the light of candles. But if seen from the side of the young woman being pinned down, its something that lacks elegance and emotions.By the way, these are not Renyas views but hints from Croire.Since thats how it is, she will definitely request a room with a window where moonlight flows in, or a place corresponding to that at the time shes with him, being told that, Renya ended up being troubled how to answer best.Third is about him likely using a room with quite the size.This is information from Shion.Regarding the relevance of that point, the hero seems to already be boasting about his level of strength indicating him as hero without a doubt. Thats not true at all however, as he seems to be in a state of being a great demon king of the night, but completely unable to subjugate even a noble daughter by himself.As its impossible for him alone, hes just saying join my party, and every day after sunset he brings together several people in one place and holds a large nocturnal athletic meet.Starting to ponder about stupid stuff such asI guess he wont say something like can you teach me what kind of games there are besides the ball-toss game and ball rolling? on those athletic meets, Renya shakes his head in a hurry and resets his thinking.Taking the opportunity of thinking about stupid things, Renya ends up strangely admiringI guess there are athletic meets even in a different world.He should be able to narrow down the rooms meeting those conditions quite a bit if theres a rough map of the castle, but theres no way to obtain something like that concerning a royal castle that easily.The nose of Renya, who wondersis there no other way but to peek into each and every large place housing a window, counting on vague intuition for the restpicked up a sweet scent mixed into the night wind. Perfume? No its the scent of something. (Renya) Its not something light like a scent attached to a body. Its a sweetness that feels a lot heavier and thicker.While its only a small amount, it has an intensity capable of penetrating the cloth covering his face and reaching his nose.Furthermore, Renyas own body perceives that scent as foreign contamination. He somehow senses that the skill took action due to its void toxification attribute. This is very welcome. It seems that the scent is leading over there. (Renya) Since its called Holy Kingdom for better or worse, the royalty over here probably wont be fond of something that seems to be this bad for their bodies, even if they dont go as far as being saints, Renya thinks.Its also not something that seems to be used by soldiers during their break.In that case, the probability is extremely high that the one using it is my target.Closing his eyes and persuading himself that it cant be helped in this case, even while knowing that its something bad for his body, he sniffs the wind carrying the scent and somehow becomes aware of where its coming from.Renya doesnt want to approach the source of something that seems to harm his body, but he wont be able to accomplish his goal without getting close to it.While hoping that the ability of the Healthy Body skill turns everything nonpoisonous, Renya started to move in the direction of the scent he smelled.The movement was very easy for Renya.Theres no particular searchlight flooding in from below, and the castle itself doesnt have too many light sources.Moreover, as night is a time where theres no illumination, I sure cant imagine humans nimbly jumping from one roof to the other like acrobats, much less without a lifeline considering you will definitely lose your life if you fall due to the height.After jumping several times, Renya discovers the window from where the scent is apparently leaking out.Once he lands on the roof above the window without being found, he quietly peers into the window while bending himself forward over the edge of the roof.Apparently intending to ventilate the room a little bit, the window has been opened just a little. It seems that the scent, which Renya smelled, leaks out from there.The interior of the room he saw through the window was gloomy, but several magic light sources, which have been set up inside, are faintly illuminating the room filled with smoke. Although it was only somehow, he was able to grasp the situation inside.There are incense burners placed all over the room, appearing to be the source of the smoke emission.Theres a bed in the rooms centre which appears to have a lot leeway, even if several people sleep next to each other. Theres no other furniture.Somehow Renya feels like it resembles the composition of the room in the inn hes staying at. He has mixed feelings.But then again he wasnt able to judge whether the royal castles room was like a traditional love hotel, or it was similar to an inns room meant for lovers as opposed to the traditional love hotel over there.Once he returns his consciousness towards the observation of the rooms interior after pulling himself together, he sees several figures of people scattered on the floor.He didnt know at all whether it was related to life and death due to looking through the window, but when he absentmindedly looks at the bodies contours, Renya realizes that most likely all of them are women.And, he perceived that a couple consisting of a man and a woman was intertwined on top of the large bed in the middle of the room. Chapter 86 C It seems to be an infiltration of the royal castle Even though its called a castle in short, it possessed a wide variety of structures depending on the purpose of each new addition, and the era they were built.Some parts were built during times of war, and were solid boorish structures meant to be used as fortresses. Other sections were built during peace times, and focused more on an elegant appearance instead of function.On top of possessing such knowledge, Renya receives a somewhat extremely mismatched impression once he sees the royal castle located in the centre of this Holy City.The wall surrounding the castle was built higher than the wall around the Holy City, but with only one gate. There was also another moat surrounding the Castle Walls which was too wide for one to jump over, even though it was slightly narrower than the outer moat which was filled deeply and widely with water.The wall has stones with a width, height and depth of 1 m piling up. With something similar to mortar plastered on them, the overall wall has become pure white.Since its several meters thick, it probably has the shape of mud walls on both sides with stones in-between, Renya assumes.At a fixed interval, there are square shaped watchtower-like structures on the castle gate. Several soldiers have the duty to stand watch there continuously.The massive castle gate was made entirely out of iron, and heavy enough that no thought went to human operation and required a machine to have been installed for heaving it open and shut from the beginning. Once one passes the inner moat, theres a garden continuing until the castle. Leaving that garden, one finally arrives at the entrance to the castle.Its exterior defence looks reasonably tough, but if one talks about the castles main part, Renyas information isnt clear on the interior at all. He had the impression that he must not feel like its ignoring utility and putting emphasis on appearance in any way as long as he looks at it from the outside.Just like the castle walls, the buildings walls are pure white after having been coated with something like mortar. Theres no doubt about its beauty.However, there are many minarets with ambiguous usefulness standing out. Renya feels like theres exceedingly many blind spots.Furthermore, the main castle doesnt look like it possesses installations such as slits for firing arrows while defending, and places that are filled with soldiers.Additionally soil was piled up right below the castle for some reason. It was also a mystery why the castles base was at a slightly higher place than the castle walls.Renya worriesisnt there any meaning in the castle walls?, but thanks to this, it results in parts of the the royal castle being visible from anywhere you look in the Holy City.Basically, the installations and personnel for defence are deployed outside the main castle. Because of that the main castle itself is an otherworld-like structure, Renya concluded. Even if trespassing is difficult to some extent, its not impossible to get in, huh? (Renya) On top of the Holy Citys circumference being surrounded by a wall, the castles circumference is surrounded by an even higher castle wall. I guess quite a cowardly king is living there, he ends up judging.The place where Renya is currently located at is on top of the roof of a minaret which boasts the tallest height within the royal castle.Renya, who took a nap while peacefully lining up with the other two, was properly woken up by Emil after sunset.While stifling a yawn due to his remaining drowsiness, he summoned the employee with the bell and requested the preparation of hot water and dinner for three. After he confirmed the arrival of those, Renya quietly left the inn.He intended to say that hes going outside to breathe some fresh air for a change of mood if he was questioned by someone, but luckily he didnt encounter anyone and left the inn. As he tried to go to the royal castle, Renya realized he didnt know the route to get there after all. While heading to the middle of the city through guesswork as a last resort, he decided to run along the buildings roofs in the same manner as the time he came to the slums.Concealing his face again with the cloth he took out from his inventory, Renya continued running on top of a roof. As he approached the castle, Renya saw its surroundings being protected by a high castle wall and clicked his tongue slightly.Even if I try to run around the castles circumference once, there wont be any place where I can enter except the main gate. The moats width exceeds 20 m as well.No matter how much Renyas ability is surpassing that of humans, its not a distance he can jump across.Renya, who pondered what he should do, takes some distance by separating from the castle temporarily, starts running with all his might in order to guarantee a plentiful approach run, and casts wind magic from the reference point of the roofs edge towards his own back the instant he jumps off while aiming for the castle wall.The cast spell is something called and is originally used to confine an opponent or to throw their posture off-balance with a powerful wind, but he decided to try lengthening his jump distance by blowing it against his own back.That attempt half-succeeded and half-failed.Renya thought it would be fine if he could jump far enough to at least cling to the castle wall, but the generated wind easily blew Renyas body away due to the strength caused by the charged mana.Renyas body, which was whirled up very high in the air, quickly went beyond the castle wall and would have passed the garden to be thrown against the castle inner wall.Renya quickly deployed thespell from the opposite direction and was able to somehow kill the momentum and perform an emergency landing on the castles roof.There were a lot of other spells to use if it was only about jumping, but the reason he didnt use those was in case of a magic sensitive barrier-like protection being deployed over the entire castle.However, that worry was apparently pointless. The spell he cast to slow himself down activated without any kind of impediment. Theres also no sign of him having triggered something like an alarm.Renya believes that to be careless, but if you think about it properly, something like a defence barrier and detection net deployed over the entire castle at normal times will end up costing an outrageous amount of money to maintain.Such things very likely exist in case of emergency though, thinking that far, Renya cocks his head in contemplation all the same.Considering it normally, the information that a suspicious character broke through the entrance gate of the Holy City should have been reported to the castle.If theres such a report, it wont be odd for the castle to adopt some kind of precautionary stance.Just what the hell is wrong with them maintaining that completely defenceless, normal state?He wonders.There was no reason for Renya to know about it, but the soldiers present when Renyas group broke through didnt report it to their superior.If they did, the castles alertness certainly would have changed into an high alert just as Renya thought. But with them being unable to believe what they saw, they intentionally kept silent due to the fear of having to take some kind of responsibility had they really reported the incident to their superior just like that.The act of pretending to ignore a problem due to them wanting to protect their position above all else is not a praisable act for a soldier.That alone was an indication of the low training level of the soldiers of this Holy City, but theres no expectation for Renya to understand that either.After trying to ponder about it for a while, Renya, who concluded that theres no way to reach an answer no matter how long he thinks it over, abandons the thoughts concerning that and starts with another matter.Its about where the hero stays within this castle.Although there was no way for him to make an educated guess from the get-go, he has several ideas about how to narrow down the conditions.First of all, hes probably not at a lower floor.Thats because there are soldiers acting as guards and patrols at the lower places. At least there are peoples eyes everywhere.Since there also exist owners of peculiar fetishes like getting aroused by being seen, its not something I can say with absolute confidence. But if he possesses a normal way of thinking, he will decide that its better to not be seen by people in case he does you-know-what during the night.Second, theres no doubt that its a room with a window, I think.He guesses that from the fact that the other party are young women of royalty and nobility.Even in a completely dark room devoid of any windows, it might be romantic if he laboriously relies on the light of candles. But if seen from the side of the young woman being pinned down, its something that lacks elegance and emotions.By the way, these are not Renyas views but hints from Croire.Since thats how it is, she will definitely request a room with a window where moonlight flows in, or a place corresponding to that at the time shes with him, being told that, Renya ended up being troubled how to answer best.Third is about him likely using a room with quite the size.This is information from Shion.Regarding the relevance of that point, the hero seems to already be boasting about his level of strength indicating him as hero without a doubt. Thats not true at all however, as he seems to be in a state of being a great demon king of the night, but completely unable to subjugate even a noble daughter by himself.As its impossible for him alone, hes just saying join my party, and every day after sunset he brings together several people in one place and holds a large nocturnal athletic meet.Starting to ponder about stupid stuff such asI guess he wont say something like can you teach me what kind of games there are besides the ball-toss game and ball rolling? on those athletic meets, Renya shakes his head in a hurry and resets his thinking.Taking the opportunity of thinking about stupid things, Renya ends up strangely admiringI guess there are athletic meets even in a different world.He should be able to narrow down the rooms meeting those conditions quite a bit if theres a rough map of the castle, but theres no way to obtain something like that concerning a royal castle that easily.The nose of Renya, who wondersis there no other way but to peek into each and every large place housing a window, counting on vague intuition for the restpicked up a sweet scent mixed into the night wind. Perfume? No its the scent of something. (Renya) Its not something light like a scent attached to a body. Its a sweetness that feels a lot heavier and thicker.While its only a small amount, it has an intensity capable of penetrating the cloth covering his face and reaching his nose.Furthermore, Renyas own body perceives that scent as foreign contamination. He somehow senses that the skill took action due to its void toxification attribute. This is very welcome. It seems that the scent is leading over there. (Renya) Since its called Holy Kingdom for better or worse, the royalty over here probably wont be fond of something that seems to be this bad for their bodies, even if they dont go as far as being saints, Renya thinks.Its also not something that seems to be used by soldiers during their break.In that case, the probability is extremely high that the one using it is my target.Closing his eyes and persuading himself that it cant be helped in this case, even while knowing that its something bad for his body, he sniffs the wind carrying the scent and somehow becomes aware of where its coming from.Renya doesnt want to approach the source of something that seems to harm his body, but he wont be able to accomplish his goal without getting close to it.While hoping that the ability of the Healthy Body skill turns everything nonpoisonous, Renya started to move in the direction of the scent he smelled.The movement was very easy for Renya.Theres no particular searchlight flooding in from below, and the castle itself doesnt have too many light sources.Moreover, as night is a time where theres no illumination, I sure cant imagine humans nimbly jumping from one roof to the other like acrobats, much less without a lifeline considering you will definitely lose your life if you fall due to the height.After jumping several times, Renya discovers the window from where the scent is apparently leaking out.Once he lands on the roof above the window without being found, he quietly peers into the window while bending himself forward over the edge of the roof.Apparently intending to ventilate the room a little bit, the window has been opened just a little. It seems that the scent, which Renya smelled, leaks out from there.The interior of the room he saw through the window was gloomy, but several magic light sources, which have been set up inside, are faintly illuminating the room filled with smoke. Although it was only somehow, he was able to grasp the situation inside.There are incense burners placed all over the room, appearing to be the source of the smoke emission.Theres a bed in the rooms centre which appears to have a lot leeway, even if several people sleep next to each other. Theres no other furniture.Somehow Renya feels like it resembles the composition of the room in the inn hes staying at. He has mixed feelings.But then again he wasnt able to judge whether the royal castles room was like a traditional love hotel, or it was similar to an inns room meant for lovers as opposed to the traditional love hotel over there.Once he returns his consciousness towards the observation of the rooms interior after pulling himself together, he sees several figures of people scattered on the floor.He didnt know at all whether it was related to life and death due to looking through the window, but when he absentmindedly looks at the bodies contours, Renya realizes that most likely all of them are women.And, he perceived that a couple consisting of a man and a woman was intertwined on top of the large bed in the middle of the room. Chapter 87 Chapter 87 C It seems to be an escape due to a blunder Describing it as being entangledmight be wrong,are Renyas thoughts while peeking inside the room.To say it precisely, its a completely limp nude womans body thats not moving as well as a nude mans body moving and twining himself around her,thats the feeling I get.The appearance of the woman, whose arms loosely hang while moving her head each time shes shaken with no light dwelling in her eyes, doesnt give one the impression of being a human body at all.Shes completely like a doll, Renya assesses.While drool is drooping down from her partly open mouth, that woman seems to have lost consciousness quite a while ago and appears to have been continuously tampered with in that state, he guessed.Once he turns his look towards the floor, all of the figures scattered there are women.Their ages and figures are diverse, but the only common aspect shared among them is their nudity.And all of them have blank eyes as they have turned unconscious.When he shifts his attention to a corner of the room, he saw clothes tossed away carelessly forming a mountain, likely worn by those scattered women beforehand.Dresses like those worn by noble daughters, apron dresses similar to those worn by maids and even ordinary clothes like those worn by the common people of the city, though unknown why they are in this place, are piled up over there.Once he sees this much, theres no mistake. In the middle of having fun, eh? This is terrible (Renya) It was apparently 6~7 women in total counting the ones spread out on the floor and the one on top of the bed in the middle of the act.With the one attacking them persistently to the extent of them losing consciousness and the one still in the middle of the act being the same man, it makes Renya wonder whether thats not abnormal.Though Renya cant discard the possibility that it might be him who is simply abnormal.He turns his eyes towards the incense burner releasing smoke in a corner of the room.Once he used the skill he tends to forget about, a message flowed in. What kind of incense is that!? (Renya) Retorting reflexively, Renya holds down his mouth in a hurry. It causes pleasure and lengthens the endurance. Its that kind of incense. Its not necessary for me, but without this, the oujou-samas will resist fiercely and break right away. Oh well, even if I have this, almost all of them will end up broken anyway. Renya frowns at the voice that could be heard through the slight opening of the window.When he peeked once more, the person who appears to be the hero had casually tossed on the floor the body of the woman, whom he had embraced until then, and was sitting on the edge of the bed.Once Renya widened the opening by pressing his hand against the window, from there he smoothly intruded into the room since his presence had been exposed already anyway.The rooms interior is filled with a stuffily hot air. Its teeming with the thick scent of the incense, to a degree that cannot be compared to what has leaked out from the window. With the body odour of man and women added on top, it makes Renya lightly feel like throwing up. Its cool to look like a ninja! I wonder to which country you belong? (Yuuki) Me being present you noticed it from the start, right? (Renya) The words leaving Renyas mouth have a far lower tone than his usual voice. Moreover they are muffled thanks to the cloth covering his mouth. Of course. Im the hero. Isnt it obvious that something like the presence of a rat that sneaked into castle will be noticed by me right away? (Yuuki) So thats why you continued unabashed? You are quite the big deal, arent you? (Renya) While his voice is dripping with emotions of disgust, Renya observes the hero below the dim light.A gently waving dark, or rather light brown, short hair and slender, well-featured looks.His shapely nose is conspicuous, his chiselled features are deep and his eyes are distinct as well as two-layered.Going by Renyas opinion,8-9 people out of 10 will likely consider him to be anikemenif asked about his looks.Since hes still nude, his bodys foundation can be seen, but you cant say that hes much of the martial arts type in any way.If pushed to say, his upper body is feeble and his body isnt that well-built either.In regards to his lower body, Renya refused to look there.That doesnt mean that he wants to see the lower body of a woman, but Renya doesnt want to see that of a male even if they beg him to do so. I knew that theres no one on lookout. (Yuuki) I suppose you have confidence with that as well. Will you let me hear your name too, Hero-sama? (Renya) My name is Yuuki Yatsufusa. Its hero Yuuki. You would do fine to remember it. After all, its the name of the person who will save this world. (Yuuki) Renya lightly drops his shoulders due to the heros own grand introduction as he spreads both arms, still sitting at the edge of the bed.Because he thought that it certainly will only be something like the customary one, where he will give his own name if asked, he felt like having received a letdown.It probably cant be helped that he wants to introduce himself this muchalthough he ended up thinking that, theres also no way that the hero, who introduced himself as Yuuki, knows about Renyas innermost thoughts. So? Who and from where are you? (Yuuki) I dont think thats a question you will get an answer for if you ask this sort of person. (Renya) Really? Thats regrettable. I had such a feeling too, though. (Yuuki) While nude, the hero called Yuuki looks away from Renya, stands up from the bed, and walks towards the corner of the room.Yuuki took out trousers that look like jeans from the clothes that were piled into a mountain, and casually put them on.Anikemenwearing jeans with a bare upper body; for some people that might be a view that drives them mad, but Renya has no deeper knowledge in that area. Inside his head, hes just ponderinghow do I get away from here?The only reason Renya had appeared in front of Yuuki is simply because his intrusion had been exposed anyway.Once I hear what I must hear and see what I must see, theres nothing better than running away quickly. I have heard that you are a hero that was summoned from another world, but is that really true? (Renya) Why do I have to tell that to a person who doesnt name himself? Oh well, not like it matters though. Thats right. Answering the plead of the people of this world, I came here after being guided by goddess-sama. (Yuuki) Is that any different from a Lost? Meeting one is rare, but as for us, such beings arent that unusual. (Renya) Renya has no intention to tell Yuuki about him being a person from another world.To the bitter end, he intends to stick with pretending to be a spy from some country of this world.Yuukis expression warped, looking displeased due to Renyas question. Something like confusing me, who came here after being asked to do so, with people who got lost by mistake. You are a rude person, arent you. (Yuuki) I also dont want to be handled as the same kind as you, Renya retorts in his mind.It might have possibly ended up showing on his face a bit, but as Renyas face was luckily covered by a cloth, there is no way for his opponent to realize. Do you really intend to fight the demon king as the hero? Though you probably cant say that you wont do it now that you have had sex with this many various women. (Renya) Yeah. After all, its the heros job to defeat the demon king, isnt it? (Yuuki) You are insane, you know? (Renya) Im sane, you know? Besides, as long as Im the hero, the people will swarm to this power, blood and body. (Yuuki) Renya hasnt moved from the window where he slipped in.Without even trying to look in the direction of Renya, Yuuki grabbed the hair of a single woman that was still lying on the ground, and dragged her along then woke her up.Even though the awoken woman should feel pain due to having her hair pulled, she doesnt react in any way besides leaking a low and quiet moan.Yuukis tongue licked her cheek with a *slurp*. I dont have to endure, right? Its all-you-can-eat, isnt it? Food as well as girls. Even slaves, I can create as much as I like. Something like a girl being arranged for the night if I say that shes nice, dont you think that leaves nothing to be desired? (Yuuki) You are saying that, as a man you want to always have as much sex as possible and eat as much as you like? You, you are worse garbage than I thought (Renya) No one can stop me. There wont be anyone to defeat the demon king, if they offend me. (Yuuki) You are a blabbermouth, arent you? (Renya) Thats right, its something that needs to accumulate a bit. (Yuuki) Accumulate?Before he could think about that doubt, Renyas body reacted to it.What was held in the hands of Yuuki, who should be empty-handed, is a longsword with gaudy ornaments embedded and a wide breadth.He swung the sword at Renya from a place quite far from Renya himself.It was a distance where the sword blade shouldnt reach, but sensing the approach of an attack, Renyas body rolls on the ground.Above him, an invisible blade passed through and cut up the window in a straight line. Oh, you dodged it? Your intuition is great. (Yuuki) Attacking all of a sudden, eh? What a dangerous fellow. (Renya) After having evaded the attack, Renya stands up right away and puts himself on guard.Although he had become a good target for a follow-up attack, since Renya was rolling around as much as he likes, Yuukis immediate pursuit attack didnt happen. No, not at all. In this case, you are the criminal as a trespasser here, right? If it was America, you would have been shot on the spot. (Yuuki) Being drawn to consent for an instant, Renya immediately creates a voice as if surprised. You came from quite the dangerous place, I guess. (Renya) Due to Renyas words, that can be interpreted as if the place called America was actually Yuukis home country in his former world, Yuuki shoulders his longsword while muttering, I see, you say you dont know America. (Yuuki) It apparently was some kind of leading question, but Renya has no intention to concern himself with that.Fleetingly glancing at the window that was now partially destroyed due to the attack that just happened, he kicks off the ground, hurls himself against the window with his back, and jumps outside after breaking through.Of course that place was quite high up in the air, far away from the ground.If he doesnt do anything but continuing to fall, he will die.Seeing as he has already been discovered by the hero, its not a situation where he can talk about stealth, silence or such.Renya clads his entire body in a gust of air by activating wind magic with the void attribute, and flies in a straight line towards the outside of the royal palaces grounds.The soldiers below, who seem to have finally noticed the unusual phenomenon taking place above their heads, hurriedly move and point at the sky while shouting something. However Renya doesnt have the free time to pay any attention to them.If its flight speed supported by Renyas mana, something like fleeing from the royal palace should be done in an instant.However, due to his inability to leave the royal palace, Renya cannot do anything but stop in mid air.Its because Yuuki stood in the direction of his movement, grinning while holding the sword in one hand.Of course theres nothing below his feet. Yuuki has moved, in an instant, from the previous room to Renyas flight path. Moreover hes in a state of floating. I dont remember you having passed me though? (Renya) Its short-distance teleportation and floating. Since Im the hero, that much is simple. (Yuuki) Thrusting the point of the longsword he held at Renya, Yuuki says, This is the Holy Sword Tyrfing. Its sharpness allows it to cut even through steel. (Yuuki) Thats also an exaggerated sword. (Renya) Please surrender if you dont want to get a taste of its blade. If i learn what country you spy for, I will be able to grasp that countrys weaknesses. (Yuuki) Renya didnt know how much of a danger the item called holy sword was, but since it has been expressly given a name, its likely impossible for it to be blunt, he thinks.In that case theres the question whether its possible to fend it off with my katana thats currently stored in my inventory. If I grasp their weaknesses, I will also make them offer me the princesses over there or whatever, I guess? (Yuuki) You really are trash (Renya) As a matter of fact I wondered whether you arent a Lost. (Yuuki) Renya looks puzzled at Yuuki due to the suddenly changed topic.Yuuki continued speaking without a single quiver of his swords point. Tomorrow a princess will be presented to me as my belonging. She possesses information that theres quite a skilled Lost. (Yuuki) I have been exposed, Renya silently stares at Yuuki without making a single sound. I wondered if he wouldnt come creeping in without understanding his own place. It looks like it was a miss though. (Yuuki) So? (Renya) If its a miss, then it is a miss. If there isnt anything else good about it, isnt that a waste of labour and effort? (Yuuki) Renya doesnt answer.After all, he didnt know whether theres the expression of labour and such in the world over here.If he reacts strangely here, it will result in him being asked why he knows about it. Given that Im fed up with princesses and such these days its great that I will be given a fresh female knight though. (Yuuki) Being grinned at, Renya felt like some snapping sound occurred somewhere in his head.If things go on as they are, Shion will end up in front of that man who will try to break her with his sinister ways. On top of shamelessly blurting out that hes fed up with princesses, he mentioned that a female knight is great as the next target.Even though Shion is facing this place on top of having this much resolve.Moreover, speaking of a female knight Renya knows, he is reminded of Rona who is a former knight, albeit now a priestess.If this hero or whatever learns of that fact, wont he then feel inclined to even have sex with Rona?Among the skills Renya possesses, , and are started up at maximum power all of a sudden. Renyas mana, which can even be described as uncommonly weak among humans, gets sucked up. You know, as for women (Renya) Mmh? (Yuuki) Seemingly having sensed the abnormality in Renyas voice, Yuuki tilts his head to the side.His face transformed into a startled expression as if he had noticed something. He looked up into the sky while holding down his ear with his free hand.That was apparently the same for the soldiers who were below. They look up at the sky while plugging their ears after dropping their weapons.An intense buzzing in the ears was caused by the sudden change in atmospheric pressure occuring in that place. However, while neither the hero nor the soldiers knew the cause of it at all, they looked up to they sky as they felt some vague presence there.And, that action wasnt wrong at all. As for women, they aint food to be devoured by you. Buzz off, moron! (Renya) , one of the highest ranked spells among the wind attribute, was invoked by Renya due to his still raging fury.The instant it was invoked, heaven and earth was connected by a shining, bluish-white, huge pillar.Though its something that happened later in the future; on top of that huge pillar of light being visible from every point within a radius ranging dozens of kilometers with the Holy City as centre, the vibration and thunderous roaring that occurred afterwards assaulted the entire Holy City and caused heavy damage such as collapsing houses and destroying windows.As for the part of the royal castle that received the bolt directly, a hole was drilled very deeply into the ground with a diameter of ten-odd meters. As if it was natural, the soldiers and buildings that were hit directly evaporated without leaving anything behind.The hero succeeded in barely evading it by using a short-distance teleport, but he suffered quite the heavy damage during what was called the aftermath.And, as if its only natural, the figure of the man who appeared to be a spy of some country went missing after the pillar of light vanished. Chapter 87 C It seems to be an escape due to a blunder Describing it as being entangledmight be wrong,are Renyas thoughts while peeking inside the room.To say it precisely, its a completely limp nude womans body thats not moving as well as a nude mans body moving and twining himself around her,thats the feeling I get.The appearance of the woman, whose arms loosely hang while moving her head each time shes shaken with no light dwelling in her eyes, doesnt give one the impression of being a human body at all.Shes completely like a doll, Renya assesses.While drool is drooping down from her partly open mouth, that woman seems to have lost consciousness quite a while ago and appears to have been continuously tampered with in that state, he guessed.Once he turns his look towards the floor, all of the figures scattered there are women.Their ages and figures are diverse, but the only common aspect shared among them is their nudity.And all of them have blank eyes as they have turned unconscious.When he shifts his attention to a corner of the room, he saw clothes tossed away carelessly forming a mountain, likely worn by those scattered women beforehand.Dresses like those worn by noble daughters, apron dresses similar to those worn by maids and even ordinary clothes like those worn by the common people of the city, though unknown why they are in this place, are piled up over there.Once he sees this much, theres no mistake. In the middle of having fun, eh? This is terrible (Renya) It was apparently 6~7 women in total counting the ones spread out on the floor and the one on top of the bed in the middle of the act.With the one attacking them persistently to the extent of them losing consciousness and the one still in the middle of the act being the same man, it makes Renya wonder whether thats not abnormal.Though Renya cant discard the possibility that it might be him who is simply abnormal.He turns his eyes towards the incense burner releasing smoke in a corner of the room.Once he used the skill he tends to forget about, a message flowed in. What kind of incense is that!? (Renya) Retorting reflexively, Renya holds down his mouth in a hurry. It causes pleasure and lengthens the endurance. Its that kind of incense. Its not necessary for me, but without this, the oujou-samas will resist fiercely and break right away. Oh well, even if I have this, almost all of them will end up broken anyway. Renya frowns at the voice that could be heard through the slight opening of the window.When he peeked once more, the person who appears to be the hero had casually tossed on the floor the body of the woman, whom he had embraced until then, and was sitting on the edge of the bed.Once Renya widened the opening by pressing his hand against the window, from there he smoothly intruded into the room since his presence had been exposed already anyway.The rooms interior is filled with a stuffily hot air. Its teeming with the thick scent of the incense, to a degree that cannot be compared to what has leaked out from the window. With the body odour of man and women added on top, it makes Renya lightly feel like throwing up. Its cool to look like a ninja! I wonder to which country you belong? (Yuuki) Me being present you noticed it from the start, right? (Renya) The words leaving Renyas mouth have a far lower tone than his usual voice. Moreover they are muffled thanks to the cloth covering his mouth. Of course. Im the hero. Isnt it obvious that something like the presence of a rat that sneaked into castle will be noticed by me right away? (Yuuki) So thats why you continued unabashed? You are quite the big deal, arent you? (Renya) While his voice is dripping with emotions of disgust, Renya observes the hero below the dim light.A gently waving dark, or rather light brown, short hair and slender, well-featured looks.His shapely nose is conspicuous, his chiselled features are deep and his eyes are distinct as well as two-layered.Going by Renyas opinion,8-9 people out of 10 will likely consider him to be anikemenif asked about his looks.Since hes still nude, his bodys foundation can be seen, but you cant say that hes much of the martial arts type in any way.If pushed to say, his upper body is feeble and his body isnt that well-built either.In regards to his lower body, Renya refused to look there.That doesnt mean that he wants to see the lower body of a woman, but Renya doesnt want to see that of a male even if they beg him to do so. I knew that theres no one on lookout. (Yuuki) I suppose you have confidence with that as well. Will you let me hear your name too, Hero-sama? (Renya) My name is Yuuki Yatsufusa. Its hero Yuuki. You would do fine to remember it. After all, its the name of the person who will save this world. (Yuuki) Renya lightly drops his shoulders due to the heros own grand introduction as he spreads both arms, still sitting at the edge of the bed.Because he thought that it certainly will only be something like the customary one, where he will give his own name if asked, he felt like having received a letdown.It probably cant be helped that he wants to introduce himself this muchalthough he ended up thinking that, theres also no way that the hero, who introduced himself as Yuuki, knows about Renyas innermost thoughts. So? Who and from where are you? (Yuuki) I dont think thats a question you will get an answer for if you ask this sort of person. (Renya) Really? Thats regrettable. I had such a feeling too, though. (Yuuki) While nude, the hero called Yuuki looks away from Renya, stands up from the bed, and walks towards the corner of the room.Yuuki took out trousers that look like jeans from the clothes that were piled into a mountain, and casually put them on.Anikemenwearing jeans with a bare upper body; for some people that might be a view that drives them mad, but Renya has no deeper knowledge in that area. Inside his head, hes just ponderinghow do I get away from here?The only reason Renya had appeared in front of Yuuki is simply because his intrusion had been exposed anyway.Once I hear what I must hear and see what I must see, theres nothing better than running away quickly. I have heard that you are a hero that was summoned from another world, but is that really true? (Renya) Why do I have to tell that to a person who doesnt name himself? Oh well, not like it matters though. Thats right. Answering the plead of the people of this world, I came here after being guided by goddess-sama. (Yuuki) Is that any different from a Lost? Meeting one is rare, but as for us, such beings arent that unusual. (Renya) Renya has no intention to tell Yuuki about him being a person from another world.To the bitter end, he intends to stick with pretending to be a spy from some country of this world.Yuukis expression warped, looking displeased due to Renyas question. Something like confusing me, who came here after being asked to do so, with people who got lost by mistake. You are a rude person, arent you. (Yuuki) I also dont want to be handled as the same kind as you, Renya retorts in his mind.It might have possibly ended up showing on his face a bit, but as Renyas face was luckily covered by a cloth, there is no way for his opponent to realize. Do you really intend to fight the demon king as the hero? Though you probably cant say that you wont do it now that you have had sex with this many various women. (Renya) Yeah. After all, its the heros job to defeat the demon king, isnt it? (Yuuki) You are insane, you know? (Renya) Im sane, you know? Besides, as long as Im the hero, the people will swarm to this power, blood and body. (Yuuki) Renya hasnt moved from the window where he slipped in.Without even trying to look in the direction of Renya, Yuuki grabbed the hair of a single woman that was still lying on the ground, and dragged her along then woke her up.Even though the awoken woman should feel pain due to having her hair pulled, she doesnt react in any way besides leaking a low and quiet moan.Yuukis tongue licked her cheek with a *slurp*. I dont have to endure, right? Its all-you-can-eat, isnt it? Food as well as girls. Even slaves, I can create as much as I like. Something like a girl being arranged for the night if I say that shes nice, dont you think that leaves nothing to be desired? (Yuuki) You are saying that, as a man you want to always have as much sex as possible and eat as much as you like? You, you are worse garbage than I thought (Renya) No one can stop me. There wont be anyone to defeat the demon king, if they offend me. (Yuuki) You are a blabbermouth, arent you? (Renya) Thats right, its something that needs to accumulate a bit. (Yuuki) Accumulate?Before he could think about that doubt, Renyas body reacted to it.What was held in the hands of Yuuki, who should be empty-handed, is a longsword with gaudy ornaments embedded and a wide breadth.He swung the sword at Renya from a place quite far from Renya himself.It was a distance where the sword blade shouldnt reach, but sensing the approach of an attack, Renyas body rolls on the ground.Above him, an invisible blade passed through and cut up the window in a straight line. Oh, you dodged it? Your intuition is great. (Yuuki) Attacking all of a sudden, eh? What a dangerous fellow. (Renya) After having evaded the attack, Renya stands up right away and puts himself on guard.Although he had become a good target for a follow-up attack, since Renya was rolling around as much as he likes, Yuukis immediate pursuit attack didnt happen. No, not at all. In this case, you are the criminal as a trespasser here, right? If it was America, you would have been shot on the spot. (Yuuki) Being drawn to consent for an instant, Renya immediately creates a voice as if surprised. You came from quite the dangerous place, I guess. (Renya) Due to Renyas words, that can be interpreted as if the place called America was actually Yuukis home country in his former world, Yuuki shoulders his longsword while muttering, I see, you say you dont know America. (Yuuki) It apparently was some kind of leading question, but Renya has no intention to concern himself with that.Fleetingly glancing at the window that was now partially destroyed due to the attack that just happened, he kicks off the ground, hurls himself against the window with his back, and jumps outside after breaking through.Of course that place was quite high up in the air, far away from the ground.If he doesnt do anything but continuing to fall, he will die.Seeing as he has already been discovered by the hero, its not a situation where he can talk about stealth, silence or such.Renya clads his entire body in a gust of air by activating wind magic with the void attribute, and flies in a straight line towards the outside of the royal palaces grounds.The soldiers below, who seem to have finally noticed the unusual phenomenon taking place above their heads, hurriedly move and point at the sky while shouting something. However Renya doesnt have the free time to pay any attention to them.If its flight speed supported by Renyas mana, something like fleeing from the royal palace should be done in an instant.However, due to his inability to leave the royal palace, Renya cannot do anything but stop in mid air.Its because Yuuki stood in the direction of his movement, grinning while holding the sword in one hand.Of course theres nothing below his feet. Yuuki has moved, in an instant, from the previous room to Renyas flight path. Moreover hes in a state of floating. I dont remember you having passed me though? (Renya) Its short-distance teleportation and floating. Since Im the hero, that much is simple. (Yuuki) Thrusting the point of the longsword he held at Renya, Yuuki says, This is the Holy Sword Tyrfing. Its sharpness allows it to cut even through steel. (Yuuki) Thats also an exaggerated sword. (Renya) Please surrender if you dont want to get a taste of its blade. If i learn what country you spy for, I will be able to grasp that countrys weaknesses. (Yuuki) Renya didnt know how much of a danger the item called holy sword was, but since it has been expressly given a name, its likely impossible for it to be blunt, he thinks.In that case theres the question whether its possible to fend it off with my katana thats currently stored in my inventory. If I grasp their weaknesses, I will also make them offer me the princesses over there or whatever, I guess? (Yuuki) You really are trash (Renya) As a matter of fact I wondered whether you arent a Lost. (Yuuki) Renya looks puzzled at Yuuki due to the suddenly changed topic.Yuuki continued speaking without a single quiver of his swords point. Tomorrow a princess will be presented to me as my belonging. She possesses information that theres quite a skilled Lost. (Yuuki) I have been exposed, Renya silently stares at Yuuki without making a single sound. I wondered if he wouldnt come creeping in without understanding his own place. It looks like it was a miss though. (Yuuki) So? (Renya) If its a miss, then it is a miss. If there isnt anything else good about it, isnt that a waste of labour and effort? (Yuuki) Renya doesnt answer.After all, he didnt know whether theres the expression of labour and such in the world over here.If he reacts strangely here, it will result in him being asked why he knows about it. Given that Im fed up with princesses and such these days its great that I will be given a fresh female knight though. (Yuuki) Being grinned at, Renya felt like some snapping sound occurred somewhere in his head.If things go on as they are, Shion will end up in front of that man who will try to break her with his sinister ways. On top of shamelessly blurting out that hes fed up with princesses, he mentioned that a female knight is great as the next target.Even though Shion is facing this place on top of having this much resolve.Moreover, speaking of a female knight Renya knows, he is reminded of Rona who is a former knight, albeit now a priestess.If this hero or whatever learns of that fact, wont he then feel inclined to even have sex with Rona?Among the skills Renya possesses, , and are started up at maximum power all of a sudden. Renyas mana, which can even be described as uncommonly weak among humans, gets sucked up. You know, as for women (Renya) Mmh? (Yuuki) Seemingly having sensed the abnormality in Renyas voice, Yuuki tilts his head to the side.His face transformed into a startled expression as if he had noticed something. He looked up into the sky while holding down his ear with his free hand.That was apparently the same for the soldiers who were below. They look up at the sky while plugging their ears after dropping their weapons.An intense buzzing in the ears was caused by the sudden change in atmospheric pressure occuring in that place. However, while neither the hero nor the soldiers knew the cause of it at all, they looked up to they sky as they felt some vague presence there.And, that action wasnt wrong at all. As for women, they aint food to be devoured by you. Buzz off, moron! (Renya) , one of the highest ranked spells among the wind attribute, was invoked by Renya due to his still raging fury.The instant it was invoked, heaven and earth was connected by a shining, bluish-white, huge pillar.Though its something that happened later in the future; on top of that huge pillar of light being visible from every point within a radius ranging dozens of kilometers with the Holy City as centre, the vibration and thunderous roaring that occurred afterwards assaulted the entire Holy City and caused heavy damage such as collapsing houses and destroying windows.As for the part of the royal castle that received the bolt directly, a hole was drilled very deeply into the ground with a diameter of ten-odd meters. As if it was natural, the soldiers and buildings that were hit directly evaporated without leaving anything behind.The hero succeeded in barely evading it by using a short-distance teleport, but he suffered quite the heavy damage during what was called the aftermath.And, as if its only natural, the figure of the man who appeared to be a spy of some country went missing after the pillar of light vanished. Chapter 88 Say, Renya, didnt you go a tiiiny bit over the top there? (Emil) I might have done a bit too much after giving in to my emotions. Im reflecting on it. (Renya) Thats right, isnt it? With damages to the city and letting the actual target, the hero, get away. Thats not very funny now, is it? (Emil) The spell , which Renya fired at the hero, ended up causing quite an amount of damage to the urban areas in addition to the royal castle.The damage of the spell itself was actually limited. It merely resulted in making a huge hole with a diameter of ten-odd meters in a section of the royal castles grounds.That being said, the hole had a depth that didnt allow one to see the bottom if looking inside from above.The problem is the aftermath of the spell. The sound of the lightning strike, together with the vibration caused during the opening of the large hole, dealt reasonable damage to the buildings in the surroundings.To be more specific, windows were blown off and buildings collapsed due to the vibrations.After dawn broke, Emil and Renya went to see the actual site while feigning ignorance, but due to the damages brought about by the aftermath, Renya had cold sweat and Emils eyes sparkled while laughing hard due to its dreadfulness.Feeling panicked due to the painful looks from the surroundings, triggered when Emil started to laugh loudly, Renya dragged her into the shadow of a collapsed building.Since it looked like she would hysterically laugh forever if things stayed as they are, Renya sent Emil back to the inn by asking What about the masked persons guarding? while urging her.After that, Emil returned to the inn which serves as their base. Renya bought a robe with a hood attached in a nearby store, hid his face, and voluntarily helped out in the transport of the wounded and the removal of debris, which began to be carried out independently by the surrounding residents.Although Renya knew about it, something like healing magic was apparently extremely precious in this world.Renya didnt share that impression from his point of view at all, since he had received healing and had seen Rona use it several times. Contrary to his expectations of a Holy City, which should have enough priests to the degree of actually being able to sell healing, he was told there arent that many people who can use precise healing magic by the residents.Renya was made to realize the fact that the excellence of Rona, who can use healing magic even though she changed her occupation from being a knight, is not something that should be expected.If magic is no good, how about a kind of medicine, the so-called potion, Renya wonders.With this being the place it is, the price of potions is reasonably good. But it doesnt seem to be an item that the citys residents can prepare out of nowhere.On top of not wanting to stand out, Renya was troubled about his face being remembered. But since he was guilty of this failure, he secretly investigated the general store for adventurers, bought potions, and tried to slip them together with a big amount of money into the emergency rations taken out by the residents. He also sneakily called into the shadows some priests, who according to the citys residents seem to be able to use healing magic, and tried to negotiate with them to heal the people cheaply by handing them some bribes.The sole salvation is that there were no casualties or wounded beyond recovery, Renya sighs. He feels relieved that it hasnt resulted in something that cant be undone anymore.No matter how much the needle of my anger meter ended up peaking out, this wasnt a spell that can be used inside a city, Renya miserably reflects.Lets use a single-target spell that causes a lot less damage next time after a careful selection, he firmly vowed.But then again, even for next time, Renya had a feeling he will completely forget about it in case its released after he gives in to his wrath.In the middle of his volunteering work, the magic ship, which Shion and the others had boarded, arrives at the Holy City.Only at this time, the residents rested their working hands and headed towards the arrived magic ship to welcome it. You wont go have a look, Renya-kun? (Emil) At such time, Emil, who has no intention to help with the work, came to see the circumstances while bringing along the masked person.Since he has already seen the magic ship once in the city of Kukrika, he has absolutely no curiosity.Rather than that, I should focus on finishing the work quickly, Renya judges.The masked person, who was brought along by Emil, extremely increases the suspiciousness of the group by matching their appearance with Renya, due to wearing a robe that hid them completely with the hood lowered as well. Even if I go see them, theres no point in that, right? (Renya) Huh? Its the appearance of the lovely Shion-chan in her finest clothes, no? Isnt that the appearance of a calf that has been sold on the market, and is at its final moments? (Renya) Due to the words Renya returned calmly, the masked person fell over.Of course, theres no way for either Renya nor Emil to do an admirable act such as helping the collapsed masked person up. I wonder whether the buyer is in good health? (Emil) Well, I wonder about that. By no means did I think that the spell would be evaded though. (Renya) Originally was a spell that will get invoked after chanting for quite a long time while pouring mana into it.In Renyas case, due to the activation of the two skills: no chant and high-speed recovery, it was invoked in a considerably short time that is unthinkable going by common sense. However, even with that outlandish, high speed invokation, the hero evaded that spell with a short-distance teleport.Then again, that doesnt mean he was able to completely transfer to a place outside the range of the spells effect. It was only to the degree of him having avoided a direct hit. But from Renyas point of view, that wasnt expected to happen and thus Renya gave up on further pursuit after seeing the heros ability. But, that short-distance teleportation is a nuisance, isnt it? Theres no casting and he doesnt gather any mana either. (Renya) I think that is far too much of a cheat, Renya grows indignant.Emil didnt show it with her expression and mouth, but she was filled with the feeling of wanting to return that line entirely back to Renya just like that. Most likely its a skill of , I suppose. They are existences that always cause difficulties to the demons. (Emil) Then theres no other option but to suppress him with range attacks. (Renya) At present, Renya couldnt find any other method to kill him but to corner him with regular attacks, then at the same time as he notices the signs of the hero using a short-distance teleport, use a skill or spell capable of attacking the surroundings.Thats still fine since Renya can activate sorcery without chanting, but if one isnt capable of doing that, it becomes necessary to measure the timing very strictly, otherwise they wont be able to finish the chant ahead of the estimated timing when the hero will teleport.You might say that hes a very annoying opponent. If you do that inside the city, it will result in the same situation though? (Emil) Guh (Renya) I wonder whether there is a skill such as space control or something similar, which can force my opponent into some field where the damage wont reach the surroundings,Renya ponders. Oh well, theres nothing better for their side than us not fighting as much as possible though. So, what will we do from now on? (Emil) Were you able to investigate the flow of events in the castle? (Renya) After being granted an audience by the king in the royal castle, they will be matched up with the hero then, under the influence of the hero, they will be forced to pledge that they will exert themselves for the sake of bringing peace to the entire continent. Afterwards, its been planned to hold a party to celebrate another power having joined the heros camp. The masked person, who somehow recovered themselves from their toppled over stance, says in a muffled voice through the mask.Renya and Emil fixedly stare at the mask of the masked person with slightly astonished expressions.Averting the face as if avoiding their looks, the masked person cleared their throat with a single cough. It has been decided that things will approximately unfold in such sequence. Since theres no need to forcibly change it either, it should proceed like that. I see. If you say its just as expected, then its just as expected. Things going as expected is far too boring though, you know? (Emil) They are not particularly doing it for fun. Oh, really? How boring. (Emil) The masked persons tone suggests discarding Emils comment resolutely, but Emil doesnt seem to mind that either. Do you also know the place where the group from the Trident Principality will stay at? (Renya) The plan is for them to lodge in the magic ship. M the princess and her friend will go to the royal castle, but the staff of the magic ship and a part of the escorting soldiers should stay behind on the ship. When will the party proceed towards the royal castle? (Renya) I guess right away, after they can prepare the road following their arrival. The audience ceremony itself wont take that much time either. Hmm. Renya ponders while placing his hand on his chin.If I dont take the consequences of the events into consideration, there would actually be no need to bring this masked person along.For Renya, its the truth that they brought the masked person along thinking about keeping the future matters as simple as possible. Furthermore, it will allow them to push the responsibility away to a place where it wont cause any trouble to anyone. Emil, how about the invocation of that? (Renya) It will start up if the hero enters within a 1 m radius of that. I guess it will be a large rampage after Frau-chans special something was dumped into it. (Emil) Are there people from the Holy Kingdom inside the magic ship, too? I guess so. There will be some people who will have preparatory meetings about the security and such. All right. Then lets do it like this. (Renya) Renya declared while looking at Emil and the masked person. I will pack for the time being. (Emil) Ha? It was just the masked person who asked in return.Emil apparently understood immediately what the best thing for her to do would be from Renyas brief comment. Going around to the back of the masked person, she tightly hugs their body. Eh? Okay, lets return to the inn for now. (Emil) W-Wait, Renya!? What the hell? Renya didnt answer.The reason is that it wasnt necessary for the masked person to understand what will happen from now on.Emil has the appearance of a little girl, but her true nature is that of a demon.Because of that, her physical strength is beyond her appearance, or rather, she powerfully breaks through the limit of what can be imagined from her looks.Emil, who returned to the inn while easily carrying the masked person, carelessly throws the masked person on top of the bed and swiftly wraps their body up with the blanket, which was beneath the masked person, while leaving only the head outside.With that all too skillful performance, the masked person ended up getting tucked in without even the time to put up a resistance.Moreover, with the rope she took out, the masked person ended up getting bound from atop the blanket in the same manner as a chef who prevents the meat from falling apart during cooking. Eh!? Eeh!? What the hell is going to happen from now on!? There was no voice answering the question.With the place being what it is, theres no worry that the voice will leak to the outside.Even if we are criticized or seen by anyone, they will simply link it to a special play, is what Renya intended to insist on.However, in that case, Renyas shyness would take quite the substantial damage. Renya-kun, is it okay like this? (Emil) Due to Emils question, Renya lightly checks the state of the rope binding the masked person.The masked person was bound tightly so that they couldnt slip out, but it doesnt seem like the knots were tied in a way that strangles their body, Renya judged. Its okay. Please, just do it so that its not painful. (Renya) While warning Emil for cautions sake, Renya calls the inns employee and asks for the bill. Sorry. A sudden job has cropped up. Theres still money left, right? I dont need the change, please keep everything. And, we received favours from you as well. Please take this as a little thanks. (Renya) Renya said while slipping a gold coin into the hands of the female employee with a plain impression.Its far too much money as tip, Renya thinks, but in addition to the sudden check-out, it was money that carried the implication of hush money, as he himself didnt want to be connected to the disastrous scene behind him.Behind him is Emil assuming a triumphant look as if saying Caught ya, stepping with one foot on the body of the masked person who was transformed into a wrapped roll.Thats the disastrous scene Renya doesnt want to have any connection with, and seemingly perceiving that it will become troublesome if she touched onto that matter, the female employee doesnt even turn her glance at it. There are various special circumstances, okay? It will save us some trouble if you could handle these matters as a secret. (Renya) There are no decent people coming to such a place I see. Nevertheless, well, it would be great if you can keep it in mind. Well then, we are in your debt. (Renya) Once he asks her to give his best regards to the inns landlord, Renya leaves the inn behind.Easily shouldering the packaged masked person, Emil followed behind him. Will we go across the city like this? (Emil) Thats impossible, right? Its fine here since its the slums, but we will stand out too much in the normal city. We will go outside once by crossing over the northern wall. (Renya) S-Someone explain a bit! Neither Renya nor Emil take any notice of the masked persons voice.They were apparently packed quite skillfully. Emil blocks the mouth of the masked person, who isnt even able to squirm, with one hand.Even if they are called slums, its not a good idea to kick up a fuss without knowing whose eyes are looking from where.The two, who ran through the slums in such a state, easily jumped over the wall at the outer section of the city, just like at the time when they entered, and headed towards the magic ship along the wall. Say, Renya, didnt you go a tiiiny bit over the top there? (Emil) I might have done a bit too much after giving in to my emotions. Im reflecting on it. (Renya) Thats right, isnt it? With damages to the city and letting the actual target, the hero, get away. Thats not very funny now, is it? (Emil) The spell , which Renya fired at the hero, ended up causing quite an amount of damage to the urban areas in addition to the royal castle.The damage of the spell itself was actually limited. It merely resulted in making a huge hole with a diameter of ten-odd meters in a section of the royal castles grounds.That being said, the hole had a depth that didnt allow one to see the bottom if looking inside from above.The problem is the aftermath of the spell. The sound of the lightning strike, together with the vibration caused during the opening of the large hole, dealt reasonable damage to the buildings in the surroundings.To be more specific, windows were blown off and buildings collapsed due to the vibrations.After dawn broke, Emil and Renya went to see the actual site while feigning ignorance, but due to the damages brought about by the aftermath, Renya had cold sweat and Emils eyes sparkled while laughing hard due to its dreadfulness.Feeling panicked due to the painful looks from the surroundings, triggered when Emil started to laugh loudly, Renya dragged her into the shadow of a collapsed building.Since it looked like she would hysterically laugh forever if things stayed as they are, Renya sent Emil back to the inn by asking What about the masked persons guarding? while urging her.After that, Emil returned to the inn which serves as their base. Renya bought a robe with a hood attached in a nearby store, hid his face, and voluntarily helped out in the transport of the wounded and the removal of debris, which began to be carried out independently by the surrounding residents.Although Renya knew about it, something like healing magic was apparently extremely precious in this world.Renya didnt share that impression from his point of view at all, since he had received healing and had seen Rona use it several times. Contrary to his expectations of a Holy City, which should have enough priests to the degree of actually being able to sell healing, he was told there arent that many people who can use precise healing magic by the residents.Renya was made to realize the fact that the excellence of Rona, who can use healing magic even though she changed her occupation from being a knight, is not something that should be expected.If magic is no good, how about a kind of medicine, the so-called potion, Renya wonders.With this being the place it is, the price of potions is reasonably good. But it doesnt seem to be an item that the citys residents can prepare out of nowhere.On top of not wanting to stand out, Renya was troubled about his face being remembered. But since he was guilty of this failure, he secretly investigated the general store for adventurers, bought potions, and tried to slip them together with a big amount of money into the emergency rations taken out by the residents. He also sneakily called into the shadows some priests, who according to the citys residents seem to be able to use healing magic, and tried to negotiate with them to heal the people cheaply by handing them some bribes.The sole salvation is that there were no casualties or wounded beyond recovery, Renya sighs. He feels relieved that it hasnt resulted in something that cant be undone anymore.No matter how much the needle of my anger meter ended up peaking out, this wasnt a spell that can be used inside a city, Renya miserably reflects.Lets use a single-target spell that causes a lot less damage next time after a careful selection, he firmly vowed.But then again, even for next time, Renya had a feeling he will completely forget about it in case its released after he gives in to his wrath.In the middle of his volunteering work, the magic ship, which Shion and the others had boarded, arrives at the Holy City.Only at this time, the residents rested their working hands and headed towards the arrived magic ship to welcome it. You wont go have a look, Renya-kun? (Emil) At such time, Emil, who has no intention to help with the work, came to see the circumstances while bringing along the masked person.Since he has already seen the magic ship once in the city of Kukrika, he has absolutely no curiosity.Rather than that, I should focus on finishing the work quickly, Renya judges.The masked person, who was brought along by Emil, extremely increases the suspiciousness of the group by matching their appearance with Renya, due to wearing a robe that hid them completely with the hood lowered as well. Even if I go see them, theres no point in that, right? (Renya) Huh? Its the appearance of the lovely Shion-chan in her finest clothes, no? Isnt that the appearance of a calf that has been sold on the market, and is at its final moments? (Renya) Due to the words Renya returned calmly, the masked person fell over.Of course, theres no way for either Renya nor Emil to do an admirable act such as helping the collapsed masked person up. I wonder whether the buyer is in good health? (Emil) Well, I wonder about that. By no means did I think that the spell would be evaded though. (Renya) Originally was a spell that will get invoked after chanting for quite a long time while pouring mana into it.In Renyas case, due to the activation of the two skills: no chant and high-speed recovery, it was invoked in a considerably short time that is unthinkable going by common sense. However, even with that outlandish, high speed invokation, the hero evaded that spell with a short-distance teleport.Then again, that doesnt mean he was able to completely transfer to a place outside the range of the spells effect. It was only to the degree of him having avoided a direct hit. But from Renyas point of view, that wasnt expected to happen and thus Renya gave up on further pursuit after seeing the heros ability. But, that short-distance teleportation is a nuisance, isnt it? Theres no casting and he doesnt gather any mana either. (Renya) I think that is far too much of a cheat, Renya grows indignant.Emil didnt show it with her expression and mouth, but she was filled with the feeling of wanting to return that line entirely back to Renya just like that. Most likely its a skill of , I suppose. They are existences that always cause difficulties to the demons. (Emil) Then theres no other option but to suppress him with range attacks. (Renya) At present, Renya couldnt find any other method to kill him but to corner him with regular attacks, then at the same time as he notices the signs of the hero using a short-distance teleport, use a skill or spell capable of attacking the surroundings.Thats still fine since Renya can activate sorcery without chanting, but if one isnt capable of doing that, it becomes necessary to measure the timing very strictly, otherwise they wont be able to finish the chant ahead of the estimated timing when the hero will teleport.You might say that hes a very annoying opponent. If you do that inside the city, it will result in the same situation though? (Emil) Guh (Renya) I wonder whether there is a skill such as space control or something similar, which can force my opponent into some field where the damage wont reach the surroundings,Renya ponders. Oh well, theres nothing better for their side than us not fighting as much as possible though. So, what will we do from now on? (Emil) Were you able to investigate the flow of events in the castle? (Renya) After being granted an audience by the king in the royal castle, they will be matched up with the hero then, under the influence of the hero, they will be forced to pledge that they will exert themselves for the sake of bringing peace to the entire continent. Afterwards, its been planned to hold a party to celebrate another power having joined the heros camp. The masked person, who somehow recovered themselves from their toppled over stance, says in a muffled voice through the mask.Renya and Emil fixedly stare at the mask of the masked person with slightly astonished expressions.Averting the face as if avoiding their looks, the masked person cleared their throat with a single cough. It has been decided that things will approximately unfold in such sequence. Since theres no need to forcibly change it either, it should proceed like that. I see. If you say its just as expected, then its just as expected. Things going as expected is far too boring though, you know? (Emil) They are not particularly doing it for fun. Oh, really? How boring. (Emil) The masked persons tone suggests discarding Emils comment resolutely, but Emil doesnt seem to mind that either. Do you also know the place where the group from the Trident Principality will stay at? (Renya) The plan is for them to lodge in the magic ship. M the princess and her friend will go to the royal castle, but the staff of the magic ship and a part of the escorting soldiers should stay behind on the ship. When will the party proceed towards the royal castle? (Renya) I guess right away, after they can prepare the road following their arrival. The audience ceremony itself wont take that much time either. Hmm. Renya ponders while placing his hand on his chin.If I dont take the consequences of the events into consideration, there would actually be no need to bring this masked person along.For Renya, its the truth that they brought the masked person along thinking about keeping the future matters as simple as possible. Furthermore, it will allow them to push the responsibility away to a place where it wont cause any trouble to anyone. Emil, how about the invocation of that? (Renya) It will start up if the hero enters within a 1 m radius of that. I guess it will be a large rampage after Frau-chans special something was dumped into it. (Emil) Are there people from the Holy Kingdom inside the magic ship, too? I guess so. There will be some people who will have preparatory meetings about the security and such. All right. Then lets do it like this. (Renya) Renya declared while looking at Emil and the masked person. I will pack for the time being. (Emil) Ha? It was just the masked person who asked in return.Emil apparently understood immediately what the best thing for her to do would be from Renyas brief comment. Going around to the back of the masked person, she tightly hugs their body. Eh? Okay, lets return to the inn for now. (Emil) W-Wait, Renya!? What the hell? Renya didnt answer.The reason is that it wasnt necessary for the masked person to understand what will happen from now on.Emil has the appearance of a little girl, but her true nature is that of a demon.Because of that, her physical strength is beyond her appearance, or rather, she powerfully breaks through the limit of what can be imagined from her looks.Emil, who returned to the inn while easily carrying the masked person, carelessly throws the masked person on top of the bed and swiftly wraps their body up with the blanket, which was beneath the masked person, while leaving only the head outside.With that all too skillful performance, the masked person ended up getting tucked in without even the time to put up a resistance.Moreover, with the rope she took out, the masked person ended up getting bound from atop the blanket in the same manner as a chef who prevents the meat from falling apart during cooking. Eh!? Eeh!? What the hell is going to happen from now on!? There was no voice answering the question.With the place being what it is, theres no worry that the voice will leak to the outside.Even if we are criticized or seen by anyone, they will simply link it to a special play, is what Renya intended to insist on.However, in that case, Renyas shyness would take quite the substantial damage. Renya-kun, is it okay like this? (Emil) Due to Emils question, Renya lightly checks the state of the rope binding the masked person.The masked person was bound tightly so that they couldnt slip out, but it doesnt seem like the knots were tied in a way that strangles their body, Renya judged. Its okay. Please, just do it so that its not painful. (Renya) While warning Emil for cautions sake, Renya calls the inns employee and asks for the bill. Sorry. A sudden job has cropped up. Theres still money left, right? I dont need the change, please keep everything. And, we received favours from you as well. Please take this as a little thanks. (Renya) Renya said while slipping a gold coin into the hands of the female employee with a plain impression.Its far too much money as tip, Renya thinks, but in addition to the sudden check-out, it was money that carried the implication of hush money, as he himself didnt want to be connected to the disastrous scene behind him.Behind him is Emil assuming a triumphant look as if saying Caught ya, stepping with one foot on the body of the masked person who was transformed into a wrapped roll.Thats the disastrous scene Renya doesnt want to have any connection with, and seemingly perceiving that it will become troublesome if she touched onto that matter, the female employee doesnt even turn her glance at it. There are various special circumstances, okay? It will save us some trouble if you could handle these matters as a secret. (Renya) There are no decent people coming to such a place I see. Nevertheless, well, it would be great if you can keep it in mind. Well then, we are in your debt. (Renya) Once he asks her to give his best regards to the inns landlord, Renya leaves the inn behind.Easily shouldering the packaged masked person, Emil followed behind him. Will we go across the city like this? (Emil) Thats impossible, right? Its fine here since its the slums, but we will stand out too much in the normal city. We will go outside once by crossing over the northern wall. (Renya) S-Someone explain a bit! Neither Renya nor Emil take any notice of the masked persons voice.They were apparently packed quite skillfully. Emil blocks the mouth of the masked person, who isnt even able to squirm, with one hand.Even if they are called slums, its not a good idea to kick up a fuss without knowing whose eyes are looking from where.The two, who ran through the slums in such a state, easily jumped over the wall at the outer section of the city, just like at the time when they entered, and headed towards the magic ship along the wall. Chapter 89 What is called the audience hall in the royal castle has, for some reason, quite the length.Most likely it took such a shape in order to make the distance from the king as large as possible, but it doesnt seem to have much of a meaning, it thought.After descending from the magic ship, they were guided to the royal castle by the soldiers. They waited for the job of unloading the baggage from the magic ship to finish, and then had the maids take out the full dress set from within, that had been brought along for the audience. It changed into the dress in a room prepared by the Holy Kingdoms side for Shions personal use.The male soldiers were naturally on standby outside the room. Only Rona, whos the sole female guard, stayed right next to it while it was changing clothes. Shion dont you have any intention to escape after this? (Rona) Not only the changing of clothes, but all other preparations, such as attaching accessories were left to a maid. It looks at Rona with a surprised expression due to what she said.Noticing the gazes directed at her, Rona, who was vigorously chewing her own lips, argues vehemently in order to press Shion for an answer without minding the voices in their surroundings starting to stir. Theres no reason for you to be sacrificed, Shion, right? Who cares about him being a hero, that sort of behaviour is inexcusable! (Rona) Rona your voice is too loud. This is a topic that will cause various problems if overheard. As it answers while smiling bitterly, Rona sinks into silence with an expression filled with discontent.Its probably something she cant stomach at all, I suppose, it smiles wryly.It pondersI wonder what face Rona would make if she knew what was going to happen from now on. It also feels slightly sorry towards Rona who seems to worry about it from the bottom of her heart, but seeing as its unknown from where information might potentially leak, its proper to keep the number of people, who know about it, as low as possible. Holding a detailed preparatory meeting is also bound to be impossible. Rona, dont worry. I will be all right. But, Shion (Rona) Its really no problem. Its unnecessary for you to worry about anything. It will be fine for you to solely consider the matter of how you will return to Kukrika, Rona. Huh? That is, of course with the magic ship (Rona) Thats true I guess Ah, in that case, let me proceed by myself from this point on. Rona, please prepare your return on the magic ship. Shion? (Rona) Theres no problem at all. Wont I just go to the audience and humour the hero from now on, anyway? Doing that by myself will be plenty, right? Okay, Rona? While slightly approaching Rona with her worried expression, it loosens one of the corks of a certain preparation, which was given to it by Frau, inside its body and mixes it into its breath.The preparation, which has no smell, doesnt possess anything but a very weak effect, but it thought that it would be sufficient for Rona who seems to be somewhat exhausted from being mentally driven into a corner.For cautions sake, as it approached, it places its hands on Ronas shoulders, and further asserts, while facing her directly Its no problem, theres nothing to worry about, understand? No problem theres nothing to worry about. Yes, I got it, Shion (Rona) Feeling her resistance growing weak from her voice, it discerns that the preparation is showing its effect without a doubt.After all, its a situation where it ends up feeling very sorry rather than only a bit, but since it wont meet Rona ever again after this, it entrusts all the explanations and apologies to Renya and its master. At any rate, because of that, please return to the ship together with the maids and the guards. You are not needed for what comes next. Yes understood, Shion. (Rona) You are a good child. You guys as well, as soon as you finish your work, its fine to return to the ship together with Rona. Can you hurry it up? Its possible that it will be too late after something happens. Once it says so with a tone that hints at something, they show their allegiance by quietly bowing their head without anyone voicing a protest as it seemed its breaths effect had also reached the maids and soldiers on standby.Seeing that, it smiled while looking satisfied. Shion-sama, are your preparations going well? By the time a soldier of the Holy Kingdom came to call upon Shion, only Shion was left inside the room.With her hair smoothly flowing down her back, shes wearing a jet black mermaid line dress.He hair ornaments are made out of silver and theres a similar silver necklace resting on her chest.On both her wrists there are bracelets that are also silver. Her appearance, whilst standing still inside the room by herself, was certainly beautiful, but rather than a princess, she gave off hints of being a witch from somewhere. Aah, its time? I shall leave the guiding to you then. It said as it noticed the soldiers arrival. While the soldier, who ended up speechless due to being apparently overawed, bowed in a panic.Is this appearance that weird?It laughs at that thought pleasantly with a high-pitched tone. Shion-sama those, clothes are These? I wonder whether they suit me? (Shion) It asks with a voice containing a smile while grasping the dress hem. Black, that is to say in such venue of celebration I dont think its anything that will be seen as impolite though. Do you want me to change my clothes? (Shion) Being told that, the soldier ponders.A woman dressing herself will, in any case, take time.Calling someone to come once again, taking off the dress and changing into a different one, arranging the accessories and hairstyle; just how long that would take wasnt something he knew.As result of that, the nobles and royals, who are waiting in the audience hall, will have to continue to wait for that time.Even if Shions appearance is regarded as rude, for arguments sake, thats not the responsibility of a soldier.Once he thought that far, the soldier wondered whether it wouldnt be less trouble to take her along as is, rather than wasting any more time henceforth. No, I will gladly lead you. Yeah, please take care of me. (Shion) Agreeing with a single nod, it follows the soldier in the lead.The soldier felt suspicious about there being no maids and guards around Shion, who is walking behind him, but since they wouldnt have any other choice but to wait outside if they were to go to the audience hall, he stops caring about it as its the same whether they are there or not.Usually the soldier would have probably thought about it deeper and checked the surroundings after questioning Shion herself about it, but the sweet scent wafting in from somewhere stole the soldiers ability to think.In his head the odour behaves similarly to being intoxicated by alcohol, the soldier regards it as simply being Shions scent or perfume.But actually, that smell drifted out from the gap between Shions slightly opened lips.It was one of Fraus special drugs. The timell be ripe soon, I guess? Meanwhile, inside the magic ship belonging to the Principality of Trident.Renya and Emil, who had secretly sneaked in, talked in whispers while squatting in a shadow of the quite wide ships interior. It doesnt seem that its on board, but if we had been too quick, that other side wouldve gotten exposed, I guess. (Renya) We shouldve added a communication function, a blunder, thats a blunder. (Emil) The completely packaged masked person on the shoulder of Emil, who is laughing while scratching her head with one hand, has been carried around while in a limp state. We might have overworked them a bit too much, Renya assesses.In order to infiltrate the ship swiftly and quietly so that they werent seen by anyone, Renya and Emil moved without restraint or taking situational peculiarities into consideration.If seen from Renyas and Emils viewpoint, those werent any excessive movements, but from the viewpoint of the masked person, who was shaken up and down while being shouldered by Emil, it was unbearable.Did she lose consciousness after being spun around so quickly?She couldnt even raise her voice anymore. We should have decided on a signal, dont you think? (Renya) Even if we had, what are you expecting it to do while inside the audience hall? Isnt that usually unreasonable? (Emil) Im not suited for such plans (Renya) Therere only muscle heads in our party, to a staggering degree, right? (Emil) Renya directs a sullen and angry expression at Emil who laughs with a cackling sound, but she doesnt realize it, since they both have their faces shrouded by a cloth. You, arent you the one incharge of thinking? (Renya) Im a researcher, not a planner or a strategist. (Emil) Bah, you call yourself a researcher only when its convenient (Renya) Ah, hey, just a moment, Renya-kun. Look over here. (Emil) Glancing outside the window of the ship, Emil beckons Renya.Renya, who looked outside where Emil was pointing at, while thinkingshes going to say something worthless again anyway, caught sight of a group that had a blonde-haired woman in priestess garbs in the lead walking with a somewhat staggering stride from the direction of the city. That is Rona, isnt she? (Renya) Theres no doubt with those massive breasts. (Emil) Her breasts dont matter at all here, but in that case, I wonder, are those the guys who left for the royal castle with it? (Renya) Thats probably right. That means it used the drug. (Emil) Emil says while remembering that there was also a drug that had something like a hypnosis-inducing effect among the drugs they had prepared.The it mentioned by both of them was a homunculus Emil had produced from Shions hair.Inside its body there were several drugs, which were created by Frau, stored. Depending on the situation it could use them by mixing them into its breath. Its Emils special poison doll.It was something Renya had Emil make for the sake of making sure that Shion definitely doesnt go to the hero, no matter how the dice may fall, but they havent told Shion that shes being used as mold.If they had told her, Shion would have been worried and caused difficulties by saying that she hates something like a doll that looks completely like her spewing venom.Renya has only told Shion that a doll substitute is going to the royal castle.The poison doll has the order to throw an extremely powerful poison, that has been stored within it, at the hero when he comes into a range of less than one meter from the doll and to change into a monster afterwards.Renya was slightly dissatisfied that he wouldnt be able to see the moment when the hero gets poisoned, but that was something so Renyalike, only Renya would think of. Well then, should we get started Renya-kun? (Emil) Okay, lets make it flashy, I guess? (Renya) After fixing the carrying posture of the masked person, or in other words, Shion, who was being shouldered by Emil, Emil destroys a suitable, nearby door by kicking it.The door, which was kicked with all of her demon strength, belonged, fortunately for Renya, to a vacant room. On top of being split right into halves, it flew until the wall on the opposite side and caused a huge crushing sound to reverberate inside the ship.Moreover, as that apparently triggered some kind of alarm, a loud warning sound begins to echo within all of the ships interior. Ah, damn it. Thats not the way out~. (Emil) Renya curbs his eyebrows due to the awfully indifferent statement of Emil.Although he considered it pointless to expect quality acting from a demon, he feared that it would hinder the progress of their far too straightforward strategy if they were to be too violent. What is it!? What happened!? Its from above! It seems something was destroyed! Voices of soldiers shouting at each other can be heard coming from somewhere.Although it might have a considerable size, being on board the ship makes one feel confined nevertheless.Even the voices of the soldiers end up echoing inside this confined space, which makes it quite difficult to grasp how far away they are. I think we have to run away soon? (Emil) No, we have to get discovered by someone otherwise we cant leave that behind. (Renya) Renya points at the object on top of Emils shoulder. So well leave her behind after all? (Emil) Well, of course. So far as it goes, theres a reason why she came here on this ship. (Renya) Im afraid of what Ill be told once we return to the city. (Emil) At the time when Renya returned a bitter smile at Emil, who smiles with a tee-hee, the soldiers, whom they waited for, finally arrived where Renya and the other two were.As expected, theres no way for them to swing around swords inside this narrow ship, huh?The weapons they have are short spears. While the armour worn by the soldiers varied between two designs.I dare say that one side of them are soldiers from the Principality of Trident, while the others are probably soldiers of the Holy Kingdom, Renya judges. You bastards! What are you doing over there!? What the heck is that thing on your shoulder!? Answer! You suspicious assholes! Take off that cloth and show your faces! They reacted faster than expected! Oy, leave that behind here! (Renya) Renya, while feigning a posture as if hes going to release magic by facing a palm towards the soldiers, who are raising their voices demanding their identity while thrusting out their spears, orders Emil. However, kidnapping this guy is this times~. (Emil) Even this late in the game, Emil still talks in monotone.While planning to scold her later, Renya shouted, Whatever, leave it behind, you big fool! (Renya) Renya shouts at Emil, with the latter part being quite serious. Finally Emil gently lowers what was on her shoulder onto the ground. Run away! (Renya) Where to~? (Emil) Up. Hurry, you idiot! (Renya) You damned thieves! Do you think that we will let you get away!? Renya releases wind blades,activated at the lowest mana output, at the soldiers who are approaching while thrusting their spears.Of course, since they will suffer injuries if hit, the wind blades hit an empty wall due to the aim being completely off, they get repelled and vanish.However, due to the sound of the wind blades gouging out the passages walls and the fact magic was fired, the soldiers stumble.With that as an opportunity, Renya and Emil began their escape by aiming for the upper floor of the ship. What is called the audience hall in the royal castle has, for some reason, quite the length.Most likely it took such a shape in order to make the distance from the king as large as possible, but it doesnt seem to have much of a meaning, it thought.After descending from the magic ship, they were guided to the royal castle by the soldiers. They waited for the job of unloading the baggage from the magic ship to finish, and then had the maids take out the full dress set from within, that had been brought along for the audience. It changed into the dress in a room prepared by the Holy Kingdoms side for Shions personal use.The male soldiers were naturally on standby outside the room. Only Rona, whos the sole female guard, stayed right next to it while it was changing clothes. Shion dont you have any intention to escape after this? (Rona) Not only the changing of clothes, but all other preparations, such as attaching accessories were left to a maid. It looks at Rona with a surprised expression due to what she said.Noticing the gazes directed at her, Rona, who was vigorously chewing her own lips, argues vehemently in order to press Shion for an answer without minding the voices in their surroundings starting to stir. Theres no reason for you to be sacrificed, Shion, right? Who cares about him being a hero, that sort of behaviour is inexcusable! (Rona) Rona your voice is too loud. This is a topic that will cause various problems if overheard. As it answers while smiling bitterly, Rona sinks into silence with an expression filled with discontent.Its probably something she cant stomach at all, I suppose, it smiles wryly.It pondersI wonder what face Rona would make if she knew what was going to happen from now on. It also feels slightly sorry towards Rona who seems to worry about it from the bottom of her heart, but seeing as its unknown from where information might potentially leak, its proper to keep the number of people, who know about it, as low as possible. Holding a detailed preparatory meeting is also bound to be impossible. Rona, dont worry. I will be all right. But, Shion (Rona) Its really no problem. Its unnecessary for you to worry about anything. It will be fine for you to solely consider the matter of how you will return to Kukrika, Rona. Huh? That is, of course with the magic ship (Rona) Thats true I guess Ah, in that case, let me proceed by myself from this point on. Rona, please prepare your return on the magic ship. Shion? (Rona) Theres no problem at all. Wont I just go to the audience and humour the hero from now on, anyway? Doing that by myself will be plenty, right? Okay, Rona? While slightly approaching Rona with her worried expression, it loosens one of the corks of a certain preparation, which was given to it by Frau, inside its body and mixes it into its breath.The preparation, which has no smell, doesnt possess anything but a very weak effect, but it thought that it would be sufficient for Rona who seems to be somewhat exhausted from being mentally driven into a corner.For cautions sake, as it approached, it places its hands on Ronas shoulders, and further asserts, while facing her directly Its no problem, theres nothing to worry about, understand? No problem theres nothing to worry about. Yes, I got it, Shion (Rona) Feeling her resistance growing weak from her voice, it discerns that the preparation is showing its effect without a doubt.After all, its a situation where it ends up feeling very sorry rather than only a bit, but since it wont meet Rona ever again after this, it entrusts all the explanations and apologies to Renya and its master. At any rate, because of that, please return to the ship together with the maids and the guards. You are not needed for what comes next. Yes understood, Shion. (Rona) You are a good child. You guys as well, as soon as you finish your work, its fine to return to the ship together with Rona. Can you hurry it up? Its possible that it will be too late after something happens. Once it says so with a tone that hints at something, they show their allegiance by quietly bowing their head without anyone voicing a protest as it seemed its breaths effect had also reached the maids and soldiers on standby.Seeing that, it smiled while looking satisfied. Shion-sama, are your preparations going well? By the time a soldier of the Holy Kingdom came to call upon Shion, only Shion was left inside the room.With her hair smoothly flowing down her back, shes wearing a jet black mermaid line dress.He hair ornaments are made out of silver and theres a similar silver necklace resting on her chest.On both her wrists there are bracelets that are also silver. Her appearance, whilst standing still inside the room by herself, was certainly beautiful, but rather than a princess, she gave off hints of being a witch from somewhere. Aah, its time? I shall leave the guiding to you then. It said as it noticed the soldiers arrival. While the soldier, who ended up speechless due to being apparently overawed, bowed in a panic.Is this appearance that weird?It laughs at that thought pleasantly with a high-pitched tone. Shion-sama those, clothes are These? I wonder whether they suit me? (Shion) It asks with a voice containing a smile while grasping the dress hem. Black, that is to say in such venue of celebration I dont think its anything that will be seen as impolite though. Do you want me to change my clothes? (Shion) Being told that, the soldier ponders.A woman dressing herself will, in any case, take time.Calling someone to come once again, taking off the dress and changing into a different one, arranging the accessories and hairstyle; just how long that would take wasnt something he knew.As result of that, the nobles and royals, who are waiting in the audience hall, will have to continue to wait for that time.Even if Shions appearance is regarded as rude, for arguments sake, thats not the responsibility of a soldier.Once he thought that far, the soldier wondered whether it wouldnt be less trouble to take her along as is, rather than wasting any more time henceforth. No, I will gladly lead you. Yeah, please take care of me. (Shion) Agreeing with a single nod, it follows the soldier in the lead.The soldier felt suspicious about there being no maids and guards around Shion, who is walking behind him, but since they wouldnt have any other choice but to wait outside if they were to go to the audience hall, he stops caring about it as its the same whether they are there or not.Usually the soldier would have probably thought about it deeper and checked the surroundings after questioning Shion herself about it, but the sweet scent wafting in from somewhere stole the soldiers ability to think.In his head the odour behaves similarly to being intoxicated by alcohol, the soldier regards it as simply being Shions scent or perfume.But actually, that smell drifted out from the gap between Shions slightly opened lips.It was one of Fraus special drugs. The timell be ripe soon, I guess? Meanwhile, inside the magic ship belonging to the Principality of Trident.Renya and Emil, who had secretly sneaked in, talked in whispers while squatting in a shadow of the quite wide ships interior. It doesnt seem that its on board, but if we had been too quick, that other side wouldve gotten exposed, I guess. (Renya) We shouldve added a communication function, a blunder, thats a blunder. (Emil) The completely packaged masked person on the shoulder of Emil, who is laughing while scratching her head with one hand, has been carried around while in a limp state. We might have overworked them a bit too much, Renya assesses.In order to infiltrate the ship swiftly and quietly so that they werent seen by anyone, Renya and Emil moved without restraint or taking situational peculiarities into consideration.If seen from Renyas and Emils viewpoint, those werent any excessive movements, but from the viewpoint of the masked person, who was shaken up and down while being shouldered by Emil, it was unbearable.Did she lose consciousness after being spun around so quickly?She couldnt even raise her voice anymore. We should have decided on a signal, dont you think? (Renya) Even if we had, what are you expecting it to do while inside the audience hall? Isnt that usually unreasonable? (Emil) Im not suited for such plans (Renya) Therere only muscle heads in our party, to a staggering degree, right? (Emil) Renya directs a sullen and angry expression at Emil who laughs with a cackling sound, but she doesnt realize it, since they both have their faces shrouded by a cloth. You, arent you the one incharge of thinking? (Renya) Im a researcher, not a planner or a strategist. (Emil) Bah, you call yourself a researcher only when its convenient (Renya) Ah, hey, just a moment, Renya-kun. Look over here. (Emil) Glancing outside the window of the ship, Emil beckons Renya.Renya, who looked outside where Emil was pointing at, while thinkingshes going to say something worthless again anyway, caught sight of a group that had a blonde-haired woman in priestess garbs in the lead walking with a somewhat staggering stride from the direction of the city. That is Rona, isnt she? (Renya) Theres no doubt with those massive breasts. (Emil) Her breasts dont matter at all here, but in that case, I wonder, are those the guys who left for the royal castle with it? (Renya) Thats probably right. That means it used the drug. (Emil) Emil says while remembering that there was also a drug that had something like a hypnosis-inducing effect among the drugs they had prepared.The it mentioned by both of them was a homunculus Emil had produced from Shions hair.Inside its body there were several drugs, which were created by Frau, stored. Depending on the situation it could use them by mixing them into its breath. Its Emils special poison doll.It was something Renya had Emil make for the sake of making sure that Shion definitely doesnt go to the hero, no matter how the dice may fall, but they havent told Shion that shes being used as mold.If they had told her, Shion would have been worried and caused difficulties by saying that she hates something like a doll that looks completely like her spewing venom.Renya has only told Shion that a doll substitute is going to the royal castle.The poison doll has the order to throw an extremely powerful poison, that has been stored within it, at the hero when he comes into a range of less than one meter from the doll and to change into a monster afterwards.Renya was slightly dissatisfied that he wouldnt be able to see the moment when the hero gets poisoned, but that was something so Renyalike, only Renya would think of. Well then, should we get started Renya-kun? (Emil) Okay, lets make it flashy, I guess? (Renya) After fixing the carrying posture of the masked person, or in other words, Shion, who was being shouldered by Emil, Emil destroys a suitable, nearby door by kicking it.The door, which was kicked with all of her demon strength, belonged, fortunately for Renya, to a vacant room. On top of being split right into halves, it flew until the wall on the opposite side and caused a huge crushing sound to reverberate inside the ship.Moreover, as that apparently triggered some kind of alarm, a loud warning sound begins to echo within all of the ships interior. Ah, damn it. Thats not the way out~. (Emil) Renya curbs his eyebrows due to the awfully indifferent statement of Emil.Although he considered it pointless to expect quality acting from a demon, he feared that it would hinder the progress of their far too straightforward strategy if they were to be too violent. What is it!? What happened!? Its from above! It seems something was destroyed! Voices of soldiers shouting at each other can be heard coming from somewhere.Although it might have a considerable size, being on board the ship makes one feel confined nevertheless.Even the voices of the soldiers end up echoing inside this confined space, which makes it quite difficult to grasp how far away they are. I think we have to run away soon? (Emil) No, we have to get discovered by someone otherwise we cant leave that behind. (Renya) Renya points at the object on top of Emils shoulder. So well leave her behind after all? (Emil) Well, of course. So far as it goes, theres a reason why she came here on this ship. (Renya) Im afraid of what Ill be told once we return to the city. (Emil) At the time when Renya returned a bitter smile at Emil, who smiles with a tee-hee, the soldiers, whom they waited for, finally arrived where Renya and the other two were.As expected, theres no way for them to swing around swords inside this narrow ship, huh?The weapons they have are short spears. While the armour worn by the soldiers varied between two designs.I dare say that one side of them are soldiers from the Principality of Trident, while the others are probably soldiers of the Holy Kingdom, Renya judges. You bastards! What are you doing over there!? What the heck is that thing on your shoulder!? Answer! You suspicious assholes! Take off that cloth and show your faces! They reacted faster than expected! Oy, leave that behind here! (Renya) Renya, while feigning a posture as if hes going to release magic by facing a palm towards the soldiers, who are raising their voices demanding their identity while thrusting out their spears, orders Emil. However, kidnapping this guy is this times~. (Emil) Even this late in the game, Emil still talks in monotone.While planning to scold her later, Renya shouted, Whatever, leave it behind, you big fool! (Renya) Renya shouts at Emil, with the latter part being quite serious. Finally Emil gently lowers what was on her shoulder onto the ground. Run away! (Renya) Where to~? (Emil) Up. Hurry, you idiot! (Renya) You damned thieves! Do you think that we will let you get away!? Renya releases wind blades,activated at the lowest mana output, at the soldiers who are approaching while thrusting their spears.Of course, since they will suffer injuries if hit, the wind blades hit an empty wall due to the aim being completely off, they get repelled and vanish.However, due to the sound of the wind blades gouging out the passages walls and the fact magic was fired, the soldiers stumble.With that as an opportunity, Renya and Emil began their escape by aiming for the upper floor of the ship. Chapter 90 The spear, as a weapon class, isnt usually seen as one that plays a prominent role.There are probably a great variety of objecting opinions, while there will also exist people who regard the spear as the strongest weapon.The evaluation that farmers could kill warriors if they are allowed to possess sangen* spears also exists. A short spear thats used by an individual is an excellent weapon that meets all three major attack criteria, thrusting, slashing and bashing.(T/N: Very long spears with blades at the tip, google them if you want pictures)It even appears in myths and there are also quite a few famous spears.Notwithstanding, for some reason it doesnt play a leading role.If one were to speak of an almost definite hero weapon, the sword will be the first to be mentioned.The heroes weapons are swords and most of the legendary weapons are swords as well.As for imaginative strategies, one could even say that its the spear that suffers crushing defeats thanks to the sword.However, thats only hypothetically talking. If you confront reality, anyone can tell that a spear is quite a troublesome weapon.That is to say, at least it has a large reach. And with only that characteristic, the spear can maintain a reasonable predominance in battle.If ones unlucky, its also possible that one will be done in just because of this single aspect.People, who insist on a spear becoming powerless after its spearhead has been cut off, have seen too many videos and stories created by people who dont know the threat of a dying spear.If theres something you can do, have a go at it, is what Renya wanted to say.However, there are also disadvantageous aspects.The biggest flaw is that the longer the spear is, the more time it takes to rotate it in ones hands.One can say that the trait of a spear is that it will become weak as soon as one circles around to its side. But then again, thats only if theres a flank to go around and cut into. (Renya) Muttering so, Renya once again evades a spearhead that was thrust towards him.Dealing with spears in a narrow and straight passage results in being forced into an extremely difficult fight.Even when he knocks it away or repels it, the next spearhead comes lunging in right after.The only saving grace is that theres no weapon that can cut while being pulled back, like a cross spear, in this place, Renya thinks.If that was present here, I dont feel like I would be able to break them with my bare hands.If one were to possess Renyas skills, lopping off only the spears head wasnt something impossible, but if it turns into a scuffle in a passage that has little space and a low ceiling, wielding his katana isnt something he is capable of.To begin with, Renya had his katana stored in his inventory and he had no intention to take it out.A weapon thats quite rare will only end up giving away information that allows the inference of the users identity.Renya doesnt mind that a bit, no matter how flashy it might be, but it was absolutely necessary to hide the fact that the one who was currently in this location was Renya the adventurer from Kukrika. Im tired of this. Its getting annoying, is it no good to escape by breaking through the ceiling? (Emil) Emil grumbles with a fed up tone, while looking up at the ceiling.For her whos a demon, fighting, while not get injured and not killing the opponents seems to feel more stressful than expected. Her voice is deeply tinged with fatigue. I cant go o~n like this if there isnt some kinda reward. (Emil) I will accept negotiations, so you have to come up with something. (Renya) Oh? I just tried mentioning it, but now I have a bit of motivation. (Emil) Was she pleased by Renyas answer? Emil takes one step forward.Several spearheads are thrust towards her small body.Although their high number only lasted for an instant, it was to an extent of making even Renya feel flustered, but Emil, without trying to evade those, mowed them down with a flash of her slender arms.By nature a spear-handle isnt something that will easily break due to the blow of a single person.If they were that fragile, they would most probably break when stabbing into the target.But for Emils strikes, which have the power of a demon behind them, breaking a spear handle is as simple as breaking a twig. And so, all the spears going towards her end up snapping after being hit. Uooh!? A spear with bare hands is that guy a monster!? We need spares! Quickly bring the spare spears! Due to the power of that blow, the soldiers instinctively end up falling back.Turning around, Emil starts to run while pushing Renya. Hey! Hurry it up and lets get outta here! (Emil) I know that even without you telling me! (Renya) The soldiers, who held replacements spears, are chasing the two from behind as they escape at full speed.From the viewpoint of the soldiers, they likely intend to corner Renya and Emil who are escaping into higher and higher floors, but from Renyas view point, whose goal is to go to the top, you could say that the situation is advancing favourably.Repeating a few more battles, Renya and Emil run up the stairs, get through several openings that seem to be hatches and finally slip out onto the rooftop of the magic ships living quarters.As a result of Emil displaying her power for a second time, the two forced back the pursuing soldiers. And when they came out onto the rooftop, they saw a part of the royal castle being blown off, followed by an explosion and a violet clay-doll-like giant slowly rising up from within the ruins. What is that? (Renya) Renya mutters as he was taken aback by the giant that was slowly slipping out from within the hole, that was created when the building was blown away, while also raising a low groan. What, you ask thats the monster you requested, isnt it? (Emil) Thats obviously too big, isnt it!? (Renya) In comparison to the royal castle itself, the giant had a height surpassing 10 meters.Even the soldiers, who appeared on the rooftop after chasing Renya and Emil, began to fall into panic after following Renyas gaze and seeing the violet giant.If such a ridiculously large monster were to suddenly appear inside the Holy Kingdom, thats located in the centre of the continent, and furthermore in the Holy City, which is its centre, and on top of that in the royal castle which could be called its heart, it would cause rampant panic, huh?Renya thinks as he watches the flustered soldiers shuffling about in confusion.When such an incident occurs, you cant blame the soldiers low training level, I suppose, he judges. A monster in the royal castle!? No way Just from where the hell? While the voices of the soldiers can be heard, little explosions and flame pillars burst out all over the body of the violet giant as it leans its body forward, while placing a hand on the wall of the collapsed royal castle.It seems that the attacks of the soldiers and magicians, who were trapped inside the royal castle, have begun.Because they are serving in the royal castle, the attacks should be carried out by people that possess quite the ability, but with their attacks only exploding on the surface of the giants body, the giant stands stock-still as if it werent feeling a thing. Its tough, that (Renya) Well the basic abilities of such kind of golem are toughness, size and slowness, those three. (Emil) Given that he didnt want to produce extensive damage, Renya told Emil, when he made the request, that it would be great if she understood that the monster should have absolutely no offensive abilities.So to speak, its simply an empty threat. As it has no offensive abilities, I put my effort into its defensive abilities. Its physical and magical defences are very sturdy. (Emil) Even though it was me who requested it, that thing is nothing but a hindrance (Renya) O-Oy! You bastards! Due to Renya and Emil staring at the still-standing violet giant with somewhat half hearted gazes, one of the soldiers, who had apparently recovered from the shock in one way or another, shouts while jabbing the spear in his hand.Renya and Emil noticed that the thrust-out spear and the hands grasping it were trembling slightly, but end up considering him as remarkable even if its just for having recovered first under these circumstances. Is that your deed as well!? Being asked that, Renya and Emil look at each other for a moment.As Renya ponderedWell then, how do I answer that?Emil readily yielded that part to Renya.For the time being he was apparently aware of his own non-existing talent as performer. Answer! Fu Fuahahahahahaha! Out of desperation, now that things have turned out like this, Renya raises a loud laughter in order to get through this with enthusiastic momentum.Turning around to the soldier who slightly retreated with a startled expression, Renya spread both his arms widely. Dont you understand what you are told? Foolish humans! (Renya) Wh-!? B-Bastard Seemingly out of shame, Renya is on the brink of using broken language, but given the situation, the soldier apparently didnt notice. Although thats the humans way of doing things, something like this is good. (Emil) Emil points out in a whisper while hiding behind Renya.While thinkingThey will probably think that Im a ventriloquist puppet or something similar,Renya continues, We are currently here to abduct the humans princesses, present them to His Majesty the Demon King and to send the hero, on whom you bastards hope depends, to his death! We failed in securing one princess, but look! You assholes castle that tried to resist His Majesty the Demon King by sheltering the hero has collapsed at this point! (Renya) Well~ Wont even Demon King-sama be troubled if human princesses are offered to him? The current demon king, was it a male or a female? (Emil) Emils murmurs didnt reach Renyas ears, as it was erased by the voices of the stirring soldiers.As expected, Renya, who blames his hearing, looks back over his shoulder. Does he exist after all, the demon king? (Renya) Who knows? I do~nt know a~nything. (Emil) Emil naturally averts her look by entrusting her back to Renyas.If the situation had allowed for it, Renya would have turned around and interrogated her, but it doesnt look like the current circumstances will allow him to do so.A conspicuously large flash is created around the chest area of the violet giant, that stood stock-still without doing anything while having placed its hands on the castle.Once one strained their eyes a bit, one could see, although only vaguely, the figure of a person who held a shining sword and was cutting away at the violet giant while moving by flying throughout the sky. The attack just now whittled it down quite a bit. Is that the hero? (Emil) I dont know as its far away, but thats probably the case. That guys an idiot, isnt he? (Renya) Why? (Emil) Why is he expressly attacking it with a sword while flying in the sky? In such situation you first cut off the feet, right? (Renya) Its common sense that will make one embarrassed, since its an established tactic to fight an opponent that has a larger body than oneself by first crushing the parts your hands can reach.The act of expressly assaulting with a sword, while freely jumping and flying without caring about whats below ones own feet is the epitome of folly, Renya judges. Well, in any event, its a definite fact that hero-sama has been poisoned. (Emil) When you start something against someone, its indispensable to keep an ace up ones sleeve, as long as its something possible, Renya thinks.Always set up an insurance, is what its about, but if one limits the talk to this time, scattering poison when the fake-Shion was less than one meter away from the hero, was the first step.The second step was the continuous emission of the same poison from all over the body of the poison doll that would appear after that.If a monster appears at the royal castle and if its to a degree that its obviously powerful, the hero himself has to move in order to repel it.Anticipating that, Renya requested Emil to make sure that the giant itself can spread poison into its surroundings.Of course, thanks to that, it will result in unrelated people becoming victims as well, but since its not a poison that dictates life or death, Id like them to resign themselves by considering it their own bad luck to have been dragged into it, Renya assesses.Fraus special poison Grave Sin of InfidelityCapricious Crime.This poison that boasts of a intense power at level 9 only works towards men. The poisoned men will experience panting with relentless palpitation, violent stomach ache and headache, and will feel nauseated to the degree of getting dehydrated, if left untreated, from just touching a woman.Moreover, it has the extra effect that if any body part comes into contact with a womans bodily fluids, it will immediately get inflamed.For all that, its hard to handle since it doesnt have any effect at all on the male functions.To explain it simply; its a drug that makes one contract an extreme woman allergy.Its a heartless story since the poisoned will have their bodies transformed in such a way that they cant satiate those kinds of desires while still retaining said desire.Furthermore, as Frau explained before, theres almost no cure for it.At the time when he heard about it, Renya unintentionally ended up distancing himself from Frau due to the dreadfulness of the details.His expression seems to have become stiff from fear to a degree that even surprised Frau. It was to the extent that she had to explain several times that she would take responsibility, in case Renya got poisoned by mistake, and administer an antidote. Its original administration method was for the woman to drink it first and then get the man poisoned through physical contact. In the case of this method, its a superb application with only the woman, who poisoned the man, being excluded from the poisons effects. (Emil) In short, its a poison that wont affect women. You, never ever use it, okay? Huh? Renya-kun, does that mean that you have the distinct intention to have a relationship with several women? (Emil) I havent said that (Renya) Even while wondering whether its inevitable to have it interpreted in such a manner, Renya refuses to do so, for the time being.Even during that time, the hero flies around the giant and drives in seemingly strong attacks with the holy sword.Each time, a violet liquid that resembles blood is sprayed and scattered from the open cut wounds, staining the heros body.This poison shows its effect by being absorbed through mucous membranes, but with its excelling volatility, its virulence isnt any different from created vapour.However, when it comes in contact with air, it deteriorates through oxidation within several minutes and it becomes harmless. Ha! Did you see, thieves! The power of that hero-dono! The giant isnt even able to use any techniques! Hes very likely a soldier affiliated to the Holy Kingdom.Seemingly having gained vigour due to the appearance of the hero who is one-sidedly attacking the giant, he declares that loudly while holding up his spear.Likewise, the soldiers in the surroundings raise their voices and praise the power of the hero by hoisting up their spears, but from Renya and Emils point of view, who are aware of the circumstances, they dont hold any impressions above Oh, is that so? Hey, we have to withdraw with something that leaves a large impression, or do you intend to stay here forever? (Emil) Emil says while poking Renyas back. Renya strains his brain thinking, while shaking his head, as he doesnt have any kind of knowledge on hand that would be good to say in this situation. Ah, umm That damned hero! What a lucky fellow! But next time it wont go like this! Immerse yourself in your momentary peace while fearing the second and third plans shadows! (Renya) You know what, isnt it fine to just call yourself the demon king already? (Emil) Emil delivers the final blow to Renya, whos filled with the feeling of wanting to embrace his knees out of embarrassment.For some reason only that whisper of Emils properly reaches the ears of the soldiers. You bastard! Youre the demon king!? As if thats true! Bring them here if a demon king, who nonchalantly comes to such a place, exists! I will scold them! Even if I was the demon king, do you think I would withdraw with such shabby military results!? (Renya) Do you plan to escape!? Son of a bitch! Ah I ended up doing it, is the expression Renya shows.Emil, who was waiting behind him, gently embraced Renyas waist with her arms and hugs him from behind. Somehow it ended up becoming a sloppy story, but thats how it is. Wouldnt it be best for you guys to also go to hero-samas location? Although hes in that kind of battle, its not like it has been safely concluded, has it? (Emil) W-What!? Well then, bye bye. (Emil) Emils words are similar to a soft whisper.Due to her overly quiet whispering, the soldiers reaction was delayed for an instant.In that momentary opportunity, two wings with black membranes appear from Emils back.Emil kicked the ground with a single *tap* and the bodies of both of them floated up gently. Shit! They intend to escape by flight! Someone bring the bows! The soldiers yells are audible, but its already too late.When Emil flaps her black wings in one large stroke, she raises to a height where the soldiers hands cant reach her anymore.Its an altitude where even the soldiers voices cant be heard. Emil, say, do demons grow these on their backs? (Renya) Those are dummies! Arent these always used as an amplification of wind magic? (Emil) It appears you dont have any leeway, I suppose? Though, having various things press against my back does feel good. (Renya) Fool~! Since you can fly by yourself, how about doing so already? These things on my back are a nuisance and its also difficult to fly while carrying you! I might drop you if you dont get off immediately! (Emil) Mmh~ a bit longer. (Renya) Cant you say those things later!? (Emil) The spear, as a weapon class, isnt usually seen as one that plays a prominent role.There are probably a great variety of objecting opinions, while there will also exist people who regard the spear as the strongest weapon.The evaluation that farmers could kill warriors if they are allowed to possess sangen* spears also exists. A short spear thats used by an individual is an excellent weapon that meets all three major attack criteria, thrusting, slashing and bashing.(T/N: Very long spears with blades at the tip, google them if you want pictures)It even appears in myths and there are also quite a few famous spears.Notwithstanding, for some reason it doesnt play a leading role.If one were to speak of an almost definite hero weapon, the sword will be the first to be mentioned.The heroes weapons are swords and most of the legendary weapons are swords as well.As for imaginative strategies, one could even say that its the spear that suffers crushing defeats thanks to the sword.However, thats only hypothetically talking. If you confront reality, anyone can tell that a spear is quite a troublesome weapon.That is to say, at least it has a large reach. And with only that characteristic, the spear can maintain a reasonable predominance in battle.If ones unlucky, its also possible that one will be done in just because of this single aspect.People, who insist on a spear becoming powerless after its spearhead has been cut off, have seen too many videos and stories created by people who dont know the threat of a dying spear.If theres something you can do, have a go at it, is what Renya wanted to say.However, there are also disadvantageous aspects.The biggest flaw is that the longer the spear is, the more time it takes to rotate it in ones hands.One can say that the trait of a spear is that it will become weak as soon as one circles around to its side. But then again, thats only if theres a flank to go around and cut into. (Renya) Muttering so, Renya once again evades a spearhead that was thrust towards him.Dealing with spears in a narrow and straight passage results in being forced into an extremely difficult fight.Even when he knocks it away or repels it, the next spearhead comes lunging in right after.The only saving grace is that theres no weapon that can cut while being pulled back, like a cross spear, in this place, Renya thinks.If that was present here, I dont feel like I would be able to break them with my bare hands.If one were to possess Renyas skills, lopping off only the spears head wasnt something impossible, but if it turns into a scuffle in a passage that has little space and a low ceiling, wielding his katana isnt something he is capable of.To begin with, Renya had his katana stored in his inventory and he had no intention to take it out.A weapon thats quite rare will only end up giving away information that allows the inference of the users identity.Renya doesnt mind that a bit, no matter how flashy it might be, but it was absolutely necessary to hide the fact that the one who was currently in this location was Renya the adventurer from Kukrika. Im tired of this. Its getting annoying, is it no good to escape by breaking through the ceiling? (Emil) Emil grumbles with a fed up tone, while looking up at the ceiling.For her whos a demon, fighting, while not get injured and not killing the opponents seems to feel more stressful than expected. Her voice is deeply tinged with fatigue. I cant go o~n like this if there isnt some kinda reward. (Emil) I will accept negotiations, so you have to come up with something. (Renya) Oh? I just tried mentioning it, but now I have a bit of motivation. (Emil) Was she pleased by Renyas answer? Emil takes one step forward.Several spearheads are thrust towards her small body.Although their high number only lasted for an instant, it was to an extent of making even Renya feel flustered, but Emil, without trying to evade those, mowed them down with a flash of her slender arms.By nature a spear-handle isnt something that will easily break due to the blow of a single person.If they were that fragile, they would most probably break when stabbing into the target.But for Emils strikes, which have the power of a demon behind them, breaking a spear handle is as simple as breaking a twig. And so, all the spears going towards her end up snapping after being hit. Uooh!? A spear with bare hands is that guy a monster!? We need spares! Quickly bring the spare spears! Due to the power of that blow, the soldiers instinctively end up falling back.Turning around, Emil starts to run while pushing Renya. Hey! Hurry it up and lets get outta here! (Emil) I know that even without you telling me! (Renya) The soldiers, who held replacements spears, are chasing the two from behind as they escape at full speed.From the viewpoint of the soldiers, they likely intend to corner Renya and Emil who are escaping into higher and higher floors, but from Renyas view point, whose goal is to go to the top, you could say that the situation is advancing favourably.Repeating a few more battles, Renya and Emil run up the stairs, get through several openings that seem to be hatches and finally slip out onto the rooftop of the magic ships living quarters.As a result of Emil displaying her power for a second time, the two forced back the pursuing soldiers. And when they came out onto the rooftop, they saw a part of the royal castle being blown off, followed by an explosion and a violet clay-doll-like giant slowly rising up from within the ruins. What is that? (Renya) Renya mutters as he was taken aback by the giant that was slowly slipping out from within the hole, that was created when the building was blown away, while also raising a low groan. What, you ask thats the monster you requested, isnt it? (Emil) Thats obviously too big, isnt it!? (Renya) In comparison to the royal castle itself, the giant had a height surpassing 10 meters.Even the soldiers, who appeared on the rooftop after chasing Renya and Emil, began to fall into panic after following Renyas gaze and seeing the violet giant.If such a ridiculously large monster were to suddenly appear inside the Holy Kingdom, thats located in the centre of the continent, and furthermore in the Holy City, which is its centre, and on top of that in the royal castle which could be called its heart, it would cause rampant panic, huh?Renya thinks as he watches the flustered soldiers shuffling about in confusion.When such an incident occurs, you cant blame the soldiers low training level, I suppose, he judges. A monster in the royal castle!? No way Just from where the hell? While the voices of the soldiers can be heard, little explosions and flame pillars burst out all over the body of the violet giant as it leans its body forward, while placing a hand on the wall of the collapsed royal castle.It seems that the attacks of the soldiers and magicians, who were trapped inside the royal castle, have begun.Because they are serving in the royal castle, the attacks should be carried out by people that possess quite the ability, but with their attacks only exploding on the surface of the giants body, the giant stands stock-still as if it werent feeling a thing. Its tough, that (Renya) Well the basic abilities of such kind of golem are toughness, size and slowness, those three. (Emil) Given that he didnt want to produce extensive damage, Renya told Emil, when he made the request, that it would be great if she understood that the monster should have absolutely no offensive abilities.So to speak, its simply an empty threat. As it has no offensive abilities, I put my effort into its defensive abilities. Its physical and magical defences are very sturdy. (Emil) Even though it was me who requested it, that thing is nothing but a hindrance (Renya) O-Oy! You bastards! Due to Renya and Emil staring at the still-standing violet giant with somewhat half hearted gazes, one of the soldiers, who had apparently recovered from the shock in one way or another, shouts while jabbing the spear in his hand.Renya and Emil noticed that the thrust-out spear and the hands grasping it were trembling slightly, but end up considering him as remarkable even if its just for having recovered first under these circumstances. Is that your deed as well!? Being asked that, Renya and Emil look at each other for a moment.As Renya ponderedWell then, how do I answer that?Emil readily yielded that part to Renya.For the time being he was apparently aware of his own non-existing talent as performer. Answer! Fu Fuahahahahahaha! Out of desperation, now that things have turned out like this, Renya raises a loud laughter in order to get through this with enthusiastic momentum.Turning around to the soldier who slightly retreated with a startled expression, Renya spread both his arms widely. Dont you understand what you are told? Foolish humans! (Renya) Wh-!? B-Bastard Seemingly out of shame, Renya is on the brink of using broken language, but given the situation, the soldier apparently didnt notice. Although thats the humans way of doing things, something like this is good. (Emil) Emil points out in a whisper while hiding behind Renya.While thinkingThey will probably think that Im a ventriloquist puppet or something similar,Renya continues, We are currently here to abduct the humans princesses, present them to His Majesty the Demon King and to send the hero, on whom you bastards hope depends, to his death! We failed in securing one princess, but look! You assholes castle that tried to resist His Majesty the Demon King by sheltering the hero has collapsed at this point! (Renya) Well~ Wont even Demon King-sama be troubled if human princesses are offered to him? The current demon king, was it a male or a female? (Emil) Emils murmurs didnt reach Renyas ears, as it was erased by the voices of the stirring soldiers.As expected, Renya, who blames his hearing, looks back over his shoulder. Does he exist after all, the demon king? (Renya) Who knows? I do~nt know a~nything. (Emil) Emil naturally averts her look by entrusting her back to Renyas.If the situation had allowed for it, Renya would have turned around and interrogated her, but it doesnt look like the current circumstances will allow him to do so.A conspicuously large flash is created around the chest area of the violet giant, that stood stock-still without doing anything while having placed its hands on the castle.Once one strained their eyes a bit, one could see, although only vaguely, the figure of a person who held a shining sword and was cutting away at the violet giant while moving by flying throughout the sky. The attack just now whittled it down quite a bit. Is that the hero? (Emil) I dont know as its far away, but thats probably the case. That guys an idiot, isnt he? (Renya) Why? (Emil) Why is he expressly attacking it with a sword while flying in the sky? In such situation you first cut off the feet, right? (Renya) Its common sense that will make one embarrassed, since its an established tactic to fight an opponent that has a larger body than oneself by first crushing the parts your hands can reach.The act of expressly assaulting with a sword, while freely jumping and flying without caring about whats below ones own feet is the epitome of folly, Renya judges. Well, in any event, its a definite fact that hero-sama has been poisoned. (Emil) When you start something against someone, its indispensable to keep an ace up ones sleeve, as long as its something possible, Renya thinks.Always set up an insurance, is what its about, but if one limits the talk to this time, scattering poison when the fake-Shion was less than one meter away from the hero, was the first step.The second step was the continuous emission of the same poison from all over the body of the poison doll that would appear after that.If a monster appears at the royal castle and if its to a degree that its obviously powerful, the hero himself has to move in order to repel it.Anticipating that, Renya requested Emil to make sure that the giant itself can spread poison into its surroundings.Of course, thanks to that, it will result in unrelated people becoming victims as well, but since its not a poison that dictates life or death, Id like them to resign themselves by considering it their own bad luck to have been dragged into it, Renya assesses.Fraus special poison Grave Sin of InfidelityCapricious Crime.This poison that boasts of a intense power at level 9 only works towards men. The poisoned men will experience panting with relentless palpitation, violent stomach ache and headache, and will feel nauseated to the degree of getting dehydrated, if left untreated, from just touching a woman.Moreover, it has the extra effect that if any body part comes into contact with a womans bodily fluids, it will immediately get inflamed.For all that, its hard to handle since it doesnt have any effect at all on the male functions.To explain it simply; its a drug that makes one contract an extreme woman allergy.Its a heartless story since the poisoned will have their bodies transformed in such a way that they cant satiate those kinds of desires while still retaining said desire.Furthermore, as Frau explained before, theres almost no cure for it.At the time when he heard about it, Renya unintentionally ended up distancing himself from Frau due to the dreadfulness of the details.His expression seems to have become stiff from fear to a degree that even surprised Frau. It was to the extent that she had to explain several times that she would take responsibility, in case Renya got poisoned by mistake, and administer an antidote. Its original administration method was for the woman to drink it first and then get the man poisoned through physical contact. In the case of this method, its a superb application with only the woman, who poisoned the man, being excluded from the poisons effects. (Emil) In short, its a poison that wont affect women. You, never ever use it, okay? Huh? Renya-kun, does that mean that you have the distinct intention to have a relationship with several women? (Emil) I havent said that (Renya) Even while wondering whether its inevitable to have it interpreted in such a manner, Renya refuses to do so, for the time being.Even during that time, the hero flies around the giant and drives in seemingly strong attacks with the holy sword.Each time, a violet liquid that resembles blood is sprayed and scattered from the open cut wounds, staining the heros body.This poison shows its effect by being absorbed through mucous membranes, but with its excelling volatility, its virulence isnt any different from created vapour.However, when it comes in contact with air, it deteriorates through oxidation within several minutes and it becomes harmless. Ha! Did you see, thieves! The power of that hero-dono! The giant isnt even able to use any techniques! Hes very likely a soldier affiliated to the Holy Kingdom.Seemingly having gained vigour due to the appearance of the hero who is one-sidedly attacking the giant, he declares that loudly while holding up his spear.Likewise, the soldiers in the surroundings raise their voices and praise the power of the hero by hoisting up their spears, but from Renya and Emils point of view, who are aware of the circumstances, they dont hold any impressions above Oh, is that so? Hey, we have to withdraw with something that leaves a large impression, or do you intend to stay here forever? (Emil) Emil says while poking Renyas back. Renya strains his brain thinking, while shaking his head, as he doesnt have any kind of knowledge on hand that would be good to say in this situation. Ah, umm That damned hero! What a lucky fellow! But next time it wont go like this! Immerse yourself in your momentary peace while fearing the second and third plans shadows! (Renya) You know what, isnt it fine to just call yourself the demon king already? (Emil) Emil delivers the final blow to Renya, whos filled with the feeling of wanting to embrace his knees out of embarrassment.For some reason only that whisper of Emils properly reaches the ears of the soldiers. You bastard! Youre the demon king!? As if thats true! Bring them here if a demon king, who nonchalantly comes to such a place, exists! I will scold them! Even if I was the demon king, do you think I would withdraw with such shabby military results!? (Renya) Do you plan to escape!? Son of a bitch! Ah I ended up doing it, is the expression Renya shows.Emil, who was waiting behind him, gently embraced Renyas waist with her arms and hugs him from behind. Somehow it ended up becoming a sloppy story, but thats how it is. Wouldnt it be best for you guys to also go to hero-samas location? Although hes in that kind of battle, its not like it has been safely concluded, has it? (Emil) W-What!? Well then, bye bye. (Emil) Emils words are similar to a soft whisper.Due to her overly quiet whispering, the soldiers reaction was delayed for an instant.In that momentary opportunity, two wings with black membranes appear from Emils back.Emil kicked the ground with a single *tap* and the bodies of both of them floated up gently. Shit! They intend to escape by flight! Someone bring the bows! The soldiers yells are audible, but its already too late.When Emil flaps her black wings in one large stroke, she raises to a height where the soldiers hands cant reach her anymore.Its an altitude where even the soldiers voices cant be heard. Emil, say, do demons grow these on their backs? (Renya) Those are dummies! Arent these always used as an amplification of wind magic? (Emil) It appears you dont have any leeway, I suppose? Though, having various things press against my back does feel good. (Renya) Fool~! Since you can fly by yourself, how about doing so already? These things on my back are a nuisance and its also difficult to fly while carrying you! I might drop you if you dont get off immediately! (Emil) Mmh~ a bit longer. (Renya) Cant you say those things later!? (Emil) Chapter 91 Might I ask you to confirm and explain the circumstances? Of course you have no right to veto. The girl, who is sitting on the other side of the table, broached the topic as soon as she opened her mouth.While tasting the black tea that had been poured by Frau, Renya observes the girl, who keeps on staring his way while sitting deeply in the sofa.Her hair is the color of wet crow feathers. It falls straight-down her back without being braided. Her forelocks are arranged in straight lines above her eyebrows.Below the somewhat large eyebrows that seem to carry a strong will, are eyes with a tendency to droop that give one a fresh impression.Her slender, well-ordered features boost the sharp atmosphere cladding her body.Though her attire seems to be decently tailored and cost quite a bit of money according to Frau, its something like a malejougewith a calm colour scheme.Renya wondered whether she was a man when he first saw her, but he definitely understood that she was a woman after seeing the swelling, albeit moderate, in the chest area.Its great that I noticed before asking, Renya thoroughly believes.Once he sends a fleeting glance to the girls side, he can see that, for some reason, Shion and Rona are sitting on the ground in seiza. Even though its not like theyve done anything bad, Renya assessed, but the girl forced them both into seiza and order them to stay like that, while, for some reason, neither of the two girls defied her.By the way, seiza and dogeza seems to have spread among the human race due to a Lost who got stranded in this world in the past. Nowadays its something everyone knows about, Croire whispered into Renyas ear.It doesnt seem to have been accepted by the elves, although they seem to be aware of them.While Croire, who is sitting slightly to Renyas left, holds a teacup containing black tea with both hands, trying to cool it down by blowing on it, Emil, whos on his right, is slovenly reclined in the sofa with a broad grin as she watches the current state of affairs.Frau doesnt say anything as she waits behind Renya as if it was her usual placeThe rooms filled with women, Renya thinks, while feeling restless.Reflexively, Renya feels the need to summon Az next to him in order to have an oasis for his heart, but since hes completely unrelated to this times incident, there is no way Renya will drag him into the topic by calling him over.I guess its no good if I dont say anything, Renya opened his mouth, I dont know at all what you are talking about. (Renya) Thats not the answer Im looking for. Being immediately refuted in such a decisive manner, Renya reveals an awkward expression.It seems that she wont even allow us to play dumb. Theres no meaning in me visiting purposelessly. Please realize the meaning of Mayria Femme Fatale being present in this place. (Mayria) Even if you tell me that (Renya) While showing a troubled expression on his face, Renya shifts his gaze to Shion.Shion, who is frantically enduring the pain assaulting her feet due to the unfamiliar seiza posture, notices Renyas gaze focusing on her and secretly shakes her head. I have heard the story from my older sister in advance. (Mayria) The girl says in a flat tone, seemingly having noticed the target of Renyas attention.Though he doesnt know what Shion spit out, Renya thinkswith this the option of saying something thoughtless has vanishedwith a depressed feeling.Renya understands that the girl in front of him, who introduces herself with the name Mayria Femme Fatale, is a person related to Shion. Or rather, she was the very capable younger sister Shion had mentioned before.After having caused an uproar in the Holy City, Renya and Emil returned to the city of Kukrika, by noisily roaring around in the car they had created for the trip. While, slightly after them, Shion and Rona also managed to return on the magic ship.Since he had asked Frau to make sure that its not leaked to the surroundings that Renya and the others had vacated the city of Kukrika, Renya and Emil got stuck with secretly entering the city. But, if one possesses the abilities of those two, it doesnt pose much of a challenge.Given that Shion and Rona left the city under great publicity, they were also welcomed flashily when they returned, but as they were entering the city, they were surrounded by soldiers and taken away .It likely wont result in something that dangerous, since they are within their own home country, Renya estimated the severity,but it appears that this imouto-dono was the culprit that took Shion and Rona captive. I dont know what youve heard from those two, but I dont know anything. (Renya) So you intend to feign ignorance to the bitter end? (Mayria) The fleeting glare she sent towards Renya was awfully severe. Going by her body build and the fact that shes Shions younger sister, one can consider her to be around 15 years old, but her eyes dont look like those of a girl her age and the insight one can see within them isnt something one can acquire at her age either.Renya somehow grasps that she has apparently zeroed in on him and considers him a nuisance.Since thats troublesome, he pondered whether he should send her back after drugging her, but Frau didnt agree to this. Shes a proper visitor ~nano. As maid who looks after this house, I cant do something rude like that ~no. (Frau) Frau recognized Mayria, who contacted them in advance, passed through the main gate and even prepared presents, as an extremely unusual guest. She insisted that she couldnt approve of harming her or drugging her without hesitation even if, for example, the discussion she came for was something undesired by Renya.As it was an extremely sound argument, Renya had nothing he could retort with.Renya, who thought it seemed appropriate of Shions younger sister at the time of the advance contact, ended up approving her visit without thinking too deeply about it, since he was sure that she had come in order to meet her elder sister who had just returned home safely.Even if he thinks this late in the gameit would have been great if I refused her request, its already too late. Even if Im told that, I cant tell you what I dont know. (Renya) You are a stubborn gentleman. I had expected this, but then allow me to speak to you as I please. (Mayria) She takes out a little memo pad from her jackets pocket, opens a page and begins to talk while glaring at Renya. First off, the mastermind of this times incident is under suspicion of having broken through the national border. (Mayria) A villain, I guess. (Renya) Mayria doesnt avert her eyes from Renya who gives a short reply.Isnt it meaningless for her to open her memo pad if she keeps on staring this way?Renya ends up wondering, but without realizing Renyas thoughts, Mayria continues onwards. It has also been added that they have intruded into the Holy City. (Mayria) They did quite good, to not have been noticed by the guarding soldiers or someone similar.(Renya) It appears its due to the gatekeeping soldiers retreating in order to protect themselves However, its inconsequential, as its a matter concerning a foreign country. (Mayria) While easily belittling the conduct of the soldiers, who probably dont know Renyas face, with an inconsequential, Mayria continues talking, They are under the suspicion of having poisoned the hero Yuuki Yatsufusa, ten-odd nobles and the Holy Kingdoms royalty. (Mayria) Thats a drama. Was it a massacre? (Renya) Theres no disturbance in Renyas inquisitive tone.Although it was only slightly, the severity of Mayrias gaze escalated.It seemed that she wanted to say In spite of already being aware of the fact, but Renya persists in feigning ignorance. No, it appears that it wasnt lethal, but it seems that since then the infected gentlemen have lost the ability to approach women. (Mayria) Thats a strange poison. Though, if its indeed so, it will be a disaster for the Royal Family as they will be unable to leave behind an heir, right? (Renya) Renya speaks as if its completely someone elses problem. For royalty its a duty to create an heir, thus theyll probably be forced to make one, even if they have to be tied to the bed. However, even if they dont go this far, back-ups have been most likely prepared here and there. (Mayria) The words of the replying Mayria are also with a tone that regards the problem as someone elses.Being told that, Renya recalls the face of the elven countrys emperor.Even if that person has too much sex, if its royalty of a human country, its not strange for it to be done in the same way anywhere but on a smaller scale.If they stop, its quite possible for the country to perish.It was only natural to prepare plenty of spares while taking also taking precautions so that they didnt get their priorities backwards and overdo it, which could possibly lead to the country being split apart. According to our countrys priesthood, there are traces that a poison was used in order to deceive the minds of the escorting soldiers as well as the maids and Rona Chevalier who were assigned as my elder sisters escort. (Mayria) Renya turned a fleeting glance at Rona whos sitting in seiza.Rona immediately shakes her head softly.It seems she wants to tell him to not mind it, however, various parts are bouncing at the same time, and Renya, who didnt want other people noticing that he was getting slightly flustered, quickly returns his gaze towards Mayria. Moreover, the destruction of the royal castle, intrusion into the magic ship belonging to our country, committing every type of evil and misconduct towards Shion Femme Fatale (Mayria) Misconduct!? (Shion) Shion raised her voice in surprise.Shion protested against Mayria who reacted to those words and looked in her direction. Whats that about misconduct? There hasnt be any such conduct! (Shion) I shall correct myself. On top of being wrapped in a bamboo mat, Shion-ane-sama was kidnapped. (Mayria) Guuh (Shion) Yielding to Mayrias cold stare, Shion sinks into silence. Anyway, if we list just the main charges, its an array of heinous crimes such as violating the national border, intruding into public facilities and a city, usage of poison, destruction of property, assault and abduction. Its to the extent of being strange that murder isnt included in that. (Mayria) What was the criminals objective? (Renya) The Holy Kingdoms side seems to be almost certain that the whole situation was probably orchestrated by the demons or someone in cahoots with them. (Mayria) After closing her memo pad with a bang and returning it to her jackets pocket, Mayria leaned her body over the table thats between her and Renya. However I do have a clue about a person who can pull off this much and even further has a motive to do so, you know? (Mayria) Thats a big achievement. I suppose the intelligence gathering ability of the Principality of Trident is extremely high. (Renya) Though hes right in front of my eyes. (Mayria) I dont have any memory of having done something like that. I firmly deny any unspoken suspicions. (Renya) Renya undauntedly stares back at the glaring Mayria.The offence and defence between their glares continued for a little while, however, before long Mayrias side gave in and averted her look. Is that so? It seems I made a mistake. Please excuse my impoliteness. You have my apology. (Mayria) On top of pulling back easily, Mayria returns her leaned-forward body into the sofa and bows her head.Since it looked like it had been too simple, everybody except Mayria had a surprised expression.Seemingly noticing their looks, Mayria shrugged her shoulders and started to talk indifferently. The truth doesnt matter. The criminal is someone, what a surprise! The violation of the national border isnt something that unusual. Even the intrusion into the magic ship; its not like its treated as secrecy. (Mayria) Theres no way for all countries to control their national borders that covered an enormous area.Of course, if one passes through at a place other than the check point, its accompanied by a befitting danger, but since theres nothing more than a rough net stretched out, there are several bypaths, Mayria says.Its an act that will turn into a crime if discovered. But if its not discovered, its no crime either. If they dont have at least this much leeway in their thinking, they wont have enough manpower no matter how many they gather and theyll have to eventually surrender to the circumstances.Even the trespassing of the magic ship; its a crime if caught red-handed, but it doesnt seem to be a wrongdoing that warrants them chasing after someone who got away. How about Shions abduction? (Renya) Renya asks while wondering whether thats really all right.He did try to kidnap the princess of a country, even if it was a sham.Considering it normally, the honour of the nation would require them to search for the criminal, even if its a chase to the end of the world. Its possible to consider it as redemption for ones crime, but Mayrias reply was something Renya had not expected. That part is even more unimportant. (Mayria) May!? (Shion) She has been given the exaggerated title of first princess, but in reality shes a common citizen. Even if we set up another person that resembles her as the princess, it wont have any influence on my people. (Mayria) I know. I understand that, but towards your blood-related elder sister, thats too much (Shion) Renya thought that it was quite the ruthless treatment, but even the person herself understands the kind of treatment shes receiving.It appears that she understands, but being told that directly to her face, it seems to be something heartrending.Looking at Shion, who hangs her head crestfallen with an exceedingly miserable expression on her face, Mayria whispers Thats a joke though. (Mayria) Severe thats severe, May (Shion) Thats nothing compared to the shock I received when I was told to become the next Archduchess after you abnegated your position as the first princess. (Mayria) Its wonderful that you two are on good terms, but what kind of business do you have with us then? (Renya) Renya interrupts after seeing that Shion had received mental damage that could not be recovered from if left aloneMayria has an expression hinting at the fact that there was still something she wanted to say, but after clearing her throat once with a cough, she once again faces Renya and addresses him with a somewhat respectful tone. Please make sure to keep the story Im about to tell you bound to this place. (Mayria) Due to Mayrias suddenly serious expression, Renya agreed with a nod after somehow losing the mental battle. Might I ask you to confirm and explain the circumstances? Of course you have no right to veto. The girl, who is sitting on the other side of the table, broached the topic as soon as she opened her mouth.While tasting the black tea that had been poured by Frau, Renya observes the girl, who keeps on staring his way while sitting deeply in the sofa.Her hair is the color of wet crow feathers. It falls straight-down her back without being braided. Her forelocks are arranged in straight lines above her eyebrows.Below the somewhat large eyebrows that seem to carry a strong will, are eyes with a tendency to droop that give one a fresh impression.Her slender, well-ordered features boost the sharp atmosphere cladding her body.Though her attire seems to be decently tailored and cost quite a bit of money according to Frau, its something like a malejougewith a calm colour scheme.Renya wondered whether she was a man when he first saw her, but he definitely understood that she was a woman after seeing the swelling, albeit moderate, in the chest area.Its great that I noticed before asking, Renya thoroughly believes.Once he sends a fleeting glance to the girls side, he can see that, for some reason, Shion and Rona are sitting on the ground in seiza. Even though its not like theyve done anything bad, Renya assessed, but the girl forced them both into seiza and order them to stay like that, while, for some reason, neither of the two girls defied her.By the way, seiza and dogeza seems to have spread among the human race due to a Lost who got stranded in this world in the past. Nowadays its something everyone knows about, Croire whispered into Renyas ear.It doesnt seem to have been accepted by the elves, although they seem to be aware of them.While Croire, who is sitting slightly to Renyas left, holds a teacup containing black tea with both hands, trying to cool it down by blowing on it, Emil, whos on his right, is slovenly reclined in the sofa with a broad grin as she watches the current state of affairs.Frau doesnt say anything as she waits behind Renya as if it was her usual placeThe rooms filled with women, Renya thinks, while feeling restless.Reflexively, Renya feels the need to summon Az next to him in order to have an oasis for his heart, but since hes completely unrelated to this times incident, there is no way Renya will drag him into the topic by calling him over.I guess its no good if I dont say anything, Renya opened his mouth, I dont know at all what you are talking about. (Renya) Thats not the answer Im looking for. Being immediately refuted in such a decisive manner, Renya reveals an awkward expression.It seems that she wont even allow us to play dumb. Theres no meaning in me visiting purposelessly. Please realize the meaning of Mayria Femme Fatale being present in this place. (Mayria) Even if you tell me that (Renya) While showing a troubled expression on his face, Renya shifts his gaze to Shion.Shion, who is frantically enduring the pain assaulting her feet due to the unfamiliar seiza posture, notices Renyas gaze focusing on her and secretly shakes her head. I have heard the story from my older sister in advance. (Mayria) The girl says in a flat tone, seemingly having noticed the target of Renyas attention.Though he doesnt know what Shion spit out, Renya thinkswith this the option of saying something thoughtless has vanishedwith a depressed feeling.Renya understands that the girl in front of him, who introduces herself with the name Mayria Femme Fatale, is a person related to Shion. Or rather, she was the very capable younger sister Shion had mentioned before.After having caused an uproar in the Holy City, Renya and Emil returned to the city of Kukrika, by noisily roaring around in the car they had created for the trip. While, slightly after them, Shion and Rona also managed to return on the magic ship.Since he had asked Frau to make sure that its not leaked to the surroundings that Renya and the others had vacated the city of Kukrika, Renya and Emil got stuck with secretly entering the city. But, if one possesses the abilities of those two, it doesnt pose much of a challenge.Given that Shion and Rona left the city under great publicity, they were also welcomed flashily when they returned, but as they were entering the city, they were surrounded by soldiers and taken away .It likely wont result in something that dangerous, since they are within their own home country, Renya estimated the severity,but it appears that this imouto-dono was the culprit that took Shion and Rona captive. I dont know what youve heard from those two, but I dont know anything. (Renya) So you intend to feign ignorance to the bitter end? (Mayria) The fleeting glare she sent towards Renya was awfully severe. Going by her body build and the fact that shes Shions younger sister, one can consider her to be around 15 years old, but her eyes dont look like those of a girl her age and the insight one can see within them isnt something one can acquire at her age either.Renya somehow grasps that she has apparently zeroed in on him and considers him a nuisance.Since thats troublesome, he pondered whether he should send her back after drugging her, but Frau didnt agree to this. Shes a proper visitor ~nano. As maid who looks after this house, I cant do something rude like that ~no. (Frau) Frau recognized Mayria, who contacted them in advance, passed through the main gate and even prepared presents, as an extremely unusual guest. She insisted that she couldnt approve of harming her or drugging her without hesitation even if, for example, the discussion she came for was something undesired by Renya.As it was an extremely sound argument, Renya had nothing he could retort with.Renya, who thought it seemed appropriate of Shions younger sister at the time of the advance contact, ended up approving her visit without thinking too deeply about it, since he was sure that she had come in order to meet her elder sister who had just returned home safely.Even if he thinks this late in the gameit would have been great if I refused her request, its already too late. Even if Im told that, I cant tell you what I dont know. (Renya) You are a stubborn gentleman. I had expected this, but then allow me to speak to you as I please. (Mayria) She takes out a little memo pad from her jackets pocket, opens a page and begins to talk while glaring at Renya. First off, the mastermind of this times incident is under suspicion of having broken through the national border. (Mayria) A villain, I guess. (Renya) Mayria doesnt avert her eyes from Renya who gives a short reply.Isnt it meaningless for her to open her memo pad if she keeps on staring this way?Renya ends up wondering, but without realizing Renyas thoughts, Mayria continues onwards. It has also been added that they have intruded into the Holy City. (Mayria) They did quite good, to not have been noticed by the guarding soldiers or someone similar.(Renya) It appears its due to the gatekeeping soldiers retreating in order to protect themselves However, its inconsequential, as its a matter concerning a foreign country. (Mayria) While easily belittling the conduct of the soldiers, who probably dont know Renyas face, with an inconsequential, Mayria continues talking, They are under the suspicion of having poisoned the hero Yuuki Yatsufusa, ten-odd nobles and the Holy Kingdoms royalty. (Mayria) Thats a drama. Was it a massacre? (Renya) Theres no disturbance in Renyas inquisitive tone.Although it was only slightly, the severity of Mayrias gaze escalated.It seemed that she wanted to say In spite of already being aware of the fact, but Renya persists in feigning ignorance. No, it appears that it wasnt lethal, but it seems that since then the infected gentlemen have lost the ability to approach women. (Mayria) Thats a strange poison. Though, if its indeed so, it will be a disaster for the Royal Family as they will be unable to leave behind an heir, right? (Renya) Renya speaks as if its completely someone elses problem. For royalty its a duty to create an heir, thus theyll probably be forced to make one, even if they have to be tied to the bed. However, even if they dont go this far, back-ups have been most likely prepared here and there. (Mayria) The words of the replying Mayria are also with a tone that regards the problem as someone elses.Being told that, Renya recalls the face of the elven countrys emperor.Even if that person has too much sex, if its royalty of a human country, its not strange for it to be done in the same way anywhere but on a smaller scale.If they stop, its quite possible for the country to perish.It was only natural to prepare plenty of spares while taking also taking precautions so that they didnt get their priorities backwards and overdo it, which could possibly lead to the country being split apart. According to our countrys priesthood, there are traces that a poison was used in order to deceive the minds of the escorting soldiers as well as the maids and Rona Chevalier who were assigned as my elder sisters escort. (Mayria) Renya turned a fleeting glance at Rona whos sitting in seiza.Rona immediately shakes her head softly.It seems she wants to tell him to not mind it, however, various parts are bouncing at the same time, and Renya, who didnt want other people noticing that he was getting slightly flustered, quickly returns his gaze towards Mayria. Moreover, the destruction of the royal castle, intrusion into the magic ship belonging to our country, committing every type of evil and misconduct towards Shion Femme Fatale (Mayria) Misconduct!? (Shion) Shion raised her voice in surprise.Shion protested against Mayria who reacted to those words and looked in her direction. Whats that about misconduct? There hasnt be any such conduct! (Shion) I shall correct myself. On top of being wrapped in a bamboo mat, Shion-ane-sama was kidnapped. (Mayria) Guuh (Shion) Yielding to Mayrias cold stare, Shion sinks into silence. Anyway, if we list just the main charges, its an array of heinous crimes such as violating the national border, intruding into public facilities and a city, usage of poison, destruction of property, assault and abduction. Its to the extent of being strange that murder isnt included in that. (Mayria) What was the criminals objective? (Renya) The Holy Kingdoms side seems to be almost certain that the whole situation was probably orchestrated by the demons or someone in cahoots with them. (Mayria) After closing her memo pad with a bang and returning it to her jackets pocket, Mayria leaned her body over the table thats between her and Renya. However I do have a clue about a person who can pull off this much and even further has a motive to do so, you know? (Mayria) Thats a big achievement. I suppose the intelligence gathering ability of the Principality of Trident is extremely high. (Renya) Though hes right in front of my eyes. (Mayria) I dont have any memory of having done something like that. I firmly deny any unspoken suspicions. (Renya) Renya undauntedly stares back at the glaring Mayria.The offence and defence between their glares continued for a little while, however, before long Mayrias side gave in and averted her look. Is that so? It seems I made a mistake. Please excuse my impoliteness. You have my apology. (Mayria) On top of pulling back easily, Mayria returns her leaned-forward body into the sofa and bows her head.Since it looked like it had been too simple, everybody except Mayria had a surprised expression.Seemingly noticing their looks, Mayria shrugged her shoulders and started to talk indifferently. The truth doesnt matter. The criminal is someone, what a surprise! The violation of the national border isnt something that unusual. Even the intrusion into the magic ship; its not like its treated as secrecy. (Mayria) Theres no way for all countries to control their national borders that covered an enormous area.Of course, if one passes through at a place other than the check point, its accompanied by a befitting danger, but since theres nothing more than a rough net stretched out, there are several bypaths, Mayria says.Its an act that will turn into a crime if discovered. But if its not discovered, its no crime either. If they dont have at least this much leeway in their thinking, they wont have enough manpower no matter how many they gather and theyll have to eventually surrender to the circumstances.Even the trespassing of the magic ship; its a crime if caught red-handed, but it doesnt seem to be a wrongdoing that warrants them chasing after someone who got away. How about Shions abduction? (Renya) Renya asks while wondering whether thats really all right.He did try to kidnap the princess of a country, even if it was a sham.Considering it normally, the honour of the nation would require them to search for the criminal, even if its a chase to the end of the world. Its possible to consider it as redemption for ones crime, but Mayrias reply was something Renya had not expected. That part is even more unimportant. (Mayria) May!? (Shion) She has been given the exaggerated title of first princess, but in reality shes a common citizen. Even if we set up another person that resembles her as the princess, it wont have any influence on my people. (Mayria) I know. I understand that, but towards your blood-related elder sister, thats too much (Shion) Renya thought that it was quite the ruthless treatment, but even the person herself understands the kind of treatment shes receiving.It appears that she understands, but being told that directly to her face, it seems to be something heartrending.Looking at Shion, who hangs her head crestfallen with an exceedingly miserable expression on her face, Mayria whispers Thats a joke though. (Mayria) Severe thats severe, May (Shion) Thats nothing compared to the shock I received when I was told to become the next Archduchess after you abnegated your position as the first princess. (Mayria) Its wonderful that you two are on good terms, but what kind of business do you have with us then? (Renya) Renya interrupts after seeing that Shion had received mental damage that could not be recovered from if left aloneMayria has an expression hinting at the fact that there was still something she wanted to say, but after clearing her throat once with a cough, she once again faces Renya and addresses him with a somewhat respectful tone. Please make sure to keep the story Im about to tell you bound to this place. (Mayria) Due to Mayrias suddenly serious expression, Renya agreed with a nod after somehow losing the mental battle. Chapter 92 Chapter 92 C It seems to be a secret talk I wonder just how many times did I ask myself How did it turn out like this? after coming to this world,Renya thought as he digested the unpleasant memories.Hes on the parade ground of the military district of the city of Kukrika.Currently a hundred soldiers with their bodies covered in training gear are standing in front of Renya, who is standing still in a somewhat bored manner, while staring at him as if they are looking at someone shady.Renya, who was flooded by a hundred gazes that are filled with doubts, deliberatedwell then, what should I tell themwith an extremely uncomfortable expression. But before long, he opened his mouth as if somehow giving up on it. Yo Im Renya Kunugi, an adventurer. From today on it has been decided that I will be in charge of you gentlemens training due to Her Highness the official Princess Mayrias request. For the time being, best regards. (Renya) While being exposed to many stares asking Whos that guy?, Renya thinksreally, how did it come to thisas he recalls the events that led to his current situation. The situation dates back to the time when Mayria visited Renyas mansion.Being reminded that disclosure is prohibited, Mayria smiled bitterly while seeing everyones faces present at the location, except Emil, becoming stiff, albeit only a bit. That doesnt mean I will be talking about confidential matters. Its to the degree of a secret talk that cant be propagated publicly. (Mayria) Although, given what youve said, not wanting to listen to it is completely valid in this situation well, fine. So? (Renya) First, I think Id like to express my gratitude to the mastermind-sama of this times case. (Mayria) Mayria straightened herself properly by aligning her knees while sitting on the sofa and bowed her head very deeply afterwards.It was obviously a bow towards Renya, but Renya secretly diverts his eyes away from Mayria. In this place, such fellow (Renya) Yes, its because I understand that they arent here. (Mayria) Lifting her head, Mayria clearly says that and reveals a smile.Renya had started to have a grim image of her, but upon seeing her smile, he ends up thinking for the first time that she has a sweetness befitting her age.As his thoughts had apparently shown on his face, Shion and Rona wore somewhat complicated expressions. Emils grinning deepens to the degree of laughter. Frau didnt even move in the slightest while casting her eyes down and Croire softly nudged her elbow into Renyas flank. As such, I shall tell you without keeping secrets. This times case, no matter how much the other party is the hero, the human races hope, it was far too terrible of a situation. Even so, if its for the sake of protecting this countrys people from the threat of the demons, there was no other method but to obey. (Mayria) Well, I guess thats how it is. (Renya) If he regards the pros and cons of the situation after separating the problems on the emotional level, even Renya was able to understand; as long as its just the logical arguments.Though, if he were asked whether he would obey in that situation, he would probably answer that he will crush the hero with all his might.A statesman is someone that has no room for a choice if they can protect the whole country with a single sacrifice.Speaking of a pipedream such as protecting everything without any victims only applies to protagonists inside stories or bottomless idiots. If there was a situation telling me to go, I would give up and abide to it. Im the next Archduchess, thus there are countless husband candidates even if I was disgraced by the hero. For arguments sake, it would be a good bargain, if I was able to entice the hero. However, sending elder sister, who stepped back from the inheritance line, is something me and mother found difficult to accept even the talk of completely getting destroyed alongside the Holy Kingdom (Mayria) Perceiving a change in the eyes of the talking Mayria, which had a somewhat dangerous glint, Renya interrupted in a hurry. Lets stay calm, okay? (Renya) The Principality of Trident is ranked second in power on the human continent. We have experience in fighting against monsters since we do so at all times. We are also a military country that functions as breakwater on the human continent. We definitely wont lose if we go against the Holy Kingdom in a one-vs-one fight. (Mayria) Thats not going to happen, right? (Renya) Unfortunately. Since theres also the influence of the temple regardless of the country, I dare say it would turn into the Principality of Trident going against an alliance of countries. However, since theres the hero, winning will likely become impossible. (Mayria) Mayria readily affirms Renyas remark.Renya thinks that its only natural, but the members, excluding Renya and Mayria, end up wondering whether it wont somehow turn into quite a nice competition if Renya is thrown into the mix.The reality that its a way of thinking thats not necessarily off the point is frightening, but theres no one present who can accurately grasp this fact. Even so no matter how much mother and I tried to stop her, this elder sister insisted on going by herself at any cost I felt anxious about my meatheaded elder sister going there in high spirits while being certainly attracted by the word hero, but I was unable to change the will of my obstinate elder sister (Mayria) So thats how it turned into this kind of situation. (Renya) Renya felt like a quite harsh evaluation came out from Mayrias mouth, but he ignored it without giving it any deeper thought.If Renya lets it pass, the other members wont touch on that matter either. Only Shion, whos the person concerned, hangs her head heartbroken as Mayria, who is the one who used those harsh words, keeps a composed expression.After looking at the state of Shion for just a tiny bit, Mayria says, Shes a really stupid elder sister. Something like going as a substitute for me. She probably understood that nobody would take her once she became deflowered. (Mayria) Muu (Shion) Mayria softly and quietly sighs at the groaning Shion. However, although shes that much of a fool and dim-witted, shes still my elder sister. Only that point is indisputable shes my precious elder sister. (Mayria) Due to that seemingly unintentional murmur, Shion lifts her head with an expression filled with surprise.As she plentifully realizes that her elder sister is likely looking at her, Mayria ignores her as much as possible and looks at Renya.Renya perceived that her cheeks became red, though only slightly, but stays silent thinking that he should pretend to not have noticed it. Therefore, I cant tell you just how grateful I am for the matter this time. However, whats painful is that I cant make it public because of my position in this. It means that I cant reward that person. (Mayria) Well, thats true, I suppose. (Renya) As a person possessing the position of being responsible for the whole principality, she would set a bad example for the citizens if she publicly thanked a criminal.Besides, the offender is unknown at present and there are rumours that its very likely the deed of demons. If the Principality of Trident rewarded a single adventurer in some way and if that story spread, people that can possibly connect the dots would likely appear.If that happened, there would have been absolutely no meaning in committing that crime while determinedly hiding his face. On top of that, though I feel sorry for something like this I believe it cant be helped even if Im called shameless. (Mayria) Eh? As a matter of fact, I visited you, as theres something Id like to request from you, Renya-sama. (Mayria) Right after giving her thanks, she says this?Renya thinks on the other hand.Although it was vaguely, Renya considered that it might turn into such a situation.Breathing out deeply once, Renya asks, Did the Holy Kingdoms side say something? (Renya) You could say that and also that its not so. (Mayria) Mayrias answer wasnt clear at all.As Renya slowly tilts his head in confusion, Mayria continues with an explanation, There were signs that they would come to press for an answer regarding the case this time, but as their side doesnt seems to have a hold of any kind of proof either, they didnt meddle too much. However, the Holy Kingdom notified all nations that they will refrain from sending the hero over in case something happened for the meantime. (Mayria) Ah (Renya) In his mind Renya ends up thinkingDamn it.Renya had spun his plan under the condition that it will be fine as long as the hero doesnt die, as he will be treated as a decisive anti-demon king weapon. However, without the existence of the demon king actually having been confirmed at present, the only existing truth is that the activity of the demons and monsters has become more lively.Even the Holy Kingdom will probably send the hero forcibly if the existence of the demon king gets confirmed. But as the current situation has yet to proceeded up to this point, all nations, with the Principality of Trident in the lead, will be pressed to deal with the monsters that have become more active.Originally, the hero should go around the nations to help with monsters that have a level thats unmanageable for the respective countries, and if such monsters arent present, to help with parts where manpower is lacking. But before doing that, the hero has ended up indulging in sensual pleasures. Moreover, that hero ended up being plunged into a state thats almost impossible to recover from in regards to those pleasures by Renya.As a result, the hero has apparently become unable to carry out something similar to a journey of helping people by touring the nations. It seems there are various reasons. It appears that he cant take along any female members even if he goes on a journey. Even if he was forced to endure a male-only party, it looks like the hero became sulky that he wouldnt be able to experience anything nice even if he helped anyone (Mayria) I guess hes unsalvageable trash (Renya) I wonder whether it would have been better if I had properly gotten rid of him in order to avoid future troubles, Renya ponders.Mayria shakes her head while casting her eyes down with the impression that theres no means to fix his character. I feel like wanting to thank god for such kind of people not existing in our nation. It seems that he wont move even if hes ordered to do so, with the reason that he was allowed to do as he likes until now. Even if he somehow gets encouraged into doing so, the rotten hero no, thats not it, the hero-wannabe thats also rotten isnt a match for an average soldier at all. (Mayria) Abandon that garbage somewhere. (Renya) Although Renya made him completely incapable of nightly pleasures, he didnt meddle with his combat ability at all since it would be bad if he got killed, as he still serves the purpose of being a decisive weapon against the demon king.No matter how much trash the hero is, itll at least finish fighting the demon king and cleaning up the monsters as a favour for the benefits it enjoyed until now, Renya judged, but it seems that the trashiness of the hero went far beyond Renyas expectations.Its often said that theres no end if you look above, but on the other hand theres also no bottom if you look below. I think so as well, but it looks like the authorities of the Holy Kingdom have a slightly varying opinion. (Mayria) Mayria behaves as if shes enduring a headache while curbing her eyebrows. If not only the Holy Kingdom but also the Holy City was to be exposed to an attack by demons, the hero will be compelled to fight, whether he likes it or not, I suppose. Thats why theyre keeping him in reserve, to act as a defensive measure. (Mayria) It looks like they are thinking that even that trash will at least defend the city where it lives, if its own home faces destruction after being exposed to attacks.I see, theres that way of using him, too, eh?Renya assesses,but the other party is that hero after all.Isnt the possibility of him running away quite high?Renya wonders. Even if we dont think about the motives of the Holy Kingdom and the hero now, we ended up losing the grace of the hero. Theres almost no mistake about that. In other words, we have to consider the protection of our own principality with the military forces we have available right now. (Mayria) In other words you are telling me to participate in that protection as soldier? (Renya) Renya wondered whether she came here to scout him for the Principalitys army, but Mayria clearly denied Renyas question by shaking her head.Then what the hell do you want me to do?As Renya feels suspicious, Mayria said, Having high expectations of your skills, Renya-sama, Id like to request you to train our Principalitys soldiers. (Mayria) Ha? Everyones exclamation, with the exception of Frau, is accidentally in harmony due to Mayrias unbelievable words.As if trying to press for an answer from Renya and the others, who were taken aback, Mayria argues passionately, I have heard about your true strength from various sources, Renya-sama. Currently the Trident Principality desperately wants to assemble many strong soldiers. Cant you lend us your power for that sake? (Mayria) In the end Renya decided to accept Mayrias request after a little bit of respite.One of the reasons for that is that he felt responsible for making the hero become useless, although thats something he cant reveal openly.Aside from that, theres also the point of the sum of the request fee presented by Mayria being very generous.The things necessary for the training will be completely provided by the principality as long as he tells them what he needs.The request fee was, for starters, 5 platinum coins for a period limited to one month, where he would be in charge of training 100 soldiers of the army under the direct control of the Archduchess.That would equal to around 50.000.000 yen in his previous world.Renya isnt too obsessive about money, but as one would expect, he felt dizzy due to the sum of money that was offered. Shion and Rona couldnt close their open mouths, Emil laughed loudly and Croire showed a bitter expression for some reason.When Renya later tried to ask Croire about the meaning of her expression, he learned that she apparently doesnt like the humans armies possessing too much power as an elven imperial princess. I cant announce it publicly, but there will also be a reward included. (Mayria) Mayria added in a whisper.Even if thats included, the large request fee is already far away from common sense.Renya blurted out the words that popped up in his mind reflexively. No way! Do you intend to add Shions chastity to such an amount of money!? (Renya) Shion falls over from her seiza posture.Without looking Shions way, Mayria waved her hand in front of her face. Definitely not. Thats around one gold coin worth, I think? (Mayria) May!? No matter how you look at it, isnt that extremely rude towards me!? (Shion) Shion protested after getting up quickly, however Mayria coldly looks down on Shion. Even though I will gladly give your partner several dozens of silver coins to a few gold coins as payment, after the trouble of being successfully ensnared by onee-samas female wiles, as long as they are able to keep you in check while keeping you company. Please consider it my benevolence that I attach a value of one gold coin to you yourself, Shion-ane-sama. (Mayria) May!? Where did you learn to talk like that!? (Shion) Im already 15 years old. I wont stay a child forever. (Mayria) 15 is still a child, I think as its fine already, please take it outside, you two. (Renya) Shion tries to cling to the knee of Mayria, who answered arrogantly while sitting on the sofa.While investing great effort into understanding it in a positive way by thinkingI guess its proof that they are close, Renya said that with a terribly worn-out voice.After that kind of exchange, the story returns to its beginning.Renya looked up to the sky while wonderingjust how did it end up like this? Chapter 92 C It seems to be a secret talk I wonder just how many times did I ask myself How did it turn out like this? after coming to this world,Renya thought as he digested the unpleasant memories.Hes on the parade ground of the military district of the city of Kukrika.Currently a hundred soldiers with their bodies covered in training gear are standing in front of Renya, who is standing still in a somewhat bored manner, while staring at him as if they are looking at someone shady.Renya, who was flooded by a hundred gazes that are filled with doubts, deliberatedwell then, what should I tell themwith an extremely uncomfortable expression. But before long, he opened his mouth as if somehow giving up on it. Yo Im Renya Kunugi, an adventurer. From today on it has been decided that I will be in charge of you gentlemens training due to Her Highness the official Princess Mayrias request. For the time being, best regards. (Renya) While being exposed to many stares asking Whos that guy?, Renya thinksreally, how did it come to thisas he recalls the events that led to his current situation. The situation dates back to the time when Mayria visited Renyas mansion.Being reminded that disclosure is prohibited, Mayria smiled bitterly while seeing everyones faces present at the location, except Emil, becoming stiff, albeit only a bit. That doesnt mean I will be talking about confidential matters. Its to the degree of a secret talk that cant be propagated publicly. (Mayria) Although, given what youve said, not wanting to listen to it is completely valid in this situation well, fine. So? (Renya) First, I think Id like to express my gratitude to the mastermind-sama of this times case. (Mayria) Mayria straightened herself properly by aligning her knees while sitting on the sofa and bowed her head very deeply afterwards.It was obviously a bow towards Renya, but Renya secretly diverts his eyes away from Mayria. In this place, such fellow (Renya) Yes, its because I understand that they arent here. (Mayria) Lifting her head, Mayria clearly says that and reveals a smile.Renya had started to have a grim image of her, but upon seeing her smile, he ends up thinking for the first time that she has a sweetness befitting her age.As his thoughts had apparently shown on his face, Shion and Rona wore somewhat complicated expressions. Emils grinning deepens to the degree of laughter. Frau didnt even move in the slightest while casting her eyes down and Croire softly nudged her elbow into Renyas flank. As such, I shall tell you without keeping secrets. This times case, no matter how much the other party is the hero, the human races hope, it was far too terrible of a situation. Even so, if its for the sake of protecting this countrys people from the threat of the demons, there was no other method but to obey. (Mayria) Well, I guess thats how it is. (Renya) If he regards the pros and cons of the situation after separating the problems on the emotional level, even Renya was able to understand; as long as its just the logical arguments.Though, if he were asked whether he would obey in that situation, he would probably answer that he will crush the hero with all his might.A statesman is someone that has no room for a choice if they can protect the whole country with a single sacrifice.Speaking of a pipedream such as protecting everything without any victims only applies to protagonists inside stories or bottomless idiots. If there was a situation telling me to go, I would give up and abide to it. Im the next Archduchess, thus there are countless husband candidates even if I was disgraced by the hero. For arguments sake, it would be a good bargain, if I was able to entice the hero. However, sending elder sister, who stepped back from the inheritance line, is something me and mother found difficult to accept even the talk of completely getting destroyed alongside the Holy Kingdom (Mayria) Perceiving a change in the eyes of the talking Mayria, which had a somewhat dangerous glint, Renya interrupted in a hurry. Lets stay calm, okay? (Renya) The Principality of Trident is ranked second in power on the human continent. We have experience in fighting against monsters since we do so at all times. We are also a military country that functions as breakwater on the human continent. We definitely wont lose if we go against the Holy Kingdom in a one-vs-one fight. (Mayria) Thats not going to happen, right? (Renya) Unfortunately. Since theres also the influence of the temple regardless of the country, I dare say it would turn into the Principality of Trident going against an alliance of countries. However, since theres the hero, winning will likely become impossible. (Mayria) Mayria readily affirms Renyas remark.Renya thinks that its only natural, but the members, excluding Renya and Mayria, end up wondering whether it wont somehow turn into quite a nice competition if Renya is thrown into the mix.The reality that its a way of thinking thats not necessarily off the point is frightening, but theres no one present who can accurately grasp this fact. Even so no matter how much mother and I tried to stop her, this elder sister insisted on going by herself at any cost I felt anxious about my meatheaded elder sister going there in high spirits while being certainly attracted by the word hero, but I was unable to change the will of my obstinate elder sister (Mayria) So thats how it turned into this kind of situation. (Renya) Renya felt like a quite harsh evaluation came out from Mayrias mouth, but he ignored it without giving it any deeper thought.If Renya lets it pass, the other members wont touch on that matter either. Only Shion, whos the person concerned, hangs her head heartbroken as Mayria, who is the one who used those harsh words, keeps a composed expression.After looking at the state of Shion for just a tiny bit, Mayria says, Shes a really stupid elder sister. Something like going as a substitute for me. She probably understood that nobody would take her once she became deflowered. (Mayria) Muu (Shion) Mayria softly and quietly sighs at the groaning Shion. However, although shes that much of a fool and dim-witted, shes still my elder sister. Only that point is indisputable shes my precious elder sister. (Mayria) Due to that seemingly unintentional murmur, Shion lifts her head with an expression filled with surprise.As she plentifully realizes that her elder sister is likely looking at her, Mayria ignores her as much as possible and looks at Renya.Renya perceived that her cheeks became red, though only slightly, but stays silent thinking that he should pretend to not have noticed it. Therefore, I cant tell you just how grateful I am for the matter this time. However, whats painful is that I cant make it public because of my position in this. It means that I cant reward that person. (Mayria) Well, thats true, I suppose. (Renya) As a person possessing the position of being responsible for the whole principality, she would set a bad example for the citizens if she publicly thanked a criminal.Besides, the offender is unknown at present and there are rumours that its very likely the deed of demons. If the Principality of Trident rewarded a single adventurer in some way and if that story spread, people that can possibly connect the dots would likely appear.If that happened, there would have been absolutely no meaning in committing that crime while determinedly hiding his face. On top of that, though I feel sorry for something like this I believe it cant be helped even if Im called shameless. (Mayria) Eh? As a matter of fact, I visited you, as theres something Id like to request from you, Renya-sama. (Mayria) Right after giving her thanks, she says this?Renya thinks on the other hand.Although it was vaguely, Renya considered that it might turn into such a situation.Breathing out deeply once, Renya asks, Did the Holy Kingdoms side say something? (Renya) You could say that and also that its not so. (Mayria) Mayrias answer wasnt clear at all.As Renya slowly tilts his head in confusion, Mayria continues with an explanation, There were signs that they would come to press for an answer regarding the case this time, but as their side doesnt seems to have a hold of any kind of proof either, they didnt meddle too much. However, the Holy Kingdom notified all nations that they will refrain from sending the hero over in case something happened for the meantime. (Mayria) Ah (Renya) In his mind Renya ends up thinkingDamn it.Renya had spun his plan under the condition that it will be fine as long as the hero doesnt die, as he will be treated as a decisive anti-demon king weapon. However, without the existence of the demon king actually having been confirmed at present, the only existing truth is that the activity of the demons and monsters has become more lively.Even the Holy Kingdom will probably send the hero forcibly if the existence of the demon king gets confirmed. But as the current situation has yet to proceeded up to this point, all nations, with the Principality of Trident in the lead, will be pressed to deal with the monsters that have become more active.Originally, the hero should go around the nations to help with monsters that have a level thats unmanageable for the respective countries, and if such monsters arent present, to help with parts where manpower is lacking. But before doing that, the hero has ended up indulging in sensual pleasures. Moreover, that hero ended up being plunged into a state thats almost impossible to recover from in regards to those pleasures by Renya.As a result, the hero has apparently become unable to carry out something similar to a journey of helping people by touring the nations. It seems there are various reasons. It appears that he cant take along any female members even if he goes on a journey. Even if he was forced to endure a male-only party, it looks like the hero became sulky that he wouldnt be able to experience anything nice even if he helped anyone (Mayria) I guess hes unsalvageable trash (Renya) I wonder whether it would have been better if I had properly gotten rid of him in order to avoid future troubles, Renya ponders.Mayria shakes her head while casting her eyes down with the impression that theres no means to fix his character. I feel like wanting to thank god for such kind of people not existing in our nation. It seems that he wont move even if hes ordered to do so, with the reason that he was allowed to do as he likes until now. Even if he somehow gets encouraged into doing so, the rotten hero no, thats not it, the hero-wannabe thats also rotten isnt a match for an average soldier at all. (Mayria) Abandon that garbage somewhere. (Renya) Although Renya made him completely incapable of nightly pleasures, he didnt meddle with his combat ability at all since it would be bad if he got killed, as he still serves the purpose of being a decisive weapon against the demon king.No matter how much trash the hero is, itll at least finish fighting the demon king and cleaning up the monsters as a favour for the benefits it enjoyed until now, Renya judged, but it seems that the trashiness of the hero went far beyond Renyas expectations.Its often said that theres no end if you look above, but on the other hand theres also no bottom if you look below. I think so as well, but it looks like the authorities of the Holy Kingdom have a slightly varying opinion. (Mayria) Mayria behaves as if shes enduring a headache while curbing her eyebrows. If not only the Holy Kingdom but also the Holy City was to be exposed to an attack by demons, the hero will be compelled to fight, whether he likes it or not, I suppose. Thats why theyre keeping him in reserve, to act as a defensive measure. (Mayria) It looks like they are thinking that even that trash will at least defend the city where it lives, if its own home faces destruction after being exposed to attacks.I see, theres that way of using him, too, eh?Renya assesses,but the other party is that hero after all.Isnt the possibility of him running away quite high?Renya wonders. Even if we dont think about the motives of the Holy Kingdom and the hero now, we ended up losing the grace of the hero. Theres almost no mistake about that. In other words, we have to consider the protection of our own principality with the military forces we have available right now. (Mayria) In other words you are telling me to participate in that protection as soldier? (Renya) Renya wondered whether she came here to scout him for the Principalitys army, but Mayria clearly denied Renyas question by shaking her head.Then what the hell do you want me to do?As Renya feels suspicious, Mayria said, Having high expectations of your skills, Renya-sama, Id like to request you to train our Principalitys soldiers. (Mayria) Ha? Everyones exclamation, with the exception of Frau, is accidentally in harmony due to Mayrias unbelievable words.As if trying to press for an answer from Renya and the others, who were taken aback, Mayria argues passionately, I have heard about your true strength from various sources, Renya-sama. Currently the Trident Principality desperately wants to assemble many strong soldiers. Cant you lend us your power for that sake? (Mayria) In the end Renya decided to accept Mayrias request after a little bit of respite.One of the reasons for that is that he felt responsible for making the hero become useless, although thats something he cant reveal openly.Aside from that, theres also the point of the sum of the request fee presented by Mayria being very generous.The things necessary for the training will be completely provided by the principality as long as he tells them what he needs.The request fee was, for starters, 5 platinum coins for a period limited to one month, where he would be in charge of training 100 soldiers of the army under the direct control of the Archduchess.That would equal to around 50.000.000 yen in his previous world.Renya isnt too obsessive about money, but as one would expect, he felt dizzy due to the sum of money that was offered. Shion and Rona couldnt close their open mouths, Emil laughed loudly and Croire showed a bitter expression for some reason.When Renya later tried to ask Croire about the meaning of her expression, he learned that she apparently doesnt like the humans armies possessing too much power as an elven imperial princess. I cant announce it publicly, but there will also be a reward included. (Mayria) Mayria added in a whisper.Even if thats included, the large request fee is already far away from common sense.Renya blurted out the words that popped up in his mind reflexively. No way! Do you intend to add Shions chastity to such an amount of money!? (Renya) Shion falls over from her seiza posture.Without looking Shions way, Mayria waved her hand in front of her face. Definitely not. Thats around one gold coin worth, I think? (Mayria) May!? No matter how you look at it, isnt that extremely rude towards me!? (Shion) Shion protested after getting up quickly, however Mayria coldly looks down on Shion. Even though I will gladly give your partner several dozens of silver coins to a few gold coins as payment, after the trouble of being successfully ensnared by onee-samas female wiles, as long as they are able to keep you in check while keeping you company. Please consider it my benevolence that I attach a value of one gold coin to you yourself, Shion-ane-sama. (Mayria) May!? Where did you learn to talk like that!? (Shion) Im already 15 years old. I wont stay a child forever. (Mayria) 15 is still a child, I think as its fine already, please take it outside, you two. (Renya) Shion tries to cling to the knee of Mayria, who answered arrogantly while sitting on the sofa.While investing great effort into understanding it in a positive way by thinkingI guess its proof that they are close, Renya said that with a terribly worn-out voice.After that kind of exchange, the story returns to its beginning.Renya looked up to the sky while wonderingjust how did it end up like this? Chapter 93 Chapter 93 C It seems to be the start of training Ah I believe you have various negative thoughts such as discontent, complaints and this whole thing being absurd, but as this is an order from above, give it up. Id like you to follow my instructions for the coming month. (Renya) Renya turned around to the soldiers lining up on the parade ground while trying to stay as expressionless as possible, since it couldnt be helped even if he cursed the heavens, but excluding the soldiers, he saw an element that brought him a headache.Clad in the same equipment as the other soldiers, for some reason, Shion was standing in the front row with with her eyes sparkling.Due to her being the only woman among the male soldiers, she stands out abnormally, but only she herself hasnt realized that.At the time when Renya made the contract to train the Principalitys soldiers upon Mayrias request, Shion suddenly proposed to take part in the training too.Her surroundings and especially Mayria wanted to stop her with all their might, but Shion refused it stubbornly. The only one among Renyas party that lacks battle strength is me. I would hate it to be left out as a combat asset forever. Even I want to be able to fight decently. (Shion) With Shion insisting on that, the others somewhat accepted her point and stopped holding her back.However, from Renyas point of view, Shion doesnt appear to be that weak.In reality, compared to when Az and Rona fell into a state of near-death from one hit during the battle with Emil, Shion got through it with nothing more than injuries at the level of a beating.Putting Az who is a magician aside, it was an attack that plunged even Rona, a former knight, into such precarious situation.That doesnt mean that Shion possesses an extraordinarily sturdy body.Once I think about it, its unclear whether Shion was conscious or unconscious at that time, but wasnt she able to defend one blow from Emil?Renya ponders.As a belief of Renyas, its impossible for there to be coincidences in a battle.If you can make even your opponent think it was a coincidence, then your foundations in a skill are strong enough for you to be able to reliably and consciously execute it in battle, Renya believes.In other words it means that in Renyas eyes Shion possesses the ability to defend against the attack of a demon as long as she properly prepares her equipment.The person herself isnt aware of that. She also doesnt possess equipment that corresponds to her abilities.Since its a good opportunity, I guess I will try to train her plentifully while also confirming her determination, Renya plans. Instructor-dono? Is it fine for me ask a little question? A single soldier raised his hand in front of Renya who was silent, since he was brooding over those things.Judging roughly by his appearance, its a young man with quite the forged body build.He has crew-cut blonde hair and blue eyes.From the fact that there are several scars visible on his face and arms, one can expect him to be a veteran soldier. What is it? Umm (Renya) Its Keith. Im the leader of the soldiers. Attach -sama to my name at the time you call out to me, Instructor-dono. (Keith) Huh?Renya tilted his head to the side.I feel like I heard something strange there, but I guess its just my imagination.Without minding Renyas innermost thoughts, the soldier that introduced himself as Keith takes a step forward from among the soldiers and says to Renya with a smile pasted on his face, It seems that you are an adventurer, Instructor-dono. But, around what rank are you? (Keith) It was F, I think? Its the lowest rank. (Renya) A laughter erupts from among the soldiers due to Renyas immediate reply.Renya tilted his head to the side once more.From Renyas point of view something like rank or such didnt matter at all since him registering at the adventurers guild was an act for the sake of obtaining identification papers that can be used widely, but it seems that for the soldiers that isnt the case.Keith, who guffawed the loudest in front of Renya, says to Renya while smiling, Thats a surprise! Are you telling us that an adventurer at the lowest rank will train us in the way of fighting? (Keith) H-Hey, Soldier Leader. (Shion) In a panic Shion tries to stop him.Seemingly because they are soldiers of the Principalitys armed forces more or less, the soldiers seem to know Shions face. Shion-sama, I dont know what this guy said to butter up to you and Mayria-sama, but are you really serious about leaving the training of the Principalitys armed forces soldiers to such bastard!? (Keith) Soldier Leader, I think this is (Shion) Shion, stay silent for a bit. (Renya) Though Shion drew near and tried to explain the circumstance to Keith, she shut her mouth and her body twitched when she was called out by Renya with a cold voice.Turning her neck stiffly in Renyas direction as if making creaking sounds, the face she saw had smiles all over in contrast to his freezing voice. Renya (Shion) Keith-sama? No, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? I guess its fine with this? (Renya) Renya asked really calmly with a deliberately polite tone, but Shions face, whos watching him, is ghastly pale.The soldiers dont understand why Shions complexion has deteriorated this much. In short, you guys are just that. You say theres nothing to be taught by an adventurer with a low rank? (Renya) T-Thats only natural! So far we have trained as armed forces of the Principality I see, I see. Its not like I dont understand your attitude. (Renya) Although it was Keith who raised his voice, Renya interrupts him, not allowing him to finish. You want to say that you, as proud soldiers of the armed forces, have until now gone through such an intense training that it goes beyond being sufficient, right? (Renya) T-Thats right. (Keith) Wonderful. Thats truly magnificent. (Renya) Renya applauses towards Keith while smiling.The soldiers look at each other without comprehending where Renyas leading this conversation. Only the sound of Renyas clapping reverberates on the parade ground where they are. Renya this much is already enough. I will explain it properly to them. (Shion) Sh-i-o-n? (Renya) Shion, who is the only person that understands that the current situation mustnt continue in the direction its heading, tries to mediate somehow, but her name being slowly called out by Renya causes her body to stiffen.The smile doesnt vanish from Renyas face. Will you join the events that will follow as well? I dont mind it. (Renya) Umm I wonder whether I could get permission to escape? (Shion) Being asked by Renya, Shion readily gave up.I probably cant do anything about this anymore, is what she basically says.Even Renya wouldnt do something like killing the soldiers since he had been requested to train them by Mayria. Theres nothing further I can do under these circumstances, she understood.Shion judged that theres no other path she could take other than to escape swiftly so that the damage wouldnt spread to her. Permission or whatever else. This isnt training. Its simple playing around. I dont particularly mind even if you dont participate. (Renya) Got it. (Shion) Shion nods and hurriedly walks to the entrance of the parade ground while passing by Renyas side.At the time she passed next to Renya, she placed a hand on Renyas shoulder, brought her mouth close to his ear and whispered, Please, do it as gently as possible. (Shion) Dont worry. There wont be any deceased. (Renya) His reply was short, but as if giving Shion peace of mind, he hit her back with a slap once and urged her towards the entrance of the parade ground.Meanwhile, apparently feeling that something was off, the soldiers didnt raise their voices even once.After Renya sees that Shion has left, he once again looks at the soldiers. Well then, as the princess eyes wont be watching, its time for male bonding. Lets speak frankly here? (Renya) Something like talking with a guy like you (Keith) I see. If you dont understand words, thats also fine with me, I suppose. (Renya) Renya, who interrupted the talking Keith once again, takes one step towards Keith.Keith was about one head taller than Renya, but due to Renya approaching him, he ends up retreating a step back. So, in that case, since words are unnecessary, lets talk about things with these? (Renya) Having taken one more step, Renya lightly hit Keiths chest with his fist once.The expression of Keith, who guessed the meaning with that, changes once again into one of contempt, considering Renya a fool. Whoa, you arent saying that you, a Rank F, want to have a fight with me, are you? (Keith) Its not you alone. Its all of you. (Renya) The soldiers didnt immediately comprehend the words Renya spoke in order to correct Keith.However, as time passed, the soldiers understand Renyas declaration, and, beginning to rage due to his conceited manner, there start to appear even some among them who place their hands on the training swords that are affixed to their waist.Before long, Renya opens his mouth once more while watching the state of those soldiers with a smile, I dont know what kind of difficult training you did, but, in my eyes, dealing with you guys is equal to mere childs play. (Renya) Taking a fleeting glance at Keith who cant form any words due to him trembling in rage, Renya purposely turns aside slowly after laughing scornfully and takes a little distance from Keith. Well, since it doesnt seem that you have heads that are capable of understanding words, I guess it will actually be faster for you to personally experience it. I will even give you a handicap. I wont use any weapons. (Renya) You fucker do you think that you will get out of this with all your limbs intact after spouting this much shit!? (Keith) As if reacting to Renyas words, who challenged them while smiling faintly, the soldiers finally drew their swords.Even if one says that they are pulling out their blades, the soldiers only possess normal swords.Clearly being made out of iron. If they hit, far from being painful, they can break bones and, depending on the place, can even lead to death.The scenery of 100 frenzied soldiers glaring with weapons in hand brought about an intimidating air to the degree that a timid person would become unable to move, but Renya hit his hands together once as if declaring that he had come up with a good idea. Oh, yes! Come attack me without worries as I wont use magic either. I will make you properly understand that your strength isnt even at the level of being a match for an adventurer at the lowest rank, as you guys call it. (Renya) Oy, you lot! (Keith) Keith shouted.The soldiers behind him answer with aYeah! Send this pretentious idiot to the medical facility by beating him up! (Keith) Upon Keith issuing his instructions, a hundred soldiers attacked Renya with their weapons in hand.On the other hand, Shion, who had quickly exited the parade ground, headed towards the seats for noble visitors instead of heading home immediately.The seats have been built in a high place so that the nobles and royals could overlook the parade ground in order to be shown the results of the soldiers training.Even the place thats being used by Renya and the others didnt omit the custom and was equipped with such seats.Shion tried to observe what sort of thing Renya and the soldiers will do, since its a rare experience.Of course, if it turns into a situation that she cant let pass, she would rush onto the parade ground again with the intention to stop Renya somehow.At the moment when Shion sat down in a seat, what jumped into the line of her sight was the spectacle of Renya quickly running from place to place in the lead while hundred soldiers were chasing after him on the parade ground. Huh? (Shion) Its about Renya.Shion was convinced that Renya, as someone who could attack with magic that is beyond common sense, would annihilate the soldiers with his katana, something with a cutting ability that she couldnt understand, and leaked out an idiotic voice without being able to believe what she sees.The parade ground is vast. Which is because there are also events where they perform sham battles and such with quite a large number of people, but Renya is easily running across such a wide area.The soldiers are trailing behind him or groups of them are trying to surround Renya by carrying out different manoeuvres, but Renya, who weaves his way through the gaps between them, keeps running without receiving a single blow from anyone. Theres only one opponent! Spread and surround him! (Keith) Once Keith releases his orders, several teams separate from the main body and try to corner Renya through different routes.With his route being blocked, Renya was challenged by one team after having dropped his speed.In the next instant. Ah aah Shion witnessed the sight of a human being hurled into the air without any magic being used.From Renyas point of view, he simply swiped the feet of a soldier that came slashing at him with his sword, seized the guy once his stance collapsed and threw him, but with just that, several grown men danced in mid-air unable to continue fighting any longer.As if hes doing a juggling game with humans, the soldiers that obstructed Renyas path were made to dance in mid-air as he passes through. Like a trail chasing him, the bodies of the thrown soldiers crash on the ground with squishy sounds.The ground is covered with a soft soil to some extent, but the soldiers that were flung into a height of 2 to 3 meters, are incapable of adopting a sufficient defensive stance and apparently received damage to the degree of not being able to stand up right away. What was that just now? As if seeing something that no one can believe, a soldier mutters in a daze. Have your feet stopped? (Renya) Renya, who heard the murmur, approaches the soldier who said that.Renya stepped in front of the soldier, who prepared his sword in a panic, inhaled deeply and released a palm strike charged with power by twisting his entire body. Staring at the soldier as if he were insignificant, Renya made him fly parallel to the ground without raising his voice.His body got entangled with several soldiers that were in the way of his flight path and they ended up being knocked to the ground all at once.At this point in time Keith belatedly realized that he ended up stirring up trouble with an opponent they shouldnt have picked a fight with, but it was already too late.Renya, who swiftly drew close to another group, strikes one soldier, places the two ankles of the collapsed body in-between his arm and his sides and mows down the surrounding soldiers with a giant swing while using all his power.Those who were hit with the soldiers body, who wore armour, didnt get away safely but theres also no way that it will end easily for the soldier who was hurled.After Renya cleanly defeated the group of soldiers, who have been knocked down while screaming, with the blunt high powered weapon that was a soldier, who was brandished as a weapon due to his weight and centripetal force while petitioning to be released, he released the soldier-weapon. This was done only once he saw fit after having risen his rotational speed even further.Keith was unable to do anything but watch the figure of the flying soldier as he flapped his limbs while nonsensically being tossed around. Chapter 93 C It seems to be the start of training Ah I believe you have various negative thoughts such as discontent, complaints and this whole thing being absurd, but as this is an order from above, give it up. Id like you to follow my instructions for the coming month. (Renya) Renya turned around to the soldiers lining up on the parade ground while trying to stay as expressionless as possible, since it couldnt be helped even if he cursed the heavens, but excluding the soldiers, he saw an element that brought him a headache.Clad in the same equipment as the other soldiers, for some reason, Shion was standing in the front row with with her eyes sparkling.Due to her being the only woman among the male soldiers, she stands out abnormally, but only she herself hasnt realized that.At the time when Renya made the contract to train the Principalitys soldiers upon Mayrias request, Shion suddenly proposed to take part in the training too.Her surroundings and especially Mayria wanted to stop her with all their might, but Shion refused it stubbornly. The only one among Renyas party that lacks battle strength is me. I would hate it to be left out as a combat asset forever. Even I want to be able to fight decently. (Shion) With Shion insisting on that, the others somewhat accepted her point and stopped holding her back.However, from Renyas point of view, Shion doesnt appear to be that weak.In reality, compared to when Az and Rona fell into a state of near-death from one hit during the battle with Emil, Shion got through it with nothing more than injuries at the level of a beating.Putting Az who is a magician aside, it was an attack that plunged even Rona, a former knight, into such precarious situation.That doesnt mean that Shion possesses an extraordinarily sturdy body.Once I think about it, its unclear whether Shion was conscious or unconscious at that time, but wasnt she able to defend one blow from Emil?Renya ponders.As a belief of Renyas, its impossible for there to be coincidences in a battle.If you can make even your opponent think it was a coincidence, then your foundations in a skill are strong enough for you to be able to reliably and consciously execute it in battle, Renya believes.In other words it means that in Renyas eyes Shion possesses the ability to defend against the attack of a demon as long as she properly prepares her equipment.The person herself isnt aware of that. She also doesnt possess equipment that corresponds to her abilities.Since its a good opportunity, I guess I will try to train her plentifully while also confirming her determination, Renya plans. Instructor-dono? Is it fine for me ask a little question? A single soldier raised his hand in front of Renya who was silent, since he was brooding over those things.Judging roughly by his appearance, its a young man with quite the forged body build.He has crew-cut blonde hair and blue eyes.From the fact that there are several scars visible on his face and arms, one can expect him to be a veteran soldier. What is it? Umm (Renya) Its Keith. Im the leader of the soldiers. Attach -sama to my name at the time you call out to me, Instructor-dono. (Keith) Huh?Renya tilted his head to the side.I feel like I heard something strange there, but I guess its just my imagination.Without minding Renyas innermost thoughts, the soldier that introduced himself as Keith takes a step forward from among the soldiers and says to Renya with a smile pasted on his face, It seems that you are an adventurer, Instructor-dono. But, around what rank are you? (Keith) It was F, I think? Its the lowest rank. (Renya) A laughter erupts from among the soldiers due to Renyas immediate reply.Renya tilted his head to the side once more.From Renyas point of view something like rank or such didnt matter at all since him registering at the adventurers guild was an act for the sake of obtaining identification papers that can be used widely, but it seems that for the soldiers that isnt the case.Keith, who guffawed the loudest in front of Renya, says to Renya while smiling, Thats a surprise! Are you telling us that an adventurer at the lowest rank will train us in the way of fighting? (Keith) H-Hey, Soldier Leader. (Shion) In a panic Shion tries to stop him.Seemingly because they are soldiers of the Principalitys armed forces more or less, the soldiers seem to know Shions face. Shion-sama, I dont know what this guy said to butter up to you and Mayria-sama, but are you really serious about leaving the training of the Principalitys armed forces soldiers to such bastard!? (Keith) Soldier Leader, I think this is (Shion) Shion, stay silent for a bit. (Renya) Though Shion drew near and tried to explain the circumstance to Keith, she shut her mouth and her body twitched when she was called out by Renya with a cold voice.Turning her neck stiffly in Renyas direction as if making creaking sounds, the face she saw had smiles all over in contrast to his freezing voice. Renya (Shion) Keith-sama? No, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? I guess its fine with this? (Renya) Renya asked really calmly with a deliberately polite tone, but Shions face, whos watching him, is ghastly pale.The soldiers dont understand why Shions complexion has deteriorated this much. In short, you guys are just that. You say theres nothing to be taught by an adventurer with a low rank? (Renya) T-Thats only natural! So far we have trained as armed forces of the Principality I see, I see. Its not like I dont understand your attitude. (Renya) Although it was Keith who raised his voice, Renya interrupts him, not allowing him to finish. You want to say that you, as proud soldiers of the armed forces, have until now gone through such an intense training that it goes beyond being sufficient, right? (Renya) T-Thats right. (Keith) Wonderful. Thats truly magnificent. (Renya) Renya applauses towards Keith while smiling.The soldiers look at each other without comprehending where Renyas leading this conversation. Only the sound of Renyas clapping reverberates on the parade ground where they are. Renya this much is already enough. I will explain it properly to them. (Shion) Sh-i-o-n? (Renya) Shion, who is the only person that understands that the current situation mustnt continue in the direction its heading, tries to mediate somehow, but her name being slowly called out by Renya causes her body to stiffen.The smile doesnt vanish from Renyas face. Will you join the events that will follow as well? I dont mind it. (Renya) Umm I wonder whether I could get permission to escape? (Shion) Being asked by Renya, Shion readily gave up.I probably cant do anything about this anymore, is what she basically says.Even Renya wouldnt do something like killing the soldiers since he had been requested to train them by Mayria. Theres nothing further I can do under these circumstances, she understood.Shion judged that theres no other path she could take other than to escape swiftly so that the damage wouldnt spread to her. Permission or whatever else. This isnt training. Its simple playing around. I dont particularly mind even if you dont participate. (Renya) Got it. (Shion) Shion nods and hurriedly walks to the entrance of the parade ground while passing by Renyas side.At the time she passed next to Renya, she placed a hand on Renyas shoulder, brought her mouth close to his ear and whispered, Please, do it as gently as possible. (Shion) Dont worry. There wont be any deceased. (Renya) His reply was short, but as if giving Shion peace of mind, he hit her back with a slap once and urged her towards the entrance of the parade ground.Meanwhile, apparently feeling that something was off, the soldiers didnt raise their voices even once.After Renya sees that Shion has left, he once again looks at the soldiers. Well then, as the princess eyes wont be watching, its time for male bonding. Lets speak frankly here? (Renya) Something like talking with a guy like you (Keith) I see. If you dont understand words, thats also fine with me, I suppose. (Renya) Renya, who interrupted the talking Keith once again, takes one step towards Keith.Keith was about one head taller than Renya, but due to Renya approaching him, he ends up retreating a step back. So, in that case, since words are unnecessary, lets talk about things with these? (Renya) Having taken one more step, Renya lightly hit Keiths chest with his fist once.The expression of Keith, who guessed the meaning with that, changes once again into one of contempt, considering Renya a fool. Whoa, you arent saying that you, a Rank F, want to have a fight with me, are you? (Keith) Its not you alone. Its all of you. (Renya) The soldiers didnt immediately comprehend the words Renya spoke in order to correct Keith.However, as time passed, the soldiers understand Renyas declaration, and, beginning to rage due to his conceited manner, there start to appear even some among them who place their hands on the training swords that are affixed to their waist.Before long, Renya opens his mouth once more while watching the state of those soldiers with a smile, I dont know what kind of difficult training you did, but, in my eyes, dealing with you guys is equal to mere childs play. (Renya) Taking a fleeting glance at Keith who cant form any words due to him trembling in rage, Renya purposely turns aside slowly after laughing scornfully and takes a little distance from Keith. Well, since it doesnt seem that you have heads that are capable of understanding words, I guess it will actually be faster for you to personally experience it. I will even give you a handicap. I wont use any weapons. (Renya) You fucker do you think that you will get out of this with all your limbs intact after spouting this much shit!? (Keith) As if reacting to Renyas words, who challenged them while smiling faintly, the soldiers finally drew their swords.Even if one says that they are pulling out their blades, the soldiers only possess normal swords.Clearly being made out of iron. If they hit, far from being painful, they can break bones and, depending on the place, can even lead to death.The scenery of 100 frenzied soldiers glaring with weapons in hand brought about an intimidating air to the degree that a timid person would become unable to move, but Renya hit his hands together once as if declaring that he had come up with a good idea. Oh, yes! Come attack me without worries as I wont use magic either. I will make you properly understand that your strength isnt even at the level of being a match for an adventurer at the lowest rank, as you guys call it. (Renya) Oy, you lot! (Keith) Keith shouted.The soldiers behind him answer with aYeah! Send this pretentious idiot to the medical facility by beating him up! (Keith) Upon Keith issuing his instructions, a hundred soldiers attacked Renya with their weapons in hand.On the other hand, Shion, who had quickly exited the parade ground, headed towards the seats for noble visitors instead of heading home immediately.The seats have been built in a high place so that the nobles and royals could overlook the parade ground in order to be shown the results of the soldiers training.Even the place thats being used by Renya and the others didnt omit the custom and was equipped with such seats.Shion tried to observe what sort of thing Renya and the soldiers will do, since its a rare experience.Of course, if it turns into a situation that she cant let pass, she would rush onto the parade ground again with the intention to stop Renya somehow.At the moment when Shion sat down in a seat, what jumped into the line of her sight was the spectacle of Renya quickly running from place to place in the lead while hundred soldiers were chasing after him on the parade ground. Huh? (Shion) Its about Renya.Shion was convinced that Renya, as someone who could attack with magic that is beyond common sense, would annihilate the soldiers with his katana, something with a cutting ability that she couldnt understand, and leaked out an idiotic voice without being able to believe what she sees.The parade ground is vast. Which is because there are also events where they perform sham battles and such with quite a large number of people, but Renya is easily running across such a wide area.The soldiers are trailing behind him or groups of them are trying to surround Renya by carrying out different manoeuvres, but Renya, who weaves his way through the gaps between them, keeps running without receiving a single blow from anyone. Theres only one opponent! Spread and surround him! (Keith) Once Keith releases his orders, several teams separate from the main body and try to corner Renya through different routes.With his route being blocked, Renya was challenged by one team after having dropped his speed.In the next instant. Ah aah Shion witnessed the sight of a human being hurled into the air without any magic being used.From Renyas point of view, he simply swiped the feet of a soldier that came slashing at him with his sword, seized the guy once his stance collapsed and threw him, but with just that, several grown men danced in mid-air unable to continue fighting any longer.As if hes doing a juggling game with humans, the soldiers that obstructed Renyas path were made to dance in mid-air as he passes through. Like a trail chasing him, the bodies of the thrown soldiers crash on the ground with squishy sounds.The ground is covered with a soft soil to some extent, but the soldiers that were flung into a height of 2 to 3 meters, are incapable of adopting a sufficient defensive stance and apparently received damage to the degree of not being able to stand up right away. What was that just now? As if seeing something that no one can believe, a soldier mutters in a daze. Have your feet stopped? (Renya) Renya, who heard the murmur, approaches the soldier who said that.Renya stepped in front of the soldier, who prepared his sword in a panic, inhaled deeply and released a palm strike charged with power by twisting his entire body. Staring at the soldier as if he were insignificant, Renya made him fly parallel to the ground without raising his voice.His body got entangled with several soldiers that were in the way of his flight path and they ended up being knocked to the ground all at once.At this point in time Keith belatedly realized that he ended up stirring up trouble with an opponent they shouldnt have picked a fight with, but it was already too late.Renya, who swiftly drew close to another group, strikes one soldier, places the two ankles of the collapsed body in-between his arm and his sides and mows down the surrounding soldiers with a giant swing while using all his power.Those who were hit with the soldiers body, who wore armour, didnt get away safely but theres also no way that it will end easily for the soldier who was hurled.After Renya cleanly defeated the group of soldiers, who have been knocked down while screaming, with the blunt high powered weapon that was a soldier, who was brandished as a weapon due to his weight and centripetal force while petitioning to be released, he released the soldier-weapon. This was done only once he saw fit after having risen his rotational speed even further.Keith was unable to do anything but watch the figure of the flying soldier as he flapped his limbs while nonsensically being tossed around. Chapter 94 Around one hour later.It developed into a situation where Renya alone was standing among the fallen soldiers on the parade ground.The collapsed soldiers can be mostly split into three different categories.First, those who ran out of steam after continuing to run around and chase the escaping Renya.You can say that those are the soldiers who persisted for the longest time among the three categories.Another way to put it, they are the soldiers who had the least amount of injuries among the collapsed soldiers, seemingly thanks to their tenacity.At any rate, thats because the damage they took is only being unable to move even one finger out of fatigue.Second, those who were defeated after directly attacking Renya.Because Renya was unarmed, his means of attack were mostly limited to kicking, hitting, throwing and swinging around.The soldiers, however, got defeated by those methods alone.Since these soldiers hit and kicked Renya themselves, it would have been wrong if they didnt suffer painful experiences,, however he released them relatively quickly once they ended up fainting or if it seemed that they understood the feeling of suffering pain.Third, those who got dragged in by the soldiers who attacked Renya directly.Among the three categories, its probably them who suffered the most tragic experiences.They were hit by comrades who came flying at them, rammed by comrades that were brandished like weapons and had the bodies of comrades drop upon them at the places they collapsed. If they couldnt evade that, it was the end at that point, but if they were considered to still be conscious after evading, another comrade was hurled at them.Apparently due to the indirect attacks, even Renya stepped on the unconscious soldiers, unable to quite grasp their responses or continued to relentlessly involve them until he was definitely sure that he made them faint. Isnt it far too early to become useless, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? (Renya) Renya walked up to the side of Keith, who was lying face-down on the ground, and asks him indifferently without even looking down at him.He tried to wait for a bit after asking, but theres no reaction from Keith.Lowering his sight below his feet while wondering whether Keith has fainted, Renya looked directly into the eyes of Keith whos trying to glare his way from below.Speaking of categories, Keith enters the group of soldiers that has gone down due to directly attacking Renya.Renya had absolutely no intention to make a differentiation between him and the other soldiers, but he ends up pondering maybe his skills went slightly haywire due to our exchange before the fight. Considering you were hit above your armour, you appear to have been damaged deeply, Soldier Leader Keith-sama. Are you alright, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? (Renya) Is that sarcasm? Hey! (Keith) Renya nods once at Keith who says that as if groaning. Do you possess the brain to process sarcasm? (Renya) You bastard (Keith) Thanks for your hard no, it doesnt look like it has been that hard of a work to call it as such, does it, Renya? (Shion) Shion, who came down to the parade ground from the seats for noble visitors once again, calls out to Renya.Renya simply shrugged his shoulders and didnt reply to Shion. Are you fine, Soldier Leader Keith? Were you able to comprehend Renyas strength a bit with this? (Shion) Pri princess we are (Keith) Hey, hey, Shion. Why are you speaking as if its over? (Renya) On the parade ground there already are no soldiers that can move properly.Its not like they suffered big injuries, but theres not a single one among them that can answer Yes, sure after being told to carry out further training after this.The only exceptions are Renya, who caused this situation, and Shion who only watched from the noble seats. You dont mean to say that only I get a different menu!? (Shion) No, I dont have the slightest intention to do that, but (Renya) Operating his void storage, Renya retrieves a single foldable chair from within.While unfolding that chair with a light swing and sitting down on it, Renya began to speak so that the surrounding soldiers could hear him as well. What I showed you just now is just a categorization of the soldiers. (Renya) Categorization? (Shion) The guys, who seem to have ability and stamina above a certain level, were brought down after attacking me. Those, who have stamina above a certain level, were made to chase me until they collapsed. And finally those who couldnt even chase or attack me. In other words, the guys, who were brought down by getting dragged in by other soldiers, are the completely useless folks who have neither stamina nor ability. (Renya) Huh? Isnt there a group that has no stamina but abilities above a certain level? (Shion) Once Shion asks that as she considered that to be an odd part, Renya laughs scornfully at her. Superficial abilities that arent accompanied by stamina and the likes are pointless. (Renya) Who says that? Im the one saying that. Well then, in case you have been listening, do you remember in which group you belong? You guys stated that theres nothing I could teach you. Although theres nothing, I received money from Her Highness Mayria in the shape of a request. Therefore I have decided to imprint it into you forcibly without actually teaching you anything. (Renya) I feel like you have said something somewhat disturbing? (Shion) Renya immediately affirmed Shions doubt. In short, I guess it will be dangerous since it wont be based on knowledge and experience but by teaching your bodies. (Renya) Me too? (Shion) Have I maybe announced my will to participate at an unwise time?Shion turns pale.Renya dispassionately asks Shion, Do you want that to happen to you? (Renya) No, Id like to refrain. (Shion) If you have an interest in getting taught, I will humour you accordingly. These guy dont have such intention and thus it cant be helped. (Renya) Renya put his foot on the back of Keith who has collapsed upside-down below his feet.Rather than having the objective of causing pain to him, it was apparently his declaration that he definitely wont let him escape from here on out.Even without doing that, Keith didnt even have the strength to crawl left in him anymore.Renya surveys his surrounding in that posture and activates the spell towards the soldiers who have fallen at a spot thats too far away from him.By pulling the armours worn by the soldiers who have been scattered at a vast range, he gathers them into a closer space.While carrying out that work, Renya deploys a barrier in order to surround the area by using parallel activation of magic formulae.This barrier had the property of not allowing physical interaction and magic to pass outside from the inside.Its the only way to make sure that no soldier possibly runs away after recovering their stamina while hes in the middle of his next operation.In addition to its significance as an anti-escape barrier, it also serves as a wall to hinder leakage of the three magic formulae Renya will use next to the outside. No one is able to move anyway. Thus, lets follow by doing the training thats possible by simply lying around over there. (Renya) Its a course of events he had decided beforehands, but Shion looks curious when Renya declares so. Such training exists? (Shion) Shion admired it thinkingI suppose thats quite the easy training then, but once she was able to understand only a little bit of what Renya was planning, she became unable to entertain such impression any longer. Guess so. Shion, stand over there and tell me once it seems to be even slightly unreasonable. I will make a hole in the barrier. (Renya) While telling Shion, Renya strengthens the barrier by spreading mana in order to make sure that its visible for Shion and the soldiers.As a result, the soldiers realized that they were imprisoned within Renyas grasp. What do you plan to do? Due to the voice of Soldier Leader Keith that comes from below his feet, Renya replied while slightly increasing the power in his foot stepping on Keiths back. I told you that its a training that can be carried out even while sleeping, didnt I? (Renya) Theres no way such (Keith) The words of Keith who started to speak break off.Its not like Renya interrupted him in the middle or anything.Cries of pain and gasping alongside voices of surprise began to spread among the surrounding soldiers.Even Keith himself felt a violent oppressiveness and throbbing, and a disturbance of his breathing by something bursting out from within his body. This was drilled into me by Emil. (Renya) Renya says in a fashion of a monologue while sitting on the chair. The thing called sorcery has been precisely organized like a study, but as a matter of fact, among the techniques ranked as big spells, many that havent been accurately systemized like a study are included, it seems. (Renya) Oh~ Thats the first time I hear that (Shion) Shion says.No change from her usual expression can be seen.Keith, who looked up at Shions expression from below Renyas feet, couldnt believe that reality.Just what kind of expression do I have?Keith wonders.He continues to release cold sweat from his entire body. Regardless of whether its his face, fingers or below his armour, it streams down.The clattering of his teeth, not to mention the trembling of his powerless body that doesnt do what Keith wants it to, sounds completely as if its someone elses.He doesnt know whether the temperature he feels right now is hot or cold.Both his hands at the ends of his feebly flailing arms are tearing at the ground as if enduring something, but Keith isnt even aware of that. What Im doing right now is scattering around my through my mana and bloodthirst. (Renya) Eh? You are already at it? (Shion) Shion looked around while continuing with I dont feel anything though. But her face stiffens after seeing the fallen soldiers trembling, and in very bad cases writhing and starting to drool.Renya continued his explanation without minding it. Although I said that, it doesnt mean that Im seriously scattering it. From my point of view, Im actually distributing it weakly and subtly. (Renya) Like this!? (Shion) The soldier Shion pointed at had already lost his consciousness with his eyes wide open and foam gushing out from his mouth.The offensively smelling liquid from his nether region has changed the colour of his trousers by wetting them.In addition, the figures of soldiers that try to get away as far as possible from Renya by crawling on the ground, or those who are screaming while clinging to the barriers wall, even though they know that they cant leave the barrier, can be seen. Being under the same influence, its at a level where you can stay calm without noticing anything, right? (Renya) Oh? Ah, its true. I dont feel anything, I guess. (Shion) In Shions perception, her current state was something along the lines of Isnt Renya slightly difficult to approach as hes emitting a scary aura?Above all, not only is Shion mentally slow, but her body has gotten used to the mana and bloodthirst of Renya as a result of having spent quite a bit of time together with him. She wouldnt mind such level of coercion. Once they reach the point of being able to endure this coercion, they wont just obtain the power to resist against mind spells but also get a resistance against common spell effects. Moreover, becoming capable of repelling this coercion with their own will and mana is connected to an increase of the mana they possess, I heard. (Renya) Thats amazing! How does that work!? (Shion) Owning a powerful will that opposes the feeling of I will be killed, they will try to resist through their mana, I was told by Emil, but I dont quite understand either. It seems that they will be able to manage somehow or other if they strongly pray Like hell I will lose! in silence. (Renya) I see! Alright. (Shion) Shutting her eyes tightly, Shion starts to single-mindedly pray while murmuring something unspecified.Isnt that in vain at the current point in time as she already has a resistance at the level of not feeling anything even without doing something like that?Renya wonders, but he decides to let Shion do whatever she likes.It would be nice if I could strengthen the coercion a bit for Shion, but if I do that, I cant definitely say that there wont be any casualties from death due to shock among the soldiers who havent reached Shions level.Wont it be fine if I go for it slowly as I have a month remaining at this point?Considering that, Renya closes his eyes while deeply leaning back into his chair.As it wasnt a bloodthirst with considerable power, he isnt conscious of it. Given that even his mana was poured in weakly with a very little quantity at a time, there wasnt even any necessity for him to try maintaining it.If its at that level, he can keep at it even half-unconscious. H-He-Here Mmh~? (Renya) The one who raised his voice is Keith who is still being stepped on by Renya.Thanks to his entire body shivering, hes apparently unable to form his words into any decent language. Whats wrong, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? By the way, its slowly becoming annoying to add -sama. For how long do I have to keep doing that, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? (Renya) He-He-Here t-t-th-this t-t-tr-tra-training f-f-for how long (Keith) Renya somehow manages to assemble the voice thats difficult to understand into something comprehensible in his mind. How long I intend to continue this training, you want to ask? (Renya) Keith nods while his body trembles.He sustained himself to an extent by talking with Renya, but without that he would likely run away by crawling around or hit the barrier while screaming Please help! like the other soldiers. Lets see. How about we stop once Shion gives up? (Renya) Me? (Shion) While looking at Shion who apparently wanted to ask Why use me as standard?, Renya says to Keith while treading upon on him, You certainly dont mean to say that the elites of the national army, who have gone through rigorous training, will throw in the towel before Her Highness Shion due to the coercion of an adventurer at the lowest rank that Her Highness Shion can withstand with a calm expression, now do you? (Renya) That sounds nice. (Shion) Renyas coercion unintentionally ceases due to the words Shion let leak in a mutter.What the hell is she talking about Renya looks at Shion.Due to the little break that involuntarily visited them, the soldiers try to think whether there isnt some way they can escape from this place at once, or roughly fill their lungs with the dearly desired air as they had started to be short of breath due to it being partially disturbed.Among those soldiers, Shion said with an expression of being somewhat entranced while putting her hands on her cheeks, Having Renya call me with a title of honour, how niceee. (Shion) It appears that Renya calling Shion with Her Highness had directly pierced her heart. What foolish stuff are you saying? Alright, I will resume~. This time I will make the bloodthirst stronger than before, okay? (Renya) Why!? (Shion) Shion was surprised, but the reply returned to her was very reasonable. Shion, you dont feel anything anymore, thus emitting coercion at the same level wont even serve as training, right? (Renya) What about the soldiers!? (Shion) Its fine. They wont die. Probably. (Renya) Probably, you say!? (Shion) Ah, you lot, I dont know whether you can hear me, but tomorrow we will go with this feeling as well, got it? Though I plan for it to gradually become stronger as the remaining days pass. (Renya) Ignoring Shion that tries to protest, Renya addressed the soldiers, who had once again started to groan, while smiling. You are free to escape the training. Please do as you like. In that case I will be able to do something even more enjoyable, you know. (Renya) Something enjoyable? (Shion) Renya lets his gaze wander towards Shion who asked a question in return.As it is, her face doesnt show any indication that shes sweating unusually.Its the usual Shion without her expression stiffening either.Although Renya is emitting a stronger coercion than before when he stopped temporarily, it doesnt seem to be enough for Shion at all.However, there was the concern that there would be some unable to endure it among the soldiers if he continued and raised it any further.I guess thats a challenge for the distant future, deciding to ponder about this matter at a later time, Renya says, I will be bullied by Mayria if I handed you over with no abilities, no willpower and overinflated egos. (Renya) Renya, your characters bad! (Shion) Theres also the part that a countrys soldiers being of bad quality is the responsibility of the ones leading that country. In other words, if we assume that the national armys soldiers are incompetent and have no guts, that will become the responsibility of the archduchess and the next archduchess who are managing them, right? (Renya) Thats right, maybe? (Shion) Tentatively you are included in that as well, arent you? How about it, Your Highness Shion Femme Fatale? Are the soldiers in your country incompetent and gutless? (Renya) Theres no way for that to be true! (Shion) Shion declares distinctly with an expression of anger on her face.The ears of Renya, who feels slightly surprised, caught a sound similar to something small shattering. Our principalitys soldiers are only the people who repeatedly train every day, who pledge their allegiance to Her Majesty the Archduchess and who love their country! If you try to look down on that unreasonably, even you, Renya, wont get away with that unscathed! (Shion) It was repelled at this level. This damned impulsive idiot. (Renya) Renya whispered.Due to his annoyed expression, Shions anger dwindles and she reveals a look of Huh? I dont have any particular intention to look down on them. If you say so, Your Highness Shion, all hundred men will come to the training starting from tomorrow, I suppose? In that case I will simply accomplish the request from Her Highness Mayria. (Renya) Of course! (Shion) Declaring that while throwing out her chest with a jerk, Shion starts to run between the collapsed soldiers.Ahead of the gaze of Renya, who watches her while wondering what she might intend to do, Shion started to call out to the fallen and groaning soldiers. Properly hold onto your spirit! Even Im okay! If its you guys, you should be able to repel this coercion! (Shion) Unexpectedly she might have have a good way with words if she becomes a general or something similar. (Renya) While harbouring the impressionwont she possibly become a young woman that can raise the morale or give speeches reasonably well if a strategist that properly grasps her reins is appointed to her?Renya decided to watch over Shion.Maybe, as result of that, some of the soldiers will become able to stand the current level of coercion today?While even facing that expectation, Renya~! (Shion) Shion calls out to Renya from slightly away.Renya raised his voice in order for it to reach her. Whats up, Shion? (Renya) Calling me Her Highness like just now, can you do that again once we get back home? (Shion) I take back what I just said. This might really be a lost case.Renya was at his wits end. Around one hour later.It developed into a situation where Renya alone was standing among the fallen soldiers on the parade ground.The collapsed soldiers can be mostly split into three different categories.First, those who ran out of steam after continuing to run around and chase the escaping Renya.You can say that those are the soldiers who persisted for the longest time among the three categories.Another way to put it, they are the soldiers who had the least amount of injuries among the collapsed soldiers, seemingly thanks to their tenacity.At any rate, thats because the damage they took is only being unable to move even one finger out of fatigue.Second, those who were defeated after directly attacking Renya.Because Renya was unarmed, his means of attack were mostly limited to kicking, hitting, throwing and swinging around.The soldiers, however, got defeated by those methods alone.Since these soldiers hit and kicked Renya themselves, it would have been wrong if they didnt suffer painful experiences,, however he released them relatively quickly once they ended up fainting or if it seemed that they understood the feeling of suffering pain.Third, those who got dragged in by the soldiers who attacked Renya directly.Among the three categories, its probably them who suffered the most tragic experiences.They were hit by comrades who came flying at them, rammed by comrades that were brandished like weapons and had the bodies of comrades drop upon them at the places they collapsed. If they couldnt evade that, it was the end at that point, but if they were considered to still be conscious after evading, another comrade was hurled at them.Apparently due to the indirect attacks, even Renya stepped on the unconscious soldiers, unable to quite grasp their responses or continued to relentlessly involve them until he was definitely sure that he made them faint. Isnt it far too early to become useless, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? (Renya) Renya walked up to the side of Keith, who was lying face-down on the ground, and asks him indifferently without even looking down at him.He tried to wait for a bit after asking, but theres no reaction from Keith.Lowering his sight below his feet while wondering whether Keith has fainted, Renya looked directly into the eyes of Keith whos trying to glare his way from below.Speaking of categories, Keith enters the group of soldiers that has gone down due to directly attacking Renya.Renya had absolutely no intention to make a differentiation between him and the other soldiers, but he ends up pondering maybe his skills went slightly haywire due to our exchange before the fight. Considering you were hit above your armour, you appear to have been damaged deeply, Soldier Leader Keith-sama. Are you alright, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? (Renya) Is that sarcasm? Hey! (Keith) Renya nods once at Keith who says that as if groaning. Do you possess the brain to process sarcasm? (Renya) You bastard (Keith) Thanks for your hard no, it doesnt look like it has been that hard of a work to call it as such, does it, Renya? (Shion) Shion, who came down to the parade ground from the seats for noble visitors once again, calls out to Renya.Renya simply shrugged his shoulders and didnt reply to Shion. Are you fine, Soldier Leader Keith? Were you able to comprehend Renyas strength a bit with this? (Shion) Pri princess we are (Keith) Hey, hey, Shion. Why are you speaking as if its over? (Renya) On the parade ground there already are no soldiers that can move properly.Its not like they suffered big injuries, but theres not a single one among them that can answer Yes, sure after being told to carry out further training after this.The only exceptions are Renya, who caused this situation, and Shion who only watched from the noble seats. You dont mean to say that only I get a different menu!? (Shion) No, I dont have the slightest intention to do that, but (Renya) Operating his void storage, Renya retrieves a single foldable chair from within.While unfolding that chair with a light swing and sitting down on it, Renya began to speak so that the surrounding soldiers could hear him as well. What I showed you just now is just a categorization of the soldiers. (Renya) Categorization? (Shion) The guys, who seem to have ability and stamina above a certain level, were brought down after attacking me. Those, who have stamina above a certain level, were made to chase me until they collapsed. And finally those who couldnt even chase or attack me. In other words, the guys, who were brought down by getting dragged in by other soldiers, are the completely useless folks who have neither stamina nor ability. (Renya) Huh? Isnt there a group that has no stamina but abilities above a certain level? (Shion) Once Shion asks that as she considered that to be an odd part, Renya laughs scornfully at her. Superficial abilities that arent accompanied by stamina and the likes are pointless. (Renya) Who says that? Im the one saying that. Well then, in case you have been listening, do you remember in which group you belong? You guys stated that theres nothing I could teach you. Although theres nothing, I received money from Her Highness Mayria in the shape of a request. Therefore I have decided to imprint it into you forcibly without actually teaching you anything. (Renya) I feel like you have said something somewhat disturbing? (Shion) Renya immediately affirmed Shions doubt. In short, I guess it will be dangerous since it wont be based on knowledge and experience but by teaching your bodies. (Renya) Me too? (Shion) Have I maybe announced my will to participate at an unwise time?Shion turns pale.Renya dispassionately asks Shion, Do you want that to happen to you? (Renya) No, Id like to refrain. (Shion) If you have an interest in getting taught, I will humour you accordingly. These guy dont have such intention and thus it cant be helped. (Renya) Renya put his foot on the back of Keith who has collapsed upside-down below his feet.Rather than having the objective of causing pain to him, it was apparently his declaration that he definitely wont let him escape from here on out.Even without doing that, Keith didnt even have the strength to crawl left in him anymore.Renya surveys his surrounding in that posture and activates the spell towards the soldiers who have fallen at a spot thats too far away from him.By pulling the armours worn by the soldiers who have been scattered at a vast range, he gathers them into a closer space.While carrying out that work, Renya deploys a barrier in order to surround the area by using parallel activation of magic formulae.This barrier had the property of not allowing physical interaction and magic to pass outside from the inside.Its the only way to make sure that no soldier possibly runs away after recovering their stamina while hes in the middle of his next operation.In addition to its significance as an anti-escape barrier, it also serves as a wall to hinder leakage of the three magic formulae Renya will use next to the outside. No one is able to move anyway. Thus, lets follow by doing the training thats possible by simply lying around over there. (Renya) Its a course of events he had decided beforehands, but Shion looks curious when Renya declares so. Such training exists? (Shion) Shion admired it thinkingI suppose thats quite the easy training then, but once she was able to understand only a little bit of what Renya was planning, she became unable to entertain such impression any longer. Guess so. Shion, stand over there and tell me once it seems to be even slightly unreasonable. I will make a hole in the barrier. (Renya) While telling Shion, Renya strengthens the barrier by spreading mana in order to make sure that its visible for Shion and the soldiers.As a result, the soldiers realized that they were imprisoned within Renyas grasp. What do you plan to do? Due to the voice of Soldier Leader Keith that comes from below his feet, Renya replied while slightly increasing the power in his foot stepping on Keiths back. I told you that its a training that can be carried out even while sleeping, didnt I? (Renya) Theres no way such (Keith) The words of Keith who started to speak break off.Its not like Renya interrupted him in the middle or anything.Cries of pain and gasping alongside voices of surprise began to spread among the surrounding soldiers.Even Keith himself felt a violent oppressiveness and throbbing, and a disturbance of his breathing by something bursting out from within his body. This was drilled into me by Emil. (Renya) Renya says in a fashion of a monologue while sitting on the chair. The thing called sorcery has been precisely organized like a study, but as a matter of fact, among the techniques ranked as big spells, many that havent been accurately systemized like a study are included, it seems. (Renya) Oh~ Thats the first time I hear that (Shion) Shion says.No change from her usual expression can be seen.Keith, who looked up at Shions expression from below Renyas feet, couldnt believe that reality.Just what kind of expression do I have?Keith wonders.He continues to release cold sweat from his entire body. Regardless of whether its his face, fingers or below his armour, it streams down.The clattering of his teeth, not to mention the trembling of his powerless body that doesnt do what Keith wants it to, sounds completely as if its someone elses.He doesnt know whether the temperature he feels right now is hot or cold.Both his hands at the ends of his feebly flailing arms are tearing at the ground as if enduring something, but Keith isnt even aware of that. What Im doing right now is scattering around my through my mana and bloodthirst. (Renya) Eh? You are already at it? (Shion) Shion looked around while continuing with I dont feel anything though. But her face stiffens after seeing the fallen soldiers trembling, and in very bad cases writhing and starting to drool.Renya continued his explanation without minding it. Although I said that, it doesnt mean that Im seriously scattering it. From my point of view, Im actually distributing it weakly and subtly. (Renya) Like this!? (Shion) The soldier Shion pointed at had already lost his consciousness with his eyes wide open and foam gushing out from his mouth.The offensively smelling liquid from his nether region has changed the colour of his trousers by wetting them.In addition, the figures of soldiers that try to get away as far as possible from Renya by crawling on the ground, or those who are screaming while clinging to the barriers wall, even though they know that they cant leave the barrier, can be seen. Being under the same influence, its at a level where you can stay calm without noticing anything, right? (Renya) Oh? Ah, its true. I dont feel anything, I guess. (Shion) In Shions perception, her current state was something along the lines of Isnt Renya slightly difficult to approach as hes emitting a scary aura?Above all, not only is Shion mentally slow, but her body has gotten used to the mana and bloodthirst of Renya as a result of having spent quite a bit of time together with him. She wouldnt mind such level of coercion. Once they reach the point of being able to endure this coercion, they wont just obtain the power to resist against mind spells but also get a resistance against common spell effects. Moreover, becoming capable of repelling this coercion with their own will and mana is connected to an increase of the mana they possess, I heard. (Renya) Thats amazing! How does that work!? (Shion) Owning a powerful will that opposes the feeling of I will be killed, they will try to resist through their mana, I was told by Emil, but I dont quite understand either. It seems that they will be able to manage somehow or other if they strongly pray Like hell I will lose! in silence. (Renya) I see! Alright. (Shion) Shutting her eyes tightly, Shion starts to single-mindedly pray while murmuring something unspecified.Isnt that in vain at the current point in time as she already has a resistance at the level of not feeling anything even without doing something like that?Renya wonders, but he decides to let Shion do whatever she likes.It would be nice if I could strengthen the coercion a bit for Shion, but if I do that, I cant definitely say that there wont be any casualties from death due to shock among the soldiers who havent reached Shions level.Wont it be fine if I go for it slowly as I have a month remaining at this point?Considering that, Renya closes his eyes while deeply leaning back into his chair.As it wasnt a bloodthirst with considerable power, he isnt conscious of it. Given that even his mana was poured in weakly with a very little quantity at a time, there wasnt even any necessity for him to try maintaining it.If its at that level, he can keep at it even half-unconscious. H-He-Here Mmh~? (Renya) The one who raised his voice is Keith who is still being stepped on by Renya.Thanks to his entire body shivering, hes apparently unable to form his words into any decent language. Whats wrong, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? By the way, its slowly becoming annoying to add -sama. For how long do I have to keep doing that, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? (Renya) He-He-Here t-t-th-this t-t-tr-tra-training f-f-for how long (Keith) Renya somehow manages to assemble the voice thats difficult to understand into something comprehensible in his mind. How long I intend to continue this training, you want to ask? (Renya) Keith nods while his body trembles.He sustained himself to an extent by talking with Renya, but without that he would likely run away by crawling around or hit the barrier while screaming Please help! like the other soldiers. Lets see. How about we stop once Shion gives up? (Renya) Me? (Shion) While looking at Shion who apparently wanted to ask Why use me as standard?, Renya says to Keith while treading upon on him, You certainly dont mean to say that the elites of the national army, who have gone through rigorous training, will throw in the towel before Her Highness Shion due to the coercion of an adventurer at the lowest rank that Her Highness Shion can withstand with a calm expression, now do you? (Renya) That sounds nice. (Shion) Renyas coercion unintentionally ceases due to the words Shion let leak in a mutter.What the hell is she talking about Renya looks at Shion.Due to the little break that involuntarily visited them, the soldiers try to think whether there isnt some way they can escape from this place at once, or roughly fill their lungs with the dearly desired air as they had started to be short of breath due to it being partially disturbed.Among those soldiers, Shion said with an expression of being somewhat entranced while putting her hands on her cheeks, Having Renya call me with a title of honour, how niceee. (Shion) It appears that Renya calling Shion with Her Highness had directly pierced her heart. What foolish stuff are you saying? Alright, I will resume~. This time I will make the bloodthirst stronger than before, okay? (Renya) Why!? (Shion) Shion was surprised, but the reply returned to her was very reasonable. Shion, you dont feel anything anymore, thus emitting coercion at the same level wont even serve as training, right? (Renya) What about the soldiers!? (Shion) Its fine. They wont die. Probably. (Renya) Probably, you say!? (Shion) Ah, you lot, I dont know whether you can hear me, but tomorrow we will go with this feeling as well, got it? Though I plan for it to gradually become stronger as the remaining days pass. (Renya) Ignoring Shion that tries to protest, Renya addressed the soldiers, who had once again started to groan, while smiling. You are free to escape the training. Please do as you like. In that case I will be able to do something even more enjoyable, you know. (Renya) Something enjoyable? (Shion) Renya lets his gaze wander towards Shion who asked a question in return.As it is, her face doesnt show any indication that shes sweating unusually.Its the usual Shion without her expression stiffening either.Although Renya is emitting a stronger coercion than before when he stopped temporarily, it doesnt seem to be enough for Shion at all.However, there was the concern that there would be some unable to endure it among the soldiers if he continued and raised it any further.I guess thats a challenge for the distant future, deciding to ponder about this matter at a later time, Renya says, I will be bullied by Mayria if I handed you over with no abilities, no willpower and overinflated egos. (Renya) Renya, your characters bad! (Shion) Theres also the part that a countrys soldiers being of bad quality is the responsibility of the ones leading that country. In other words, if we assume that the national armys soldiers are incompetent and have no guts, that will become the responsibility of the archduchess and the next archduchess who are managing them, right? (Renya) Thats right, maybe? (Shion) Tentatively you are included in that as well, arent you? How about it, Your Highness Shion Femme Fatale? Are the soldiers in your country incompetent and gutless? (Renya) Theres no way for that to be true! (Shion) Shion declares distinctly with an expression of anger on her face.The ears of Renya, who feels slightly surprised, caught a sound similar to something small shattering. Our principalitys soldiers are only the people who repeatedly train every day, who pledge their allegiance to Her Majesty the Archduchess and who love their country! If you try to look down on that unreasonably, even you, Renya, wont get away with that unscathed! (Shion) It was repelled at this level. This damned impulsive idiot. (Renya) Renya whispered.Due to his annoyed expression, Shions anger dwindles and she reveals a look of Huh? I dont have any particular intention to look down on them. If you say so, Your Highness Shion, all hundred men will come to the training starting from tomorrow, I suppose? In that case I will simply accomplish the request from Her Highness Mayria. (Renya) Of course! (Shion) Declaring that while throwing out her chest with a jerk, Shion starts to run between the collapsed soldiers.Ahead of the gaze of Renya, who watches her while wondering what she might intend to do, Shion started to call out to the fallen and groaning soldiers. Properly hold onto your spirit! Even Im okay! If its you guys, you should be able to repel this coercion! (Shion) Unexpectedly she might have have a good way with words if she becomes a general or something similar. (Renya) While harbouring the impressionwont she possibly become a young woman that can raise the morale or give speeches reasonably well if a strategist that properly grasps her reins is appointed to her?Renya decided to watch over Shion.Maybe, as result of that, some of the soldiers will become able to stand the current level of coercion today?While even facing that expectation, Renya~! (Shion) Shion calls out to Renya from slightly away.Renya raised his voice in order for it to reach her. Whats up, Shion? (Renya) Calling me Her Highness like just now, can you do that again once we get back home? (Shion) I take back what I just said. This might really be a lost case.Renya was at his wits end. Chapter 95 In the morning Keith woke up in the soldiers lodging house that had been assigned to him.Usually the feeling of waking up wasnt something that bad, but in todays particular case, Keiths mood was the worst.Yesterday the hundred soldiers of the Principalitys army under Keith were ordered to receive training for a month on the parade ground. There they met the male adventurer who called himself Renya.Normally Keith and the others, who are soldiers, dont think about expressing their dissatisfaction towards an order handed down from above in the first place, but the man, who was there, wasnt someone related to the military but a simple commoner.Usually its not allowed for commoners to enter military facilities.However, despite this, that man stood there with an expression as if it would be very natural for him to be there.From the soldiers viewpoint, who harbour pride to serve as part of the army, even if its limited to only that, seeing how the man behaved they end up judging him as lowly outsider. But the strangest thing of all was that they were being told to train under that man for a month.Even the soldiers, who rarely voice out their discontent with such things, bluntly expressed their complaints to Keith.After pacifying them, since their superiors might have brought along a reasonably high-ranking adventurer, he tried to ask that man, but the words he got in return were identifying him as the lowest rank even among adventurers.The lowest rank of adventurers is something everyone can achieve by simply registering.Upon that Keith was pushed by his subordinates in order to let this idiot called Renya learn his own position in the world by sacking him once.Believing that, Keith opposed Renya, but he ended up regretting that decision right away.Of all things, Renya himself suggested to physically talk it out with all the soldiers.No matter how much confidence he had in his own abilities, what he proposed was totally different from being swarmed by goblins or kobolds.He said that he alone would fight against hundred soldiers who trained to the extent of being recognised as soldiers of the Principalitys army.If one considers that logically, Renyas proposal was a suicidal act.Renya made a careless proposition to Keith and the soldiers where one can clearly understand that the outcome will be him getting discarded after a heavy beating.Moreover, due to his attitude of bluntly declaring that he wont use weapons or sorcery, the soldiers anger exceeded the boiling point.Keith sighs while heading to the dining hall, where he always takes his breakfast, after clothing himself.That was a terrible mistake.Something like their pride as soldiers was crushed into little pieces due to their choice.Against a single adventurer and even after receiving the handicap of him not using weapons or sorcery, they were forced to completely yield.Its not like they were just defeated.It was an utter annihilation, seeing as he went even easy on them in order to avoid a greater number of wounded. We might already be useless (Keith) Faint-hearted words unintentionally leave his mouth.Certainly the news of our unsightly defeat will spread among the other soldiers in a flash.And, Keith and the others will be told by the other soldiers,You have stained the honour of the Prinicipalitys army.You are incompetent soldiers that got beaten up without being able to put up a decent resistance by an unarmed opponent.Even more than worrying about his own situation, Keith feels like running away when considering his subordinates feelings.However, those words are the truth.If we had gathered more information about the adventurer called Renya and if we had asked him to teach in a more modest way, we at least wouldnt have been branded as incompetents, but now all of that is too late.Even so, he couldnt choose the option of skipping the training or of running away.The one who selected us is none other than Her Highness Mayria who will become the next archduchess.An escape will bring disgrace to Her Highness.Even if we cant avoid being recognized as incompetents, an act similar to putting Her Highness Mayria to shame on top of it cannot be allowed.Whats left is to continue while gritting our teeth and enduring, while persuading himself with that, Keith opened the door to the dining hall and instantly wondered whether he had gone to the wrong place, due to the scene that spread out in front of him.The dining hall, where many eat their meals, was a room with quite the size.Long and narrow tables should be densely lined up and the figures of the soldiers that usually eat their meals at said tables should line up in rows, but currently there are only several oblong tables set up in the middle of the room.In a place thats equivalent to the seat of honour, sat that completely black-clothed man he saw on the parade ground yesterday.Renya has his arms and legs crossed while sitting on a chair. Hes lightly entrusting his weight to the chairs back.What happened?Keith surveys the dining hall.Originally the dining hall had a scale allowing around 300 people to take their meals at the same time, but whats currently before his eyes are only five tables where ten people sit on either side.And, next to the entrance, Keiths subordinates, who apparently arrived here before him, are standing stock-still with pale faces.Once he turns his sight to the dining halls wall, he sees table debris, which had been shattered into very small pieces.As if blending in with the debris, a mountain of countless bodies had been created.It might turn into such spectacle if the mountain was created by something capable of churning humans and tables into a gigantic vortex, Keith feels in a corner of his mind that his emotions had somehow become hollow.Renya, who recognized him, called out to Keith while sitting on his chair. Yaa, good morning, were you able to sleep well? Today will be harsher than yesterday, you know? Eat your breakfast promptly and head to the parade ground. (Renya) Haa (Keith) Whats wrong, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? Are you still asleep? Should I wake you up? (Renya) No, please cut it out the attaching of -sama and the waking up part, that is. (Keith) I suffered that much of a miserable defeat.To be called with -sama goes beyond sarcasm, its close to mental torture, Keith judges. Really? -sama or such is not needed? Then its fine, but hey, get your food quickly and eat. (Renya) No yes, well (Keith) Keith heads to the counter that separates the dining hall from the kitchen while getting urged on by Renya.On the way he passed next to the mountain of table debris and people, but that mountain had been thoroughly destroyed to the extent of him ending up wrecking his brainjust what the hell happened for it to turn into such a situation.No matter how you look at it, the arms and legs are twisted in totally wrong directions.Through the table debris, the soldiers skin can be seen peeking out from within, showing traces of a relentless beating and filled with bruises that are painful to look at.At the same time, when seeing the broken table pieces, Keith ends up asking himselfdoes he possibly have some grudge against tables as well?While reciting inside his mouth dont pay attention to it, dont pay attention to it, Keith arrives at the counter.On the other side were the faces of the people preparing the food with whom he had become acquainted, but all of them had teary eyes.Just tell me what the heck happened before I came in here.While screaming so within his heart, Keith places his breakfast on a tray and returns to the table where Renya is waiting.On his way back Keith commands his subordinates, who have frozen and havent moved from the halls entrance, with his eyes to eat their breakfast swiftly.While watching them start running to the counter in a hurry, Keith sat down at one of the remaining tables that was slightly apart from Renya.Brown bread, meat and potato salad and in addition bean soup. Looking at his meal consisting of that, Renya absent-mindedly said, The quantity is insufficient and it doesnt look overly appetizing either. (Renya) Not knowing how to best reply to Renyas statement, Keith bites into his bread.Compared to the hard bread often bought by adventurers, it has a softness that is still less objectionable, but as a hard bread is something hard nevertheless, he tears off a piece by freely using the power of his jaw and hands, and eats it while washing it down with the soup. Probably its best if I improve the meal quality as well, I suppose? They will after all carry out very intense training. I will try discussing it with Mayria. It wont be any good if I dont think of a place either. Im pretty sure they wont be able to eat here with a calm mind. (Renya) Arent you the reason for this? (Keith) Whats this guy saying, Keith reflexively interrupted Renyas monologue.Although he immediately pins down his mouth while thinkingOh shit!, Renya asked Keith back without looking as if he overly minds. You mean the reason how it has turned out like that? Or the reason how it would turn out like that? (Renya) Is there any difference in that? (Keith) The reason why it came to this is because you guys lost unsightly to me. In other words, you guys are the reason. (Renya) Renya says while pointing at the mountain of rubble and people.Keith frowns but doesnt object. In short, the reason why it became like this is (Keith) Thats because of me, I suppose. As there were some fellows in the dining hall who used your defeat in order to sneer at you without even knowing the circumstances, I offered them to try experiencing it themselves once if they find it that funny. The outcome is as you can see. (Renya) Aah, that means they were unlucky (Keith) Keith prayed for the fallen soldiers happiness in the next world.Though he thoughtthey probably havent died yet. The Trident Principality is a military state, right? Considering that, isnt the quality of the soldiers too low? (Renya) Damn, you dont measure your words, do you?Keith thinks, but theres no point in refuting him.We were easily defeated yesterday. Even the other soldiers are being treated as trash that goes well with broken tables.Under these circumstances claiming that we are actually quite the elite soldiers wont serve as anything but a bad joke. I think that you are just too far outside the norm. (Keith) Dragging out a somewhat safe reply from within his mind, Keith ended up with his eyes wide open due to Renyas next words. That outside-the-norm-guy is in charge of your training, thus I plan to have you guys get disconnected from that norm quite a bit too though? (Renya) Ha!? (Keith) At the very least I intend for you to reach the point at which youll be able to do at least this. (Renya) Keith unintentionally stands up due to Renya pointing at the mountain of trash with his gaze.Renya looks up at Keith while still seated. Dont be unreasonable! Theres no way that we will become able to do that, right!? (Keith) Why? You are humans as well, no? (Renya) We are different from you! (Keith) Youre the type of boring guy that replies to each and every little thing, arent you? (Renya) Even though Renya looked at Keith from below, who raised his voice fussing over how they would become able to do something like that, Renyas gaze without a doubt looked down on Keith.After urging Keith, who ends up lost for words, to sit down on his chair, Renya said, Seeing that you guys told me that you wont ask me to teach you, I dont have any obligation to do so, but (Renya) Cant you forgive us anytime soon? I feel ashamed for our ignorance. As you see, I have apologized, thus (Keith) Keith bows while secretly thinkinghes the type that holds a grudge, isnt he?After staring at Keith for a while, Renya started to talk. Oh well, its fine. But why do you arbitrarily decide that its impossible? Did you try already? At least you guys shouldnt have received the same training I did. So why have you guys selfishly decide on that result? (Renya) That is (Keith) I wont tell you to become like me. Even for me there were various circumstances after all. But, even without becoming like me, wont it be possible for you to achieve at least this much? (Renya) Unfolding the arms he had crossed, Renya places them on the table, bends himself forward and fixedly looks at Keith.As if being wrapped up and captured by his stare, Keith is unable to remove his eyes from Renyas face who is intently looking at him. Even though Im telling you that you will be able to do so, you say you cant and that its impossible. Why can you guys, who have only knowledge and ability to the degree of losing unsightly to me alone, deny what I tell you without hesitation? (Renya) Mixing in slander here and there, you (Keith) Even though Im telling you that I will bestow power upon you, you dont want it? Even if it wont go as far as you becoming matchless warriors, dont you feel the wish to possess power that allows a unit of 100 soldiers to match 10.000? (Renya) That is (Keith) Even Keith is a human that tries to make a living out of fighting.If hes asked whether he wants power or not, he will accept it without hesitation.Moreover, Keith and the others are soldiers protecting their country.Obtaining power meant increasing the possibility of being able to protect the things they want to protect.Because they are able to understand that, Renyas temptation seemed like very sweet words for Keith and the soldiers in the surroundings who were listening to their conversation. Its fine if you dont want it. But is that the truth? You really dont want a combat strength that cannot be compared to the other soldiers, a power that will simply allow you to protect your country even without relying on something like a hero and a strength to simply cut down beings that try to steal something from you? (Renya) IsnIsnt it obvious that I want that?! (Keith) Then obey me. (Renya) Renyas voice became cold all of a sudden.The consciousness of the soldiers, who seemed enthralled about it in the middle of Renyas temptation, cool down with a single sentence.And they were forced to realize.This guy in front of us is serious. Dont harbour any distrust and train as I tell you to. Do as you are told. And, during that time steal the things you can steal from me. If you dont know whats good to steal let me teach you, seeing as I received your apology just a while ago. But do know, taught techniques are no match for stolen techniques, got it? (Renya) Understood, instructor-dono. (Keith) Once Keith answers curtly, his subordinates nod as well.Watching that with a satisfied expression, Renya pushed back the chair and stood up. In that case, its alright. Soldier Leader, can you give the detailed instructions to those guys who arent here? (Renya) Yes, instructor-dono. (Keith) I will go ahead and wait at the parade ground. Make sure that everyone attends once theyve finished eating breakfast and put on their gear. (Renya) Yes, instructor-dono. (Keith) Continue with your breakfast then. (Renya) Leaving those words behind, Renya leaves the dining hall.Keith and his subordinates, who saw Renya off, follow his back with their eyes until he vanishes from their sight after passing through the dining halls entrance. Once they couldnt see him anymore, they released a very deep sigh.They dont know how much of it was the truth.But since a person with that much of a skill has said it that seriously, there probably wont be any loss in obeying him, they judge. I will talk with the guys who arent here. (Keith) When Keith says so, one of his subordinates speaks up. Soldier Leader Keith what should we do about that mountain? Leave it alone for us theres nothing we can do about it. (Keith) Keith, who has no intention to concern himself with the clean-up, decided to intentionally neglect it.Im sure that once the guys from the same unit as the soldiers who are forming that mountain of trash, discover them, they will take responsibility for the rescue recovery and the cleaning.What worried him was the point of whether they, who were messed with, wont try to settle the scores with Renya or if theyll let it be.If that happens, no other future but that of a mass production of similar mountains awaits us.While forcibly stuffing the breakfast that had lost almost all of its flavour for some reason into his stomach, Keith prayed Please spare me from that alone. In the morning Keith woke up in the soldiers lodging house that had been assigned to him.Usually the feeling of waking up wasnt something that bad, but in todays particular case, Keiths mood was the worst.Yesterday the hundred soldiers of the Principalitys army under Keith were ordered to receive training for a month on the parade ground. There they met the male adventurer who called himself Renya.Normally Keith and the others, who are soldiers, dont think about expressing their dissatisfaction towards an order handed down from above in the first place, but the man, who was there, wasnt someone related to the military but a simple commoner.Usually its not allowed for commoners to enter military facilities.However, despite this, that man stood there with an expression as if it would be very natural for him to be there.From the soldiers viewpoint, who harbour pride to serve as part of the army, even if its limited to only that, seeing how the man behaved they end up judging him as lowly outsider. But the strangest thing of all was that they were being told to train under that man for a month.Even the soldiers, who rarely voice out their discontent with such things, bluntly expressed their complaints to Keith.After pacifying them, since their superiors might have brought along a reasonably high-ranking adventurer, he tried to ask that man, but the words he got in return were identifying him as the lowest rank even among adventurers.The lowest rank of adventurers is something everyone can achieve by simply registering.Upon that Keith was pushed by his subordinates in order to let this idiot called Renya learn his own position in the world by sacking him once.Believing that, Keith opposed Renya, but he ended up regretting that decision right away.Of all things, Renya himself suggested to physically talk it out with all the soldiers.No matter how much confidence he had in his own abilities, what he proposed was totally different from being swarmed by goblins or kobolds.He said that he alone would fight against hundred soldiers who trained to the extent of being recognised as soldiers of the Principalitys army.If one considers that logically, Renyas proposal was a suicidal act.Renya made a careless proposition to Keith and the soldiers where one can clearly understand that the outcome will be him getting discarded after a heavy beating.Moreover, due to his attitude of bluntly declaring that he wont use weapons or sorcery, the soldiers anger exceeded the boiling point.Keith sighs while heading to the dining hall, where he always takes his breakfast, after clothing himself.That was a terrible mistake.Something like their pride as soldiers was crushed into little pieces due to their choice.Against a single adventurer and even after receiving the handicap of him not using weapons or sorcery, they were forced to completely yield.Its not like they were just defeated.It was an utter annihilation, seeing as he went even easy on them in order to avoid a greater number of wounded. We might already be useless (Keith) Faint-hearted words unintentionally leave his mouth.Certainly the news of our unsightly defeat will spread among the other soldiers in a flash.And, Keith and the others will be told by the other soldiers,You have stained the honour of the Prinicipalitys army.You are incompetent soldiers that got beaten up without being able to put up a decent resistance by an unarmed opponent.Even more than worrying about his own situation, Keith feels like running away when considering his subordinates feelings.However, those words are the truth.If we had gathered more information about the adventurer called Renya and if we had asked him to teach in a more modest way, we at least wouldnt have been branded as incompetents, but now all of that is too late.Even so, he couldnt choose the option of skipping the training or of running away.The one who selected us is none other than Her Highness Mayria who will become the next archduchess.An escape will bring disgrace to Her Highness.Even if we cant avoid being recognized as incompetents, an act similar to putting Her Highness Mayria to shame on top of it cannot be allowed.Whats left is to continue while gritting our teeth and enduring, while persuading himself with that, Keith opened the door to the dining hall and instantly wondered whether he had gone to the wrong place, due to the scene that spread out in front of him.The dining hall, where many eat their meals, was a room with quite the size.Long and narrow tables should be densely lined up and the figures of the soldiers that usually eat their meals at said tables should line up in rows, but currently there are only several oblong tables set up in the middle of the room.In a place thats equivalent to the seat of honour, sat that completely black-clothed man he saw on the parade ground yesterday.Renya has his arms and legs crossed while sitting on a chair. Hes lightly entrusting his weight to the chairs back.What happened?Keith surveys the dining hall.Originally the dining hall had a scale allowing around 300 people to take their meals at the same time, but whats currently before his eyes are only five tables where ten people sit on either side.And, next to the entrance, Keiths subordinates, who apparently arrived here before him, are standing stock-still with pale faces.Once he turns his sight to the dining halls wall, he sees table debris, which had been shattered into very small pieces.As if blending in with the debris, a mountain of countless bodies had been created.It might turn into such spectacle if the mountain was created by something capable of churning humans and tables into a gigantic vortex, Keith feels in a corner of his mind that his emotions had somehow become hollow.Renya, who recognized him, called out to Keith while sitting on his chair. Yaa, good morning, were you able to sleep well? Today will be harsher than yesterday, you know? Eat your breakfast promptly and head to the parade ground. (Renya) Haa (Keith) Whats wrong, Soldier Leader Keith-sama? Are you still asleep? Should I wake you up? (Renya) No, please cut it out the attaching of -sama and the waking up part, that is. (Keith) I suffered that much of a miserable defeat.To be called with -sama goes beyond sarcasm, its close to mental torture, Keith judges. Really? -sama or such is not needed? Then its fine, but hey, get your food quickly and eat. (Renya) No yes, well (Keith) Keith heads to the counter that separates the dining hall from the kitchen while getting urged on by Renya.On the way he passed next to the mountain of table debris and people, but that mountain had been thoroughly destroyed to the extent of him ending up wrecking his brainjust what the hell happened for it to turn into such a situation.No matter how you look at it, the arms and legs are twisted in totally wrong directions.Through the table debris, the soldiers skin can be seen peeking out from within, showing traces of a relentless beating and filled with bruises that are painful to look at.At the same time, when seeing the broken table pieces, Keith ends up asking himselfdoes he possibly have some grudge against tables as well?While reciting inside his mouth dont pay attention to it, dont pay attention to it, Keith arrives at the counter.On the other side were the faces of the people preparing the food with whom he had become acquainted, but all of them had teary eyes.Just tell me what the heck happened before I came in here.While screaming so within his heart, Keith places his breakfast on a tray and returns to the table where Renya is waiting.On his way back Keith commands his subordinates, who have frozen and havent moved from the halls entrance, with his eyes to eat their breakfast swiftly.While watching them start running to the counter in a hurry, Keith sat down at one of the remaining tables that was slightly apart from Renya.Brown bread, meat and potato salad and in addition bean soup. Looking at his meal consisting of that, Renya absent-mindedly said, The quantity is insufficient and it doesnt look overly appetizing either. (Renya) Not knowing how to best reply to Renyas statement, Keith bites into his bread.Compared to the hard bread often bought by adventurers, it has a softness that is still less objectionable, but as a hard bread is something hard nevertheless, he tears off a piece by freely using the power of his jaw and hands, and eats it while washing it down with the soup. Probably its best if I improve the meal quality as well, I suppose? They will after all carry out very intense training. I will try discussing it with Mayria. It wont be any good if I dont think of a place either. Im pretty sure they wont be able to eat here with a calm mind. (Renya) Arent you the reason for this? (Keith) Whats this guy saying, Keith reflexively interrupted Renyas monologue.Although he immediately pins down his mouth while thinkingOh shit!, Renya asked Keith back without looking as if he overly minds. You mean the reason how it has turned out like that? Or the reason how it would turn out like that? (Renya) Is there any difference in that? (Keith) The reason why it came to this is because you guys lost unsightly to me. In other words, you guys are the reason. (Renya) Renya says while pointing at the mountain of rubble and people.Keith frowns but doesnt object. In short, the reason why it became like this is (Keith) Thats because of me, I suppose. As there were some fellows in the dining hall who used your defeat in order to sneer at you without even knowing the circumstances, I offered them to try experiencing it themselves once if they find it that funny. The outcome is as you can see. (Renya) Aah, that means they were unlucky (Keith) Keith prayed for the fallen soldiers happiness in the next world.Though he thoughtthey probably havent died yet. The Trident Principality is a military state, right? Considering that, isnt the quality of the soldiers too low? (Renya) Damn, you dont measure your words, do you?Keith thinks, but theres no point in refuting him.We were easily defeated yesterday. Even the other soldiers are being treated as trash that goes well with broken tables.Under these circumstances claiming that we are actually quite the elite soldiers wont serve as anything but a bad joke. I think that you are just too far outside the norm. (Keith) Dragging out a somewhat safe reply from within his mind, Keith ended up with his eyes wide open due to Renyas next words. That outside-the-norm-guy is in charge of your training, thus I plan to have you guys get disconnected from that norm quite a bit too though? (Renya) Ha!? (Keith) At the very least I intend for you to reach the point at which youll be able to do at least this. (Renya) Keith unintentionally stands up due to Renya pointing at the mountain of trash with his gaze.Renya looks up at Keith while still seated. Dont be unreasonable! Theres no way that we will become able to do that, right!? (Keith) Why? You are humans as well, no? (Renya) We are different from you! (Keith) Youre the type of boring guy that replies to each and every little thing, arent you? (Renya) Even though Renya looked at Keith from below, who raised his voice fussing over how they would become able to do something like that, Renyas gaze without a doubt looked down on Keith.After urging Keith, who ends up lost for words, to sit down on his chair, Renya said, Seeing that you guys told me that you wont ask me to teach you, I dont have any obligation to do so, but (Renya) Cant you forgive us anytime soon? I feel ashamed for our ignorance. As you see, I have apologized, thus (Keith) Keith bows while secretly thinkinghes the type that holds a grudge, isnt he?After staring at Keith for a while, Renya started to talk. Oh well, its fine. But why do you arbitrarily decide that its impossible? Did you try already? At least you guys shouldnt have received the same training I did. So why have you guys selfishly decide on that result? (Renya) That is (Keith) I wont tell you to become like me. Even for me there were various circumstances after all. But, even without becoming like me, wont it be possible for you to achieve at least this much? (Renya) Unfolding the arms he had crossed, Renya places them on the table, bends himself forward and fixedly looks at Keith.As if being wrapped up and captured by his stare, Keith is unable to remove his eyes from Renyas face who is intently looking at him. Even though Im telling you that you will be able to do so, you say you cant and that its impossible. Why can you guys, who have only knowledge and ability to the degree of losing unsightly to me alone, deny what I tell you without hesitation? (Renya) Mixing in slander here and there, you (Keith) Even though Im telling you that I will bestow power upon you, you dont want it? Even if it wont go as far as you becoming matchless warriors, dont you feel the wish to possess power that allows a unit of 100 soldiers to match 10.000? (Renya) That is (Keith) Even Keith is a human that tries to make a living out of fighting.If hes asked whether he wants power or not, he will accept it without hesitation.Moreover, Keith and the others are soldiers protecting their country.Obtaining power meant increasing the possibility of being able to protect the things they want to protect.Because they are able to understand that, Renyas temptation seemed like very sweet words for Keith and the soldiers in the surroundings who were listening to their conversation. Its fine if you dont want it. But is that the truth? You really dont want a combat strength that cannot be compared to the other soldiers, a power that will simply allow you to protect your country even without relying on something like a hero and a strength to simply cut down beings that try to steal something from you? (Renya) IsnIsnt it obvious that I want that?! (Keith) Then obey me. (Renya) Renyas voice became cold all of a sudden.The consciousness of the soldiers, who seemed enthralled about it in the middle of Renyas temptation, cool down with a single sentence.And they were forced to realize.This guy in front of us is serious. Dont harbour any distrust and train as I tell you to. Do as you are told. And, during that time steal the things you can steal from me. If you dont know whats good to steal let me teach you, seeing as I received your apology just a while ago. But do know, taught techniques are no match for stolen techniques, got it? (Renya) Understood, instructor-dono. (Keith) Once Keith answers curtly, his subordinates nod as well.Watching that with a satisfied expression, Renya pushed back the chair and stood up. In that case, its alright. Soldier Leader, can you give the detailed instructions to those guys who arent here? (Renya) Yes, instructor-dono. (Keith) I will go ahead and wait at the parade ground. Make sure that everyone attends once theyve finished eating breakfast and put on their gear. (Renya) Yes, instructor-dono. (Keith) Continue with your breakfast then. (Renya) Leaving those words behind, Renya leaves the dining hall.Keith and his subordinates, who saw Renya off, follow his back with their eyes until he vanishes from their sight after passing through the dining halls entrance. Once they couldnt see him anymore, they released a very deep sigh.They dont know how much of it was the truth.But since a person with that much of a skill has said it that seriously, there probably wont be any loss in obeying him, they judge. I will talk with the guys who arent here. (Keith) When Keith says so, one of his subordinates speaks up. Soldier Leader Keith what should we do about that mountain? Leave it alone for us theres nothing we can do about it. (Keith) Keith, who has no intention to concern himself with the clean-up, decided to intentionally neglect it.Im sure that once the guys from the same unit as the soldiers who are forming that mountain of trash, discover them, they will take responsibility for the rescue recovery and the cleaning.What worried him was the point of whether they, who were messed with, wont try to settle the scores with Renya or if theyll let it be.If that happens, no other future but that of a mass production of similar mountains awaits us.While forcibly stuffing the breakfast that had lost almost all of its flavour for some reason into his stomach, Keith prayed Please spare me from that alone. Chapter 96 The place called hell more or less exists within Gods doctrine.Within theHoly Scripturesthe concept of hell is minutely explained through a splendid amount of chapters. Theses Scriptures recorded what should be inherited of Gods doctrine, given by the angels to the humans and they were the sole scriptures recognized by the church.According to the Scriptures theres a place where those who committed sins throughout their lives will be dropped after death by the verdict of the angels. Its a place said to be assigned to the dead so that they can experience various kinds of tortures in order to make up for their wrongdoings.Its said that through long tortures the impurity of sinning will be absolved from a persons soul. Eventually a person is forgiven for their sins and they will be able to rejoin the cycle of death and rebirth once again.Thats definitely a lie, Keith thought.Hell isnt something that exists after death. Isnt it right here right now?His consciousness feels hazy. His body desires air and water, while heavy breathing escapes his mouth.Quite a bit of time had already passed since both his legs reached their limit, but to stop moving them will not be tolerated.If I stop my feet, that will come here.Thats definitely no human, Keith believes.Im certain that its something imitating a humans shape.Devils*, who are said to exist in hell, are surely something like that.(T/N: Using devil here for oni as ogre/demon already exist in that world)Even Keith was aware that he was thinking incoherently.However, if he doesnt think about something, his consciousness will immediately leave his body.Usually he would have thoughtlessly insisted that its the weight of his equipment, which he wore so often that he isnt even aware of its existence.The shoulder strings of his backpack, which he wore on his back, continuously produce creaking and grating sounds.Trying to get engrossed in those sounds, he abruptly heard a plumping sound.Probably someone collapsed, Keith assumes.Because its a comrade from the same unit, the soldiers actually want to go help, but no one tries to lend him a hand.If they had such leeway, they would rather advance even a single step further as they have to escape from that.The collapsed man stretches out his hand, seeking help.I want to help you, Keith thinks.The one asking for help is his own subordinate.Words asking for help are likely coming out of his mouth, but the only thing that could be currently heard were sounds similar to a hoarse draught.If I go to help him, its very likely that Ill collapse as well.And yet, because of his position as Soldier Leader, Keith couldnt abandon a comrade that had fallen down.Keith, who tried to step up to the soldiers seeking help while unsteady on his feet, staggers after receiving a kick on his butt from behind.Normally that would cause him to flare up, while saying What the fuck are you doing?, but rather than the pain of the kick he received on his butt, Keith becomes pale due to the fact that he was kicked.It means that came.That sends Keith, who tried to do something unnecessary, flying with a kick and walks up to the collapsed soldier.Theres nothing similar to sympathy towards the soldier that fell down due to fatigue in its eyes.Those are the eyes of a hunter who wonders how he should cook the pig before him.The soldier, who was pinned down by that look, simply shut his eyes in silence.He probably resigned himself to his fate, tears well up in Keiths eyes.That grabbed the nape of the fallen soldier and casually lifts him up.With one hand, it lifted up the soldiers body, which has been forged quite a bit, the soldiers backpack, which had been filled with weights, and the soldiers equipment at the same time.Of course, since that isnt so tall, its not as if the soldiers feet were floating in the air, but even so, the soldiers body, who had no power left in his limbs should be very heavy. Hey? Did I tell you to do something that difficult? (Renya) The one who indifferently asks the soldier he held up with one hand is Renya.His tone contains no anger or ridicule. It was a tone as if merely confirming the facts in a truly detached manner. I only told you to run around the parade ground in full gear and with around 50 kg of weights crammed into your backpack, didnt I? Is that difficult? Its not like I asked you to run several tens of laps in less than an hour either. Didnt I only tell you to run until I say that its enough? (Renya) You put that much weight into our backpacks?the soldiers, who heard Renyas voice, thought uniformly.Since their equipment was that of infantrymen, its not like theyre wearing full plate mail like knights.Their equipment has been created by utilizing mostly leather, but since its reinforced with metal here and there and has been covered with chain, it has a substantial weight.The longswords affixed to their waists are for training use, but the swords weight is no different from those used in actual combat.Even with only that, it should add up to a reasonable weight, but adding a further 50 kg on top of that cant be regarded as sane order. T- To have added such weight and to tell us to keep on running; thats unreasonable. Instructor-dono The words of the soldier were squeezed out somehow since he was painfully gasping, but Renya cuts that objection down completely. Isnt that similar to what a single woman can carry? If its a soldier of the Principalitys army, they have the duty to rescue citizens, whove become unable to move during battle, by carrying them, dont they? They have the duty to escape while carrying a fallen comrade, right? Or do you bastard intend to abandon those duties? Dont whine! (Renya) Such a First off, look. At that pointlessly energetic Shion. (Renya) Shion, who was suddenly brought up in the conversation, with a voice containing a bit of spite, has her body tremble with shock while being in the middle of the parade ground.She was swinging the training longsword while wearing the same infantry gear as Keith and the others, and carrying a backpack over her shoulders. If you consider that she has been made to run under the same conditions, you wusses are trailing behind several frigging laps in just one hour after getting separated from Shion. At the very beginning all of a sudden you guys were unable to keep up with her running pace (Renya) That was a reality even Keith couldnt believe.Shion, who appeared on the parade ground in the same equipment as the soldiers, started to run in such a state after getting ordered to do so by Renya. She pulled apart from the soldiers at an overwhelming speed, although noisily due to her heavy feet, and in the end lapped them in the blink of an eye. She achieved the reckless deed of overtaking them several times during merely one hour. The other party is unmistakably the esteemed daughter of her Majesty the Archduchess.For her to have a superior stamina compared to us who continued to receive training as soldiers; I wonder just what kind of scam this is supposed to be?Her physical state was that of staggering on her feet, while also sweating with a red face, but even so, Shion kept running for an hour. Renya had ordered her immediately after that to do something else.Half of the reason why he did so was that he considered that she likely had plenty of excess stamina.The other half was that he thought that she would probably break the soldiers spirit if he let her participate any longer in the same training menu as them. Hey? How are you feeling right now? While saying stuff likeI received the training of a soldier, its just stamina, but how do you feel now that you were made aware that you are no match for Shion? How do you feel about realizing that you are inferior to the princess you ought to protect? Hey, try telling me. (Renya) The soldier, who was dangling his hands after being caught, questioned and held by his nape by Renya, didnt raise his voice even once, he patiently endured as he gritted his teeth, producing grinding sounds.Looking bored at the state of the soldier, Renya released the hand holding the soldiers nape before long.As if a puppet had its strings cut, the soldier sat feebly down on the ground. Looking down on him, Renya brought his face close by bending over slightly and told him in a quiet whisper, Its fine to fall asleep here, you know? What will you do? Will you give up without any guts? What the hell are you? A brat? Or a soldier? The guy who hired you thinking that you are a soldier must be quite the idiot, right? Is this country paying a high salary to a gutless loser like you? (Renya) Its different! Just one minute I will be fine after one minute, please! The soldier shouts while tightly clutching the hands he put on the ground to prop his body up. Certainly I will chase them without fail! I see. So you wont give up, right? (Renya) Once the soldier nods at Renyas question, Renya grabs the soldiers nape once again and carries him easily on his back.Not caring about the surprised soldier, Renya started to run while chasing the backs of the soldiers who were ahead of him. Instructor-dono!? Rest there for a minute. Or observe my way of running while resting. In any way, you guys are noisy without reason. If you begin to tire, you pointlessly waste your stamina by dragging your feet. (Renya) Renya starts scolding them while grumbling that they have to consider the reason why humans possess a head or joints.The soldier on his back realized that Renyas body barely shakes left and right, and neither does hisjouge.Renya, who sprints practically without even creating any footprints, easily overtakes the soldiers in front once and then sticks to the back of the soldiers once again after running around the parade ground.The soldier on Renyas back and the soldiers that got lapped once after having been overtaken have once again become speechless as they are absolutely dumbfounded by Renyas unbelievable speed. Even while carrying the weight of one adult man and his equipment on his back.Renya, who plainly ignored their gazes and the feelings of astonishment that have been directed towards him, catches up to the end of the line of the running soldiers and lets the soldier, whom he carried on his back, down on the ground. You rested for around one minute, didnt you? There, run. (Renya) Yes, instructor-dono! Theres no way for a human, who had become exhausted to the point of being unable to move, to run after just having rested for a minute.Nevertheless, the soldier answers Renyas words loudly and runs behind his comrades with a frantic look while gritting his teeth.Seeing him off, Renya takes out the tools for the next training activity from his inventory, and begins to pile them up into a heap in the centre of the parade ground.In the end this marathon training continued throughout the entire morning.A girl, who had quite the lascivious appearance consisting of a side tail, a tube top bra and hotpants, goes around distributing lunch to the soldiers who cant move due to total exhaustion.Renya, who hated bothersome efforts, disliked using the dining hall. Due to that, it wasnt used by a single of the soldiers as they didnt have the energy to walk there. Thus they took their lunch on the parade ground just like that.The distributed food is soft, white bread, pitch black soup in contrast to the bread and several dried fruits.Because of its bizarreness, the soldiers at first hesitated to taste the soup, but seeing Shion simply stuffing it into her mouth indifferently, all of them tried it timidly.They didnt have any expectations towards its taste because of its abnormal appearance, but once they tasted it, it was a seafood soup that had plenty of marine products thrown into it without any points to complain about.The soup itself had a slight bitterness, but due to the seafoods stock, which is rich to the degree of one not caring about the bitterness, the soup was mostly received favourably. In spite of the tube-top girl bringing a stockpot as tall as herself, it had been completely emptied out by the time the meal came to an end.Even the white bread had been prepared in an amount that exceeded the number of people, but it got cleanly eaten up as well. Renya thats, Emil, isnt it? (Shion) Shion asks pointing at the girl walking while waving her hand and treating the soldiers amiably. Thats right. (Renya) I dont think that you will supply things that cant be eaten, Renya, but is it safe, this? (Shion) No problem. Theres no poison in it. (Renya) I see Id like to hear the ingredients for cautions sake though. (Shion) Fresh marine products that were procured from the market and Fraus deluxe garden vegetables. (Renya) Ah, somehow I feel like its already no good with just that. (Shion) Also a soup stock I got from the fresh ingredients I procured from our neighbors. (Renya) Neighbors? (Shion) Since Renyas talking about neighbors, its probably the house where Az and Liaris live,Shion believes.However, she had no memory of having heard that the two of them were cultivating ingredients at home that can be used for soup stock as both of them are busy with work as well.Renya quietly brought his mouth close to the curious Shions ear and whispered, Look, its that large it was torn off into smaller pieces two, three times after that, was burned and ground, and mixed in. (Renya) I-If its that, ho (Shion) Renya silences the surprised and flustered Shion by pressing a finger against her lips.That conversation also reached the ears of the surrounding soldiers, however they harbored no interest towards the ingredients Shion started to talk about until midways.They didnt have that much leeway, one might say.One could also say that they didnt feel like fussing over minor details as long as they were able to eat something delicious.It will become a problem if something like people dying as result of the food occurs, but Renya and Shion have eaten the same thing.Thus there was no reason for there to be a problem. Instructor-dono, whats the training schedule from afternoon onwards? (Keith) Apparently they had recovered their stamina somewhat after eating a meal and resting to some extent.Keith asked while walking up to Renya.Renya replies by pointing at the things that are piled up in the centre of the parade ground. You will use those. (Renya) Those, huh? (Keith) What has been stacked up over there are countless hoes.A truly typical tool used in farming and such. After having mixed various metals into them, they are very heavy. Because all of it, from the teeth of the hoes to the handle, are made out of metal, they wont break easily even if you handle them roughly. (Renya) Haa so what are you saying youll make us do with these? (Keith) Isnt that usually digging holes? (Renya) Renya looks as if he wants to ask why hes asking something that obvious.Keith continues to question while scratching his cheek. Just where and how far will we dig holes? (Keith) Everywhere. (Renya) Pardon? (Keith) Keith reflexively asks a question in return to Renyas short answer.With a feeling of a teacher that carries out a class with students that are slow at understanding, Renya pointed at the entirety of the parade grounds. You will dig to a depth of around your own height throughout the parade grounds. (Renya) Being told that, Keith surveys the parade grounds.Its only natural for it to be vast since its a place that can be used by several units at the same time and where sham battles between fellow units are carried out.Moreover, since soldiers are constantly treading upon it, the ground is quite hard.And, according to what Renya says, the hoes, which will be used to dig the holes, have been especially made out of metal in their entirety.The conclusion he derived from that was a reality of heavy labor awaiting them, which he didnt want to think about. You are serious? (Keith) Im always serious, right? Should I make you finish until dinner time? As long as you dont finish, todays training wont end. Go at it with that mentality. (Renya) Being told so by Renya with a smiling expression, Keith had no other choice but to brace himself. You lot! How long do you plan to dilly-dally around? Get working quickly if you dont want to die! Take off your armor, leave the weights behind and pick up one of the hoes piled up over there! (Keith) Ah, hey, who told you that its fine to take off the armor (Renya) Renya, I will prostrate in front of you if you like, but please allow them to take off their armor. (Shion) Shion decides to pinion Renya, who tried to stop Keith, from behind.As expected, even Shion apparently considered it as unreasonable to carry out the current training while fully equipped.While Shion is holding Renya back, the soldiers quickly take off their armors, pick up the tools in a dash and start to fiercely dig holes in the ground.Given that the work started without time for Renya to stop them, Renya gave up this time on making them do it while wearing their gear. Only this time, okay? (Renya) Renya what the heck are you planning to have them do? (Shion) Hasnt it been decided that Im transforming them into full-fledged soldiers? (Renya) Renya says as if its obvious.While thinkingIm sure soldiers are monsters or something in Renyas former world, Shion picked up a hoe as well, blended in among the soldiers and started to dig up the ground. You lot, even though your princess is doing it while wearing the armor, only you guys are taking it easy by taking off your equipment. What a nice social status you have. Is the social status of soldiers serving in the national army higher than that of Her Highness the princess in this country? Ah Oops!Shion thought, but it was already too late.Shion began to take off her armor as she blushed while looking at the soldiers who are accusing her with their looksAlthough we dont blame you, why do you do what he says? The place called hell more or less exists within Gods doctrine.Within theHoly Scripturesthe concept of hell is minutely explained through a splendid amount of chapters. Theses Scriptures recorded what should be inherited of Gods doctrine, given by the angels to the humans and they were the sole scriptures recognized by the church.According to the Scriptures theres a place where those who committed sins throughout their lives will be dropped after death by the verdict of the angels. Its a place said to be assigned to the dead so that they can experience various kinds of tortures in order to make up for their wrongdoings.Its said that through long tortures the impurity of sinning will be absolved from a persons soul. Eventually a person is forgiven for their sins and they will be able to rejoin the cycle of death and rebirth once again.Thats definitely a lie, Keith thought.Hell isnt something that exists after death. Isnt it right here right now?His consciousness feels hazy. His body desires air and water, while heavy breathing escapes his mouth.Quite a bit of time had already passed since both his legs reached their limit, but to stop moving them will not be tolerated.If I stop my feet, that will come here.Thats definitely no human, Keith believes.Im certain that its something imitating a humans shape.Devils*, who are said to exist in hell, are surely something like that.(T/N: Using devil here for oni as ogre/demon already exist in that world)Even Keith was aware that he was thinking incoherently.However, if he doesnt think about something, his consciousness will immediately leave his body.Usually he would have thoughtlessly insisted that its the weight of his equipment, which he wore so often that he isnt even aware of its existence.The shoulder strings of his backpack, which he wore on his back, continuously produce creaking and grating sounds.Trying to get engrossed in those sounds, he abruptly heard a plumping sound.Probably someone collapsed, Keith assumes.Because its a comrade from the same unit, the soldiers actually want to go help, but no one tries to lend him a hand.If they had such leeway, they would rather advance even a single step further as they have to escape from that.The collapsed man stretches out his hand, seeking help.I want to help you, Keith thinks.The one asking for help is his own subordinate.Words asking for help are likely coming out of his mouth, but the only thing that could be currently heard were sounds similar to a hoarse draught.If I go to help him, its very likely that Ill collapse as well.And yet, because of his position as Soldier Leader, Keith couldnt abandon a comrade that had fallen down.Keith, who tried to step up to the soldiers seeking help while unsteady on his feet, staggers after receiving a kick on his butt from behind.Normally that would cause him to flare up, while saying What the fuck are you doing?, but rather than the pain of the kick he received on his butt, Keith becomes pale due to the fact that he was kicked.It means that came.That sends Keith, who tried to do something unnecessary, flying with a kick and walks up to the collapsed soldier.Theres nothing similar to sympathy towards the soldier that fell down due to fatigue in its eyes.Those are the eyes of a hunter who wonders how he should cook the pig before him.The soldier, who was pinned down by that look, simply shut his eyes in silence.He probably resigned himself to his fate, tears well up in Keiths eyes.That grabbed the nape of the fallen soldier and casually lifts him up.With one hand, it lifted up the soldiers body, which has been forged quite a bit, the soldiers backpack, which had been filled with weights, and the soldiers equipment at the same time.Of course, since that isnt so tall, its not as if the soldiers feet were floating in the air, but even so, the soldiers body, who had no power left in his limbs should be very heavy. Hey? Did I tell you to do something that difficult? (Renya) The one who indifferently asks the soldier he held up with one hand is Renya.His tone contains no anger or ridicule. It was a tone as if merely confirming the facts in a truly detached manner. I only told you to run around the parade ground in full gear and with around 50 kg of weights crammed into your backpack, didnt I? Is that difficult? Its not like I asked you to run several tens of laps in less than an hour either. Didnt I only tell you to run until I say that its enough? (Renya) You put that much weight into our backpacks?the soldiers, who heard Renyas voice, thought uniformly.Since their equipment was that of infantrymen, its not like theyre wearing full plate mail like knights.Their equipment has been created by utilizing mostly leather, but since its reinforced with metal here and there and has been covered with chain, it has a substantial weight.The longswords affixed to their waists are for training use, but the swords weight is no different from those used in actual combat.Even with only that, it should add up to a reasonable weight, but adding a further 50 kg on top of that cant be regarded as sane order. T- To have added such weight and to tell us to keep on running; thats unreasonable. Instructor-dono The words of the soldier were squeezed out somehow since he was painfully gasping, but Renya cuts that objection down completely. Isnt that similar to what a single woman can carry? If its a soldier of the Principalitys army, they have the duty to rescue citizens, whove become unable to move during battle, by carrying them, dont they? They have the duty to escape while carrying a fallen comrade, right? Or do you bastard intend to abandon those duties? Dont whine! (Renya) Such a First off, look. At that pointlessly energetic Shion. (Renya) Shion, who was suddenly brought up in the conversation, with a voice containing a bit of spite, has her body tremble with shock while being in the middle of the parade ground.She was swinging the training longsword while wearing the same infantry gear as Keith and the others, and carrying a backpack over her shoulders. If you consider that she has been made to run under the same conditions, you wusses are trailing behind several frigging laps in just one hour after getting separated from Shion. At the very beginning all of a sudden you guys were unable to keep up with her running pace (Renya) That was a reality even Keith couldnt believe.Shion, who appeared on the parade ground in the same equipment as the soldiers, started to run in such a state after getting ordered to do so by Renya. She pulled apart from the soldiers at an overwhelming speed, although noisily due to her heavy feet, and in the end lapped them in the blink of an eye. She achieved the reckless deed of overtaking them several times during merely one hour. The other party is unmistakably the esteemed daughter of her Majesty the Archduchess.For her to have a superior stamina compared to us who continued to receive training as soldiers; I wonder just what kind of scam this is supposed to be?Her physical state was that of staggering on her feet, while also sweating with a red face, but even so, Shion kept running for an hour. Renya had ordered her immediately after that to do something else.Half of the reason why he did so was that he considered that she likely had plenty of excess stamina.The other half was that he thought that she would probably break the soldiers spirit if he let her participate any longer in the same training menu as them. Hey? How are you feeling right now? While saying stuff likeI received the training of a soldier, its just stamina, but how do you feel now that you were made aware that you are no match for Shion? How do you feel about realizing that you are inferior to the princess you ought to protect? Hey, try telling me. (Renya) The soldier, who was dangling his hands after being caught, questioned and held by his nape by Renya, didnt raise his voice even once, he patiently endured as he gritted his teeth, producing grinding sounds.Looking bored at the state of the soldier, Renya released the hand holding the soldiers nape before long.As if a puppet had its strings cut, the soldier sat feebly down on the ground. Looking down on him, Renya brought his face close by bending over slightly and told him in a quiet whisper, Its fine to fall asleep here, you know? What will you do? Will you give up without any guts? What the hell are you? A brat? Or a soldier? The guy who hired you thinking that you are a soldier must be quite the idiot, right? Is this country paying a high salary to a gutless loser like you? (Renya) Its different! Just one minute I will be fine after one minute, please! The soldier shouts while tightly clutching the hands he put on the ground to prop his body up. Certainly I will chase them without fail! I see. So you wont give up, right? (Renya) Once the soldier nods at Renyas question, Renya grabs the soldiers nape once again and carries him easily on his back.Not caring about the surprised soldier, Renya started to run while chasing the backs of the soldiers who were ahead of him. Instructor-dono!? Rest there for a minute. Or observe my way of running while resting. In any way, you guys are noisy without reason. If you begin to tire, you pointlessly waste your stamina by dragging your feet. (Renya) Renya starts scolding them while grumbling that they have to consider the reason why humans possess a head or joints.The soldier on his back realized that Renyas body barely shakes left and right, and neither does hisjouge.Renya, who sprints practically without even creating any footprints, easily overtakes the soldiers in front once and then sticks to the back of the soldiers once again after running around the parade ground.The soldier on Renyas back and the soldiers that got lapped once after having been overtaken have once again become speechless as they are absolutely dumbfounded by Renyas unbelievable speed. Even while carrying the weight of one adult man and his equipment on his back.Renya, who plainly ignored their gazes and the feelings of astonishment that have been directed towards him, catches up to the end of the line of the running soldiers and lets the soldier, whom he carried on his back, down on the ground. You rested for around one minute, didnt you? There, run. (Renya) Yes, instructor-dono! Theres no way for a human, who had become exhausted to the point of being unable to move, to run after just having rested for a minute.Nevertheless, the soldier answers Renyas words loudly and runs behind his comrades with a frantic look while gritting his teeth.Seeing him off, Renya takes out the tools for the next training activity from his inventory, and begins to pile them up into a heap in the centre of the parade ground.In the end this marathon training continued throughout the entire morning.A girl, who had quite the lascivious appearance consisting of a side tail, a tube top bra and hotpants, goes around distributing lunch to the soldiers who cant move due to total exhaustion.Renya, who hated bothersome efforts, disliked using the dining hall. Due to that, it wasnt used by a single of the soldiers as they didnt have the energy to walk there. Thus they took their lunch on the parade ground just like that.The distributed food is soft, white bread, pitch black soup in contrast to the bread and several dried fruits.Because of its bizarreness, the soldiers at first hesitated to taste the soup, but seeing Shion simply stuffing it into her mouth indifferently, all of them tried it timidly.They didnt have any expectations towards its taste because of its abnormal appearance, but once they tasted it, it was a seafood soup that had plenty of marine products thrown into it without any points to complain about.The soup itself had a slight bitterness, but due to the seafoods stock, which is rich to the degree of one not caring about the bitterness, the soup was mostly received favourably. In spite of the tube-top girl bringing a stockpot as tall as herself, it had been completely emptied out by the time the meal came to an end.Even the white bread had been prepared in an amount that exceeded the number of people, but it got cleanly eaten up as well. Renya thats, Emil, isnt it? (Shion) Shion asks pointing at the girl walking while waving her hand and treating the soldiers amiably. Thats right. (Renya) I dont think that you will supply things that cant be eaten, Renya, but is it safe, this? (Shion) No problem. Theres no poison in it. (Renya) I see Id like to hear the ingredients for cautions sake though. (Shion) Fresh marine products that were procured from the market and Fraus deluxe garden vegetables. (Renya) Ah, somehow I feel like its already no good with just that. (Shion) Also a soup stock I got from the fresh ingredients I procured from our neighbors. (Renya) Neighbors? (Shion) Since Renyas talking about neighbors, its probably the house where Az and Liaris live,Shion believes.However, she had no memory of having heard that the two of them were cultivating ingredients at home that can be used for soup stock as both of them are busy with work as well.Renya quietly brought his mouth close to the curious Shions ear and whispered, Look, its that large it was torn off into smaller pieces two, three times after that, was burned and ground, and mixed in. (Renya) I-If its that, ho (Shion) Renya silences the surprised and flustered Shion by pressing a finger against her lips.That conversation also reached the ears of the surrounding soldiers, however they harbored no interest towards the ingredients Shion started to talk about until midways.They didnt have that much leeway, one might say.One could also say that they didnt feel like fussing over minor details as long as they were able to eat something delicious.It will become a problem if something like people dying as result of the food occurs, but Renya and Shion have eaten the same thing.Thus there was no reason for there to be a problem. Instructor-dono, whats the training schedule from afternoon onwards? (Keith) Apparently they had recovered their stamina somewhat after eating a meal and resting to some extent.Keith asked while walking up to Renya.Renya replies by pointing at the things that are piled up in the centre of the parade ground. You will use those. (Renya) Those, huh? (Keith) What has been stacked up over there are countless hoes.A truly typical tool used in farming and such. After having mixed various metals into them, they are very heavy. Because all of it, from the teeth of the hoes to the handle, are made out of metal, they wont break easily even if you handle them roughly. (Renya) Haa so what are you saying youll make us do with these? (Keith) Isnt that usually digging holes? (Renya) Renya looks as if he wants to ask why hes asking something that obvious.Keith continues to question while scratching his cheek. Just where and how far will we dig holes? (Keith) Everywhere. (Renya) Pardon? (Keith) Keith reflexively asks a question in return to Renyas short answer.With a feeling of a teacher that carries out a class with students that are slow at understanding, Renya pointed at the entirety of the parade grounds. You will dig to a depth of around your own height throughout the parade grounds. (Renya) Being told that, Keith surveys the parade grounds.Its only natural for it to be vast since its a place that can be used by several units at the same time and where sham battles between fellow units are carried out.Moreover, since soldiers are constantly treading upon it, the ground is quite hard.And, according to what Renya says, the hoes, which will be used to dig the holes, have been especially made out of metal in their entirety.The conclusion he derived from that was a reality of heavy labor awaiting them, which he didnt want to think about. You are serious? (Keith) Im always serious, right? Should I make you finish until dinner time? As long as you dont finish, todays training wont end. Go at it with that mentality. (Renya) Being told so by Renya with a smiling expression, Keith had no other choice but to brace himself. You lot! How long do you plan to dilly-dally around? Get working quickly if you dont want to die! Take off your armor, leave the weights behind and pick up one of the hoes piled up over there! (Keith) Ah, hey, who told you that its fine to take off the armor (Renya) Renya, I will prostrate in front of you if you like, but please allow them to take off their armor. (Shion) Shion decides to pinion Renya, who tried to stop Keith, from behind.As expected, even Shion apparently considered it as unreasonable to carry out the current training while fully equipped.While Shion is holding Renya back, the soldiers quickly take off their armors, pick up the tools in a dash and start to fiercely dig holes in the ground.Given that the work started without time for Renya to stop them, Renya gave up this time on making them do it while wearing their gear. Only this time, okay? (Renya) Renya what the heck are you planning to have them do? (Shion) Hasnt it been decided that Im transforming them into full-fledged soldiers? (Renya) Renya says as if its obvious.While thinkingIm sure soldiers are monsters or something in Renyas former world, Shion picked up a hoe as well, blended in among the soldiers and started to dig up the ground. You lot, even though your princess is doing it while wearing the armor, only you guys are taking it easy by taking off your equipment. What a nice social status you have. Is the social status of soldiers serving in the national army higher than that of Her Highness the princess in this country? Ah Oops!Shion thought, but it was already too late.Shion began to take off her armor as she blushed while looking at the soldiers who are accusing her with their looksAlthough we dont blame you, why do you do what he says? Chapter 97 Chapter 97 C This seems to be training C Continuation Today as well a strange-acting group continues to work endlessly starting early in the morning.Just what the hell they are doing is completely incomprehensible when observed from the sidelines.It reaches the point in which questions pop up wondering whether some bad disease has spread among a part of the Principalitys army as a topic of gossip.First off, everyones wearing the armys armor.This isnt the problem. Rather, if there was a group of people working there, while not wearing the armys equipment, that in itself would be weird.However, exactly because they are soldiers of the Principalitys army, its a fact that their conduct is far too strange.Furthermore, all of them are swinging hoes for some reason while being watched by a young man completely dressed in black.Of course the location is no farm.And although its no farm, they are swinging the hoes single-mindedly as if possessed.Thus, the soldiers are digging holes with plenty of vigor.They drive the hoes into the ground with such an intensity that it makes others believe that they have some sort of grudge with the ground. They scoop out a large amount of soil and then drive their hoes into the ground once again. They carry out this kind of work without uttering a single word.Having kept up such work all morning long, they take a short breather at noon.Apparently considering the time to go back to the dining hall as wasteful, they sit down on the spot, silently eat up the food brought by a girl with a side tail, who appeared out of nowhere, and later relax after taking off their armor or lie down for a short while.Once that break finishes, they pick up their hoes again and resume their work mechanically.The parade ground is very large.But the soldiers, who consist of 100 people, continue swinging their hoes determinedly while holes are dug out at a staggering speed. Before long, holes that are as deep as the soldiers are tall get completed.When those watching them tilt their head in confusion, wondering for what those huge holes are going to be used for, the soldiers, who crawl out from the holes one after the other, pick up their shovels and, for some reason, start to bury the holes they had just finished.No matter who watches that spectacle, no one is able of finding a meaning behind this type of work.But, the soldiers involved continue filling in the holes without filing a single complaint as if an absolute order was given to them.In the end, when the sky grows darker as the sun goes down, the holes are completely buried again. The people responsible for that return to their lodging houses while looking satisfied.The next day, they, who are once again wearing their armor, appear at the parade ground shouldering large backpacks.In front of them is the place where they dug holes and filled them up again with their own hands.They leap towards that same exact spot upon being ordered to do so.The ground is extremely soft, as it had just a hole of the size of an adult dug out and then filled up again.Once the soldiers, who are clad in heavy equipment and are carrying a backpack that seems to be filled with weights, land on the ground, they quickly sink into it feet first.When the girl with the side tail appears, she begins chanting some kind of spell and several water spheres manifest in the sky.The girl begins firing the spheres at the soldiers.The soldiers continue avoiding those water spheres while frantically hardening their foothold, but sooner or later their movements start to become dull and those who are directly hit by a water sphere start appearing among them.Those attacks, which are likely the elementary spell of the water attribute, easily blow away the soldiers bodies, which ought to be quite heavy, and knock them onto the ground.The girl mercilessly fires even more water balls towards those whove collapsed.These water balls are stopped by other soldiers, who are covering their comrades with their bodies.Whilst they are stopping the water attacks, which should have quite the force behind them, they yell out their fighting spirits, while others help their comrades get up and make them resume evasive maneuvers.The water balls that crash into the ground transform the still soft soil into mud.The number of soldiers that receive direct hits after getting tripped up by the created mud increase, but they continue dodging without giving up.If they completely stop moving, their feet will sink into the mud. And once that happens, forget evasion, they wouldnt be able to even move.Because they understand this fact well, they dont stop moving.As they earnestly persist in doing so, they continue rescuing the unlucky fellows who couldnt move.Eventually, once the time for lunch gets close, the girl ceases firing water balls while looking regretful. With that as signal the soldiers, who ran around for dear life, step away from the earth that had become a quagmire, remove their equipment and start cleaning their gear that ended up drenched in mud.While they were cleaning their equipment, the girl with the side tails once again started preparing lunch and a blonde priestess, who was called over as a new addition, began to heal the wounds of those who were badly hit by the girls water attacks.When that was done, they once again eat their lunch silently.Once they finished their meal and the break time has come to an end, they return to the ground that was still a quagmire by orders of the black-clothed man who had continued monitoring them.Then the black-clothed man begins to hurl spells at them.Different from water sorcery, theres no doubt that they will suffer severe burns if theyre hit by the fire spells, despite it being only elementary level.The black-clothed man urges them, who are more frantically running away than in the morning, with a denser barrage than the one released by the girl with the side tail.The lumps of fire that hit the ground make the large amounts of moisture contained in the mud evaporate and a thick cloud of steam enveloped the surroundings.Steam continues to rise up, which makes the soldiers sweat more profusely than they would under normal circumstances due to continuous exercise.The temperature climbs steadily and as such, a choking humidity assails the soldiers, but they dont stop moving.If they stop moving at an inopportune moment, they will end up receiving a fireball and stop moving altogether.Once they stop moving, theyll receive a concentrated sorcery attack that was adjusted to a level so that they wont die, albeit barely.They too are desperate.Before long the thickness of the rising steam starts to worsen the visibility.They dont know from which direction a fireball will come flying out of.They fully employ all senses they possess and dodge frantically.However, there are still some among them who directly receive the fireballs after all.And, the guys, who stopped moving, are dragged away from the mud as if being pulled by invisible hands and are brought to the location of the priestess whos on standby.Then they are treated with healing arts by the priestess and furthermore have dubious deep crimson, purple and pea green potions, which were taken out by the girl with the side tail, poured onto them from above as if being showered by hot and cold water.Their bodies are completely dyed in a poor looking color, but those, who had the potions applied to them, stand up right away and plunge into the mud once again.Their bodies that were scalded by burns all over mere seconds ago look now as if that was a lie.Before long, when the sun was sinking and the sky got dyed in crimson, they are finally released from the act of continuous evasion against the one-sided attacks.Below their feet is a ground that became hard and tough after continuously getting scorched by fireballs and earnestly trampled by their feet.While firmly stepping on that ground, they think: Tomorrow we will dig it up even faster. I cant believe that to be sane training. When this cycle, where one set takes two days, had repeated itself seven times, Renya was summoned by Mayria and proceeded in the direction of her room located inside a military facility.Renya wondered whether there would be items that suit the room of a 15-years-old girl in there, but that place appeared to be completely like the work area of an office worker. It was a totally unbelievably tasteless room at a humid place.Close to the wall theres a large desk that fully promotes its existence.Moreover, those were the first words Mayria, who was processing documents, threw at Renya when he entered the room. I have shut my eyes towards the matter of you completely occupying one of the several parade grounds, but be that as it may, I dont comprehend the meaning of the training. Its too dangerous. (Mayria) Do you think that they will be able to become fully fledged soldiers by carrying out normal training for a month? (Renya) Mayria turns at Renya, who asked her back in reverse, with a grim expression.Although its implicit, Renya is basically saying that the soldiers of the Principalitys army are not fully fledged and also, that the training they are carrying out is too lenient. Theres no way for there to exist many people who can devote themselves to such penance, is there? (Mayria) Though there are zero drop-outs at present? (Renya) That fact was something unbelievable for Mayria.She was definitely prepared for there to be some or even a majority of soldiers running away after giving up, but just as Renya says, theres not a single person among the 100 soldiers receiving his training, who has run away or dropped out due to injury or such. However it looks theres a great number of injured, doesnt it? (Mayria) Theres a skilled priestess and a doctor around, right? (Renya) Im well aware of Rona-sans skill, but whos that girl with the side tail? She heals injuries in a flash with medicines I have never seen or heard of. It doesnt seem to be bragging that she can immediately restore an injured person as long as they arent dead, does it? (Mayria) This time it was Renya who frowned, albeit only faintly.In reality even Renya didnt want to get Emil involved overly much.However, it was a fact that he couldnt refuse Emil who asked him to let her participate after promising that she absolutely wouldnt do something like giving the soldiers a magic remodeling and would stick to only healing the injuries and fatigue of the soldiers with a medicine which she produced with slightly unusual ingredients.No matter how skilled a priestess Rona might be and moreover even if she were to use as many magic stones as she liked in order to support her magic arts, Rona just by herself wouldnt be able to handle the injured people that are produced one after the other after all.Furthermore, even if she healed their injuries with magic arts, she would completely steal the stamina of the injured. In addition, its not possible to cure fatigue with healing arts.As such, the injured soldiers would lose a significant amount of time.After worrying about it for an unusually long time, considering its Renya, he approved Emils participation on top of reminding Emil of her limits many times over. I guess shes an expert with slightly special circumstances. I cant talk about the details. I will take full responsibility for that girl. (Renya) I leave it to you then. If you go this far, it probably wont be anything bad. And so theres a reason why I called you today (Mayria) Putting the documents she processed aside, Mayria looks at Renya. First is about my elder sister (Mayria) Shes so full of spirit that she leaves the soldiers of the Principalitys army behind, you know? (Renya) Is it really true that she left them behind from the start? (Mayria) Renya, who felt a tinge of a fear-like emotion in the tone of her voice, examines Mayrias face without answering right away.Mayria smiled wryly since he easily found out what she had apparently intended to hide as much as possible. Those are not overly pleasant news. (Mayria) Its a fact. Especially on the side of stamina, you can say that she won by a wide margin. (Renya) Mayria sighs due to the reality mentioned by Renya. Is there some kind of problem? (Renya) No its no big problem, but as you are well aware yourself as well, Renya-san, the Fatale family plays the role of Archduke of the Trident Principality, but this Principality itself is a country that was established by the family head of the Fatale family ten generations ago. (Mayria) To begin with, the area of the current Principality of Trident is not only the closest country to the Miasma Forest, but also to the demons domain on the human continent. It was labelled as a place where those, who committed crimes in the continents central area, lived while repeatedly plundering the central areas together with conspirators. No one really thought that anyone would deliberately found a nation at such a place.The ones who subjugated that area with their own strength and built a country there is the Fatale family.Due to Renya wondering whether it wouldnt be fine for the one, who created the country with their own strength, to call themselves king of that area, Mayria says that the cause is a single comment of the family head at that time stating that they didnt change it into a monarchy since they somewhat disliked causing a commotion by calling themselves king.With the incomprehensible reason that it would be more stylish to use the word Archduke rather than the aggrieving word of king, the Fatale familys head at that time apparently appointed those, who achieved meritorious deeds, to nobility and built a nation in the shape of a dukedom. So? (Renya) I will be troubled if its taken as boasting, but even though the Fatale family is said to be slightly dim-witted, there are times when capable people, who are calledbravesso to speak, appear one after the other while possessing staggering amounts of power. (Mayria) You are saying that Shion is one of those? (Renya) Mayria shakes her head left and right while thinkingyou havent denied the part about dim-witted. I dont know. Until now there havent been any signs for that. Im just pondering about it at a hypothetical level. (Mayria) For arguments sake, if Shion was a person with abilities that identified her as abrave, would this cause some sort of problem? (Renya) I think it will become a huge problem if elder sister tries to hijack this country. (Mayria) Though that wont really matter either, Mayria shrugs her shoulders.From her point of view, she wants her elder sister Shion to succeed the title. She had absolutely no resistance towards surrendering her own position to her if Shion said that she wanted to become the ruler. However I will be troubled if Im told me and mother will be killed because of that. (Mayria) I dont think that will happen. She isnt a child that will say something like that even in jest. (Renya) I know. Its a bad joke. (Mayria) Mayria smiled due to Renya stating that without any pause in-between. The second point is actually doubts about your training have come up within the military. (Mayria) Hoo? (Renya) The corners of Renyas mouth rise slightly.His expression resembles that of a person who wants something interesting to happen.Rather than the matter with my elder sister, the problem lies with the guy in front of me, doesnt it?While thinking so, Mayria continued, A faction that insists on you showing results has appeared. They are questioning the nation for paying money to a man that leads such incomprehensible training. Though I believe that there would be no way for them to spout such lines if they saw the actual circumstances. (Mayria) You know, I think its fine to just let them say whatever they want. (Renya) Yes, but the Trident Principality is a dukedom thats governed by nobles. You can give them them the cold shoulder and let them say what they want if its a monarchy, but no matter what Her Majesty the Archduchess says, continuing to ignore the pressure from a reasonable amount of nobles is troublesome (Mayria) So what do you want to tell me in the end? (Renya) Due to Renyas question urging her to get to the point, Mayria readily said as if trying finish the conversation swiftly, Please have a sham battle with the soldiers working for our nobles. (Mayria) Apart from the Principalitys army, each of the nobles have soldiers under their command.Those soldiers are completely under the control of the nobles and even the Archduchess has no authority over them. They have created an independent military structure. You told me that the training period lasts one month, didnt you? (Renya) Mayria nods upon the confirming question of Renya. Indeed, since thats our agreement, I will keep them quiet for one month. (Mayria) In that case I accept. (Renya) Mayria took a deep breath, feeling relieved, as if a weight had been removed from her mind due to Renya readily accepting, but her expression froze right after hearing Renyas next words. Then Id like to request permission to train the soldiers under my thumb in the Miasma Forest in preparation for the sham battle. (Renya) I cant think of that as a sane suggestion!? (Mayria) Mayrias shout seemed like a scream.Her servants looked at each other while wondering just what the heck happened for Mayria to raise her voice to a degree they had never heard before. Chapter 97 C This seems to be training C Continuation Today as well a strange-acting group continues to work endlessly starting early in the morning.Just what the hell they are doing is completely incomprehensible when observed from the sidelines.It reaches the point in which questions pop up wondering whether some bad disease has spread among a part of the Principalitys army as a topic of gossip.First off, everyones wearing the armys armor.This isnt the problem. Rather, if there was a group of people working there, while not wearing the armys equipment, that in itself would be weird.However, exactly because they are soldiers of the Principalitys army, its a fact that their conduct is far too strange.Furthermore, all of them are swinging hoes for some reason while being watched by a young man completely dressed in black.Of course the location is no farm.And although its no farm, they are swinging the hoes single-mindedly as if possessed.Thus, the soldiers are digging holes with plenty of vigor.They drive the hoes into the ground with such an intensity that it makes others believe that they have some sort of grudge with the ground. They scoop out a large amount of soil and then drive their hoes into the ground once again. They carry out this kind of work without uttering a single word.Having kept up such work all morning long, they take a short breather at noon.Apparently considering the time to go back to the dining hall as wasteful, they sit down on the spot, silently eat up the food brought by a girl with a side tail, who appeared out of nowhere, and later relax after taking off their armor or lie down for a short while.Once that break finishes, they pick up their hoes again and resume their work mechanically.The parade ground is very large.But the soldiers, who consist of 100 people, continue swinging their hoes determinedly while holes are dug out at a staggering speed. Before long, holes that are as deep as the soldiers are tall get completed.When those watching them tilt their head in confusion, wondering for what those huge holes are going to be used for, the soldiers, who crawl out from the holes one after the other, pick up their shovels and, for some reason, start to bury the holes they had just finished.No matter who watches that spectacle, no one is able of finding a meaning behind this type of work.But, the soldiers involved continue filling in the holes without filing a single complaint as if an absolute order was given to them.In the end, when the sky grows darker as the sun goes down, the holes are completely buried again. The people responsible for that return to their lodging houses while looking satisfied.The next day, they, who are once again wearing their armor, appear at the parade ground shouldering large backpacks.In front of them is the place where they dug holes and filled them up again with their own hands.They leap towards that same exact spot upon being ordered to do so.The ground is extremely soft, as it had just a hole of the size of an adult dug out and then filled up again.Once the soldiers, who are clad in heavy equipment and are carrying a backpack that seems to be filled with weights, land on the ground, they quickly sink into it feet first.When the girl with the side tail appears, she begins chanting some kind of spell and several water spheres manifest in the sky.The girl begins firing the spheres at the soldiers.The soldiers continue avoiding those water spheres while frantically hardening their foothold, but sooner or later their movements start to become dull and those who are directly hit by a water sphere start appearing among them.Those attacks, which are likely the elementary spell of the water attribute, easily blow away the soldiers bodies, which ought to be quite heavy, and knock them onto the ground.The girl mercilessly fires even more water balls towards those whove collapsed.These water balls are stopped by other soldiers, who are covering their comrades with their bodies.Whilst they are stopping the water attacks, which should have quite the force behind them, they yell out their fighting spirits, while others help their comrades get up and make them resume evasive maneuvers.The water balls that crash into the ground transform the still soft soil into mud.The number of soldiers that receive direct hits after getting tripped up by the created mud increase, but they continue dodging without giving up.If they completely stop moving, their feet will sink into the mud. And once that happens, forget evasion, they wouldnt be able to even move.Because they understand this fact well, they dont stop moving.As they earnestly persist in doing so, they continue rescuing the unlucky fellows who couldnt move.Eventually, once the time for lunch gets close, the girl ceases firing water balls while looking regretful. With that as signal the soldiers, who ran around for dear life, step away from the earth that had become a quagmire, remove their equipment and start cleaning their gear that ended up drenched in mud.While they were cleaning their equipment, the girl with the side tails once again started preparing lunch and a blonde priestess, who was called over as a new addition, began to heal the wounds of those who were badly hit by the girls water attacks.When that was done, they once again eat their lunch silently.Once they finished their meal and the break time has come to an end, they return to the ground that was still a quagmire by orders of the black-clothed man who had continued monitoring them.Then the black-clothed man begins to hurl spells at them.Different from water sorcery, theres no doubt that they will suffer severe burns if theyre hit by the fire spells, despite it being only elementary level.The black-clothed man urges them, who are more frantically running away than in the morning, with a denser barrage than the one released by the girl with the side tail.The lumps of fire that hit the ground make the large amounts of moisture contained in the mud evaporate and a thick cloud of steam enveloped the surroundings.Steam continues to rise up, which makes the soldiers sweat more profusely than they would under normal circumstances due to continuous exercise.The temperature climbs steadily and as such, a choking humidity assails the soldiers, but they dont stop moving.If they stop moving at an inopportune moment, they will end up receiving a fireball and stop moving altogether.Once they stop moving, theyll receive a concentrated sorcery attack that was adjusted to a level so that they wont die, albeit barely.They too are desperate.Before long the thickness of the rising steam starts to worsen the visibility.They dont know from which direction a fireball will come flying out of.They fully employ all senses they possess and dodge frantically.However, there are still some among them who directly receive the fireballs after all.And, the guys, who stopped moving, are dragged away from the mud as if being pulled by invisible hands and are brought to the location of the priestess whos on standby.Then they are treated with healing arts by the priestess and furthermore have dubious deep crimson, purple and pea green potions, which were taken out by the girl with the side tail, poured onto them from above as if being showered by hot and cold water.Their bodies are completely dyed in a poor looking color, but those, who had the potions applied to them, stand up right away and plunge into the mud once again.Their bodies that were scalded by burns all over mere seconds ago look now as if that was a lie.Before long, when the sun was sinking and the sky got dyed in crimson, they are finally released from the act of continuous evasion against the one-sided attacks.Below their feet is a ground that became hard and tough after continuously getting scorched by fireballs and earnestly trampled by their feet.While firmly stepping on that ground, they think: Tomorrow we will dig it up even faster. I cant believe that to be sane training. When this cycle, where one set takes two days, had repeated itself seven times, Renya was summoned by Mayria and proceeded in the direction of her room located inside a military facility.Renya wondered whether there would be items that suit the room of a 15-years-old girl in there, but that place appeared to be completely like the work area of an office worker. It was a totally unbelievably tasteless room at a humid place.Close to the wall theres a large desk that fully promotes its existence.Moreover, those were the first words Mayria, who was processing documents, threw at Renya when he entered the room. I have shut my eyes towards the matter of you completely occupying one of the several parade grounds, but be that as it may, I dont comprehend the meaning of the training. Its too dangerous. (Mayria) Do you think that they will be able to become fully fledged soldiers by carrying out normal training for a month? (Renya) Mayria turns at Renya, who asked her back in reverse, with a grim expression.Although its implicit, Renya is basically saying that the soldiers of the Principalitys army are not fully fledged and also, that the training they are carrying out is too lenient. Theres no way for there to exist many people who can devote themselves to such penance, is there? (Mayria) Though there are zero drop-outs at present? (Renya) That fact was something unbelievable for Mayria.She was definitely prepared for there to be some or even a majority of soldiers running away after giving up, but just as Renya says, theres not a single person among the 100 soldiers receiving his training, who has run away or dropped out due to injury or such. However it looks theres a great number of injured, doesnt it? (Mayria) Theres a skilled priestess and a doctor around, right? (Renya) Im well aware of Rona-sans skill, but whos that girl with the side tail? She heals injuries in a flash with medicines I have never seen or heard of. It doesnt seem to be bragging that she can immediately restore an injured person as long as they arent dead, does it? (Mayria) This time it was Renya who frowned, albeit only faintly.In reality even Renya didnt want to get Emil involved overly much.However, it was a fact that he couldnt refuse Emil who asked him to let her participate after promising that she absolutely wouldnt do something like giving the soldiers a magic remodeling and would stick to only healing the injuries and fatigue of the soldiers with a medicine which she produced with slightly unusual ingredients.No matter how skilled a priestess Rona might be and moreover even if she were to use as many magic stones as she liked in order to support her magic arts, Rona just by herself wouldnt be able to handle the injured people that are produced one after the other after all.Furthermore, even if she healed their injuries with magic arts, she would completely steal the stamina of the injured. In addition, its not possible to cure fatigue with healing arts.As such, the injured soldiers would lose a significant amount of time.After worrying about it for an unusually long time, considering its Renya, he approved Emils participation on top of reminding Emil of her limits many times over. I guess shes an expert with slightly special circumstances. I cant talk about the details. I will take full responsibility for that girl. (Renya) I leave it to you then. If you go this far, it probably wont be anything bad. And so theres a reason why I called you today (Mayria) Putting the documents she processed aside, Mayria looks at Renya. First is about my elder sister (Mayria) Shes so full of spirit that she leaves the soldiers of the Principalitys army behind, you know? (Renya) Is it really true that she left them behind from the start? (Mayria) Renya, who felt a tinge of a fear-like emotion in the tone of her voice, examines Mayrias face without answering right away.Mayria smiled wryly since he easily found out what she had apparently intended to hide as much as possible. Those are not overly pleasant news. (Mayria) Its a fact. Especially on the side of stamina, you can say that she won by a wide margin. (Renya) Mayria sighs due to the reality mentioned by Renya. Is there some kind of problem? (Renya) No its no big problem, but as you are well aware yourself as well, Renya-san, the Fatale family plays the role of Archduke of the Trident Principality, but this Principality itself is a country that was established by the family head of the Fatale family ten generations ago. (Mayria) To begin with, the area of the current Principality of Trident is not only the closest country to the Miasma Forest, but also to the demons domain on the human continent. It was labelled as a place where those, who committed crimes in the continents central area, lived while repeatedly plundering the central areas together with conspirators. No one really thought that anyone would deliberately found a nation at such a place.The ones who subjugated that area with their own strength and built a country there is the Fatale family.Due to Renya wondering whether it wouldnt be fine for the one, who created the country with their own strength, to call themselves king of that area, Mayria says that the cause is a single comment of the family head at that time stating that they didnt change it into a monarchy since they somewhat disliked causing a commotion by calling themselves king.With the incomprehensible reason that it would be more stylish to use the word Archduke rather than the aggrieving word of king, the Fatale familys head at that time apparently appointed those, who achieved meritorious deeds, to nobility and built a nation in the shape of a dukedom. So? (Renya) I will be troubled if its taken as boasting, but even though the Fatale family is said to be slightly dim-witted, there are times when capable people, who are calledbravesso to speak, appear one after the other while possessing staggering amounts of power. (Mayria) You are saying that Shion is one of those? (Renya) Mayria shakes her head left and right while thinkingyou havent denied the part about dim-witted. I dont know. Until now there havent been any signs for that. Im just pondering about it at a hypothetical level. (Mayria) For arguments sake, if Shion was a person with abilities that identified her as abrave, would this cause some sort of problem? (Renya) I think it will become a huge problem if elder sister tries to hijack this country. (Mayria) Though that wont really matter either, Mayria shrugs her shoulders.From her point of view, she wants her elder sister Shion to succeed the title. She had absolutely no resistance towards surrendering her own position to her if Shion said that she wanted to become the ruler. However I will be troubled if Im told me and mother will be killed because of that. (Mayria) I dont think that will happen. She isnt a child that will say something like that even in jest. (Renya) I know. Its a bad joke. (Mayria) Mayria smiled due to Renya stating that without any pause in-between. The second point is actually doubts about your training have come up within the military. (Mayria) Hoo? (Renya) The corners of Renyas mouth rise slightly.His expression resembles that of a person who wants something interesting to happen.Rather than the matter with my elder sister, the problem lies with the guy in front of me, doesnt it?While thinking so, Mayria continued, A faction that insists on you showing results has appeared. They are questioning the nation for paying money to a man that leads such incomprehensible training. Though I believe that there would be no way for them to spout such lines if they saw the actual circumstances. (Mayria) You know, I think its fine to just let them say whatever they want. (Renya) Yes, but the Trident Principality is a dukedom thats governed by nobles. You can give them them the cold shoulder and let them say what they want if its a monarchy, but no matter what Her Majesty the Archduchess says, continuing to ignore the pressure from a reasonable amount of nobles is troublesome (Mayria) So what do you want to tell me in the end? (Renya) Due to Renyas question urging her to get to the point, Mayria readily said as if trying finish the conversation swiftly, Please have a sham battle with the soldiers working for our nobles. (Mayria) Apart from the Principalitys army, each of the nobles have soldiers under their command.Those soldiers are completely under the control of the nobles and even the Archduchess has no authority over them. They have created an independent military structure. You told me that the training period lasts one month, didnt you? (Renya) Mayria nods upon the confirming question of Renya. Indeed, since thats our agreement, I will keep them quiet for one month. (Mayria) In that case I accept. (Renya) Mayria took a deep breath, feeling relieved, as if a weight had been removed from her mind due to Renya readily accepting, but her expression froze right after hearing Renyas next words. Then Id like to request permission to train the soldiers under my thumb in the Miasma Forest in preparation for the sham battle. (Renya) I cant think of that as a sane suggestion!? (Mayria) Mayrias shout seemed like a scream.Her servants looked at each other while wondering just what the heck happened for Mayria to raise her voice to a degree they had never heard before. Chapter 98 Chapter 98 C It seems to be before the departure If you briefly say the travel of a hundred soldiers, the conversation ends there, but when it comes to actually carrying out the trip, troublesome preparations and formalities become necessary.Renya entrusted or rather got rid of everything related to the formalities by shoving them on to Mayria. However, Renya still has to come up with a transportation method so as to get the hundred soldiers to the Miasma Forest.The Miasma Forests entrance is at a two day travel distance with a carriage from the city of Kukrika.Nevertheless, given that the soldiers would travel by foot anyway, it would end up in a needless waste of time. Will you prepare a carriage? (Shion) Renya wracks his brain over whats to be done while in the parlor of his home.He shakes his head while saying Certainly not to Shion who asked after seeing Renyas state.Hundred soldiers is a number too high to be carried by carriages alone.Its not impossible if we arrange several carriages, but the costs are nothing to sneeze at.Since the expenses will be shouldered by the principality anyway, even that wouldnt really matter much from Renyas point of view, but apart from the costs, seeing as the main objective lies in the training, a round trip of four days is too much of a loss. I feel like I could travel that distance by running in one day, if its the current me, but (Renya) Thats not a normal humans running ability, is it? (Shion) Shion admonishes Renya before he could suggest such an outrageous thing as making the soldiers attempt such a feat.In Shions eyes, various aspects of Renyas abilities have already largely deviated from the category of humans.Even if he insisted on doing something like that, it was plain obvious that it would be impossible.The reality is that the soldiers harbored a similar impression about Shion as well, but she hasnt noticed that. How about asking May to lend you the magic ship? (Shion) If its that, it should likely have the cargo capacity to hold a mere hundred soldiers, Shion assumes.Moreover, its speed is reasonably high.Shion believed that to be a good suggestion, but Renya refused it right away. Lets not go there. It seems like those nobles would get naggy about it. (Renya) Renya believes that that group, which is trying to find fault with everything he does, will come biting at him as soon as they find even the slightest thing to latch onto.If Shion requests something like that from Mayria, you will never know what kind of complaints will be filed towards Mayria. What will you do in that case then? Arent you at a dead end here? (Shion) Shion raised both her hands as if giving up, but without sharing her opinion, Renya says, Not quite. As long as we dont get picky about the means, theres a method. (Renya) I see, lets go with that then. (Shion) Shion promptly judges to not ask about the details of the method Renya mentioned. You know youre okaying it without even listen to details, right? (Renya) Whether Im okay with it or not, I dont have an alternate plan, right? Isnt there no other alternative but to go with your plan, Renya? (Shion) Shion boldly threw out her chest and answered Renyas question, who seemed to be slightly surprised.Her attitude is splendid, but theres no substance behind it. No matter whether you simply havent thought it over or have properly made up your mind I think thats a comment which is difficult to appreciate. (Renya) At any rate, lets go with that. Time is precious, right? (Shion) I wonder whether its really alright?Renya thinks. But he reaches the conclusion:Since Ive gotten the authorisation of Her Highness the First Princess, although she resigned as successor, I guess itll be alright. Got it, lets go ahead with my plan then. Shion, can I have you prepare the goods together with Frau? I have already told Frau about the necessities. But because it will result in purchasing things and having Mayrias side shoulder the bills, please go along with Frau and help her. (Renya) Understood. Please leave it to me. (Shion) Shion nods strongly and leaves to look for Frau.After following her back with his eyes until she was out of sight, Renya, who had stayed behind, spoke to himself while inside the room with no one in it, They really wont come, right? (Renya) Yeah, well the Miasma Forest is certainly a bit close to my home country. (Emil) The one who showed up as if oozing out of the wall while answering is Emil.Renya didnt understand how she did it, but sometimes Emily suddenly shows up from empty space.Emil didnt do that in front of anyone but Renya though.But, Renya and Frau have realised that she can apparently motionlessly observe or listen in all over the house while being invisible.Given that it doesnt seem to have caused any real damage at present except for having ones privacy infringed, Renya and Frau left her alone since Emil didnt spy on them. Though it seems that Croire will accompany us since the destination is a forest. (Renya) Meaning Frau-chan and Rona will stay behind, eh? (Emil) Frau is you know that Frau cant leave the house or my side. Moreover, with her appearance the soldiers will be soothed and that would be troublesome. (Renya) As Frau is a silky, she is bound by the limitation that she has to be either close to the house shes protecting or to her master Renya.Putting aside the soldiers usual state, Renya cant predict how the soldiers mental state, who are currently starting to feel bloodthirsty in various ways, would be affected if they saw the petite, cute maid appearance of Frau.And, since he cant predict it, there was no way for him to allow them to get in touch with her now. So Rona-chan will go around restraining a part of the nobles together with Frau-chan. (Emil) Troubles never run out, do they? Though its fine as long as she doesnt become bald. (Renya) Dont say that in front of Rona-chan, okay? You will make her cry, you know. (Emil) Emil makes a joke about it and laughs, but Renya ends up wondering whether Rona isnt working too hard in various ways.Even though she has been appointed as Shions babysitter, who by herself causes endless worries even at the best of times, shes apparently adding workload related to the principality.Theres absolutely nothing strange if her levels of worry and fatigue spiked and became hazardous, as she also has to argue with nobles as Maryias assistant even if its only talking.If she was a man, it might have been necessary to worry about his hair falling outRenya judged seriously.Though it isnt something that can be changed by just thinking about it. So, what means of travel will you choose, Renya? (Emil) Mmh? Ah, Im off for a bit to ask our neighbors about it. Theres something Id like you to prepare during that time, Emil. (Renya) Renya beckons Emil to come closer. Emil approached Renya and brings her ear close to his mouth. Eh? Yeah? A ah, yes. Got it, but wont it turn into an uproar? (Emil) Youre saying that at this point in time? (Renya) While telling her that she worries too much as a demon, Renya left his home in order to visit the house of his neighbor Az in order to ask for their help in person.The next day, just as Emil had worried, the city of Kukrika was plunged into a tumult.The soldiers under Keiths command, who were keen about beginning their early training on the parade ground, were ordered by Renya, who suddenly appeared, to equip real swords this time, apart from the usual equipment they are wearing, and to leave behind their backpacks. All of them had anxious expressions while wonderingJust what the hell are we going to do now?Even so, the instructors orders are absolute for them.In reality, over the last few days, they had united a bit because of Renyas training in the last two weeks. At first they lamented over their own bodies after being made to participate in such mad training and they cursed at Renya for forcing them to do it. But they believed in Renyas promise of granting them power and somehow stuck through the training.But, at a certain turning point, they noticed, albeit barely, that the training, which had only been painful until then, became easier to complete than the day before and that it furthermore got even easier on the next day in comparison to the previous day.Its not like Renya had lowered the training menu.With that fact, they could only wonder whether their bodies had gotten used to Renyas training menu or whether the soldiers ability were in the process of closing in on the abilities required for the training.Once they ended up realizing that, the rest fell into place and the soldiers ended up hooked on that fact.While being defeated by one blow yesterday, they could endure receiving up to three blows today, or even though additional weights had been put into their backpacks, they could move just like yesterday, and similar.The soldiers, who wished to become strong, became unable to break out of the cycle anymore once they had actually experienced it for themselves.They understood that they would get more powerful the more they completed the training assigned to them by Renya.The soldiers harbor a feeling of gratitude towards Renya who pulled them up to levels they had not known possible. After that the training contents have been escalating at parts which Renya was already unaware of.Them adding weights in their backpacks and coiling additional lead around the handgrip of the hoes was just the beginning. The end result was them betting on who would be able to defend against the most of Emils and Renyas sorcery attacks.Of course Renya didnt know about such gambling.He simply thought,I somehow feel like the hit rate has gone up.Its a digression, but humans arent creatures who grow by their bodies making such breaking sounds.But a persons body, when it gets healed after being destroyed once, has the ability to strengthen itself, thus trying to overcome its condition at the time when it was destroyed.Originally such healing should take a long time. But, with more or less simple recovery medicine and precious ingredients that normally are unattainable being secretly mixed into their food, they regenerated at an abnormal speed and furthermore in short intervals due to Emils medicine which was actually a powerful recovery medicine at a level which couldnt be obtained in the nearby area.Isnt it fine since its no human body remodelling and it only boosts the abilities they possess to begin with? Those were Emils words.Setting that aside, the soldiers put on their equipment as ordered by Renya, hang their swords with blades, which they didnt use during the training, at their waists and head towards the plains outside the city at a quick running pace as specified by Renya.Since its still early in the morning and furthermore as their destination were the plains slightly separate from the main road, they are hardly seen by anyone.Emil has already started the preparations at that place. Twenty huge cages that seem to still have room even if you put in several grown man in there have been lined up in her vicinity. Moreover, two extra cages that were loaded with some kind of materials had been prepared.Having affixed ropes in their four corners, the cages had a structure that apparently allowed them to be suspended by something, but the soldiers were unable to guess the intention behind suspending such huge cages. You did well to come here, gentlemen! Renya waits for everyone to assemble and raises his voice.Next to Renya, who stands in front of the soldiers while talking with a loud voice, stands Croire, who had wrapped her body in a dark green, elven outfit, with a meek expression.Deciding to shelve their question for the time being in order to avoid missing the instructors words, the soldiers listen carefully to Renya.Their seriousness is to such an extent that their gazes arent stolen by Croire even though theres an elf, who they arent able to see often, in front of them and moreover quite the beauty among the elves. The other day I received a single request by Her Highness Princess Mayria. Of course its a matter independent of your training, gentlemen. (Renya) Making a short break between his words, Renya surveys the soldiers.Even though Renya has stopped talking, theres no one present who interjects. Im told by Her Highness the Princess to show this months training results to the principalitys nobles after the time limit as the one in charge of your gentlemens training. (Renya) Though its merely for an instant, a commotion occurs between the soldiers.Renya suppressed that commotion with just his look and continued speaking, To inform the great nobles of those results, we are told to carry out a sham battle with their soldiers. (Renya) A slightly bigger commotion in comparison to the previous one rises.The principalitys army is a mixture consisting of humans related to nobles that have joined it as duty and citizens that have joined as volunteers.As such they form a combined organisation, but theres considerable difference in the quality of the soldiers belonging to the army.In contrast to that, the private armies of the nobles have many soldiers of high quality, albeit their coordination as an organisation is ambiguous, since the nobles are investing a reasonable amount of money to gather skilled soldiers as they apparently view it as matter of honor.The hundred soldiers below Soldier Leader Keith, whose training Renya was in charge of, were volunteer soldiers from among the citizens.Probably owed to that, they feel timid towards the ones called nobles and are anxious whether they will really be able to stand a chance against the strength of their private armies they heard about in rumors.They expressed that by causing a slightly bigger commotion. Dont lose your cool. I accepted the request of Her Majesty the Princess. And I dont join a battle I cant win. (Renya) The soldiers commotion settles down due to Renyas confident declaration.Maybe instructor-dono has some kind of plan, the soldiers thought, but Renya crushed that wishful thinking in an instant. I tell you clearly: I dont have a plan. We will confront them directly from the front. (Renya) Instructor-dono in that case our chances of winning are (Keith) Keith says to Renya with a timid look as hes apparently unable to put up with it any longer.Renya glanced at Keith and laughed scornfully. I think that you can win without any trouble as you are now, but your way of thinking is still completely unsuited for battle. For you to suddenly think that its extremely unlikely to win is proof of that. (Renya) Certainly, it might be as he says, the soldiers think and dont raise any objections.After all they believe that theres a difference in social standing between nobles and commoners, and between volunteer soldiers on the one hand and elites that were assembled without sparing any money on the other hand. To fix and restructure your guys spirit and on top of that for carrying out your training, we will go on an expedition. (Renya) At the same time as Renya announced that, there were signs of the city of Kukrika, which is far away from them, becoming chaotic.Once the soldiers, who had noticed that, look in the direction of the city while wondering whats going on, they can see the patrolling soldiers and the sentries at the gate running away somewhere in panic. There are also travellers waiting for their turn to enter the city since early in the morning, but they can be seen rushing into the city as if escaping from the inspection in a hurry. Just (Keith) The body of Keith, who was about to say what is going on, trembled due to the chill he feels running up his spine.It closely resembled the coercion that Renya released all of a sudden during training without any warning, but the current coercion felt somewhat weaker than Renyas.Nevertheless, if we hadnt gotten accustomed to Renyas coercion, we might have fallen into a state of panic compelling us to run away from this place as well, Keith judges.Ahead of his look, in the distant sky, Keith discovered several black dots. You dont say! Those are (Keith) That was something he had seen once before.At that time it was only one dot and after that a dragoon out of stories long lost in the city of Kukrika came back.What he saw at that time is currently completely the same, but ahead of Keiths look there were several of them now. No way! Dragon!? Moreover, several of them!? (Keith) Dont kick up a fuss, Soldier Leader. You are too noisy. If we dont have at least those, we wont be able to transport hundred people, right? (Renya) Just now, what did you say? (Keith) Somehow feeling that Renya spouted some unbelievable words, Keith reflexively asked once more. As I said, to have hundred soldiers board the cages and carry them all at once wont be possible if we dont use dragons as transporters, right? (Renya) With dragons? Transport? Us? (Keith) Who else do you think You guys, be thankful since I expressly requested mounted dragons through Liaris the Dragoon. (Renya) He did ask by going as close as threatening her without restriction, but Renya has no interest in explaining those circumstances.However, since Dra-kun, whom he addressed with his request, was on the verge of tears, he wonders,have I been slightly too unreasonable? Listen well, gentlemen. The goal of this times expedition is the Miasma Forest. There we will carry out combat training and prepare for the sham battle. Of course, since the place is what it is, I cant say that its safe. Rather, its dangerous. Therefore its fine for those, who refuse participation, to stay behind. (Renya) The figures of the dragons are gradually closing in.As if being enthralled by those, Keith and the soldiers dont even twitch.Renya feels uneasy whether they have really heard him.The destination should have been a quite shocking place, but theres almost no reaction among the soldiers about that.From the soldiers point of view, they felt like they wouldnt be shocked by anything they might hear next in front of the reality that they will be carried through the air by dragons.The Miasma Forest is certainly a danger zone, but compared to a dragon, its not such a hopeless place either. However, as for those participating: I will give you my word that you will obtain power to the degree of not needing to worry about the likes of the nobles private armies. Well then, what will you do? (Renya) Upon Renya asking that, Keith turned around to his subordinates behind him and yelled, You guys, we will go! Something like the experience of us being carried by dragons wont ever happen again no matter for how long we live! (Keith) Eh? That part? You guys are hooked on that part? (Renya) The soldiers shout cheers and rush towards the cages.Renya has somehow a feeling of being left behind.Croire, who had watched the development of the situation next to him, leaked a small sigh. Their enthusiasm is, extremely annoying or rather, sultry, isnt it? (Croire) Croire had reached the point where she could talk in the common language a bit more fluently.While gently caressing her head and saying You held out really well, didnt you?, Renya reflects by himself,I wonder, did I make a mistake on setting up my speech? Huh? Wheres Shion? (Renya) She charged, into a cage, at the very front. (Croire) Upon Croires reply, Renya praised her with You did well to spot her. Chapter 98 C It seems to be before the departure If you briefly say the travel of a hundred soldiers, the conversation ends there, but when it comes to actually carrying out the trip, troublesome preparations and formalities become necessary.Renya entrusted or rather got rid of everything related to the formalities by shoving them on to Mayria. However, Renya still has to come up with a transportation method so as to get the hundred soldiers to the Miasma Forest.The Miasma Forests entrance is at a two day travel distance with a carriage from the city of Kukrika.Nevertheless, given that the soldiers would travel by foot anyway, it would end up in a needless waste of time. Will you prepare a carriage? (Shion) Renya wracks his brain over whats to be done while in the parlor of his home.He shakes his head while saying Certainly not to Shion who asked after seeing Renyas state.Hundred soldiers is a number too high to be carried by carriages alone.Its not impossible if we arrange several carriages, but the costs are nothing to sneeze at.Since the expenses will be shouldered by the principality anyway, even that wouldnt really matter much from Renyas point of view, but apart from the costs, seeing as the main objective lies in the training, a round trip of four days is too much of a loss. I feel like I could travel that distance by running in one day, if its the current me, but (Renya) Thats not a normal humans running ability, is it? (Shion) Shion admonishes Renya before he could suggest such an outrageous thing as making the soldiers attempt such a feat.In Shions eyes, various aspects of Renyas abilities have already largely deviated from the category of humans.Even if he insisted on doing something like that, it was plain obvious that it would be impossible.The reality is that the soldiers harbored a similar impression about Shion as well, but she hasnt noticed that. How about asking May to lend you the magic ship? (Shion) If its that, it should likely have the cargo capacity to hold a mere hundred soldiers, Shion assumes.Moreover, its speed is reasonably high.Shion believed that to be a good suggestion, but Renya refused it right away. Lets not go there. It seems like those nobles would get naggy about it. (Renya) Renya believes that that group, which is trying to find fault with everything he does, will come biting at him as soon as they find even the slightest thing to latch onto.If Shion requests something like that from Mayria, you will never know what kind of complaints will be filed towards Mayria. What will you do in that case then? Arent you at a dead end here? (Shion) Shion raised both her hands as if giving up, but without sharing her opinion, Renya says, Not quite. As long as we dont get picky about the means, theres a method. (Renya) I see, lets go with that then. (Shion) Shion promptly judges to not ask about the details of the method Renya mentioned. You know youre okaying it without even listen to details, right? (Renya) Whether Im okay with it or not, I dont have an alternate plan, right? Isnt there no other alternative but to go with your plan, Renya? (Shion) Shion boldly threw out her chest and answered Renyas question, who seemed to be slightly surprised.Her attitude is splendid, but theres no substance behind it. No matter whether you simply havent thought it over or have properly made up your mind I think thats a comment which is difficult to appreciate. (Renya) At any rate, lets go with that. Time is precious, right? (Shion) I wonder whether its really alright?Renya thinks. But he reaches the conclusion:Since Ive gotten the authorisation of Her Highness the First Princess, although she resigned as successor, I guess itll be alright. Got it, lets go ahead with my plan then. Shion, can I have you prepare the goods together with Frau? I have already told Frau about the necessities. But because it will result in purchasing things and having Mayrias side shoulder the bills, please go along with Frau and help her. (Renya) Understood. Please leave it to me. (Shion) Shion nods strongly and leaves to look for Frau.After following her back with his eyes until she was out of sight, Renya, who had stayed behind, spoke to himself while inside the room with no one in it, They really wont come, right? (Renya) Yeah, well the Miasma Forest is certainly a bit close to my home country. (Emil) The one who showed up as if oozing out of the wall while answering is Emil.Renya didnt understand how she did it, but sometimes Emily suddenly shows up from empty space.Emil didnt do that in front of anyone but Renya though.But, Renya and Frau have realised that she can apparently motionlessly observe or listen in all over the house while being invisible.Given that it doesnt seem to have caused any real damage at present except for having ones privacy infringed, Renya and Frau left her alone since Emil didnt spy on them. Though it seems that Croire will accompany us since the destination is a forest. (Renya) Meaning Frau-chan and Rona will stay behind, eh? (Emil) Frau is you know that Frau cant leave the house or my side. Moreover, with her appearance the soldiers will be soothed and that would be troublesome. (Renya) As Frau is a silky, she is bound by the limitation that she has to be either close to the house shes protecting or to her master Renya.Putting aside the soldiers usual state, Renya cant predict how the soldiers mental state, who are currently starting to feel bloodthirsty in various ways, would be affected if they saw the petite, cute maid appearance of Frau.And, since he cant predict it, there was no way for him to allow them to get in touch with her now. So Rona-chan will go around restraining a part of the nobles together with Frau-chan. (Emil) Troubles never run out, do they? Though its fine as long as she doesnt become bald. (Renya) Dont say that in front of Rona-chan, okay? You will make her cry, you know. (Emil) Emil makes a joke about it and laughs, but Renya ends up wondering whether Rona isnt working too hard in various ways.Even though she has been appointed as Shions babysitter, who by herself causes endless worries even at the best of times, shes apparently adding workload related to the principality.Theres absolutely nothing strange if her levels of worry and fatigue spiked and became hazardous, as she also has to argue with nobles as Maryias assistant even if its only talking.If she was a man, it might have been necessary to worry about his hair falling outRenya judged seriously.Though it isnt something that can be changed by just thinking about it. So, what means of travel will you choose, Renya? (Emil) Mmh? Ah, Im off for a bit to ask our neighbors about it. Theres something Id like you to prepare during that time, Emil. (Renya) Renya beckons Emil to come closer.Emil approached Renya and brings her ear close to his mouth. Eh? Yeah? A ah, yes. Got it, but wont it turn into an uproar? (Emil) Youre saying that at this point in time? (Renya) While telling her that she worries too much as a demon, Renya left his home in order to visit the house of his neighbor Az in order to ask for their help in person.The next day, just as Emil had worried, the city of Kukrika was plunged into a tumult.The soldiers under Keiths command, who were keen about beginning their early training on the parade ground, were ordered by Renya, who suddenly appeared, to equip real swords this time, apart from the usual equipment they are wearing, and to leave behind their backpacks. All of them had anxious expressions while wonderingJust what the hell are we going to do now?Even so, the instructors orders are absolute for them.In reality, over the last few days, they had united a bit because of Renyas training in the last two weeks. At first they lamented over their own bodies after being made to participate in such mad training and they cursed at Renya for forcing them to do it. But they believed in Renyas promise of granting them power and somehow stuck through the training.But, at a certain turning point, they noticed, albeit barely, that the training, which had only been painful until then, became easier to complete than the day before and that it furthermore got even easier on the next day in comparison to the previous day.Its not like Renya had lowered the training menu.With that fact, they could only wonder whether their bodies had gotten used to Renyas training menu or whether the soldiers ability were in the process of closing in on the abilities required for the training.Once they ended up realizing that, the rest fell into place and the soldiers ended up hooked on that fact.While being defeated by one blow yesterday, they could endure receiving up to three blows today, or even though additional weights had been put into their backpacks, they could move just like yesterday, and similar.The soldiers, who wished to become strong, became unable to break out of the cycle anymore once they had actually experienced it for themselves.They understood that they would get more powerful the more they completed the training assigned to them by Renya.The soldiers harbor a feeling of gratitude towards Renya who pulled them up to levels they had not known possible. After that the training contents have been escalating at parts which Renya was already unaware of.Them adding weights in their backpacks and coiling additional lead around the handgrip of the hoes was just the beginning. The end result was them betting on who would be able to defend against the most of Emils and Renyas sorcery attacks.Of course Renya didnt know about such gambling.He simply thought,I somehow feel like the hit rate has gone up.Its a digression, but humans arent creatures who grow by their bodies making such breaking sounds.But a persons body, when it gets healed after being destroyed once, has the ability to strengthen itself, thus trying to overcome its condition at the time when it was destroyed.Originally such healing should take a long time. But, with more or less simple recovery medicine and precious ingredients that normally are unattainable being secretly mixed into their food, they regenerated at an abnormal speed and furthermore in short intervals due to Emils medicine which was actually a powerful recovery medicine at a level which couldnt be obtained in the nearby area.Isnt it fine since its no human body remodelling and it only boosts the abilities they possess to begin with? Those were Emils words.Setting that aside, the soldiers put on their equipment as ordered by Renya, hang their swords with blades, which they didnt use during the training, at their waists and head towards the plains outside the city at a quick running pace as specified by Renya.Since its still early in the morning and furthermore as their destination were the plains slightly separate from the main road, they are hardly seen by anyone.Emil has already started the preparations at that place. Twenty huge cages that seem to still have room even if you put in several grown man in there have been lined up in her vicinity. Moreover, two extra cages that were loaded with some kind of materials had been prepared.Having affixed ropes in their four corners, the cages had a structure that apparently allowed them to be suspended by something, but the soldiers were unable to guess the intention behind suspending such huge cages. You did well to come here, gentlemen! Renya waits for everyone to assemble and raises his voice.Next to Renya, who stands in front of the soldiers while talking with a loud voice, stands Croire, who had wrapped her body in a dark green, elven outfit, with a meek expression.Deciding to shelve their question for the time being in order to avoid missing the instructors words, the soldiers listen carefully to Renya.Their seriousness is to such an extent that their gazes arent stolen by Croire even though theres an elf, who they arent able to see often, in front of them and moreover quite the beauty among the elves. The other day I received a single request by Her Highness Princess Mayria. Of course its a matter independent of your training, gentlemen. (Renya) Making a short break between his words, Renya surveys the soldiers.Even though Renya has stopped talking, theres no one present who interjects. Im told by Her Highness the Princess to show this months training results to the principalitys nobles after the time limit as the one in charge of your gentlemens training. (Renya) Though its merely for an instant, a commotion occurs between the soldiers.Renya suppressed that commotion with just his look and continued speaking, To inform the great nobles of those results, we are told to carry out a sham battle with their soldiers. (Renya) A slightly bigger commotion in comparison to the previous one rises.The principalitys army is a mixture consisting of humans related to nobles that have joined it as duty and citizens that have joined as volunteers.As such they form a combined organisation, but theres considerable difference in the quality of the soldiers belonging to the army.In contrast to that, the private armies of the nobles have many soldiers of high quality, albeit their coordination as an organisation is ambiguous, since the nobles are investing a reasonable amount of money to gather skilled soldiers as they apparently view it as matter of honor.The hundred soldiers below Soldier Leader Keith, whose training Renya was in charge of, were volunteer soldiers from among the citizens.Probably owed to that, they feel timid towards the ones called nobles and are anxious whether they will really be able to stand a chance against the strength of their private armies they heard about in rumors.They expressed that by causing a slightly bigger commotion. Dont lose your cool. I accepted the request of Her Majesty the Princess. And I dont join a battle I cant win. (Renya) The soldiers commotion settles down due to Renyas confident declaration.Maybe instructor-dono has some kind of plan, the soldiers thought, but Renya crushed that wishful thinking in an instant. I tell you clearly: I dont have a plan. We will confront them directly from the front. (Renya) Instructor-dono in that case our chances of winning are (Keith) Keith says to Renya with a timid look as hes apparently unable to put up with it any longer.Renya glanced at Keith and laughed scornfully. I think that you can win without any trouble as you are now, but your way of thinking is still completely unsuited for battle. For you to suddenly think that its extremely unlikely to win is proof of that. (Renya) Certainly, it might be as he says, the soldiers think and dont raise any objections.After all they believe that theres a difference in social standing between nobles and commoners, and between volunteer soldiers on the one hand and elites that were assembled without sparing any money on the other hand. To fix and restructure your guys spirit and on top of that for carrying out your training, we will go on an expedition. (Renya) At the same time as Renya announced that, there were signs of the city of Kukrika, which is far away from them, becoming chaotic.Once the soldiers, who had noticed that, look in the direction of the city while wondering whats going on, they can see the patrolling soldiers and the sentries at the gate running away somewhere in panic. There are also travellers waiting for their turn to enter the city since early in the morning, but they can be seen rushing into the city as if escaping from the inspection in a hurry. Just (Keith) The body of Keith, who was about to say what is going on, trembled due to the chill he feels running up his spine.It closely resembled the coercion that Renya released all of a sudden during training without any warning, but the current coercion felt somewhat weaker than Renyas.Nevertheless, if we hadnt gotten accustomed to Renyas coercion, we might have fallen into a state of panic compelling us to run away from this place as well, Keith judges.Ahead of his look, in the distant sky, Keith discovered several black dots. You dont say! Those are (Keith) That was something he had seen once before.At that time it was only one dot and after that a dragoon out of stories long lost in the city of Kukrika came back.What he saw at that time is currently completely the same, but ahead of Keiths look there were several of them now. No way! Dragon!? Moreover, several of them!? (Keith) Dont kick up a fuss, Soldier Leader. You are too noisy. If we dont have at least those, we wont be able to transport hundred people, right? (Renya) Just now, what did you say? (Keith) Somehow feeling that Renya spouted some unbelievable words, Keith reflexively asked once more. As I said, to have hundred soldiers board the cages and carry them all at once wont be possible if we dont use dragons as transporters, right? (Renya) With dragons? Transport? Us? (Keith) Who else do you think You guys, be thankful since I expressly requested mounted dragons through Liaris the Dragoon. (Renya) He did ask by going as close as threatening her without restriction, but Renya has no interest in explaining those circumstances.However, since Dra-kun, whom he addressed with his request, was on the verge of tears, he wonders,have I been slightly too unreasonable? Listen well, gentlemen. The goal of this times expedition is the Miasma Forest. There we will carry out combat training and prepare for the sham battle. Of course, since the place is what it is, I cant say that its safe. Rather, its dangerous. Therefore its fine for those, who refuse participation, to stay behind. (Renya) The figures of the dragons are gradually closing in.As if being enthralled by those, Keith and the soldiers dont even twitch.Renya feels uneasy whether they have really heard him.The destination should have been a quite shocking place, but theres almost no reaction among the soldiers about that.From the soldiers point of view, they felt like they wouldnt be shocked by anything they might hear next in front of the reality that they will be carried through the air by dragons.The Miasma Forest is certainly a danger zone, but compared to a dragon, its not such a hopeless place either. However, as for those participating: I will give you my word that you will obtain power to the degree of not needing to worry about the likes of the nobles private armies. Well then, what will you do? (Renya) Upon Renya asking that, Keith turned around to his subordinates behind him and yelled, You guys, we will go! Something like the experience of us being carried by dragons wont ever happen again no matter for how long we live! (Keith) Eh? That part? You guys are hooked on that part? (Renya) The soldiers shout cheers and rush towards the cages.Renya has somehow a feeling of being left behind.Croire, who had watched the development of the situation next to him, leaked a small sigh. Their enthusiasm is, extremely annoying or rather, sultry, isnt it? (Croire) Croire had reached the point where she could talk in the common language a bit more fluently.While gently caressing her head and saying You held out really well, didnt you?, Renya reflects by himself,I wonder, did I make a mistake on setting up my speech? Huh? Wheres Shion? (Renya) She charged, into a cage, at the very front. (Croire) Upon Croires reply, Renya praised her with You did well to spot her. Chapter 99 Chapter 99 C It seems to be the Initial Preparations in the Miasma Forest In a part of the Miasma Forest there was a somewhat open space that had suddenly been cleared out.Its something that wasnt there the previous day, a campsite built at top speed by Renya and the others who arrived there from the city of Kukrika after being transported in cages carried by dragons.Originally it was considerednormalto set up camp outside the forest and go into the forest from there. As such, the soldiers, who had been brought along by Renya, thought that they would do just that.However, Renya immediately rejected that notion.Since we have come here to train, whats the point in having a safety zone? He asked the soldiers.Everyone except for Croire got surprised by Renyas words.Maybe due to her being an elf, Croire didnt try to hide her good mood as Renya declared that they would set up camp inside the forest.For her its natural to stay inside the forest rather than outside, because there was no doubt that she could spend her time in the forest safely.But this is something that only applies to her because shes an elf. In Shions and the human soldiers eyes, the tree groves are a hindrance as they obstruct the view.The dark forest blocked the light thanks to the leaves of densely grown trees, which made it an area where one cannot spend a pleasant and safe time.If possible, the soldiers wanted to set up their campsite outside the forest.Even so, they obeyed Renyas orders of building a campsite inside the forest without complaints.Soldiers that didnt abide to what they were ordered by the instructor didnt exist anymore after all.Once they decided to follow the order, their movements were fast.Given that Renya didnt have the intention to ask something unreasonable of them such as building a campsite in the gaps between the trees, the soldiers all together quickly drew their longswords and started to chop down the trees that are standing in the way. You know, we do have axes with us (Renya) Renya mumbled while watching the soldiers backs, who had started before he could say anything, but his murmuring apparently didnt reach the soldiers ears who wanted to get the work done swiftly.Renya thanks the dragons, who had transported them, for their troubles and urges them to return to their dwelling. Meanwhile trees with considerable thickness are felled one after the other around him.The cut-down trees have their branches pruned and are processed into lumber. Then the soldiers stab their longswords into the ground to sever the roots of the remaining stumps and pull them out of the ground by upheaving them with the cooperation of several people.Afterwards other soldiers fill the holes that were created by pulling out the stumps with earth and flatten the ground by stomping the area. I have slightly complicated feelings about this. (Croire) Croire grumbled due to the ground being quickly evened out in front of her eyes.In Croires eyes, as an elf, the situation of the trees being casually and indifferently processed is apparently something that she doesnt like to see overly much.Was it a slightly bad idea to have brought her along?Renya wondered, but its not like its possible to send her back at this point.Even while Renya and Croire are having such a conversation, the soldiers cut down one tree after the other and process them.The felled trees are further cut into equally long parts. These logs are shaved on one side and transformed into stakes with sharp tips.The finished stakes were thrust into the ground at the edges of the completely emptied lot in order to fence the area in.Since the soldiers naturally dont have wooden hammers or such to drive in the stakes, they stabbed them into the ground using human strength. And then they clober in the stakes with the wood that hasnt been processed as a replacement for hammers. Huh? (Renya) Somethings weird, was what Renya noticed after the empty plot had been surrounded by quite the number of stakes.The plot with its decent size has been surrounded by a fence constructed by connecting the group of stakes, each having a height of up to a mans chest, horizontally with lumber and tying everything together with cords. Now the soldiers have begun to assemble something similar to steady and simple watchtowers in the four corners of the plot.Entrances had been prepared on the western side of the fence, which continues into the depth of the forest, and on the eastern side of the fence, which continues to outside the forest. In addition, the soldiers dug out a moat with a width of roughly two meters and a depth that reached up to their waists. They were even about to install bridges which had been built by lining up several logs and tying them together. Say, Croire. (Renya) Yes? What is it, Renya-san? (Croire) Does this look like a campsite to you? (Renya) Items had also been placed inside the cages they had the dragons carry, but those were only materials.What has been loaded there were medicines, a small amount of food, water, tents, sleeping bags, cooking ware, the hoes to which the soldiers had gotten completely attached to, shovels and axes which Renya had created in his workshop, and ropes as well as hammers they had bought in a general store.Renya had crammed various items into his inventory as well, but he thought that it would likely be necessary to train while operating, to a certain extent, with a limited amount of resources.There wasnt any scoundrel who would try to put their hands on the foodstuff, but the soldiers still checked the materials. The moment they noticed the various tools included among the materials, they rushed to Renya Instructor-dono! We request permission to use the tools! Ah, yeah. Go for it (Renya) Renya ends up nodding, while being pressured by the soldiers somewhat strange zealousness.Once the other soldiers heard that they got the instructors permission, they immediately unpacked the materials and swiftly divided the tools within. Having obtained the necessary tools, their work speed entered an entirely new level.The completely assembled watchtowers, which had even been reinforced, had ladders added to them so that they could easily climb the towers.They made something similar to impromptu huts by using the lumber and the cloths which has been intended to be used as tents.I wonder, is the conspicuous, tall hut, which they erected in the centre of the plot, an operation command centre or something like that?Renya thought absentmindedly while having completely missed the timing to stop the soldiers.Before long the sun was going down and the forest, which was dim even at the best of times, became even darker.The soldiers gathered cut-off twigs and fallen withered branches from several places and ignited them skillfully.Relying on the illumination of the fires, they successively built small huts as well as long and narrow huts as if surrounding the larger hut in the centre. Hey, I told you to set up a campsite, didnt I? (Renya) Renya tries asking Keith who passed by.Keith had taken out several sleeping bags from within the cages and was in the process of taking them to several huts that would apparently be used by the soldiers as rest areas, but after being called out by Renya, he stops while still holding the sleeping bags in both hands. Yes, instructor-dono. We were told something along those lines. (Keith) This is a campsite? (Renya) Renya asks while gazing at the premises.After following Renyas eyes and surveying the surroundings, Keith looked back at Renya again and confidently answered, Yes, instructor-dono. Theres no doubt, its a campsite. (Keith) To me it looks a bit like a fortress though (Renya) The fence that surrounds the site is even now getting reinforced by the soldiers.As expected, it was apparently impossible to have water flow in the dug-out moat, but due to the existence of the ladders and shovels, it became possible for them to create an even deeper and wider moat than the one initially created.The log bridges that had been built across the moat were made sturdier as to take their weight tolerance into consideration, but they even have an elaborate mechanism that allows to drop them immediately at times of emergency by simply cutting a few ropes.Renya had planned to have them build something very crude and simple since it was merely a place to spend around ten days in, but the finished site diverged greatly from Renyas train of thought and made him want to question themJust how many years do you guys plan to spend here?After intently staring at the scenery, Keith gave a clear reply, This is a campsite. (Keith) Oh you insist on that part.The person who speaks up wins, is it? (Renya) If you command us to rebuild it as a fortress, all hands will work on that throughout the night (Keith) No, its fine as it is. I think thats more than enough. (Renya) Renya agreed in a slight panic.I wouldnt know what I would be shown at dawn, if I told them to rebuild it into a fortress at this point.Therefore, agreeing here that this is a campsite was also something for the sake of Renyas mental stability and as such he has absolutely no intention to have the soldiers work all night long.However, if its like this, I dont seem to have any option other than setting up a tent at the edge of the plot as my own sleeping place. At the moment when Renya started to walk in order to get a tent from the luggage, it was now Keith that made Renya stop by calling out to him while looking slightly curious. Where to, instructor-dono? (Keith) I have to set up my own sleeping place, dont I? Can you let me use a place at the edge? (Renya) No, instructor-dono, your house is in that direction though (Keith) What Keith pointed at was the largish building they had built at the centre of the plot and which Renya had considered to likely be the operation command centre or something similar. Thats something else, right? (Renya) It has been built in the centre of the site. Who except for you, instructor-dono, is to enter that place? (Keith) Being asked that by Keith, Renya didnt know what would be a good answer to that question.Seemingly having taking Renyas silence as affirmation, Keith continues, The inside has been split into several rooms. Of course theres also a room that can be used similar to an strategic control room. And, since Croire-dono has a room as well (Keith) Eh? (Renya) Renya instinctively asks back after having heard something that was definitely wrong.Apparently incapable of comprehending why Renya has a surprised expression, Keith asked him in reverse, The two of you will be staying together, am I correct in my assumption? (Keith) Indeed, thats, only natural. (Croire) Croire cut into their conversation while smiling sweetly before Renya could say anything.Renya turned towards her and tried to close Croires mouth before she could says anything else to Keith, but his action was interrupted once more by Keiths somewhat relieved voice. Oh, thats great, maam. I was worried that I overstepped my bounds here. (Keith) No, not at all, as expected, you are quite observant, Soldier Leader-san. (Croire) Even soldiers can discern these kind of circumstances, maam. And, only that building has two layers of cloth within its outer wall. Please do not worry as it will be difficult for sounds to leak outside. (Keith) Thank you, very much, for your sincere, considerations. (Croire) Renya wanted to press Keith for an answer about what he means by there being to nothing to worry, but he stays silent as he hesitates to speak to Keith who scratches his head while smiling brightly after quickly bowing to Croire. Instructor-dono, we will post sentries in two shifts at night. As long as you kindly inform us, we will prepare a bath and cloths at any time (Keith) Soldier Leader Keith to what extent are you telling me that seriously? (Renya) This question didnt disturb Keiths serious expression, but Renyas eyes noticed the twitching around the corners of Keiths mouth although it was only very faintly.Its completely as if hes holding himself back from bursting into laughter.Nevertheless, Keith summoned all the force of will he possesses and said while denying his expression to change, Im serious in all respects. (Keith) So you are saying that I will do something with Croire during the night that will make a bath and cloths necessary? (Renya) You wont? (Keith) Keith looked as if he couldnt believe it while fixedly staring at Renyas face.Blushing for some reason, Croire squirms her body while covering her face with both hands. These guys are probably doing this on purpose, Renyas expression turns grim. Are you such an insensitive person that you wont do anything even after we have gone this far with the preparations, instructor-dono? (Keith) Thats not it, Soldier Leader-san. Renya-san is, simply shy. (Croire) I see. In that case allow me to offer my apologies for my impoliteness, instructor-dono. (Keith) You two (Renya) I suppose its fine now to stop them for real, Renya scatters his bloodthirst.Not just the soldiers who listened attentively while continuing their work and even those soldiers who were slightly away and didnt know what was going on froze in place, but even the beasts lurking inside the forest ran away in a hurry while screaming due to the intensity of Renyas bloodthirst.Croire and Keith, who were close-by, received it directly and have stopped moving as if paralyzed.While staring at those two, Renya slowly asked, Which one of you doesnt want to greet tomorrows morning? (Renya) I apologize, so please dont kill me! (Croire & Keith) Due to Croire and Keith starting to beg for their lives while being in synchronization, Renya sighs and stops coercing them. In the first place, Shion is here as well so theres no way that we can do something like that, right? (Renya) Shion-sama has had a seperate hut prepared. (Keith) Only Im left out? (Shion) Maybe it was by coincidence or because Shion approached after noticing Renyas coercion, but she showed up and asked as if having received a shock, and moreover, Keith shouted also with an expression full of shock, No way! Staying together with even Shion-sama!? (Keith) Alright, Keith. Give me a little moment of your time in the back. I dont know where the back is, but the darkness around that area will do just fine. (Renya) Ah, excuse me. Please, spare me by all means. I dont know what kind of suffering you will mete out to me, but I have a reliable premonition that I wont live through it. (Keith) Renya grabs Keiths nape and is about to drag him somewhere.Keith, who was being dragged as he was unable to escape Renyas grasp, began to apologize frantically as he seemingly understood very well that it would be meaningless to struggle. Chapter 99 C It seems to be the Initial Preparations in the Miasma Forest In a part of the Miasma Forest there was a somewhat open space that had suddenly been cleared out.Its something that wasnt there the previous day, a campsite built at top speed by Renya and the others who arrived there from the city of Kukrika after being transported in cages carried by dragons.Originally it was considerednormalto set up camp outside the forest and go into the forest from there. As such, the soldiers, who had been brought along by Renya, thought that they would do just that.However, Renya immediately rejected that notion.Since we have come here to train, whats the point in having a safety zone? He asked the soldiers.Everyone except for Croire got surprised by Renyas words.Maybe due to her being an elf, Croire didnt try to hide her good mood as Renya declared that they would set up camp inside the forest.For her its natural to stay inside the forest rather than outside, because there was no doubt that she could spend her time in the forest safely.But this is something that only applies to her because shes an elf. In Shions and the human soldiers eyes, the tree groves are a hindrance as they obstruct the view.The dark forest blocked the light thanks to the leaves of densely grown trees, which made it an area where one cannot spend a pleasant and safe time.If possible, the soldiers wanted to set up their campsite outside the forest.Even so, they obeyed Renyas orders of building a campsite inside the forest without complaints.Soldiers that didnt abide to what they were ordered by the instructor didnt exist anymore after all.Once they decided to follow the order, their movements were fast.Given that Renya didnt have the intention to ask something unreasonable of them such as building a campsite in the gaps between the trees, the soldiers all together quickly drew their longswords and started to chop down the trees that are standing in the way. You know, we do have axes with us (Renya) Renya mumbled while watching the soldiers backs, who had started before he could say anything, but his murmuring apparently didnt reach the soldiers ears who wanted to get the work done swiftly.Renya thanks the dragons, who had transported them, for their troubles and urges them to return to their dwelling. Meanwhile trees with considerable thickness are felled one after the other around him.The cut-down trees have their branches pruned and are processed into lumber. Then the soldiers stab their longswords into the ground to sever the roots of the remaining stumps and pull them out of the ground by upheaving them with the cooperation of several people.Afterwards other soldiers fill the holes that were created by pulling out the stumps with earth and flatten the ground by stomping the area. I have slightly complicated feelings about this. (Croire) Croire grumbled due to the ground being quickly evened out in front of her eyes.In Croires eyes, as an elf, the situation of the trees being casually and indifferently processed is apparently something that she doesnt like to see overly much.Was it a slightly bad idea to have brought her along?Renya wondered, but its not like its possible to send her back at this point.Even while Renya and Croire are having such a conversation, the soldiers cut down one tree after the other and process them.The felled trees are further cut into equally long parts. These logs are shaved on one side and transformed into stakes with sharp tips.The finished stakes were thrust into the ground at the edges of the completely emptied lot in order to fence the area in.Since the soldiers naturally dont have wooden hammers or such to drive in the stakes, they stabbed them into the ground using human strength. And then they clober in the stakes with the wood that hasnt been processed as a replacement for hammers. Huh? (Renya) Somethings weird, was what Renya noticed after the empty plot had been surrounded by quite the number of stakes.The plot with its decent size has been surrounded by a fence constructed by connecting the group of stakes, each having a height of up to a mans chest, horizontally with lumber and tying everything together with cords. Now the soldiers have begun to assemble something similar to steady and simple watchtowers in the four corners of the plot.Entrances had been prepared on the western side of the fence, which continues into the depth of the forest, and on the eastern side of the fence, which continues to outside the forest. In addition, the soldiers dug out a moat with a width of roughly two meters and a depth that reached up to their waists. They were even about to install bridges which had been built by lining up several logs and tying them together. Say, Croire. (Renya) Yes? What is it, Renya-san? (Croire) Does this look like a campsite to you? (Renya) Items had also been placed inside the cages they had the dragons carry, but those were only materials.What has been loaded there were medicines, a small amount of food, water, tents, sleeping bags, cooking ware, the hoes to which the soldiers had gotten completely attached to, shovels and axes which Renya had created in his workshop, and ropes as well as hammers they had bought in a general store.Renya had crammed various items into his inventory as well, but he thought that it would likely be necessary to train while operating, to a certain extent, with a limited amount of resources.There wasnt any scoundrel who would try to put their hands on the foodstuff, but the soldiers still checked the materials. The moment they noticed the various tools included among the materials, they rushed to Renya Instructor-dono! We request permission to use the tools! Ah, yeah. Go for it (Renya) Renya ends up nodding, while being pressured by the soldiers somewhat strange zealousness.Once the other soldiers heard that they got the instructors permission, they immediately unpacked the materials and swiftly divided the tools within. Having obtained the necessary tools, their work speed entered an entirely new level.The completely assembled watchtowers, which had even been reinforced, had ladders added to them so that they could easily climb the towers.They made something similar to impromptu huts by using the lumber and the cloths which has been intended to be used as tents.I wonder, is the conspicuous, tall hut, which they erected in the centre of the plot, an operation command centre or something like that?Renya thought absentmindedly while having completely missed the timing to stop the soldiers.Before long the sun was going down and the forest, which was dim even at the best of times, became even darker.The soldiers gathered cut-off twigs and fallen withered branches from several places and ignited them skillfully.Relying on the illumination of the fires, they successively built small huts as well as long and narrow huts as if surrounding the larger hut in the centre. Hey, I told you to set up a campsite, didnt I? (Renya) Renya tries asking Keith who passed by.Keith had taken out several sleeping bags from within the cages and was in the process of taking them to several huts that would apparently be used by the soldiers as rest areas, but after being called out by Renya, he stops while still holding the sleeping bags in both hands. Yes, instructor-dono. We were told something along those lines. (Keith) This is a campsite? (Renya) Renya asks while gazing at the premises.After following Renyas eyes and surveying the surroundings, Keith looked back at Renya again and confidently answered, Yes, instructor-dono. Theres no doubt, its a campsite. (Keith) To me it looks a bit like a fortress though (Renya) The fence that surrounds the site is even now getting reinforced by the soldiers.As expected, it was apparently impossible to have water flow in the dug-out moat, but due to the existence of the ladders and shovels, it became possible for them to create an even deeper and wider moat than the one initially created.The log bridges that had been built across the moat were made sturdier as to take their weight tolerance into consideration, but they even have an elaborate mechanism that allows to drop them immediately at times of emergency by simply cutting a few ropes.Renya had planned to have them build something very crude and simple since it was merely a place to spend around ten days in, but the finished site diverged greatly from Renyas train of thought and made him want to question themJust how many years do you guys plan to spend here?After intently staring at the scenery, Keith gave a clear reply, This is a campsite. (Keith) Oh you insist on that part.The person who speaks up wins, is it? (Renya) If you command us to rebuild it as a fortress, all hands will work on that throughout the night (Keith) No, its fine as it is. I think thats more than enough. (Renya) Renya agreed in a slight panic.I wouldnt know what I would be shown at dawn, if I told them to rebuild it into a fortress at this point.Therefore, agreeing here that this is a campsite was also something for the sake of Renyas mental stability and as such he has absolutely no intention to have the soldiers work all night long.However, if its like this, I dont seem to have any option other than setting up a tent at the edge of the plot as my own sleeping place. At the moment when Renya started to walk in order to get a tent from the luggage, it was now Keith that made Renya stop by calling out to him while looking slightly curious. Where to, instructor-dono? (Keith) I have to set up my own sleeping place, dont I? Can you let me use a place at the edge? (Renya) No, instructor-dono, your house is in that direction though (Keith) What Keith pointed at was the largish building they had built at the centre of the plot and which Renya had considered to likely be the operation command centre or something similar. Thats something else, right? (Renya) It has been built in the centre of the site. Who except for you, instructor-dono, is to enter that place? (Keith) Being asked that by Keith, Renya didnt know what would be a good answer to that question.Seemingly having taking Renyas silence as affirmation, Keith continues, The inside has been split into several rooms. Of course theres also a room that can be used similar to an strategic control room. And, since Croire-dono has a room as well (Keith) Eh? (Renya) Renya instinctively asks back after having heard something that was definitely wrong.Apparently incapable of comprehending why Renya has a surprised expression, Keith asked him in reverse, The two of you will be staying together, am I correct in my assumption? (Keith) Indeed, thats, only natural. (Croire) Croire cut into their conversation while smiling sweetly before Renya could say anything.Renya turned towards her and tried to close Croires mouth before she could says anything else to Keith, but his action was interrupted once more by Keiths somewhat relieved voice. Oh, thats great, maam. I was worried that I overstepped my bounds here. (Keith) No, not at all, as expected, you are quite observant, Soldier Leader-san. (Croire) Even soldiers can discern these kind of circumstances, maam. And, only that building has two layers of cloth within its outer wall. Please do not worry as it will be difficult for sounds to leak outside. (Keith) Thank you, very much, for your sincere, considerations. (Croire) Renya wanted to press Keith for an answer about what he means by there being to nothing to worry, but he stays silent as he hesitates to speak to Keith who scratches his head while smiling brightly after quickly bowing to Croire. Instructor-dono, we will post sentries in two shifts at night. As long as you kindly inform us, we will prepare a bath and cloths at any time (Keith) Soldier Leader Keith to what extent are you telling me that seriously? (Renya) This question didnt disturb Keiths serious expression, but Renyas eyes noticed the twitching around the corners of Keiths mouth although it was only very faintly.Its completely as if hes holding himself back from bursting into laughter.Nevertheless, Keith summoned all the force of will he possesses and said while denying his expression to change, Im serious in all respects. (Keith) So you are saying that I will do something with Croire during the night that will make a bath and cloths necessary? (Renya) You wont? (Keith) Keith looked as if he couldnt believe it while fixedly staring at Renyas face.Blushing for some reason, Croire squirms her body while covering her face with both hands. These guys are probably doing this on purpose, Renyas expression turns grim. Are you such an insensitive person that you wont do anything even after we have gone this far with the preparations, instructor-dono? (Keith) Thats not it, Soldier Leader-san. Renya-san is, simply shy. (Croire) I see. In that case allow me to offer my apologies for my impoliteness, instructor-dono. (Keith) You two (Renya) I suppose its fine now to stop them for real, Renya scatters his bloodthirst.Not just the soldiers who listened attentively while continuing their work and even those soldiers who were slightly away and didnt know what was going on froze in place, but even the beasts lurking inside the forest ran away in a hurry while screaming due to the intensity of Renyas bloodthirst.Croire and Keith, who were close-by, received it directly and have stopped moving as if paralyzed.While staring at those two, Renya slowly asked, Which one of you doesnt want to greet tomorrows morning? (Renya) I apologize, so please dont kill me! (Croire & Keith) Due to Croire and Keith starting to beg for their lives while being in synchronization, Renya sighs and stops coercing them. In the first place, Shion is here as well so theres no way that we can do something like that, right? (Renya) Shion-sama has had a seperate hut prepared. (Keith) Only Im left out? (Shion) Maybe it was by coincidence or because Shion approached after noticing Renyas coercion, but she showed up and asked as if having received a shock, and moreover, Keith shouted also with an expression full of shock, No way! Staying together with even Shion-sama!? (Keith) Alright, Keith. Give me a little moment of your time in the back. I dont know where the back is, but the darkness around that area will do just fine. (Renya) Ah, excuse me. Please, spare me by all means. I dont know what kind of suffering you will mete out to me, but I have a reliable premonition that I wont live through it. (Keith) Renya grabs Keiths nape and is about to drag him somewhere.Keith, who was being dragged as he was unable to escape Renyas grasp, began to apologize frantically as he seemingly understood very well that it would be meaningless to struggle. Chapter 100 Chapter 100 C It seems to be Time for Hunting Renya spreads out a net over the open fire prepared in the kitchen and grillsonigiri.He had stored a large quantity of rice from his home in his inventory.He didnt have much intention to use it, but with the elven country regularly sending a considerable amount of rice, and since it had reached such a point that it was possible to sporadically find rice at Kukrikas market, Renya eagerly stocked up on it by making use of his funds.Frau, who holds the purse strings, was often quite strict when it comes to wasting money. But when buying up rice, she never said anything, because its Renyas favorite dish. Nevertheless, Renya rarely complains about food, but she wasnt stingy when providing funds for rice, as its unknown when they will be able to procure the next batch and if they dont buy new stock when its up for sale it might run out quickly.Unless you limit yourself to calling the dish with its general termonigiri, there exist a great and diverse variety ofonigiri.Beginning with the type of rice used, the way of cooking it, its contents and moreover how you process theonigiriafter shaping it, one can create as many different types as one likes.You might as well say that the repertoire is infinite if you dont care about its taste.In the first place, its wrong to call something overly eccentric as part of the repertoire, since dishes are all about the taste, is Renyas personal belief.In order to make really basiconigirithis time, he cooks a large amount of rice in the kitchen built by the soldiers, smearsmisoon theonigiriafter lightly roasting them once and then grills them well.The one handling that process is only Renya with Croire assisting him as a helper, but themisoonigirimade by the two, which are grilled one after the other at an unthinkable speed and skill, keep vanishing successively at an unbelievable rate.I brought two casks ofmisoin my inventory, but it might not last for the duration of the training if it continues to be consumed at this speed, Renya fears.Once that happens, it would be best to switch over to the soy sauce which I have brought in caskets as well, but although I brought along two caskets of soy sauce, I cant say for sure that it will be enough.Next to Renya whos assiduously grilling theonigiri, meat that usesmisoas base and wild grasses that were picked up by Croire in the vicinity are cooking together inside a cylindrical container heated by fire while making simmering noises.First thing in the morning, the soldiers had hunted a big boar and dismantled it right away. After chopping the meat into suitable chunks, they cooked it together with the wild grass in a broth blended withmiso. Renya arbitrarily named that dish other-world-styletonjiru.Ladles of that soup are poured out one after the other and its volume is decreasing at a staggering rate.As the boars meat was too much, one pot was not enough to hold it all. And since the ones eating were a group of 100 soldiers, Renya had lined up several of them. However, as many of the pots were now empty Renya had to remake a whole bunch of new dishes. Somehow I feel like I came here as a cook. (Renya) Even as he grumbles, Renyas hands dont stop moving.He dips his hands in water that has been prepared with a bit of salt mixed into it, quickly grasps the hot rice with his hands and swiftly shapes it into a triangle.When he placed it on top of the net, it was taken off the net by a hand, which stretched out from the side, even though theonigirihasnt even been grilled yet. Hey! What are you doing!? (Renya) Im sorry, Instructor-dono! Its because I dont have the time to wait for it to finish grilling! Even while apologizing to Renya, the soldier, who had stolen theonigiri, stuffed it into his mouth and started to chew.Before Renya realizes it, there isnt even a single grilledonigirileft anymore.The production ofonigiricant keep up with the demand at all.Once he turns his gaze while sighing towards the fence, which is hiding the campsite, he catches sight of some silhouettes that have burst into flames, while producing crackling sounds, in a big hole that had been dug out without him being aware of it.It was a hole that should be quite deep, but due to there being numerous things being thrown into it, the hole has already been filled up to the brim. It was a view that made him worry whether the fire will ever burn out.Smoke rises alongside the blazing flames, but Croire is secretly controlling the smoke with wind sorcery so that it doesnt waft over.Im pretty sure that eating would be out of the question if that smoke ended up wafting this way, Renya judges.What had been thrown into the hole were monster corpses ranging in types and sizes.The monsters that were hunted by the soldiers inside the forest, had their magic stones gouged out on the spot and were burned at a newly built incineration site near the campsite. Such tasks are currently being carried out at the pit. Remember, you guys! Continue hunting the monsters in the vicinity and dont let even a single one live! They are opponents that will spread much harm if you let one of them get away! Theres no need to hold back. This is also Instructor-donos wish! Search for them even if you have to split apart grassroots and annihilate them completely! Its a preliminary skirmish before the one with the underlings of those creepy nobles! Display the fruits of your training to Instructor-dono! (Keith) Keith held such a speech in front of the lined-up soldiers early in the morning.Certainly, the one who gave that order was Renya.He had summoned Keith the previous evening and informed him of the training contents, The objective is to have you personally experience something similar to real combat. To be precise, I will have you earnestly fight against the monsters living around here. There might be quite dangerous monsters too, but I wont listen to any complaints. The scheduled training period is ten days, but be aware that it depends on the training results during that period whether you will be able to return to the city afterwards. Theres no way that I will allow you to fight the nobles private army in a state that makes it easy to see that you will lose. (Renya) Renya told Keith with the intention of saying Apart from ability, I cannot afford to let soldiers, who dont have an adequate battle resolve, fight, but Keith interpreted that in his own way and apparently adjusted the expectations slightly above what Renya had planned. Soldiers, Id like you to listen! (Shion) Shion instigated them even further.Even you are going to hold a speech!? Renya was surprised, but Shion apparently didnt notice his expression. Exterminating monsters here and now wont only serve as the finishing touch to our training. You defeating the monsters also has the meaning of stopping any damage that might have befallen the people of our Trident Principality in the future. Im Shion, a princess of Trident Principality. Upon my duty as princess, I promise you that I will always fight at the front line until this training ends. Soldiers, I ask you to assist me in that! (Shion) Renya wanted to retort A princess doesnt have that kind of duty, but its not an atmosphere that would allow him to make such an interjection. You guys! Even Her Highness the Princess has made such wish! Now is the time to show our power and pride as the national army! Together with Her Highness the Princess! (Keith) Together with Her Highness the Princess!! Death to the monsters! (Keith) Death to the monsters! Renya-san? Are they going to start a war against someone? (Croire) Seeing the soldiers off, who are departing from the campsite while raising battle cries and hoisting up their weapons, with a somewhat blank look, Croire asks Renya, but Renya lacks the words to answer her with.This sort of instigation was too much responsibility for Renya.Telling them to get rid of their shyness first, telling them to somehow change their mood or expecting them to keep their mouths shut and fight, there were quite a few things I wanted to say, but talking like Keith or Shion is probably impossible for me, isnt it?Renya ends up thinking.What Renya wanted to have the soldiers experience in this forest was the act of killing living beings with their own hands.Its a fact that something like that can be only be called natural for soldiers, but according to what Renya had heard and learned from Shion, a big war hadnt taken place on the human continent for several centuries.It seems that the soldiers of all the nations occasionally fought, if its restricted to the monsters that appear once in a while, but its no like an entire army could experience something like that. Once he tried asking Keith, even the hundred soldiers participating in this times training were the kind of soldiers that have never actually killed someone despite receiving training for it.Once the time for real combat comes, it will make a big difference whether they have such an experience or not, Renya anticipates.But, even if it may be true, there arent any people in the area people who can be killed off without a problem.As a result of pondering over various options, Renya concluded that tossing the soldiers into the Miasma Forest was likely the best option.He also considered the possibility of going to the Forest Labyrinth, but compared to the Miasma Forest, its narrow and unsuited for large-scale combat.Moreover, the current Forest Labyrinth is in a state of requiring observation.He couldnt imagine that it would be a good idea to provoke the overseers by messing around in the labyrinth.For the time being, since they were able to march into the forest by themselves without me having to urge them forward, I suppose its fine as is, he consented.Thinking about what he could do in the meantime, Renya decided he would get the soldiers food ready and asked Croire to help him. But, after starting the preparations, things began to become strange.First, half of the soldiers suddenly returned.Renya wondered whether they got cold feet, but once they came to the campsite, they immediately returned to the sleeping area, took off their armor and started to sleep.In front of the puzzled Renya, 25 soldiers nearby started to dig out a hole outside the fence and began to gather fallen branches and leaves to be used as fuel.At this point Renya noticed the soldiers intention.Somehow it seems that they have taken the words have you earnestly fight seriously.In other words, for the sake of fighting earnestly, they split the unit of 100 soldiers into four squads.While one squad fights, one squad is in charge of looting the raw materials and disposing of the corpses, and the remaining two teams focus on resting their bodies while waiting for their turn. By doing such rotation, they apparently plan to hunt without rest until the end of the training.In that case, there was also the opinion that it might be fine to set up a three-shift-rotation with three squads, but Renya wanted to evaluate them highly for deliberately splitting into four with more single squads.Due to this, its possible to take longer breaks and to take one single squad as surplus in case something unexpected happens.Of course, even Renya doesnt expect them to be able to fight earnestly for the long duration of ten days, even if they tried to do such strenuous work.Even so, I guess I will watch them thrive as long as they can, Renya decided.The monsters corpses that are continually carried in are cut apart, have their magic stones taken and are thrown into the fire.Wild animals that are considered a threat to people despite not being monsters are skillfully and efficiently hunted and have their pelts removedTheir edible parts get immediately cooked or are chopped up and stored for maturing. The inedible parts and the trash are burned together with the monsters.Renya ends up astonished because they expressly built one hut that shuts out the sunlight and moreover has a good ventilation for the sake of preserving the meat by making it mature.Be that as it may, things such as the monster materials and magic stones as well as the animal materials and meat were delivered successively in front of Renyas eyes to the point that they gradually form a hill.They will probably stop once the sun goes down, Renya thought lightly, but with Keiths brief comment From here on out its training for nighttime combat, they didnt stop fighting while illuminating their surroundings with torches and spells which were cast above their palms.If they do such kind of combat, injured soldiers will be an obvious consequence.Renya cant use divine arts.Unrelated to whether he has any motivation to learn them or not, Renya has never believed in god.Different from sorcery, divine arts are exercised by borrowing the power from god who really exists in this world.That means, someone who doesnt believe in the lender of the power cant use divine arts.Also, something like making valuable healing art users accompany the soldiers in their training is next to impossible.Healing art users are people that ought to be sheltered. If something happens to them after having them accompany in the training, it will result in a situation that cant be undone.The circumstance of there being no type of healing wasnt very desirable for Renya, but even so, the medicines he received from Emil and the medicinal plants that Croire picked up in the Miasma Forest somewhat worked as a substitute.For light injuries they used Croires medicinal plants and for slightly heavier injuries they administered Emils recovery medicines. Renya-san humans, they get stronger, by going mad, dont they? (Croire) Obviously clear from the slenderness of their body lines, elves are quite inferior in regards to stamina when compared to humans.In the Croires eyes the soldiers behavior of continuing to earnestly hunt in a three-shift-rotation* seems to look like some kind of madness.(T/N: probably error by author, as they are using a two-shifts-rotation) Arent they fighting with vigor once they got on with the mood? Im sure those (Renya) Renya answers while looking at the magic stones being transported in a carefree manner as if carrying pebbles from a river bed.The amount of materials invested into this excursion, wasnt that much and it didnt cost a lot either. However, after deducting these materials to the ones that were piling up in front of Renya, it gave quite a surplus.Since Renya himself can charge the principality with the costs, he doesnt really care much about money, but Renya thinks that it will be a happy occasion for the soldiers if theres something like a bonus after the difficult training.While tossing large amounts of rice into a container that was filled with water in order to cook more rice, which had once again ran out, Renya began to count his chickens before they hatched and wondered just how much profit they would be able to make. Chapter 100 C It seems to be Time for Hunting Renya spreads out a net over the open fire prepared in the kitchen and grillsonigiri.He had stored a large quantity of rice from his home in his inventory.He didnt have much intention to use it, but with the elven country regularly sending a considerable amount of rice, and since it had reached such a point that it was possible to sporadically find rice at Kukrikas market, Renya eagerly stocked up on it by making use of his funds.Frau, who holds the purse strings, was often quite strict when it comes to wasting money. But when buying up rice, she never said anything, because its Renyas favorite dish. Nevertheless, Renya rarely complains about food, but she wasnt stingy when providing funds for rice, as its unknown when they will be able to procure the next batch and if they dont buy new stock when its up for sale it might run out quickly.Unless you limit yourself to calling the dish with its general termonigiri, there exist a great and diverse variety ofonigiri.Beginning with the type of rice used, the way of cooking it, its contents and moreover how you process theonigiriafter shaping it, one can create as many different types as one likes.You might as well say that the repertoire is infinite if you dont care about its taste.In the first place, its wrong to call something overly eccentric as part of the repertoire, since dishes are all about the taste, is Renyas personal belief.In order to make really basiconigirithis time, he cooks a large amount of rice in the kitchen built by the soldiers, smearsmisoon theonigiriafter lightly roasting them once and then grills them well.The one handling that process is only Renya with Croire assisting him as a helper, but themisoonigirimade by the two, which are grilled one after the other at an unthinkable speed and skill, keep vanishing successively at an unbelievable rate.I brought two casks ofmisoin my inventory, but it might not last for the duration of the training if it continues to be consumed at this speed, Renya fears.Once that happens, it would be best to switch over to the soy sauce which I have brought in caskets as well, but although I brought along two caskets of soy sauce, I cant say for sure that it will be enough.Next to Renya whos assiduously grilling theonigiri, meat that usesmisoas base and wild grasses that were picked up by Croire in the vicinity are cooking together inside a cylindrical container heated by fire while making simmering noises.First thing in the morning, the soldiers had hunted a big boar and dismantled it right away. After chopping the meat into suitable chunks, they cooked it together with the wild grass in a broth blended withmiso. Renya arbitrarily named that dish other-world-styletonjiru.Ladles of that soup are poured out one after the other and its volume is decreasing at a staggering rate.As the boars meat was too much, one pot was not enough to hold it all. And since the ones eating were a group of 100 soldiers, Renya had lined up several of them. However, as many of the pots were now empty Renya had to remake a whole bunch of new dishes. Somehow I feel like I came here as a cook. (Renya) Even as he grumbles, Renyas hands dont stop moving.He dips his hands in water that has been prepared with a bit of salt mixed into it, quickly grasps the hot rice with his hands and swiftly shapes it into a triangle.When he placed it on top of the net, it was taken off the net by a hand, which stretched out from the side, even though theonigirihasnt even been grilled yet. Hey! What are you doing!? (Renya) Im sorry, Instructor-dono! Its because I dont have the time to wait for it to finish grilling! Even while apologizing to Renya, the soldier, who had stolen theonigiri, stuffed it into his mouth and started to chew.Before Renya realizes it, there isnt even a single grilledonigirileft anymore.The production ofonigiricant keep up with the demand at all.Once he turns his gaze while sighing towards the fence, which is hiding the campsite, he catches sight of some silhouettes that have burst into flames, while producing crackling sounds, in a big hole that had been dug out without him being aware of it.It was a hole that should be quite deep, but due to there being numerous things being thrown into it, the hole has already been filled up to the brim. It was a view that made him worry whether the fire will ever burn out.Smoke rises alongside the blazing flames, but Croire is secretly controlling the smoke with wind sorcery so that it doesnt waft over.Im pretty sure that eating would be out of the question if that smoke ended up wafting this way, Renya judges.What had been thrown into the hole were monster corpses ranging in types and sizes.The monsters that were hunted by the soldiers inside the forest, had their magic stones gouged out on the spot and were burned at a newly built incineration site near the campsite. Such tasks are currently being carried out at the pit. Remember, you guys! Continue hunting the monsters in the vicinity and dont let even a single one live! They are opponents that will spread much harm if you let one of them get away! Theres no need to hold back. This is also Instructor-donos wish! Search for them even if you have to split apart grassroots and annihilate them completely! Its a preliminary skirmish before the one with the underlings of those creepy nobles! Display the fruits of your training to Instructor-dono! (Keith) Keith held such a speech in front of the lined-up soldiers early in the morning.Certainly, the one who gave that order was Renya.He had summoned Keith the previous evening and informed him of the training contents, The objective is to have you personally experience something similar to real combat. To be precise, I will have you earnestly fight against the monsters living around here. There might be quite dangerous monsters too, but I wont listen to any complaints. The scheduled training period is ten days, but be aware that it depends on the training results during that period whether you will be able to return to the city afterwards. Theres no way that I will allow you to fight the nobles private army in a state that makes it easy to see that you will lose. (Renya) Renya told Keith with the intention of saying Apart from ability, I cannot afford to let soldiers, who dont have an adequate battle resolve, fight, but Keith interpreted that in his own way and apparently adjusted the expectations slightly above what Renya had planned. Soldiers, Id like you to listen! (Shion) Shion instigated them even further.Even you are going to hold a speech!? Renya was surprised, but Shion apparently didnt notice his expression. Exterminating monsters here and now wont only serve as the finishing touch to our training. You defeating the monsters also has the meaning of stopping any damage that might have befallen the people of our Trident Principality in the future. Im Shion, a princess of Trident Principality. Upon my duty as princess, I promise you that I will always fight at the front line until this training ends. Soldiers, I ask you to assist me in that! (Shion) Renya wanted to retort A princess doesnt have that kind of duty, but its not an atmosphere that would allow him to make such an interjection. You guys! Even Her Highness the Princess has made such wish! Now is the time to show our power and pride as the national army! Together with Her Highness the Princess! (Keith) Together with Her Highness the Princess!! Death to the monsters! (Keith) Death to the monsters! Renya-san? Are they going to start a war against someone? (Croire) Seeing the soldiers off, who are departing from the campsite while raising battle cries and hoisting up their weapons, with a somewhat blank look, Croire asks Renya, but Renya lacks the words to answer her with.This sort of instigation was too much responsibility for Renya.Telling them to get rid of their shyness first, telling them to somehow change their mood or expecting them to keep their mouths shut and fight, there were quite a few things I wanted to say, but talking like Keith or Shion is probably impossible for me, isnt it?Renya ends up thinking.What Renya wanted to have the soldiers experience in this forest was the act of killing living beings with their own hands.Its a fact that something like that can be only be called natural for soldiers, but according to what Renya had heard and learned from Shion, a big war hadnt taken place on the human continent for several centuries.It seems that the soldiers of all the nations occasionally fought, if its restricted to the monsters that appear once in a while, but its no like an entire army could experience something like that. Once he tried asking Keith, even the hundred soldiers participating in this times training were the kind of soldiers that have never actually killed someone despite receiving training for it.Once the time for real combat comes, it will make a big difference whether they have such an experience or not, Renya anticipates.But, even if it may be true, there arent any people in the area people who can be killed off without a problem.As a result of pondering over various options, Renya concluded that tossing the soldiers into the Miasma Forest was likely the best option.He also considered the possibility of going to the Forest Labyrinth, but compared to the Miasma Forest, its narrow and unsuited for large-scale combat.Moreover, the current Forest Labyrinth is in a state of requiring observation.He couldnt imagine that it would be a good idea to provoke the overseers by messing around in the labyrinth.For the time being, since they were able to march into the forest by themselves without me having to urge them forward, I suppose its fine as is, he consented.Thinking about what he could do in the meantime, Renya decided he would get the soldiers food ready and asked Croire to help him. But, after starting the preparations, things began to become strange.First, half of the soldiers suddenly returned.Renya wondered whether they got cold feet, but once they came to the campsite, they immediately returned to the sleeping area, took off their armor and started to sleep.In front of the puzzled Renya, 25 soldiers nearby started to dig out a hole outside the fence and began to gather fallen branches and leaves to be used as fuel.At this point Renya noticed the soldiers intention.Somehow it seems that they have taken the words have you earnestly fight seriously.In other words, for the sake of fighting earnestly, they split the unit of 100 soldiers into four squads.While one squad fights, one squad is in charge of looting the raw materials and disposing of the corpses, and the remaining two teams focus on resting their bodies while waiting for their turn. By doing such rotation, they apparently plan to hunt without rest until the end of the training.In that case, there was also the opinion that it might be fine to set up a three-shift-rotation with three squads, but Renya wanted to evaluate them highly for deliberately splitting into four with more single squads.Due to this, its possible to take longer breaks and to take one single squad as surplus in case something unexpected happens.Of course, even Renya doesnt expect them to be able to fight earnestly for the long duration of ten days, even if they tried to do such strenuous work.Even so, I guess I will watch them thrive as long as they can, Renya decided.The monsters corpses that are continually carried in are cut apart, have their magic stones taken and are thrown into the fire.Wild animals that are considered a threat to people despite not being monsters are skillfully and efficiently hunted and have their pelts removedTheir edible parts get immediately cooked or are chopped up and stored for maturing. The inedible parts and the trash are burned together with the monsters.Renya ends up astonished because they expressly built one hut that shuts out the sunlight and moreover has a good ventilation for the sake of preserving the meat by making it mature.Be that as it may, things such as the monster materials and magic stones as well as the animal materials and meat were delivered successively in front of Renyas eyes to the point that they gradually form a hill.They will probably stop once the sun goes down, Renya thought lightly, but with Keiths brief comment From here on out its training for nighttime combat, they didnt stop fighting while illuminating their surroundings with torches and spells which were cast above their palms.If they do such kind of combat, injured soldiers will be an obvious consequence.Renya cant use divine arts.Unrelated to whether he has any motivation to learn them or not, Renya has never believed in god.Different from sorcery, divine arts are exercised by borrowing the power from god who really exists in this world.That means, someone who doesnt believe in the lender of the power cant use divine arts.Also, something like making valuable healing art users accompany the soldiers in their training is next to impossible.Healing art users are people that ought to be sheltered. If something happens to them after having them accompany in the training, it will result in a situation that cant be undone.The circumstance of there being no type of healing wasnt very desirable for Renya, but even so, the medicines he received from Emil and the medicinal plants that Croire picked up in the Miasma Forest somewhat worked as a substitute.For light injuries they used Croires medicinal plants and for slightly heavier injuries they administered Emils recovery medicines. Renya-san humans, they get stronger, by going mad, dont they? (Croire) Obviously clear from the slenderness of their body lines, elves are quite inferior in regards to stamina when compared to humans.In the Croires eyes the soldiers behavior of continuing to earnestly hunt in a three-shift-rotation* seems to look like some kind of madness.(T/N: probably error by author, as they are using a two-shifts-rotation) Arent they fighting with vigor once they got on with the mood? Im sure those (Renya) Renya answers while looking at the magic stones being transported in a carefree manner as if carrying pebbles from a river bed.The amount of materials invested into this excursion, wasnt that much and it didnt cost a lot either. However, after deducting these materials to the ones that were piling up in front of Renya, it gave quite a surplus.Since Renya himself can charge the principality with the costs, he doesnt really care much about money, but Renya thinks that it will be a happy occasion for the soldiers if theres something like a bonus after the difficult training.While tossing large amounts of rice into a container that was filled with water in order to cook more rice, which had once again ran out, Renya began to count his chickens before they hatched and wondered just how much profit they would be able to make. Chapter 101 Chapter 101 C It seems to be the Dragoons Search A single dragon is flying through the sky in broad daylight.The dragon is called a red dragon, since its entire body is dyed red and is ranked as intermediate within the dragon race.The figure of a red dragon cutting through the wind, is known as a symbol of despair on the human continent.Thats because encountering this dragon is directly linked to death.There were two figures on the back of that dreadful being, such an occurrence is usually unimaginable.Among the two, one of them has their entire body clad in armor, which is dyed in the same red hue as that of the dragons body.Going by its appearance, its such a heavy-looking armor that it makes others think that just walking properly after getting off the dragon would be quite a heavy toll.The other person has their hands around the red full-armored persons waist. Its a young, redheaded man who tries to not be shaken off.He is wearing a simple robe, well known as sorcerer equipment, but the robe that should be affected by the considerably strong winds doesnt flutter as much as expected.Its owed to the dragon itself having deployed a defensive barrier so as to protect the riders mounted on its back.Thanks to this, the riders can mount the dragons back without minding the wind pressure, however if they were to fly at the dragons speed without this, the riders wouldnt even be able to breath. Dra-kun! Hurry! The red, fully armored person raises their voice.In reality theres no need for them to raise their voice though.A mental connection exists between the rider and the dragon, and as such each one can communicate their intentions by simply thinking about it in their head.However, apparently the rider still hasnt gotten used to it yet and thus they end up putting it into words either way. (Dra-kun) I wont listen to any complaints! Hurry up! The rider slaps the body of the dragon with their palm, which was equipped with atekkou.No matter how much a dragon might be hit with a humans strength, it wont feel even the slightest pain from it. But the dragon comprehended that their rider is in quite a hurry.Is it something you have to be that flustered about?The dragon is puzzled.The information carried by the riders could certainly be called urgent, the dragon assessed, but once he considers the receiver of said message, he cant do anything about feeling that itll be regarded as a trivial piece of information by them.After all that person is, at the moment he thought of that, the dragon slightly trembled.The terror he felt the time he encounteredthat personfor the first time left a very deep wound in the dragons heart, which has lasted till this day.The dragon believed that he would die in the instant their eyes met.Certainly, I sensed a staggeringly high power approaching our habitat and as such its not like I couldnt understand my comrades frantic feeling of wanting to escape.Though it was slightly saddening that they left me, who is the weakest within the flock, behind as a sacrifice.Even so, before I met that person I still had my pride as dragon.Despite the fact that Im probably the weakest in our flock and no matter how powerful the being thats about to arrive might be, I still had my pride as someone belonging to the lower ranks of dragons, those who are called avatars of despair and death.In that case, I cannot afford to simply get killed.Even if the conclusion might be my own death, I at least had the resolve to take that being down with me.But, the moment that person was closeby, that readiness, which I harbored until then, completely shattered and vanished.My head as dragon was filled with nothing more than the wordsWhat the hell is this?.It might be best to describe it as feeling as if I had just been stabbed right above my heart by a blade.A presence of thick mana that seems to be covering the whole vicinity.Within that, there was a presence of a cold, honed blade that doesnt seem to forgive even the slightest touch.The dragon realized it right away.Ah, I will die in an instant if I resist even a bit.Theres no other method to survive besides unconditional surrender.At this moment, the dragon discarded its very useless pride without a hint of hesitation.The events after that are just as Renya and the others had witnessed. But even as the dragon thinks back upon it, he believes that his decisions at that time were the correctest he had made in his life and that it was not a mistake.After giving them, who made him form a contract as servant of a human, a lift back to the city, his comrades looked at him, who returned to their habitat, as if seeing something unbelievable and asked him, You, why are you still alive? Sooner or later, I will definitely hit you guys with all my power once I mastered my power,Dra-kun swore in his heart.Even though thats yet another story.Dra-kun cant imagine the sight of that person losing their way just because of the information possessed by Liaris, who is more or less his master, the lower being that is currently kicking up a fuss by squealing around atop his back.It cant be helped that he feels like all that awaits them is an uninterested Oh, really? accompanied by a somewhat scornful laughter.However, if he doesnt act in accordance with the intention of his masters order as much as possible, he doesnt know what will happen with the contract, which had been carved into his magic stone, which was located inside his head, by that dreadful demon. Liaris, dont be too unreasonable. We wont be able to endure falling from such a height. The red-headed man, who is clinging to the red full-armor, said as if rebuking her.Its the magician secretely called Flambeau by Dra-kun because of his ruffled, red hair, on top of his thin body and the plain robe he is always wearing.Though there was no way for Dra-kun to know what kind of punishment he would go through if said person learned of their nickname.What Dra-kun knows about this man is that, while his work as adventurer is suspended, hes currently working as a teacher in a school, that hes of noble degree and that hes the lover of his master Liaris. Hes also aware of the extremely good relationship between this man and Liaris.Those two are already a sweet couple to such a degree that its quite possible for honey to flow out of their mouths like a waterfall.Dra-kun has absolutely no interest in the sexual intercourse of humans, but its reached a point where he wonders whether he can somehow cut off the thought waves that greatly leak from Liaris every night.Since its his masters private life, Dra-kun cant reveal that information anywhere either, but if hes asked, the amount of information he possesses about the twos sex life is already at a level where he can easily write a book with just the stories about that stuff and their pillow talks.Just where in this frail body of theirs do humans store the stamina to go at it that often every night? Humans are truly strange animals, arent they?He wonders. What are you thinking about, Dra-kun? (Liaris) The hand hitting his body has turned from a palm into a fist.Theres basically absolutely no thoughts been leaked to Liaris from Dra-kuns side.This is because Dra-kun excels at thought manipulation in comparison to Liaris, but even so, as he was in the middle of thinking, it seems that he has transmitted fragments at the level of making her thinkIt looks like hes thinking about unnecessary things, doesnt it?Since theres by no reason to answer her honestly, Dra-kun pondered what he should answer and said, (Dra-kun) Renya-san can likely handle it one way or the other, but isnt that person together with 100 soldiers right now!? Those are just normal people! (Liaris) Isnt that like saying that Renya isnt normal?Dra-kun wonders, butsince it feels like the definition of normal will crumble if you callthata normal person, I guess its fine, he also assesses.Az, who gently touched his body, says with a calm tone, Renya has that sort of air about him, but hes still a human. I think that situations, which take one by surprise, and unpredictable incidents always exist. I believe that the information we hold can thwart those possibilities to some extent. Thats why its necessary to hurry. (Az) I see, if you put it like this, I can understand as well, Dra-kun agreed.Certainly, no matter how much great power a being might possess, albeit rare, being destroyed by an unforeseen attack isnt something unheard of.Liaris changes her hand into the shape of a sword-hand and chops the dragons back, who faces his master with a slightly bitter feeling ofeven though it would have been best if you could have explained it in such an easy to understand way.Of course its not like Liaris punches will pierce or penetrate Dra-kuns scales, but he somehow has the feeling that she has gotten very mad.While we are at it, since several dozen scales are still weak as theyve just grown out, Id like her to avoid treating them too roughly, Dra-kun ends up thinking.The reason why they had to be replaced by newly grown ones is because they were torn off by the person they are currently looking for. You still havent found them? (Liaris) Judging by the number of days, I think they are already on their way back, but at this speed No matter how much the other party might be a group of 100 people, the possibility of overlooking them (Az) Dra-kun! Fly slower! (Liaris) (Dra-kun) Shes not a bad master.I was forced into the contract against my will, but since she doesnt cause me any stomach aches due to discontent related stress, shes an acceptable master.Dra-kun evaluates Liaris highly, but the fact that she occasionally gave overly silly commands was her sole flaw.The worst of them is the order to try my hardest not to kill the opponents when releasing my breath, Dra-kun thinks dejectedly.By the way, theres no way for them to fall off just because hes flying slowly, but Dra-un isnt in a mood of wanting to do so, as its a very tiring type of flying. So, he simply disagreed by giving the possibility of them falling down as a reason. How to say it, cant you find them by their smell or something like that? (Liaris) (Dra-kun) The people on his back are apparently searching by sight, but Dra-kun searches by presences.Dra-kun had the conceit of there being no way for him to miss Renyas existence, which exudes such a powerful presence.Theres only one road going from the city of Kukrika to the Miasma Forest.As long as Renyas group doesnt choose to act as something as ambiguous as some heroes and thus takes a large detour from the road by going through places that havent been developed on purpose, they should definitely enter Dra-kuns search range at some point. Its at the point where I want to quickly find and join up with them. Even under normal circumstances its easy for a dragon to cause an uproar. (Az) Dra-kun wanted to insist that its not his fault, but since its pointless even if he does, he stays silent.As a matter of fact, just as Az said, the figure of a dragon flying above the road continued to cause somewhat of an uproar among the travellers using said road.The information that theres a dragoon in the city of Kukrika has widely spread on the human continent, but its not like the travellers can judge whether the dragon currently soaring above their heads is that dragoon or a stray that appeared after losing its way from its habitat.Once they see the people riding atop the dragon, they might understand at once that its the dragoon, but its probably a difficult angle in order to see people riding on its back if you look up to the dragon from below. Moreover, the dragons fast flight speed also makes seeing the riders more difficult. (Dra-kun) Then hurry up and find them! (Liaris) When he asked her through thought whether she wanted to go back home swiftly to make out with Az-san, Liariss movements, who had chopped Dra-kuns body until then with her sword-hand, stopped.Az, who is clinging to her back, has a puzzled expression wondering what happened.Since the telepathic connection is an exclusive connection between the dragon and Liaris, theres no worry that a conversation through thoughts will be heard by Az. Liaris? Whats wrong? (Az) Hyaa!? I-Its nothing! (Liaris) Liaris body jumped alongside a funny yell once Az whispers by bringing his lips loser close to her ear, so as to make it easier for her to hear him.Just when Dra-kun was broadly grinning while thinkingIm pretty sure within her helmet she has a red face that doesnt lose to her armors color, a large response finally popped up in his sense. (Dra-kun) A-Alright. Do a nose dive! (Liaris) (Dra-kun) Or is it fine to have her experience something like dying once, since it is my masters order after all?Dra-kun pondered, buttheres no need to pointlessly worsen our master-servant relationship, he changes his mind.Thinking about such things, a gathering of rice-grain-like small people enters Dra-kuns field of vision.Its very likely a gathering of the soldiers that have been taken along by Renya. Even though the travellers, who were passed by Dra-kun on the road, started to run at full power or became unable to stand, the group that slowly advances along the road heads towards the city at a constant pace without their ranks breaking up.I would also be troubled if they were excessively scared of me, but, as member of a race that tentatively enters the category of being strong, to not get any reaction is something slightly sad.Even at the time when they were transported to the forest by dragons, which had to be called out from quite distant places as just the ones living nearby were insufficient, the soldiers had reactions originating from curiosity, completely unrelated to fear or confusion.If their leader is that person, I guess even the subordinates will get tainted with that, while thinking something that will cause dozens of his scales to once again be torn off should Renya hear that, Dra-kun lightly flapped his wings once and slowly lowered his altitude towards the group he found. Chapter 101 C It seems to be the Dragoons Search A single dragon is flying through the sky in broad daylight.The dragon is called a red dragon, since its entire body is dyed red and is ranked as intermediate within the dragon race.The figure of a red dragon cutting through the wind, is known as a symbol of despair on the human continent.Thats because encountering this dragon is directly linked to death.There were two figures on the back of that dreadful being, such an occurrence is usually unimaginable.Among the two, one of them has their entire body clad in armor, which is dyed in the same red hue as that of the dragons body.Going by its appearance, its such a heavy-looking armor that it makes others think that just walking properly after getting off the dragon would be quite a heavy toll.The other person has their hands around the red full-armored persons waist. Its a young, redheaded man who tries to not be shaken off.He is wearing a simple robe, well known as sorcerer equipment, but the robe that should be affected by the considerably strong winds doesnt flutter as much as expected.Its owed to the dragon itself having deployed a defensive barrier so as to protect the riders mounted on its back.Thanks to this, the riders can mount the dragons back without minding the wind pressure, however if they were to fly at the dragons speed without this, the riders wouldnt even be able to breath. Dra-kun! Hurry! The red, fully armored person raises their voice.In reality theres no need for them to raise their voice though.A mental connection exists between the rider and the dragon, and as such each one can communicate their intentions by simply thinking about it in their head.However, apparently the rider still hasnt gotten used to it yet and thus they end up putting it into words either way. (Dra-kun) I wont listen to any complaints! Hurry up! The rider slaps the body of the dragon with their palm, which was equipped with atekkou.No matter how much a dragon might be hit with a humans strength, it wont feel even the slightest pain from it. But the dragon comprehended that their rider is in quite a hurry.Is it something you have to be that flustered about?The dragon is puzzled.The information carried by the riders could certainly be called urgent, the dragon assessed, but once he considers the receiver of said message, he cant do anything about feeling that itll be regarded as a trivial piece of information by them.After all that person is, at the moment he thought of that, the dragon slightly trembled.The terror he felt the time he encounteredthat personfor the first time left a very deep wound in the dragons heart, which has lasted till this day.The dragon believed that he would die in the instant their eyes met.Certainly, I sensed a staggeringly high power approaching our habitat and as such its not like I couldnt understand my comrades frantic feeling of wanting to escape.Though it was slightly saddening that they left me, who is the weakest within the flock, behind as a sacrifice.Even so, before I met that person I still had my pride as dragon.Despite the fact that Im probably the weakest in our flock and no matter how powerful the being thats about to arrive might be, I still had my pride as someone belonging to the lower ranks of dragons, those who are called avatars of despair and death.In that case, I cannot afford to simply get killed.Even if the conclusion might be my own death, I at least had the resolve to take that being down with me.But, the moment that person was closeby, that readiness, which I harbored until then, completely shattered and vanished.My head as dragon was filled with nothing more than the wordsWhat the hell is this?.It might be best to describe it as feeling as if I had just been stabbed right above my heart by a blade.A presence of thick mana that seems to be covering the whole vicinity.Within that, there was a presence of a cold, honed blade that doesnt seem to forgive even the slightest touch.The dragon realized it right away.Ah, I will die in an instant if I resist even a bit.Theres no other method to survive besides unconditional surrender.At this moment, the dragon discarded its very useless pride without a hint of hesitation.The events after that are just as Renya and the others had witnessed. But even as the dragon thinks back upon it, he believes that his decisions at that time were the correctest he had made in his life and that it was not a mistake.After giving them, who made him form a contract as servant of a human, a lift back to the city, his comrades looked at him, who returned to their habitat, as if seeing something unbelievable and asked him, You, why are you still alive? Sooner or later, I will definitely hit you guys with all my power once I mastered my power,Dra-kun swore in his heart.Even though thats yet another story.Dra-kun cant imagine the sight of that person losing their way just because of the information possessed by Liaris, who is more or less his master, the lower being that is currently kicking up a fuss by squealing around atop his back.It cant be helped that he feels like all that awaits them is an uninterested Oh, really? accompanied by a somewhat scornful laughter.However, if he doesnt act in accordance with the intention of his masters order as much as possible, he doesnt know what will happen with the contract, which had been carved into his magic stone, which was located inside his head, by that dreadful demon. Liaris, dont be too unreasonable. We wont be able to endure falling from such a height. The red-headed man, who is clinging to the red full-armor, said as if rebuking her.Its the magician secretely called Flambeau by Dra-kun because of his ruffled, red hair, on top of his thin body and the plain robe he is always wearing.Though there was no way for Dra-kun to know what kind of punishment he would go through if said person learned of their nickname.What Dra-kun knows about this man is that, while his work as adventurer is suspended, hes currently working as a teacher in a school, that hes of noble degree and that hes the lover of his master Liaris. Hes also aware of the extremely good relationship between this man and Liaris.Those two are already a sweet couple to such a degree that its quite possible for honey to flow out of their mouths like a waterfall.Dra-kun has absolutely no interest in the sexual intercourse of humans, but its reached a point where he wonders whether he can somehow cut off the thought waves that greatly leak from Liaris every night.Since its his masters private life, Dra-kun cant reveal that information anywhere either, but if hes asked, the amount of information he possesses about the twos sex life is already at a level where he can easily write a book with just the stories about that stuff and their pillow talks.Just where in this frail body of theirs do humans store the stamina to go at it that often every night? Humans are truly strange animals, arent they?He wonders. What are you thinking about, Dra-kun? (Liaris) The hand hitting his body has turned from a palm into a fist.Theres basically absolutely no thoughts been leaked to Liaris from Dra-kuns side.This is because Dra-kun excels at thought manipulation in comparison to Liaris, but even so, as he was in the middle of thinking, it seems that he has transmitted fragments at the level of making her thinkIt looks like hes thinking about unnecessary things, doesnt it?Since theres by no reason to answer her honestly, Dra-kun pondered what he should answer and said, (Dra-kun) Renya-san can likely handle it one way or the other, but isnt that person together with 100 soldiers right now!? Those are just normal people! (Liaris) Isnt that like saying that Renya isnt normal?Dra-kun wonders, butsince it feels like the definition of normal will crumble if you callthata normal person, I guess its fine, he also assesses.Az, who gently touched his body, says with a calm tone, Renya has that sort of air about him, but hes still a human. I think that situations, which take one by surprise, and unpredictable incidents always exist. I believe that the information we hold can thwart those possibilities to some extent. Thats why its necessary to hurry. (Az) I see, if you put it like this, I can understand as well, Dra-kun agreed.Certainly, no matter how much great power a being might possess, albeit rare, being destroyed by an unforeseen attack isnt something unheard of.Liaris changes her hand into the shape of a sword-hand and chops the dragons back, who faces his master with a slightly bitter feeling ofeven though it would have been best if you could have explained it in such an easy to understand way.Of course its not like Liaris punches will pierce or penetrate Dra-kuns scales, but he somehow has the feeling that she has gotten very mad.While we are at it, since several dozen scales are still weak as theyve just grown out, Id like her to avoid treating them too roughly, Dra-kun ends up thinking.The reason why they had to be replaced by newly grown ones is because they were torn off by the person they are currently looking for. You still havent found them? (Liaris) Judging by the number of days, I think they are already on their way back, but at this speed No matter how much the other party might be a group of 100 people, the possibility of overlooking them (Az) Dra-kun! Fly slower! (Liaris) (Dra-kun) Shes not a bad master.I was forced into the contract against my will, but since she doesnt cause me any stomach aches due to discontent related stress, shes an acceptable master.Dra-kun evaluates Liaris highly, but the fact that she occasionally gave overly silly commands was her sole flaw.The worst of them is the order to try my hardest not to kill the opponents when releasing my breath, Dra-kun thinks dejectedly.By the way, theres no way for them to fall off just because hes flying slowly, but Dra-un isnt in a mood of wanting to do so, as its a very tiring type of flying. So, he simply disagreed by giving the possibility of them falling down as a reason. How to say it, cant you find them by their smell or something like that? (Liaris) (Dra-kun) The people on his back are apparently searching by sight, but Dra-kun searches by presences.Dra-kun had the conceit of there being no way for him to miss Renyas existence, which exudes such a powerful presence.Theres only one road going from the city of Kukrika to the Miasma Forest.As long as Renyas group doesnt choose to act as something as ambiguous as some heroes and thus takes a large detour from the road by going through places that havent been developed on purpose, they should definitely enter Dra-kuns search range at some point. Its at the point where I want to quickly find and join up with them. Even under normal circumstances its easy for a dragon to cause an uproar. (Az) Dra-kun wanted to insist that its not his fault, but since its pointless even if he does, he stays silent.As a matter of fact, just as Az said, the figure of a dragon flying above the road continued to cause somewhat of an uproar among the travellers using said road.The information that theres a dragoon in the city of Kukrika has widely spread on the human continent, but its not like the travellers can judge whether the dragon currently soaring above their heads is that dragoon or a stray that appeared after losing its way from its habitat.Once they see the people riding atop the dragon, they might understand at once that its the dragoon, but its probably a difficult angle in order to see people riding on its back if you look up to the dragon from below. Moreover, the dragons fast flight speed also makes seeing the riders more difficult. (Dra-kun) Then hurry up and find them! (Liaris) When he asked her through thought whether she wanted to go back home swiftly to make out with Az-san, Liariss movements, who had chopped Dra-kuns body until then with her sword-hand, stopped.Az, who is clinging to her back, has a puzzled expression wondering what happened.Since the telepathic connection is an exclusive connection between the dragon and Liaris, theres no worry that a conversation through thoughts will be heard by Az. Liaris? Whats wrong? (Az) Hyaa!? I-Its nothing! (Liaris) Liaris body jumped alongside a funny yell once Az whispers by bringing his lips loser close to her ear, so as to make it easier for her to hear him.Just when Dra-kun was broadly grinning while thinkingIm pretty sure within her helmet she has a red face that doesnt lose to her armors color, a large response finally popped up in his sense. (Dra-kun) A-Alright. Do a nose dive! (Liaris) (Dra-kun) Or is it fine to have her experience something like dying once, since it is my masters order after all?Dra-kun pondered, buttheres no need to pointlessly worsen our master-servant relationship, he changes his mind.Thinking about such things, a gathering of rice-grain-like small people enters Dra-kuns field of vision.Its very likely a gathering of the soldiers that have been taken along by Renya. Even though the travellers, who were passed by Dra-kun on the road, started to run at full power or became unable to stand, the group that slowly advances along the road heads towards the city at a constant pace without their ranks breaking up.I would also be troubled if they were excessively scared of me, but, as member of a race that tentatively enters the category of being strong, to not get any reaction is something slightly sad.Even at the time when they were transported to the forest by dragons, which had to be called out from quite distant places as just the ones living nearby were insufficient, the soldiers had reactions originating from curiosity, completely unrelated to fear or confusion.If their leader is that person, I guess even the subordinates will get tainted with that, while thinking something that will cause dozens of his scales to once again be torn off should Renya hear that, Dra-kun lightly flapped his wings once and slowly lowered his altitude towards the group he found. Chapter 102 Chapter 102 C They seem to be in the City of Kukrika Lord Baltan, I believe this to be cowardly no matter how you put it! (Mayria) Rona desperately holds Mayria back, who is trying to draw near the other party while raising her voice.While watching the two girls in such a state, the mounted man snorted as if making fun of them. Your Highness Princess Mayria, what are you calling cowardly? The other party should have already been told that they have to fight against my soldiers for the sake of showing the results of their month-long training. Its not like Im playing foul here or demanded it all of a sudden. Being slandered as cowardly is upsetting, you know? (Baltan) The one Mayria looked up to while noisily grinding her teeth is a middle-aged man.He has a medium build and his blond hair is neatly combed and flows down towards his back. The lengthily grown beard has been cut and evened up into a beautiful shape that seems to require a considerable amount of grooming.Soldiers, likewise mounted on horses, are surrounding him.They have a wide variety of equipment, which hasnt been consolidated.However, just looking its apparent that all of their equipment is composed of high quality items gathered by spending quite an hefty amount of money. Renya-san and the soldiers are in the middle of returning from their training at the Miasma Forest! Its impossible for you to not know how exhausted the soldiers will be, right!? To force them into battle like that without allowing them to take a rest; what do you call that if not cowardly!? (Mayria) The location is a plain slightly distant from the city of Kukrika and in the direction of the Miasma Forest.A considerable number of soldiers gathered there.They are the nobles private army.They roughly number 700.Its a battle array of 300 infantry, 200 cavalry, 100 archers and in addition a heavy cavalry unit of 100 soldiers, who had clad their bodies in thick armors while mounting strong and tough horses that were wearing barding.There is also a cavalry among the armed forces of Kukrika, but theres no heavy cavalry included in them.One of their requirements is that the soldiers themselves have to bear the weight of the armor covering their bodies.But, above that, their horses have to be capable of supporting the weight of the armor they have equipped and the weight of the rider on top.Rather than raising a great number of horses possessing this much strength, the method of preparing normal cavalry is cheaper if you consider the costs and necessary training. That was the judgement made by the military authorities of Kukrika.Another is the restriction that the army would have to continuously support a large number of soldiers that possessed standing above a certain level.But, for nobles such a restriction does not exist.Because of that one might say that these heavily armored cavalrymen are a unit that could only be raised by nobles.Although the heavy cavalrys speed is slightly inferior to that of common cavalry, their strength while charging greatly exceeds theirs.Thats because, with just the horses speed, their weight is converted into force.Its something similar to a mass of steel charging at high speed.Completely unable to be stopped with a half-hearted attack, they were opponents with an extremely bad compatibility for infantrymen.In case of normal cavalry, its possible to stop their charge with long spears, but as for the heavy cavalry, its mostly impossible for the infantrys weapons to penetrate their armor.Their armors boast of a sturdiness which even repels spears. Im sure I told you that I wish to be shown the results after one month. And today is the end of that one month period. You can only call it the incompetence of a commander to have imposed training which doesnt abate the soldiers fatigue when nearing the appointed day, right? (Baltan) But! You havent told us the precise date and time, have you!? (Mayria) After one month, doesnt that count as precisely appointed day, I wonder? (Baltan) It does not! One month can be the number of days till the next moon, the day after that or 30 days on the dot. That is a way of phrasing that has slight different meanings depending on the view! (Mayria) You make use of a difference in interpretation as shield and consider its a terribly cowardly treatment? (Baltan) Lord Baltan! Pull back your soldiers! We will decide a new date and time on another day and then you will fight properly! (Mayria) Mayrias voice is filled with anger, but the person in question looks down on Mayria from atop his horse without even erasing his smirk. My goodness, your Highness Mayria. Do you intend to give this me, Duke Mate Baltan, an order? Being asked with an expression full of composure, Mayria unintentionally ends up keeping her mouth shut.This Trident Principality, which is governed by Mayrias mother, the archduchess, is a nation that has adopted a government structure controlled by nobles without crowning a king.Among the several dukes, the archduchess is the one with the highest ranking position, but if it comes to a duke, you can naturally say that they own a position directly following hers.On the other hand, Mayria is, as archduchess daughter, a princess, however, from the governments standpoint, she doesnt hold anything like an official position.In the end her position is only that of the archduchess daughter.If the other party is a duke, it is a position that requires paying respect to her as archduchess daughter, but as for giving that duke an order, thats something impossible in her current position. If thats not the case, it would be best for you to remain silent for a bit. A girl of marriageable age is not someone that keeps yapping with a gyan gyan, right? (Baltan) Once Lord Baltan said that with a voice filled with ridicule, Mayrias expresion went beyond anger and started to be tinged with bloodlust.Rona binds Mayrias arms behind her back in a hurry and tries to somehow tear her away, but the person herself doesnt have a good impression of the person called Lord Baltan.After all hes the ringleader who suggested giving Shion, whom Rona serves, to the hero.Moreover, its also him who told Shion to hurry to the Holy City since itll finish as soon she lies down on top of the bed.Of course Rona properly noted that down on a list and gave it to Renya. Mayria-sama, lets withdraw here. The situation likely wont progress with a dispute over theories. (Rona) Rona! Are you telling me to be satisfied with this!? Even more than Renya-san and the soldiers, Shion-ane-sama is in that unit as well! (Mayria) I feel that Shion-samas personality is relatively independent. I mean,thatRenya-san is close to her, isnt he? That person is not someone you can accompany with a lax motive. (Rona) Theres also the unlikely chance that something happens, isnt there!? (Mayria) I have taken the necessary measures. (Rona) Soldiers had been assembled by the nobles who are targeting Renyas group, who has gone on an expedition to the Miasma Forest and were on their way back.Rona, who obtained that information, immediately visited their neighbor Az and earnestly requested for him to warn Renya and the others.Az responded quickly to Ronas request and Liaris called Dra-kun right away.Among the creatures that can be mounted by people, theres none superior to a dragon in the speed department. Liaris put on her dragoon uniform in a hurry and Rona saw Az off as he flew away while riding on the dragons back, but being informed right after that Mayria went to complain to the nobles army lined up outside the city, she chased her by running at full power, leading to their current situation.Once Rona told Mayria about this, Mayria left the nobles army, while being dragged away by Rona, albeit unwillingly. Nevertheless, the soldiers fatigue should be quite heavy and in addition to that, theres the heavy cavalry. No matter how much Renya-san avoids injured people appearing, I think it will be impossible as long as he doesnt handle that heavy cavalry. (Mayria) No, if he isnt fixated on a clash between fellow soldiers I believe it will finish in an instant. (Rona) If Renya fires a serious spell from a distance where both sides can barely see each other, the nobles army will probably be annihilated, unrelated to whether there might be cavalry or infantry, Rona was convinced of that.What we have to worry about in that case is the city of Kukrika, which lays behind the nobles army.Its not difficult to predict uncommon damage to appear in the city from just the destructions aftermath due to the spells wide range while also being powered by a big mana pool.Theres even the possibility of him reducing the city to ash with a brief comment ofSorry, I went too far.However, if Renya intervenes, it will end with the soldiers being unable to display the fruits of their training. While its also likely that theyll be unable to avoid causing long-lasting effects from being overshadowed by Renya. Is he that great, Renya-san that is? (Mayria) He is so great, to such a degree, that even by multiplying what you are currently imagining by 20, you are barely scratching the surface, Your Highness. (Rona) Rona answered with a serious look, but Mayria apparently cant get a good grasp of it. Even without that taking place, I will protect Shion-samas safety. (Rona) I appreciate that, but (Mayria) Rather than that, have you dispatched scouts, Mayria-sama? (Rona) Lord Baltan and his group had sent scouts to investigate Renyas units movements and deployed their soldiers.Being able to precisely time the day when Renyas group comes back was thanks to that.Even Mayria can come up with an idea at the same level of what those nobles can think of.As if natural, Mayria had also dispatched watchers to Renyas unit.However, since the danger increases the closer one gets to the Miasma Forest, both parties have concentrated on observation from outside the forest and dont have a grasp on what Renyas unit has been doing inside. According to the reports, they should have come pretty close to the city, but (Mayria) In that case its about time that we soon see Dra-kun, isnt it? (Rona) Dra-kun? (Mayria) Ah, no. Im just saying that it wont be strange to see a dragon, Dragoon Liaris-samas dragon. (Rona) It shouldnt be odd to see the dragon even from quite a distance away if its flying in the air, but such a figure couldnt be seen in the direction from where Renyas group was likely returning from. How worrisome even if they are to return safely, to kick up this much of a fuss (Mayria) Its an awful clamoring, isnt it? Just what kind of festival is this supposed to be? The reason is that the noble called Lord Baltan has deployed soldiers so as to target the soldiers who are on their way back from their expedition into the Miasma Forest. Hes getting worked up with the motive of trampling the tired soldiers down with his own soldiers (Mayria) Hes trash, isnt he? Huh? Speaking of Lord Baltan, if I remember correctly it was him who told Shion that things will finish once she lies down and spreads her legs, right? Though I believe he didnt sayspread her legsand the like ah? (Mayria) Mayria shifts her attention to the person talking next to them and drops her jaw.The one folding his arms and nodding with a yeah, yeah was Renya with his katana hanging at his waist and in his usual completely black attire.Behind him, Rona has frozen in place with an expression as if she had seen a ghost. Shion, who has changed out of her national army equipment and into her usual equipment, taps Ronas shoulder without saying anything. Re-Ren (Rona) Okay, stop there. Dont raise your voice. Those guys probably dont know my face. (Renya) Renya holds his index finger in front of his lips.Leaning in close to Renya, Mayria talks to him in a whisper, Werent you in the middle of returning!? (Mayria) Well I guess its because Liaris was ready and waiting for the nobles with bad character. We were able to return quickly by splitting the unit into several groups, having Dra-kun and the other dragons transport them and making the soldiers run at full speed. I entered the city just now, but the other soldiers are different, I guess, Renya says.The reason for Shion properly changing her clothes seems to be owed to her having returned to the city before Renya. What about the scouts? (Mayria) As for the ones from your side, we had them stay silent about our actions through talking it out. We have made the ones dispatched by the nobles give a false report by having them experience something slightly scary. (Renya) What did you do? (Mayria) Renya grinned due to Mayria asking him with a scornful look. Its best for a good child to not know about it. (Renya) Muu what about the units soldiers? (Mayria) Im having them enter the city in subdivisions. We had the gate sentries stay quiet about it by bribing them a bit. Mayria, pay slightly more attention, okay? Arent the soldiers of this city too susceptible to bribes? (Renya) No, well, umm I wonder whether its not because you are the other party (Mayria) If its someone with knowledge about Renya, they should judge that therell be less damage by doing as he says and receiving a bribe rather than pointlessly resisting him.As such it would be a major problem if Renya was a person that causes damage to the city or nation in any way. But if its someone knowing that Renya wont do that, they likely wont doubt him.Even someone that doesnt know about Renya will probably comprehend right away from his aura that Renya is a dangerous opponent.In this case, there should be quite a few soldiers that will judge that its a better idea to do as told and obediently receive his money than expressly opposing a dangerous opponent.In that case a bit of a problem remains.I will investigate that later without fail,Mayria judged. So what will you do next? (Mayria) Me? I will go back home and sleep. You know, I couldnt sleep decently due to treating the injured and cooking rice in the Miasma Forest. Ive ordered the units soldiers to return home or spend one night in the citys inns or red-light district. Theres no problem since we are supposed to return to the soldiers lodging house by tomorrow, right? (Renya) Yes, well. Then, what about the nobles army over here? (Mayria) Mayria points at the soldiers lining up in the distance.Following her finger with his eyes, Renya stayed silent for a while and then answered plainly, Dont care. Leave them alone. (Renya) Aah so thats what you will do, after all. (Mayria) I was told to show the results after one month, but I dont remember there being a deadline to do so until this day, right? (Renya) Well, thats true (Mayria) If there isnt even a set time frame, the timing of after one month is no different from promised whether it might be after 31 days or 40 days.The nobles lying in wait for me is their own decision, but I dont have any obligation to go along with that, Renya declares. Meaning, even if they wait here, nothing will happen, correct? It would be best for them to break up. Understood. But, you can depend on me to expect that you carry out a sham battle in the future, okay? (Mayria) I dont really mind. I have promised you that, havent I? (Renya) From Renyas point of view, he simply doesnt want his soldiers that have accumulated fatigue to clash with the nobles private army. The sham battle itself is no particular problem since he has been willing to do it from the beginning. Ro, how long are you going to stay frozen? Lets go back home quickly. As expected, Im worn-out as well. (Shion) Yes, Shion (Rona) Alright, then, withdraw. (Renya) Upon Renyas words, Mayria went to the armys facility.All others decided to return to Renyas house.Its a digression, but Lord Baltans army apparently continued waiting for Renyas group, who cannot return somewhere theyre already at, on the spot for a whole day and night.Of course, it resulted in the recruited soldiers getting tired out due to being unable to catch a wink of sleep as they hadnt been informed when Renyas group might return. Which meant that Lord Baltan himself pointlessly wasted money by deploying the army for no reason.Due to this, Lord Baltans animosity towards Renya escalated even further, but something like that was, after all, of no concern to Renya. Chapter 102 C They seem to be in the City of Kukrika Lord Baltan, I believe this to be cowardly no matter how you put it! (Mayria) Rona desperately holds Mayria back, who is trying to draw near the other party while raising her voice.While watching the two girls in such a state, the mounted man snorted as if making fun of them. Your Highness Princess Mayria, what are you calling cowardly? The other party should have already been told that they have to fight against my soldiers for the sake of showing the results of their month-long training. Its not like Im playing foul here or demanded it all of a sudden. Being slandered as cowardly is upsetting, you know? (Baltan) The one Mayria looked up to while noisily grinding her teeth is a middle-aged man.He has a medium build and his blond hair is neatly combed and flows down towards his back. The lengthily grown beard has been cut and evened up into a beautiful shape that seems to require a considerable amount of grooming.Soldiers, likewise mounted on horses, are surrounding him.They have a wide variety of equipment, which hasnt been consolidated.However, just looking its apparent that all of their equipment is composed of high quality items gathered by spending quite an hefty amount of money. Renya-san and the soldiers are in the middle of returning from their training at the Miasma Forest! Its impossible for you to not know how exhausted the soldiers will be, right!? To force them into battle like that without allowing them to take a rest; what do you call that if not cowardly!? (Mayria) The location is a plain slightly distant from the city of Kukrika and in the direction of the Miasma Forest.A considerable number of soldiers gathered there.They are the nobles private army.They roughly number 700.Its a battle array of 300 infantry, 200 cavalry, 100 archers and in addition a heavy cavalry unit of 100 soldiers, who had clad their bodies in thick armors while mounting strong and tough horses that were wearing barding.There is also a cavalry among the armed forces of Kukrika, but theres no heavy cavalry included in them.One of their requirements is that the soldiers themselves have to bear the weight of the armor covering their bodies.But, above that, their horses have to be capable of supporting the weight of the armor they have equipped and the weight of the rider on top.Rather than raising a great number of horses possessing this much strength, the method of preparing normal cavalry is cheaper if you consider the costs and necessary training. That was the judgement made by the military authorities of Kukrika.Another is the restriction that the army would have to continuously support a large number of soldiers that possessed standing above a certain level.But, for nobles such a restriction does not exist.Because of that one might say that these heavily armored cavalrymen are a unit that could only be raised by nobles.Although the heavy cavalrys speed is slightly inferior to that of common cavalry, their strength while charging greatly exceeds theirs.Thats because, with just the horses speed, their weight is converted into force.Its something similar to a mass of steel charging at high speed.Completely unable to be stopped with a half-hearted attack, they were opponents with an extremely bad compatibility for infantrymen.In case of normal cavalry, its possible to stop their charge with long spears, but as for the heavy cavalry, its mostly impossible for the infantrys weapons to penetrate their armor.Their armors boast of a sturdiness which even repels spears. Im sure I told you that I wish to be shown the results after one month. And today is the end of that one month period. You can only call it the incompetence of a commander to have imposed training which doesnt abate the soldiers fatigue when nearing the appointed day, right? (Baltan) But! You havent told us the precise date and time, have you!? (Mayria) After one month, doesnt that count as precisely appointed day, I wonder? (Baltan) It does not! One month can be the number of days till the next moon, the day after that or 30 days on the dot. That is a way of phrasing that has slight different meanings depending on the view! (Mayria) You make use of a difference in interpretation as shield and consider its a terribly cowardly treatment? (Baltan) Lord Baltan! Pull back your soldiers! We will decide a new date and time on another day and then you will fight properly! (Mayria) Mayrias voice is filled with anger, but the person in question looks down on Mayria from atop his horse without even erasing his smirk. My goodness, your Highness Mayria. Do you intend to give this me, Duke Mate Baltan, an order? Being asked with an expression full of composure, Mayria unintentionally ends up keeping her mouth shut.This Trident Principality, which is governed by Mayrias mother, the archduchess, is a nation that has adopted a government structure controlled by nobles without crowning a king.Among the several dukes, the archduchess is the one with the highest ranking position, but if it comes to a duke, you can naturally say that they own a position directly following hers.On the other hand, Mayria is, as archduchess daughter, a princess, however, from the governments standpoint, she doesnt hold anything like an official position.In the end her position is only that of the archduchess daughter.If the other party is a duke, it is a position that requires paying respect to her as archduchess daughter, but as for giving that duke an order, thats something impossible in her current position. If thats not the case, it would be best for you to remain silent for a bit. A girl of marriageable age is not someone that keeps yapping with a gyan gyan, right? (Baltan) Once Lord Baltan said that with a voice filled with ridicule, Mayrias expresion went beyond anger and started to be tinged with bloodlust.Rona binds Mayrias arms behind her back in a hurry and tries to somehow tear her away, but the person herself doesnt have a good impression of the person called Lord Baltan.After all hes the ringleader who suggested giving Shion, whom Rona serves, to the hero.Moreover, its also him who told Shion to hurry to the Holy City since itll finish as soon she lies down on top of the bed.Of course Rona properly noted that down on a list and gave it to Renya. Mayria-sama, lets withdraw here. The situation likely wont progress with a dispute over theories. (Rona) Rona! Are you telling me to be satisfied with this!? Even more than Renya-san and the soldiers, Shion-ane-sama is in that unit as well! (Mayria) I feel that Shion-samas personality is relatively independent. I mean,thatRenya-san is close to her, isnt he? That person is not someone you can accompany with a lax motive. (Rona) Theres also the unlikely chance that something happens, isnt there!? (Mayria) I have taken the necessary measures. (Rona) Soldiers had been assembled by the nobles who are targeting Renyas group, who has gone on an expedition to the Miasma Forest and were on their way back.Rona, who obtained that information, immediately visited their neighbor Az and earnestly requested for him to warn Renya and the others.Az responded quickly to Ronas request and Liaris called Dra-kun right away.Among the creatures that can be mounted by people, theres none superior to a dragon in the speed department.Liaris put on her dragoon uniform in a hurry and Rona saw Az off as he flew away while riding on the dragons back, but being informed right after that Mayria went to complain to the nobles army lined up outside the city, she chased her by running at full power, leading to their current situation.Once Rona told Mayria about this, Mayria left the nobles army, while being dragged away by Rona, albeit unwillingly. Nevertheless, the soldiers fatigue should be quite heavy and in addition to that, theres the heavy cavalry. No matter how much Renya-san avoids injured people appearing, I think it will be impossible as long as he doesnt handle that heavy cavalry. (Mayria) No, if he isnt fixated on a clash between fellow soldiers I believe it will finish in an instant. (Rona) If Renya fires a serious spell from a distance where both sides can barely see each other, the nobles army will probably be annihilated, unrelated to whether there might be cavalry or infantry, Rona was convinced of that.What we have to worry about in that case is the city of Kukrika, which lays behind the nobles army.Its not difficult to predict uncommon damage to appear in the city from just the destructions aftermath due to the spells wide range while also being powered by a big mana pool.Theres even the possibility of him reducing the city to ash with a brief comment ofSorry, I went too far.However, if Renya intervenes, it will end with the soldiers being unable to display the fruits of their training. While its also likely that theyll be unable to avoid causing long-lasting effects from being overshadowed by Renya. Is he that great, Renya-san that is? (Mayria) He is so great, to such a degree, that even by multiplying what you are currently imagining by 20, you are barely scratching the surface, Your Highness. (Rona) Rona answered with a serious look, but Mayria apparently cant get a good grasp of it. Even without that taking place, I will protect Shion-samas safety. (Rona) I appreciate that, but (Mayria) Rather than that, have you dispatched scouts, Mayria-sama? (Rona) Lord Baltan and his group had sent scouts to investigate Renyas units movements and deployed their soldiers.Being able to precisely time the day when Renyas group comes back was thanks to that.Even Mayria can come up with an idea at the same level of what those nobles can think of.As if natural, Mayria had also dispatched watchers to Renyas unit.However, since the danger increases the closer one gets to the Miasma Forest, both parties have concentrated on observation from outside the forest and dont have a grasp on what Renyas unit has been doing inside. According to the reports, they should have come pretty close to the city, but (Mayria) In that case its about time that we soon see Dra-kun, isnt it? (Rona) Dra-kun? (Mayria) Ah, no. Im just saying that it wont be strange to see a dragon, Dragoon Liaris-samas dragon. (Rona) It shouldnt be odd to see the dragon even from quite a distance away if its flying in the air, but such a figure couldnt be seen in the direction from where Renyas group was likely returning from. How worrisome even if they are to return safely, to kick up this much of a fuss (Mayria) Its an awful clamoring, isnt it? Just what kind of festival is this supposed to be? The reason is that the noble called Lord Baltan has deployed soldiers so as to target the soldiers who are on their way back from their expedition into the Miasma Forest. Hes getting worked up with the motive of trampling the tired soldiers down with his own soldiers (Mayria) Hes trash, isnt he? Huh? Speaking of Lord Baltan, if I remember correctly it was him who told Shion that things will finish once she lies down and spreads her legs, right? Though I believe he didnt sayspread her legsand the like ah? (Mayria) Mayria shifts her attention to the person talking next to them and drops her jaw.The one folding his arms and nodding with a yeah, yeah was Renya with his katana hanging at his waist and in his usual completely black attire.Behind him, Rona has frozen in place with an expression as if she had seen a ghost. Shion, who has changed out of her national army equipment and into her usual equipment, taps Ronas shoulder without saying anything. Re-Ren (Rona) Okay, stop there. Dont raise your voice. Those guys probably dont know my face. (Renya) Renya holds his index finger in front of his lips.Leaning in close to Renya, Mayria talks to him in a whisper, Werent you in the middle of returning!? (Mayria) Well I guess its because Liaris was ready and waiting for the nobles with bad character. We were able to return quickly by splitting the unit into several groups, having Dra-kun and the other dragons transport them and making the soldiers run at full speed. I entered the city just now, but the other soldiers are different, I guess, Renya says.The reason for Shion properly changing her clothes seems to be owed to her having returned to the city before Renya. What about the scouts? (Mayria) As for the ones from your side, we had them stay silent about our actions through talking it out. We have made the ones dispatched by the nobles give a false report by having them experience something slightly scary. (Renya) What did you do? (Mayria) Renya grinned due to Mayria asking him with a scornful look. Its best for a good child to not know about it. (Renya) Muu what about the units soldiers? (Mayria) Im having them enter the city in subdivisions. We had the gate sentries stay quiet about it by bribing them a bit. Mayria, pay slightly more attention, okay? Arent the soldiers of this city too susceptible to bribes? (Renya) No, well, umm I wonder whether its not because you are the other party (Mayria) If its someone with knowledge about Renya, they should judge that therell be less damage by doing as he says and receiving a bribe rather than pointlessly resisting him.As such it would be a major problem if Renya was a person that causes damage to the city or nation in any way. But if its someone knowing that Renya wont do that, they likely wont doubt him.Even someone that doesnt know about Renya will probably comprehend right away from his aura that Renya is a dangerous opponent.In this case, there should be quite a few soldiers that will judge that its a better idea to do as told and obediently receive his money than expressly opposing a dangerous opponent.In that case a bit of a problem remains.I will investigate that later without fail,Mayria judged. So what will you do next? (Mayria) Me? I will go back home and sleep. You know, I couldnt sleep decently due to treating the injured and cooking rice in the Miasma Forest. Ive ordered the units soldiers to return home or spend one night in the citys inns or red-light district. Theres no problem since we are supposed to return to the soldiers lodging house by tomorrow, right? (Renya) Yes, well. Then, what about the nobles army over here? (Mayria) Mayria points at the soldiers lining up in the distance.Following her finger with his eyes, Renya stayed silent for a while and then answered plainly, Dont care. Leave them alone. (Renya) Aah so thats what you will do, after all. (Mayria) I was told to show the results after one month, but I dont remember there being a deadline to do so until this day, right? (Renya) Well, thats true (Mayria) If there isnt even a set time frame, the timing of after one month is no different from promised whether it might be after 31 days or 40 days.The nobles lying in wait for me is their own decision, but I dont have any obligation to go along with that, Renya declares. Meaning, even if they wait here, nothing will happen, correct? It would be best for them to break up. Understood. But, you can depend on me to expect that you carry out a sham battle in the future, okay? (Mayria) I dont really mind. I have promised you that, havent I? (Renya) From Renyas point of view, he simply doesnt want his soldiers that have accumulated fatigue to clash with the nobles private army. The sham battle itself is no particular problem since he has been willing to do it from the beginning. Ro, how long are you going to stay frozen? Lets go back home quickly. As expected, Im worn-out as well. (Shion) Yes, Shion (Rona) Alright, then, withdraw. (Renya) Upon Renyas words, Mayria went to the armys facility.All others decided to return to Renyas house.Its a digression, but Lord Baltans army apparently continued waiting for Renyas group, who cannot return somewhere theyre already at, on the spot for a whole day and night.Of course, it resulted in the recruited soldiers getting tired out due to being unable to catch a wink of sleep as they hadnt been informed when Renyas group might return. Which meant that Lord Baltan himself pointlessly wasted money by deploying the army for no reason.Due to this, Lord Baltans animosity towards Renya escalated even further, but something like that was, after all, of no concern to Renya. Chapter 103 Chapter 103 C It seems to be Idle Chats A while after Renya returned from the Miasma Forest, a letter was delivered to his home.The name of Trident Principalitys Duchess was written on it, it had sealing wax applied to it and moreover, for some reason Renya didnt understand at all, it was fully permeated with the scent of perfume. It was an extremely elegant letter.Renyas name had been noted down as recipient, but since it was so refined, or rather because of its fine quality, or maybe because it looked expensive, albeit, since it was such an item, Renya ended up wavering whether it really would be okay for him to open it and as such, decided to call Rona to get her opinion.Things will go south, if I make a mistake regarding who I ask for their opinion.In that aspect Rona, is excellent as a priestess, also has experience as a knight and above all she also possesses a nobles lineage.You could say that she is the perfect person to ask for a sensible opinion from.Rona, who had arrived after being called, received the letter from Renya and widened her eyes slightly, but gave the letter back to Renya right away. She explained that its not uncommon for a woman with a certain level of social status to, out of trivial consideration, sprinkle perfume onto a letter when sending it.Given that perfume itself is already a considerably expensive good, it also tells one that the sender is from quite wealthy background.The crest that had been pressed into the sealing wax had the same design as the one decorating the sword Shion owned.While once more confirming that Shion is indeed someone belonging to the archduchess lineage, Renya breaks the letters seal.The letters content starts of with an apology for Shion and Mayria always causing trouble and gratitude for receiving Renyas favor in that regard. It then continues by carefully lining up words indicating that shed like to ask Renya to take care of the two from now on as well, and at the last part it finally mentions the place and time for the sham battle with Duke Baltan.The location is a plain on the west side of Kukrika and the soldiers of Trident Principality will prepare the place.The time is three days later, after the first afternoon bell rings.From Renyas intuition, he deduces that the first bell of afternoon would indicate the time called 13 oclock(T/N: 1 pm)in his former world.As much as he looked, Renya hadnt seen any devices in this world that could tell the time in a very detailed manner. Due to this it has become a custom for the soldiers to ring the bells located in the city when it was time to start working in the morning and in the afternoon.According to Renyas muscle memory, that was 8 oclock and 13 oclock. I guess that part is mostly the same no matter where you are. (Renya) What are you talking about? Rona asks the muttering Renya. Its nothing, after shaking his head, Renya folded the letter properly and put it back into its envelope. You will accept, right? (Rona) Renya nodded at Rona, whos apparently probing for a confirmation. More or less I have given my word, havent I? Im obliged to go if Im told to do so. (Renya) Are you scheming something? (Rona) Not really? Why do you think so? (Renya) Rona answered Renya, who returned her question with a look full of curiosity, while glaring daggers at him. I just have a vague feeling. (Rona) Thats not a look one would use just from having a vague feeling. (Renya) Those were words that seemed to criticize her, but Renya says them in a tone that doesnt carry even the slightest trace of such an intention.Rona noticed that Renyas look was faltering, as if avoiding looking her way, although it was really faintly.Hes definitely up to something.And theres no mistake that its something improper.Rona thought while being almost fully convinced of it. Is Shion going to appear at the sham battle as well? (Rona) Please try asking her that yourself. Though I dont want to send her out. (Renya) Being told so honestly by Renya, Rona tilted her head to the side apparently not having expected that.Because its Renya, she thought that he would joyfully make Shion, who trained together with them, participate in the upcoming sham battle. Can I ask for the reason? (Rona) Tentatively she is as she is and shes also the daughter of Her Majesty the Archduchess, yet she just barely scratches the surface of the general concept of the wordHer Highness the Princess, right? (Renya) Please abstain from mentioning that in front of her. Although I cant deny it. (Rona) Rona spits out with a sigh.Renyas look turned slightly gloomy. You are quite terrible as well. (Renya) Meaning that you can deny it then, Renya? (Rona) Renya immediately raised the white flag at Rona who urges him to answer while asking So, how about it?He doesnt intend to belittle Shion pointlessly, but its a fact that he cannot deny it. And a fact remains a fact. I cant. But I guess Shion is fine like that. At least I dont really mind it. (Renya) Renya declared without hesitation.Im pretty sure Shion would be happy and go all limp, Rona considers it as slightly unfortunate that Shion isnt present.Going by Renyas character, the probability of him saying such words in front of the person herself is extremely low. Even though it would be great if you lifted her spirits by telling her in person. (Rona) Impossible. (Renya) Renya shot her down with a short and immediate reply.Rona stares at Renyas face while thinkingit would have been charming, if his cheeks had blushed here, but theres absolutely no sign of his facial color changing.In Ronas eyes, the impression that Renya does too many things that are unsuitable for his age is strong.Even when I used my seductive techniques to get what I wanted, he didnt fall for them.And although he looks to be weak when teased in that area, it doesnt show on his face.At least until before she met Renya, Rona possessed a high confidence in her own charm, but after easily failing in creeping into his bedroom at night, she has started to partially lose that confidence.Incidentally, since she has heard that Shion likewise failed after going for a night crawl into Renyas bedroom, there were also times where she wondered whether Renya has no interest in women. However, since there are some reactions from him, she interprets it as him (probably) not having an inclination towards men. It must be Croire-sans skirt lines iron defence (Rona) That ones definitely weird as well, Rona ponders.The only one within Renyas party whose skirt length ends above her knees is Croire. Even though she performs quite extreme movements without hesitation with the characterical agility of elves, one cant see inside her skirt at all.With the skirts shortness, there should be countless opportunities, such as the instant when she dodges or when the wind blows, but Rona has never ever seen within Croires skirt.Rona wouldnt be surprised even if there was some strange power thats not known to humans at work or if the skirt was sewn while using mithril yarn. But as its a characteristic that cannot be seen with the skirts bought in shops around here, its not unreasonably for her to end up thinking that Croires skirt uses some kind of trick either. Huh? (Renya) Its something private. So, what are you planning to do until the designated date, Renya? (Rona) Having been asked, Renya showed a slightly displeased expression.He apparently suspected that Rona would monitor him so that he doesnt come up with something strange in the end, but managed to answer somehow, Dont worry. I will limit it to going around as an adventurer. I will merely try asking for consultations. What kind of consultations would you need well, never mind. But as your void storage is groaning with the magic stones and raw materials you obtained in the Miasma Forest, you have to change those into money and distribute it to Keith and the others. (Rona) In that case it would be best to sell them at the adventurers guild. If its that place, they will take the majority of items in one batch. (Renya) I see. Then I will go with you. (Rona) Renya holds out the letter of the archduchess towards Rona with a Here you go.When Rona, who ended up accepting it somehow due to the flow of events, tried to return it to Renya in a hurry while wondering whether he possibly intends to stand her up with the excuse of not having the letter, Renya had already left with a dash.Renya succeeded in running away from Rona, but next he was caught by Fritz in the adventurers guild, when he visited in order to sell the raw materials.Renya didnt know from where Fritz had heard about his movements, but just as Renya was about to start negotiating the price of the materials at the guilds counter, his shoulder was grabbed from behind.In front of Renya, who turned around to complain about such an impolite behaviour, stood Fritz with a smile on his face. Oh is there something you need? (Renya) It looks like you have been quite active. Please update your guild rank soon. (Fritz) Im not particularly troubled even if my rank doesnt go up (Renya) We are the ones troubled. (Fritz) While putting strength into his hand as if telling Renya I will never let you run away, Fritz smile doesnt budge at all.You know, even if a man is pointing a smile at meThinking that, Renya looked for an escape route while trying to ask, Whats so troublesome about it? I dont think that it causes you any problems, does it? (Renya) The hand grabbing Renyas shoulder was filled with power.Renya believed that this man called Fritz was simply a creepy guy whos in charge of office work, but he decided to slightly alter that way of thinking after having his shoulder grabbed by him.It wasnt to the degree that he could feel pain, but Fritz hand tightly grasped Renyas shoulder so that he couldnt shake it off so easily. Capable adventurers like your group being at the lowest rank is fraud, isnt it? (Fritz) No one is bothered by that, right? (Renya) In fact there are people bothered by it. Its mostly adventurers ranging from B to E rank though. (Fritz) According to Fritz, thats because Renyas name has quickly spread.He says that it was the kind of gossip that was a mixture of lies and truths, but in the topics about him theres always one remark.Namely, that the man called Renya is an adventurer at the lowest rank, F rank.If the name of an F-ranked adventurer is that famous, the adventurers above that rank lose credibility.Thats because they end up being told things such as Even though you are B-rank, you are weaker than that F-ranked adventurer called Renya? or such.In reality there were already several cases where adventurers who were unsuccessful, even though it didnt go as far as them failing a request, or had made mistakes at their job for various reasons, were told such things by their clients.Of course its not like Renya has done anything wrong, but demands to promptly raise the man called Renya to a higher rank have started to flow into the guild. A rank-up is troublesome. I dont want to take something like an examination. Theres no merit for me even if I rank up. (Renya) Originally you will be able to receive various kinds of assistance from the guild if you rank up, but (Fritz) You know, if the guilds assistance is above the abilities of me and my friends, I will consider it. (Renya) Attractive assistance for you, who has connections to His Majesty the Elven Emperor and Her Majesty the Archduchess, is difficult. (Fritz) Even so I will have you raise your rank, okay? Fritz doesnt show any indication of pulling back.Reluctantly Renya raises the index finger of his right hand. Exemption from the rank-up examination. (Renya) Very well. I will approve of it as a special exception. (Fritz) Next the middle finger. From now on Id like you to add an extra amount of money for the raw materials I sell. (Renya) You still need money? An amount of money thats disconnected from common sense is impossible, but if its within the bounds of common sense (Fritz) Moreover the ring finger. The right to utilize the guilds distribution network. (Renya) That comes with rank. (Fritz) Then umm (Renya) If the other party doesnt pull back no matter what, I will add as many conditions as I can, Renya judges.If the other side answers that its impossible at some point, I will probably be able to refuse Fritz request with that as reasoningor so he planned, but an answer stating that its not possible hasnt appeared.Renya, who was searching for another condition that would allow him to raise his pinky, was interrupted by Fritz putting even more strength into the hand grasping his shoulder. Hey, hey! I dont have have any preferences allowing me to enjoy being grabbed this strongly by a man. (Renya) Do you get it? If you discuss most of the conditions with me, I will handle them carefully. I will promise you that here. Therefore, please accept the rank-up obediently. (Fritz) Roger. So, what rank will it be then? (Renya) If we were to believe all the rumors, it would be fine to go with S rank, but as expected, its impossible for me to offer you an exemption from the examination for such a rank. Accordingly, I will have you accept A rank, Renya-san. Are we clear? (Fritz) Renya nodded with a somewhat fed-up expression due to Fritz obvious enthusiasm to continue talking as long as he doesnt agree.In Renyas eyes its not something that exceeds his emotional standard ofI dont give a damn about what rank I get. In connection with that, we will raise Shion-sans and Rona-sans rank up to B. Please explain this to them. (Fritz) Why me? (Renya) Its because they are ranking up alongside you. (Fritz) The reasoning behind this was that theres likely no way for F-rank adventurers to always act together with an A-rank adventurer so, it was apparently decided to raise Shions and Ronas ranks as a consequence of Renyas rank-up.For Renya something like the adventurer rank didnt matter at all, but Shion and Rona might unexpectedly be happy about their ranks going up.If that is the case, its possibly not a bad choice to concede here obediently, Renya begins to feel. Understood. I will explain it to them. (Renya) Can I ask that of you? As a guild staff member will bring your new cards on another day, please exchange them for your old cards. (Fritz) After reminding Renya, Fritz called out to the staff member at the counter, pointed at Renya, and then, after sending them a sign similar to him pinching and releasing something between his thumb and index finger, he vanished inside the building.It was apparently an instruction to add a little bit extra to the payout.Its welcome as it serves as proof of my social standing, but an organization has too many various and troublesome matters after all, while thinking that, Renya started to take out the raw materials he had stored in his inventory.The sales sum of the raw materials and magic stones hit a total amount that made the guilds staff members face go a little pale.The items themselves werent overly rare, but it was the accumulation of continuous hunting throughout 10 days.Meaning, that the amount was nothing to sneer at.Nevertheless, for them to buy up everything and to pay in full probably deserves a high evaluation.Whatever one might say, I guess the guild is amazing, Renya renews his assessment.Renya, who headed straight to the military facilities with those funds, informed Keith and the soldiers below him of the date of the sham battle against the nobles private army, and after chatting for a bit, suddenly handed them the full amount.Keith and the others demanded that Renya, who cared about the treatment of the injured and the preparation of the food without sparing time for sleep, is also given a share of the money, but this was flatly declined by Renya.Thats because he didnt feel inclined to receive any more money for himself, who received the reward from Mayria in advance.A large part of his hesitation to accept any more money is owed to Renya being unable to wipe away the doubts that make him wonder whether he hasnt actually received too much.Renya showed timidity at an unexpected place, but it seems the soldiers favorably interpreted it as their instructor-dono being a bigwig who isnt fixated on money.While raising the soldiers loyalty to a point he hadnt intended at all, Renya gave the soldiers the detailed instruction of resting their bodies comfortably until the sham battle in three days. Chapter 103 C It seems to be Idle Chats A while after Renya returned from the Miasma Forest, a letter was delivered to his home.The name of Trident Principalitys Duchess was written on it, it had sealing wax applied to it and moreover, for some reason Renya didnt understand at all, it was fully permeated with the scent of perfume. It was an extremely elegant letter.Renyas name had been noted down as recipient, but since it was so refined, or rather because of its fine quality, or maybe because it looked expensive, albeit, since it was such an item, Renya ended up wavering whether it really would be okay for him to open it and as such, decided to call Rona to get her opinion.Things will go south, if I make a mistake regarding who I ask for their opinion.In that aspect Rona, is excellent as a priestess, also has experience as a knight and above all she also possesses a nobles lineage.You could say that she is the perfect person to ask for a sensible opinion from.Rona, who had arrived after being called, received the letter from Renya and widened her eyes slightly, but gave the letter back to Renya right away. She explained that its not uncommon for a woman with a certain level of social status to, out of trivial consideration, sprinkle perfume onto a letter when sending it.Given that perfume itself is already a considerably expensive good, it also tells one that the sender is from quite wealthy background.The crest that had been pressed into the sealing wax had the same design as the one decorating the sword Shion owned.While once more confirming that Shion is indeed someone belonging to the archduchess lineage, Renya breaks the letters seal.The letters content starts of with an apology for Shion and Mayria always causing trouble and gratitude for receiving Renyas favor in that regard. It then continues by carefully lining up words indicating that shed like to ask Renya to take care of the two from now on as well, and at the last part it finally mentions the place and time for the sham battle with Duke Baltan.The location is a plain on the west side of Kukrika and the soldiers of Trident Principality will prepare the place.The time is three days later, after the first afternoon bell rings.From Renyas intuition, he deduces that the first bell of afternoon would indicate the time called 13 oclock(T/N: 1 pm)in his former world.As much as he looked, Renya hadnt seen any devices in this world that could tell the time in a very detailed manner. Due to this it has become a custom for the soldiers to ring the bells located in the city when it was time to start working in the morning and in the afternoon.According to Renyas muscle memory, that was 8 oclock and 13 oclock. I guess that part is mostly the same no matter where you are. (Renya) What are you talking about? Rona asks the muttering Renya. Its nothing, after shaking his head, Renya folded the letter properly and put it back into its envelope. You will accept, right? (Rona) Renya nodded at Rona, whos apparently probing for a confirmation. More or less I have given my word, havent I? Im obliged to go if Im told to do so. (Renya) Are you scheming something? (Rona) Not really? Why do you think so? (Renya) Rona answered Renya, who returned her question with a look full of curiosity, while glaring daggers at him. I just have a vague feeling. (Rona) Thats not a look one would use just from having a vague feeling. (Renya) Those were words that seemed to criticize her, but Renya says them in a tone that doesnt carry even the slightest trace of such an intention.Rona noticed that Renyas look was faltering, as if avoiding looking her way, although it was really faintly.Hes definitely up to something.And theres no mistake that its something improper.Rona thought while being almost fully convinced of it. Is Shion going to appear at the sham battle as well? (Rona) Please try asking her that yourself. Though I dont want to send her out. (Renya) Being told so honestly by Renya, Rona tilted her head to the side apparently not having expected that.Because its Renya, she thought that he would joyfully make Shion, who trained together with them, participate in the upcoming sham battle. Can I ask for the reason? (Rona) Tentatively she is as she is and shes also the daughter of Her Majesty the Archduchess, yet she just barely scratches the surface of the general concept of the wordHer Highness the Princess, right? (Renya) Please abstain from mentioning that in front of her. Although I cant deny it. (Rona) Rona spits out with a sigh.Renyas look turned slightly gloomy. You are quite terrible as well. (Renya) Meaning that you can deny it then, Renya? (Rona) Renya immediately raised the white flag at Rona who urges him to answer while asking So, how about it?He doesnt intend to belittle Shion pointlessly, but its a fact that he cannot deny it. And a fact remains a fact. I cant. But I guess Shion is fine like that. At least I dont really mind it. (Renya) Renya declared without hesitation.Im pretty sure Shion would be happy and go all limp, Rona considers it as slightly unfortunate that Shion isnt present.Going by Renyas character, the probability of him saying such words in front of the person herself is extremely low. Even though it would be great if you lifted her spirits by telling her in person. (Rona) Impossible. (Renya) Renya shot her down with a short and immediate reply.Rona stares at Renyas face while thinkingit would have been charming, if his cheeks had blushed here, but theres absolutely no sign of his facial color changing.In Ronas eyes, the impression that Renya does too many things that are unsuitable for his age is strong.Even when I used my seductive techniques to get what I wanted, he didnt fall for them.And although he looks to be weak when teased in that area, it doesnt show on his face.At least until before she met Renya, Rona possessed a high confidence in her own charm, but after easily failing in creeping into his bedroom at night, she has started to partially lose that confidence.Incidentally, since she has heard that Shion likewise failed after going for a night crawl into Renyas bedroom, there were also times where she wondered whether Renya has no interest in women.However, since there are some reactions from him, she interprets it as him (probably) not having an inclination towards men. It must be Croire-sans skirt lines iron defence (Rona) That ones definitely weird as well, Rona ponders.The only one within Renyas party whose skirt length ends above her knees is Croire. Even though she performs quite extreme movements without hesitation with the characterical agility of elves, one cant see inside her skirt at all.With the skirts shortness, there should be countless opportunities, such as the instant when she dodges or when the wind blows, but Rona has never ever seen within Croires skirt.Rona wouldnt be surprised even if there was some strange power thats not known to humans at work or if the skirt was sewn while using mithril yarn. But as its a characteristic that cannot be seen with the skirts bought in shops around here, its not unreasonably for her to end up thinking that Croires skirt uses some kind of trick either. Huh? (Renya) Its something private. So, what are you planning to do until the designated date, Renya? (Rona) Having been asked, Renya showed a slightly displeased expression.He apparently suspected that Rona would monitor him so that he doesnt come up with something strange in the end, but managed to answer somehow, Dont worry. I will limit it to going around as an adventurer. I will merely try asking for consultations. What kind of consultations would you need well, never mind. But as your void storage is groaning with the magic stones and raw materials you obtained in the Miasma Forest, you have to change those into money and distribute it to Keith and the others. (Rona) In that case it would be best to sell them at the adventurers guild. If its that place, they will take the majority of items in one batch. (Renya) I see. Then I will go with you. (Rona) Renya holds out the letter of the archduchess towards Rona with a Here you go.When Rona, who ended up accepting it somehow due to the flow of events, tried to return it to Renya in a hurry while wondering whether he possibly intends to stand her up with the excuse of not having the letter, Renya had already left with a dash.Renya succeeded in running away from Rona, but next he was caught by Fritz in the adventurers guild, when he visited in order to sell the raw materials.Renya didnt know from where Fritz had heard about his movements, but just as Renya was about to start negotiating the price of the materials at the guilds counter, his shoulder was grabbed from behind.In front of Renya, who turned around to complain about such an impolite behaviour, stood Fritz with a smile on his face. Oh is there something you need? (Renya) It looks like you have been quite active. Please update your guild rank soon. (Fritz) Im not particularly troubled even if my rank doesnt go up (Renya) We are the ones troubled. (Fritz) While putting strength into his hand as if telling Renya I will never let you run away, Fritz smile doesnt budge at all.You know, even if a man is pointing a smile at meThinking that, Renya looked for an escape route while trying to ask, Whats so troublesome about it? I dont think that it causes you any problems, does it? (Renya) The hand grabbing Renyas shoulder was filled with power.Renya believed that this man called Fritz was simply a creepy guy whos in charge of office work, but he decided to slightly alter that way of thinking after having his shoulder grabbed by him.It wasnt to the degree that he could feel pain, but Fritz hand tightly grasped Renyas shoulder so that he couldnt shake it off so easily. Capable adventurers like your group being at the lowest rank is fraud, isnt it? (Fritz) No one is bothered by that, right? (Renya) In fact there are people bothered by it. Its mostly adventurers ranging from B to E rank though. (Fritz) According to Fritz, thats because Renyas name has quickly spread.He says that it was the kind of gossip that was a mixture of lies and truths, but in the topics about him theres always one remark.Namely, that the man called Renya is an adventurer at the lowest rank, F rank.If the name of an F-ranked adventurer is that famous, the adventurers above that rank lose credibility.Thats because they end up being told things such as Even though you are B-rank, you are weaker than that F-ranked adventurer called Renya? or such.In reality there were already several cases where adventurers who were unsuccessful, even though it didnt go as far as them failing a request, or had made mistakes at their job for various reasons, were told such things by their clients.Of course its not like Renya has done anything wrong, but demands to promptly raise the man called Renya to a higher rank have started to flow into the guild. A rank-up is troublesome. I dont want to take something like an examination. Theres no merit for me even if I rank up. (Renya) Originally you will be able to receive various kinds of assistance from the guild if you rank up, but (Fritz) You know, if the guilds assistance is above the abilities of me and my friends, I will consider it. (Renya) Attractive assistance for you, who has connections to His Majesty the Elven Emperor and Her Majesty the Archduchess, is difficult. (Fritz) Even so I will have you raise your rank, okay? Fritz doesnt show any indication of pulling back.Reluctantly Renya raises the index finger of his right hand. Exemption from the rank-up examination. (Renya) Very well. I will approve of it as a special exception. (Fritz) Next the middle finger. From now on Id like you to add an extra amount of money for the raw materials I sell. (Renya) You still need money? An amount of money thats disconnected from common sense is impossible, but if its within the bounds of common sense (Fritz) Moreover the ring finger. The right to utilize the guilds distribution network. (Renya) That comes with rank. (Fritz) Then umm (Renya) If the other party doesnt pull back no matter what, I will add as many conditions as I can, Renya judges.If the other side answers that its impossible at some point, I will probably be able to refuse Fritz request with that as reasoningor so he planned, but an answer stating that its not possible hasnt appeared.Renya, who was searching for another condition that would allow him to raise his pinky, was interrupted by Fritz putting even more strength into the hand grasping his shoulder. Hey, hey! I dont have have any preferences allowing me to enjoy being grabbed this strongly by a man. (Renya) Do you get it? If you discuss most of the conditions with me, I will handle them carefully. I will promise you that here. Therefore, please accept the rank-up obediently. (Fritz) Roger. So, what rank will it be then? (Renya) If we were to believe all the rumors, it would be fine to go with S rank, but as expected, its impossible for me to offer you an exemption from the examination for such a rank. Accordingly, I will have you accept A rank, Renya-san. Are we clear? (Fritz) Renya nodded with a somewhat fed-up expression due to Fritz obvious enthusiasm to continue talking as long as he doesnt agree.In Renyas eyes its not something that exceeds his emotional standard ofI dont give a damn about what rank I get. In connection with that, we will raise Shion-sans and Rona-sans rank up to B. Please explain this to them. (Fritz) Why me? (Renya) Its because they are ranking up alongside you. (Fritz) The reasoning behind this was that theres likely no way for F-rank adventurers to always act together with an A-rank adventurer so, it was apparently decided to raise Shions and Ronas ranks as a consequence of Renyas rank-up.For Renya something like the adventurer rank didnt matter at all, but Shion and Rona might unexpectedly be happy about their ranks going up.If that is the case, its possibly not a bad choice to concede here obediently, Renya begins to feel. Understood. I will explain it to them. (Renya) Can I ask that of you? As a guild staff member will bring your new cards on another day, please exchange them for your old cards. (Fritz) After reminding Renya, Fritz called out to the staff member at the counter, pointed at Renya, and then, after sending them a sign similar to him pinching and releasing something between his thumb and index finger, he vanished inside the building.It was apparently an instruction to add a little bit extra to the payout.Its welcome as it serves as proof of my social standing, but an organization has too many various and troublesome matters after all, while thinking that, Renya started to take out the raw materials he had stored in his inventory.The sales sum of the raw materials and magic stones hit a total amount that made the guilds staff members face go a little pale.The items themselves werent overly rare, but it was the accumulation of continuous hunting throughout 10 days.Meaning, that the amount was nothing to sneer at.Nevertheless, for them to buy up everything and to pay in full probably deserves a high evaluation.Whatever one might say, I guess the guild is amazing, Renya renews his assessment.Renya, who headed straight to the military facilities with those funds, informed Keith and the soldiers below him of the date of the sham battle against the nobles private army, and after chatting for a bit, suddenly handed them the full amount.Keith and the others demanded that Renya, who cared about the treatment of the injured and the preparation of the food without sparing time for sleep, is also given a share of the money, but this was flatly declined by Renya.Thats because he didnt feel inclined to receive any more money for himself, who received the reward from Mayria in advance.A large part of his hesitation to accept any more money is owed to Renya being unable to wipe away the doubts that make him wonder whether he hasnt actually received too much.Renya showed timidity at an unexpected place, but it seems the soldiers favorably interpreted it as their instructor-dono being a bigwig who isnt fixated on money.While raising the soldiers loyalty to a point he hadnt intended at all, Renya gave the soldiers the detailed instruction of resting their bodies comfortably until the sham battle in three days. Chapter 104 Chapter 104 C It seems to be the Appointed Day for the Sham Battle And then, on the day of the sham battle set by the archduchess.Lord Baltans private army had already lined up in rows after having sorted out various preparations at the specified location. It was decided that Mayria would witness the outcome of the event as the archduchess representative. She and a group of guards take up position.But Renyas unit didnt show up. Eh? The first afternoon bell has already stopped ringing, and even more time has passed since then.The sky is blue and cloudless. The afternoon sun is brightly shining down on the plain.The military forces of Lord Baltan have been boosted by a further 100 cavalrymen and 100 archers in comparison to the number Lord Baltan had prepared the other day, totalling to a considerable scale of 900 soldiers.When it comes to such large number of troops, even Lord Baltan cant completely pay for it by himself.No matter how you look at it, its plain as day that several other nobles are backing Lord Baltan.The opinion that it might not be very adult-like, whatever the circumstances might be, to confront Renyas group with a corps, composed of 900 soldiers of infantry, archers, light cavalry and even heavy cavalry split into units of 100 soldiers, was brought up from all around up to the appointed day, but Lord Baltan rejected those views with the single remark, Nowhere in the rules is it written that the number of units has to be the same. (Baltan) Since the rules only set the date and location, there were quite a few people who believed that he should read the mood in such situation, but as one would expect, there was no one that would point that out just to brave the danger of buying the malevolence of a duke. Even more time has passed.Lord Baltan, who has already mounted his horse, tightly grasped the reins and restlessly changed the position of his horse, unable to hide his displeasure.The soldiers, who are being kept waiting, didnt show as much of a blatant behaviour as their lord, but nonetheless, they are unsettled which leads them to hit the ground with the butt end of their spear or repeatedly rock their bodies.A slightly tall pedestal-like structure had been built in order to overlook the place set as battlefield for the sham battle of the soldiers of Trident Principality. Mayria, who sat on a chair that had been installed on that pedestal, looks at Rona, who is in charge of the guards nearby, unable to comprehend the current state.Because Rona serves as Mayrias guard today, shes clad in her combat gear with her mace hanging at her waist, and a chest protector andtekkoubeing equipped atop her usual priestess garb.Rona sighs deeply, covers her face with both hands and hangs her head. Rona? (Mayria) Yes, Mayria-sama? (Rona) Do you know what has happened? (Mayria) Yes, more or less. (Rona) Rona lowered her hands and lifted her head. Ronas expression was that of someone who had completely given up on something.Mayria tries to question Rona with whats on her mind unable to bear it any longer. Dont tell me that Renya escaped!? (Mayria) Putting aside Renya, the soldiers wont try to escape. Even if they stand us up here, they are obliged to remain as soldiers of the army. (Rona) Just whats going on then? (Mayria) I vaguely suspected that he would try to pull something, but (Rona) After one more sigh, Rona starts to talk, After I showed the letter to Renya, he looked as if he was pondering about various things. The place had been clearly specified, but as for the time, it had been set to be . (Rona) Yeah, so? (Mayria) If you excuse me splitting hairs here, but you can say that no matter when he arrives, it will always be after the first afternoon bell as long as its before tomorrows first morning bell. (Rona) Mayrias face that had a somewhat cool-headed expression until then turned into something that felt somewhat idiotic and flabbergasted.In the eyes of those who knew her, the instances of Mayria showing such an expression were extremely rare, but without even the composure to enjoy that rare occasion, Rona continues, Furthermore, theres no clear definition of a penalty in case he is late. This means he can unreasonably push his way through with a simple apology even if hes that late. (Rona) Isnt that equivalent to disrespecting Her Majesty the Archduchess? I heard that he had been informed of the place and time in Her Majestys letter. Seemingly in exchange for Mayria who was at a loss for words, one of the guards opens his mouth.Rona looked at the soldiers who spoke up, and shook her head left and right, albeit slowly. Certainly, he had been notified through a letter by Her Majesty, but this sham battle is something carried out upon the demand of the nobles camp. It doesnt take place under the name of Her Majesty the Archduchess. (Rona) Ultimately, what does that mean, Rona-dono? Due to the soldier urging her to answer, Rona thought about how to put it into words and decided that it would be better to tell the truth rather than blanching her words over and replied, In the worst case it just means that its possible for him to give up at the last moment. (Rona) Because there hasnt been a penalty clearly stated in case he does? (Mayria) Rona nods at Mayrias question with a sullen expression.This is something unthinkable for knights and soldiers.As they are basically affiliated with the country, they consider it as only natural to obey the archduchess and the nobles.However, Renya is an adventurer and not someone subject to the country.Of course hes not a soldier or a knight either.Even if he were to be branded as anincompetent trainerat this point, for arguments sake, Renya isnt bound to any place in particular. Does Renya-san plan to not come? (Mayria) No, I dont think that will happen. (Rona) Rona clearly denied Mayrias question at once.Due to that decisive denial, Mayria wonders why Rona can state it that distinctively. Renya said that he will take part in the sham battle because he promised to do so. (Rona) At this point I will properly tell you in advance, Rona spoke emphatically. No matter how much quibbling he might do, seeing that he brought up the wordpromise, Im pretty sure that he will keep it. Even if he were to delay things evasively while using various excuses, it would likely be Mayria who would get troubled the most if Renya really ran away.Renya should be fully aware of that as well, Rona believes and also hopes,hell probably make sure not to cross that line.In the unlikely event that he doesntRona lightly grasps the handle of the mace hanging at her waist. I will clobber him even if I cant win (Rona) Huh? Did you say something? (Mayria) No, its nothing. (Rona) While Rona settles into a somewhat grim determination, even more time passes, and just at the time when the sun was going down and the sunlights color gradually started to change, Renyas group finally showed up in a line.Behind Renya, who walks sluggishly with an expression making it apparent that he isnt very eager about this, is Shion who follows while donning a somewhat apologetic expression.Renya is in his usual fully black attire and the soldiers wear the armys equipment.Only Shion had now returned to her usually worn outfit despite putting on the armys gear during the training. After making an appearance, they spend plenty of time until taking up their assigned position, and make the surroundings impatient by slowly getting into formation.At that time Lord Baltans patience had gone beyond its limit, and even the soldiers, who followed him, were seething in anger after thoroughly having been forced to wait.Mayria continues sitting on the seat that had been prepared for her with an expression as if she had somewhat given up, whereas Rona has been revising her thoughts towards Lord Baltan during the time she was made to wait.If it was one of the other nobles with low patience, they would have probably started talking about winning by default because Renya didnt turn up a long time ago.Even if they obtained a win by default in a sham battle, its meaningless, but it would be expectable for them to loudly clamor Renya being completely incompetent while using the default win as shield.And yet, Lord Baltan didnt even try hiding his expression and behaviour full of displeasure, but he still waited for Renya to arrive.That Lord Baltan looked at Renyas face, drew out the longsword, which was affixed to his waist, alongside the scabbard, unsheathed the sword, thrust it in Renyas direction and shouted while throwing the scabbard on the ground, You are late! To make a noble like me wait for so long, what insolence! (Baltan) Being told that, Renya pointed at the scabbard that was tossed on the ground and was about to say something, but after pondering it over for a short while, he shrugged his shoulders and remained silent.Later, when Rona asked Renya what he tried to say at that time, she was told a story about a master swordsman in Renyas former world. That swordsman drew his katana and threw away the scabbard right after the opponent, who had been very late, appeared far beyond the promised time they had set up during a meeting. Due to getting provoked by that, the swordsman lost in the end and was killed.He said that he tried to imitate that, but since he didnt remember the crucial reason why the swordsman lost after throwing away the scabbard, he stopped.Back to the topic; finally both sides had gathered.Mayria, who apparently pulled herself together somehow, stood up and shouted after raising one hand, Since both sides have assembled, the sham battle will commence from now on! (Mayria) I will have you atone for the sin of mocking me this far! I will change you bastards into rust on this sword! (Baltan) No, its a sham battle, you know? So changing us into rust is not allowed, right? (Renya) Renya calmly retorts Lord Baltans loud declaration.Both sides positions were reasonably far apart from each other, but with only them speaking, even Renyas voice, which he hadnt even strained that much, was audible due to carrying awfully well.Lord Baltans face clearly blushes, causing Renya to needlessly worry whether Lord Baltan wont end up fainting our of excitement before the battle. Show our might to that lowly bastard that was born in some ditch! For victory! For victory! In reply to Lord Baltan, the soldiers of the noble camp thrust their weapons into the sky and cheer in a chorus.Next to Renya, who is blankly staring at the situation, Keith whispers into his ear, Arent we going to do something like that as well? (Keith) Whos going to take the lead? (Renya) Instructor-dono, of course that will be you, no? (Keith) Well, you know, Im bad at such things. (Renya) As this sort of stuff is for motivation, all that matters is to put your spirit into it. (Keith) Being urged forward by Keith who pushes Renyas back while laughing, Renya takes a step forward, unsheathes his katana and turns around in the direction of Keith and the other soldiers. Gentlemen, you are soldiers of the national army of Trident Principality, so let me ask you, Renya filled his voice with power while showing a serious expression. He raised his voice into a shout, making it spread across the battlefield well. What is your duty? (Renya) It is to protect the people of this country against any hostile elements with our lives on the line, instructor-dono! After letting his look fleetingly wander towards Keith who answered as if acting as representative for the soldiers, Renya continues. Then, although it might be a sham battle, just who are the ones standing in front of us right now in this place? (Renya) The soldiers all together answered Renya, who pointed his thumb over his shoulder in Lord Baltans direction, The enemy, instructor-dono! How do you handle enemies? (Renya) We simply cut them down! In that case, now and here, show me just that. (Renya) Turning his back on the soldiers, Renya faces Lord Baltans group and yells, Get them! (Renya) Battle start!! (Mayria) The roars of the soldiers on Renyas side reverberate as if trying to drown out Mayrias announcement.The soldiers were able to thoroughly focus on training their legs and loins on the parade ground, which was changed into having an extremely bad footing, and in the Miasma Forest, which has bad footing to begin with. They begin charging in defiance of the difference of numbers.Apparently overwhelmed by their spirit and momentum, Lord Baltan was late in giving his orders.People appearing to be aides call out to Lord Baltan, who doesnt move as if frozen while having cramps on his face, in panic. Lord Baltan, who came to his senses thereupon, finally was about to order the heavy cavalry to charge, but at that time the soldiers of Renyas side had already approached right in front of the private army.A cavalry is certainly a powerful unit in comparison to infantry, but its power mainly depends on its mobility.One could say the the crux of their combat power especially lies in the charge at the start of a battle.However, once the distance has been shortened because the delay in orders, a charge has become impossible.Thats equal to cutting down the majority of the cavalrys combat ability. The heavy cavalry will form a defensive formation! The infantry will assist! The light cavalry will take a detour! (Baltan) Perceiving in an instant that the meaning in having them charge was gone, Lord Baltan immediately changes his strategy.He decided to use the heavy cavalry, which should have originally charged the opponent to throw their formation into disorder with its mass and power, as defensive shield.The heavy cavalry forms a line side-by-side to meet the enemy after stopping the attacking soldiers of Renyas side.In other words, they will attack the enemys flank with the light cavalry that made a detour after the heavy cavalry kills the momentum of the enemys charge with their heavy armors.Moreover, Lord Baltan has the archers in the rear fall back.Archery will be mostly useless once it turned into a melee. Archers, discard your bows and draw your swords! If they are going to serve no purpose, it will be better to give up on it from the start and make use of them as infantry.The weapon they carry is a small sword. In contrast to the infantry, the archers only possess light equipment, but to begin with, its a private army which has an overwhelming predominance with its numerical superiority compared to Renya and the others.A slight decrease in combat power doesnt matter, Lord Baltan decided.On the other hand, Renyas soldiers dont have the longswords which are the standard equipment of the armys soldiers, although Renya has his katana with him just as usual.The other day Renya slipped through the lineup of Lord Baltans troops, but he was shrewd enough to remember to take a look at Lord Baltans battle array.The heavy cavalry he saw then was something that made even Renya feelthey will be a troublesome opponent, wont they?Once he considered them to be troublesome, the necessity to set up countermeasures against them was the logical conclusion.As result of pondering about various methods, Renya decided to change the weapons used by the soldiers from longswords to metal staffs.Since its a sham battle, actively using attacks that might kill the opponent is not allowed.Moreover, weapons like normal longswords are extremely unlikely to be helpful against that heavy cavalry.Wouldnt it be best to prevent them being put to use then?Thats the conclusion he reached.The metal staffs that were provided by Renya as substitutes have almost the same length as the longswords used by the soldiers. A grip has been applied to the handle so that the soldiers can grab them properly, and a sword guard so that they can stop the blows of an opponents sword has been added as well.If its blunt weapons, something along the lines of maces would have been fine to provide as well, but even if Renyas smithing skills were fairly high, creating maces for 100 people in a little less than three days was unreasonable.In comparison to that, the staffs had been easy to make since they are really nothing more but simple metal rod.Given that it was at the level of creating a grip and and a guard as well as twining a leather strap around the handle, it didnt take that much time.Having a thickness allowing to grasp it with one hand, the metal staffs had been produced while only pursuing strength.Its appearance is very boorish, but as for its power, Yaaa! Shion starts to hit a heavy cavalryman that had been converted into a shield while yelling out her fighting spirit.It was impossible for the blow, which she hammered in while putting the power of her whole body behind it, to reach the rider, but she hits the jaw of the horse ridden by the rider.That one strike, which had doubtlessly powered up in comparison to before the training, throws up the head of the horse that has been protected by armor making it look up to the sky, and the next sideway-sweep snapped the horses head into the direction it was hit in a right angle.The horse, which had its brain and head jolted by the two-attack-combo, crumbles on the spot while foaming from its mouth as it hovers between life and death.Of course the rider on its back would originally jump off in order to avoid being dragged into the horses ongoing collapse, but because of the weight of the armor cladding the heavy cavalrymans body, hes not in a situation where can get off that easily.He drops the lance, which he held in a hand, lets go of the reins and tries to dismount the horse, but not being in time, he becomes completely helpless before long when his leg is caught between the ground and the horses body that falls down as is.The stuck leg didnt seem to have been crushed thanks to the armor, but in front of the rider, who is about reach a point where he can move after drawing out his leg somehow, stands Shion with a smile plastered all over her face as she shouldered the metal staff. U-Umm? Ready, set, go! (Shion) The miserable scream of the victim mingles with the clanking sound as metal is hit by metal.Shion continued to hit the armor with all her power, and around the time when the screams of the victim completely ceased, she wiped away her sweat and exhaled deeply. Shion-sama, havent you spent a bit too much time on that? (Keith) Keith cautions her while likewise successively knocking down heavy cavalrymen and the infantrymen who acted as their support.Generally speaking, with the situation of the opponents side having an overwhelming advantage in numbers, spending too much time on a single enemy included the danger of getting surrounded.Shion meekly nods. You are right. Next time I will take them out a lot faster. (Shion) Thats the way to go. Theres still much, much more prey left. (Keith) An infantryman of the nobles camp, who was hit at the side of his abdomen with the staff that was fully swung by a soldier, rolls around like a cartwheel without even raising a scream.The spot, which was hit at the flank of the soldier, who stopped after ten odd revolutions, was dented in and the soldier himself kept twitching repeatedly while fainted.The strike of yet another soldier, which was released as if scooping up, catches the chin of a heavy cavalryman and after making him do a backward somersault, the rider smashes on the ground with a squishy sound while facing upside-down.Im pretty sure that the white broken pieces, which were were sent flying upwards higher than his body, were broken teeth, Renya judges while observing the battlefield as he carried the katana in his hand.With that, even if his life gets saved, his chin has been smashed into pieces. Although its not completely gone, I think that he wont be able to return to a normal life, Renya thought.He felt sympathetic, but if hes asked So what will you do about it?, it wont amount to anything except him simply watching.As for accidents during training, he only thinksI guess such things happen as well.The cavalry, which took a detour trying to hit the flank of Renyas unit, immediately realized that they didnt make it in time.Even if they tried to hit the flank, all of Renyas unit had already plunged into the ranks of the heavy cavalry and infantry, and the situation had developed into a melee.If the cavalry thrust in there, assuming that they would be able to deliver a blow to Renyas unit, its very likely that they would simultaneously cause damage to the heavy cavalry, which has been routed, and their own armys infantry.A part of Renyas unit which noticed the cavalry group that stopped moving, starts to attack with their staffs at hand.At once screams and sounds of metal hitting flesh and bone arise.Being thrown to the ground alongside their knocked down horses, the riders are showered with blows by the staffs without being allowed to stand up.Even those who were lucky enough to not being rolled up by their horses collapsing, are one after the other silenced in two different way; being knocked upwards or downwards.While watching one soldier and then another of the opposing side lose without even raising any screams, Renya calmly considered,I might have made a mistake in the choice of weapons. Chapter 104 C It seems to be the Appointed Day for the Sham Battle And then, on the day of the sham battle set by the archduchess.Lord Baltans private army had already lined up in rows after having sorted out various preparations at the specified location. It was decided that Mayria would witness the outcome of the event as the archduchess representative. She and a group of guards take up position.But Renyas unit didnt show up. Eh? The first afternoon bell has already stopped ringing, and even more time has passed since then.The sky is blue and cloudless. The afternoon sun is brightly shining down on the plain.The military forces of Lord Baltan have been boosted by a further 100 cavalrymen and 100 archers in comparison to the number Lord Baltan had prepared the other day, totalling to a considerable scale of 900 soldiers.When it comes to such large number of troops, even Lord Baltan cant completely pay for it by himself.No matter how you look at it, its plain as day that several other nobles are backing Lord Baltan.The opinion that it might not be very adult-like, whatever the circumstances might be, to confront Renyas group with a corps, composed of 900 soldiers of infantry, archers, light cavalry and even heavy cavalry split into units of 100 soldiers, was brought up from all around up to the appointed day, but Lord Baltan rejected those views with the single remark, Nowhere in the rules is it written that the number of units has to be the same. (Baltan) Since the rules only set the date and location, there were quite a few people who believed that he should read the mood in such situation, but as one would expect, there was no one that would point that out just to brave the danger of buying the malevolence of a duke. Even more time has passed.Lord Baltan, who has already mounted his horse, tightly grasped the reins and restlessly changed the position of his horse, unable to hide his displeasure.The soldiers, who are being kept waiting, didnt show as much of a blatant behaviour as their lord, but nonetheless, they are unsettled which leads them to hit the ground with the butt end of their spear or repeatedly rock their bodies.A slightly tall pedestal-like structure had been built in order to overlook the place set as battlefield for the sham battle of the soldiers of Trident Principality. Mayria, who sat on a chair that had been installed on that pedestal, looks at Rona, who is in charge of the guards nearby, unable to comprehend the current state.Because Rona serves as Mayrias guard today, shes clad in her combat gear with her mace hanging at her waist, and a chest protector andtekkoubeing equipped atop her usual priestess garb.Rona sighs deeply, covers her face with both hands and hangs her head. Rona? (Mayria) Yes, Mayria-sama? (Rona) Do you know what has happened? (Mayria) Yes, more or less. (Rona) Rona lowered her hands and lifted her head. Ronas expression was that of someone who had completely given up on something.Mayria tries to question Rona with whats on her mind unable to bear it any longer. Dont tell me that Renya escaped!? (Mayria) Putting aside Renya, the soldiers wont try to escape. Even if they stand us up here, they are obliged to remain as soldiers of the army. (Rona) Just whats going on then? (Mayria) I vaguely suspected that he would try to pull something, but (Rona) After one more sigh, Rona starts to talk, After I showed the letter to Renya, he looked as if he was pondering about various things. The place had been clearly specified, but as for the time, it had been set to be . (Rona) Yeah, so? (Mayria) If you excuse me splitting hairs here, but you can say that no matter when he arrives, it will always be after the first afternoon bell as long as its before tomorrows first morning bell. (Rona) Mayrias face that had a somewhat cool-headed expression until then turned into something that felt somewhat idiotic and flabbergasted.In the eyes of those who knew her, the instances of Mayria showing such an expression were extremely rare, but without even the composure to enjoy that rare occasion, Rona continues, Furthermore, theres no clear definition of a penalty in case he is late. This means he can unreasonably push his way through with a simple apology even if hes that late. (Rona) Isnt that equivalent to disrespecting Her Majesty the Archduchess? I heard that he had been informed of the place and time in Her Majestys letter. Seemingly in exchange for Mayria who was at a loss for words, one of the guards opens his mouth.Rona looked at the soldiers who spoke up, and shook her head left and right, albeit slowly. Certainly, he had been notified through a letter by Her Majesty, but this sham battle is something carried out upon the demand of the nobles camp. It doesnt take place under the name of Her Majesty the Archduchess. (Rona) Ultimately, what does that mean, Rona-dono? Due to the soldier urging her to answer, Rona thought about how to put it into words and decided that it would be better to tell the truth rather than blanching her words over and replied, In the worst case it just means that its possible for him to give up at the last moment. (Rona) Because there hasnt been a penalty clearly stated in case he does? (Mayria) Rona nods at Mayrias question with a sullen expression.This is something unthinkable for knights and soldiers.As they are basically affiliated with the country, they consider it as only natural to obey the archduchess and the nobles.However, Renya is an adventurer and not someone subject to the country.Of course hes not a soldier or a knight either.Even if he were to be branded as anincompetent trainerat this point, for arguments sake, Renya isnt bound to any place in particular. Does Renya-san plan to not come? (Mayria) No, I dont think that will happen. (Rona) Rona clearly denied Mayrias question at once.Due to that decisive denial, Mayria wonders why Rona can state it that distinctively. Renya said that he will take part in the sham battle because he promised to do so. (Rona) At this point I will properly tell you in advance, Rona spoke emphatically. No matter how much quibbling he might do, seeing that he brought up the wordpromise, Im pretty sure that he will keep it. Even if he were to delay things evasively while using various excuses, it would likely be Mayria who would get troubled the most if Renya really ran away.Renya should be fully aware of that as well, Rona believes and also hopes,hell probably make sure not to cross that line.In the unlikely event that he doesntRona lightly grasps the handle of the mace hanging at her waist. I will clobber him even if I cant win (Rona) Huh? Did you say something? (Mayria) No, its nothing. (Rona) While Rona settles into a somewhat grim determination, even more time passes, and just at the time when the sun was going down and the sunlights color gradually started to change, Renyas group finally showed up in a line.Behind Renya, who walks sluggishly with an expression making it apparent that he isnt very eager about this, is Shion who follows while donning a somewhat apologetic expression.Renya is in his usual fully black attire and the soldiers wear the armys equipment.Only Shion had now returned to her usually worn outfit despite putting on the armys gear during the training.After making an appearance, they spend plenty of time until taking up their assigned position, and make the surroundings impatient by slowly getting into formation.At that time Lord Baltans patience had gone beyond its limit, and even the soldiers, who followed him, were seething in anger after thoroughly having been forced to wait.Mayria continues sitting on the seat that had been prepared for her with an expression as if she had somewhat given up, whereas Rona has been revising her thoughts towards Lord Baltan during the time she was made to wait.If it was one of the other nobles with low patience, they would have probably started talking about winning by default because Renya didnt turn up a long time ago.Even if they obtained a win by default in a sham battle, its meaningless, but it would be expectable for them to loudly clamor Renya being completely incompetent while using the default win as shield.And yet, Lord Baltan didnt even try hiding his expression and behaviour full of displeasure, but he still waited for Renya to arrive.That Lord Baltan looked at Renyas face, drew out the longsword, which was affixed to his waist, alongside the scabbard, unsheathed the sword, thrust it in Renyas direction and shouted while throwing the scabbard on the ground, You are late! To make a noble like me wait for so long, what insolence! (Baltan) Being told that, Renya pointed at the scabbard that was tossed on the ground and was about to say something, but after pondering it over for a short while, he shrugged his shoulders and remained silent.Later, when Rona asked Renya what he tried to say at that time, she was told a story about a master swordsman in Renyas former world. That swordsman drew his katana and threw away the scabbard right after the opponent, who had been very late, appeared far beyond the promised time they had set up during a meeting. Due to getting provoked by that, the swordsman lost in the end and was killed.He said that he tried to imitate that, but since he didnt remember the crucial reason why the swordsman lost after throwing away the scabbard, he stopped.Back to the topic; finally both sides had gathered.Mayria, who apparently pulled herself together somehow, stood up and shouted after raising one hand, Since both sides have assembled, the sham battle will commence from now on! (Mayria) I will have you atone for the sin of mocking me this far! I will change you bastards into rust on this sword! (Baltan) No, its a sham battle, you know? So changing us into rust is not allowed, right? (Renya) Renya calmly retorts Lord Baltans loud declaration.Both sides positions were reasonably far apart from each other, but with only them speaking, even Renyas voice, which he hadnt even strained that much, was audible due to carrying awfully well.Lord Baltans face clearly blushes, causing Renya to needlessly worry whether Lord Baltan wont end up fainting our of excitement before the battle. Show our might to that lowly bastard that was born in some ditch! For victory! For victory! In reply to Lord Baltan, the soldiers of the noble camp thrust their weapons into the sky and cheer in a chorus.Next to Renya, who is blankly staring at the situation, Keith whispers into his ear, Arent we going to do something like that as well? (Keith) Whos going to take the lead? (Renya) Instructor-dono, of course that will be you, no? (Keith) Well, you know, Im bad at such things. (Renya) As this sort of stuff is for motivation, all that matters is to put your spirit into it. (Keith) Being urged forward by Keith who pushes Renyas back while laughing, Renya takes a step forward, unsheathes his katana and turns around in the direction of Keith and the other soldiers. Gentlemen, you are soldiers of the national army of Trident Principality, so let me ask you, Renya filled his voice with power while showing a serious expression. He raised his voice into a shout, making it spread across the battlefield well. What is your duty? (Renya) It is to protect the people of this country against any hostile elements with our lives on the line, instructor-dono! After letting his look fleetingly wander towards Keith who answered as if acting as representative for the soldiers, Renya continues. Then, although it might be a sham battle, just who are the ones standing in front of us right now in this place? (Renya) The soldiers all together answered Renya, who pointed his thumb over his shoulder in Lord Baltans direction, The enemy, instructor-dono! How do you handle enemies? (Renya) We simply cut them down! In that case, now and here, show me just that. (Renya) Turning his back on the soldiers, Renya faces Lord Baltans group and yells, Get them! (Renya) Battle start!! (Mayria) The roars of the soldiers on Renyas side reverberate as if trying to drown out Mayrias announcement.The soldiers were able to thoroughly focus on training their legs and loins on the parade ground, which was changed into having an extremely bad footing, and in the Miasma Forest, which has bad footing to begin with. They begin charging in defiance of the difference of numbers.Apparently overwhelmed by their spirit and momentum, Lord Baltan was late in giving his orders.People appearing to be aides call out to Lord Baltan, who doesnt move as if frozen while having cramps on his face, in panic. Lord Baltan, who came to his senses thereupon, finally was about to order the heavy cavalry to charge, but at that time the soldiers of Renyas side had already approached right in front of the private army.A cavalry is certainly a powerful unit in comparison to infantry, but its power mainly depends on its mobility.One could say the the crux of their combat power especially lies in the charge at the start of a battle.However, once the distance has been shortened because the delay in orders, a charge has become impossible.Thats equal to cutting down the majority of the cavalrys combat ability. The heavy cavalry will form a defensive formation! The infantry will assist! The light cavalry will take a detour! (Baltan) Perceiving in an instant that the meaning in having them charge was gone, Lord Baltan immediately changes his strategy.He decided to use the heavy cavalry, which should have originally charged the opponent to throw their formation into disorder with its mass and power, as defensive shield.The heavy cavalry forms a line side-by-side to meet the enemy after stopping the attacking soldiers of Renyas side.In other words, they will attack the enemys flank with the light cavalry that made a detour after the heavy cavalry kills the momentum of the enemys charge with their heavy armors.Moreover, Lord Baltan has the archers in the rear fall back.Archery will be mostly useless once it turned into a melee. Archers, discard your bows and draw your swords! If they are going to serve no purpose, it will be better to give up on it from the start and make use of them as infantry.The weapon they carry is a small sword. In contrast to the infantry, the archers only possess light equipment, but to begin with, its a private army which has an overwhelming predominance with its numerical superiority compared to Renya and the others.A slight decrease in combat power doesnt matter, Lord Baltan decided.On the other hand, Renyas soldiers dont have the longswords which are the standard equipment of the armys soldiers, although Renya has his katana with him just as usual.The other day Renya slipped through the lineup of Lord Baltans troops, but he was shrewd enough to remember to take a look at Lord Baltans battle array.The heavy cavalry he saw then was something that made even Renya feelthey will be a troublesome opponent, wont they?Once he considered them to be troublesome, the necessity to set up countermeasures against them was the logical conclusion.As result of pondering about various methods, Renya decided to change the weapons used by the soldiers from longswords to metal staffs.Since its a sham battle, actively using attacks that might kill the opponent is not allowed.Moreover, weapons like normal longswords are extremely unlikely to be helpful against that heavy cavalry.Wouldnt it be best to prevent them being put to use then?Thats the conclusion he reached.The metal staffs that were provided by Renya as substitutes have almost the same length as the longswords used by the soldiers. A grip has been applied to the handle so that the soldiers can grab them properly, and a sword guard so that they can stop the blows of an opponents sword has been added as well.If its blunt weapons, something along the lines of maces would have been fine to provide as well, but even if Renyas smithing skills were fairly high, creating maces for 100 people in a little less than three days was unreasonable.In comparison to that, the staffs had been easy to make since they are really nothing more but simple metal rod.Given that it was at the level of creating a grip and and a guard as well as twining a leather strap around the handle, it didnt take that much time.Having a thickness allowing to grasp it with one hand, the metal staffs had been produced while only pursuing strength.Its appearance is very boorish, but as for its power, Yaaa! Shion starts to hit a heavy cavalryman that had been converted into a shield while yelling out her fighting spirit.It was impossible for the blow, which she hammered in while putting the power of her whole body behind it, to reach the rider, but she hits the jaw of the horse ridden by the rider.That one strike, which had doubtlessly powered up in comparison to before the training, throws up the head of the horse that has been protected by armor making it look up to the sky, and the next sideway-sweep snapped the horses head into the direction it was hit in a right angle.The horse, which had its brain and head jolted by the two-attack-combo, crumbles on the spot while foaming from its mouth as it hovers between life and death.Of course the rider on its back would originally jump off in order to avoid being dragged into the horses ongoing collapse, but because of the weight of the armor cladding the heavy cavalrymans body, hes not in a situation where can get off that easily.He drops the lance, which he held in a hand, lets go of the reins and tries to dismount the horse, but not being in time, he becomes completely helpless before long when his leg is caught between the ground and the horses body that falls down as is.The stuck leg didnt seem to have been crushed thanks to the armor, but in front of the rider, who is about reach a point where he can move after drawing out his leg somehow, stands Shion with a smile plastered all over her face as she shouldered the metal staff. U-Umm? Ready, set, go! (Shion) The miserable scream of the victim mingles with the clanking sound as metal is hit by metal.Shion continued to hit the armor with all her power, and around the time when the screams of the victim completely ceased, she wiped away her sweat and exhaled deeply. Shion-sama, havent you spent a bit too much time on that? (Keith) Keith cautions her while likewise successively knocking down heavy cavalrymen and the infantrymen who acted as their support.Generally speaking, with the situation of the opponents side having an overwhelming advantage in numbers, spending too much time on a single enemy included the danger of getting surrounded.Shion meekly nods. You are right. Next time I will take them out a lot faster. (Shion) Thats the way to go. Theres still much, much more prey left. (Keith) An infantryman of the nobles camp, who was hit at the side of his abdomen with the staff that was fully swung by a soldier, rolls around like a cartwheel without even raising a scream.The spot, which was hit at the flank of the soldier, who stopped after ten odd revolutions, was dented in and the soldier himself kept twitching repeatedly while fainted.The strike of yet another soldier, which was released as if scooping up, catches the chin of a heavy cavalryman and after making him do a backward somersault, the rider smashes on the ground with a squishy sound while facing upside-down.Im pretty sure that the white broken pieces, which were were sent flying upwards higher than his body, were broken teeth, Renya judges while observing the battlefield as he carried the katana in his hand.With that, even if his life gets saved, his chin has been smashed into pieces. Although its not completely gone, I think that he wont be able to return to a normal life, Renya thought.He felt sympathetic, but if hes asked So what will you do about it?, it wont amount to anything except him simply watching.As for accidents during training, he only thinksI guess such things happen as well.The cavalry, which took a detour trying to hit the flank of Renyas unit, immediately realized that they didnt make it in time.Even if they tried to hit the flank, all of Renyas unit had already plunged into the ranks of the heavy cavalry and infantry, and the situation had developed into a melee.If the cavalry thrust in there, assuming that they would be able to deliver a blow to Renyas unit, its very likely that they would simultaneously cause damage to the heavy cavalry, which has been routed, and their own armys infantry.A part of Renyas unit which noticed the cavalry group that stopped moving, starts to attack with their staffs at hand.At once screams and sounds of metal hitting flesh and bone arise.Being thrown to the ground alongside their knocked down horses, the riders are showered with blows by the staffs without being allowed to stand up.Even those who were lucky enough to not being rolled up by their horses collapsing, are one after the other silenced in two different way; being knocked upwards or downwards.While watching one soldier and then another of the opposing side lose without even raising any screams, Renya calmly considered,I might have made a mistake in the choice of weapons. Chapter 105 Chapter 105 C It seems to be a Victory Celebration Party In the evening, bright red lights have been turned on in one of the dining halls in the armys facilities, and 100 soldiers were causing an uproar.It was the victory celebration party for the sham battle that took place during the day.The losses of war horses on the side of the nobles private army was close to complete annihilation, though the detailed count is unknown.As for the soldiers, 380 of the 900 soldiers have been injured seriously and lost their ability to move.Of the remaining soldiers, the results were that a minority escaped unscathed thanks to them running away at full steam, while the majority made the right decision by escaping, only receiving minor injuries. Say, Renya, you helped them out a bit, didnt you? Whats this about? (Renya) You coerced them, no? The commanders surroundings, with all your might. Because of that they were late in giving orders and it turned into a melee, right? Well, I wouldnt know what youre talking about. (Renya) Did such a conversation take place or not?In any case, with their loss ratio exceeding 40%, its an outcome you might as well call a crushing defeat.By the way, Lord Baltans aides were apparently safe as they had escaped early on, but Renya doesnt know what kind of fate awaited Lord Baltan himself, who remained till the end while giving out orders.Renya feels like he saw the spectacle of a mass of mud that had an imposing moustache being eagerly kicked and stepped on by the soldiers of the national army under Keiths command, but Renya believesIm pretty sure that was just my imagination.Unfortunate accidents can happen anywhere.Thats true, all the more if its an area where 1000 people engage in combat activities, even if its just a mock battle.Such being the case, Renyas group, who obtained victory against the nobles army, decided to hold a victory celebration upon Keiths suggestion.The number of those participating in the celebration party is 105.The unit of soldiers, of whom Renya was in charge of training, participates without even a single one missing, and Renya, Shion, Rona, Emil and Frau have joined in as well.Originally they should have carried it out after reserving one of the bars in the city, but since they wouldnt have been able to do so, as there were just too many of them together, the location was hurriedly changed to the army facilitys dining hall and the party was held there.Renya worried whether there would be any problems with using an army facility, but Mayria, who watched the mock battle until the end with a somewhat blank gaze, overheard their talk and brought up the issue with the manager of the army facility. Didnt you do well to come to an agreement despite missing the necessary authority? (Renya) Thats because those around me cause a fuss for some reason just because Im the archduchess daughter. (Mayria) Renya tried to get Mayria to join the party, since he got her to make the effort of getting them the venue for better or worse, but he was gently turned down.Even if its tolerated to provide a bit support to Renya as his employer, it doesnt seem to be advisable for Mayria to support a specific part of the armys soldiers, who are serving the country, too much.Though, if thats the case, it creates the question whether Shion isnt allowed to do so either? Once Renya asked that, Mayria answered while smiling bitterly, Ane-sama likely wont make an appearance on the political stage anymore. (Mayria) It seems that Shions existence has almost completely dropped out of the realm of actual politics and had apparently entered the state where it wont be a problem no matter what she does at this point in time.Renya didnt know whether its okay to call that an easygoing and nice position or a lonely position in a certain meaning, but he stops this train of thought by showing an ambiguous smile.Tables overflowing with drinks and food have been lined up in the spacious dining hall.An exclusive cook works at the dining hall which is a military establishment to begin with, but since there was the opinion that it would be poor manners to force the cook into working overtime, the cooking was entrusted to Renya for some reason.The soldiers, who devoured the food made by Renya earnestly in the Miasma Forest, apparently learned that the food prepared by Renya is delicious, resulting in them constantly demanding Renya to cook for them.Unable to bear the situation where he was repeatedly coaxed and pressed on by a group of filthy middle-aged men, Renya took up the task reluctantly, but as it was also impossible to create food for all 100 soldiers by himself, he gave up quickly and asked Frau for help.Frau had an expression showing that she was excessively unwilling to do it, but as she was apparently unable to deny Renya after having been asked earnestly, she agreed unenthusiastically.Renya didnt have any intention to force her, but having said that, the penance of struggling to make food for 100 people by himself would await him, if she turned him down here.He has resigned himself to such a thing being unavoidable, as long as it was during the training, but its a task difficult to accept in the present situation.Due to Renya bowing his head as he begs while being all apologetic about it, Frau, who realized that her emotions apparently were completely visible on her face, slaps her own cheeks with both hands. Do you hate it this much? (Renya) I cant get motivated for it ~no. This will be nothing but labor ~no. (Frau) Once he wondered what kind of reason she would bring forth, it seemed that the reason for her being unwilling was the lack of a reward for her toil.Frau scratches her head due to Renya being unable to hide his surprise over the slightly harsh reason. I will compromise by thinking of it as service that will bring about a large amount of monetary reward ~no. (Frau) Yeah I will rely on you. (Renya) Renya couldnt say anything more than that as he lacked any further words.With Fraus help they were able to prepare the food without a hitch, although it was a reasonably hard job.Renya made other-worldtonjiruand while wondering whether he wont be pestered in the middle of the cooking, he simply prepared a huge amount of grilledmisoand soy sauceonigiri.Frau arranges the various food they created skillfully on dishes and lines them up on top of the tables one after the other.With there being an abundance of various dishes lined up, it was a sight clearly showing that Frau easily surpassed Renya in the number of dishes in her repertoire, but Renya cannot help feeling mystified that its theonigiri, which he continues to make with all his heart, that are decreasing at an alarming rate for some reason. You guys thats definitely odd. (Renya) While appeasing his thirst with a cooled ale, Renya feels a kind of eeriness as soon as he sees the 100 soldiers grabbing the grilledonigirithat were piled up into a mountain and greedily devouring them by stuffing their mouths full of them.Even if the quality of the rice is average, Renya had some confidence in his way of cooking the rice and that his grilling skill is appropriate.However, the mountain ofonigiricreated by Renya was something he made from rice, which he brought with him in a huge amount, while planning to tell the soldiers that he definitely wont forgive any of them if there was some food left over.And yet, before it reached the point of him wondering whether there would be any leftovers or not, he feels like theonigiriare vanishing too quickly.Even Frau, who finished making dishes to some extent, seemingly judged that it would probably be better if she helped Renya with theonigiri, and once she took up her position next to Renya, she started to fiercely shapeonigiriafter wetting her hands with salt water. Somehow this is amazing, isnt it? Unable to put her hands on the mountain of grilledonigiri, Rona watches Shion, who savagely gulps down theonigiri, in a daze. And its none other than Emil who secures her own slightly larger share of various dishes of Fraus cooking while floating a broad smile after seeing the spectacle taking place as she drinks wine and pecks at her food.While looking at the cluster of rice that has been consumed in large quantities in front of her eyes, Emil mutters as if giving her praise, Well, its a dish they wont be able to eat anymore once Renya stops working as their instructor, so its not like I dont understand their feelings either. (Emil) Thats certainly true, but if you like, how about selling it at our shop area? Renya mentioned a plan he came up with, but the moment they heard those words, the soldiers gazes concentrated on Renya.The soldiers speak up all together towards Renya, who unintentionally stops his hand that is holding anonigiri. Wed like to request that by all means, instructor-dono! Dont shout all at once. I will take it into consideration. (Renya) The army has many people.If something like a fanbase takes root there, I can expect large amount of sales even if it starts out with small profits.Thanks to rising in the adventurer ranks, Renya has obtained the right to use the guilds distribution network. He began to calculate that he should try commercializing rice in various ways, since hes buying it up anyway. In reality this is a really well-made dish, instructor-dono. Keith says while precisely securingonigiriwith both his hands. On top of it being edible with one hand, its not bulky. Moreover you can eat it even when it has cooled down, though its also delicious after being freshly made. It is tasty even if you warm it up afterwards. (Keith) Theres no persuasiveness in what you are saying if you are holding one in each of your hands. This soup has a nice taste, too. It is using an unusual seasoning, isnt it? Thats because it has been made out of elven beans I think you usually cant obtain those. Once I consider it properly, the soy sauce andmiso, who are used in making the grilledonigiri, is a special product of the elven country. Those are not ingredients that will normally appear on the markets of the human continent.Renya has connections allowing him to get his hands on them continuously, but without that, you might as well say that theres almost no chance to taste them as long as one stays in the human continent.Guessing that the food they are eating seems to be a high-class item they wont get hold of that often, the soldiers eating speed rises even further.Predicting that the amount of rice that he currently has remaining wont be enough to satisfy the soldiers no matter how she thinks about it, Frau went to the hearth in order to cook more rice. Oh well I guess its fine hey, Shion! You can eat as much as you like once go back home with us, right? (Renya) One thing has nothing to do with the other. (Shion) Shion-sama, please hand it over to us, if you can eat it at any time. Right, right! We dont know when will be able to eat this afterwards if we dont buy it! In the first place, where do you store such a huge amount in that body of yours, Shion-sama? Shion spared only a glance at the soldiers, who were blaming her and using words that seemed to be criticisms, and then ignored them in a huff.She carries her right hand to her mouth with twoonigiriin between her fingers. Meanwhile she firmly keeps threeonigiriin her possession with her left hand. Renya wonderedNo matter how you put it, isnt that called being too greedy?, but the next words spoken by Shion make Renya even more dumbfounded. In such things its alwaysfirst come, first served. (Shion) You say that!? You are the one telling us that, Shion-sama!? You guys! Show your pride as national armys soldiers! Even if the one saying it is Her Highness, dont go easy on her! Due to the eating speed accelerating even further, Renya wondered whether it was alright to start messing around with the soldiers soon and took out several jars and bottles from his inventory.Once he opens one of the jars, theres slightly gooey and reddishmisoinside. Renya smears theonigiriwith that redmisoand themisohe had used until now, alternating between them.Moreover, he lined up small bottles on top of a table.While Renya diligently grills theonigiriwith the two types ofmiso, Keith, who was driven by curiosity, tries to shake one of the small bottles with his hand.A sound of splashing resounded from within. What are those? (Keith) Its booze. I made it. (Renya) While answering, Renya once again piles up theonigirithat had finished grilling.Those were the two types ofonigirithat clearly had clearly a detectable differences in color when they were smeared with themiso, but once they were grilled and had some burn marks on them, everything but a small difference, barely recognizable even if one looked at it really really hard, was gone.All the soldiers, who only cared that they were freshly made, scramble for thoseonigiriand stuff them into their mouths.And then, a part of them suddenly began to suffer in agony.Keith felt that something was amiss because those that had eaten theonigirihad bright red faces and were shedding tears. Instructor-dono!? Certainly, those arent (Keith) Poisoned? No, certainly not. You think I would do something as wasteful as mixing poison in food? (Renya) Then? (Keith) I smeared them with mustardmiso. To be precise, I guess its a combination ofmisoand mustard, which I bought on the market, that I mixed well and fermented. Though its very spicy, its really tasty. This time I tried to varnish theonigiriwith a strong, hot taste. (Renya) Mustard was fairly expensive, but it was something that could be obtained on the market normally. He experimentally tried to create it as a variation ofmisoand not with the intention of making a joke item, but this time he tried using it as restraint for the soldiers who are devouring an excessively large amount ofonigiri.Theonigiriseemed slightly too spicy or rather the effect was immediate. A part of the soldiers screamed, demanding water or alcohol while being drenched in sweat.Even Shion was apparently fully afflicted by these grilledonigirithat used a mix of mustard andmiso. She wasnt in agony like the soldiers, but as expected her face is red and she has teary eyes. Unluckily, she grabs hold of a small bottle that was placed on the table by Renya in her search for a substitute for the ale that had run out just now.And without giving Renya any time to stop her, she undid the lid and poured the liquid down her throat in one go. !? Buhaaa!? (Shion) Tossing away the bottle she held in her hand, Shion exhales deeply.A strong scent of alcohol was mixed into the breath that Shion exhaled with all her might.In front of Renya, who has a feeling of She went and done it, Emil picks up the bottle that was drained empty by Shion a moment ago and sniffs the scent of the small dose of liquid that was left within. This is distilled liquor, isnt it? (Emil) Distilled liquor, you say? (Keith) Keith asks back due to the unfamiliar word he heard. Its booze created with a technique to deepen its alcohol content by gathering only the alcohol from the undistilled booze. He probably used the tools and materials in my possession, but going by this smell, wont this level of alcohol concentration usually set your throat on fire? (Emil) Yeah, this burns. I tried testing only a bit, but if its a fellow who cant hold their liquor, theyll go unconscious with one swig. (Renya) Eh? Why did you you let her drink such strong booze? (Rona) Rona, who heard Renyas and Emils conversation, turns pale.Shion hung her head while grasping her throat in front of Renya, whos wondering whether theres anything wrong with her having drunk the alcohol, and then abruptly lifted her face.Her eyes are fully glazed.Renya immediately realized, just by looking into her eyes; that these are the eyes of someone who mustnt be allowed to drink this alcohol. Trident Principality, First Princess, Shion Femme Fatale! Getting up with a snap into the military posture of attention, Shion raises her right hand while introducing herself loudly.The looks of the soldiers gather towards Shion due to her loud voice and strange behavior.After confirming that their attention has been focused on her, Shion grabbed the neck part of the clothes shes wearing with her left hand. Im going to undress! (Shion) You must not!! (Rona) The soldiers are excited due to Shions abrupt announcement.Within their voices and whistles that seemed to irresponsibly instigate the situation, Rona steps forward to stop Shion in a hurry.Shes desperately trying to hold Shion back, whos about to tear her clothes off at any moment with the hand thats grabbing her clothes neck. Shion, please consider the location! This place is full of onlookers! (Rona) Shut up! LET ME GO! I said I will undress, so that just what ill do! (Shion) Rona is desperately clinging onto the struggling Shion.If its only about brute strength, Shion should probably have the upper hand at the current point in time, but apparently, because shes drunk, she cant make full use of her strength, and that allows for the power balance between her and Rona to be equal. You must not! Its wrong! I dont want to know what I willbe told if Her Excellency the Archduchess or Mayria-sama heard of it~! (Rona) Mmh? Mmmmh? Then, Rona, you undress~! (Shion) Eh!? Wai-!? Thats no good, I told you already that its wrong, didnt I!? (Rona) Because Shion suddenly changed the aim of her attack, she is now on the verge of stripping Rona of her clothes.While Rona, who was closely glued to Shion in order to hold her back, is left with no time to escape because of how sudden the situation changed.Once she has been caught, the rest turned into a contest of pure strength, but compared to Shions clothes, Ronas priestess garb has low durability.If such clothes were to be pulled on from both ends during a power struggle between Rona and Shion, it was very likely that they would end up tearing apart easily.Between Shion, who doesnt mind it even if they tear, and Rona, who will be troubled if they do, its obvious that the situation is progressing in Shions favor.Even without that, just by struggling, certain parts of Rona sway as if tempting people all over.The spectacle of Ronas clothes being peeled off by Shion while Rona is on the verge of tears was plenty enough to bind the soldiers gazes.At the moment, sounds of the soldiers gulping down saliva became awfully clear, Renya gets up thinking that its probably time to stop them soon.However that motion was stopped in the middle due to Shions next action. Mmh~ how stubborn. (Shion) You must not really please forgive me, Shion (Rona) Ronas steady breathing has changed into gasps.Shion, who got irritated due to Ronas frantic resistance, grabs a small bottle from the table and opens its lid. If you wont undress, drink~!! (Shion) Mogaah!? (Rona) Rona tried to escape but was firmly grasped by Shion from behind. Shion then thrust the opened small bottle into Ronas mouth.At the time he saw Ronas white throat go up and down while being roughly forced to drink the contents of the small bottle, Renya judged that it would become dangerous if he doesnt escape from here soon.Pushing aside the soldiers who are attentively watching the course of events, Renya tries to run away, but Emil clings to his waist as if telling him that she wont let him go. Leave me alone, Emil! (Renya) No way. You have to keep us company until the very end, you know? (Emil) Idiot! To say something like that in this situation I wont tell you to let me go, but I will escape, Emil! (Renya) Renya tries to run away even while dragging along Emil who still clung to him.Behind him, the small bottle that had been stuffed into Ronas mouth fell down and hit the ground producing a shattering sound. Fufuu ufufufufufufufufufufufufufu A harmonized laughter.Everyone present was overwhelmed by the aura that was brought about by the two girls, who stood up with a booming sound while swaying their bodies like plants that swayed in the wind. The fun stuff, with everyone Right we have to enjoy it with everyone From now on Its a free-for-all party!! Those who dont want to die, run away! Dont look back! All hands, retreat!! (Renya) Renya kicked Emil, who was still clinging to his waist, sending her flying, and called out to the soldiers who were unable to move due to being overwhelmed by the atmosphere.The soldiers try to start running away belatedly.In the room, that made it seem as if time was moving in slow motion, Shion and Rona outran them, seemingly against any logic, with their mouths warping in the shape of a smile while having glazed eyes.There are no records related to the military facility left behind about the events after that.Even Renya doesnt remember it clearly.He only recalls Keith having white eyes after having a small bottle forced into his mouth, a soldier being thrown while screaming, Emils face as she wildly laughs, the collapsed mountain ofonigiri, Rona as she chokes one soldier after the other with brute strength and her chest, Frau who hurriedly slips under cover.Those are the only things he remembered in fragments. Renyaa Renya, Im talking to you Id like you to be slightly nicer having my head caressed gently in b-bed umm, you know (Shion) Dont blush at that point! Let me go, Shion! Dont be hasty! Or rather, you stink of booze!? (Renya) Welll theeen lets kiss, Renyaaa lets just do it! (Shion) Stop it, you drunkard! Dont bring your face close while saying something like Mmh~! Shit, this woman was it a bad move to let her raise her physical strength through the training!? (Renya) Nfufufu Renyaa mmh *kiss*. (Shion) Idiot!? Hey, oi!? mm uh!? mmh (Renya) I dont remember anything.Later Renya was summoned by Mayria due to the disastrous scene left behind in the venue and he was demanded an explanation, but he kept silent while sticking to that single phrase. Cant you simply tell me whether you actually crossed the line? (Mayria) I defended against that to the last. Though it was a close call, I guess. (Renya) It was the first time for Renya to feel danger towards his own body up to the breaking point in this different world. Chapter 105 C It seems to be a Victory Celebration Party In the evening, bright red lights have been turned on in one of the dining halls in the armys facilities, and 100 soldiers were causing an uproar.It was the victory celebration party for the sham battle that took place during the day.The losses of war horses on the side of the nobles private army was close to complete annihilation, though the detailed count is unknown.As for the soldiers, 380 of the 900 soldiers have been injured seriously and lost their ability to move.Of the remaining soldiers, the results were that a minority escaped unscathed thanks to them running away at full steam, while the majority made the right decision by escaping, only receiving minor injuries. Say, Renya, you helped them out a bit, didnt you? Whats this about? (Renya) You coerced them, no? The commanders surroundings, with all your might. Because of that they were late in giving orders and it turned into a melee, right? Well, I wouldnt know what youre talking about. (Renya) Did such a conversation take place or not?In any case, with their loss ratio exceeding 40%, its an outcome you might as well call a crushing defeat.By the way, Lord Baltans aides were apparently safe as they had escaped early on, but Renya doesnt know what kind of fate awaited Lord Baltan himself, who remained till the end while giving out orders.Renya feels like he saw the spectacle of a mass of mud that had an imposing moustache being eagerly kicked and stepped on by the soldiers of the national army under Keiths command, but Renya believesIm pretty sure that was just my imagination.Unfortunate accidents can happen anywhere.Thats true, all the more if its an area where 1000 people engage in combat activities, even if its just a mock battle.Such being the case, Renyas group, who obtained victory against the nobles army, decided to hold a victory celebration upon Keiths suggestion.The number of those participating in the celebration party is 105.The unit of soldiers, of whom Renya was in charge of training, participates without even a single one missing, and Renya, Shion, Rona, Emil and Frau have joined in as well.Originally they should have carried it out after reserving one of the bars in the city, but since they wouldnt have been able to do so, as there were just too many of them together, the location was hurriedly changed to the army facilitys dining hall and the party was held there.Renya worried whether there would be any problems with using an army facility, but Mayria, who watched the mock battle until the end with a somewhat blank gaze, overheard their talk and brought up the issue with the manager of the army facility. Didnt you do well to come to an agreement despite missing the necessary authority? (Renya) Thats because those around me cause a fuss for some reason just because Im the archduchess daughter. (Mayria) Renya tried to get Mayria to join the party, since he got her to make the effort of getting them the venue for better or worse, but he was gently turned down.Even if its tolerated to provide a bit support to Renya as his employer, it doesnt seem to be advisable for Mayria to support a specific part of the armys soldiers, who are serving the country, too much.Though, if thats the case, it creates the question whether Shion isnt allowed to do so either? Once Renya asked that, Mayria answered while smiling bitterly, Ane-sama likely wont make an appearance on the political stage anymore. (Mayria) It seems that Shions existence has almost completely dropped out of the realm of actual politics and had apparently entered the state where it wont be a problem no matter what she does at this point in time.Renya didnt know whether its okay to call that an easygoing and nice position or a lonely position in a certain meaning, but he stops this train of thought by showing an ambiguous smile.Tables overflowing with drinks and food have been lined up in the spacious dining hall.An exclusive cook works at the dining hall which is a military establishment to begin with, but since there was the opinion that it would be poor manners to force the cook into working overtime, the cooking was entrusted to Renya for some reason.The soldiers, who devoured the food made by Renya earnestly in the Miasma Forest, apparently learned that the food prepared by Renya is delicious, resulting in them constantly demanding Renya to cook for them.Unable to bear the situation where he was repeatedly coaxed and pressed on by a group of filthy middle-aged men, Renya took up the task reluctantly, but as it was also impossible to create food for all 100 soldiers by himself, he gave up quickly and asked Frau for help.Frau had an expression showing that she was excessively unwilling to do it, but as she was apparently unable to deny Renya after having been asked earnestly, she agreed unenthusiastically.Renya didnt have any intention to force her, but having said that, the penance of struggling to make food for 100 people by himself would await him, if she turned him down here.He has resigned himself to such a thing being unavoidable, as long as it was during the training, but its a task difficult to accept in the present situation.Due to Renya bowing his head as he begs while being all apologetic about it, Frau, who realized that her emotions apparently were completely visible on her face, slaps her own cheeks with both hands. Do you hate it this much? (Renya) I cant get motivated for it ~no. This will be nothing but labor ~no. (Frau) Once he wondered what kind of reason she would bring forth, it seemed that the reason for her being unwilling was the lack of a reward for her toil.Frau scratches her head due to Renya being unable to hide his surprise over the slightly harsh reason. I will compromise by thinking of it as service that will bring about a large amount of monetary reward ~no. (Frau) Yeah I will rely on you. (Renya) Renya couldnt say anything more than that as he lacked any further words.With Fraus help they were able to prepare the food without a hitch, although it was a reasonably hard job.Renya made other-worldtonjiruand while wondering whether he wont be pestered in the middle of the cooking, he simply prepared a huge amount of grilledmisoand soy sauceonigiri.Frau arranges the various food they created skillfully on dishes and lines them up on top of the tables one after the other.With there being an abundance of various dishes lined up, it was a sight clearly showing that Frau easily surpassed Renya in the number of dishes in her repertoire, but Renya cannot help feeling mystified that its theonigiri, which he continues to make with all his heart, that are decreasing at an alarming rate for some reason. You guys thats definitely odd. (Renya) While appeasing his thirst with a cooled ale, Renya feels a kind of eeriness as soon as he sees the 100 soldiers grabbing the grilledonigirithat were piled up into a mountain and greedily devouring them by stuffing their mouths full of them.Even if the quality of the rice is average, Renya had some confidence in his way of cooking the rice and that his grilling skill is appropriate.However, the mountain ofonigiricreated by Renya was something he made from rice, which he brought with him in a huge amount, while planning to tell the soldiers that he definitely wont forgive any of them if there was some food left over.And yet, before it reached the point of him wondering whether there would be any leftovers or not, he feels like theonigiriare vanishing too quickly.Even Frau, who finished making dishes to some extent, seemingly judged that it would probably be better if she helped Renya with theonigiri, and once she took up her position next to Renya, she started to fiercely shapeonigiriafter wetting her hands with salt water. Somehow this is amazing, isnt it? Unable to put her hands on the mountain of grilledonigiri, Rona watches Shion, who savagely gulps down theonigiri, in a daze. And its none other than Emil who secures her own slightly larger share of various dishes of Fraus cooking while floating a broad smile after seeing the spectacle taking place as she drinks wine and pecks at her food.While looking at the cluster of rice that has been consumed in large quantities in front of her eyes, Emil mutters as if giving her praise, Well, its a dish they wont be able to eat anymore once Renya stops working as their instructor, so its not like I dont understand their feelings either. (Emil) Thats certainly true, but if you like, how about selling it at our shop area? Renya mentioned a plan he came up with, but the moment they heard those words, the soldiers gazes concentrated on Renya.The soldiers speak up all together towards Renya, who unintentionally stops his hand that is holding anonigiri. Wed like to request that by all means, instructor-dono! Dont shout all at once. I will take it into consideration. (Renya) The army has many people.If something like a fanbase takes root there, I can expect large amount of sales even if it starts out with small profits.Thanks to rising in the adventurer ranks, Renya has obtained the right to use the guilds distribution network. He began to calculate that he should try commercializing rice in various ways, since hes buying it up anyway. In reality this is a really well-made dish, instructor-dono. Keith says while precisely securingonigiriwith both his hands. On top of it being edible with one hand, its not bulky. Moreover you can eat it even when it has cooled down, though its also delicious after being freshly made. It is tasty even if you warm it up afterwards. (Keith) Theres no persuasiveness in what you are saying if you are holding one in each of your hands. This soup has a nice taste, too. It is using an unusual seasoning, isnt it? Thats because it has been made out of elven beans I think you usually cant obtain those. Once I consider it properly, the soy sauce andmiso, who are used in making the grilledonigiri, is a special product of the elven country. Those are not ingredients that will normally appear on the markets of the human continent.Renya has connections allowing him to get his hands on them continuously, but without that, you might as well say that theres almost no chance to taste them as long as one stays in the human continent.Guessing that the food they are eating seems to be a high-class item they wont get hold of that often, the soldiers eating speed rises even further.Predicting that the amount of rice that he currently has remaining wont be enough to satisfy the soldiers no matter how she thinks about it, Frau went to the hearth in order to cook more rice. Oh well I guess its fine hey, Shion! You can eat as much as you like once go back home with us, right? (Renya) One thing has nothing to do with the other. (Shion) Shion-sama, please hand it over to us, if you can eat it at any time. Right, right! We dont know when will be able to eat this afterwards if we dont buy it! In the first place, where do you store such a huge amount in that body of yours, Shion-sama? Shion spared only a glance at the soldiers, who were blaming her and using words that seemed to be criticisms, and then ignored them in a huff.She carries her right hand to her mouth with twoonigiriin between her fingers. Meanwhile she firmly keeps threeonigiriin her possession with her left hand. Renya wonderedNo matter how you put it, isnt that called being too greedy?, but the next words spoken by Shion make Renya even more dumbfounded. In such things its alwaysfirst come, first served. (Shion) You say that!? You are the one telling us that, Shion-sama!? You guys! Show your pride as national armys soldiers! Even if the one saying it is Her Highness, dont go easy on her! Due to the eating speed accelerating even further, Renya wondered whether it was alright to start messing around with the soldiers soon and took out several jars and bottles from his inventory.Once he opens one of the jars, theres slightly gooey and reddishmisoinside. Renya smears theonigiriwith that redmisoand themisohe had used until now, alternating between them.Moreover, he lined up small bottles on top of a table.While Renya diligently grills theonigiriwith the two types ofmiso, Keith, who was driven by curiosity, tries to shake one of the small bottles with his hand.A sound of splashing resounded from within. What are those? (Keith) Its booze. I made it. (Renya) While answering, Renya once again piles up theonigirithat had finished grilling.Those were the two types ofonigirithat clearly had clearly a detectable differences in color when they were smeared with themiso, but once they were grilled and had some burn marks on them, everything but a small difference, barely recognizable even if one looked at it really really hard, was gone.All the soldiers, who only cared that they were freshly made, scramble for thoseonigiriand stuff them into their mouths.And then, a part of them suddenly began to suffer in agony.Keith felt that something was amiss because those that had eaten theonigirihad bright red faces and were shedding tears. Instructor-dono!? Certainly, those arent (Keith) Poisoned? No, certainly not. You think I would do something as wasteful as mixing poison in food? (Renya) Then? (Keith) I smeared them with mustardmiso. To be precise, I guess its a combination ofmisoand mustard, which I bought on the market, that I mixed well and fermented. Though its very spicy, its really tasty. This time I tried to varnish theonigiriwith a strong, hot taste. (Renya) Mustard was fairly expensive, but it was something that could be obtained on the market normally. He experimentally tried to create it as a variation ofmisoand not with the intention of making a joke item, but this time he tried using it as restraint for the soldiers who are devouring an excessively large amount ofonigiri.Theonigiriseemed slightly too spicy or rather the effect was immediate. A part of the soldiers screamed, demanding water or alcohol while being drenched in sweat.Even Shion was apparently fully afflicted by these grilledonigirithat used a mix of mustard andmiso. She wasnt in agony like the soldiers, but as expected her face is red and she has teary eyes. Unluckily, she grabs hold of a small bottle that was placed on the table by Renya in her search for a substitute for the ale that had run out just now.And without giving Renya any time to stop her, she undid the lid and poured the liquid down her throat in one go. !? Buhaaa!? (Shion) Tossing away the bottle she held in her hand, Shion exhales deeply.A strong scent of alcohol was mixed into the breath that Shion exhaled with all her might.In front of Renya, who has a feeling of She went and done it, Emil picks up the bottle that was drained empty by Shion a moment ago and sniffs the scent of the small dose of liquid that was left within. This is distilled liquor, isnt it? (Emil) Distilled liquor, you say? (Keith) Keith asks back due to the unfamiliar word he heard. Its booze created with a technique to deepen its alcohol content by gathering only the alcohol from the undistilled booze. He probably used the tools and materials in my possession, but going by this smell, wont this level of alcohol concentration usually set your throat on fire? (Emil) Yeah, this burns. I tried testing only a bit, but if its a fellow who cant hold their liquor, theyll go unconscious with one swig. (Renya) Eh? Why did you you let her drink such strong booze? (Rona) Rona, who heard Renyas and Emils conversation, turns pale.Shion hung her head while grasping her throat in front of Renya, whos wondering whether theres anything wrong with her having drunk the alcohol, and then abruptly lifted her face.Her eyes are fully glazed.Renya immediately realized, just by looking into her eyes; that these are the eyes of someone who mustnt be allowed to drink this alcohol. Trident Principality, First Princess, Shion Femme Fatale! Getting up with a snap into the military posture of attention, Shion raises her right hand while introducing herself loudly.The looks of the soldiers gather towards Shion due to her loud voice and strange behavior.After confirming that their attention has been focused on her, Shion grabbed the neck part of the clothes shes wearing with her left hand. Im going to undress! (Shion) You must not!! (Rona) The soldiers are excited due to Shions abrupt announcement.Within their voices and whistles that seemed to irresponsibly instigate the situation, Rona steps forward to stop Shion in a hurry.Shes desperately trying to hold Shion back, whos about to tear her clothes off at any moment with the hand thats grabbing her clothes neck. Shion, please consider the location! This place is full of onlookers! (Rona) Shut up! LET ME GO! I said I will undress, so that just what ill do! (Shion) Rona is desperately clinging onto the struggling Shion.If its only about brute strength, Shion should probably have the upper hand at the current point in time, but apparently, because shes drunk, she cant make full use of her strength, and that allows for the power balance between her and Rona to be equal. You must not! Its wrong! I dont want to know what I willbe told if Her Excellency the Archduchess or Mayria-sama heard of it~! (Rona) Mmh? Mmmmh? Then, Rona, you undress~! (Shion) Eh!? Wai-!? Thats no good, I told you already that its wrong, didnt I!? (Rona) Because Shion suddenly changed the aim of her attack, she is now on the verge of stripping Rona of her clothes.While Rona, who was closely glued to Shion in order to hold her back, is left with no time to escape because of how sudden the situation changed.Once she has been caught, the rest turned into a contest of pure strength, but compared to Shions clothes, Ronas priestess garb has low durability.If such clothes were to be pulled on from both ends during a power struggle between Rona and Shion, it was very likely that they would end up tearing apart easily.Between Shion, who doesnt mind it even if they tear, and Rona, who will be troubled if they do, its obvious that the situation is progressing in Shions favor.Even without that, just by struggling, certain parts of Rona sway as if tempting people all over.The spectacle of Ronas clothes being peeled off by Shion while Rona is on the verge of tears was plenty enough to bind the soldiers gazes.At the moment, sounds of the soldiers gulping down saliva became awfully clear, Renya gets up thinking that its probably time to stop them soon.However that motion was stopped in the middle due to Shions next action. Mmh~ how stubborn. (Shion) You must not really please forgive me, Shion (Rona) Ronas steady breathing has changed into gasps.Shion, who got irritated due to Ronas frantic resistance, grabs a small bottle from the table and opens its lid. If you wont undress, drink~!! (Shion) Mogaah!? (Rona) Rona tried to escape but was firmly grasped by Shion from behind. Shion then thrust the opened small bottle into Ronas mouth.At the time he saw Ronas white throat go up and down while being roughly forced to drink the contents of the small bottle, Renya judged that it would become dangerous if he doesnt escape from here soon.Pushing aside the soldiers who are attentively watching the course of events, Renya tries to run away, but Emil clings to his waist as if telling him that she wont let him go. Leave me alone, Emil! (Renya) No way. You have to keep us company until the very end, you know? (Emil) Idiot! To say something like that in this situation I wont tell you to let me go, but I will escape, Emil! (Renya) Renya tries to run away even while dragging along Emil who still clung to him.Behind him, the small bottle that had been stuffed into Ronas mouth fell down and hit the ground producing a shattering sound. Fufuu ufufufufufufufufufufufufufu A harmonized laughter.Everyone present was overwhelmed by the aura that was brought about by the two girls, who stood up with a booming sound while swaying their bodies like plants that swayed in the wind. The fun stuff, with everyone Right we have to enjoy it with everyone From now on Its a free-for-all party!! Those who dont want to die, run away! Dont look back! All hands, retreat!! (Renya) Renya kicked Emil, who was still clinging to his waist, sending her flying, and called out to the soldiers who were unable to move due to being overwhelmed by the atmosphere.The soldiers try to start running away belatedly.In the room, that made it seem as if time was moving in slow motion, Shion and Rona outran them, seemingly against any logic, with their mouths warping in the shape of a smile while having glazed eyes.There are no records related to the military facility left behind about the events after that.Even Renya doesnt remember it clearly.He only recalls Keith having white eyes after having a small bottle forced into his mouth, a soldier being thrown while screaming, Emils face as she wildly laughs, the collapsed mountain ofonigiri, Rona as she chokes one soldier after the other with brute strength and her chest, Frau who hurriedly slips under cover.Those are the only things he remembered in fragments. Renyaa Renya, Im talking to you Id like you to be slightly nicer having my head caressed gently in b-bed umm, you know (Shion) Dont blush at that point! Let me go, Shion! Dont be hasty! Or rather, you stink of booze!? (Renya) Welll theeen lets kiss, Renyaaa lets just do it! (Shion) Stop it, you drunkard! Dont bring your face close while saying something like Mmh~! Shit, this woman was it a bad move to let her raise her physical strength through the training!? (Renya) Nfufufu Renyaa mmh *kiss*. (Shion) Idiot!? Hey, oi!? mm uh!? mmh (Renya) I dont remember anything.Later Renya was summoned by Mayria due to the disastrous scene left behind in the venue and he was demanded an explanation, but he kept silent while sticking to that single phrase. Cant you simply tell me whether you actually crossed the line? (Mayria) I defended against that to the last. Though it was a close call, I guess. (Renya) It was the first time for Renya to feel danger towards his own body up to the breaking point in this different world. Chapter 106 Chapter 106 C It seems to be the Preparatory Meeting after the Declaration of War The Holy Kingdom declared war on Trident Principality for siding with the demons.This information quickly spread across the human continent.Once the Holy Kingdom did its one-sided declaration of war, it appealed to the surrounding countries that they should defeat Trident Principality hand in hand. Accordingly, many countries gathered their troops successively at the border between the Holy Kingdom and the Trident Principality.The supreme commander was Hero Yuuki.Once they were asked to participate under the heros and the goddess name, only few countries were able to refuse.A few countries rejected the appeal by the Holy Kingdom stating that they wont cross swords with their brethren as long as they arent absolutely sure that the Trident Principality has sided with the demons, even if the Holy Kingdom makes use of the heros name, but the majority of the countries obeyed.In total there are 19 countries on the human continent. Among the 17 remaining countries, after deducting the Holy Kingdom and the Trident Principality, 15 countries were participating on the Holy Kingdoms side.It was decided to dispatch an army of 100,000 soldiers, consisting of 50,000 soldiers from the Holy Kingdom and 50,000 soldiers from the allied forces, against the army of the Trident Principality.The Trident Principality protested against this by sending an envoy concerning the one-sided declaration of the Holy Kingdom, but the Holy Kingdom restrained the Trident Principalitys envoy.At the current rate, it looks like they are going to execute the envoy.Rumours circulated where great emphasis was put on Hero Yuukis words pertaining to that regard. However, there was no way to infer whether it was the truth.Because of this, even the Trident Principality understood that there was no further room for negotiations and gathered its national armed forces.The Trident Principality decided to station 30,000 troops in its capital city, Trident, to undertake a defense battle. Say? Why did it suddenly become a conversation about a defensive battle at the capital city? We have an urgent need to talk, being informed of that by Mayria, Renya was summoned to Mayrias office, which was located in the armys facilities.Additionally, Shion and Rona had also been summoned. Since there was a note attached that Mayria leaves any further attendees to Renya, he decided that he might as well bring Emil and Croire along.Although Renya tried inviting Frau to go with them, she immediately declined due to lacking interest in the topic.Being basically a fairy, theres apparently nothing of particular interest within the armys facilities that manages to pique Fraus curiosity. Theres something Id like to borrow during your absence, master ~no. (Frau) On a rare occasion Frau requested something from Renya who was preparing to go out.Renya tilted his head to the side wondering what it might be. Since Im always indebted to you, I will arrange for nearly anything, but what is it? (Renya) Id like to have that armor into which you tossed Liaris-san ~no. (Frau) Renya was starting to forget about it, but that armor, which he used to subjugate the wyverns with Liaris in it, had been left unattended ever since he threw it into his inventory.It was made out of steel with a little bit of mithril added. Once he took it out of his inventory, the armor appeared and fell on the floor, causing a heavy thunk.Given that its an item he was about to forget about after having put Liaris inside, it hasnt been cleaned at all since then.Looking at the dry blood clinging to it, Renya frowned. This is terrible, isnt it? (Renya) Its fine ~no. I want it just like that ~no. (Frau) If you want it, I will give it to you, but what do you plan to do with it? (Renya) Its a secret ~nano. Frau will clean it ~no. Master, hurry to your invitation ~no. (Frau) Being seen off with a smile, the other members hurried and finally arrived at the armys facilities. The place they were guided to, after giving their names, was Mayrias office, and right after they were told to sit down at a round table, they were suddenly informed about the whole situation.What followed after Mayrias explanation had ended was a comment on something Renya had asked about, when he rose his hand and received permission to speak. Between the border to the Holy Kingdom and the capital city, there is no city with the capacity to undergo a defensive battle. There are several forts, but by no means do they have the scale to accommodate enough troops to repel 100,000 soldiers. (Mayria) Its apparently a salvation that the enemys army isnt gather as quickly as they could because the Hero, who is leading them, lacks experience in military affairs.That gave the Trident Principality the necessary time to evacuate the people from the cities and villages along the path between the border area and the capital city.Those people have already started moving in order to evacuate to cities like Kukrika, that is to say, to the western side, away from the capital city.In addition to using a part of the national armys soldiers as guards for those refugees, the soldiers that have been assigned to defend against the Miasma Forest cant be relieved from their duty either. The 30,000 soldiers stationed in Trident is what we can barely muster in the present situation, Mayria says. Well, even if we were to assign all of our forces to defend the capital, for arguments sake, its doubtful whether the total army count would reach up to 100,000 soldiers. (Mayria) It could potentially result in them having the same number, or if circumstances allow, a superiority in numbers, but theres the hero on the enemys side.The existence of a single person causes a hopeless discrepancy in military power just by having him make an appearance. Examining past records, a single hero equals to at the very least 10,000 soldiers. If you look beyond that, he should possess an endless amount of combat abilities. Moreover, I guess you might call it an effect of focussing combat power, but the fact that a single entity holds that much power excentuates the difference in military power even further. Are you saying that you will carry out a defensive battle at the capital city with inferior numbers while knowing that? There theres no other way. (Mayria) Mayria says while tightly squeezing her hands, which were on top of the round table, and lowering her gaze.The emotion included in that remark is very likely mortification, isnt it?Renya perceives.Even though she knows that its not the best method, the present situation doesnt allow her to pick another.Its a fact that Mayria knows as well.At least that means that they would have originally stuck to a defense after having gathered a lot more soldiers in the capital city.However, in order to do that, its necessary to withdraw the soldiers stationed at the Miasma Forest and the guards who are protecting the citizens that are evacuating away from the area around the border.Its possible that nothing will happen at the Miasma Forest.But, if something does happen during the war, the harm done by monsters or demons will likely turn into something major.Moreover, if there are no guards for the refugees, they will become prey to bandits or something similar.The Trident Principality has been maintaining a reasonable level of public order within its borders, but its not like they were able to completely eliminate people of such occupation.In other words, if they try to focus completely on the capital citys defense, theyll abandon a considerable number of citizens.Having said that, theres no meaning in having the capital city completely destroyed just for the sake of protecting those citizens.In a situation that might be summed up with Its hard to satisfy all parties, the decision handed down by the archduchess was to station 30,000 soldiers in the capital city. The main forces under the Holy Kingdoms direct control number around 50,000 soldiers, and the rest are forces that joined from various other countries, totalling to 100,000 soldiers. Its quite a number, but since its a mish-mash, cooperation will likely be a problem. And, the capital city Trident is also a fortress city that completely covers the citys vicinity within a wall. Since it has been said since ancient times that the ones attacking a castle require more than three times the numbers of the defending side, it seems that mother decided that we will barely be able to manage. (Mayria) I believe it to be a plan that will collapse with the existence of the hero, but (Renya)[Support the translator by reading this on infinitenoveltranslations.net]Indeed thats why how much we can reduce the enemys military forces before getting surrounded is important, correct? (Mayria) We wont let them simply march into our country just like that, Mayria said.Although they cant station many military forces, fortresses of reasonable sizes exist along several of the allied armys predicted invasion routes. It looks like a few soldiers will be set up as traps. Death soldiers, huh? (Renya) There was no reply, but Mayria wasnt able to match Renyasgaze.One could say that that in itself was the answer. So, what do you want me to do as a mere adventurer after telling me about such serious national matters? (Renya) Even if he knows the circumstances, its not a story where Renya has to participate.In the first place, its not a situation where one would make use of adventurers either.From the standpoint of an adventurer like Renya, it doesnt matter much whether the ruler of the nation might be the archduchess or a king.It will be fine as long as he moves to another country once he gets fed up with a particular country.If its a country with an adventurers guild, they will be immediately able to guarantee a persons identity. As long as he doesnt commit any crimes, he wont be denied entry to any such country. First, please allow me to take back Shion-ane-sama and Rona. I have already confirmed that with both of them. (Mayria) Sorry, Renya. I dont think that that some like me will be much help, but I cant ignore that my younger sister is in trouble after all. (Shion) It sounds as if shes saying something splendid, but I wonder whether she actually comprehends what shes saying, Renya ponders.However, as she seems to be believe that she wont be very useful, hasnt she reached quite the nice spot as a soldier?Renya wonders. Given that Im pretty much connected to the lowest seats of nobility, I also (Rona) Rona says something that doesnt seem to be an apology. If you have confirmed the will of the two themselves, theres not much I can say, is there? (Renya) I have some issues with those words, as you are the party leader. Ah, now that you mention it, there was something like that, wasnt there? Well, its no problem with me then. Is it alright with this? (Renya) Renya had completely forgotten about it, but its a fact that Shion and Rona belong to Renyas party. This led Mayria to feel that she must go through the proper channels by getting the leaders permission .Renya believes that its not worth worrying about it, but he thinksIf she says that part is important, than it might be so. Is your business with me finished with this? (Renya) No, theres more. Its about Croire. (Mayria) If you are going to tell me to go back to the elven country, Im going to have to turn you down. (Croire) Croire took the initiative with a composed expression before Mayria could talk about what kind of business she had with Croire.Apparently thats what Mayria wanted to tell Croire, and as such shes looking at Croire with a glum expression. Theres no way that I can let you, who are blood-related to His Majesty the Emperor, experience something dangerous. (Mayria) I will be the judge of that. Please dont fuss over me. (Croire) But (Mayria) As if suddenly coming up with an idea due to Mayria still trying to argue about it, Croire said, Ah, if you let me have Renya-san, I dont mind going back to the elven country though. (Croire) For some reason Shions face stiffens due to Croires declaration, who spoke while having a cheerful smile. While perspiring cold sweat in her mind, due to that change in situation, Mayria gave a disconnected reply, as if choosing her words carefully, Umm I dont own Renya-san, so giving him to you but, if you ask him, cant you have him go with you to the elven country? (Mayria) At the same time as she stopped speaking, piercing gazes stab Mayria coming from Shion and Rona. Due to that, Mayria shrinks her body, obviously being overpowered.While watching such a situation, Renya immediately replied, I have to decline that. (Renya) Muuh the speed of that reply is slightly sad. In the end the emperor is the issue here, isnt he? (Croire) Yeah. (Renya) Being given an instant reply, Croire starts to, quite seriously, explore methods to remove that emperor, although such discussions only took place in her head.Although hes an existence I want to handle somehow, he has a too high a social standing to do so.However, even if Im refused because he simply exists, its wrong just letting it be like that, Croire agrees with herself for some reason.Leaving Croire alone, who started to immerse herself in her thoughts while grumbling in a whisper, Renya asks Mayria, This is the end, right? (Renya) No, theres still more. I have heard that quite an effective medicine was used during the soldiers training I requested of you, Renya-san. Do you still have a stock of that medicine? (Mayria) Feeling like the topic moved in a different direction all of a sudden, Renya looks at Emil.Sensing Renyas stare at her, Emil guessed that he wanted her to answer. After thinking it over for a bit, she said, I dont have a large amount. If I have the ingredients, I can make them fairly quickly, but quite a bit of it was consumed during the training. (Emil) I will prepare the ingredients. Id like you to prepare a number of those. (Mayria) As military goods? However, why so sudden yet again? The army possesses its own stock, right? (Renya) Due to Renya voicing out the doubts in his mind in such a way, Mayria wonders how to answer him and turns her gaze towards Rona. I believe it will be easier to obtain his cooperation by telling him the truth. (Rona) Rona? (Renya) He shifts his eyes from Mayria to Rona.After requesting permission from Mayria with her remark, Rona faced Renya and started to explain. As a matter of fact, the efficacy of the divine arts has declined on our side after the Holy Kingdom declared war against the Trident Principality. (Rona) This will turn into a major problem. We havent confirmed it yet, but the same is likely happening in the capital city as well. (Mayria) Mayria followed up on Rona.Its normal for any army to employ more than several divine healing arts users, albeit their numbers are low, Mayria says.Compared to before, it looks like those divine arts have weakened in efficacy in the Trident Principality. The cause is very likely us becoming the Heros enemy, as he possesses the goddess divine protection. I see, Renya consents.Different from sorcery, the divine arts, which borrow and use the power of divine beings, had the underlying principle that they will become unusable once the gods power becomes inaccessible.And, the goddess, who ought to lend that power, is on the heros side and considers the Trident Principality as her enemy in the current situation.It was similar to the saying that theres no idiot who would lend their strength to the enemy just because they are asked to do so. With the number of our soldiers already being inferior, it wont be a decent fight if we cant heal them properly. And thats why youd like me to produce large amounts of medicines, right? (Emil) Can I request that of you? Of course, our side will provide all the ingredients. (Mayria) Without even trying to look at Mayria who earnestly requests that while bowing her head, Emil only stares in Renyas direction.If seen from the standpoint of someone that knows Emils true identity, the current situation consists of matters completely unrelated to Emil.Even spectating from a safe place by herself while bursting into laughter due to the thoughtArent these guys retards?poses no kind of problem for Emil. Emil, I request it of you as well. (Renya) Renya bowed and called out to Emil while thinkingShe most likely wants to hear these words. Please allow me to be in your debt. (Renya) Yeah, lets see. Although its not something at the leveling of you owing me something, I have no other choice if its requested by the leader, do I? (Emil) Its a way of talking that somewhat puts on airs, but with Renya bowing his head, Emil immediately approved of Mayrias request. Can you carry the ingredients to Renyas home after I write them on a paper and pass that to you? (Emil) Understood. And Renya-san. (Mayria) What is it? (Renya) Renya answers after being addressed, but Mayria, the one who actually spoke up to him, only chews her lips while starting at Renya with an expression of hesitation, wondering whether she should say it or not. If you have any further business, hurry up and spit it out. (Renya) Renya-san. Id like to Id like to request your cooperation as well. (Mayria) After thoroughly hesitating, Mayria finally said those words.Its great that she managed to do so, but for some reason Mayria cast her eyes down trying to not make any eye contact with Renya.I believe its slightly rude to not look at the person shes asking for help,Renya thinks, but he wondersMaybe she has some kind of reason?When he tries asking her about it, No, I mean you will turn it down, wont you? (Mayria) Why? (Renya)[Ad-free, no cash links and you help the translator, visit infinitenoveltranslations.net]Its a battle that has little chance of succeeding, so Im also aware that its quite unreasonable. In your eyes its probably very foolish as well, Renya-san. (Mayria) Well, thats certainly true. Not being able to gather the soldiers together at the very least is painful, I think (Renya) Splitting up your military forces isnt a praiseworthy deed no matter which age it might be.If you clearly know the places that will be attacked and those that will be defended, its a basic strategy to have the military forces focus there as much as possible. The method of the Trident Principality to split up their forces all over in their desire to have their soldiers defend various places couldnt possibly be called a smart way of handling things.Seemingly comprehending that as well, Mayria hangs her head even deeper after hearing Renyas words.While looking at Mayria such a state, Renya continued, However its also true that its unrealistic to only pursue the ideal course of action. Besides, I guess its a fact that its hard for you to abandon them. Besides (Renya) Just a little tinge of regret was mixed into Renyas voice. Im fairly sure that its me who pulled the trigger on this situation (Renya) If Renya hadnt gone to rescue Shion from the hero, it probably wouldnt have developed into this kind of situation, is what Renya means.Although you might say that he couldnt choose that option at that time, as it would have meant looking away while abandoning Shion and letting her become the heros plaything, theres no mistake that Renyas actions are the main cause of the current situation.The sole saving grace is the fact that the Holy Kingdom wasnt able to identify the criminal in the end.Thanks to this, the Trident Principality can insist on their accusation being false, and the Holy Kingdom has been put into a situation where they have to carry out the attack while also knowing that their justification is just a pretext. Its.. Its different. I think it would have turned out like this even if you hadnt tried to rescue Shion-ane-sama. (Mayria) If you say that your actions are the cause for all this, Renya, then its my fault. If I had been able to conduct myself more skilfully (Shion) Bah~ ah, stop, stop. No matter what you say at this point in time, something that already been done cant be changed. (Renya) The two say as if covering for him, but after groaning for a short moment, Renya roughly scratched his head while clearly stating, Just tell me if you need my help. If its now, I will take up the job cheaply as its owed to various circumstances. (Renya) Ah, so you will take money, wont you? Due to Croire retorting with I wonder, just where did the story about being the trigger and so on go?, Renya threw out his chest and answered, This is this and that is that. I simply decline working for free. (Renya) Mayria took over while wondering whether he possibly has some bad memories with the wordsworking for free. I will give you a reward if I can have you accept my request. So, may I ask you to help us? (Mayria) I will take you up on that. I will leave the amount of reward money to you. It will only be my share, right? (Renya) That means Renya and I will act together, doesnt it? (Croire) Croire declares shrewdly.Croire puffed up with pride in defiance towards the gazes of the Trident Principalitys side which were filled with the hopeI wonder whether she cant obediently return to the elven countryand said, Please prepare my share of the reward as well. Ah, please calculate my share normally, okay? (Croire) Though we will pay you five times the regular rewards if we can have you go back? (Mayria) I will turn you down, even if you offer me 300 times the regular reward. I have no financial troubles. (Croire) Croire boasts with an Ahem.Mayria, Rona and Shion exchange glances while wondering whether theres any reward that would somehow make her return to the elven country. This has become interesting. Renyas battlefield debut, eh? Thats something I have to see. (Emil) Emil oh well, whatever (Renya) Renya sighs deeply while coming up with a manuscript in his head on how he is going to explain the situation to Frau once he gets back home. Chapter 106 C It seems to be the Preparatory Meeting after the Declaration of War The Holy Kingdom declared war on Trident Principality for siding with the demons.This information quickly spread across the human continent.Once the Holy Kingdom did its one-sided declaration of war, it appealed to the surrounding countries that they should defeat Trident Principality hand in hand. Accordingly, many countries gathered their troops successively at the border between the Holy Kingdom and the Trident Principality.The supreme commander was Hero Yuuki.Once they were asked to participate under the heros and the goddess name, only few countries were able to refuse.A few countries rejected the appeal by the Holy Kingdom stating that they wont cross swords with their brethren as long as they arent absolutely sure that the Trident Principality has sided with the demons, even if the Holy Kingdom makes use of the heros name, but the majority of the countries obeyed.In total there are 19 countries on the human continent. Among the 17 remaining countries, after deducting the Holy Kingdom and the Trident Principality, 15 countries were participating on the Holy Kingdoms side.It was decided to dispatch an army of 100,000 soldiers, consisting of 50,000 soldiers from the Holy Kingdom and 50,000 soldiers from the allied forces, against the army of the Trident Principality.The Trident Principality protested against this by sending an envoy concerning the one-sided declaration of the Holy Kingdom, but the Holy Kingdom restrained the Trident Principalitys envoy.At the current rate, it looks like they are going to execute the envoy.Rumours circulated where great emphasis was put on Hero Yuukis words pertaining to that regard. However, there was no way to infer whether it was the truth.Because of this, even the Trident Principality understood that there was no further room for negotiations and gathered its national armed forces.The Trident Principality decided to station 30,000 troops in its capital city, Trident, to undertake a defense battle. Say? Why did it suddenly become a conversation about a defensive battle at the capital city? We have an urgent need to talk, being informed of that by Mayria, Renya was summoned to Mayrias office, which was located in the armys facilities.Additionally, Shion and Rona had also been summoned. Since there was a note attached that Mayria leaves any further attendees to Renya, he decided that he might as well bring Emil and Croire along.Although Renya tried inviting Frau to go with them, she immediately declined due to lacking interest in the topic.Being basically a fairy, theres apparently nothing of particular interest within the armys facilities that manages to pique Fraus curiosity. Theres something Id like to borrow during your absence, master ~no. (Frau) On a rare occasion Frau requested something from Renya who was preparing to go out.Renya tilted his head to the side wondering what it might be. Since Im always indebted to you, I will arrange for nearly anything, but what is it? (Renya) Id like to have that armor into which you tossed Liaris-san ~no. (Frau) Renya was starting to forget about it, but that armor, which he used to subjugate the wyverns with Liaris in it, had been left unattended ever since he threw it into his inventory.It was made out of steel with a little bit of mithril added. Once he took it out of his inventory, the armor appeared and fell on the floor, causing a heavy thunk.Given that its an item he was about to forget about after having put Liaris inside, it hasnt been cleaned at all since then.Looking at the dry blood clinging to it, Renya frowned. This is terrible, isnt it? (Renya) Its fine ~no. I want it just like that ~no. (Frau) If you want it, I will give it to you, but what do you plan to do with it? (Renya) Its a secret ~nano. Frau will clean it ~no. Master, hurry to your invitation ~no. (Frau) Being seen off with a smile, the other members hurried and finally arrived at the armys facilities. The place they were guided to, after giving their names, was Mayrias office, and right after they were told to sit down at a round table, they were suddenly informed about the whole situation.What followed after Mayrias explanation had ended was a comment on something Renya had asked about, when he rose his hand and received permission to speak. Between the border to the Holy Kingdom and the capital city, there is no city with the capacity to undergo a defensive battle. There are several forts, but by no means do they have the scale to accommodate enough troops to repel 100,000 soldiers. (Mayria) Its apparently a salvation that the enemys army isnt gather as quickly as they could because the Hero, who is leading them, lacks experience in military affairs.That gave the Trident Principality the necessary time to evacuate the people from the cities and villages along the path between the border area and the capital city.Those people have already started moving in order to evacuate to cities like Kukrika, that is to say, to the western side, away from the capital city.In addition to using a part of the national armys soldiers as guards for those refugees, the soldiers that have been assigned to defend against the Miasma Forest cant be relieved from their duty either. The 30,000 soldiers stationed in Trident is what we can barely muster in the present situation, Mayria says. Well, even if we were to assign all of our forces to defend the capital, for arguments sake, its doubtful whether the total army count would reach up to 100,000 soldiers. (Mayria) It could potentially result in them having the same number, or if circumstances allow, a superiority in numbers, but theres the hero on the enemys side.The existence of a single person causes a hopeless discrepancy in military power just by having him make an appearance. Examining past records, a single hero equals to at the very least 10,000 soldiers. If you look beyond that, he should possess an endless amount of combat abilities. Moreover, I guess you might call it an effect of focussing combat power, but the fact that a single entity holds that much power excentuates the difference in military power even further. Are you saying that you will carry out a defensive battle at the capital city with inferior numbers while knowing that? There theres no other way. (Mayria) Mayria says while tightly squeezing her hands, which were on top of the round table, and lowering her gaze.The emotion included in that remark is very likely mortification, isnt it?Renya perceives.Even though she knows that its not the best method, the present situation doesnt allow her to pick another.Its a fact that Mayria knows as well.At least that means that they would have originally stuck to a defense after having gathered a lot more soldiers in the capital city.However, in order to do that, its necessary to withdraw the soldiers stationed at the Miasma Forest and the guards who are protecting the citizens that are evacuating away from the area around the border.Its possible that nothing will happen at the Miasma Forest.But, if something does happen during the war, the harm done by monsters or demons will likely turn into something major.Moreover, if there are no guards for the refugees, they will become prey to bandits or something similar.The Trident Principality has been maintaining a reasonable level of public order within its borders, but its not like they were able to completely eliminate people of such occupation.In other words, if they try to focus completely on the capital citys defense, theyll abandon a considerable number of citizens.Having said that, theres no meaning in having the capital city completely destroyed just for the sake of protecting those citizens.In a situation that might be summed up with Its hard to satisfy all parties, the decision handed down by the archduchess was to station 30,000 soldiers in the capital city. The main forces under the Holy Kingdoms direct control number around 50,000 soldiers, and the rest are forces that joined from various other countries, totalling to 100,000 soldiers. Its quite a number, but since its a mish-mash, cooperation will likely be a problem. And, the capital city Trident is also a fortress city that completely covers the citys vicinity within a wall. Since it has been said since ancient times that the ones attacking a castle require more than three times the numbers of the defending side, it seems that mother decided that we will barely be able to manage. (Mayria) I believe it to be a plan that will collapse with the existence of the hero, but (Renya)[Support the translator by reading this on infinitenoveltranslations.net]Indeed thats why how much we can reduce the enemys military forces before getting surrounded is important, correct? (Mayria) We wont let them simply march into our country just like that, Mayria said.Although they cant station many military forces, fortresses of reasonable sizes exist along several of the allied armys predicted invasion routes. It looks like a few soldiers will be set up as traps. Death soldiers, huh? (Renya) There was no reply, but Mayria wasnt able to match Renyasgaze.One could say that that in itself was the answer. So, what do you want me to do as a mere adventurer after telling me about such serious national matters? (Renya) Even if he knows the circumstances, its not a story where Renya has to participate.In the first place, its not a situation where one would make use of adventurers either.From the standpoint of an adventurer like Renya, it doesnt matter much whether the ruler of the nation might be the archduchess or a king.It will be fine as long as he moves to another country once he gets fed up with a particular country.If its a country with an adventurers guild, they will be immediately able to guarantee a persons identity. As long as he doesnt commit any crimes, he wont be denied entry to any such country. First, please allow me to take back Shion-ane-sama and Rona. I have already confirmed that with both of them. (Mayria) Sorry, Renya. I dont think that that some like me will be much help, but I cant ignore that my younger sister is in trouble after all. (Shion) It sounds as if shes saying something splendid, but I wonder whether she actually comprehends what shes saying, Renya ponders.However, as she seems to be believe that she wont be very useful, hasnt she reached quite the nice spot as a soldier?Renya wonders. Given that Im pretty much connected to the lowest seats of nobility, I also (Rona) Rona says something that doesnt seem to be an apology. If you have confirmed the will of the two themselves, theres not much I can say, is there? (Renya) I have some issues with those words, as you are the party leader. Ah, now that you mention it, there was something like that, wasnt there? Well, its no problem with me then. Is it alright with this? (Renya) Renya had completely forgotten about it, but its a fact that Shion and Rona belong to Renyas party. This led Mayria to feel that she must go through the proper channels by getting the leaders permission .Renya believes that its not worth worrying about it, but he thinksIf she says that part is important, than it might be so. Is your business with me finished with this? (Renya) No, theres more. Its about Croire. (Mayria) If you are going to tell me to go back to the elven country, Im going to have to turn you down. (Croire) Croire took the initiative with a composed expression before Mayria could talk about what kind of business she had with Croire.Apparently thats what Mayria wanted to tell Croire, and as such shes looking at Croire with a glum expression. Theres no way that I can let you, who are blood-related to His Majesty the Emperor, experience something dangerous. (Mayria) I will be the judge of that. Please dont fuss over me. (Croire) But (Mayria) As if suddenly coming up with an idea due to Mayria still trying to argue about it, Croire said, Ah, if you let me have Renya-san, I dont mind going back to the elven country though. (Croire) For some reason Shions face stiffens due to Croires declaration, who spoke while having a cheerful smile. While perspiring cold sweat in her mind, due to that change in situation, Mayria gave a disconnected reply, as if choosing her words carefully, Umm I dont own Renya-san, so giving him to you but, if you ask him, cant you have him go with you to the elven country? (Mayria) At the same time as she stopped speaking, piercing gazes stab Mayria coming from Shion and Rona. Due to that, Mayria shrinks her body, obviously being overpowered.While watching such a situation, Renya immediately replied, I have to decline that. (Renya) Muuh the speed of that reply is slightly sad. In the end the emperor is the issue here, isnt he? (Croire) Yeah. (Renya) Being given an instant reply, Croire starts to, quite seriously, explore methods to remove that emperor, although such discussions only took place in her head.Although hes an existence I want to handle somehow, he has a too high a social standing to do so.However, even if Im refused because he simply exists, its wrong just letting it be like that, Croire agrees with herself for some reason.Leaving Croire alone, who started to immerse herself in her thoughts while grumbling in a whisper, Renya asks Mayria, This is the end, right? (Renya) No, theres still more. I have heard that quite an effective medicine was used during the soldiers training I requested of you, Renya-san. Do you still have a stock of that medicine? (Mayria) Feeling like the topic moved in a different direction all of a sudden, Renya looks at Emil.Sensing Renyas stare at her, Emil guessed that he wanted her to answer. After thinking it over for a bit, she said, I dont have a large amount. If I have the ingredients, I can make them fairly quickly, but quite a bit of it was consumed during the training. (Emil) I will prepare the ingredients. Id like you to prepare a number of those. (Mayria) As military goods? However, why so sudden yet again? The army possesses its own stock, right? (Renya) Due to Renya voicing out the doubts in his mind in such a way, Mayria wonders how to answer him and turns her gaze towards Rona. I believe it will be easier to obtain his cooperation by telling him the truth. (Rona) Rona? (Renya) He shifts his eyes from Mayria to Rona.After requesting permission from Mayria with her remark, Rona faced Renya and started to explain. As a matter of fact, the efficacy of the divine arts has declined on our side after the Holy Kingdom declared war against the Trident Principality. (Rona) This will turn into a major problem. We havent confirmed it yet, but the same is likely happening in the capital city as well. (Mayria) Mayria followed up on Rona.Its normal for any army to employ more than several divine healing arts users, albeit their numbers are low, Mayria says.Compared to before, it looks like those divine arts have weakened in efficacy in the Trident Principality. The cause is very likely us becoming the Heros enemy, as he possesses the goddess divine protection. I see, Renya consents.Different from sorcery, the divine arts, which borrow and use the power of divine beings, had the underlying principle that they will become unusable once the gods power becomes inaccessible.And, the goddess, who ought to lend that power, is on the heros side and considers the Trident Principality as her enemy in the current situation.It was similar to the saying that theres no idiot who would lend their strength to the enemy just because they are asked to do so. With the number of our soldiers already being inferior, it wont be a decent fight if we cant heal them properly. And thats why youd like me to produce large amounts of medicines, right? (Emil) Can I request that of you? Of course, our side will provide all the ingredients. (Mayria) Without even trying to look at Mayria who earnestly requests that while bowing her head, Emil only stares in Renyas direction.If seen from the standpoint of someone that knows Emils true identity, the current situation consists of matters completely unrelated to Emil.Even spectating from a safe place by herself while bursting into laughter due to the thoughtArent these guys retards?poses no kind of problem for Emil. Emil, I request it of you as well. (Renya) Renya bowed and called out to Emil while thinkingShe most likely wants to hear these words. Please allow me to be in your debt. (Renya) Yeah, lets see. Although its not something at the leveling of you owing me something, I have no other choice if its requested by the leader, do I? (Emil) Its a way of talking that somewhat puts on airs, but with Renya bowing his head, Emil immediately approved of Mayrias request. Can you carry the ingredients to Renyas home after I write them on a paper and pass that to you? (Emil) Understood. And Renya-san. (Mayria) What is it? (Renya) Renya answers after being addressed, but Mayria, the one who actually spoke up to him, only chews her lips while starting at Renya with an expression of hesitation, wondering whether she should say it or not. If you have any further business, hurry up and spit it out. (Renya) Renya-san. Id like to Id like to request your cooperation as well. (Mayria) After thoroughly hesitating, Mayria finally said those words.Its great that she managed to do so, but for some reason Mayria cast her eyes down trying to not make any eye contact with Renya.I believe its slightly rude to not look at the person shes asking for help,Renya thinks, but he wondersMaybe she has some kind of reason?When he tries asking her about it, No, I mean you will turn it down, wont you? (Mayria) Why? (Renya)[Ad-free, no cash links and you help the translator, visit infinitenoveltranslations.net]Its a battle that has little chance of succeeding, so Im also aware that its quite unreasonable. In your eyes its probably very foolish as well, Renya-san. (Mayria) Well, thats certainly true. Not being able to gather the soldiers together at the very least is painful, I think (Renya) Splitting up your military forces isnt a praiseworthy deed no matter which age it might be.If you clearly know the places that will be attacked and those that will be defended, its a basic strategy to have the military forces focus there as much as possible. The method of the Trident Principality to split up their forces all over in their desire to have their soldiers defend various places couldnt possibly be called a smart way of handling things.Seemingly comprehending that as well, Mayria hangs her head even deeper after hearing Renyas words.While looking at Mayria such a state, Renya continued, However its also true that its unrealistic to only pursue the ideal course of action. Besides, I guess its a fact that its hard for you to abandon them. Besides (Renya) Just a little tinge of regret was mixed into Renyas voice. Im fairly sure that its me who pulled the trigger on this situation (Renya) If Renya hadnt gone to rescue Shion from the hero, it probably wouldnt have developed into this kind of situation, is what Renya means.Although you might say that he couldnt choose that option at that time, as it would have meant looking away while abandoning Shion and letting her become the heros plaything, theres no mistake that Renyas actions are the main cause of the current situation.The sole saving grace is the fact that the Holy Kingdom wasnt able to identify the criminal in the end.Thanks to this, the Trident Principality can insist on their accusation being false, and the Holy Kingdom has been put into a situation where they have to carry out the attack while also knowing that their justification is just a pretext. Its.. Its different. I think it would have turned out like this even if you hadnt tried to rescue Shion-ane-sama. (Mayria) If you say that your actions are the cause for all this, Renya, then its my fault. If I had been able to conduct myself more skilfully (Shion) Bah~ ah, stop, stop. No matter what you say at this point in time, something that already been done cant be changed. (Renya) The two say as if covering for him, but after groaning for a short moment, Renya roughly scratched his head while clearly stating, Just tell me if you need my help. If its now, I will take up the job cheaply as its owed to various circumstances. (Renya) Ah, so you will take money, wont you? Due to Croire retorting with I wonder, just where did the story about being the trigger and so on go?, Renya threw out his chest and answered, This is this and that is that. I simply decline working for free. (Renya) Mayria took over while wondering whether he possibly has some bad memories with the wordsworking for free. I will give you a reward if I can have you accept my request. So, may I ask you to help us? (Mayria) I will take you up on that. I will leave the amount of reward money to you. It will only be my share, right? (Renya) That means Renya and I will act together, doesnt it? (Croire) Croire declares shrewdly.Croire puffed up with pride in defiance towards the gazes of the Trident Principalitys side which were filled with the hopeI wonder whether she cant obediently return to the elven countryand said, Please prepare my share of the reward as well. Ah, please calculate my share normally, okay? (Croire) Though we will pay you five times the regular rewards if we can have you go back? (Mayria) I will turn you down, even if you offer me 300 times the regular reward. I have no financial troubles. (Croire) Croire boasts with an Ahem.Mayria, Rona and Shion exchange glances while wondering whether theres any reward that would somehow make her return to the elven country. This has become interesting. Renyas battlefield debut, eh? Thats something I have to see. (Emil) Emil oh well, whatever (Renya) Renya sighs deeply while coming up with a manuscript in his head on how he is going to explain the situation to Frau once he gets back home. Chapter 107 Chapter 107 C It seems to be something along the line of a Solo Scouting Mission (T/N: Rairaiken is a famous ramen shop in Tokyo) The voice was interrupted.Renya, who judged that she probably hasnt died, turns his consciousness back to reality.Just as he does, he hears the sound of wings cutting through the wind.The wind pressure that was suppressed to a certain extent by a sorcery barrier, makes his forelocks sway. After having been in deep thought, Renya looks down at the thing hes currently sitting on.Its night time and the moon in the sky is faint and small.Under the moonlight that barely functions as a light source, he couldnt grasp the colors very well. But if he were able to look at it under proper illumination, he would be able to see that it was a dragon that was covered with green, vivid scales.Its size is around two sizes bigger than Dra-kun over at Liaris.It seems to be a species called emerald dragon, but Renya doesnt really care.Since Croire was flustered after seeing it at first, he didnt think anything except that its most likely a famous species among the elves.Its the dragon that Dra-kun introduced after having asked him to lend him a dragon as he wanted to go somewhat far away. Originally its a species that doesnt live at our groups dwelling, Dra-kun explained.When Renya asked where they lived then, he was told that its a species that inhabited the northern continent.It was completely unknown how it had heard about Renya, but information about him had been circulated to the northern continent by one of the dragons among those living on the human continent and several individuals, who got interested, came to make contact with Renya through Dra-kun.It seems that this emerald dragon accepted becoming Renyas temporary mount as a member of said curious group of dragons.For some reason not only Dra-kun, but even Croire stressed the point that its only a temporary arrangement, but Renya doesnt know why they did so. I was brooding for a bit. (Renya) Being told that, Renya looked down towards the ground from atop of the dragons back.He has no idea at what height they are flying, but theres only pitch black ground depicted below. He does see things that might possibly be lights at spots all over, but he absolutely doesnt understand what they are doing and in what state they are.It looks like the allied forces have already passed the border and entered the Trident Principality, but although Renya wanted to actually have a look at how many people they have, he cant see the military forces condition at all since they chose to travel at night so that they wont receive any attacks, and moreover, they are flying at quite a high altitude. Is this the Holy Kingdoms allied army below us? (Renya) It appeared that the dragon could see the military forces below with its dragonic eyesight, even while flying at such a height within complete darkness .Of course theres no way for Renya, whos no more than a human, to see something like that with his eyesight.I guess it cant be helped, Renya gave up immediately. I cant do anything about things I cant see. Pay attention to our altitude, okay? After all we might get attacked if we are discovered. (Renya) When they brought up this topic over at Liaris place, she proposed the strategy of mobilizing the dragons living nearby by asking Dra-kun and having them reduce the Holy Kingdoms allied forces to ash.They were about to literally burn them to cinder in reality, but Renya put a stop to this.As expected, even Renya felt hesitation towards the act of causing a large amount of people dying in the vicinity.In Renyas eyes, the death of soldiers didnt matter at all.If they dont want to die, they shouldnt have become soldiers.If theres a draft system, it would be best for them if they they took actions to abolish such system or if they defected to a country without it.However, I cant say for sure that, given the large amount of people dying, some souls among them havent grown up to the extent of possibly not returning to this world while holding onto their resources and disappearing.It would be meaningless if I produce souls, which would lower the amount of resources by escaping from the circle of reincarnation, even though I came here especially to replenish the lacking amount of resources.If not for that, the way of eradicating 100,000 soldiers, while trying my best, is a simple matter. For Renya there are various methods to make that possible. Pay attention to the height. That hero owned a range attack as well after all. (Renya) Theres another reason why he rejected their annihilation due to the dragons.Its very likely that the hero possesses powers that allow him to defeat dragons easily, Renya expected.One way or another, the hero doesnt posses many good traits, but if its limited to his combat abilities, according to what I sensed during our little match in the Holy City, you can call them quite extraordinary, is Renyas opinion.I dont know what will happen as long as I dont try to fight him myself, Renya believes,but I think he possesses combat abilities which allow him to easily hunt down dragons at Dra-kuns level.Rather, if he doesnt have at least this much of a combat ability, Id like to know how he intends to fight with someone like the demon king?He wonders.And, the existences called dragons possess strong powers and bodies if compared to humans.In other words, in case the humans were to be killed by the dragons after having gathered to a certain extent at this location, he has to again worry about the possibility of those souls escaping from this world while taking their resources with them.However, if it comes to worrying to this extent, next he would have to even worry about the heros soul, who became a resident of this world after being summoned.Theres no reason to revise the matter of defeating the hero.Last time Renya believed that it wasnt that big of an issue and thus stopped after making sure that the hero couldnt indiscriminately put his hands on women. But the situation after that has developed to go as far as war.If I had killed him at that time, it wouldnt have turned out like this.Renya considers this to be likely his own error in judgment.Therefore it was necessary for him to properly bring it to an end this time. But if the defeated heros soul escapes to another world while holding onto its resources, that in itself will become a problem as well.Well then, what would the best option be here?Renya was troubled.Even if he knows how to cut people, its not like he knows how to cut something as ambiguous as a soul.I guess itll be best just to think about killing him for now and worry about that matter once the time comes, Renya switches his way of thinking.Assuming he did escape while taking the resources with him as the worst case scenario, it would be okay to consider it as inevitable. Well then, can I have you hurry up a bit? (Renya) The emerald dragon flaps its wings once.With just that motion, the large flying body gained even more speed.Renya was sitting directly on the dragons back without even using a saddle, but he endures the speed-up by while holding onto one of the dragons scales on its back. I suppose its a matter of my feelings. Or perhaps I should say that I somehow wont calm down unless I do something. (Renya) Compared to the suddenness of the acceleration, the impact received by Renyas body was extremely small.Considering his rider, the dragon is protecting Renyas body, but for Renya it seems to be hard to settle down if he doesnt somehow grab onto something when he feels the sensation of the sudden acceleration.The emerald dragons flight speed was so high that it couldnt be compared to that of Dra-kuns and the others.The emerald dragon that appears to be of a superior race when compared to Dra-kuns group, arrives at the destination that ought to be quite far away in a mere two hours once it flies seriously. Upon the dragons thought, Renya strains his eyes into the darkness ahead.Over there is a huge city that is surrounded by high walls. He can see a castle with several high spires in the centre of the city.Because the city itself is bright due to the lights all over, even Renyas eyes were capable of perceiving its existence, albeit only vaguely, even as they fly while maintaining a reasonable altitude. The dragon proposed to try descend at a slightly distant place out of consideration, but Renya ordered it to plunge into the city just like that.Normally, thats something Renya will try avoid doing by all means, but as the Holy Kingdom is the enemy nation in the current war, theres absolutely no necessity for him to consider their circumstances.That means I might as well use the opportunity for a nice dive. Eh? Your breath? Whats this about? (Renya) Rejected. Enough of the poison stuff. (Renya) Renya ponders for a bit.Due to the dragons thoughts being partially transmitted to me, I have a feeling, similar to a desire, of Let me attack, please let me appearing and disappearing, but I guess thats probably just my imagination.Come to think of it, seeing that dragons dont visit human habitations very often, dragons rarely do something like mercilessly releasing their breath upon human cities after all.If something like that happened frequently, Im pretty sure that the humans habitation range on the human continent would be limited to a far smaller sphere.Considering it like that, the experience of spitting breath at a human habitation without holding back might be something precious even for dragons which they can only seldomly experience.Having thought about it, Renya decided to give the emerald dragon permission to attack. Can you keep it to the level of destroying the walls and several spires? Make sure to not hit the peoples houses. (Renya) A short answer.The dragon opens its mouth while flying unhindered. Green light, which is clearly visible within the nights darkness, leaks from its mouth. I wonder whether I need something like anti-flash protection? (Renya) At the instant Renya answered the dragons thought with a light chatter, a brilliantly green laser light gushed out of its mouth.Just as it was ordered by Renya, the dragon destroyed several of the castles spires, and then, after flying past above the residential area, it crashes into a part of the wall surrounding the city.The wall at that spot was blown away without any showy explosion. I guess dragons are amazing. (Renya) The dragon says to Renya, who muttered that calmly, while looking displeased.The dragons body, with Renya on top, descended towards an open space that seemed to be the castles courtyard.The Holy Citys side was surprised and flustered.Once they realized that it was a dragon that suddenly came flying down from a high altitude, they partially fell into a state of panic, but that dragon went even further and blew away a part of the citys wall, and shot parts of the castle with its breath.Moreover, the dragon didnt fly away either, but is about to land in the castles courtyard.If it was the hero, he still might have somehow handled it, but the hero is in the middle of an expedition while leading the army in a far, distant place.And theres no way that the soldiers remaining in the castle would be able to stand a chance no matter what kind of dragon flew in.In the end they couldnt do anything besides watching the dragon, which didnt take any action other than gently landing seemingly unbefitting of its huge frame, and the figure of the person standing up on its back. Holy Kingdom, I have business with your king. Bring him here! (Renya) Renya shouted while looking down on the soldiers crowding around in the surroundings as he stands on top of the dragons back.Grasping that theres a human on the dragons back, the soldiers got their weapons ready.Renya, who watched them while looking bored, lightly taps the back of the dragon.As if upon command, the dragon threatened the soldiers that had set up their weapons by growling deeply and loudly.With only that, the soldiers ended up sinking down to the ground due to their knees giving way and at the same time letting go of their weapons. Im telling you once more. I have business with your king. Hurry up and bring him here. You are free to resist me. But make sure to come at me after having resolved yourselves, as the earlier breath will be fired right into the centre of the city without holding back this time, okay? (Renya) While feeling mentally worn-out a bit, due to his own lines being just like those of a villain, Renya has a hunch that it will take quite a lot of time for the king to come since its the middle of the night right now.As he listens to the voices calling for the king resounding all over and while he prays that there are none among the soldiers who are going to attack out of a pointless sense of duty, Renya wonders just how fast the king will get here as he waits on the dragons back. Chapter 107 C It seems to be something along the line of a Solo Scouting Mission (T/N: Rairaiken is a famous ramen shop in Tokyo) The voice was interrupted.Renya, who judged that she probably hasnt died, turns his consciousness back to reality.Just as he does, he hears the sound of wings cutting through the wind.The wind pressure that was suppressed to a certain extent by a sorcery barrier, makes his forelocks sway. After having been in deep thought, Renya looks down at the thing hes currently sitting on.Its night time and the moon in the sky is faint and small.Under the moonlight that barely functions as a light source, he couldnt grasp the colors very well. But if he were able to look at it under proper illumination, he would be able to see that it was a dragon that was covered with green, vivid scales.Its size is around two sizes bigger than Dra-kun over at Liaris.It seems to be a species called emerald dragon, but Renya doesnt really care.Since Croire was flustered after seeing it at first, he didnt think anything except that its most likely a famous species among the elves.Its the dragon that Dra-kun introduced after having asked him to lend him a dragon as he wanted to go somewhat far away. Originally its a species that doesnt live at our groups dwelling, Dra-kun explained.When Renya asked where they lived then, he was told that its a species that inhabited the northern continent.It was completely unknown how it had heard about Renya, but information about him had been circulated to the northern continent by one of the dragons among those living on the human continent and several individuals, who got interested, came to make contact with Renya through Dra-kun.It seems that this emerald dragon accepted becoming Renyas temporary mount as a member of said curious group of dragons.For some reason not only Dra-kun, but even Croire stressed the point that its only a temporary arrangement, but Renya doesnt know why they did so. I was brooding for a bit. (Renya) Being told that, Renya looked down towards the ground from atop of the dragons back.He has no idea at what height they are flying, but theres only pitch black ground depicted below. He does see things that might possibly be lights at spots all over, but he absolutely doesnt understand what they are doing and in what state they are.It looks like the allied forces have already passed the border and entered the Trident Principality, but although Renya wanted to actually have a look at how many people they have, he cant see the military forces condition at all since they chose to travel at night so that they wont receive any attacks, and moreover, they are flying at quite a high altitude. Is this the Holy Kingdoms allied army below us? (Renya) It appeared that the dragon could see the military forces below with its dragonic eyesight, even while flying at such a height within complete darkness .Of course theres no way for Renya, whos no more than a human, to see something like that with his eyesight.I guess it cant be helped, Renya gave up immediately. I cant do anything about things I cant see. Pay attention to our altitude, okay? After all we might get attacked if we are discovered. (Renya) When they brought up this topic over at Liaris place, she proposed the strategy of mobilizing the dragons living nearby by asking Dra-kun and having them reduce the Holy Kingdoms allied forces to ash.They were about to literally burn them to cinder in reality, but Renya put a stop to this.As expected, even Renya felt hesitation towards the act of causing a large amount of people dying in the vicinity.In Renyas eyes, the death of soldiers didnt matter at all.If they dont want to die, they shouldnt have become soldiers.If theres a draft system, it would be best for them if they they took actions to abolish such system or if they defected to a country without it.However, I cant say for sure that, given the large amount of people dying, some souls among them havent grown up to the extent of possibly not returning to this world while holding onto their resources and disappearing.It would be meaningless if I produce souls, which would lower the amount of resources by escaping from the circle of reincarnation, even though I came here especially to replenish the lacking amount of resources.If not for that, the way of eradicating 100,000 soldiers, while trying my best, is a simple matter.For Renya there are various methods to make that possible. Pay attention to the height. That hero owned a range attack as well after all. (Renya) Theres another reason why he rejected their annihilation due to the dragons.Its very likely that the hero possesses powers that allow him to defeat dragons easily, Renya expected.One way or another, the hero doesnt posses many good traits, but if its limited to his combat abilities, according to what I sensed during our little match in the Holy City, you can call them quite extraordinary, is Renyas opinion.I dont know what will happen as long as I dont try to fight him myself, Renya believes,but I think he possesses combat abilities which allow him to easily hunt down dragons at Dra-kuns level.Rather, if he doesnt have at least this much of a combat ability, Id like to know how he intends to fight with someone like the demon king?He wonders.And, the existences called dragons possess strong powers and bodies if compared to humans.In other words, in case the humans were to be killed by the dragons after having gathered to a certain extent at this location, he has to again worry about the possibility of those souls escaping from this world while taking their resources with them.However, if it comes to worrying to this extent, next he would have to even worry about the heros soul, who became a resident of this world after being summoned.Theres no reason to revise the matter of defeating the hero.Last time Renya believed that it wasnt that big of an issue and thus stopped after making sure that the hero couldnt indiscriminately put his hands on women. But the situation after that has developed to go as far as war.If I had killed him at that time, it wouldnt have turned out like this.Renya considers this to be likely his own error in judgment.Therefore it was necessary for him to properly bring it to an end this time. But if the defeated heros soul escapes to another world while holding onto its resources, that in itself will become a problem as well.Well then, what would the best option be here?Renya was troubled.Even if he knows how to cut people, its not like he knows how to cut something as ambiguous as a soul.I guess itll be best just to think about killing him for now and worry about that matter once the time comes, Renya switches his way of thinking.Assuming he did escape while taking the resources with him as the worst case scenario, it would be okay to consider it as inevitable. Well then, can I have you hurry up a bit? (Renya) The emerald dragon flaps its wings once.With just that motion, the large flying body gained even more speed.Renya was sitting directly on the dragons back without even using a saddle, but he endures the speed-up by while holding onto one of the dragons scales on its back. I suppose its a matter of my feelings. Or perhaps I should say that I somehow wont calm down unless I do something. (Renya) Compared to the suddenness of the acceleration, the impact received by Renyas body was extremely small.Considering his rider, the dragon is protecting Renyas body, but for Renya it seems to be hard to settle down if he doesnt somehow grab onto something when he feels the sensation of the sudden acceleration.The emerald dragons flight speed was so high that it couldnt be compared to that of Dra-kuns and the others.The emerald dragon that appears to be of a superior race when compared to Dra-kuns group, arrives at the destination that ought to be quite far away in a mere two hours once it flies seriously. Upon the dragons thought, Renya strains his eyes into the darkness ahead.Over there is a huge city that is surrounded by high walls. He can see a castle with several high spires in the centre of the city.Because the city itself is bright due to the lights all over, even Renyas eyes were capable of perceiving its existence, albeit only vaguely, even as they fly while maintaining a reasonable altitude. The dragon proposed to try descend at a slightly distant place out of consideration, but Renya ordered it to plunge into the city just like that.Normally, thats something Renya will try avoid doing by all means, but as the Holy Kingdom is the enemy nation in the current war, theres absolutely no necessity for him to consider their circumstances.That means I might as well use the opportunity for a nice dive. Eh? Your breath? Whats this about? (Renya) Rejected. Enough of the poison stuff. (Renya) Renya ponders for a bit.Due to the dragons thoughts being partially transmitted to me, I have a feeling, similar to a desire, of Let me attack, please let me appearing and disappearing, but I guess thats probably just my imagination.Come to think of it, seeing that dragons dont visit human habitations very often, dragons rarely do something like mercilessly releasing their breath upon human cities after all.If something like that happened frequently, Im pretty sure that the humans habitation range on the human continent would be limited to a far smaller sphere.Considering it like that, the experience of spitting breath at a human habitation without holding back might be something precious even for dragons which they can only seldomly experience.Having thought about it, Renya decided to give the emerald dragon permission to attack. Can you keep it to the level of destroying the walls and several spires? Make sure to not hit the peoples houses. (Renya) A short answer.The dragon opens its mouth while flying unhindered. Green light, which is clearly visible within the nights darkness, leaks from its mouth. I wonder whether I need something like anti-flash protection? (Renya) At the instant Renya answered the dragons thought with a light chatter, a brilliantly green laser light gushed out of its mouth.Just as it was ordered by Renya, the dragon destroyed several of the castles spires, and then, after flying past above the residential area, it crashes into a part of the wall surrounding the city.The wall at that spot was blown away without any showy explosion. I guess dragons are amazing. (Renya) The dragon says to Renya, who muttered that calmly, while looking displeased.The dragons body, with Renya on top, descended towards an open space that seemed to be the castles courtyard.The Holy Citys side was surprised and flustered.Once they realized that it was a dragon that suddenly came flying down from a high altitude, they partially fell into a state of panic, but that dragon went even further and blew away a part of the citys wall, and shot parts of the castle with its breath.Moreover, the dragon didnt fly away either, but is about to land in the castles courtyard.If it was the hero, he still might have somehow handled it, but the hero is in the middle of an expedition while leading the army in a far, distant place.And theres no way that the soldiers remaining in the castle would be able to stand a chance no matter what kind of dragon flew in.In the end they couldnt do anything besides watching the dragon, which didnt take any action other than gently landing seemingly unbefitting of its huge frame, and the figure of the person standing up on its back. Holy Kingdom, I have business with your king. Bring him here! (Renya) Renya shouted while looking down on the soldiers crowding around in the surroundings as he stands on top of the dragons back.Grasping that theres a human on the dragons back, the soldiers got their weapons ready.Renya, who watched them while looking bored, lightly taps the back of the dragon.As if upon command, the dragon threatened the soldiers that had set up their weapons by growling deeply and loudly.With only that, the soldiers ended up sinking down to the ground due to their knees giving way and at the same time letting go of their weapons. Im telling you once more. I have business with your king. Hurry up and bring him here. You are free to resist me. But make sure to come at me after having resolved yourselves, as the earlier breath will be fired right into the centre of the city without holding back this time, okay? (Renya) While feeling mentally worn-out a bit, due to his own lines being just like those of a villain, Renya has a hunch that it will take quite a lot of time for the king to come since its the middle of the night right now.As he listens to the voices calling for the king resounding all over and while he prays that there are none among the soldiers who are going to attack out of a pointless sense of duty, Renya wonders just how fast the king will get here as he waits on the dragons back. Chapter 108 Chapter 108 C It seems to be the Start of Negotiations In the end it was a good idea to go as far as landing right in the middle of the Holy Citys castle after having released one breath attack, Renya thinks.The problem is what follows.Although I tried threatening them to get the king over here, theres absolutely no sign of the king making an appearance.Moreover, Renya doesnt know the Holy Kingdoms kings face.Because of this he cant look for him by himself either.Gradually Renya starts to get fed up due to the penance of continuously facing the Holy Kingdoms soldiers scared looks and their trembling spear and sword tips while the clock only keeps ticking.The emerald dragon below his feet only watches the situation while appearing to be somewhat amused after having quickly curled up on the ground and keeping its eyes partially open.At that point in time its coercion was almost non-existent, but despite this, apparently unable to erase the power of its breath, which the soldiers witnessed at the beginning, from their heads, there were no courageous soldiers trying to attack the dragon. W-Who the hell are you bastard!? A soldier that has a little bit of backbone calls out from a slightly distant place, trying to ascertain Renyas identity.Renya answered while apparently finding it bothersome, I will speak once the king arrives. (Renya) Theres no reason for a suspicious bastard like you to directly meet with the king! Thats a problem, you know? Renya says while not looking overly troubled at all. Apparently sensing that, the dragon yawns grandly.Isnt that quite the cute yawn there?Renya wondered, but in the eyes of those in the surroundings, the dragon opening its mouth widely is nothing more than a dreadful act.Renya can see a group that gets entangled as they try to escape in a state of panic while striving to be the first to get away. Well, just so that you know, for me it doesnt really matter even if he doesnt show up. (Renya) While saying that, Renya taps the body of the dragon and after getting its attention, Renya points at several places of the wall located at the outer section of the city.With that much, the dragon apparently comprehended what it ought to do.Lifting its head, green light leaks out from the dragons mouth once again. Y-You dont! S-Stop! As if in response to that shout, a green flesh tears the night sky apart.The pillar of light, created by the impact of the dragons breath, caused the outer wall to fall apart just like brittle candy.Among the roaring sounds of the stone that formed the outer wall crumbling, Renya said in a tone that was similar to informing others about something trivial, I intend to steadily whittle down this city until the king shows up. In the worst case, it will become easy to attack once all of it is gone, even if he doesnt make his appearance. (Renya) Given that the citys big, the outer wall is long as well.Renyas eyes, who thinksThis is a city worth leveling, meet with the dragons eyes, which were sparkling for some reason.Seemingly not having expected that reaction, Renya backs off slightly, but the dragons head follows him covering the distance he pulled back.Guessing from this reaction, it looks like this dragon wants to destroy even more things by projecting its breath.I wonder, do dragons also possess a destructive streak?Renya is puzzled.As far as my conversations through thought were concerned, dragons felt a bit more composed to me, but no matter how you look at it, it is bluntly exhibiting its desire to go ballistic. It would be better if he came out quickly. Somehow it seems that this guy here is all eager to destroy the outer wall, got it? Theres no way for me to know how long it will endure waiting. (Renya) What business do you have with me? Dividing the wall of people surrounding Renya and the dragon, the Holy Kingdoms king showed up while wearing a formal dress he apparently put on in quite a hurry.Is it because he hurried too much? His clothes are crumpled all over.Renya took a long, hard look at the kings appearance, whom hes seeing for the first time, but to him the king doesnt seem like a person with much dignity.Compared to Renya, he is around two heads shorter. Even his body build doesnt give one the impression of being forged thanks to having faced many battles. To Renya he looked spindly.And, the problem above all else is (Renya) (Emedra) (Renya) I wont know if you stay silent. I have asked you what kind of business you have with me. (King) You are the Holy Kingdoms king, correct? (Renya) Renya returns a question without even bothering to get off the dragons back.That was of course not the proper attitude to take when dealing with the king of a country, but Renyas mind considers the self-important old man in front of his eyes as unworthy of any respect beyond the necessary level of finishing things without having to cut him down as an enemy.Originally, it should be fine to kill him without any warning, as hes the enemys boss during a war.Since Renya is trying to have a talk with the king while making do with not killing him on the spot, theres no reason for him to get blamed and instead he should be praised. Indeed, Im the king of the Holy Kingdom, the 24th Ah, I have no need for your name. Its pretty pointless to remember your name. (Renya) Renya interrupted the words of the king who tried to name himself.Being stopped during his introduction all of a sudden, the king looked displeased, but in Renyas eyes he doesnt need his name as it will be fine as long as he knows that the other party is the king. Well then, I have a question to you, king of the Holy Kingdom. With you having dispatched troops towards the Trident Principality on this occasion, do you believe that that very country has sided with the demons? (Renya) I-Indeed. This is the truth that was announced under the name of the hero and the goddess. Hoo? (Renya) Renya places his left hand on the katana hanging at his waist.Slightly pressing the katanas guard with his thumb, the blade, which peeked out a bit once it left the sheaths mouth, shone as it reflected the faint illumination.As if being stabbed by that light, the king retreats several steps. I suppose you bastards believe in that truth or whatsoever as well? (Renya) O- Of course. I guess theres no other option but to kill him, Renya judged.Being asked whether he is an enemy, the king affirmed that.Without any room for discussion, the only choice remaining here is to silence the king by slaying him.Did those thoughts appear on his face? The king, who made eye contact with Renya, screams shortly and slumps down on the spot.The soldiers, who are about to let the king escape after helping him on his feet, cant move as they desire either because their legs are shaking due to the aftermath of the bloodthirst Renya hurled at the king.And moreover, even the dragons body below Renya started to tremble. Hey, why are you so scared? (Renya) (Emedra) But! Due to the words that partly sounded like a scream, Renya, who looked at the dragon below his feet, threw a glaring glance at the king.With his waist having given in, unable to move his legs as he wishes and with his arms not doing what he tells them to do, even as he tries to get away from Renya by crawling, the king searches for the words he should say while frantically wrecking his brain.Thats because he guessed that he would very likely sink in a pool of blood without being able to see tomorrows sunrise right here and now once he stops looking for them. Since ancient times the Trident Principality has been a country that bore the duty of being a breakwater against demons and monsters on the human continent. Something like them readily siding with the demons is very doubtful! So? (Renya) Beyond that I cant say! If I do, I will be banished by the church as a heretic that didnt believe in the goddesss words and who went against the hero. As the one standing above all people of the Holy Kingdom and as king of the Holy Kingdom, thats something I cant do! If one were to hear that out of context, it sounds like hes saying something cool, but since hes actually only scared of opposing the hero and the church, its nothing more than a miserable confession that he has no other option but to do as hes told.Even so, well, its something I can understand as those called statesman are probably all more or less just like that. Then lets talk about an assumptiveif? (Renya) What? Renya started to speak calmly while returning the slightly drawn blade into its scabbard.At the same time as the blade was completely sheathed in the scabbard, the scattered bloodthirst vanished like mist as well. Ifthe hero, who is currently invading Trident Principality, vanished from this world. Would that make it possible for you to overturn your previous remark? (Renya) That is The king was at a loss for words, obviously troubled on how to answer.It looks like hes deliberating what would be the best way to answer while slightly moving about, unable to calm down, letting his gaze wander across the surroundings and then raising his eyes towards Renya who is looking down on him from atop the dragon.From the kings standpoint, its probably something he wants to agree with right away in reality.However, as thats the same as abandoning the hero, those are not words he can voice out, as the hero is still going strong.Besides, its likely that he doubts whether Renya can definitely kill the hero.One can say that its extremely unsightly for the king to still consider the safety of his own hide as the most important this late in the game, but for humans you might call that an appropriate train of thought. I have a suggestion. Give up on the hero and the 100,000 soldiers that are accompanying him in the invasion. (Renya) What did you say!? Not only the king, but also the soldiers started to get noisy due to Renyas statement.Without caring about that noise, Renya continues, Going by the situation, its probably unreasonable for me to tell you to pull them back, right? (Renya) Yeah. If there are soldiers you can pull back, do it quickly, as I will overlook those. After all its not like I know how many people are going to die after they arrived at the capital city of the Trident Principality, right? (Renya) Renya would like him to pull back the majority of soldiers if possible, but hes concerned that the king will start looking down on him if he says that.In the worst case Renya intends to ignore even the soldiers that run away from the battle after arriving at the capital, but thats also something he cant mention.Thats because the king will think its fine even if he decides sometime during the armys mobilization towards the capital.The longer the soldiers persist on continuing the invasion, the more damage the Trident Principality will incur.He would like them to exit the country as fast as possible, but harm should have already been done.The Trident Principalitys side ought to feel like a victim that was attacked for no reason, too.Because of these circumstances, I suppose theres no other option but to have them suffer some sacrifices, Renya believes.Of course, the first on the list, who escalated the situation into such horseplay, is that hero-sama, though. I will make sure that only the hero doesnt return. As soon as thats finished, you will revoke the directive regarding the Trident Principality in your name and blame all of it on that deluded, obsessed hero. However, as the Holy Kingdom also bears responsibility for being unable to stop the misdeeds of the hero, you will announce that the kingdom will pay reparations to all nations that are participating in this times war. (Renya) Reparations Renya clearly grasped the face of the king going pale even within the poor light of the night.The countries except for the Holy Kingdom have contributed half of the 100,000 soldiers of the allied forces.Even Renya couldnt anticipate how many of those soldiers would be pulled back, how many would arrive at the capital city and how many would die there, but hes pretty sure that it wont be a low number.Just how much money will it take to compensate for such a number of soldiers?Even if the Holy Kingdoms framework wont fall apart, its probably no mistake to think that it will suffer a considerably serious blow, Renya estimates.If that hard blow weakens the Holy Kingdom at its foundation, you can consider that to be a good thing in itself, and even if that doesnt happen, the Holy Kingdom will likely become docile after returning to its former standard as its national power will decline thanks to those reparations.It was a proposal that included those thoughts. Feel free to tell me if you are against it. What, its not like our side wants to go easy on you. It would be best if we change the Holy Kingdom itself into an empty lot after thoroughly killing you and the 100,000 soldiers. All that will be left then is to slowly discuss the compensation with the other countries. (Renya) It will work out somehow if we turn all the assets possessed by the Holy Kingdom into compensation, Renya laughs. Thereupon the king and even the soldiers in the surroundings became pale to an amusing degree. Well then, what will you do? If you refuse, we will start with this place first. (Renya) Once Renya asks that, the dragon below him glared at the people present to intimidate them.Those present, including the king, nodded their heads, obviously having no other choice and acknowledged the matters in accordance with Renyas will. Chapter 108 C It seems to be the Start of Negotiations In the end it was a good idea to go as far as landing right in the middle of the Holy Citys castle after having released one breath attack, Renya thinks.The problem is what follows.Although I tried threatening them to get the king over here, theres absolutely no sign of the king making an appearance.Moreover, Renya doesnt know the Holy Kingdoms kings face.Because of this he cant look for him by himself either.Gradually Renya starts to get fed up due to the penance of continuously facing the Holy Kingdoms soldiers scared looks and their trembling spear and sword tips while the clock only keeps ticking.The emerald dragon below his feet only watches the situation while appearing to be somewhat amused after having quickly curled up on the ground and keeping its eyes partially open.At that point in time its coercion was almost non-existent, but despite this, apparently unable to erase the power of its breath, which the soldiers witnessed at the beginning, from their heads, there were no courageous soldiers trying to attack the dragon. W-Who the hell are you bastard!? A soldier that has a little bit of backbone calls out from a slightly distant place, trying to ascertain Renyas identity.Renya answered while apparently finding it bothersome, I will speak once the king arrives. (Renya) Theres no reason for a suspicious bastard like you to directly meet with the king! Thats a problem, you know? Renya says while not looking overly troubled at all. Apparently sensing that, the dragon yawns grandly.Isnt that quite the cute yawn there?Renya wondered, but in the eyes of those in the surroundings, the dragon opening its mouth widely is nothing more than a dreadful act.Renya can see a group that gets entangled as they try to escape in a state of panic while striving to be the first to get away. Well, just so that you know, for me it doesnt really matter even if he doesnt show up. (Renya) While saying that, Renya taps the body of the dragon and after getting its attention, Renya points at several places of the wall located at the outer section of the city.With that much, the dragon apparently comprehended what it ought to do.Lifting its head, green light leaks out from the dragons mouth once again. Y-You dont! S-Stop! As if in response to that shout, a green flesh tears the night sky apart.The pillar of light, created by the impact of the dragons breath, caused the outer wall to fall apart just like brittle candy.Among the roaring sounds of the stone that formed the outer wall crumbling, Renya said in a tone that was similar to informing others about something trivial, I intend to steadily whittle down this city until the king shows up. In the worst case, it will become easy to attack once all of it is gone, even if he doesnt make his appearance. (Renya) Given that the citys big, the outer wall is long as well.Renyas eyes, who thinksThis is a city worth leveling, meet with the dragons eyes, which were sparkling for some reason.Seemingly not having expected that reaction, Renya backs off slightly, but the dragons head follows him covering the distance he pulled back.Guessing from this reaction, it looks like this dragon wants to destroy even more things by projecting its breath.I wonder, do dragons also possess a destructive streak?Renya is puzzled.As far as my conversations through thought were concerned, dragons felt a bit more composed to me, but no matter how you look at it, it is bluntly exhibiting its desire to go ballistic. It would be better if he came out quickly. Somehow it seems that this guy here is all eager to destroy the outer wall, got it? Theres no way for me to know how long it will endure waiting. (Renya) What business do you have with me? Dividing the wall of people surrounding Renya and the dragon, the Holy Kingdoms king showed up while wearing a formal dress he apparently put on in quite a hurry.Is it because he hurried too much? His clothes are crumpled all over.Renya took a long, hard look at the kings appearance, whom hes seeing for the first time, but to him the king doesnt seem like a person with much dignity.Compared to Renya, he is around two heads shorter. Even his body build doesnt give one the impression of being forged thanks to having faced many battles. To Renya he looked spindly.And, the problem above all else is (Renya) (Emedra) (Renya) I wont know if you stay silent. I have asked you what kind of business you have with me. (King) You are the Holy Kingdoms king, correct? (Renya) Renya returns a question without even bothering to get off the dragons back.That was of course not the proper attitude to take when dealing with the king of a country, but Renyas mind considers the self-important old man in front of his eyes as unworthy of any respect beyond the necessary level of finishing things without having to cut him down as an enemy.Originally, it should be fine to kill him without any warning, as hes the enemys boss during a war.Since Renya is trying to have a talk with the king while making do with not killing him on the spot, theres no reason for him to get blamed and instead he should be praised. Indeed, Im the king of the Holy Kingdom, the 24th Ah, I have no need for your name. Its pretty pointless to remember your name. (Renya) Renya interrupted the words of the king who tried to name himself.Being stopped during his introduction all of a sudden, the king looked displeased, but in Renyas eyes he doesnt need his name as it will be fine as long as he knows that the other party is the king. Well then, I have a question to you, king of the Holy Kingdom. With you having dispatched troops towards the Trident Principality on this occasion, do you believe that that very country has sided with the demons? (Renya) I-Indeed. This is the truth that was announced under the name of the hero and the goddess. Hoo? (Renya) Renya places his left hand on the katana hanging at his waist.Slightly pressing the katanas guard with his thumb, the blade, which peeked out a bit once it left the sheaths mouth, shone as it reflected the faint illumination.As if being stabbed by that light, the king retreats several steps. I suppose you bastards believe in that truth or whatsoever as well? (Renya) O- Of course. I guess theres no other option but to kill him, Renya judged.Being asked whether he is an enemy, the king affirmed that.Without any room for discussion, the only choice remaining here is to silence the king by slaying him.Did those thoughts appear on his face? The king, who made eye contact with Renya, screams shortly and slumps down on the spot.The soldiers, who are about to let the king escape after helping him on his feet, cant move as they desire either because their legs are shaking due to the aftermath of the bloodthirst Renya hurled at the king.And moreover, even the dragons body below Renya started to tremble. Hey, why are you so scared? (Renya) (Emedra) But! Due to the words that partly sounded like a scream, Renya, who looked at the dragon below his feet, threw a glaring glance at the king.With his waist having given in, unable to move his legs as he wishes and with his arms not doing what he tells them to do, even as he tries to get away from Renya by crawling, the king searches for the words he should say while frantically wrecking his brain.Thats because he guessed that he would very likely sink in a pool of blood without being able to see tomorrows sunrise right here and now once he stops looking for them. Since ancient times the Trident Principality has been a country that bore the duty of being a breakwater against demons and monsters on the human continent. Something like them readily siding with the demons is very doubtful! So? (Renya) Beyond that I cant say! If I do, I will be banished by the church as a heretic that didnt believe in the goddesss words and who went against the hero. As the one standing above all people of the Holy Kingdom and as king of the Holy Kingdom, thats something I cant do! If one were to hear that out of context, it sounds like hes saying something cool, but since hes actually only scared of opposing the hero and the church, its nothing more than a miserable confession that he has no other option but to do as hes told.Even so, well, its something I can understand as those called statesman are probably all more or less just like that. Then lets talk about an assumptiveif? (Renya) What? Renya started to speak calmly while returning the slightly drawn blade into its scabbard.At the same time as the blade was completely sheathed in the scabbard, the scattered bloodthirst vanished like mist as well. Ifthe hero, who is currently invading Trident Principality, vanished from this world. Would that make it possible for you to overturn your previous remark? (Renya) That is The king was at a loss for words, obviously troubled on how to answer.It looks like hes deliberating what would be the best way to answer while slightly moving about, unable to calm down, letting his gaze wander across the surroundings and then raising his eyes towards Renya who is looking down on him from atop the dragon.From the kings standpoint, its probably something he wants to agree with right away in reality.However, as thats the same as abandoning the hero, those are not words he can voice out, as the hero is still going strong.Besides, its likely that he doubts whether Renya can definitely kill the hero.One can say that its extremely unsightly for the king to still consider the safety of his own hide as the most important this late in the game, but for humans you might call that an appropriate train of thought. I have a suggestion. Give up on the hero and the 100,000 soldiers that are accompanying him in the invasion. (Renya) What did you say!? Not only the king, but also the soldiers started to get noisy due to Renyas statement.Without caring about that noise, Renya continues, Going by the situation, its probably unreasonable for me to tell you to pull them back, right? (Renya) Yeah. If there are soldiers you can pull back, do it quickly, as I will overlook those. After all its not like I know how many people are going to die after they arrived at the capital city of the Trident Principality, right? (Renya) Renya would like him to pull back the majority of soldiers if possible, but hes concerned that the king will start looking down on him if he says that.In the worst case Renya intends to ignore even the soldiers that run away from the battle after arriving at the capital, but thats also something he cant mention.Thats because the king will think its fine even if he decides sometime during the armys mobilization towards the capital.The longer the soldiers persist on continuing the invasion, the more damage the Trident Principality will incur.He would like them to exit the country as fast as possible, but harm should have already been done.The Trident Principalitys side ought to feel like a victim that was attacked for no reason, too.Because of these circumstances, I suppose theres no other option but to have them suffer some sacrifices, Renya believes.Of course, the first on the list, who escalated the situation into such horseplay, is that hero-sama, though. I will make sure that only the hero doesnt return. As soon as thats finished, you will revoke the directive regarding the Trident Principality in your name and blame all of it on that deluded, obsessed hero. However, as the Holy Kingdom also bears responsibility for being unable to stop the misdeeds of the hero, you will announce that the kingdom will pay reparations to all nations that are participating in this times war. (Renya) Reparations Renya clearly grasped the face of the king going pale even within the poor light of the night.The countries except for the Holy Kingdom have contributed half of the 100,000 soldiers of the allied forces.Even Renya couldnt anticipate how many of those soldiers would be pulled back, how many would arrive at the capital city and how many would die there, but hes pretty sure that it wont be a low number.Just how much money will it take to compensate for such a number of soldiers?Even if the Holy Kingdoms framework wont fall apart, its probably no mistake to think that it will suffer a considerably serious blow, Renya estimates.If that hard blow weakens the Holy Kingdom at its foundation, you can consider that to be a good thing in itself, and even if that doesnt happen, the Holy Kingdom will likely become docile after returning to its former standard as its national power will decline thanks to those reparations.It was a proposal that included those thoughts. Feel free to tell me if you are against it. What, its not like our side wants to go easy on you. It would be best if we change the Holy Kingdom itself into an empty lot after thoroughly killing you and the 100,000 soldiers. All that will be left then is to slowly discuss the compensation with the other countries. (Renya) It will work out somehow if we turn all the assets possessed by the Holy Kingdom into compensation, Renya laughs. Thereupon the king and even the soldiers in the surroundings became pale to an amusing degree. Well then, what will you do? If you refuse, we will start with this place first. (Renya) Once Renya asks that, the dragon below him glared at the people present to intimidate them.Those present, including the king, nodded their heads, obviously having no other choice and acknowledged the matters in accordance with Renyas will. Chapter 109 Chapter 109 C It seems to be a Travel to the Capital Trident Lydia Femme Fatale, 36 years old.Current Archduchess of the Trident Principality and mother of two.Having lost her husband 5 years ago in a monster subjugation in the Miasma Forest, she is currently a widow.She has no plans to remarry.This is Shions and Mayrias mother, whom Renya has heard about from Mayria. It was information about Archduchess Fatale, the most influential authority in the Trident Principality.You can call this information really lacking.Of course it would have likely been possible for Renya to learn in detail about what food she likes and dislikes, her hobbies and even the color of her panties if he asked, since Mayria is her blood-related daughter, but Renya wasnt interested in any of that to begin with.She was the type of person he didnt want to get involved with as much as possible, but as a war is something where you often cant choose your options, it has become necessary, no matter what, for Renya to exchange a few words with the archduchess if he plans to put an end to this war.It was a fact that there might exist a plan that will be affected if he were to irresponsibly feign ignorance, turning it into a situation where this war will be far off reaching a clear conclusion.Although its tentatively, Renya got a promise from the Holy Kingdoms side that they will bring the heros rampaging to an end in regards to this times matter as long as he deals with the hero. So its necessary to advance the situation in a way that is in accordance with that.Renya, who flew back to the city of Kukrika, tried to head to the capital Trident after picking up Croire and Emil, but after being asked by Frau that shed like to borrow some of his time, he went back home.What awaited Renya there is the complete set of armor he handed over to Frau a little while ago after she requested it.Renya ran into it at the front door just as he came back home. Normally such an armor is something you either store away after taking it apart or leave alone after displaying it on something like a simple stand. But what Renya ran into, was something that stood by itself while properly adopting a human shape, without any indication that it has been placed on some kind of stand. Master, Frau cant participate in the war ~no. However, Frau also wants to be useful to master ~no. Therefore Id like you to take this along with you ~no. (Frau) Next to Frau, who talks while looking up to Renya, the armor fluently bowed its head without even causing any creaking sounds.Renya, who succumbed to his curiosity of wondering whether there was something inside the armor, touches a clasp at the torso part of the armor, which that was standing straight after lifting its head again.To begin with, its a set of armor that was created for the sake of cramming Liaris into it.Since he has created the armor with the idea of only tossing Liaris into it, it allows one to see the contents by simply taking the lid off. As he didnt put much thought to donning and removing it, it was very easy to take the armor off.After making sure that Frau had no intention to stop him, Renya undoes the clasp and opens the torso armor like a door.Now that he was able to look inside, Renya peeked into the torso armor quietly.Just like the interior of Croires skirt, only a black space spreads within.Staring fixedly at that space for a little while, Renya quietly closes the torso armor before long and affixes the clasp back again into its previous state. Frau-san. This is? (Renya) I did my best to make it for master ~no. (Frau) No, saying you made it. from what? (Renya) From the armor I received from you, master ~nano. (Frau) What about the content? (Renya) Secret ~nano. (Frau) Frau said that while looking slightly bashful. But even if one can call her words and gestures cute, he cant apply an evaluation ofcuteto the thing actually indicated by those words after having seen it earlier.Due to Renya maintaining a faint smile while not saying anything further, Frau started to emphasize how very useful that armor will be. On top of being able to move eternally without sleep or rest, it wont get destroyed by mere damage ~no! In addition it becomes stronger in proportion to the enemies it kills ~no! (Frau) Does this grow? (Renya) It doesnt grow ummm I guess you can call it becoming bigger by absorbing ~no? (Frau) I think its a failure if the producer mixes doubts into their explanation. On the other hand it seems that the armor was an item that made him think that the armors functions, which he somehow managed to guess, might be interesting in their own way. Its actions are of the autonomous type? Does this listen to what I tell it? (Renya) It will only listen to the orders from you and I, master ~no. Normally it acts independently ~nano. It does have a configuration to put priority on orders though ~no! (Frau) The only question remaining would be why Frau, who is ought to be a simple fairy, can create something like this?Its left unanswered, but as for asking about it, Renya feels that its somehow equal to opening the lock of a door that mustnt be opened.I guess for the time being it will be fine if I can use it without bringing any danger onto myself, he persuades himself to agree. Master, there are no absolutes in war ~no. Besides, even if you will be safe, I will be troubled if something happened to Shion-ane-sama or Rona-ane-sama ~no. Id like you to be careful ~no. (Frau) I guess you are right. I will do that. Thank you. (Renya) Renya nodded while gently stroking Fraus head, whos looking up at Renya with slightly teary eyes.No matter how great of a power one possesses, people will still easily die due to one blow that, by coincidence, got through.Renya didnt have the slightest intention to be arrogant and conceited, but there are also situations where it happens unconsciously.Renya smiled at Frau in order to make her feel relieved while thinkingI have to be careful.By the way, Renya didnt notice at that time that Croire, who watched that scene enviously, and Emil, who attentively watched while finding it amusing, were present as well. Afterwards he ended up getting embarrassed due to being teased by Emil.It seems thats how much he was preoccupied with the worrying Frau and being surprised by the armor.Anyway, he grabs Emils nape, who is poking fun at him, and Croire with her expression full of jealousy, throws both of them on the emerald dragons back and straddles himself onto its back as well.He wondered what to do about the armor, but it clung to the dragons foot before being told anything by Renya and stopped moving just like that. Can you fly like this? (Renya) (Emedra) Even in the eyes of a dragon, it seems to be an existence that doesnt feel very good to touch.Renya wondered whether he should have properly asked about the true identity of the pitch black stuff thats been crammed into the armor after all, but, as if not wanting to waste the time waiting for Renyas thinking, the dragon flaps its wings and flies directly towards the capital city Trident from Kukrika.Renyas group that arrived at Trident joined up with Shion, Rona and Mayria who went ahead. The construction of defense structures for the sake of opposing the allied army, which was already approaching Trident, has started. Trenches and simple watchtowers are dug out and built all around the city, while they have also started to set traps at several places outside the citys outer wall.In the city that had started its evacuation, by having soldiers accompany the citys residents as their guards, the only remaining residents are those who refused to evacuate and those who had indispensable duties.Running through the streets that are usually crowded with people, Renyas group heads towards the castle, where the archduchess waits, with Mayria in the lead.Because Mayria and Shion, who are both daughters of the archduchess, were at the front, there were absolutely no soldiers that called them to a halt.Even at the archduchess castle, the gate was opened by a single order to do so, and the sentries made way and saluted after simply looking at Shions and Mayrias faces. Thats incredible, isnt it, Renya? We are let through with a face pass. (Emil) Rather, with those two in the lead, it would be weird if someone stopped them, no? (Renya) Renya and the others chase the two who are rapidly proceeding deeper into the castle.When those two stopped in front of a certain rooms door, Mayria knocked in a slightly shy manner. Its Mayria. Might it be fine for us to enter? (Mayria) Come in~. The voice that could be heard coming from the room was the voice of a woman that seemed somewhat lifeless.Crossing through the door, it sounds slightly mumbly, but its quite the young voice, Renya thinks.After making sure that she had received permission, Mayria opens the door and enters.After Shion, who followed Mayria, Renya goes inside as well. What awaited him in there was an unbelievable sight. Eh This is (Renya) The rooms interior is barren.The stone walls are bleak and theres almost no furniture.Sunlight shines into the room through the only opened window. Just a single, rectangle table has been placed in the centre of the room.A woman was sitting at a spot that is equivalent to the seat of honor.Her hair and eyes are black, just like that of her daughters.Her neat, long, black hair naturally flows straight down her back. Compared to Shion and Mayria, that woman has a gentle look.Rather, it might be correct to call her gentleness and personal appearance as somewhat drowsy.Shes wearingtekkouand a silver breastplate seemingly for the sake of being prepared for war, more or less.Below that breastplate theres a dougi-like tunic that looks just like Shionshakamaat a first glance.It was certainly not wrong to think that her equipment is the same as that of Shions, but what was largely different is No way for there to exist a person who exceeds Rona (Renya) Going by Renyas sense of beauty, he considered Ronas size as something that can be barely judged as beautiful.If it goes beyond that size, you might call it unreal, or rather creepy, or going even further, as something similar to a monster; anyway, theres no doubt that they largely exceed the breastplates capacity, he thinks. Its not always good if they are big.Nevertheless, the black-haired woman, who has a strange expression as she sits on the seat of honor, was endowed with a chest that exceeds Ronas size by more than one cup size.Although he should have originally considered them as too big, Renya is unable to recognize them as such for some reason.He certainly thinks that they are big.But, he cant think of them as too big.You could say that her chest had an outlandish volume with a miraculous, superior balance at a frighteningly perfect level. U-Umm Renya? At what part of my mother are you staring there? I think you owe me an explanation here (Shion) Well Shion, you probably know by looking. In case of a man, their eyes will be glued to those no wait, since people inclining towards small or non-existent in their preferences have appeared most recently, I suppose its not definite that they will be interested in hers? (Renya) Terrifying those are dreadful. Shions mother please make sure to never visit the elven country. (Croire) Croire trembles in fear.Which reminds me, I wonder whether those reformist guys are doing fine, Renya remembers.Its likely no exaggeration to say that the scenery in front of Renyas eyes right now can be regarded as the most valuable asset in the reformists eyes. Mayria-chan, I wonder, what are they talking about~? (Lydia) U-Umm that is how to explain it? (Mayria) Facing the brunt of the attack, Mayria frantically ponders how to answer her mother while averting her eyes and having sweat stream down in drops, but theres no way for her to find a reply.The archduchess pressed her index finger against her chin with a Hmm~ and clapped her hands together once with a slap after thinking for a moment while looking at Mayria who continues to avert her eyes. Ah, I got it~. Its a talk about my breasts, right~? They are big, arent they~? They are far bigger than Rona-chans~. (Lydia) While laughing very innocently, the archduchess taps her chest from above the silver breastplate. Due to that vibration, the interior wobbles with a force that makes it look as if they will pop out of her breastplate anytime soon now. M-Mother (Mayria) Somehow shes different from what I imagined. (Renya) Renya expresses his impressions while looking at Mayria who is flustered after having been being bluntly told such a thing.For Renya theres no way to imagine the archduchess appearance in front of him from Shions and Mayrias appearance. Its not like shes always like that. (Shion) Shion whispers into Renyas ear with a murmur. Its just that theres a big difference between her archduchess mode and her normal mode. (Shion) This is her normal mode? (Renya) No, this is her mother mode, I guess? Its been a long time since I have met with her. (Shion) Its good that we are currently in the midst of being on standby as we prepare for battle, Shion says.Thanks to that even the archduchess is armed, even though its just a light armament. Im horrified to think about what would have happened if that breastplate wasnt there. Why? You know, our mother, umm has an habit of embracing others. Shion says while looking as if its very difficult to speak about the topic. Now that she mentions it, didnt Shion have that habit as well?Renya recalls. Umm look properly at that volume. The sensation might be heavenly, but its definitely suffocating. (Shion) Yeah I suppose parent and child have the habit of hugging others is it the same for Mayria as well? (Renya) Due to the style of being suddenly talked about by Renya, not only Mayrias body twitched with a start, but it also triggered the following words to spill from the archduchess mouth, who is still sitting in the seat of honor, About May-chan, you know~, she has the hugging habit and also a thumb sucking habit~. (Lydia) Mother!? (Mayria) Mayria is in a state of panic due to the unexpected vulnerability exposed by the archduchess.However, as theres no way for her to physically plug the archduchess mouth, her talk about Mayrias secrets continued even while Mayria herself was grinding her teeth in vexation wondering what she could do about it. Most of the reasons for her to suck her thumb have vanished already~. But well, if you bully her, May-chan will end up crying~. (Lydia) St-op-it mother! That story, from just how many years back is it!? Stop bringing up old stories!!? (Mayria) I guess I will stay quiet for a while. Shes going to stop once she runs out of material, right? (Renya) Without paying any attention to Mayria, who desperately protests with a blushing face the archduchess continues exposing Mayrias secrets, all while grinning.Renya, who judged that shes doing so because shes completely enjoying Mayrias reactions, sat down on a chair while thinkingit looks like theres no other option for now but to wait until she gets bored of messing with Mayria. Chapter 109 C It seems to be a Travel to the Capital Trident Lydia Femme Fatale, 36 years old.Current Archduchess of the Trident Principality and mother of two.Having lost her husband 5 years ago in a monster subjugation in the Miasma Forest, she is currently a widow.She has no plans to remarry.This is Shions and Mayrias mother, whom Renya has heard about from Mayria. It was information about Archduchess Fatale, the most influential authority in the Trident Principality.You can call this information really lacking.Of course it would have likely been possible for Renya to learn in detail about what food she likes and dislikes, her hobbies and even the color of her panties if he asked, since Mayria is her blood-related daughter, but Renya wasnt interested in any of that to begin with.She was the type of person he didnt want to get involved with as much as possible, but as a war is something where you often cant choose your options, it has become necessary, no matter what, for Renya to exchange a few words with the archduchess if he plans to put an end to this war.It was a fact that there might exist a plan that will be affected if he were to irresponsibly feign ignorance, turning it into a situation where this war will be far off reaching a clear conclusion.Although its tentatively, Renya got a promise from the Holy Kingdoms side that they will bring the heros rampaging to an end in regards to this times matter as long as he deals with the hero. So its necessary to advance the situation in a way that is in accordance with that.Renya, who flew back to the city of Kukrika, tried to head to the capital Trident after picking up Croire and Emil, but after being asked by Frau that shed like to borrow some of his time, he went back home.What awaited Renya there is the complete set of armor he handed over to Frau a little while ago after she requested it.Renya ran into it at the front door just as he came back home. Normally such an armor is something you either store away after taking it apart or leave alone after displaying it on something like a simple stand. But what Renya ran into, was something that stood by itself while properly adopting a human shape, without any indication that it has been placed on some kind of stand. Master, Frau cant participate in the war ~no. However, Frau also wants to be useful to master ~no. Therefore Id like you to take this along with you ~no. (Frau) Next to Frau, who talks while looking up to Renya, the armor fluently bowed its head without even causing any creaking sounds.Renya, who succumbed to his curiosity of wondering whether there was something inside the armor, touches a clasp at the torso part of the armor, which that was standing straight after lifting its head again.To begin with, its a set of armor that was created for the sake of cramming Liaris into it.Since he has created the armor with the idea of only tossing Liaris into it, it allows one to see the contents by simply taking the lid off. As he didnt put much thought to donning and removing it, it was very easy to take the armor off.After making sure that Frau had no intention to stop him, Renya undoes the clasp and opens the torso armor like a door.Now that he was able to look inside, Renya peeked into the torso armor quietly.Just like the interior of Croires skirt, only a black space spreads within.Staring fixedly at that space for a little while, Renya quietly closes the torso armor before long and affixes the clasp back again into its previous state. Frau-san. This is? (Renya) I did my best to make it for master ~no. (Frau) No, saying you made it. from what? (Renya) From the armor I received from you, master ~nano. (Frau) What about the content? (Renya) Secret ~nano. (Frau) Frau said that while looking slightly bashful. But even if one can call her words and gestures cute, he cant apply an evaluation ofcuteto the thing actually indicated by those words after having seen it earlier.Due to Renya maintaining a faint smile while not saying anything further, Frau started to emphasize how very useful that armor will be. On top of being able to move eternally without sleep or rest, it wont get destroyed by mere damage ~no! In addition it becomes stronger in proportion to the enemies it kills ~no! (Frau) Does this grow? (Renya) It doesnt grow ummm I guess you can call it becoming bigger by absorbing ~no? (Frau) I think its a failure if the producer mixes doubts into their explanation. On the other hand it seems that the armor was an item that made him think that the armors functions, which he somehow managed to guess, might be interesting in their own way. Its actions are of the autonomous type? Does this listen to what I tell it? (Renya) It will only listen to the orders from you and I, master ~no. Normally it acts independently ~nano. It does have a configuration to put priority on orders though ~no! (Frau) The only question remaining would be why Frau, who is ought to be a simple fairy, can create something like this?Its left unanswered, but as for asking about it, Renya feels that its somehow equal to opening the lock of a door that mustnt be opened.I guess for the time being it will be fine if I can use it without bringing any danger onto myself, he persuades himself to agree. Master, there are no absolutes in war ~no. Besides, even if you will be safe, I will be troubled if something happened to Shion-ane-sama or Rona-ane-sama ~no. Id like you to be careful ~no. (Frau) I guess you are right. I will do that. Thank you. (Renya) Renya nodded while gently stroking Fraus head, whos looking up at Renya with slightly teary eyes.No matter how great of a power one possesses, people will still easily die due to one blow that, by coincidence, got through.Renya didnt have the slightest intention to be arrogant and conceited, but there are also situations where it happens unconsciously.Renya smiled at Frau in order to make her feel relieved while thinkingI have to be careful.By the way, Renya didnt notice at that time that Croire, who watched that scene enviously, and Emil, who attentively watched while finding it amusing, were present as well. Afterwards he ended up getting embarrassed due to being teased by Emil.It seems thats how much he was preoccupied with the worrying Frau and being surprised by the armor.Anyway, he grabs Emils nape, who is poking fun at him, and Croire with her expression full of jealousy, throws both of them on the emerald dragons back and straddles himself onto its back as well.He wondered what to do about the armor, but it clung to the dragons foot before being told anything by Renya and stopped moving just like that. Can you fly like this? (Renya) (Emedra) Even in the eyes of a dragon, it seems to be an existence that doesnt feel very good to touch.Renya wondered whether he should have properly asked about the true identity of the pitch black stuff thats been crammed into the armor after all, but, as if not wanting to waste the time waiting for Renyas thinking, the dragon flaps its wings and flies directly towards the capital city Trident from Kukrika.Renyas group that arrived at Trident joined up with Shion, Rona and Mayria who went ahead.The construction of defense structures for the sake of opposing the allied army, which was already approaching Trident, has started. Trenches and simple watchtowers are dug out and built all around the city, while they have also started to set traps at several places outside the citys outer wall.In the city that had started its evacuation, by having soldiers accompany the citys residents as their guards, the only remaining residents are those who refused to evacuate and those who had indispensable duties.Running through the streets that are usually crowded with people, Renyas group heads towards the castle, where the archduchess waits, with Mayria in the lead.Because Mayria and Shion, who are both daughters of the archduchess, were at the front, there were absolutely no soldiers that called them to a halt.Even at the archduchess castle, the gate was opened by a single order to do so, and the sentries made way and saluted after simply looking at Shions and Mayrias faces. Thats incredible, isnt it, Renya? We are let through with a face pass. (Emil) Rather, with those two in the lead, it would be weird if someone stopped them, no? (Renya) Renya and the others chase the two who are rapidly proceeding deeper into the castle.When those two stopped in front of a certain rooms door, Mayria knocked in a slightly shy manner. Its Mayria. Might it be fine for us to enter? (Mayria) Come in~. The voice that could be heard coming from the room was the voice of a woman that seemed somewhat lifeless.Crossing through the door, it sounds slightly mumbly, but its quite the young voice, Renya thinks.After making sure that she had received permission, Mayria opens the door and enters.After Shion, who followed Mayria, Renya goes inside as well. What awaited him in there was an unbelievable sight. Eh This is (Renya) The rooms interior is barren.The stone walls are bleak and theres almost no furniture.Sunlight shines into the room through the only opened window. Just a single, rectangle table has been placed in the centre of the room.A woman was sitting at a spot that is equivalent to the seat of honor.Her hair and eyes are black, just like that of her daughters.Her neat, long, black hair naturally flows straight down her back. Compared to Shion and Mayria, that woman has a gentle look.Rather, it might be correct to call her gentleness and personal appearance as somewhat drowsy.Shes wearingtekkouand a silver breastplate seemingly for the sake of being prepared for war, more or less.Below that breastplate theres a dougi-like tunic that looks just like Shionshakamaat a first glance.It was certainly not wrong to think that her equipment is the same as that of Shions, but what was largely different is No way for there to exist a person who exceeds Rona (Renya) Going by Renyas sense of beauty, he considered Ronas size as something that can be barely judged as beautiful.If it goes beyond that size, you might call it unreal, or rather creepy, or going even further, as something similar to a monster; anyway, theres no doubt that they largely exceed the breastplates capacity, he thinks. Its not always good if they are big.Nevertheless, the black-haired woman, who has a strange expression as she sits on the seat of honor, was endowed with a chest that exceeds Ronas size by more than one cup size.Although he should have originally considered them as too big, Renya is unable to recognize them as such for some reason.He certainly thinks that they are big.But, he cant think of them as too big.You could say that her chest had an outlandish volume with a miraculous, superior balance at a frighteningly perfect level. U-Umm Renya? At what part of my mother are you staring there? I think you owe me an explanation here (Shion) Well Shion, you probably know by looking. In case of a man, their eyes will be glued to those no wait, since people inclining towards small or non-existent in their preferences have appeared most recently, I suppose its not definite that they will be interested in hers? (Renya) Terrifying those are dreadful. Shions mother please make sure to never visit the elven country. (Croire) Croire trembles in fear.Which reminds me, I wonder whether those reformist guys are doing fine, Renya remembers.Its likely no exaggeration to say that the scenery in front of Renyas eyes right now can be regarded as the most valuable asset in the reformists eyes. Mayria-chan, I wonder, what are they talking about~? (Lydia) U-Umm that is how to explain it? (Mayria) Facing the brunt of the attack, Mayria frantically ponders how to answer her mother while averting her eyes and having sweat stream down in drops, but theres no way for her to find a reply.The archduchess pressed her index finger against her chin with a Hmm~ and clapped her hands together once with a slap after thinking for a moment while looking at Mayria who continues to avert her eyes. Ah, I got it~. Its a talk about my breasts, right~? They are big, arent they~? They are far bigger than Rona-chans~. (Lydia) While laughing very innocently, the archduchess taps her chest from above the silver breastplate. Due to that vibration, the interior wobbles with a force that makes it look as if they will pop out of her breastplate anytime soon now. M-Mother (Mayria) Somehow shes different from what I imagined. (Renya) Renya expresses his impressions while looking at Mayria who is flustered after having been being bluntly told such a thing.For Renya theres no way to imagine the archduchess appearance in front of him from Shions and Mayrias appearance. Its not like shes always like that. (Shion) Shion whispers into Renyas ear with a murmur. Its just that theres a big difference between her archduchess mode and her normal mode. (Shion) This is her normal mode? (Renya) No, this is her mother mode, I guess? Its been a long time since I have met with her. (Shion) Its good that we are currently in the midst of being on standby as we prepare for battle, Shion says.Thanks to that even the archduchess is armed, even though its just a light armament. Im horrified to think about what would have happened if that breastplate wasnt there. Why? You know, our mother, umm has an habit of embracing others. Shion says while looking as if its very difficult to speak about the topic. Now that she mentions it, didnt Shion have that habit as well?Renya recalls. Umm look properly at that volume. The sensation might be heavenly, but its definitely suffocating. (Shion) Yeah I suppose parent and child have the habit of hugging others is it the same for Mayria as well? (Renya) Due to the style of being suddenly talked about by Renya, not only Mayrias body twitched with a start, but it also triggered the following words to spill from the archduchess mouth, who is still sitting in the seat of honor, About May-chan, you know~, she has the hugging habit and also a thumb sucking habit~. (Lydia) Mother!? (Mayria) Mayria is in a state of panic due to the unexpected vulnerability exposed by the archduchess.However, as theres no way for her to physically plug the archduchess mouth, her talk about Mayrias secrets continued even while Mayria herself was grinding her teeth in vexation wondering what she could do about it. Most of the reasons for her to suck her thumb have vanished already~. But well, if you bully her, May-chan will end up crying~. (Lydia) St-op-it mother! That story, from just how many years back is it!? Stop bringing up old stories!!? (Mayria) I guess I will stay quiet for a while. Shes going to stop once she runs out of material, right? (Renya) Without paying any attention to Mayria, who desperately protests with a blushing face the archduchess continues exposing Mayrias secrets, all while grinning.Renya, who judged that shes doing so because shes completely enjoying Mayrias reactions, sat down on a chair while thinkingit looks like theres no other option for now but to wait until she gets bored of messing with Mayria. Chapter 110 Chapter 110 C It seems to be a Pre-War Council Well then~, moving on to the main topic~. (Lydia) Renya sensed the archduchess attention, who had neglected him for a while, shifting towards him.Once she had turned her eyes his way, he could perceive that the archduchess was releasing a somewhat bright aura whereas Mayria was shedding tears profusely as she was postrated on top of the table.Next to him, Shion, who had become ghastly pale, was frozen in standing on attention while her body was trembling.Since Renya is in the same room, its only natural that the secrets revealed by the archduchess would reach his ears as well, but somehow thinking that it was a conversation that he must not listen to, Renya made sure to consciously omit the archduchess words until she was satisfied.As long as he doesnt try to understand it, other peoples conversations are nothing but noise that barely scratches the surface of his consciousness, as such Renya perceived the archduchess conversation, close to its entirety, as incomprehensible noise.However, because some of the words that plunged into his ears happened to have some sort of meaning, Renya feels that he ended up hearing around 10% of the secrets Mayria doesnt want others to learn about. I wonder what kind of information you might have brought with you? (Lydia) The words, which were thrust out smoothly, caused a chill to pierce Renyas heart, resembling the blade of of a dagger.While reflexively patting his chest, he agrees,I see, so this is her archduchess mode.The sound and quality of her voice didnt change.Even so, its a voice that possesses a cold sharpness that could likely choke the life out of someone without them realizing it.While frightened without showing it on his face, Renya tells the archduchess about his conversation with the king of the Holy Kingdom.The archduchess listened to Renyas report while patting the back of Mayria, who was still prostrating, with a smile, but once Renya finished his report, she looked fixedly at Renyas face and bluntly said, You, are you maybe an idiot? (Lydia) Mother!? (Shion) As substitute for Mayria, who still hasnt recovered, Shion retorted in shock.Renya, who was openly called an idiot, doesnt show any reaction and the other members only observe the situation. I didnt mean it as in him being stupid~. If you consider it normally, no one will do something like that, right~? Thats why~. I wondered whether hes an idiot~. (Lydia) There are some parts I cant deny there, but such talks go faster if you grab the other party by the neck first. (Renya) If they end up getting on with the war normally, the damage will magnify to the utmost.Its very likely that it would take a long time until they would commence negotiations. The damage to the citizens of the Trident Principality would become worse and fatigue would accumulate in proportion to the time taken.And, the Holy Kingdoms side would also end up having debts they wouldnt be able to pay.Going by Renyas opinion, there would be very few gains for either side in this war, no matter whether they win or lose.In case the Trident Principality won, theres nothing they would be given by the Holy Kingdom.Or rather than there being nothing, you could say that the Holy Kingdom would lose its leeway in paying the Trident Principality anything due to the remunerations and reparations they would have to pay to the other participating countries if they lost.In case the Holy Kingdom won, it would certainly result in them obtaining the entire Trident Principality, but beyond the payment of rewards to the various participating countries being large, they would instead lose the Trident Principality as a shield against the threats brought forth by the Miasma Forest.The expenses caused due to that should be far higher than anything they would be able to gain. Thats certainly true, I guess~. (Lydia) This battle should come to an end in a small amount time and with few losses as long as we get rid of that pervert. (Renya) Meaning, you will be the one to do that? (Lydia) Yeah, I will finish him off. Theres no one else who could, right? Tridents national army needs to suppress the damage by focussing on defense. (Renya) True~. (Lydia) While nodding and saying that with a lifeless voice, the archduchess eyes were definitely appraising Renya.Shes in a position where she cant agree with his story that easily, and due to such a position, she also bears great responsibility.It wasnt a very likable gaze, but Renya decided to let her assess him while staying silent. Im sorry~. But Im in a position where I cant bet on a gamble that has no chance of success~. (Lydia) Do you have a plan if you arent going along with mine? (Renya) Renya didnt consider himself to be a tactician.If he was pushed to say, he was well aware that he always somehow managed to get through things with brute strength while making many mistakes and slip-ups along the way.For that reason alone he even considered the possibility that the woman in front of him, who holds the position referred to as archduchess, possesses a plan that goes beyond his own.If the archduchess plan is far better than what I have to offer, I should cancel my ideas regarding the Holy Kingdoms matter and join in on that, he even believes, but unfortunately the archduchess shook her head sideways. I dont have any plan, which takes a small amount of time and keeps the damage low, on hand beyond what you suggested~. (Lydia) So? In that case? (Renya) While urging on the archduchess to answer, Renya was astonished in his mind.The archduchess certainly said that she has no plan that goes beyond what Renya suggested.Renya noticed that in other words there was apparently an alternative plan, if you included the condition that it would take more time and cause bigger losses than his proposal. I will join in on your plan. Our Trident Principalitys national army will focus its efforts on defense. We will make sure to endure and keep the damage as low as possible until the adventurer Renya slays the hero who is the ringleader of the enemy. (Lydia) Thank you. I think I will be able to fulfill your expectations. I think that the enemy army wont pursue too far either, if the hero, who unifies them, is defeated. (Renya) I wonder about that~? (Lydia) The archduchess replies with a contradicting remark to Renya.Mayria, who managed to revive somewhat, asked while raising her body, Mother Your Majesty, what do you mean by that? The enemy army is a force that was forcibly gathered under the heros authority. Isnt it a fact that their leadership will fall apart if they lose the hero? (Mayria) It seems so~. But, I wonder whether that will really happen~? (Lydia) Mayria is at a loss for words as she doesnt understand the meaning behind the archduchess words.As if admonishing Mayria, the archduchess continued, About this~, I think even the hero himself might not have realized it~. If he did~, I think that it would be normal to have a plan in regards to such a situation, right~? (Lydia) Renya had no other option but to nod after being asked Thats right, isnt it? by her gaze.As he himself is unable to answer with Theres no way for that to happen, Renya only confirms the archduchess words.After checking that Renya nodded, the archduchess bent herself slightly forward on the table.Even though everyone fully knew that her frightfully massive assets would stick out like a sore thumb due to having their shape changed from being crushed against the tables top, they unintentionally ended up observing that spectacle.Only Renya averted his eyes in an instant.Thats because he sensed that it was the archduchess method of gathering the attention of those present. The Trident Principalitys army will stall for time until the adventurer Renya defeats the hero and also offer support to that end, as first plan. But, in case it takes too much time, or if its judged that defeating the hero is impossible, we will shift to the second plan. (Lydia) Second plan? You have something like that? (Emil) Emil asks while looking doubtful.Knowing the current state, the combat power ratio between the allied forces and the principalitys forces has become 3 to 1.Assuming the principalitys side holed itself in completely, you could call it a difference in combat forces that would allow the allied forces to somehow manage to win with a brute force approach.On top of that, the allied forces have a being called theherothat possesses absurd combat abilities as a standalone unit.If theres no one like Renya, who can inhibit the the heros actions by clashing against him alone, just the being calledherowould be a huge problem. And yet, if one adds the difference in combat power, it would be fine to conclude the whole conversation by saying that there is absolutely no chance of victory.With that as a precondition, Emil couldnt believe that, despite all of this, theres a counterplan that left Renya out of the equation.This is also something Emil judged after having personally experienced fighting against Renya. Yes, there is~. (Lydia) Even after having a look full of doubt pointed at her by Emil, the archduchess response wasnt incoherent.With that attitude it could be said that she possesses quite a bit of courage, if shes bluffing. If she isnt bluffing, it means that she really owns a plan that can work as an alternative to Renyas suggestion. Is it fine for us to hear that plan? (Croire) Even if she doesnt doubt the archduchess to the same extent as Emill, even Croire seems to be unable to believe in the existence of an alternative plan. She tries to ask the archduchess in a reserved manner, but this question was immediately shot down by the archduchess. I dont know from where the information might leak~. Its a secret until that time comes~. (Lydia) What about the timing to switch from my plan to your plan? (Renya) Renya asked while averting his look from the archduchess. I guess it wont take that much time~. As for the time until the alternative plan starts up~, it will only require that our military forces stop the enemy army during the start up phase~. (Lydia) Mother Shion had an expression full of surprise.Mayrias face has become stiff and pale.It seems that these two somehow understood what the archduchess intends to do from her words just now.And Renya thought with a sigh that they likely wouldnt tell him about it even if he asked. Therefore~, I guess Id like you to hurry as much as possible~. (Lydia) Got it. This time I will do so without holding back. (Renya) Renya stated with a serious voice he hadnt used until now, but he falters after receiving the silent retort So you always held back until now!? from everyone but the archduchess.Only the archduchess, who hasnt actually seen it with her own eyes until now, looks at Renya with a somewhat strange gaze, then looked at the other members, and finally rested her gaze on Renya again. Oh yes! Theres actually something I want to ask you~. I wonder whether its fine for me to ask as it looks like I wont be able to hear it if its not during this kind of occasion~? (Lydia) What is it? If its something I can answer, I will do so. (Renya) Reflecting on his own actions while tilting his head in contemplation and wonderingHave I been acting this rashly until now?, Renya replied without thinking too deeply about the archduchess words. When will I be able to see the face of my grandchild~? (Lydia) Ha? (Renya) Renya asks back while having a hunch that he heard something that doesnt fit the current mood at all.The archduchess stared at Renya while showing a friendly smile and asked once more, As I said~, my grandchilds face, you know~. (Lydia) Why grandchild? (Renya) Renya is completely unable to estimate from where such talk originated, but the archduchess advances the chat without minding him. For someone like you Renya-san~, your hearts desire is Shion-chan, no? (Lydia) Hey, dont move the conversation forward by yourself. (Renya) Im sure you have difficulty choosing since there are plenty of cute, young women around you, Renya-san~. I recommend our Shion-chan, but I also think that Mayria-chan will become an excellent wife~. (Lydia) Arent you promoting your own daughters here? (Renya) Renya is astonished, but Shion, who was on the side of being promoted, didnt look all that dissatisfied. Mayria ends up hiding her face by prostrating herself on the table once again. But, forcing you is not a good thing, I suppose~. After all, Rona-chan is big~. And that elf over there has rarity value? (Lydia) Being called tiny-breasted in a roundabout way (Croire) Croire hangs her head in a crestfallen manner.However, she cant deny it.After all her small swellings can be called as non-existent with the big masses in front of her eyes. That child with the side tail over there is average, I guess~. (Lydia) Do you have any complaints about that? (Emil) While answering back with a stiff smile, Emils eyes wander towards Renya for some reason.Renya answers with just his eyes Dont turn the topic in my direction. In the end its no good if you make a move on anything you can lay your hands on~. By the way, what do you think about a 36 years old widow~? (Lydia) Being asked with a flirtatious glance while putting on a slightly coquettish air, Renya raised his voice. As if Id care! (Renya) Though I wont lose to Rona-chan if its in volume and springiness~. (Lydia) The archduchess shows them off by lifting her breasts with a squish.In a panic Renya looked into the far distance and thrust a finger in front of the archduchess. Dont try to compete. Be faithful to your husband. (Renya) Eh~ (Lydia) The archduchess looked dissatisfied, but Renya had no intention to pay her any attention.Thats because he somewhat felt that she would succeed in her dangerous play if he paid her any more attention. I dont want to call Renya father. (Shion) I agree with Shion-ane-sama. (Mayria) Shion and Mayria whisper with expressions that look completely reluctant. You two are sisters, so what are you worried about!? Concentrate on the war now! (Renya) Do these guys really understand that at the current rate the country might be destroyed, the archduchess executed and the capital city fall, if we lose?Renya cocked his head in puzzlement. Chapter 110 C It seems to be a Pre-War Council Well then~, moving on to the main topic~. (Lydia) Renya sensed the archduchess attention, who had neglected him for a while, shifting towards him.Once she had turned her eyes his way, he could perceive that the archduchess was releasing a somewhat bright aura whereas Mayria was shedding tears profusely as she was postrated on top of the table.Next to him, Shion, who had become ghastly pale, was frozen in standing on attention while her body was trembling.Since Renya is in the same room, its only natural that the secrets revealed by the archduchess would reach his ears as well, but somehow thinking that it was a conversation that he must not listen to, Renya made sure to consciously omit the archduchess words until she was satisfied.As long as he doesnt try to understand it, other peoples conversations are nothing but noise that barely scratches the surface of his consciousness, as such Renya perceived the archduchess conversation, close to its entirety, as incomprehensible noise.However, because some of the words that plunged into his ears happened to have some sort of meaning, Renya feels that he ended up hearing around 10% of the secrets Mayria doesnt want others to learn about. I wonder what kind of information you might have brought with you? (Lydia) The words, which were thrust out smoothly, caused a chill to pierce Renyas heart, resembling the blade of of a dagger.While reflexively patting his chest, he agrees,I see, so this is her archduchess mode.The sound and quality of her voice didnt change.Even so, its a voice that possesses a cold sharpness that could likely choke the life out of someone without them realizing it.While frightened without showing it on his face, Renya tells the archduchess about his conversation with the king of the Holy Kingdom.The archduchess listened to Renyas report while patting the back of Mayria, who was still prostrating, with a smile, but once Renya finished his report, she looked fixedly at Renyas face and bluntly said, You, are you maybe an idiot? (Lydia) Mother!? (Shion) As substitute for Mayria, who still hasnt recovered, Shion retorted in shock.Renya, who was openly called an idiot, doesnt show any reaction and the other members only observe the situation. I didnt mean it as in him being stupid~. If you consider it normally, no one will do something like that, right~? Thats why~. I wondered whether hes an idiot~. (Lydia) There are some parts I cant deny there, but such talks go faster if you grab the other party by the neck first. (Renya) If they end up getting on with the war normally, the damage will magnify to the utmost.Its very likely that it would take a long time until they would commence negotiations. The damage to the citizens of the Trident Principality would become worse and fatigue would accumulate in proportion to the time taken.And, the Holy Kingdoms side would also end up having debts they wouldnt be able to pay.Going by Renyas opinion, there would be very few gains for either side in this war, no matter whether they win or lose.In case the Trident Principality won, theres nothing they would be given by the Holy Kingdom.Or rather than there being nothing, you could say that the Holy Kingdom would lose its leeway in paying the Trident Principality anything due to the remunerations and reparations they would have to pay to the other participating countries if they lost.In case the Holy Kingdom won, it would certainly result in them obtaining the entire Trident Principality, but beyond the payment of rewards to the various participating countries being large, they would instead lose the Trident Principality as a shield against the threats brought forth by the Miasma Forest.The expenses caused due to that should be far higher than anything they would be able to gain. Thats certainly true, I guess~. (Lydia) This battle should come to an end in a small amount time and with few losses as long as we get rid of that pervert. (Renya) Meaning, you will be the one to do that? (Lydia) Yeah, I will finish him off. Theres no one else who could, right? Tridents national army needs to suppress the damage by focussing on defense. (Renya) True~. (Lydia) While nodding and saying that with a lifeless voice, the archduchess eyes were definitely appraising Renya.Shes in a position where she cant agree with his story that easily, and due to such a position, she also bears great responsibility.It wasnt a very likable gaze, but Renya decided to let her assess him while staying silent. Im sorry~. But Im in a position where I cant bet on a gamble that has no chance of success~. (Lydia) Do you have a plan if you arent going along with mine? (Renya) Renya didnt consider himself to be a tactician.If he was pushed to say, he was well aware that he always somehow managed to get through things with brute strength while making many mistakes and slip-ups along the way.For that reason alone he even considered the possibility that the woman in front of him, who holds the position referred to as archduchess, possesses a plan that goes beyond his own.If the archduchess plan is far better than what I have to offer, I should cancel my ideas regarding the Holy Kingdoms matter and join in on that, he even believes, but unfortunately the archduchess shook her head sideways. I dont have any plan, which takes a small amount of time and keeps the damage low, on hand beyond what you suggested~. (Lydia) So? In that case? (Renya) While urging on the archduchess to answer, Renya was astonished in his mind.The archduchess certainly said that she has no plan that goes beyond what Renya suggested.Renya noticed that in other words there was apparently an alternative plan, if you included the condition that it would take more time and cause bigger losses than his proposal. I will join in on your plan. Our Trident Principalitys national army will focus its efforts on defense. We will make sure to endure and keep the damage as low as possible until the adventurer Renya slays the hero who is the ringleader of the enemy. (Lydia) Thank you. I think I will be able to fulfill your expectations. I think that the enemy army wont pursue too far either, if the hero, who unifies them, is defeated. (Renya) I wonder about that~? (Lydia) The archduchess replies with a contradicting remark to Renya.Mayria, who managed to revive somewhat, asked while raising her body, Mother Your Majesty, what do you mean by that? The enemy army is a force that was forcibly gathered under the heros authority. Isnt it a fact that their leadership will fall apart if they lose the hero? (Mayria) It seems so~. But, I wonder whether that will really happen~? (Lydia) Mayria is at a loss for words as she doesnt understand the meaning behind the archduchess words.As if admonishing Mayria, the archduchess continued, About this~, I think even the hero himself might not have realized it~. If he did~, I think that it would be normal to have a plan in regards to such a situation, right~? (Lydia) Renya had no other option but to nod after being asked Thats right, isnt it? by her gaze.As he himself is unable to answer with Theres no way for that to happen, Renya only confirms the archduchess words.After checking that Renya nodded, the archduchess bent herself slightly forward on the table.Even though everyone fully knew that her frightfully massive assets would stick out like a sore thumb due to having their shape changed from being crushed against the tables top, they unintentionally ended up observing that spectacle.Only Renya averted his eyes in an instant.Thats because he sensed that it was the archduchess method of gathering the attention of those present. The Trident Principalitys army will stall for time until the adventurer Renya defeats the hero and also offer support to that end, as first plan. But, in case it takes too much time, or if its judged that defeating the hero is impossible, we will shift to the second plan. (Lydia) Second plan? You have something like that? (Emil) Emil asks while looking doubtful.Knowing the current state, the combat power ratio between the allied forces and the principalitys forces has become 3 to 1.Assuming the principalitys side holed itself in completely, you could call it a difference in combat forces that would allow the allied forces to somehow manage to win with a brute force approach.On top of that, the allied forces have a being called theherothat possesses absurd combat abilities as a standalone unit.If theres no one like Renya, who can inhibit the the heros actions by clashing against him alone, just the being calledherowould be a huge problem. And yet, if one adds the difference in combat power, it would be fine to conclude the whole conversation by saying that there is absolutely no chance of victory.With that as a precondition, Emil couldnt believe that, despite all of this, theres a counterplan that left Renya out of the equation.This is also something Emil judged after having personally experienced fighting against Renya. Yes, there is~. (Lydia) Even after having a look full of doubt pointed at her by Emil, the archduchess response wasnt incoherent.With that attitude it could be said that she possesses quite a bit of courage, if shes bluffing. If she isnt bluffing, it means that she really owns a plan that can work as an alternative to Renyas suggestion. Is it fine for us to hear that plan? (Croire) Even if she doesnt doubt the archduchess to the same extent as Emill, even Croire seems to be unable to believe in the existence of an alternative plan. She tries to ask the archduchess in a reserved manner, but this question was immediately shot down by the archduchess. I dont know from where the information might leak~. Its a secret until that time comes~. (Lydia) What about the timing to switch from my plan to your plan? (Renya) Renya asked while averting his look from the archduchess. I guess it wont take that much time~. As for the time until the alternative plan starts up~, it will only require that our military forces stop the enemy army during the start up phase~. (Lydia) Mother Shion had an expression full of surprise.Mayrias face has become stiff and pale.It seems that these two somehow understood what the archduchess intends to do from her words just now.And Renya thought with a sigh that they likely wouldnt tell him about it even if he asked. Therefore~, I guess Id like you to hurry as much as possible~. (Lydia) Got it. This time I will do so without holding back. (Renya) Renya stated with a serious voice he hadnt used until now, but he falters after receiving the silent retort So you always held back until now!? from everyone but the archduchess.Only the archduchess, who hasnt actually seen it with her own eyes until now, looks at Renya with a somewhat strange gaze, then looked at the other members, and finally rested her gaze on Renya again. Oh yes! Theres actually something I want to ask you~. I wonder whether its fine for me to ask as it looks like I wont be able to hear it if its not during this kind of occasion~? (Lydia) What is it? If its something I can answer, I will do so. (Renya) Reflecting on his own actions while tilting his head in contemplation and wonderingHave I been acting this rashly until now?, Renya replied without thinking too deeply about the archduchess words. When will I be able to see the face of my grandchild~? (Lydia) Ha? (Renya) Renya asks back while having a hunch that he heard something that doesnt fit the current mood at all.The archduchess stared at Renya while showing a friendly smile and asked once more, As I said~, my grandchilds face, you know~. (Lydia) Why grandchild? (Renya) Renya is completely unable to estimate from where such talk originated, but the archduchess advances the chat without minding him. For someone like you Renya-san~, your hearts desire is Shion-chan, no? (Lydia) Hey, dont move the conversation forward by yourself. (Renya) Im sure you have difficulty choosing since there are plenty of cute, young women around you, Renya-san~. I recommend our Shion-chan, but I also think that Mayria-chan will become an excellent wife~. (Lydia) Arent you promoting your own daughters here? (Renya) Renya is astonished, but Shion, who was on the side of being promoted, didnt look all that dissatisfied. Mayria ends up hiding her face by prostrating herself on the table once again. But, forcing you is not a good thing, I suppose~. After all, Rona-chan is big~. And that elf over there has rarity value? (Lydia) Being called tiny-breasted in a roundabout way (Croire) Croire hangs her head in a crestfallen manner.However, she cant deny it.After all her small swellings can be called as non-existent with the big masses in front of her eyes. That child with the side tail over there is average, I guess~. (Lydia) Do you have any complaints about that? (Emil) While answering back with a stiff smile, Emils eyes wander towards Renya for some reason.Renya answers with just his eyes Dont turn the topic in my direction. In the end its no good if you make a move on anything you can lay your hands on~. By the way, what do you think about a 36 years old widow~? (Lydia) Being asked with a flirtatious glance while putting on a slightly coquettish air, Renya raised his voice. As if Id care! (Renya) Though I wont lose to Rona-chan if its in volume and springiness~. (Lydia) The archduchess shows them off by lifting her breasts with a squish.In a panic Renya looked into the far distance and thrust a finger in front of the archduchess. Dont try to compete. Be faithful to your husband. (Renya) Eh~ (Lydia) The archduchess looked dissatisfied, but Renya had no intention to pay her any attention.Thats because he somewhat felt that she would succeed in her dangerous play if he paid her any more attention. I dont want to call Renya father. (Shion) I agree with Shion-ane-sama. (Mayria) Shion and Mayria whisper with expressions that look completely reluctant. You two are sisters, so what are you worried about!? Concentrate on the war now! (Renya) Do these guys really understand that at the current rate the country might be destroyed, the archduchess executed and the capital city fall, if we lose?Renya cocked his head in puzzlement. Chapter 111 Chapter 111 C It seems to be the Outbreak of War Beneath a cloudy sky, the 100,000 soldiers of the allied forces have been deployed in a battle formation, making it look like they are flooding the ground.The ones squaring off against them are the Trident Principalitys 30,000 soldiers. They have prepared for a defensive battle which is why they are secluding themselves in the capital city Trident, which is hidden behind the outer wall.Based on the circumstances, if the Trident Principality were to lose this battle, they would immediately be cornered into a situation of near annihilation, but there was pretty much a reason for this.Its because the Trident Principality never thought that it would get attacked from within the human continent in the first place.The Trident Principality, which exists as a shield in the anti-demon war on the human continent, is a country lacking any value and appeal so as to merit an attack in the eyes of the other human countries.Its not like its especially wealthy.If forced to comment on it, you could say it was the best on the continent only in regards to the number of monsters in its territory.It doesnt have any special industry.If forced to comment on this as well, you could say it is the top country in the continent only in terms of the amount of magic gems produced.It is constantly exposed to the threat of monsters due to its location, its the first country that receives damage if a war against the demons starts, and it will keep suffering damage until the very end. One could say, it was a country that drew the short end of the stick.Theres no country that would consider something like expressly attacking a country which is in a position that makes one ask For the Fatale-san from several generations ago to come here from the continents centre and found a country, is that guy an idiot?In a way you can also say that the allied forces, who are actually about to attack such a country, are a parade of retards from the continents centre.But then again condemning the participating soldiers and the governing body of each nation that sent out their troops might be slightly cruel.Thats because the one who wished for this situation is the hero who is the human races most supreme and strongest combat force.With the situation developing in such manner, the various countries finally realized,This times hero is an utter fool.But by the time they noticed that, it was already too late and the various countries, which were motivated by the hero, came to grips with the fact that its impossible for them to turn back.This has resulted in them investing their power solely into the question of how to keep the damage to their own countries as small as possible in the future. Even the Trident Principality had seized information about these circumstances early on.With just that, the Trident Principalitys side expects that the participating countries, apart from the Holy Kingdom, dont want to pursue them too obstinately.Somehow I can understand their sentiments~, Her Majesty Archduchess Fatale said.They probably lost their head, unable to think about matters calmly, after getting tossed into the festival called war with the arrival of the figurehead referred to ashero.As for Renya, hes on the verge of believingIsnt your understanding of their matters far too kind?, but since its the opinion of the highest authority in the Trident Principality, its not a situation where someone like Renya should interject.As for such varied, troublesome matters, its probably best to leave all of it to the experts, Renya thinks.Til the bitter end Im just a swordsman, not a politician.From Renyas point of view, he considers the action of trying to somehow comprehend the strange, odd, mysterious world called politics as a complete waste of effort.Even so, there are things he definitely understands.Namely, that he has to defeat the hero as fast as possible in this war.That alone will probably bring about the very best outcome that the current me can achieve.Renya turns his gaze towards the alliance swarming around on the ground while he securely stands on top of the outer wall that surrounds the city.Next to him stood an armor while looking down below with a terrific expression as it crosses its arms in front of its chest with a deep crimson cloak spilling down along its back.Reny wanted to interrogate it from where it got that cloak, but he leaves it alone as he doesnt deem such a matter to be of much importance.Its imposing appearance of standing with both its feet set apart at the width of its shoulder caused it to have a protagonist-like presence for some reason. And even though its irrational, it scattered a sense of dignity around it as if forcibly transforming the people around it into support cast. Hey, you. The protagonist-like armor-san over there. (Renya) While wondering how to think about the fact that he is calling out to an armor, Renya started to talk with it, since there were no other soldiers in the vicinity.The reason why there were no other soldiers around is because they all hated getting close to the armors eerie aura.Being asked by a soldier Just what the hell is this far too ominous armor?, Renya answered in desperation, Its an iron golem. (Renya) Renya stated those words, which would probably be rejected by anyone with all their will power, with a clearly serious look.At least an iron golems interior isnt crammed with such a darkish something, and it also doesnt do something like preparing its own cloak out of nowhere.But, being asked just what this armor is, Renya had no other prepared answers on hand either.Its basic material is more or less steel, and since it shouldnt be a living creature, its not like Im completely lying.Due to Renyas reply, which is probably still too far off the truth despite all his reasoning, the soldiers showed stiff smiles and didnt try to approach them since then. I dont know what would be the best way to address you, armor-san over there. (Renya) The called armor cooly looks down on Renya from above without undoing its crossed arms.That was a natural outcome because Renya was crouching besides that armor. But, getting irritated by its behavior, Renya hit the armors shin with his fist.Of course theres no way for the armor to feel pain.While causing dull banging sounds, Renya tried to ask the armor, thinking that he probably shouldnt expect an answer, So, cant you somehow grasp the heros location after commanding a complete view of the enemys army? (Renya) Looking down for a while at Renya, who isnt about to stop hitting it while asking, the armor turned its face once more in the direction of the enemy army before long and clearly pointed at one point within the enemy armys array after slowly releasing its crossed arms.While Renya, who certainly didnt expect it to react, watches that spectacle in a daze, the point indicated by the armor emitted a flash of light as if it had eyes.Even though he doesnt really understand the true identity of that flash, Renya releases a spell with silent casting. !! (Renya) One long ray of lightning pierces the ground from the sky and clashes with the flash emitted from thealliancefor an instant.Alongside a thunderous roar, the allied forces and the surface of the citys outer wall were struck by an impact to the point of making the vicinity shake.The scattered flash shallowly scratches the surface of the wall and the aftermath of the lightning runs through the alliances soldiers and makes some of them faint. Oh my he really hates us, that rotten piece of shit (Renya) Renya mutters as he grinds his teeth and unsheathes the katana at his waist while standing up.Below him, meaning at the bottom of the wall, the soldiers in charge of the defense ran around with pale faces. W-What was that attack just now? Damn it! Even the aftermath was capable of damaging the outer wall, which had been reinforced with a barrier! This is this is the power of the hero There is no threat as dreadful as someone that was reassuring as an ally turning into an enemy.The soldiers of the Trident Principality were once again astonished by the heros terrific power.However, at the same time they are harboring another thought as well.Its the soldiers who saw their ally, Renya, displaying an attack that could rival the heros tremendous might. I cant believe it, you know That man he fucking defended against the heros attack. Equal to the hero isthata demon king? This is this is the power of the demon king Usually Renya would have refuted the soldiers who were denouncing him by calling him a demon king while assisting with the strengthening of the wall, but on this occasion the situation doesnt allow him to do so.Restraining his desire to refute them, he starts his parallel magic formulae activation.The spell he uses is just like before, .He makes eight lines of lightning converge and drives them into the area where the hero is most probably at.Even though the number of sorcerers, who can fire this spell, which is listed under the highest-ranked spells of the wind attribute, eight times, on the human continent is unknown, it should be a number close to zero.Watching the attack, which almost no one should be able to use, getting scattered by some kind of defense barrier around the hero and seeing the flash that had struck the wall previously, Renya feels slightly uncomfortable.Assuming that the flash is the heros attack, the defense barrier thats attached to him is very likely something that was activated by magicians inside the alliance in cooperation.But not only is Renyas sorcery a cheat ability he was given by that little girl, but its also something imbued with a huge amount of mana due to the mana enhancement training Renya continues to carry out at all times.Even if 100 or 200 such sorcerers were to gather, Renya knows that his sorcery isnt something that can be stopped by them.Adding to that, it was accomplished easily. Furthermore, if you exclude the one that offset the heros attack, even the eight lightning strikes got blocked.A thought from the emerald dragon reached Renya, who was staring at his hands that had previously released the spell while wonderingMaybe Im actually not all that great? So they are using some kind of trick after all? (Renya) (Emedra) Renya asked the emerald dragon to fly in circles above the city of Trident for the sake of having it watch how the war progresses from the sky.In the eyes of such a dragon, a group of magicians, who would use the same spell all together, should appear odd. Is he using a strange ability again? Good grief, the guy hailed as a hero is annoying (Renya) Superseding his own abilities, Renya describes the heros abilities as annoying.Its not difficult to predict that the hero would harbor almost the same impressions if he heard Renya. ability.> (Emedra) According to the dragon, there are two types of subordination abilities, contract and creation.As an ability, creation magic is superior to contract magic. In contrast to subordinate contract magic, which has various restrictions and an upper limit in number of contracts, subordinate creation magic seems to have either many or no troublesome limitations or contract number limits.Due to the hero being a cheat existence, I can guess that he probably possesses a subordinate creation skill placed in the skills superior ranks, Renya estimates.Moreover, I guess its a cheat version that has no limits on the number of creations.A line said by the archduchess at the meeting venue the other day revives in Renyas mind. About this~, I think even the hero himself might not have realized it~. If he did~, I think that it would be normal to have a plan in regards to that, right~? (Lydia) I guess this is what she meant, Renya clicked his tongue with an expression as if he had swallowed a bitter bug.Thinking about what would be the best thing to do with the alliance that will likely vanish like mist if hes defeated, the hero unified all the alliances soldiers under his will by making them into his subordinates.Its no different from saying that matters will be settled once that sole hero is defeated, but the 100,000 troops will move with one will, preventing the hero from being defeated.So to speak, its something like dealing with a giant composed of cells called people.Moreover, the hero, who is the vital spot, is the strongest among the cells forming said giant. Soldiers of Trident Principality! I leave the defense to you! Renya Kunugi is going to cut into the enemy army from this point onwards! (Renya) If possible, he wants to avoid killing the soldiers of the allied forces.That notion didnt change, but the situation has developed in a way that it doesnt allow him to state with confidence that he wont have to kill many soldiers anymore.How many do I have to kill to reach the hero?As if shaking off such a thought, which he doesnt want to think about, Renya jumps off the wall.Chasing after him, the armor leaps down from the wall while still keeping its arms folded.The Trident Principalitys soldiers showed up with a bustle on top of the outer wall where Renya and the armor had just left.Hiding behind massive shields and carrying large amounts of arrows in their hands, they are archers who will defend the city by firing arrows from atop the wall.Freely using his knee and wind sorcery as a cushion, Renya soundlessly lands on the ground from the close-to-10-meter-high wall, but theres not a chance that the armor can do the same.It alights towards the ground while still having both arms crossed in front of its chest and both feet set apart at shoulder width.Rather than landing on the ground alongside a considerable impact, it went down with a momentum of crashing into the ground, but, seemingly thanks to its original sturdiness, it endured the crash without any scratches.However, it caused quite the loud sound. As if using that sound as a signal, the allied forces started their advancement against the city of Trident. In response the principalitys army released countless arrows and spells from the city where they are secluding themselves.This marked the start of the battle between the Trident Principalitys army and the allied forces led by the hero. Chapter 111 C It seems to be the Outbreak of War Beneath a cloudy sky, the 100,000 soldiers of the allied forces have been deployed in a battle formation, making it look like they are flooding the ground.The ones squaring off against them are the Trident Principalitys 30,000 soldiers. They have prepared for a defensive battle which is why they are secluding themselves in the capital city Trident, which is hidden behind the outer wall.Based on the circumstances, if the Trident Principality were to lose this battle, they would immediately be cornered into a situation of near annihilation, but there was pretty much a reason for this.Its because the Trident Principality never thought that it would get attacked from within the human continent in the first place.The Trident Principality, which exists as a shield in the anti-demon war on the human continent, is a country lacking any value and appeal so as to merit an attack in the eyes of the other human countries.Its not like its especially wealthy.If forced to comment on it, you could say it was the best on the continent only in regards to the number of monsters in its territory.It doesnt have any special industry.If forced to comment on this as well, you could say it is the top country in the continent only in terms of the amount of magic gems produced.It is constantly exposed to the threat of monsters due to its location, its the first country that receives damage if a war against the demons starts, and it will keep suffering damage until the very end. One could say, it was a country that drew the short end of the stick.Theres no country that would consider something like expressly attacking a country which is in a position that makes one ask For the Fatale-san from several generations ago to come here from the continents centre and found a country, is that guy an idiot?In a way you can also say that the allied forces, who are actually about to attack such a country, are a parade of retards from the continents centre.But then again condemning the participating soldiers and the governing body of each nation that sent out their troops might be slightly cruel.Thats because the one who wished for this situation is the hero who is the human races most supreme and strongest combat force.With the situation developing in such manner, the various countries finally realized,This times hero is an utter fool.But by the time they noticed that, it was already too late and the various countries, which were motivated by the hero, came to grips with the fact that its impossible for them to turn back.This has resulted in them investing their power solely into the question of how to keep the damage to their own countries as small as possible in the future. Even the Trident Principality had seized information about these circumstances early on.With just that, the Trident Principalitys side expects that the participating countries, apart from the Holy Kingdom, dont want to pursue them too obstinately.Somehow I can understand their sentiments~, Her Majesty Archduchess Fatale said.They probably lost their head, unable to think about matters calmly, after getting tossed into the festival called war with the arrival of the figurehead referred to ashero.As for Renya, hes on the verge of believingIsnt your understanding of their matters far too kind?, but since its the opinion of the highest authority in the Trident Principality, its not a situation where someone like Renya should interject.As for such varied, troublesome matters, its probably best to leave all of it to the experts, Renya thinks.Til the bitter end Im just a swordsman, not a politician.From Renyas point of view, he considers the action of trying to somehow comprehend the strange, odd, mysterious world called politics as a complete waste of effort.Even so, there are things he definitely understands.Namely, that he has to defeat the hero as fast as possible in this war.That alone will probably bring about the very best outcome that the current me can achieve.Renya turns his gaze towards the alliance swarming around on the ground while he securely stands on top of the outer wall that surrounds the city.Next to him stood an armor while looking down below with a terrific expression as it crosses its arms in front of its chest with a deep crimson cloak spilling down along its back.Reny wanted to interrogate it from where it got that cloak, but he leaves it alone as he doesnt deem such a matter to be of much importance.Its imposing appearance of standing with both its feet set apart at the width of its shoulder caused it to have a protagonist-like presence for some reason. And even though its irrational, it scattered a sense of dignity around it as if forcibly transforming the people around it into support cast. Hey, you. The protagonist-like armor-san over there. (Renya) While wondering how to think about the fact that he is calling out to an armor, Renya started to talk with it, since there were no other soldiers in the vicinity.The reason why there were no other soldiers around is because they all hated getting close to the armors eerie aura.Being asked by a soldier Just what the hell is this far too ominous armor?, Renya answered in desperation, Its an iron golem. (Renya) Renya stated those words, which would probably be rejected by anyone with all their will power, with a clearly serious look.At least an iron golems interior isnt crammed with such a darkish something, and it also doesnt do something like preparing its own cloak out of nowhere.But, being asked just what this armor is, Renya had no other prepared answers on hand either.Its basic material is more or less steel, and since it shouldnt be a living creature, its not like Im completely lying.Due to Renyas reply, which is probably still too far off the truth despite all his reasoning, the soldiers showed stiff smiles and didnt try to approach them since then. I dont know what would be the best way to address you, armor-san over there. (Renya) The called armor cooly looks down on Renya from above without undoing its crossed arms.That was a natural outcome because Renya was crouching besides that armor. But, getting irritated by its behavior, Renya hit the armors shin with his fist.Of course theres no way for the armor to feel pain.While causing dull banging sounds, Renya tried to ask the armor, thinking that he probably shouldnt expect an answer, So, cant you somehow grasp the heros location after commanding a complete view of the enemys army? (Renya) Looking down for a while at Renya, who isnt about to stop hitting it while asking, the armor turned its face once more in the direction of the enemy army before long and clearly pointed at one point within the enemy armys array after slowly releasing its crossed arms.While Renya, who certainly didnt expect it to react, watches that spectacle in a daze, the point indicated by the armor emitted a flash of light as if it had eyes.Even though he doesnt really understand the true identity of that flash, Renya releases a spell with silent casting. !! (Renya) One long ray of lightning pierces the ground from the sky and clashes with the flash emitted from thealliancefor an instant.Alongside a thunderous roar, the allied forces and the surface of the citys outer wall were struck by an impact to the point of making the vicinity shake.The scattered flash shallowly scratches the surface of the wall and the aftermath of the lightning runs through the alliances soldiers and makes some of them faint. Oh my he really hates us, that rotten piece of shit (Renya) Renya mutters as he grinds his teeth and unsheathes the katana at his waist while standing up.Below him, meaning at the bottom of the wall, the soldiers in charge of the defense ran around with pale faces. W-What was that attack just now? Damn it! Even the aftermath was capable of damaging the outer wall, which had been reinforced with a barrier! This is this is the power of the hero There is no threat as dreadful as someone that was reassuring as an ally turning into an enemy.The soldiers of the Trident Principality were once again astonished by the heros terrific power.However, at the same time they are harboring another thought as well.Its the soldiers who saw their ally, Renya, displaying an attack that could rival the heros tremendous might. I cant believe it, you know That man he fucking defended against the heros attack. Equal to the hero isthata demon king? This is this is the power of the demon king Usually Renya would have refuted the soldiers who were denouncing him by calling him a demon king while assisting with the strengthening of the wall, but on this occasion the situation doesnt allow him to do so.Restraining his desire to refute them, he starts his parallel magic formulae activation.The spell he uses is just like before, .He makes eight lines of lightning converge and drives them into the area where the hero is most probably at.Even though the number of sorcerers, who can fire this spell, which is listed under the highest-ranked spells of the wind attribute, eight times, on the human continent is unknown, it should be a number close to zero.Watching the attack, which almost no one should be able to use, getting scattered by some kind of defense barrier around the hero and seeing the flash that had struck the wall previously, Renya feels slightly uncomfortable.Assuming that the flash is the heros attack, the defense barrier thats attached to him is very likely something that was activated by magicians inside the alliance in cooperation.But not only is Renyas sorcery a cheat ability he was given by that little girl, but its also something imbued with a huge amount of mana due to the mana enhancement training Renya continues to carry out at all times.Even if 100 or 200 such sorcerers were to gather, Renya knows that his sorcery isnt something that can be stopped by them.Adding to that, it was accomplished easily. Furthermore, if you exclude the one that offset the heros attack, even the eight lightning strikes got blocked.A thought from the emerald dragon reached Renya, who was staring at his hands that had previously released the spell while wonderingMaybe Im actually not all that great? So they are using some kind of trick after all? (Renya) (Emedra) Renya asked the emerald dragon to fly in circles above the city of Trident for the sake of having it watch how the war progresses from the sky.In the eyes of such a dragon, a group of magicians, who would use the same spell all together, should appear odd. Is he using a strange ability again? Good grief, the guy hailed as a hero is annoying (Renya) Superseding his own abilities, Renya describes the heros abilities as annoying.Its not difficult to predict that the hero would harbor almost the same impressions if he heard Renya. ability.> (Emedra) According to the dragon, there are two types of subordination abilities, contract and creation.As an ability, creation magic is superior to contract magic. In contrast to subordinate contract magic, which has various restrictions and an upper limit in number of contracts, subordinate creation magic seems to have either many or no troublesome limitations or contract number limits.Due to the hero being a cheat existence, I can guess that he probably possesses a subordinate creation skill placed in the skills superior ranks, Renya estimates.Moreover, I guess its a cheat version that has no limits on the number of creations.A line said by the archduchess at the meeting venue the other day revives in Renyas mind. About this~, I think even the hero himself might not have realized it~. If he did~, I think that it would be normal to have a plan in regards to that, right~? (Lydia) I guess this is what she meant, Renya clicked his tongue with an expression as if he had swallowed a bitter bug.Thinking about what would be the best thing to do with the alliance that will likely vanish like mist if hes defeated, the hero unified all the alliances soldiers under his will by making them into his subordinates.Its no different from saying that matters will be settled once that sole hero is defeated, but the 100,000 troops will move with one will, preventing the hero from being defeated.So to speak, its something like dealing with a giant composed of cells called people.Moreover, the hero, who is the vital spot, is the strongest among the cells forming said giant. Soldiers of Trident Principality! I leave the defense to you! Renya Kunugi is going to cut into the enemy army from this point onwards! (Renya) If possible, he wants to avoid killing the soldiers of the allied forces.That notion didnt change, but the situation has developed in a way that it doesnt allow him to state with confidence that he wont have to kill many soldiers anymore.How many do I have to kill to reach the hero?As if shaking off such a thought, which he doesnt want to think about, Renya jumps off the wall.Chasing after him, the armor leaps down from the wall while still keeping its arms folded.The Trident Principalitys soldiers showed up with a bustle on top of the outer wall where Renya and the armor had just left.Hiding behind massive shields and carrying large amounts of arrows in their hands, they are archers who will defend the city by firing arrows from atop the wall.Freely using his knee and wind sorcery as a cushion, Renya soundlessly lands on the ground from the close-to-10-meter-high wall, but theres not a chance that the armor can do the same.It alights towards the ground while still having both arms crossed in front of its chest and both feet set apart at shoulder width.Rather than landing on the ground alongside a considerable impact, it went down with a momentum of crashing into the ground, but, seemingly thanks to its original sturdiness, it endured the crash without any scratches.However, it caused quite the loud sound. As if using that sound as a signal, the allied forces started their advancement against the city of Trident. In response the principalitys army released countless arrows and spells from the city where they are secluding themselves.This marked the start of the battle between the Trident Principalitys army and the allied forces led by the hero. Chapter 112 Chapter 112 C It seems to be a Breakthrough Battle A whirlwind of swords and arrows1,such an expression exists.Strictly speaking, its a phrase comprised of four characters which are a combination of two-character idiomatic compounds instead of a four-character idiomatic kanji compound. But that expression precisely explains the situation I am currently in, Renya thought while running.In front, countless soldiers with weapons in hand are waiting while a hail of arrows is pouring down on him from the front and the back.The arrows coming from the front are those coming from the enemys army, but the ones coming from behind are fired as defensive measures by Renyas allies.Seeing that hes plunging into the enemy army by himself, or rather, by himself and one other object, he wasnt in a position to complain as he himself willingly leapt into the attack range of his allied troops. But it goes without saying that being in a state where one is attacked from the front and rear cant be called a desirable situation by any means.Reading the wind.Speaking of that phrase, it might be a truly worn-out, clichd expression, but Renya is right now doing just that.From the various loud and quiet sounds of the wind being cut reaching his ears, he only repels the arrows which he perceives as being on a trajectory that might hit him.Or he dodges the ones he can see and those he cant see with a paper-thin difference by sensing the wind touching his skin.Renya charges without any change in his expression at all while performing a feat any sword master in this world would flinch to do if ordered.The existence of the armor running behind him gave Renya leeway, albeit only a bit.Theres no way for the thick armor plates, which werent even dented by clashing with wyverns, to be pierced by something as weak as arrows.The part of its body that acts as cover turns into a safety zone for Renya.Even so, its not like that safety zone is very large.A battle is a clashing and shaving of space between the fighting parties, such way of thinking exists.If thats the case, the space allotted to me in the current situation is extremely small, Renya thought very bitterly.At the moment when Renya once again braced himself in order to receive a hit, the armor running behind him tapped his shoulder once.Understanding that its warning him about something, that flash shines in front of Renyas eyes.While thinkingYou dont say! and on the other hand believingif its that, I can handle it somehow, Renya refines the mana in his body and forms a shield in front of him.Just as he finishes doing that, a single beam of light gushes out from within the enemy army and clashed into the shield Renya had just managed to create. In various ways, hes an unbelievable guy (Renya) The soldiers, who are manipulated by the heros will, apparently tried to evade the beam so far as it goes.Nevertheless, that doesnt mean that all of the countless soldiers finished doing so before the attack was released.In that situation, the hero fired the beam of light at Renya.Was he able to secure a line of fire?To Renya it didnt look like too many soldiers got dragged into the attack, but that still doesnt change the fact that the hero attacked his allies along with Renya.The soldiers, who were swallowed by that attack, were torn to pieces, and the mana shield constructed by Renya vanished after offsetting the attack.From the feedback, Renya sensed that the heros abilities have either grown considerably or that he went easy on him at the time when they fought before.The spell fired by Renya as a return present cuts several soldiers apart and vanishes after getting obstructed by countless shields and armors.It seems that spells of the wind attribute are largely inferior to the light attacks used by the hero in regards to their penetration power.Thinking about something like that, Renya quietly clicks his tongue as his path is blocked by a wave of people.As the opponent doesnt care about damage to his allies, he can release attacks with high penetration power at Renya.Him knowing my location is probably owed to him extracting the information from the enslaved soldiers, Renya assumes.He doesnt really know whether the attack itself, which looks like light, is really light or not even after seeing and receiving it.But, as the attacks speed seems to certainly conform with the speed of light, its almost impossible to evade it after seeing the flash itself.Rather than directly defending against the light, which has an instantaneous offensive power, theres no choice but to defend the area appearing to be in the line of fire, or to go by the vague indications of the attack actually taking place the moment its shot and evade the attack. However, as Renya doesnt have a direct view on the hero, latter option is quite difficult to handle, even for him.Moreover, he cant pick the option of evading the heros attacks.He wasnt sure whether its intentional or coincidental, but the heros attacks were carried out by catching Renya in the shooting line between the city of Trident and the hero.This meant that the wall surrounding Trident would be hit by the heros attack right away if Renya took evasive maneuvers.Renya was slightly worried about the alliance not possessing anything appearing to be siege weapons despite attacking a city surrounded by a wall, but he guesses that its not an issue to destroy the wall even without using those if they have the heros offensive ability at hand.In other words, Renya is in a situation where he has to purposefully receive the heros attacks which are continuously shot at him one-sidedly.The Trident Principality greatly loses out to the alliance in terms of numbers.Its not difficult to estimate that they will likely fall apart once the wall is broken through.Even while pondering over such things, Renyas right hand is almost reflexively swinging the katana around.Mowing down the approaching spears and swords in one go, he chops down a nearby soldier with a diagonal slash from his shoulder.Dodging even the bursting blood spray, he thrusts the katana into the chest of another soldier and halves the top part of another soldiers head with downwards slash using the momentum from pulling the katana out of the other soldiers chest.Even as he defeats two enemies in an instant, the hole opened up is filled by other soldiers.Immediately killing the soldiers, who came to fill the gap, Renya bent down and yelled. Get out of my way! (Renya) The spell descends without any casting.It had the power to burn several enemies black within an instant with a direct hit and the aftermath, but even that hole is immediately filled up with a replenishment of soldiers.He has advanced somewhat, but the slow pace makes him feel as if he hasnt made any progress at all.Albeit faintly, impatience starts welling up within Renyas mind who cuts down the unending supply of soldiers.After all, whats troublesome is the heros attack which is fired at him from a place he cant see.Thanks to that, Renya is unable to use large-scale sorcery or jump over the heads of the soldiers.Renya, who moves by using his feet on the ground, had the confidence that he could defend against the heros attack at any time in these circumstances, but the instant he flew in the air with wind sorcery or activated large scale sorcery, his response would be somewhat delayed because of him focussing on the enchantments.Renya felt uneasy thinking that he would fail to evade the heros attack due to that small delay.Renya also considered getting help from the emerald dragon flying circles in the sky, but he quickly rejected that idea.Certainly, if I borrowed the power of the emerald dragon, it would probably be possible to cause quite the damage to the enemy army, but that would make the emerald dragon itself the next target of the heros attacks.If that happens, the hero would probably kill the emerald dragon by all means possible.He might have a slightly hard time to handle the dragon, but Renya couldnt imagine the hero, who was summoned for the sake of fighting against the demon king, being outdone by the emerald dragon at all.A spell cuts apart the bodies of the soldiers who tried to approach Renya.In Renyas surroundings, who advances by wedging his body into the openings while bringing forth screams and rising blood fountains, the soldiers are collapsing in various ways such as having their screaming heads sent flying or having their bodies slide apart into halves, but the holes opened up by them falling are blocked by the next wave of people immediately.Slicing apart those soldiers again with his katana, Renya realized that there arent that many bodies of the soldiers he casually chopped down scattered below his feet.It occurs to him while thinking about it, butI should have cut down and burned a considerable number of soldiers, and yet their bodies, which should be lying on the ground, arent there.Once he throws a glance behind him while slashing and flicking away the attacks swooping down on him one after the other, he could see that armor, which had unfastened its own torso armor clasp, grabbing the bodies of the soldiers, which Renya had defeated assiduously, and stuffing them into its exposed interior.The soldiers corpses are entangled by many arm looking things, which grow out of the black coloredsomethingwithin the armor, they are then picked up and swallowed immediately after coming into contact with the void blacksomething. No matter whether they are still breathing or not, or whether they are burnt black or raw, the armor continuously grabs their bodies and stuffs them into itself without any concern.Moreover, the soldiers, who picked a fight with the armor that repeats such an eerie action over and over again, are caught just like that and stuffed into the armor which doesnt seem to care about their struggling and writhing efforts.The sight of the soldiers bodies being pulled into the armor after being seized by many pitch black arms, all whilst screaming, struggling desperately to escape and making sounds as if twigs were broken, had an ominousness which made insisting that the armor was a golem absolutely impossible.Unintentionally Renya ends up forgetting that hes in the middle of a battle and asks, You what are you doing? (Renya) Even while asking, he doesnt stop to wield the katana with his right hand. If theres an opportunity, Renya slashes at the soldiers or crushes them under foot after kicking them.Due to Renyas question, the armor unexpectedly stops its hands from seizing the soldiers bodies. Renya didnt know at all where its looking since it has no eyes, but it stops moving for a short moment with its face more or less pointing in Renyas direction.Seemingly having eventually reached some kind of conclusion, it immediately resumed its work of stuffing the soldiers into itself.Come to think of it, this armor does use gestures, but at present theres no evidence of it having a talking feature.Thus there was no way for it to give an answer even if asked, but despite that, Renya couldnt help but question it due to the armors abnormality behavior.The armor probably wanted to give Renya some kind of answer, but since theres currently no method for the armor to accurately convey its will, it apparently gave up after pondering about it for a short moment.It seems that it reached the conclusion that its more important to diligently stuff its interior with soldiers for now rather than spending time on such pointless brooding.Naturally, once they see the armor showing such an eerie behavior, even the enemy soldiers would have likely hated approaching it or would be somewhat cautious of it. But the soldiers, who have been enslaved by the heros will, cant take any action that goes against the heros orders.As a result they bustle around Renya and haphazardly keep on attacking him. The spectacle of the endlessly repeating cycle of them easily being slaughtered by Renyas counterattacks and then being collected (andstored) by the armor kept taking place in the centre of the battlefield. Is Is there no end to this!? (Renya) With every flash of Renyas katana more than one soldier collapses.However, his opponents are soldiers that number 100,000 in total.Even if he defeats numbers in the two- or three-digits, hell still be obeying the proverb ofpouring water on a hot stone.Moreover, its not like all the soldiers are heading towards Renya. Both wings of the enemys military forces have already gone past Renyas location and have arrived before Tridents outer wall.Accordingly the Trident Principalitys soldiers have started a desperate defensive battle.No matter how much combat power Renya boasts of, its impossible for him to stall a big army of 100,000 soldiers by himself, even if he makes full use of said power.If I could at least bring the battle to the hero himselfharboring that thought makes Renya lose his presence of mind little by little. Open (Renya) Many red lights rise up around Renya.Quite a bit of mana has been poured into each and every single of them. Renya shouts, a path! (Renya) The spells, which are originally nothing more than elementary fire spells, fly out while accompanied by a raging heat after having been supplied an excessive amount of mana.The spell, with power so low that it can be blocked by a direct collision with thick armor, is now burning the soldiers by transpiring its heat to the collision area, be it armor or shields. Thus making the metal glow red and making combustible materials burst into flames all at once.At once a revolting stench of human bodies being burned envelopes the area, but as if cutting that apart, the heros light attack assails Renya once again.It was a strike that aimed for the gap that occurs after releasing large scale spells, but predicting that the attack will likely target said gap, Renya, who perceived the light being generated before the attack appeared in his visible field, once again safely offset it with a mana shield. This fucking asshole! (Renya) He activates and amplifies the spell.The target is the armor who is gathering enemy soldiers for dear life behind Renya.Did the armor immediately guess that it had become the target of Renyas spell? Stopping its hands from collecting the soldiers corpses, it spreads both its arms apart open while the front of its torso armor is still open.Renya who understood from its action that its guessing his intention, grasps the armors body with the invisible sorcery arm, and threw its heavy body towards the crowd of soldiers in front C just like he previously did with Liaris when defeating the wyverns.The armor, which was tossed into the crowd of soldiers with its arms wide open, drags several soldiers into its landing and squashes their bodies due to its considerable momentum.The flattened soldiers die without even having the time to scream. They are grabbed by the extending arms from the still opened torso and dragged into the armor.And not just that. Making its arms reach even towards the other soldiers that hadnt been crushed under it, it pulls the them into its interior in turns.The panicked soldiers in the surroundings try to stab or slash the armor, but being hindered by the thick armor plates and the sturdiness of mithril, they are instead thrown inside the armor once they stopped moving.Renya somehow felt as if the length and number of arms growing out of the armor are increasing little by little, but right now its not a situation where he cant be picky about that.While maintaining the spell on the armor, he pulls the armor back to him for a moment and throws it once more with twice the momentum.The heros attack came flying in the middle of the toss, but the attacks main beam was repelled by the armors surface and vanished after having only extinguishing several arms growing out of the armor.It seems that the armors defensive strength possesses a firmness allowing it to defend against the heros attack. Mostly due to the unidentifiedsomethingplaced within the armor and the blessing of a mithril coating.With this I might have obtained quite the efficient method to break through.Its apparently better to have the armor swallow the soldiers after crushing them all together rather than cutting my way through one by one. Having the armor itself absorb the soldiers it defeated and grow from that in addition is just like killing two birds with one stone.Thinking that, Renya pulled back the armor, used it to knock down the soldiers, who were around him, while eagerly brandishing their weapons, and then threw it at the soldiers that had gathered to block his path once again. Chapter 112 C It seems to be a Breakthrough Battle A whirlwind of swords and arrows1,such an expression exists.Strictly speaking, its a phrase comprised of four characters which are a combination of two-character idiomatic compounds instead of a four-character idiomatic kanji compound. But that expression precisely explains the situation I am currently in, Renya thought while running.In front, countless soldiers with weapons in hand are waiting while a hail of arrows is pouring down on him from the front and the back.The arrows coming from the front are those coming from the enemys army, but the ones coming from behind are fired as defensive measures by Renyas allies.Seeing that hes plunging into the enemy army by himself, or rather, by himself and one other object, he wasnt in a position to complain as he himself willingly leapt into the attack range of his allied troops. But it goes without saying that being in a state where one is attacked from the front and rear cant be called a desirable situation by any means.Reading the wind.Speaking of that phrase, it might be a truly worn-out, clichd expression, but Renya is right now doing just that.From the various loud and quiet sounds of the wind being cut reaching his ears, he only repels the arrows which he perceives as being on a trajectory that might hit him.Or he dodges the ones he can see and those he cant see with a paper-thin difference by sensing the wind touching his skin.Renya charges without any change in his expression at all while performing a feat any sword master in this world would flinch to do if ordered.The existence of the armor running behind him gave Renya leeway, albeit only a bit.Theres no way for the thick armor plates, which werent even dented by clashing with wyverns, to be pierced by something as weak as arrows.The part of its body that acts as cover turns into a safety zone for Renya.Even so, its not like that safety zone is very large.A battle is a clashing and shaving of space between the fighting parties, such way of thinking exists.If thats the case, the space allotted to me in the current situation is extremely small, Renya thought very bitterly.At the moment when Renya once again braced himself in order to receive a hit, the armor running behind him tapped his shoulder once.Understanding that its warning him about something, that flash shines in front of Renyas eyes.While thinkingYou dont say! and on the other hand believingif its that, I can handle it somehow, Renya refines the mana in his body and forms a shield in front of him.Just as he finishes doing that, a single beam of light gushes out from within the enemy army and clashed into the shield Renya had just managed to create. In various ways, hes an unbelievable guy (Renya) The soldiers, who are manipulated by the heros will, apparently tried to evade the beam so far as it goes.Nevertheless, that doesnt mean that all of the countless soldiers finished doing so before the attack was released.In that situation, the hero fired the beam of light at Renya.Was he able to secure a line of fire?To Renya it didnt look like too many soldiers got dragged into the attack, but that still doesnt change the fact that the hero attacked his allies along with Renya.The soldiers, who were swallowed by that attack, were torn to pieces, and the mana shield constructed by Renya vanished after offsetting the attack.From the feedback, Renya sensed that the heros abilities have either grown considerably or that he went easy on him at the time when they fought before.The spell fired by Renya as a return present cuts several soldiers apart and vanishes after getting obstructed by countless shields and armors.It seems that spells of the wind attribute are largely inferior to the light attacks used by the hero in regards to their penetration power.Thinking about something like that, Renya quietly clicks his tongue as his path is blocked by a wave of people.As the opponent doesnt care about damage to his allies, he can release attacks with high penetration power at Renya.Him knowing my location is probably owed to him extracting the information from the enslaved soldiers, Renya assumes.He doesnt really know whether the attack itself, which looks like light, is really light or not even after seeing and receiving it.But, as the attacks speed seems to certainly conform with the speed of light, its almost impossible to evade it after seeing the flash itself.Rather than directly defending against the light, which has an instantaneous offensive power, theres no choice but to defend the area appearing to be in the line of fire, or to go by the vague indications of the attack actually taking place the moment its shot and evade the attack. However, as Renya doesnt have a direct view on the hero, latter option is quite difficult to handle, even for him.Moreover, he cant pick the option of evading the heros attacks.He wasnt sure whether its intentional or coincidental, but the heros attacks were carried out by catching Renya in the shooting line between the city of Trident and the hero.This meant that the wall surrounding Trident would be hit by the heros attack right away if Renya took evasive maneuvers.Renya was slightly worried about the alliance not possessing anything appearing to be siege weapons despite attacking a city surrounded by a wall, but he guesses that its not an issue to destroy the wall even without using those if they have the heros offensive ability at hand.In other words, Renya is in a situation where he has to purposefully receive the heros attacks which are continuously shot at him one-sidedly.The Trident Principality greatly loses out to the alliance in terms of numbers.Its not difficult to estimate that they will likely fall apart once the wall is broken through.Even while pondering over such things, Renyas right hand is almost reflexively swinging the katana around.Mowing down the approaching spears and swords in one go, he chops down a nearby soldier with a diagonal slash from his shoulder.Dodging even the bursting blood spray, he thrusts the katana into the chest of another soldier and halves the top part of another soldiers head with downwards slash using the momentum from pulling the katana out of the other soldiers chest.Even as he defeats two enemies in an instant, the hole opened up is filled by other soldiers.Immediately killing the soldiers, who came to fill the gap, Renya bent down and yelled. Get out of my way! (Renya) The spell descends without any casting.It had the power to burn several enemies black within an instant with a direct hit and the aftermath, but even that hole is immediately filled up with a replenishment of soldiers.He has advanced somewhat, but the slow pace makes him feel as if he hasnt made any progress at all.Albeit faintly, impatience starts welling up within Renyas mind who cuts down the unending supply of soldiers.After all, whats troublesome is the heros attack which is fired at him from a place he cant see.Thanks to that, Renya is unable to use large-scale sorcery or jump over the heads of the soldiers.Renya, who moves by using his feet on the ground, had the confidence that he could defend against the heros attack at any time in these circumstances, but the instant he flew in the air with wind sorcery or activated large scale sorcery, his response would be somewhat delayed because of him focussing on the enchantments.Renya felt uneasy thinking that he would fail to evade the heros attack due to that small delay.Renya also considered getting help from the emerald dragon flying circles in the sky, but he quickly rejected that idea.Certainly, if I borrowed the power of the emerald dragon, it would probably be possible to cause quite the damage to the enemy army, but that would make the emerald dragon itself the next target of the heros attacks.If that happens, the hero would probably kill the emerald dragon by all means possible.He might have a slightly hard time to handle the dragon, but Renya couldnt imagine the hero, who was summoned for the sake of fighting against the demon king, being outdone by the emerald dragon at all.A spell cuts apart the bodies of the soldiers who tried to approach Renya.In Renyas surroundings, who advances by wedging his body into the openings while bringing forth screams and rising blood fountains, the soldiers are collapsing in various ways such as having their screaming heads sent flying or having their bodies slide apart into halves, but the holes opened up by them falling are blocked by the next wave of people immediately.Slicing apart those soldiers again with his katana, Renya realized that there arent that many bodies of the soldiers he casually chopped down scattered below his feet.It occurs to him while thinking about it, butI should have cut down and burned a considerable number of soldiers, and yet their bodies, which should be lying on the ground, arent there.Once he throws a glance behind him while slashing and flicking away the attacks swooping down on him one after the other, he could see that armor, which had unfastened its own torso armor clasp, grabbing the bodies of the soldiers, which Renya had defeated assiduously, and stuffing them into its exposed interior.The soldiers corpses are entangled by many arm looking things, which grow out of the black coloredsomethingwithin the armor, they are then picked up and swallowed immediately after coming into contact with the void blacksomething. No matter whether they are still breathing or not, or whether they are burnt black or raw, the armor continuously grabs their bodies and stuffs them into itself without any concern.Moreover, the soldiers, who picked a fight with the armor that repeats such an eerie action over and over again, are caught just like that and stuffed into the armor which doesnt seem to care about their struggling and writhing efforts.The sight of the soldiers bodies being pulled into the armor after being seized by many pitch black arms, all whilst screaming, struggling desperately to escape and making sounds as if twigs were broken, had an ominousness which made insisting that the armor was a golem absolutely impossible.Unintentionally Renya ends up forgetting that hes in the middle of a battle and asks, You what are you doing? (Renya) Even while asking, he doesnt stop to wield the katana with his right hand. If theres an opportunity, Renya slashes at the soldiers or crushes them under foot after kicking them.Due to Renyas question, the armor unexpectedly stops its hands from seizing the soldiers bodies. Renya didnt know at all where its looking since it has no eyes, but it stops moving for a short moment with its face more or less pointing in Renyas direction.Seemingly having eventually reached some kind of conclusion, it immediately resumed its work of stuffing the soldiers into itself.Come to think of it, this armor does use gestures, but at present theres no evidence of it having a talking feature.Thus there was no way for it to give an answer even if asked, but despite that, Renya couldnt help but question it due to the armors abnormality behavior.The armor probably wanted to give Renya some kind of answer, but since theres currently no method for the armor to accurately convey its will, it apparently gave up after pondering about it for a short moment.It seems that it reached the conclusion that its more important to diligently stuff its interior with soldiers for now rather than spending time on such pointless brooding.Naturally, once they see the armor showing such an eerie behavior, even the enemy soldiers would have likely hated approaching it or would be somewhat cautious of it. But the soldiers, who have been enslaved by the heros will, cant take any action that goes against the heros orders.As a result they bustle around Renya and haphazardly keep on attacking him. The spectacle of the endlessly repeating cycle of them easily being slaughtered by Renyas counterattacks and then being collected (andstored) by the armor kept taking place in the centre of the battlefield. Is Is there no end to this!? (Renya) With every flash of Renyas katana more than one soldier collapses.However, his opponents are soldiers that number 100,000 in total.Even if he defeats numbers in the two- or three-digits, hell still be obeying the proverb ofpouring water on a hot stone.Moreover, its not like all the soldiers are heading towards Renya. Both wings of the enemys military forces have already gone past Renyas location and have arrived before Tridents outer wall.Accordingly the Trident Principalitys soldiers have started a desperate defensive battle.No matter how much combat power Renya boasts of, its impossible for him to stall a big army of 100,000 soldiers by himself, even if he makes full use of said power.If I could at least bring the battle to the hero himselfharboring that thought makes Renya lose his presence of mind little by little. Open (Renya) Many red lights rise up around Renya.Quite a bit of mana has been poured into each and every single of them. Renya shouts, a path! (Renya) The spells, which are originally nothing more than elementary fire spells, fly out while accompanied by a raging heat after having been supplied an excessive amount of mana.The spell, with power so low that it can be blocked by a direct collision with thick armor, is now burning the soldiers by transpiring its heat to the collision area, be it armor or shields. Thus making the metal glow red and making combustible materials burst into flames all at once.At once a revolting stench of human bodies being burned envelopes the area, but as if cutting that apart, the heros light attack assails Renya once again.It was a strike that aimed for the gap that occurs after releasing large scale spells, but predicting that the attack will likely target said gap, Renya, who perceived the light being generated before the attack appeared in his visible field, once again safely offset it with a mana shield. This fucking asshole! (Renya) He activates and amplifies the spell.The target is the armor who is gathering enemy soldiers for dear life behind Renya.Did the armor immediately guess that it had become the target of Renyas spell? Stopping its hands from collecting the soldiers corpses, it spreads both its arms apart open while the front of its torso armor is still open.Renya who understood from its action that its guessing his intention, grasps the armors body with the invisible sorcery arm, and threw its heavy body towards the crowd of soldiers in front C just like he previously did with Liaris when defeating the wyverns.The armor, which was tossed into the crowd of soldiers with its arms wide open, drags several soldiers into its landing and squashes their bodies due to its considerable momentum.The flattened soldiers die without even having the time to scream. They are grabbed by the extending arms from the still opened torso and dragged into the armor.And not just that. Making its arms reach even towards the other soldiers that hadnt been crushed under it, it pulls the them into its interior in turns.The panicked soldiers in the surroundings try to stab or slash the armor, but being hindered by the thick armor plates and the sturdiness of mithril, they are instead thrown inside the armor once they stopped moving.Renya somehow felt as if the length and number of arms growing out of the armor are increasing little by little, but right now its not a situation where he cant be picky about that.While maintaining the spell on the armor, he pulls the armor back to him for a moment and throws it once more with twice the momentum.The heros attack came flying in the middle of the toss, but the attacks main beam was repelled by the armors surface and vanished after having only extinguishing several arms growing out of the armor.It seems that the armors defensive strength possesses a firmness allowing it to defend against the heros attack. Mostly due to the unidentifiedsomethingplaced within the armor and the blessing of a mithril coating.With this I might have obtained quite the efficient method to break through.Its apparently better to have the armor swallow the soldiers after crushing them all together rather than cutting my way through one by one. Having the armor itself absorb the soldiers it defeated and grow from that in addition is just like killing two birds with one stone.Thinking that, Renya pulled back the armor, used it to knock down the soldiers, who were around him, while eagerly brandishing their weapons, and then threw it at the soldiers that had gathered to block his path once again. Chapter 113 Chapter 113 C It seems to be a Defensive Battle and Breakthrough Battle 2 Suddenly a red dragon peeks out its head from the top of the citys outer wall.Once it has widely opened its mouth, a deep crimson flame wells up and is spit out after having transformed into a fireball.Without even confirming the path of that fireball, the red dragon once again hides its head behind the wall.Shion traces the route of the fireball with her eyes as she jumps around on top of the wall and cuts ropes with grappling hooks attached to them which were thrown one after the other. The fireball, while maintaining its initial force, crashes into a part of the enemys army that was swarming at the base of the wall, and blew up into a violent blaze.Several soldiers that suffered a direct hit fall down within the flames without being able to make any noise. The heatwave of the fireball burns the bodies of the soldiers in the surroundings, making them roll on the ground while screaming.The dragon that hid its head changes its location a bit and once again reveals only its head above the wall all of a sudden. Moreover, after firing yet another breath, it hides again. Somehow thats cheap. (Shion) Slashing at a soldier, who was climbing a rope she wasnt able to cut off in time, with her longsword before he arrives atop the wall, Shion knocks the soldier directly towards the ground by kicking him as he flinches.The soldier, who fell while screaming, fell on top of the soldiers waiting below and got several of them involved in the landing. But without faltering, the soldiers kept on clinging to the ropes and tried to climb the wall once again. Even if you call it cheap hes the dragon mount of a treasured dragoon. Besides, for better or worse, this is also Renya-sans order. (Liaris) Liaris says in protest as she pours bucketfuls of oil on the heads of the soldiers directly below the wall.The bubbling hot oil is supplied via a bucket relay. The soldiers, who have taken up position on top of the wall, make sure the oil pours down on the enemys heads one after the other.Shion cannot help but feel that its extremely wasteful, but oil that can achieve a much higher temperature than water far surpasses water in the damage efficiency when used against the human body. Moreover, since one can expect the additional effect of making the soldiers limbs slippery once its poured on them, she persuades herself that its absolutely necessary.Liaris had been urgently summoned from Kukrika as one of the Trident Principalitys treasured combat forces.Of course her dragon Dra-kun came together with her.At first Liaris was thinking of spectacularly burning the enemy soldiers to smithereens with Dra-kuns breath while flying above the enemy army. As a matter of fact, the Trident Principalitys side had planned to make use of her in such way as well. However, that was easily stopped by Renya. You are going to throw your treasured combat force in front of the heros eyes? Are you idiots? She will be shot down with maximum priority. (Renya) With these brief words, Dra-kun shifted to a deployment method of acting as battery that carries out sporadic breath attacks against the enemy army by only peeking out his head while hiding his body behind the wall.Since theres absolutely no meaning in Liaris riding on Dra-kuns back in this case, she goes around helping the defending soldiers on the wall.Given that the opponents will concentrate their attacks on her if they find out that shes a dragoon, the current Liaris wore the same equipment as the Trident Principalitys soldiers.By the way, because Az has been assigned to Kukrikas defense unit, he wasnt accompanying her.Keiths unit, which was trained by Renya, also stayed back in Kukrika.Even though it would be much easier if they were here, Shion thinks. But as the cities will transform into hell if even a small part of the enemy army goes around to attack them, its impossible for the Trident Principality to take away all the soldiers needed for defense.Dra-kun spit out yet another fire breath.If a humans body is directly hit by his high temperature flame, it will transform into a lump of charcoal in a flash.The equipment they wear will heat up as well, the metallic parts will become bright red or melt, and the remains will blend with the charcoal.The fact that there were no arrows coming from the enemys army is due to there being already a considerable amount of enemy soldiers that have arrived before the outer wall.Its only natural that the enemy finds it impossible to choose an attack method that would probably hit their allies. But Shion frowns due to the inexhaustible supply of soldiers climbing up one after the other. This might be bad. (Shion) Why? To me it feels like we are repelling them at quite a good pace though. (Liaris) While asking, Liaris once again pours down a bucketful of oil.One more soldier, who had his skin burned with a sizzling sound, fell down. You will understand once you look down. (Shion) Shion says while thrusting away a soldier, who came climbing up another rope ladder, towards the ground.Being told that, Liaris secretly peeked at the walls base and immediately understood what Shion meant.Down there, the soldiers corpses, who were pushed off, had stopped moving and died, began to pile up. A hill of corpses? (Liaris) No matter how tall the wall might be, if several hundred corpses are piled up on top of each other, it will become a foothold that allows surmounting the wall. Though I think that an army usually pulls back before that happens due to the huge amount of losses theyll have suffered by that point. (Shion) An allied soldier stabs another enemy soldier, who had climbed up the wall, to death.With the passage of time, the number of enemy soldiers coming atop the wall seems to have increased thanks to the scaffold of corpses, resulting in the distance they had to climb on the rope ladders gradually decreasing as well. Should we burn them? Liaris asks. She seems to think that the enemies will probably get burned to quite a severe degree if they are ignited, given that they have been successively pouring down oil from atop the wall.After pondering about this method for a short while, Shion shook her head left and right. Staying atop the wall might become difficult due to the smoke and the burnt stench. Besides (Shion) Once she turns her sight further into the enemy armys ranks, she can see parts of the human waves randomly stirring violently.Its a place where lightning descends with a thunderous roar from the sky and where sometimes enemy soldier-like figures are launched high into the air.Several flashes were generated further ahead of that place, but each time those flashes reach a certain part within the enemy army, they are repelled as if clashing with something, get scattered and vanish.Its very likely that Renya is around that area, Shion judged. And, the flashes coming from ahead of Renyas position are probably the heros attacks. It looks like Renya-san is blocking the heros attacks over there, but if even one shot of those slips past, something like the outer wall probably wont last even for a second. (Shion) Even if its reinforced by the magic soldiers of the Principalitys army? (Liaris) Probably. When Renya defended against the first attack, the aftermath from it was enough to gouge out the wall. I think its power will be incomparable if it directly hits the wall. (Shion) Even so, I dont understand why that has anything to do with us not setting the enemy soldiers aflame? (Liaris) The more enemy soldiers pile up outside the wall, the larger of a cushioning it will become, right? Thats what I think at least. (Shion) Liaris gasped due to Shions reply.Even Shion herself is slightly surprised by the coldheartedness of her voice and the content of her own answer.In addition to the walls natural strength, it has also been enhanced by sorcery. Even so Shion wondered whether it wouldnt be possible to endure the heros attacks with just a layer of corpses.Even Shion herself knows well that its not a very praiseworthy method, but its not like there are any other ways to strengthen the wall. Rather than having the wall destroyed, the option of having the number of soldiers climbing over the wall increase is still preferable. (Shion) I see. In that case it might be better to leave the enemy soldiers as they are rather than burning them unnecessarily. (Liaris) Catching her breath for a moment, Liaris, who comprehended the meaning of Shions words, nods her head.Even while they are doing this and that, an enemy soldier receives an arrow fired by an allied soldier to his throat and falls down.The hill has grown by yet another person. But, if its like that, our allies burden will keep growing as time passes, wont it? (Liaris) Whats welcome is that quite a large number of enemy soldiers are concentrating their attacks on Renya so as to prevent him from breaking through their line, but it hurts that Renya has been restrained because of that. (Shion) Renyas situation is regularly transmitted to Shion and the others through telepathy from the emerald dragon flying high in the sky.According to that information, Renya had cut quite deep into the enemy line, but although he was making progress, it seemed that his advancing speed had fallen remarkably due to the heros attacks, although they are only individual shots, and a wall of flesh formed by the enemy soldiers.Once Shion turned her gaze towards Renyas most probable location again, she saw the moment when a figure, somewhat bigger than a person, rose high into the sky and then was tossed at a crowd of enemy soldiers with considerably force.At the same time some thin, arm-like objects kept extending in all directions and drew several people from within the enemy soldiers crowd towards themselves.Just what are those arms?Shion believes that she really doesnt want to know, but currently she harbored the feeling of wanting to depend even on those eerie things. Renya (Shion) Id like you to hurry, Id like you to do your best, are things Shion cant say.Seeing as I burdened him with something like slaughtering the enemy armys general all by himself, which is the same as a suicidal act if you consider it normally, it would be far too greedy to mention the previous things to him, Shion believes.For now I have to simply trust him. I cant do anything but devote myself to defense.Even so, the matter of an alternative plan, which was mentioned by her mother, the archduchess, doesnt stop clinging to a corner of Shions mind.The archduchess has said that she will shift to implementing that alternate plan if Renya is late in defeating the hero.She cant help thinking that something very bad will happen if it comes to that. Even I if I only had the power to fight next to you (Shion) Its inevitable for her to desire something she doesnt have.Nevertheless, feeling mortified after thinking about such a thing was unavoidable.Shion decides to turn that feeling of helplessness into a venting of her anger against the enemy soldiers coming up the wall. Meanwhile, as time passed, Renyas situation was getting worse.At the beginning he even had the leeway to avoid blood sprays, but Renya, who became irritated due to his slow movement pace, started slaying the enemy soldiers standing in his way doubting whether theres any need to mind his own appearance at this point in time.If hes able to create even the slightest opening in the human wave, he keeps thrusting himself forcibly into it. If he cant create an opening, he throws the armor and then continues to forcibly advance while pushing his own body even further into the enemy line alongside the armor.Renya, who experienced that not only the blood sprays, which he doesnt try to avoid, but even attacks at the level of grazing him are apparently blocked by Fraus special clothes, only dodges the attacks that seem like they would directly hit him, and focuses his strained mind on just advancing.He splits heads apart, sends heads flying, cuts limbs and mows down torsos.Renya keeps moving forward, weaving his way through things where he doesnt know whether its blood that gushes out or something else.Pruning countless blades that are pushed out in order to hold him back with a flash of his katana, he tosses many at the enemies in return.One shot after the other of the , which were charged with a large amount of mana to the point where the only thing that identified them as fireballs was their name, were fired. These fireballs could steeply increase the surrounding temperature by simply materializing, but once they collided with the soldiers, it resulted in dozens of living torches appearing.Moreover, several dozens of people fall due to which cut through the atmosphere that is wavering due to the human torches. As if to finish it off, several pour down from above.Enemy soldiers, who trample on the corpses that had turned into ashes after having collapsed into crumbles, try to flood into the opened space, but having their bodies enveloped by a strong gale that suddenly arose, they are taken away without being allowed even the slightest resistance and dance up high into the sky.Its the spell which is the common version of the spell previously used by Renya to induce a downburst.The soldiers, who carelessly tried to shorten the combat distance between them and Renya, are caught by this tornado and launched high into the air.The soldiers bodies, who were once launched up, immediately leave the tornados effective range and plummet onto the ground after being affected by gravity.Even if they ended up lucky on impact, they still become incapable of fighting any longer. In case they are unlucky, it ends with instant death for them.Renya proceeded by sliding his body into the spaces created in such manner.The armor, from behind Renya, leaps with quite the force against the human wave trying to push Renya back again.Countless black arms grow out of the armor that plunged into the human wave as if countering them. The soldiers who were near the armors landing zone, suffered a direct impact from the crashing armor, while the soldiers that were slightly further away are tightly held by those arms and dragged into the armors torso which had remained open.Screams and shrieks break out just as they are pulled in.The black something within the armor crunches bones, flesh and armor all together with munching sounds.The enemy soldiers try to distance themselves from the armor in panic, but consequently, the armor raises its helmets visor, and thin, pointed things rush out in innumerable quantities, piercing into the enemy soldiers.Those pointy things are made out of the remains of the bones that were smashed to pieces and armor parts that had turned into fragments after being broken down in the same way.Those parts, which had just been devoured, transformed into dangerous weapons when shot out like darts.The projectiles didnt possess the power to penetrate the enemy soldiers armor, but they messily stabbed the parts that werent covered by armor.Renya, who rushed in, annihilated the soldiers, who were thrashing around unable to bear the pain, by cutting them with his blade and trampling them underfoot. The rest how much is left? (Renya) Renya didnt know anymore how many he had cut down since the battle had started.Even if Renya makes use of his techniques, gore will start to cling to the blade if he cuts such a large number of people in such a short amount of time.He sends the gore flying with a sharp swing of his katana. Once he mutters to himself as if complaining while at the same time restraining the enemy soldiers with a wary gaze, the armor, who indifferently collected the corpses scattered on the ground while protecting Renyas back, pokes Renyas shoulder several times and then points at the other side of the human wave in front of Renya.A small gap is visible in between the lined-up soldiers.On the other side of that, he can see a really small portion of a figure. Oh? (Renya) Although the visible part was very small, that, which was caught in Renyas sight, was something he remembered having seen at the time when he visited the Holy City before.Reflexively, Renyas lips warp into a crooked smile. I came this far? Yo! Dont run away now, heeerooooo!!! (Renya) While shouting, he invokes the two spells and through his parallel activation skill.Once several pour down like bolts of lightning from the sky, and , which originally flies straight into the direction designated by the caster, scatters in all directions with Renya at the centre, the entire vicinity is filled with countless thunderbolts that produce sounds that seem to burst ones ears.Renya, who swept the soldiers at quite a wide range off their feet while watching the armor blocking the indiscriminate lightning attacks by shrewdly using enemy soldiers as shields at the edge of his field of view, turned a broad grin towards the sole standing figure within the space that had become empty. Yooo, hero-kuuun fiiinalllyyy I found youuuu. (Renya) The hero clicked his tongue quietly, but it definitely reached Renyas ears, who spoke with a chilling voice. Chapter 113 C It seems to be a Defensive Battle and Breakthrough Battle 2 Suddenly a red dragon peeks out its head from the top of the citys outer wall.Once it has widely opened its mouth, a deep crimson flame wells up and is spit out after having transformed into a fireball.Without even confirming the path of that fireball, the red dragon once again hides its head behind the wall.Shion traces the route of the fireball with her eyes as she jumps around on top of the wall and cuts ropes with grappling hooks attached to them which were thrown one after the other. The fireball, while maintaining its initial force, crashes into a part of the enemys army that was swarming at the base of the wall, and blew up into a violent blaze.Several soldiers that suffered a direct hit fall down within the flames without being able to make any noise. The heatwave of the fireball burns the bodies of the soldiers in the surroundings, making them roll on the ground while screaming.The dragon that hid its head changes its location a bit and once again reveals only its head above the wall all of a sudden. Moreover, after firing yet another breath, it hides again. Somehow thats cheap. (Shion) Slashing at a soldier, who was climbing a rope she wasnt able to cut off in time, with her longsword before he arrives atop the wall, Shion knocks the soldier directly towards the ground by kicking him as he flinches.The soldier, who fell while screaming, fell on top of the soldiers waiting below and got several of them involved in the landing. But without faltering, the soldiers kept on clinging to the ropes and tried to climb the wall once again. Even if you call it cheap hes the dragon mount of a treasured dragoon. Besides, for better or worse, this is also Renya-sans order. (Liaris) Liaris says in protest as she pours bucketfuls of oil on the heads of the soldiers directly below the wall.The bubbling hot oil is supplied via a bucket relay. The soldiers, who have taken up position on top of the wall, make sure the oil pours down on the enemys heads one after the other.Shion cannot help but feel that its extremely wasteful, but oil that can achieve a much higher temperature than water far surpasses water in the damage efficiency when used against the human body. Moreover, since one can expect the additional effect of making the soldiers limbs slippery once its poured on them, she persuades herself that its absolutely necessary.Liaris had been urgently summoned from Kukrika as one of the Trident Principalitys treasured combat forces.Of course her dragon Dra-kun came together with her.At first Liaris was thinking of spectacularly burning the enemy soldiers to smithereens with Dra-kuns breath while flying above the enemy army. As a matter of fact, the Trident Principalitys side had planned to make use of her in such way as well. However, that was easily stopped by Renya. You are going to throw your treasured combat force in front of the heros eyes? Are you idiots? She will be shot down with maximum priority. (Renya) With these brief words, Dra-kun shifted to a deployment method of acting as battery that carries out sporadic breath attacks against the enemy army by only peeking out his head while hiding his body behind the wall.Since theres absolutely no meaning in Liaris riding on Dra-kuns back in this case, she goes around helping the defending soldiers on the wall.Given that the opponents will concentrate their attacks on her if they find out that shes a dragoon, the current Liaris wore the same equipment as the Trident Principalitys soldiers.By the way, because Az has been assigned to Kukrikas defense unit, he wasnt accompanying her.Keiths unit, which was trained by Renya, also stayed back in Kukrika.Even though it would be much easier if they were here, Shion thinks. But as the cities will transform into hell if even a small part of the enemy army goes around to attack them, its impossible for the Trident Principality to take away all the soldiers needed for defense.Dra-kun spit out yet another fire breath.If a humans body is directly hit by his high temperature flame, it will transform into a lump of charcoal in a flash.The equipment they wear will heat up as well, the metallic parts will become bright red or melt, and the remains will blend with the charcoal.The fact that there were no arrows coming from the enemys army is due to there being already a considerable amount of enemy soldiers that have arrived before the outer wall.Its only natural that the enemy finds it impossible to choose an attack method that would probably hit their allies. But Shion frowns due to the inexhaustible supply of soldiers climbing up one after the other. This might be bad. (Shion) Why? To me it feels like we are repelling them at quite a good pace though. (Liaris) While asking, Liaris once again pours down a bucketful of oil.One more soldier, who had his skin burned with a sizzling sound, fell down. You will understand once you look down. (Shion) Shion says while thrusting away a soldier, who came climbing up another rope ladder, towards the ground.Being told that, Liaris secretly peeked at the walls base and immediately understood what Shion meant.Down there, the soldiers corpses, who were pushed off, had stopped moving and died, began to pile up. A hill of corpses? (Liaris) No matter how tall the wall might be, if several hundred corpses are piled up on top of each other, it will become a foothold that allows surmounting the wall. Though I think that an army usually pulls back before that happens due to the huge amount of losses theyll have suffered by that point. (Shion) An allied soldier stabs another enemy soldier, who had climbed up the wall, to death.With the passage of time, the number of enemy soldiers coming atop the wall seems to have increased thanks to the scaffold of corpses, resulting in the distance they had to climb on the rope ladders gradually decreasing as well. Should we burn them? Liaris asks. She seems to think that the enemies will probably get burned to quite a severe degree if they are ignited, given that they have been successively pouring down oil from atop the wall.After pondering about this method for a short while, Shion shook her head left and right. Staying atop the wall might become difficult due to the smoke and the burnt stench. Besides (Shion) Once she turns her sight further into the enemy armys ranks, she can see parts of the human waves randomly stirring violently.Its a place where lightning descends with a thunderous roar from the sky and where sometimes enemy soldier-like figures are launched high into the air.Several flashes were generated further ahead of that place, but each time those flashes reach a certain part within the enemy army, they are repelled as if clashing with something, get scattered and vanish.Its very likely that Renya is around that area, Shion judged.And, the flashes coming from ahead of Renyas position are probably the heros attacks. It looks like Renya-san is blocking the heros attacks over there, but if even one shot of those slips past, something like the outer wall probably wont last even for a second. (Shion) Even if its reinforced by the magic soldiers of the Principalitys army? (Liaris) Probably. When Renya defended against the first attack, the aftermath from it was enough to gouge out the wall. I think its power will be incomparable if it directly hits the wall. (Shion) Even so, I dont understand why that has anything to do with us not setting the enemy soldiers aflame? (Liaris) The more enemy soldiers pile up outside the wall, the larger of a cushioning it will become, right? Thats what I think at least. (Shion) Liaris gasped due to Shions reply.Even Shion herself is slightly surprised by the coldheartedness of her voice and the content of her own answer.In addition to the walls natural strength, it has also been enhanced by sorcery. Even so Shion wondered whether it wouldnt be possible to endure the heros attacks with just a layer of corpses.Even Shion herself knows well that its not a very praiseworthy method, but its not like there are any other ways to strengthen the wall. Rather than having the wall destroyed, the option of having the number of soldiers climbing over the wall increase is still preferable. (Shion) I see. In that case it might be better to leave the enemy soldiers as they are rather than burning them unnecessarily. (Liaris) Catching her breath for a moment, Liaris, who comprehended the meaning of Shions words, nods her head.Even while they are doing this and that, an enemy soldier receives an arrow fired by an allied soldier to his throat and falls down.The hill has grown by yet another person. But, if its like that, our allies burden will keep growing as time passes, wont it? (Liaris) Whats welcome is that quite a large number of enemy soldiers are concentrating their attacks on Renya so as to prevent him from breaking through their line, but it hurts that Renya has been restrained because of that. (Shion) Renyas situation is regularly transmitted to Shion and the others through telepathy from the emerald dragon flying high in the sky.According to that information, Renya had cut quite deep into the enemy line, but although he was making progress, it seemed that his advancing speed had fallen remarkably due to the heros attacks, although they are only individual shots, and a wall of flesh formed by the enemy soldiers.Once Shion turned her gaze towards Renyas most probable location again, she saw the moment when a figure, somewhat bigger than a person, rose high into the sky and then was tossed at a crowd of enemy soldiers with considerably force.At the same time some thin, arm-like objects kept extending in all directions and drew several people from within the enemy soldiers crowd towards themselves.Just what are those arms?Shion believes that she really doesnt want to know, but currently she harbored the feeling of wanting to depend even on those eerie things. Renya (Shion) Id like you to hurry, Id like you to do your best, are things Shion cant say.Seeing as I burdened him with something like slaughtering the enemy armys general all by himself, which is the same as a suicidal act if you consider it normally, it would be far too greedy to mention the previous things to him, Shion believes.For now I have to simply trust him. I cant do anything but devote myself to defense.Even so, the matter of an alternative plan, which was mentioned by her mother, the archduchess, doesnt stop clinging to a corner of Shions mind.The archduchess has said that she will shift to implementing that alternate plan if Renya is late in defeating the hero.She cant help thinking that something very bad will happen if it comes to that. Even I if I only had the power to fight next to you (Shion) Its inevitable for her to desire something she doesnt have.Nevertheless, feeling mortified after thinking about such a thing was unavoidable.Shion decides to turn that feeling of helplessness into a venting of her anger against the enemy soldiers coming up the wall. Meanwhile, as time passed, Renyas situation was getting worse.At the beginning he even had the leeway to avoid blood sprays, but Renya, who became irritated due to his slow movement pace, started slaying the enemy soldiers standing in his way doubting whether theres any need to mind his own appearance at this point in time.If hes able to create even the slightest opening in the human wave, he keeps thrusting himself forcibly into it. If he cant create an opening, he throws the armor and then continues to forcibly advance while pushing his own body even further into the enemy line alongside the armor.Renya, who experienced that not only the blood sprays, which he doesnt try to avoid, but even attacks at the level of grazing him are apparently blocked by Fraus special clothes, only dodges the attacks that seem like they would directly hit him, and focuses his strained mind on just advancing.He splits heads apart, sends heads flying, cuts limbs and mows down torsos.Renya keeps moving forward, weaving his way through things where he doesnt know whether its blood that gushes out or something else.Pruning countless blades that are pushed out in order to hold him back with a flash of his katana, he tosses many at the enemies in return.One shot after the other of the , which were charged with a large amount of mana to the point where the only thing that identified them as fireballs was their name, were fired. These fireballs could steeply increase the surrounding temperature by simply materializing, but once they collided with the soldiers, it resulted in dozens of living torches appearing.Moreover, several dozens of people fall due to which cut through the atmosphere that is wavering due to the human torches. As if to finish it off, several pour down from above.Enemy soldiers, who trample on the corpses that had turned into ashes after having collapsed into crumbles, try to flood into the opened space, but having their bodies enveloped by a strong gale that suddenly arose, they are taken away without being allowed even the slightest resistance and dance up high into the sky.Its the spell which is the common version of the spell previously used by Renya to induce a downburst.The soldiers, who carelessly tried to shorten the combat distance between them and Renya, are caught by this tornado and launched high into the air.The soldiers bodies, who were once launched up, immediately leave the tornados effective range and plummet onto the ground after being affected by gravity.Even if they ended up lucky on impact, they still become incapable of fighting any longer. In case they are unlucky, it ends with instant death for them.Renya proceeded by sliding his body into the spaces created in such manner.The armor, from behind Renya, leaps with quite the force against the human wave trying to push Renya back again.Countless black arms grow out of the armor that plunged into the human wave as if countering them. The soldiers who were near the armors landing zone, suffered a direct impact from the crashing armor, while the soldiers that were slightly further away are tightly held by those arms and dragged into the armors torso which had remained open.Screams and shrieks break out just as they are pulled in.The black something within the armor crunches bones, flesh and armor all together with munching sounds.The enemy soldiers try to distance themselves from the armor in panic, but consequently, the armor raises its helmets visor, and thin, pointed things rush out in innumerable quantities, piercing into the enemy soldiers.Those pointy things are made out of the remains of the bones that were smashed to pieces and armor parts that had turned into fragments after being broken down in the same way.Those parts, which had just been devoured, transformed into dangerous weapons when shot out like darts.The projectiles didnt possess the power to penetrate the enemy soldiers armor, but they messily stabbed the parts that werent covered by armor.Renya, who rushed in, annihilated the soldiers, who were thrashing around unable to bear the pain, by cutting them with his blade and trampling them underfoot. The rest how much is left? (Renya) Renya didnt know anymore how many he had cut down since the battle had started.Even if Renya makes use of his techniques, gore will start to cling to the blade if he cuts such a large number of people in such a short amount of time.He sends the gore flying with a sharp swing of his katana. Once he mutters to himself as if complaining while at the same time restraining the enemy soldiers with a wary gaze, the armor, who indifferently collected the corpses scattered on the ground while protecting Renyas back, pokes Renyas shoulder several times and then points at the other side of the human wave in front of Renya.A small gap is visible in between the lined-up soldiers.On the other side of that, he can see a really small portion of a figure. Oh? (Renya) Although the visible part was very small, that, which was caught in Renyas sight, was something he remembered having seen at the time when he visited the Holy City before.Reflexively, Renyas lips warp into a crooked smile. I came this far? Yo! Dont run away now, heeerooooo!!! (Renya) While shouting, he invokes the two spells and through his parallel activation skill.Once several pour down like bolts of lightning from the sky, and , which originally flies straight into the direction designated by the caster, scatters in all directions with Renya at the centre, the entire vicinity is filled with countless thunderbolts that produce sounds that seem to burst ones ears.Renya, who swept the soldiers at quite a wide range off their feet while watching the armor blocking the indiscriminate lightning attacks by shrewdly using enemy soldiers as shields at the edge of his field of view, turned a broad grin towards the sole standing figure within the space that had become empty. Yooo, hero-kuuun fiiinalllyyy I found youuuu. (Renya) The hero clicked his tongue quietly, but it definitely reached Renyas ears, who spoke with a chilling voice. Chapter 114 Chapter 114 C It seems to be the Battle against the Hero A/N: Only a little warning of gory presentation? Hey, armor! (Renya) For some reason when Renya addressed the armor it got startled and shivers ran all over its body.It interrupts the job of cheerfully stuffing the soldiers corpses, who had been burned by Renyas all-direction-attack, into itself, and turns towards him. Renya thrusts his index finger at the armor and says, Handle the surrounding soldiers somehow! Dont let any one of them interrupt my one-to-one fight! (Renya) The commanded armor crisply salutes on the spot while pure white arms wriggle out of its still open torso part.What next appeared out of the the armors torso, as if it were the exit for something, is a doll with a tough-looking body that is dyed in pure white.Upon closer inspection, its bodys composition is made out of bone-like objects that had been pulverized into tiny bits. Its obvious that the bone fragments and iron scraps, which had been spit out earlier by the armor as means for attacking, had assembled themselves.Something similar to a black fog was thinly clinging all over the dolls body. Its height was slightly lower than that of the armor, but it has a solid body build. It was tightly gripping battledore-like weapons, which consisted of a simple, rectangle iron plate and a grip, in its hands.Upon closer inspection, its clear that those are items simply formed by smashing things such as plate armors and broken longswords flat.Crawling out of the torso, it drops onto the ground head first and then slowly stands up. Brandishing the weapons in its hands, it swoops down onto the enemy soldiers, who were fiercely trying to get close.However, the number ofthingsthat crawled out isnt limited to one either.The appearances of the dolls, who drag their bodies out by placing their hands on the edge of the armor one after the other, are extremely eerie.Moreover, just as those dolls get out, they immediately attack with crudely-made, boorish weapons in hand. For the enemy soldiers such beings are out of the world.The iron plate-like weapons they hold in their hands break weapons if they receive them and crush shields if they hit them. If they hit a body, the enemy soldier gets easily blown away.With the suddenly bursting out screams and jeers in his back, Renya slashes at the hero with his katana in one hand.As long as theres nothing obstructing him, something like a bit of a combat distance is equal to nothing for Renya.The hero swings his holy sword at Renya who charges straight at him with a single move.It still wasnt a distance where his sword would reach, but in an instant a flash occurs and a light attack surges towards Renya.That one blow was released with the intent to pierce Renya, but for Renya it was well within his expectations.He has already activated the compiled sorcery code without chanting, making a pillar of lightning pour down from the sky.Once that attack impacts right in the midst of the large army, the aftermath after scattering causes enormous damage.The light attack, which flies in a messed-up direction due to being broken apart, stabs countless soldiers and kills them. The scattered lightning burns the living and the dead all together.Brandishing the katana while the power of the aftermath is still lingering, Renya dashes forward. Herooooooo!!! (Renya) At the moment he saw Hero Yuuki in his shining armor trying to meet his attack by preparing his holy sword that was clad in a pale light, there was a sound as if the gears in Renyas head got disconnected in some way.Help the translator by reading this at infinitenoveltranslations.netDont mooooove from thereeee! (Renya) The face of Yuuki, who tried to stop the downwards-swung blow, cramped up.Muttering something in a hurry, Yuuki vanishes from sight.At almost the same time, Renyas swing, which vertically severed the space where the hero had been moments ago, vertically cuts apart all the soldiers who were in the attacks direct line of damage without producing a single sound.Sending a sword slash flying; such a concept doesnt exist in Renyas mind.But, by firmly cladding that blow, which was swung down loaded with all his fury, with mana, he managed to make that slash fly.The sharp slash, which was amply charged with Renyas bloodthirst, not to mention his already high magic power, had such strength that it was unclear just how far it would fly, but theres no doubt that at some point even the last line of the allied forces will be torn apart.If there was someone present there with a normal train of thought, they would likely open their mouth to the extent of dislocating their jaw. However, Renya turns around without even looking at the result from his attack.The heros short-distance teleportation is certainly an annoying ability, but its not like he can leap into a distance where he cant be seen anymore.In front of Renyas gaze, after having turned around, was Hero Yuuki who was on the verge of brandishing his holy sword with both hands.The slash, which is swung down with all of his bodys strength behind it by using the heros power at full throttle, possessed a destructive power output and speed that doesnt dishonor the heros title, but Renya, who lost all his mental bindings, laughs without even showing any intention of trying to stop it.That blow, which was swung towards the laughing Renyas head in order to smash it into pieces, is stopped a good distance away from Renyas body as if it had hit an invisible wall without having allowed the blade to reach Renyas head.Yuukis expression was dyed in shock. W-What the hell!? (Yuuki) The hero tries to overcome the resistance somehow by once again putting his strength into the static sword, but the blade shows almost no indication of advancing from its fixed spot in space. Dear me, hero-kun! Arent you a gentle one to stop it? (Renya) Squinting his eyes while exposing his head right under the naked sword, which was slightly trembling, Renya laughs.Due to Renyas complacent smile, Yuuki pulls his arms back while having a stiff expression. He once again unleashes a slash, but even that one is stopped before reaching Renyas body.If he was capable of seeing mana, he would likely doubt his own eyes due to the view unfolding before him.The mana in the environment, which should originally cause a phenomenon by first passing through a skill, a process also dubbed as sorcery, is inducing an effect similar to that of defensive barrier sorcery due to its thickness after reacting to Renyas intention of protecting himself.If it were a barrier created through sorcery, the holy swords slash would have very likely cut through the spells composition and reached Renyas body.However, what Renya is doing right now is the feat of actually stopping the holy sword with a layer of plain mana without relying on a sorcery code. As there is no sorcery composition that can be broken, the attacks wont reach Renya unless they can cut through the thick and rich mana itself.It goes without saying, but such an achievement wouldnt be the work of a human. While we are on the topic of kindness, it would be a big help if you could hurry up and die, hero-kun. I said I would get rid of you without going easy, so I dont have any time to spend on you, you know? (Renya) You monster!! (Yuuki) Giving up on attacking with the holy sword, the hero jumps back.However, faster than his body leaps back, Renya shortens the combat distance and slips his own body right in front of the hero. Its regrettable, but I dont want to play around either. (Renya) He whispers as he slashes his blade in an upward fashion, as if scooping something up.Yuuki tries to dodge it by frantically twisting his body.The churned-up blade makes a soundless, full swing. The combat distance between the two widens and at the instant Yuukis feet touch the ground, his left arm falls to the ground after easily being cut off from its root as if it was some kind of joke. Gii!! (Yuuki) So I failed to kill him. (Renya) Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!? (Yuuki) Collapsing as if he had lost to the force of the blood gushing out, while pinning down the open wound one instant after his arm had fallen off, the hero writhes on the ground in front of Renya who was venting his frustration.The blood, which vigorously spurts out even as the hero restrains the wound with his remaining right, isnt something that can be held back.Spilling on the ground through the gaps between the fingers, the blood dyes the surroundings red in a very short time. My arm!? Wheres my arm!? (Yuuki) Even though I intended to cut him down with a upward slash my edge has deteriorated did I grow dull? (Renya) Uwaaaaaaaaah! My aaaaarm! (Yuuki) Oh well, whatever. I dont know what the archduchess will do, if I dont wrap it up swiftly and get back. (Renya) Renya groaned in dissatisfaction while tilting his head to the side in doubt, but seemingly remembering that he doesnt have overly much time, he walks towards the hero who is writhing and squirming on the ground.Did he sense Renyas presence approaching? The hero, who squirmed due to the pain of losing his arm, kicks the ground trying to somehow gain some distance while looking up to Renya with a pale face.Even while slipping on the ground that was muddy due to his own blood spewing out, the hero retreats little-by-little.Is he looking pale because of blood loss? Or is it because of the fear as he perceived that he will be eradicated?Renya doesnt know. Goddess-sama! Please save me! Goddess-samaaaa! (Yuuki) Letting go of his holy sword and staining his shining armor with dirt, the hero shouts towards the empty sky. Am I not a hero!? Am I not the most amazing human on this world!? What a fraud! (Yuuki)This story has been translated by Infinite Novel Translation.Of course theres no answer towards the heros screams.Renya only slightly hoped that the supervisor would respond to the heros call by chance, but he breathes out slightly guessing that its only natural for that not to happen.If the supervisor showed up here in front of the hero, Renya thought that he might try to fight them a bit if he releases the sword slash, which he used for the first time in this times battle, with all his power, but it seems that the supervisor is also aware that its dangerous to appear in any kind of shape in front of Renya and the others. Well, its not like I cant understand the heros feelings to a certain degree. (Renya) Renya can sympathize with the ecstatic feeling after having been sent into a game-like world while getting praised as a messiah for no obvious reason.Moreover, its natural for him to have various misunderstandings once he possesses powers he wouldnt even be able to imagine in his former world.Even Renya can conquer the human continent by force as long as he feels like it and its not like he cant lead a life focused on gathering beauties from all over the world and engross himself in depraved games.If hes asked why he didnt do so, its because he had the insight to understand that otherwise it would definitely cause a distortion somewhere that would likely trigger a calamity which would befall him in the end. It turned into a Game Over due to a wrong choice; I guess thats how you have to think of it. You like games, dont you? (Renya) I dont wanna! Im a hero! I will defeat the demon king, save this world and beautiful princesses will (Yuuki) Anymore of that is just too unsightly, Renya judges.Its a far too pathetic a line to be spoken by the hero in a place where a great number of soldiers are watching, even though they are forced into servitude.In that case, its probably merciful to shut him up quickly.Renya brandishes the katana in his hand aiming at the heros neck.The moment at which one cant tell whether that blade has reached or not reached the heros neck, the hero mumbled something. Teleporting again, huh!? (Renya) Theres no feedback from the swung katana and the heros body, who was lying on the ground, is nowhere to be seen either.Even if he succeeded at teleporting, that doesnt mean he can leap into a distance that allows him to escape the range of Renyas sight.Even though its a pointless action that only extends his life by a few seconds, as the hero, he was probably forced to use it.However, if some kind of miracle happens, it might save his life in those few seconds.Renya appears to understand that as well. At the same time as he loses sight of the hero, he swiftly lets his gaze wander across the vicinity.If I manage to discover the teleportation destination, I will be able to kill the hero before he leaps next time.Renya searches the surroundings while thinking that, but even after trying to let his gaze wander once around in a circle, he cant find the hero anywhere.Maybe this isnt his usual short-distance teleportation, but a long-distance teleportation he kept in reserve?That thought causes Renya to get flustered. W-What this!? Just what the hell is this!? (Yuuki) The heros scream.Once he turns around in the direction of the voice while readying his katana, he sees the armor scratching its head, or rather the top of its helmet with its steel glove while letting out an aura as if it was very troubled.There was the hero, whose lower half has been completely stuck in the jet-black something that peeked out of the opened torso armor. Eh? (Renya) Neither Renya nor the hero comprehended what had happened.However the reality was that the activation of the heros short-distance teleportation skill succeeded, but that there was a mistake in the teleportations destination coordinates.Neither Renya nor the hero understood the reason why it happened, namely that its a phenomenon caused by the that got attached to the hero in the midst of his exchange with the goddess whom he met before being summoned.Only the human supervisor, who knows of those conditions, was taken aback and greatly perplexed after ascertaining the full details from an unknown location. I It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurtsssssss!? (Yuuki) At the same time as unspeakable sounds of biting or crunching can be heard coming from the parts that have completely sunk into the black mass, the hero screams and writhes while trying to pull his body out from there by thrusting his hand into the armors abyss and struggling with his upper body half.But, no matter how much he pulls or wriggles, his lower body, which is tightly stuck, doesnt bulge.And not only that. Its little-by-little, but the exposed upper body half started to get swallowed as well.Countless arms appear from within the black mass and crawl onto the surface of the heros struggling body.In the end Renya wasnt able to completely understand what the shining armor was capable of. It was torn off and swallowed down foremost. Then, the remaining upper half of the heros body was seized all over by the extended arms . Gyaaaaaaaaaah!! (Yuuki) The countless arms holding onto the heros body gouge out his skin, cleave open his flesh and break his bones with their fingers.The more he struggles, the more his wounds widen, but the hero shows no indication of stopping his squirming. Let me go! Let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go, let me goooooo!! (Yuuki) Both eyes of the hero are covered by black hands as if being blindfolded.Black hands also rush into his screaming mouth. Several fingers latch onto his upper and lower jaw.Fingers are also stabbed into his throat. Red blood gushed out of the part where a hand ripped out the collarbone. Hya Hya, fuheehe (Yuuki) Somehow guessing what is going to happen in the next instant, Renya turns his face away.Two sounds are produced, one similar to a trees branch breaking and one similar to a wet dust cloth being torn apart both of which reach Renyas ears at the same time. Chapter 114 C It seems to be the Battle against the Hero A/N: Only a little warning of gory presentation? Hey, armor! (Renya) For some reason when Renya addressed the armor it got startled and shivers ran all over its body.It interrupts the job of cheerfully stuffing the soldiers corpses, who had been burned by Renyas all-direction-attack, into itself, and turns towards him. Renya thrusts his index finger at the armor and says, Handle the surrounding soldiers somehow! Dont let any one of them interrupt my one-to-one fight! (Renya) The commanded armor crisply salutes on the spot while pure white arms wriggle out of its still open torso part.What next appeared out of the the armors torso, as if it were the exit for something, is a doll with a tough-looking body that is dyed in pure white.Upon closer inspection, its bodys composition is made out of bone-like objects that had been pulverized into tiny bits. Its obvious that the bone fragments and iron scraps, which had been spit out earlier by the armor as means for attacking, had assembled themselves.Something similar to a black fog was thinly clinging all over the dolls body. Its height was slightly lower than that of the armor, but it has a solid body build. It was tightly gripping battledore-like weapons, which consisted of a simple, rectangle iron plate and a grip, in its hands.Upon closer inspection, its clear that those are items simply formed by smashing things such as plate armors and broken longswords flat.Crawling out of the torso, it drops onto the ground head first and then slowly stands up. Brandishing the weapons in its hands, it swoops down onto the enemy soldiers, who were fiercely trying to get close.However, the number ofthingsthat crawled out isnt limited to one either.The appearances of the dolls, who drag their bodies out by placing their hands on the edge of the armor one after the other, are extremely eerie.Moreover, just as those dolls get out, they immediately attack with crudely-made, boorish weapons in hand. For the enemy soldiers such beings are out of the world.The iron plate-like weapons they hold in their hands break weapons if they receive them and crush shields if they hit them. If they hit a body, the enemy soldier gets easily blown away.With the suddenly bursting out screams and jeers in his back, Renya slashes at the hero with his katana in one hand.As long as theres nothing obstructing him, something like a bit of a combat distance is equal to nothing for Renya.The hero swings his holy sword at Renya who charges straight at him with a single move.It still wasnt a distance where his sword would reach, but in an instant a flash occurs and a light attack surges towards Renya.That one blow was released with the intent to pierce Renya, but for Renya it was well within his expectations.He has already activated the compiled sorcery code without chanting, making a pillar of lightning pour down from the sky.Once that attack impacts right in the midst of the large army, the aftermath after scattering causes enormous damage.The light attack, which flies in a messed-up direction due to being broken apart, stabs countless soldiers and kills them. The scattered lightning burns the living and the dead all together.Brandishing the katana while the power of the aftermath is still lingering, Renya dashes forward. Herooooooo!!! (Renya) At the moment he saw Hero Yuuki in his shining armor trying to meet his attack by preparing his holy sword that was clad in a pale light, there was a sound as if the gears in Renyas head got disconnected in some way.Help the translator by reading this at infinitenoveltranslations.netDont mooooove from thereeee! (Renya) The face of Yuuki, who tried to stop the downwards-swung blow, cramped up.Muttering something in a hurry, Yuuki vanishes from sight.At almost the same time, Renyas swing, which vertically severed the space where the hero had been moments ago, vertically cuts apart all the soldiers who were in the attacks direct line of damage without producing a single sound.Sending a sword slash flying; such a concept doesnt exist in Renyas mind.But, by firmly cladding that blow, which was swung down loaded with all his fury, with mana, he managed to make that slash fly.The sharp slash, which was amply charged with Renyas bloodthirst, not to mention his already high magic power, had such strength that it was unclear just how far it would fly, but theres no doubt that at some point even the last line of the allied forces will be torn apart.If there was someone present there with a normal train of thought, they would likely open their mouth to the extent of dislocating their jaw. However, Renya turns around without even looking at the result from his attack.The heros short-distance teleportation is certainly an annoying ability, but its not like he can leap into a distance where he cant be seen anymore.In front of Renyas gaze, after having turned around, was Hero Yuuki who was on the verge of brandishing his holy sword with both hands.The slash, which is swung down with all of his bodys strength behind it by using the heros power at full throttle, possessed a destructive power output and speed that doesnt dishonor the heros title, but Renya, who lost all his mental bindings, laughs without even showing any intention of trying to stop it.That blow, which was swung towards the laughing Renyas head in order to smash it into pieces, is stopped a good distance away from Renyas body as if it had hit an invisible wall without having allowed the blade to reach Renyas head.Yuukis expression was dyed in shock. W-What the hell!? (Yuuki) The hero tries to overcome the resistance somehow by once again putting his strength into the static sword, but the blade shows almost no indication of advancing from its fixed spot in space. Dear me, hero-kun! Arent you a gentle one to stop it? (Renya) Squinting his eyes while exposing his head right under the naked sword, which was slightly trembling, Renya laughs.Due to Renyas complacent smile, Yuuki pulls his arms back while having a stiff expression. He once again unleashes a slash, but even that one is stopped before reaching Renyas body.If he was capable of seeing mana, he would likely doubt his own eyes due to the view unfolding before him.The mana in the environment, which should originally cause a phenomenon by first passing through a skill, a process also dubbed as sorcery, is inducing an effect similar to that of defensive barrier sorcery due to its thickness after reacting to Renyas intention of protecting himself.If it were a barrier created through sorcery, the holy swords slash would have very likely cut through the spells composition and reached Renyas body.However, what Renya is doing right now is the feat of actually stopping the holy sword with a layer of plain mana without relying on a sorcery code. As there is no sorcery composition that can be broken, the attacks wont reach Renya unless they can cut through the thick and rich mana itself.It goes without saying, but such an achievement wouldnt be the work of a human. While we are on the topic of kindness, it would be a big help if you could hurry up and die, hero-kun. I said I would get rid of you without going easy, so I dont have any time to spend on you, you know? (Renya) You monster!! (Yuuki) Giving up on attacking with the holy sword, the hero jumps back.However, faster than his body leaps back, Renya shortens the combat distance and slips his own body right in front of the hero. Its regrettable, but I dont want to play around either. (Renya) He whispers as he slashes his blade in an upward fashion, as if scooping something up.Yuuki tries to dodge it by frantically twisting his body.The churned-up blade makes a soundless, full swing. The combat distance between the two widens and at the instant Yuukis feet touch the ground, his left arm falls to the ground after easily being cut off from its root as if it was some kind of joke. Gii!! (Yuuki) So I failed to kill him. (Renya) Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!? (Yuuki) Collapsing as if he had lost to the force of the blood gushing out, while pinning down the open wound one instant after his arm had fallen off, the hero writhes on the ground in front of Renya who was venting his frustration.The blood, which vigorously spurts out even as the hero restrains the wound with his remaining right, isnt something that can be held back.Spilling on the ground through the gaps between the fingers, the blood dyes the surroundings red in a very short time. My arm!? Wheres my arm!? (Yuuki) Even though I intended to cut him down with a upward slash my edge has deteriorated did I grow dull? (Renya) Uwaaaaaaaaah! My aaaaarm! (Yuuki) Oh well, whatever. I dont know what the archduchess will do, if I dont wrap it up swiftly and get back. (Renya) Renya groaned in dissatisfaction while tilting his head to the side in doubt, but seemingly remembering that he doesnt have overly much time, he walks towards the hero who is writhing and squirming on the ground.Did he sense Renyas presence approaching? The hero, who squirmed due to the pain of losing his arm, kicks the ground trying to somehow gain some distance while looking up to Renya with a pale face.Even while slipping on the ground that was muddy due to his own blood spewing out, the hero retreats little-by-little.Is he looking pale because of blood loss? Or is it because of the fear as he perceived that he will be eradicated?Renya doesnt know. Goddess-sama! Please save me! Goddess-samaaaa! (Yuuki) Letting go of his holy sword and staining his shining armor with dirt, the hero shouts towards the empty sky. Am I not a hero!? Am I not the most amazing human on this world!? What a fraud! (Yuuki)This story has been translated by Infinite Novel Translation.Of course theres no answer towards the heros screams.Renya only slightly hoped that the supervisor would respond to the heros call by chance, but he breathes out slightly guessing that its only natural for that not to happen.If the supervisor showed up here in front of the hero, Renya thought that he might try to fight them a bit if he releases the sword slash, which he used for the first time in this times battle, with all his power, but it seems that the supervisor is also aware that its dangerous to appear in any kind of shape in front of Renya and the others. Well, its not like I cant understand the heros feelings to a certain degree. (Renya) Renya can sympathize with the ecstatic feeling after having been sent into a game-like world while getting praised as a messiah for no obvious reason.Moreover, its natural for him to have various misunderstandings once he possesses powers he wouldnt even be able to imagine in his former world.Even Renya can conquer the human continent by force as long as he feels like it and its not like he cant lead a life focused on gathering beauties from all over the world and engross himself in depraved games.If hes asked why he didnt do so, its because he had the insight to understand that otherwise it would definitely cause a distortion somewhere that would likely trigger a calamity which would befall him in the end. It turned into a Game Over due to a wrong choice; I guess thats how you have to think of it. You like games, dont you? (Renya) I dont wanna! Im a hero! I will defeat the demon king, save this world and beautiful princesses will (Yuuki) Anymore of that is just too unsightly, Renya judges.Its a far too pathetic a line to be spoken by the hero in a place where a great number of soldiers are watching, even though they are forced into servitude.In that case, its probably merciful to shut him up quickly.Renya brandishes the katana in his hand aiming at the heros neck.The moment at which one cant tell whether that blade has reached or not reached the heros neck, the hero mumbled something. Teleporting again, huh!? (Renya) Theres no feedback from the swung katana and the heros body, who was lying on the ground, is nowhere to be seen either.Even if he succeeded at teleporting, that doesnt mean he can leap into a distance that allows him to escape the range of Renyas sight.Even though its a pointless action that only extends his life by a few seconds, as the hero, he was probably forced to use it.However, if some kind of miracle happens, it might save his life in those few seconds.Renya appears to understand that as well. At the same time as he loses sight of the hero, he swiftly lets his gaze wander across the vicinity.If I manage to discover the teleportation destination, I will be able to kill the hero before he leaps next time.Renya searches the surroundings while thinking that, but even after trying to let his gaze wander once around in a circle, he cant find the hero anywhere.Maybe this isnt his usual short-distance teleportation, but a long-distance teleportation he kept in reserve?That thought causes Renya to get flustered. W-What this!? Just what the hell is this!? (Yuuki) The heros scream.Once he turns around in the direction of the voice while readying his katana, he sees the armor scratching its head, or rather the top of its helmet with its steel glove while letting out an aura as if it was very troubled.There was the hero, whose lower half has been completely stuck in the jet-black something that peeked out of the opened torso armor. Eh? (Renya) Neither Renya nor the hero comprehended what had happened.However the reality was that the activation of the heros short-distance teleportation skill succeeded, but that there was a mistake in the teleportations destination coordinates.Neither Renya nor the hero understood the reason why it happened, namely that its a phenomenon caused by the that got attached to the hero in the midst of his exchange with the goddess whom he met before being summoned.Only the human supervisor, who knows of those conditions, was taken aback and greatly perplexed after ascertaining the full details from an unknown location. I It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurtsssssss!? (Yuuki) At the same time as unspeakable sounds of biting or crunching can be heard coming from the parts that have completely sunk into the black mass, the hero screams and writhes while trying to pull his body out from there by thrusting his hand into the armors abyss and struggling with his upper body half.But, no matter how much he pulls or wriggles, his lower body, which is tightly stuck, doesnt bulge.And not only that. Its little-by-little, but the exposed upper body half started to get swallowed as well.Countless arms appear from within the black mass and crawl onto the surface of the heros struggling body.In the end Renya wasnt able to completely understand what the shining armor was capable of. It was torn off and swallowed down foremost. Then, the remaining upper half of the heros body was seized all over by the extended arms . Gyaaaaaaaaaah!! (Yuuki) The countless arms holding onto the heros body gouge out his skin, cleave open his flesh and break his bones with their fingers.The more he struggles, the more his wounds widen, but the hero shows no indication of stopping his squirming. Let me go! Let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go, let me goooooo!! (Yuuki) Both eyes of the hero are covered by black hands as if being blindfolded.Black hands also rush into his screaming mouth. Several fingers latch onto his upper and lower jaw.Fingers are also stabbed into his throat. Red blood gushed out of the part where a hand ripped out the collarbone. Hya Hya, fuheehe (Yuuki) Somehow guessing what is going to happen in the next instant, Renya turns his face away.Two sounds are produced, one similar to a trees branch breaking and one similar to a wet dust cloth being torn apart both of which reach Renyas ears at the same time. Chapter 115 Chapter 115 C It seems to be a Story from some Unknown Place In some unknown and barren place.A woman with emerald hair, wearing a simple, white clothing had her body fixed into the odd position known as doing the bridge, all while at her wits end.After keeping up that posture for a while, she suddenly lowers her back to the ground, and makes a head stand after assuming the windmill position. After demonstrating a series of moves with an increasing oddity, namely an arrow stand after a headspin, she finally stands up with a Alley oop.Her appearance is quite scandalous, but whats shes wearing is a large piece of cloth with a hole in the middle for the head, therefore she exposed various things that shouldnt be exposed in the midst of her previous series of acrobatic moves. After that spectacle, even her serious expression has come to nothing. For me, of all people to make such a big blunder. In no way did the human supervisor expect the curse, she had ended up accidentally attaching to the hero when he was summoned, to bring about such a disaster at this point in time.However, I guess it was mostly a done deal that the heros side would be completely defeated by Renya, even without that curse, the supervisor judges.The supervisor whined for a while that she ended up drawing a really bad lot when summoning the hero, personality and ability wise, but soon she breathes out once as if getting over it and lifts her face. It will probably be alright if I learn from this failure for the next time. Its not like I have lost either. The supervisor tightly grasps her fists and tries to consider her next move after renewing her determination.Suddenly there was a voice that interrupted her thinking. You really believe that there will be a next time? Due to the sudden words, the supervisor faces the voices direction with a startled expression.The space where shes currently at belongs to her alone. There shouldnt be any existence except for herself that can enter this space without permission.However, the voice is no mishearing. It has clearly reached the supervisors ears.What was in front of the supervisors gaze, who thinksThat shouldnt happen, is a single, armed, girl.With her black hair shaped in pigtails, she reveals a smile that looks more like a smirk on her face.Shes wearing ominously designed gloves that reach up to her elbows on both of her arms.A jet black tube top and spats peek out through the gaps of her breastplate and waist guard which both have a lot of of exposure, making one doubt whether either of them can accomplish their functions as armor. Who are you!? A very calm voice answered the questioning supervisor. Im the one who will judge you. I came here upon masters order. Im called Archangel Giliel. (Giliel) Erasing her smile, Giliel performs a bow in a courteous manner, but while her voice has a calm tone, its deeply filled with contempt.The gaze she turns towards the supervisor is terribly cold. It was not a look one would use on someone whos the same kind of being as oneself. You guys got too carried away. Master has been very disappointed. You didnt try to understand the fact that master is racking her brain on how to keep this world alive to the degree of even bowing her head to a human child. (Giliel) Giliel weaves her words dispassionately. Is this about the resource shortage master talked about? How ridiculous. I have never heard about something like that happening in any of the other worlds until now! Yes, I suppose so. (Giliel) Giliel frankly acknowledged the supervisors words who raised her voice. In other words, it means that the phenomenon in this world is the first case among the countless worlds managed by master. (Giliel) Thats absurd! Its something I couldnt believe either. (Giliel) Holding her head with the boorish gloves, she exhaled a deep sigh. Giliel begins to explain while looking at the supervisor, who had stopped moving seemingly out of shock, as if watching something pitiful. Its not like the shortage of resources doesnt occur in other worlds. However, normally the supervisors of the worlds, where it happens, follow masters advice or have their resources replenished by requesting masters help. In other words, they accept masters intervention. But you guys not only declined masters intervention obstinately, but also went against master to the extent of using the world itself as shield. What a foolish thing to do. (Giliel) Something like that It was a fact that the supervisors disregarded their masters intervention, using the fact that the world itself might get destroyed if their master intervenes without their permission, as a pretext.Although the supervisor wanted to complain But I never intended to go as far as to defy master, Giliel interrupts the supervisors reply in the middle. Well, to me it doesnt matter at all since its already a finished affair. (Giliel) She lightly knocked both fists together in front of her chest, causing a high-pitched, metallic sound. Giliel suddenly showed a cheerful expression as if she had renewed her good mood.Giliel thrust her finger straight at the supervisor, who falters due to the speed of Giliels mood swing, and declares, For that reason I will punish you as a criminal. Please resolve yourself since you wont even be given the right to call a lawyer, refuse, stay silent, make an initial or a final appeal to the court in regards to this case! (Giliel) The supervisors emotions welled up in anger due to the condescending attitude in Giliels statement.Although theres a difference to the degree of comparing heaven and earth in the strength between a supervisor, who has been entrusted with a world, and an angel, even if they are subordinates of the same master, Giliels way of talking is as if shes in a far higher position than a supervisor.That was something the supervisor couldnt stomach at all. Hah! The likes of an angel shouldnt blurt out such big words! Once the supervisor swings her arm, the simple clothing she wore until then transforms in an instant into a dress-like armor that covers her entire body.While its material is completely unknown, it was uniformly dyed in green. It released an intense radiance with the armors sturdiness probably apparent to anyone that looked at it. To me, who was entrusted with the management of the world by master and was given powers befitting such a task! The judgement by the likes of an angel, you say!? Know your place! The one who should know her place is you. (Giliel) What can a bitch like you do in my world!? The supervisors right arm was swung horizontally as if mowing something down.As if in concert with her action, the floor swells up grandly, a part of it tears apart, as if it were a pair of jaws, and a closely packed row of fangs assails Giliel.Without any indication of trying to avoid the nearing jaws, Giliel confronts the jaws, which look as if they could bite off something like Giliels slender waist with a single bite, directly by lowering her hips slightly. Ready, set, go! (Giliel) An explosion resounds near the part that might be seen as the chin of the monster created by the supervisor.What Giliel threw at it was a powerful uppercut that had a twist of her waist added to it. However, the supervisors eyes couldnt follow anything but the beginning of the motion and the end of the punch.She couldnt see the motions between those two points because of the excessive speed.The fist, which was swung with that much speed, doesnt even allow the the monster to throw its head backwards, but instead it scatters the monsters entire body in all directions with just that one blow. No way You are the idiot* here, right? Theres no way for me, who was sent here by master, to have abilities that are inferior to yours, is there? (Giliel)(T/N: The previous line uses baka, too, but in a different way) T-To begin with, how is it possible for master to interfere!? Its not like it actually became possible for master to interfere though. (Giliel) Next the supervisor releases countless light arrows with the intention of restraining Giliel, who was about to shorten the fighting distance.Giliel intercepted and extinguished them, which were pouring down just like a heavy rain, with a continuous series of jabs at such a speed that the parts of her arms past the elbow become blurry. By supporting the hero, you shifted the power distribution in the world to one side, didnt you? (Giliel) The divine arts weakening for the priests on Trident Principalitys side was owed to the human supervisor abating the power she distributes to them.This was a cause for concern in this times battle, but it wasnt as if they became totally unable to use divine arts and thanks to the medicine Emil continued to produce frantically, it somehow ended without the lack of support developing into a fatal problem. What the hell do you want to tell me with that? Well, you know, if you had saturated the human domain with your power, even master wouldnt have been able to interfere. But, because you conveniently created a blank area, you gave master a tiny bit of room allowing her to intervene. (Giliel) Even while talking, Giliel connects a left and right attack combination while ducking.The supervisor barely evades those, but the parts of her armor that were grazed by Giliels fists split apart easily giving out to Giliels power.Giliel continued speaking without unreasonably pursuing the supervisor who took some distance while the broken armor parts regenerate in an instant. In other words, it was you who created an opportunity for master to interfere. (Giliel) Such a The measures I took to bring the game pieces under my control, not only didnt improve the situation at all, but also strangled my own neck, being forced to realize that, the supervisor turns pale.As if pleased by the supervisors reaction, Giliels smile became more profound. Well, you saved me trouble. Considering the effects that would happen on the world if I were to come here under normal circumstances, even I would be forced to lower my power output quite a bit before entering this space. But with the current situation, Im allowed to wield my strength at full throttle. (Giliel) Bah, that still doesnt mean that I have lost! A deeply crimson flame swirls around the supervisors fingertip and flies out.Once Giliel unleashes a full-powered straight against the center of the approaching flame vortex, the shockwave generated from her fist scatters the flame vortex and converts it into a plethora of smaller flames.Giliel dashes through those scattered flames. As long as I defeat you and restore the power distribution, things will come to an end! A great number of thin, sharp needles protrude out of the ground all of a sudden in order to block Giliels path.Evading the tips of those needles by twisting and smashing them with her fists, Giliel shortened her distance to the supervisor. You think I can be defeated by you? (Giliel) Kuuh!? Such words definitely shouldnt come out of your mouth, if you were able to grasp your current situation. (Giliel) The right body blow, which was thrown after having stepped in, clashes into the supervisors solar plexus.Even if they have adopted a human form, neither of them is actually human.For that reason a blow towards the solar plexus doesnt have the same effect of stopping the targets breathing, as it would if the one receiving the attack were a human.However, the damage caused by that blow shook the core of the supervisors existence.Without even waiting for the armor, which protected that part, to fall apart, Giliel steps in even further and drills her left fist into the supervisors right abdomen.If the opponent were a human, their breath would have certainly been halted. The supervisors movements stopped due to the two-hit combo. I told you at the beginning, didnt I? That Im the one who will judge you. Isnt it only logical that I would possess a reasonable amount of strength after claiming to do just that? (Giliel) Ah ah, gah There was no reply to Giliels remark.Thats because the two impacts that penetrated her body almost robbed the supervisor of her consciousness.In front of the supervisor, who was blankly staring at her, Giliel knocks her fists together.The clashing fists give off sparks mixed with yet another high-pitched, metallic sound. Well then Cry and beg, if you wish to be forgiven. (Giliel) Giliel slowly adopts a forward-bent posture with her fists still knocked together.She begins to weave left and right in that state while gradually increasing the speed of said motion.The supervisor thinks that she has got to get away, but due to the previous two blows, the supervisors consciousness and body ended up separated from each other. Resolve yourself to an unceasing downpour of fist strikes until you cry and beg for forgiveness. (Giliel) H Hel The first blow is driven into the supervisors left cheek alongside a thunderous roar as if to stop whatever she was trying to say.While the thunderous boom still hadnt stopped, another blow hit her right cheek without giving the supervisor any time to rest.Yet another blow to her left cheek, not even allowing the supervisor to collapse.The fists, which arent aimed anymore at this point since every blow hits anyway, assail the supervisors entire body.Each and every hit is driven into her with a strength and speed as if making use of an angels entire physical ability, who possesses abilities far beyond those of a human. The way the supervisor was swaying her head left and right while her body keeps standing upright, unable to even defend herself, was just like the motion of a Rock n Flower with a completely broken power output, if observed from the side.(T/N: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDtBQjmbdHM) Oh, master? I finished the job, perfectly. (Giliel) Giliel replied to her masters telepathic communication with a fresh smile, as if she had completely let out all the piled-up stress.In the end she never heard the words I beg for forgiveness from the human races supervisor after she had started her attack.Although Giliel told her that she wouldnt stop until she said those words, she did stop hitting her since she got tired of whacking her, as one might expect.With her heavy armor thrown off, she had a slovenly appearance that she couldnt really show others as shes only wearing her spats and tube top right now.The object at her feet, which was in a state that made it impossible to identify what happened to it due to the excessive beating, had been abandoned withoutitbeing able to even twitch.Giliel neatly wraps that into a bamboo mat, forcing it into a condition where it couldnt do anything at all even if it recovered to some extent. As you wish, master. (Giliel) Im not overly thrilled, but understood, master. (Giliel) Now that she had invaded the human supervisors domain and disabled the supervisor herself, it was childs play for Giliel to deprive the supervisor of the authorities she owned.Moreover, by temporarily granting those authorities to herself, Giliel could take over as the human supervisor.After completing that process, Giliel immediately returned the power distribution in the human domain to its normal state. With this we have taken back 20% of this worlds management authority, havent we? (Giliel) By myself? Please send some helpers over, maaaster. (Giliel) Master likely fears that the number of angels performing her work will decrease the more angels she sends over to my place, Giliel judges.Even so, if she doesnt send a set number of angels, Giliel herself wont be able to meddle with the other supervisors on top of her regular duties as the human supervisor.Id like you to at least spare me from that, Giliel wished. But, going to the other supervisors domains from now on Im sure the future looks dim. (Giliel) The other supervisors will probably notice right away that the human supervisor had been replaced, Giliel predicts.I think they will immediately take up countermeasures once they realize it.She believed that it would probably be impossible to invade the opponents domains from the front unless the supervisors made some kind of huge blunder like the human supervisor whos currently lying at her feet. Anyway, I guess I will go for it since its an order. (Giliel) Id like to be pardoned from the work of a supervisor by all means, Giliel thinks,but it might make it a bit easier for master and Renya if I take the job.In the bitter end this was nothing more than an assumption, but to ignore it, even if the possibility wasnt zero, would be slightly regrettable.Therefore, Giliel took up the task of eliminating the human supervisor, even while considering it as bothersome. Well then, I suppose I will do my best. (Giliel) While trampling on the human supervisor lying at her feet, Giliel thoughtI will start to steadily work on the things I can do by myself until the angel assistants arrive, after getting all worked up by herself. Chapter 115 C It seems to be a Story from some Unknown Place In some unknown and barren place.A woman with emerald hair, wearing a simple, white clothing had her body fixed into the odd position known as doing the bridge, all while at her wits end.After keeping up that posture for a while, she suddenly lowers her back to the ground, and makes a head stand after assuming the windmill position. After demonstrating a series of moves with an increasing oddity, namely an arrow stand after a headspin, she finally stands up with a Alley oop.Her appearance is quite scandalous, but whats shes wearing is a large piece of cloth with a hole in the middle for the head, therefore she exposed various things that shouldnt be exposed in the midst of her previous series of acrobatic moves. After that spectacle, even her serious expression has come to nothing. For me, of all people to make such a big blunder. In no way did the human supervisor expect the curse, she had ended up accidentally attaching to the hero when he was summoned, to bring about such a disaster at this point in time.However, I guess it was mostly a done deal that the heros side would be completely defeated by Renya, even without that curse, the supervisor judges.The supervisor whined for a while that she ended up drawing a really bad lot when summoning the hero, personality and ability wise, but soon she breathes out once as if getting over it and lifts her face. It will probably be alright if I learn from this failure for the next time. Its not like I have lost either. The supervisor tightly grasps her fists and tries to consider her next move after renewing her determination.Suddenly there was a voice that interrupted her thinking. You really believe that there will be a next time? Due to the sudden words, the supervisor faces the voices direction with a startled expression.The space where shes currently at belongs to her alone. There shouldnt be any existence except for herself that can enter this space without permission.However, the voice is no mishearing. It has clearly reached the supervisors ears.What was in front of the supervisors gaze, who thinksThat shouldnt happen, is a single, armed, girl.With her black hair shaped in pigtails, she reveals a smile that looks more like a smirk on her face.Shes wearing ominously designed gloves that reach up to her elbows on both of her arms.A jet black tube top and spats peek out through the gaps of her breastplate and waist guard which both have a lot of of exposure, making one doubt whether either of them can accomplish their functions as armor. Who are you!? A very calm voice answered the questioning supervisor. Im the one who will judge you. I came here upon masters order. Im called Archangel Giliel. (Giliel) Erasing her smile, Giliel performs a bow in a courteous manner, but while her voice has a calm tone, its deeply filled with contempt.The gaze she turns towards the supervisor is terribly cold. It was not a look one would use on someone whos the same kind of being as oneself. You guys got too carried away. Master has been very disappointed. You didnt try to understand the fact that master is racking her brain on how to keep this world alive to the degree of even bowing her head to a human child. (Giliel) Giliel weaves her words dispassionately. Is this about the resource shortage master talked about? How ridiculous. I have never heard about something like that happening in any of the other worlds until now! Yes, I suppose so. (Giliel) Giliel frankly acknowledged the supervisors words who raised her voice. In other words, it means that the phenomenon in this world is the first case among the countless worlds managed by master. (Giliel) Thats absurd! Its something I couldnt believe either. (Giliel) Holding her head with the boorish gloves, she exhaled a deep sigh. Giliel begins to explain while looking at the supervisor, who had stopped moving seemingly out of shock, as if watching something pitiful. Its not like the shortage of resources doesnt occur in other worlds. However, normally the supervisors of the worlds, where it happens, follow masters advice or have their resources replenished by requesting masters help. In other words, they accept masters intervention. But you guys not only declined masters intervention obstinately, but also went against master to the extent of using the world itself as shield. What a foolish thing to do. (Giliel) Something like that It was a fact that the supervisors disregarded their masters intervention, using the fact that the world itself might get destroyed if their master intervenes without their permission, as a pretext.Although the supervisor wanted to complain But I never intended to go as far as to defy master, Giliel interrupts the supervisors reply in the middle. Well, to me it doesnt matter at all since its already a finished affair. (Giliel) She lightly knocked both fists together in front of her chest, causing a high-pitched, metallic sound. Giliel suddenly showed a cheerful expression as if she had renewed her good mood.Giliel thrust her finger straight at the supervisor, who falters due to the speed of Giliels mood swing, and declares, For that reason I will punish you as a criminal. Please resolve yourself since you wont even be given the right to call a lawyer, refuse, stay silent, make an initial or a final appeal to the court in regards to this case! (Giliel) The supervisors emotions welled up in anger due to the condescending attitude in Giliels statement.Although theres a difference to the degree of comparing heaven and earth in the strength between a supervisor, who has been entrusted with a world, and an angel, even if they are subordinates of the same master, Giliels way of talking is as if shes in a far higher position than a supervisor.That was something the supervisor couldnt stomach at all. Hah! The likes of an angel shouldnt blurt out such big words! Once the supervisor swings her arm, the simple clothing she wore until then transforms in an instant into a dress-like armor that covers her entire body.While its material is completely unknown, it was uniformly dyed in green. It released an intense radiance with the armors sturdiness probably apparent to anyone that looked at it. To me, who was entrusted with the management of the world by master and was given powers befitting such a task! The judgement by the likes of an angel, you say!? Know your place! The one who should know her place is you. (Giliel) What can a bitch like you do in my world!? The supervisors right arm was swung horizontally as if mowing something down.As if in concert with her action, the floor swells up grandly, a part of it tears apart, as if it were a pair of jaws, and a closely packed row of fangs assails Giliel.Without any indication of trying to avoid the nearing jaws, Giliel confronts the jaws, which look as if they could bite off something like Giliels slender waist with a single bite, directly by lowering her hips slightly. Ready, set, go! (Giliel) An explosion resounds near the part that might be seen as the chin of the monster created by the supervisor.What Giliel threw at it was a powerful uppercut that had a twist of her waist added to it.However, the supervisors eyes couldnt follow anything but the beginning of the motion and the end of the punch.She couldnt see the motions between those two points because of the excessive speed.The fist, which was swung with that much speed, doesnt even allow the the monster to throw its head backwards, but instead it scatters the monsters entire body in all directions with just that one blow. No way You are the idiot* here, right? Theres no way for me, who was sent here by master, to have abilities that are inferior to yours, is there? (Giliel)(T/N: The previous line uses baka, too, but in a different way) T-To begin with, how is it possible for master to interfere!? Its not like it actually became possible for master to interfere though. (Giliel) Next the supervisor releases countless light arrows with the intention of restraining Giliel, who was about to shorten the fighting distance.Giliel intercepted and extinguished them, which were pouring down just like a heavy rain, with a continuous series of jabs at such a speed that the parts of her arms past the elbow become blurry. By supporting the hero, you shifted the power distribution in the world to one side, didnt you? (Giliel) The divine arts weakening for the priests on Trident Principalitys side was owed to the human supervisor abating the power she distributes to them.This was a cause for concern in this times battle, but it wasnt as if they became totally unable to use divine arts and thanks to the medicine Emil continued to produce frantically, it somehow ended without the lack of support developing into a fatal problem. What the hell do you want to tell me with that? Well, you know, if you had saturated the human domain with your power, even master wouldnt have been able to interfere. But, because you conveniently created a blank area, you gave master a tiny bit of room allowing her to intervene. (Giliel) Even while talking, Giliel connects a left and right attack combination while ducking.The supervisor barely evades those, but the parts of her armor that were grazed by Giliels fists split apart easily giving out to Giliels power.Giliel continued speaking without unreasonably pursuing the supervisor who took some distance while the broken armor parts regenerate in an instant. In other words, it was you who created an opportunity for master to interfere. (Giliel) Such a The measures I took to bring the game pieces under my control, not only didnt improve the situation at all, but also strangled my own neck, being forced to realize that, the supervisor turns pale.As if pleased by the supervisors reaction, Giliels smile became more profound. Well, you saved me trouble. Considering the effects that would happen on the world if I were to come here under normal circumstances, even I would be forced to lower my power output quite a bit before entering this space. But with the current situation, Im allowed to wield my strength at full throttle. (Giliel) Bah, that still doesnt mean that I have lost! A deeply crimson flame swirls around the supervisors fingertip and flies out.Once Giliel unleashes a full-powered straight against the center of the approaching flame vortex, the shockwave generated from her fist scatters the flame vortex and converts it into a plethora of smaller flames.Giliel dashes through those scattered flames. As long as I defeat you and restore the power distribution, things will come to an end! A great number of thin, sharp needles protrude out of the ground all of a sudden in order to block Giliels path.Evading the tips of those needles by twisting and smashing them with her fists, Giliel shortened her distance to the supervisor. You think I can be defeated by you? (Giliel) Kuuh!? Such words definitely shouldnt come out of your mouth, if you were able to grasp your current situation. (Giliel) The right body blow, which was thrown after having stepped in, clashes into the supervisors solar plexus.Even if they have adopted a human form, neither of them is actually human.For that reason a blow towards the solar plexus doesnt have the same effect of stopping the targets breathing, as it would if the one receiving the attack were a human.However, the damage caused by that blow shook the core of the supervisors existence.Without even waiting for the armor, which protected that part, to fall apart, Giliel steps in even further and drills her left fist into the supervisors right abdomen.If the opponent were a human, their breath would have certainly been halted. The supervisors movements stopped due to the two-hit combo. I told you at the beginning, didnt I? That Im the one who will judge you. Isnt it only logical that I would possess a reasonable amount of strength after claiming to do just that? (Giliel) Ah ah, gah There was no reply to Giliels remark.Thats because the two impacts that penetrated her body almost robbed the supervisor of her consciousness.In front of the supervisor, who was blankly staring at her, Giliel knocks her fists together.The clashing fists give off sparks mixed with yet another high-pitched, metallic sound. Well then Cry and beg, if you wish to be forgiven. (Giliel) Giliel slowly adopts a forward-bent posture with her fists still knocked together.She begins to weave left and right in that state while gradually increasing the speed of said motion.The supervisor thinks that she has got to get away, but due to the previous two blows, the supervisors consciousness and body ended up separated from each other. Resolve yourself to an unceasing downpour of fist strikes until you cry and beg for forgiveness. (Giliel) H Hel The first blow is driven into the supervisors left cheek alongside a thunderous roar as if to stop whatever she was trying to say.While the thunderous boom still hadnt stopped, another blow hit her right cheek without giving the supervisor any time to rest.Yet another blow to her left cheek, not even allowing the supervisor to collapse.The fists, which arent aimed anymore at this point since every blow hits anyway, assail the supervisors entire body.Each and every hit is driven into her with a strength and speed as if making use of an angels entire physical ability, who possesses abilities far beyond those of a human. The way the supervisor was swaying her head left and right while her body keeps standing upright, unable to even defend herself, was just like the motion of a Rock n Flower with a completely broken power output, if observed from the side.(T/N: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDtBQjmbdHM) Oh, master? I finished the job, perfectly. (Giliel) Giliel replied to her masters telepathic communication with a fresh smile, as if she had completely let out all the piled-up stress.In the end she never heard the words I beg for forgiveness from the human races supervisor after she had started her attack.Although Giliel told her that she wouldnt stop until she said those words, she did stop hitting her since she got tired of whacking her, as one might expect.With her heavy armor thrown off, she had a slovenly appearance that she couldnt really show others as shes only wearing her spats and tube top right now.The object at her feet, which was in a state that made it impossible to identify what happened to it due to the excessive beating, had been abandoned withoutitbeing able to even twitch.Giliel neatly wraps that into a bamboo mat, forcing it into a condition where it couldnt do anything at all even if it recovered to some extent. As you wish, master. (Giliel) Im not overly thrilled, but understood, master. (Giliel) Now that she had invaded the human supervisors domain and disabled the supervisor herself, it was childs play for Giliel to deprive the supervisor of the authorities she owned.Moreover, by temporarily granting those authorities to herself, Giliel could take over as the human supervisor.After completing that process, Giliel immediately returned the power distribution in the human domain to its normal state. With this we have taken back 20% of this worlds management authority, havent we? (Giliel) By myself? Please send some helpers over, maaaster. (Giliel) Master likely fears that the number of angels performing her work will decrease the more angels she sends over to my place, Giliel judges.Even so, if she doesnt send a set number of angels, Giliel herself wont be able to meddle with the other supervisors on top of her regular duties as the human supervisor.Id like you to at least spare me from that, Giliel wished. But, going to the other supervisors domains from now on Im sure the future looks dim. (Giliel) The other supervisors will probably notice right away that the human supervisor had been replaced, Giliel predicts.I think they will immediately take up countermeasures once they realize it.She believed that it would probably be impossible to invade the opponents domains from the front unless the supervisors made some kind of huge blunder like the human supervisor whos currently lying at her feet. Anyway, I guess I will go for it since its an order. (Giliel) Id like to be pardoned from the work of a supervisor by all means, Giliel thinks,but it might make it a bit easier for master and Renya if I take the job.In the bitter end this was nothing more than an assumption, but to ignore it, even if the possibility wasnt zero, would be slightly regrettable.Therefore, Giliel took up the task of eliminating the human supervisor, even while considering it as bothersome. Well then, I suppose I will do my best. (Giliel) While trampling on the human supervisor lying at her feet, Giliel thoughtI will start to steadily work on the things I can do by myself until the angel assistants arrive, after getting all worked up by herself. Chapter 116 Chapter 116 C It seems to be the Postwar Handling 1 If theres only one problem, one can give it their undivided attention, but as soon as there are several problems, it becomes obscure as to what the problem is to begin with, and you end up going left and right not knowing where to start. As soon as that happens, one gives up on all their problems while thinking that they dont give a damn anymore.In other words, unless you crush each and every problem immediately after they appear, they will keep on accumulating, and once they have accumulated beyond a certain point, they will only vanish when one resigns themselves to them. Ahahaha~ Renya-sa~n. Dont you want to take my place as the Archduke? (Lydia) Her Majesty the Archduchess laughs while being halfway buried under a mountain of documents.Renya, who was summoned to her room, sends a very frosty glare at the archduchess who started to speak about something outrageous while smiling.Noticing his gaze, the archduchess body trembles and her cheeks blush for some reason. Then with both of her arms she hugs her own body. Dont give me the chills~, Renya-san, those eyes~, they make me want to be dominated~. (Lydia) If you have the time and energy to spout stupid shit, how about redirecting those resources into decreasing that mountain of documents a bit. (Renya) The location is the archduchess office.Three desks with mountains of documents piling up have been set up in the room. The archduchess, Mayria and Shion each sit at one of the desks.The one freely handling a stamp and quill while clinging to the desk frantically, as if not noticing the conversation between Renya and the archduchess, is Mayria. Shion doesnt even twitch anymore, her eyes were completely white and wide open, while leaning her back into the chairs backrest, though it was unknown when she entered such a state. Isnt the act of trying to have Shion, who is mainly suited for physical labor, help out with the filing of documents far too unreasonable in the first place?Renya wonders, but he leaves it alone without commenting on it as its probably the archduchess idea. To begin with, just what the hell happened for so many documents to have accumulated? (Renya) Its the postwar handling~. I mean, its because we have to deal with the countrys entire defensive force. The principalitys army was dispatched at almost full force~. We had also requested the cooperation of the adventurer guilds in every city~. Its at such a degree that even I dont understand how many organizations were mobilized if I also include those similar to vigilante corps~. (Lydia) Get a hold on the situation! You are the highest authority. (Renya) Uu~ (Lydia) The archduchess is on the verge of tears, but even if she were to cry, theres nothing Renya could do.Even though its not to the same extent as Shion, Renya also belongs to the physical labor faction, if forced to choose a side.Rather than being stuck to a desk and having a staring game with documents, running around with a weapon in his hands suits him more. So, whats the business you called me here for? (Renya) Wait, wait.~ Dont hurry so much. First take a seat~. (Lydia) Apparently believing that it would be pitiful for him to have a conversation while being made to stand, she had prepared a single chair in the middle of the room.After waiting for Renya to sit down on said chair, which she had encouraged him to do, the archduchess moves the documents on the table to the side and faces Renya. Arent there usually minister-like people who deal with such miscellaneous matters? (Renya) Several days have passed since the war against the Holy Kingdom came to an end due to the heros demise.Even Renya understands that they have probably just started with the postwar procedures, but with the archduchess appearing to be close to death already, he ends up worried about whether they will be able to finish this matter safely. There are, but~ their side has to handle even more, so~ the daily handing-in of letters of resignation from them doesnt stop, the archduchess says with a sigh mixed in. Shes rejecting all of them, but even so it seems it doesnt deter the nobles from approaching her with the wish of resigning one way or another. Even more than the work pressure, there seem to be some nobles among them, who meddled with you in various ways in the past, and from this timeseventthey belatedly noticed that you are someone they cant manage by themselves and shouldnt take on by all means. Their train of thought seems to be that they want to wait for things to cool down by staying in their own territory, even if they have to quit their official posts, Lydia says. It will be a nuisance if they are that scared of me though, you know? Renya scratches his cheek. Certainly that kind of harassment is an act that dampens the mood, but Renya cant get accustomed to idea of systematically eradicating them, just like this times hero, merely because of such actions.Of course, he doesnt possess a character that would hesitate on getting rid of them if there was even the slightest chance of harm befalling his friends, but if its a low degree of harassment and if they go at it moderately, its not like he wont tolerate it to some extent. Speaking of the hero~, I wonder, what happened to that armor~? To begin with, just what is that thing? (Lydia) Renya shortly and bluntly answered the archduchess, who asked while tilting her head to the side, Thats what I want to ask. (Renya) Even Renya didnt understand the armors true identity at all.After the battle against the hero, Renya had to frantically stop the armor, that had started to systematically and furthermore greedily devour the allied forces, which had lost the one leading them.Though he didnt do so for humane reasons, but simply because he didnt approve of harming those who had already lost the will to resist any further.However, even when he tried to pull it back by binding its arms behind its back, there was no way for Renya to stop all the hands growing out of the armors torso, even after somehow having immobilized the armor, not to mention the difficulty brought about simply due to the armors weight.In the end Renya somehow stopped its gluttony after threatening it by thrusting the tip of his katana inside the armor and making it choose whether it wanted to be chopped up on the spot or to make do with the dead soldiers around the perimeter of the outer wall, which was manned by the garrison. Renya wondered whether it didnt hear his orders properly, but according to the armors gestures afterwards, the armor itself had apparently fallen into an unrestrained rampaging state after preying upon the hero. It apparently managed to somehow recover due to Renyas truly-angry mode and the coldness of the katanas blade thrust into it.I wonder, was the thing it ate too wicked?Renya ends up pondering, but the thing it devoured had also created a fateful problem.The subordination affecting the alliances soldiers wasnt undone.For Renya, who thought that the problem would be somewhat solved as long as he crushed thehead, it was an unforeseen incident.In front of Renya, who thought that the restrictions would normally vanish alongside the disappearance of the one who subordinated them, one armor quietly averted its eyes.After Renya captured the armor that was about to run away and asked for an explanation of the circumstances, he found out that the armor had apparently assimilated the heros abilities after having eaten him. Its unprecedented, isnt it~? (Lydia) Currently that armor is standing with an imposing stance on the outer wall while holding the holy sword, which was the heros possession, with both its hands like a cane after it had picked it up from the battlefield.Since it possesses a body that doesnt require any sleep, food or rest, it stood stock still the whole time unless it was called by Renya.Its entire body is wrapped up in a pale glow. Its unmoving appearance has earned it the depressing evaluation of being somewhat disgusting among the citizens of Trident Principalitys capital city. That thing, if you try to somehow classify it, I think you would call it an Undead Knight, right~? (Lydia) I guess so. (Renya) The outcome of the appraisal ability used by Renya, who thoughtits probably necessary to precisely appraise it at least once, resulted in it being identified as an Undead Knight just as the archduchess stated.However, a ? was shrewdly attached next to its title. Its an undead, right? (Lydia) So it is. (Renya) The human races hero is an undead how ridiculous~. (Lydia) The armor that took over the heros abilities had seemingly also completely adopted the title ofhero. Even the result of the appraisal clearly stated Occupation: Hero.(T/N: Lol)Renya strongly cocked his head to the side confused on whether its okay for its body to be clad in holy power despite it being an undead, but so far the armor hasnt fallen into a state of destroying itself due to its own power. Even if its an undead, it was probably a human in the beginning, so its not that far off, now is it? (Renya) Umm~, well~, I wonder about that~? (Lydia) The archduchess expression makes it apparent that she isnt fully satisfied with the explanation, but since the phenomenon actually exists in front of her eyes, its meaningless for her to deny it.Given that its properly handling the holy sword, which cant be used by anyone but a hero, the fact that that armor was endowed with the heros power wont change, no matter what anyone might say. Isnt it fine if you consider thatitbecame a very sturdy hero that wont degrade? (Renya) Well~, I guess its better than the previous one~. (Lydia) In the first place, there are even some aspects that became somewhat easier thanks to that armor. (Renya) The part that eased up the most was the cleaning of the battlefield.Since war is a place where lives are taken, it will naturally cause a great number of deaths.If people die, they leave a corpse behind. Normally it requires cleaning afterwards, a job hated by anyone no matter whom you ask, such a task consisted mostly of recovering the corpses quickly and burying them.However, that was unnecessary this time.Thats because all of them ended up getting completely eaten by the armor.In regards to this, only Renya, despite it being the enemy nations soldiers, wondered whether such behavior was acceptable, as all of them probably left behind a family, but the reactions by those around him were quite indifferent.In the first place, these corpses might become the cause of diseases spreading if not quickly dealt with.And, the act of making an appeal to the defending side to return the soldiers bodies to the attacking side apparently doesnt exist in this world. All the soldiers, who ended up devoured by the armor in the recent war, are treated asRemoved from the military register because they are considered to be missing in action or dead. Mayria explained to Renya. Isnt that slightly pitiful?Renya wonders. Without the armor, it might have taken a bit more time for me to kill the hero. His teleportation was extremely annoying. Thanks to the armor is something I cant firmly state either, but since it pretty much came to an end easily due to the heros stupidity and the armors help, it saved me some trouble, I guess? (Renya) Now that you mention it, that alternative plan of yours, what was that about, mother? (Mayria) Mayria cut into the conversation without taking her eyes off of the documents.The archduchess smiles cheerfully after pondering about it with a Hmm~ and then bluntly says, I guess a self-destruction spell that would have swallowed up the entire city~. With a boooom~. (Lydia) Pardon me? (Mayria) As I said~, self-destruction devices covering the entire city had been prepared~ directly below this Trident, okay~? (Lydia) It was apparently the hobby of the ancestor-sama who founded Trident Principality, the archduchess laughs, but hearing that, Mayrias face became pale and Renya looked at his feet with a somewhat reluctant expression.In other words, the archduchess alternative plan was to draw the alliance into the city, and make the entire city explode the moment the hero entered as well.Of course, the archduchess expected to die after getting swallowed up by the explosion, in case she picked that method. Even so, as long as Mayria, the next archduchess, safely escaped to the rear after the battle resulted in a draw with the hero, such a scheme would allow the Trident Principality to avoid losing or perishing for the time being, the archduchess says. It was a strategy that used the Trident Principalitys army as a sacrifice in order to buy enough time for Mayria and her group to escape and for the spell to activate. Therefore, the archduchess apparently bet on Renyas suicide attack before executing her original plan. The activation method is a secret~. I will pass it on to Mayria-chan or Shion-chan once one of you becomes the archduchess~. (Lydia) A-Ahaha I have to thank you and that armor-san, Renya-san (Mayria) Mayrias voice is somewhat lifeless.Its a mechanism that will very likely drag all the capitals citizens into it, if theres a mishap in its handling. It doesnt matter~ since I didnt have to use it~, the negotiations with the Holy Kingdom~ will start from here on out~. But, I guess it will become slightly easier~ thanks to armor-kun~. (Lydia) The alliances soldiers, who didnt have the insubordination skill removed, were still enslaved to the one who inherited the heros skills.A group of tens of thousand of soldiers that treated that armor as their master.The Trident Principality unexpectedly got its hands on a very big number of workers. Putting it like that, it was a wonderful miscalculation. We deprived the soldiers, who came attacking, of all their belongings~ and asked armor-kun to have them start rebuilding the fortresses around the border~. (Lydia) Is that really alright? (Renya) What the archduchess is saying is that she has allocated the soldiers as a labor force in order to restore the things damaged in the war, a so-called trouble fee for the Holy Kingdom related to the recent war.Since they are in a state of insubordination the soldiers are compelled to obey, whether they like it or not, if ordered through the armor.The human losses of the Trident Principality are low to a surprising degree.Since they arent zero, there were quite a few instances where the country had to compensate the families. But it was at such a level that it allowed one to say that the war still ended with a relatively minuscule amount of deaths for having been attacked by 100,000 soldiers. I plan to have the other side cover their living expenses~. I mean, its a considerable amount of money when considering the expenses needed to maintain several tens of thousands of laborers, right~? (Lydia) The number of surviving soldiers was too big for all of them be used as laborers. I plan to send back the majority of the soldiers to their home countries, the archduchess says. Its only reasonable, but almost all of the soldiers that will be staying belong to the Holy Kingdom. It seems she intends to send back as many of the other countries alliance soldiers as possible. Even so, around 20,000 laborers will stay behind~. Even if it results in their living expenses being provided by the other side and the materials being supplied by our side. I think its still cheap once I think about the money that will be needed in order to fix the damage caused by the war~. The leftover money will be put to use towards the domestic reparations and financial support~. (Lydia) The archduchess reveals a complacent and ill-tempered smile. Chapter 116 C It seems to be the Postwar Handling 1 If theres only one problem, one can give it their undivided attention, but as soon as there are several problems, it becomes obscure as to what the problem is to begin with, and you end up going left and right not knowing where to start. As soon as that happens, one gives up on all their problems while thinking that they dont give a damn anymore.In other words, unless you crush each and every problem immediately after they appear, they will keep on accumulating, and once they have accumulated beyond a certain point, they will only vanish when one resigns themselves to them. Ahahaha~ Renya-sa~n. Dont you want to take my place as the Archduke? (Lydia) Her Majesty the Archduchess laughs while being halfway buried under a mountain of documents.Renya, who was summoned to her room, sends a very frosty glare at the archduchess who started to speak about something outrageous while smiling.Noticing his gaze, the archduchess body trembles and her cheeks blush for some reason. Then with both of her arms she hugs her own body. Dont give me the chills~, Renya-san, those eyes~, they make me want to be dominated~. (Lydia) If you have the time and energy to spout stupid shit, how about redirecting those resources into decreasing that mountain of documents a bit. (Renya) The location is the archduchess office.Three desks with mountains of documents piling up have been set up in the room. The archduchess, Mayria and Shion each sit at one of the desks.The one freely handling a stamp and quill while clinging to the desk frantically, as if not noticing the conversation between Renya and the archduchess, is Mayria. Shion doesnt even twitch anymore, her eyes were completely white and wide open, while leaning her back into the chairs backrest, though it was unknown when she entered such a state. Isnt the act of trying to have Shion, who is mainly suited for physical labor, help out with the filing of documents far too unreasonable in the first place?Renya wonders, but he leaves it alone without commenting on it as its probably the archduchess idea. To begin with, just what the hell happened for so many documents to have accumulated? (Renya) Its the postwar handling~. I mean, its because we have to deal with the countrys entire defensive force. The principalitys army was dispatched at almost full force~. We had also requested the cooperation of the adventurer guilds in every city~. Its at such a degree that even I dont understand how many organizations were mobilized if I also include those similar to vigilante corps~. (Lydia) Get a hold on the situation! You are the highest authority. (Renya) Uu~ (Lydia) The archduchess is on the verge of tears, but even if she were to cry, theres nothing Renya could do.Even though its not to the same extent as Shion, Renya also belongs to the physical labor faction, if forced to choose a side.Rather than being stuck to a desk and having a staring game with documents, running around with a weapon in his hands suits him more. So, whats the business you called me here for? (Renya) Wait, wait.~ Dont hurry so much. First take a seat~. (Lydia) Apparently believing that it would be pitiful for him to have a conversation while being made to stand, she had prepared a single chair in the middle of the room.After waiting for Renya to sit down on said chair, which she had encouraged him to do, the archduchess moves the documents on the table to the side and faces Renya. Arent there usually minister-like people who deal with such miscellaneous matters? (Renya) Several days have passed since the war against the Holy Kingdom came to an end due to the heros demise.Even Renya understands that they have probably just started with the postwar procedures, but with the archduchess appearing to be close to death already, he ends up worried about whether they will be able to finish this matter safely. There are, but~ their side has to handle even more, so~ the daily handing-in of letters of resignation from them doesnt stop, the archduchess says with a sigh mixed in. Shes rejecting all of them, but even so it seems it doesnt deter the nobles from approaching her with the wish of resigning one way or another. Even more than the work pressure, there seem to be some nobles among them, who meddled with you in various ways in the past, and from this timeseventthey belatedly noticed that you are someone they cant manage by themselves and shouldnt take on by all means. Their train of thought seems to be that they want to wait for things to cool down by staying in their own territory, even if they have to quit their official posts, Lydia says. It will be a nuisance if they are that scared of me though, you know? Renya scratches his cheek. Certainly that kind of harassment is an act that dampens the mood, but Renya cant get accustomed to idea of systematically eradicating them, just like this times hero, merely because of such actions.Of course, he doesnt possess a character that would hesitate on getting rid of them if there was even the slightest chance of harm befalling his friends, but if its a low degree of harassment and if they go at it moderately, its not like he wont tolerate it to some extent. Speaking of the hero~, I wonder, what happened to that armor~? To begin with, just what is that thing? (Lydia) Renya shortly and bluntly answered the archduchess, who asked while tilting her head to the side, Thats what I want to ask. (Renya) Even Renya didnt understand the armors true identity at all.After the battle against the hero, Renya had to frantically stop the armor, that had started to systematically and furthermore greedily devour the allied forces, which had lost the one leading them.Though he didnt do so for humane reasons, but simply because he didnt approve of harming those who had already lost the will to resist any further.However, even when he tried to pull it back by binding its arms behind its back, there was no way for Renya to stop all the hands growing out of the armors torso, even after somehow having immobilized the armor, not to mention the difficulty brought about simply due to the armors weight.In the end Renya somehow stopped its gluttony after threatening it by thrusting the tip of his katana inside the armor and making it choose whether it wanted to be chopped up on the spot or to make do with the dead soldiers around the perimeter of the outer wall, which was manned by the garrison.Renya wondered whether it didnt hear his orders properly, but according to the armors gestures afterwards, the armor itself had apparently fallen into an unrestrained rampaging state after preying upon the hero. It apparently managed to somehow recover due to Renyas truly-angry mode and the coldness of the katanas blade thrust into it.I wonder, was the thing it ate too wicked?Renya ends up pondering, but the thing it devoured had also created a fateful problem.The subordination affecting the alliances soldiers wasnt undone.For Renya, who thought that the problem would be somewhat solved as long as he crushed thehead, it was an unforeseen incident.In front of Renya, who thought that the restrictions would normally vanish alongside the disappearance of the one who subordinated them, one armor quietly averted its eyes.After Renya captured the armor that was about to run away and asked for an explanation of the circumstances, he found out that the armor had apparently assimilated the heros abilities after having eaten him. Its unprecedented, isnt it~? (Lydia) Currently that armor is standing with an imposing stance on the outer wall while holding the holy sword, which was the heros possession, with both its hands like a cane after it had picked it up from the battlefield.Since it possesses a body that doesnt require any sleep, food or rest, it stood stock still the whole time unless it was called by Renya.Its entire body is wrapped up in a pale glow. Its unmoving appearance has earned it the depressing evaluation of being somewhat disgusting among the citizens of Trident Principalitys capital city. That thing, if you try to somehow classify it, I think you would call it an Undead Knight, right~? (Lydia) I guess so. (Renya) The outcome of the appraisal ability used by Renya, who thoughtits probably necessary to precisely appraise it at least once, resulted in it being identified as an Undead Knight just as the archduchess stated.However, a ? was shrewdly attached next to its title. Its an undead, right? (Lydia) So it is. (Renya) The human races hero is an undead how ridiculous~. (Lydia) The armor that took over the heros abilities had seemingly also completely adopted the title ofhero. Even the result of the appraisal clearly stated Occupation: Hero.(T/N: Lol)Renya strongly cocked his head to the side confused on whether its okay for its body to be clad in holy power despite it being an undead, but so far the armor hasnt fallen into a state of destroying itself due to its own power. Even if its an undead, it was probably a human in the beginning, so its not that far off, now is it? (Renya) Umm~, well~, I wonder about that~? (Lydia) The archduchess expression makes it apparent that she isnt fully satisfied with the explanation, but since the phenomenon actually exists in front of her eyes, its meaningless for her to deny it.Given that its properly handling the holy sword, which cant be used by anyone but a hero, the fact that that armor was endowed with the heros power wont change, no matter what anyone might say. Isnt it fine if you consider thatitbecame a very sturdy hero that wont degrade? (Renya) Well~, I guess its better than the previous one~. (Lydia) In the first place, there are even some aspects that became somewhat easier thanks to that armor. (Renya) The part that eased up the most was the cleaning of the battlefield.Since war is a place where lives are taken, it will naturally cause a great number of deaths.If people die, they leave a corpse behind. Normally it requires cleaning afterwards, a job hated by anyone no matter whom you ask, such a task consisted mostly of recovering the corpses quickly and burying them.However, that was unnecessary this time.Thats because all of them ended up getting completely eaten by the armor.In regards to this, only Renya, despite it being the enemy nations soldiers, wondered whether such behavior was acceptable, as all of them probably left behind a family, but the reactions by those around him were quite indifferent.In the first place, these corpses might become the cause of diseases spreading if not quickly dealt with.And, the act of making an appeal to the defending side to return the soldiers bodies to the attacking side apparently doesnt exist in this world. All the soldiers, who ended up devoured by the armor in the recent war, are treated asRemoved from the military register because they are considered to be missing in action or dead. Mayria explained to Renya. Isnt that slightly pitiful?Renya wonders. Without the armor, it might have taken a bit more time for me to kill the hero. His teleportation was extremely annoying. Thanks to the armor is something I cant firmly state either, but since it pretty much came to an end easily due to the heros stupidity and the armors help, it saved me some trouble, I guess? (Renya) Now that you mention it, that alternative plan of yours, what was that about, mother? (Mayria) Mayria cut into the conversation without taking her eyes off of the documents.The archduchess smiles cheerfully after pondering about it with a Hmm~ and then bluntly says, I guess a self-destruction spell that would have swallowed up the entire city~. With a boooom~. (Lydia) Pardon me? (Mayria) As I said~, self-destruction devices covering the entire city had been prepared~ directly below this Trident, okay~? (Lydia) It was apparently the hobby of the ancestor-sama who founded Trident Principality, the archduchess laughs, but hearing that, Mayrias face became pale and Renya looked at his feet with a somewhat reluctant expression.In other words, the archduchess alternative plan was to draw the alliance into the city, and make the entire city explode the moment the hero entered as well.Of course, the archduchess expected to die after getting swallowed up by the explosion, in case she picked that method. Even so, as long as Mayria, the next archduchess, safely escaped to the rear after the battle resulted in a draw with the hero, such a scheme would allow the Trident Principality to avoid losing or perishing for the time being, the archduchess says. It was a strategy that used the Trident Principalitys army as a sacrifice in order to buy enough time for Mayria and her group to escape and for the spell to activate. Therefore, the archduchess apparently bet on Renyas suicide attack before executing her original plan. The activation method is a secret~. I will pass it on to Mayria-chan or Shion-chan once one of you becomes the archduchess~. (Lydia) A-Ahaha I have to thank you and that armor-san, Renya-san (Mayria) Mayrias voice is somewhat lifeless.Its a mechanism that will very likely drag all the capitals citizens into it, if theres a mishap in its handling. It doesnt matter~ since I didnt have to use it~, the negotiations with the Holy Kingdom~ will start from here on out~. But, I guess it will become slightly easier~ thanks to armor-kun~. (Lydia) The alliances soldiers, who didnt have the insubordination skill removed, were still enslaved to the one who inherited the heros skills.A group of tens of thousand of soldiers that treated that armor as their master.The Trident Principality unexpectedly got its hands on a very big number of workers. Putting it like that, it was a wonderful miscalculation. We deprived the soldiers, who came attacking, of all their belongings~ and asked armor-kun to have them start rebuilding the fortresses around the border~. (Lydia) Is that really alright? (Renya) What the archduchess is saying is that she has allocated the soldiers as a labor force in order to restore the things damaged in the war, a so-called trouble fee for the Holy Kingdom related to the recent war.Since they are in a state of insubordination the soldiers are compelled to obey, whether they like it or not, if ordered through the armor.The human losses of the Trident Principality are low to a surprising degree.Since they arent zero, there were quite a few instances where the country had to compensate the families. But it was at such a level that it allowed one to say that the war still ended with a relatively minuscule amount of deaths for having been attacked by 100,000 soldiers. I plan to have the other side cover their living expenses~. I mean, its a considerable amount of money when considering the expenses needed to maintain several tens of thousands of laborers, right~? (Lydia) The number of surviving soldiers was too big for all of them be used as laborers. I plan to send back the majority of the soldiers to their home countries, the archduchess says. Its only reasonable, but almost all of the soldiers that will be staying belong to the Holy Kingdom. It seems she intends to send back as many of the other countries alliance soldiers as possible. Even so, around 20,000 laborers will stay behind~. Even if it results in their living expenses being provided by the other side and the materials being supplied by our side. I think its still cheap once I think about the money that will be needed in order to fix the damage caused by the war~. The leftover money will be put to use towards the domestic reparations and financial support~. (Lydia) The archduchess reveals a complacent and ill-tempered smile. Chapter 117 Chapter 117 C It seems to be the Postwar Handling 2 Did the Holy Kingdom swallow your terms? (Renya) The archduchess quickly nods towards Renyas question. Theres no way they could actually refuse them anyway~. And they have also released an official announcement pertaining to this times war~. (Lydia) She opened the desks drawer and after rummaging through it, took out a piece of paper from within.The archduchess immediately held out the piece of paper towards Renya. Is it fine for me to read it? (Renya) Its not like its a confidential document, you know~? (Lydia) After getting the archduchess permission, Renya took the piece of paper from her hands and scanned through its content.It was a letter sent in the name of the Holy Kingdoms 25th king.Renya casually looks at where the kingdoms generation has changed. It seems the person, who was the king when Renya visited and heldnegotiationswith the country, was taken off the throne in some sort of way.Though I think it would be nice if it didnt happen through an accident or an assassination, Renya thinks while continuing to read through the letter. I feel they used many, pointless words, but in a nutshell they are saying that the cause for the war was the hero going on a rampage and that the Holy Kingdom is a victim that was dragged into the situation. However, because theres a need for the country, who owned the hero, to take responsibility for his deeds, they will pay reparations to the countries that joined the alliance, and furthermore, they will pay reparations and offer an apology to the Trident Principality, the biggest victim. Did I get that right? (Renya) There were various other things such as Hero Yuuki having been deprived of his title as the hero and so on written in there. But for Renya the subject of whos the hero isnt all that interesting, as the hero is gone, and thus he completely skipped over that part. Mostly~. (Lydia) It appears that the majority of the things Renya told the king when he raided the Holy Kingdoms royal castle have been written down into this official document without changing the content.It was Renyas intention to raid the Holy Citys castle once more and to properly transform the area into an empty lot this time, if they had tried to act as if they didnt know what Renya had agreed upon with the late king with the excuse of the new kings take-over. But he believes that theres no need to do so with the contents of the letter being as they are. So the case is closed with this? (Renya) Theres still some fine-tuning left, but~ I think that its roughly finished~. The rest falls into the sphere of politicians~. (Lydia) Even if I tell you about that, it wont interest you, will it? Once Renya is told that by the archduchess, he can only nod.In all honesty, Renya has absolutely no interest in things related to who suffered what losses and what kind of cross-national treaties are being made to compensate for the damages caused. Which reminds me, what about Liaris? (Renya) Renya firmly warned Liaris, who was about to show her power as a dragoon as if the war was the critical moment to do so, before the battle, and made her give up on that idea.Certainly, if the opponents were common soldiers, an attack with a dragon would have been very effective. But he judged that she would likely be degraded into a mere target if the hero were to be within the enemys army.What I felt after seeing that heros light attacks, made it obvious that my predictions werent wrong, he assesses.A powerful combat asset will display its effectiveness by raising the allies morale during the time they are in good health, but it was also a fact that if they were done in, it would lead to a decline in moral that would overcome the previously raised amount. I had her return to the city of Kukrika~. After all shes a precious combat force and a valuable existence~. (Lydia) The strategy of having Dra-kun peek his head out from under the outer wall to fire his breath apparently gained him quite the military accomplishments, if one ignores the methods cheapness.As result of that, its scheduled to advertise her feat on a grand scale within the country while also keeping the method hidden, the archduchess says.Due to this Liaris fame as dragoon will rise even further once again. Did Emedra return together with them? (Renya) Definitely dont get involved with the battle over here, Renya had instructed the dragon with a firm voice when the war had begun.The reason was the same as for Liaris, but it also included Renyas fear that if the emerald dragon were to die here by any chance, it could possibly trigger many different problems in many different areas that he isnt aware of, going by Dra-kuns and Croires behaviors towards the dragon.From Renyas standpoint, he recognised the red Dra-kun and the green Emedra as the same type of flying lizards. Isnt that one~ still flying around somewhere close~? (Lydia) I see, if its still here, I will try to ask it if we can use it as transport back home. (Renya) Regardless of whether a dragon is a flying lizard or not, theres certainly no mistake in it being a quick transportation method in this world.Renya knows that it will probably be expensive if one considers a dragons maintenance costs, but its difficult to get your hands on a vehicle with the same speed as a dragon in this somewhat wide world.If I consider it from there, Id like to own at least one dragon for myself, he ends up thinking.Even if the emerald dragon is impossible, going by Dra-kuns and Croires attitudes, isnt it alright to catch at least one as long as its one of those living in the rocky mountains, just like Dra-kun?Renya wonders, but once he went to ask Dra-kun, the talk caused his deep red body to become ghastly pale. Ahaha~ just so you know, dragons are pretty much the strongest monsters and regarded as symbols of fear, okay~? (Lydia) Thats no concern of mine. (Renya) Yeah, you might be right~. So~, now its time to talk about your reward for the work you got done this time, Renya-san~. (Lydia) Okay? (Renya) Renya recalls that he told Mayria at the time she requested his cooperation to pay a reward, even if its just a small one, since he doesnt want to work for free.Given that I told her that it would be okay to stay reasonable with the reward, it probably wont be anything special anyway, Renya thinks. The archduchess smiled at him and said, I will give you a peerage and a territory~. (Lydia) What? (Renya) The archduchess clearly told Renya, who thinks that he might have misheard, while speaking slowly, As I said~, I will give you the rank of Earl and a territory~. The Kunugi Margraviate will be newly established~. (Lydia) I dont need it. (Renya) Mayrias face cramps up due to the archduchess completely unexpected words.Seemingly sensing somehow that the mood has changed, Shion, whose white eyes were opened widely, recovers her spirit and raises her body atop the chair.The archduchess looks at Renya with a face as though asking Why did you reject it immediately~? That means that I will be affiliated to the country, doesnt it? Gimme a break! (Renya) No good~? (Lydia) Yes, its hopeless. In that case it would still be better to treat this as working for free. (Renya) Hmm~, how troublesome~. (Lydia) The archduchess lets out a groan while folding her arms in front of her abundant chest.Shion apparently still doesnt understand whats going on clearly and looks at the archduchess with an absent minded expression. Mayria looks in Renyas direction, and not the archduchess, while holding her twitching, cramping cheeks with both hands. What is so troublesome about it? (Renya) Once Renya asks the archduchess, who was remaining silent while continuously groaning, she looks at Renya while keeping her arms folded, and stays quiet for a bit.Just when Renya started to wonder whether he should try asking her once more, the archduchess opened her mouth and said, You know~, I have the impression that you have gone a liiiittle bit too far, Renya-san~. (Lydia) What? (Renya) In this times war~ you definitely proved that you were far stronger than Hero-san, didnt you Renya-san~? (Lydia) The information that it was me who defeated the hero shouldnt spread though, right? (Renya) Certainly, Renya defeated the hero in a location with many onlookers.Even Renya knows that it would create various issues if this information was circulated throughout the continent.Exactly for that reason, he used the good opportunity that the alliances soldiers, who were present when he finished off the hero, were subordinated and strictly ordered the armor to command them that they are not allowed to talk about what they have seen.As one can definitely expect for the situation to become nasty if even just a bit is leaked about this matter, he made sure that they would kill themselves on the spot if they spoke of it.Renya doesnt trust the subordination state itself overly much, so its a countermeasure he came up with for techniques, that might be used on the soldiers, that could make them confess through some sort of method. Its not about other countries~. The problem is inside the Trident Principality~. (Lydia) In regards to within the country its because there was no method to impose a gag order (Mayria) As its often said Anyone can start a rumor, but no one can stop one, information will apparently leak from somewhere even if you try to keep it a secret. Until now such rumors had been to the level of Renya-san seems to be super strong~, but now its different~. (Lydia) To be precise, people were made to understand that you possess an abnormal combat power due to the fact that you defeated the hero, Renya-san. (Mayria) And if we said that it was all accomplished by that armor? (Shion) Shion, who appeared to somewhat comprehended the situation, cuts in. And whos the master of that armor-san~? (Lydia) If we said there isnt one (Shion) If we announced that the hero was defeated by a masterless armor moving about on its own devices~, it would cause panic among the people, right~? (Lydia) The reason that the armors reputation, who is currently standing stock still on the outer wall, has now settled at the level of it giving off a somewhat bad feeling is that the people, who see it, think that its probably under someones control. If that perception is changed into the armor being under no ones control even though its a being that possesses power to the extent of completely defeating the hero, that fact would likely cause quite a lot of chaos, the archduchess said.That argument applies to Renya himself in the same way as well. It doesnt matter whether its as the armors master or as a person who possess enough power himself to defeat the hero, either way it doesnt change the fact that theres a being in the Trident Principality that exceeds the hero while also being under no ones control. Even if you put the common people aside, its a truth that scares even the nobles, who are the essential building blocks for the Trident Principalitys governmental system. In other words, you are telling me that you will put a collar around my neck? (Renya) Though its not like I clearly said it in such way~. (Lydia) The archduchess nods while assuming a slightly gloomy look.It has become cumbersome, Renya sighs,but seeing that I have taken an openly aggressive stance against the hero, I think that I would have been exposed sooner or later anyway.However, I didnt predict what would happen afterward.Come to think of it, its not incomprehensible for it to turn into a conversation ofWhat kind of monster is that?if some unknown stranger crushes the hero, the strongest combat force of the humans in this world, all by himself.Though I consider such a conversation to be still better than it turning into people shoutingKill that monster!,which would be the worst case. Even if you were to escape to another country, its a liiiittle bit troublesome at the moment~. I mean, it looks like that armor-san has inherited the powers of the hero~. (Lydia) What about emigrating after handling the armor somehow? (Renya) Thats okay~. In that case I will even give you a farewell gift~ and keep it a secret from the nobles to where you emigrated~. But~ (Lydia) Releasing her folded arms, the archduchess places both her elbows on the desk, puts her chin on top of her palms and stares at Renya. Going by the way you live your life you will probably get exposed sooner or later, no matter where you go. (Lydia) Renya cant deny that assertion.If hes asked whether he can live hidden from society like a hermit after having gotten rid of the armor that possesses the heros abilities and emigrated to somewhere else, Renya has no other option but to reply that he cant.Even if he was able to do it, for arguments sake, its easy to imagine that he will most likely resolve a similar situation with force, just as he did this time, if it happens somewhere close to him.However, if he did that, his surroundings would learn of him having an abnormal combat power just as it happened this time. And in the end they would start moving, trying to attach a collar to Renyas neck in the same way. However, if its me~, I believe I can somehow handle those situations~. (Lydia) The archduchess says to Renya, whos asking himself What would be the best option? Cuz Im the archduchess. (Lydia) No, cuz, you say (Renya) Her Majesty the Archduchess presses both hands against her hips and forcefully throws out her chest.She possess something truly splendid there, Renya turns his look towards the archduchess emphasized breasts while feeling slightly weary.Shions and Mayrias gazes, who had noticed Renyas stare, naturally became chilly. Its not a collar~. I think it will be alright as long as the people in the surroundings believe that you have fallen into a trap~. (Lydia) Mother, what do you mean with that? (Shion) Upon Shions question, the archduchess pushed out her chest even further and stated, If we make Renya-san into a noble, first off it will mean that he has become affiliated with the county and it will also allow me to claim to the nobles that I didnt leave the situation unattended. (Lydia) I see, and so? Making him a duke~ is slightly difficult~. But since the rank of earl is also fairly high-ranking, only I, the archduchess, will be able to give him orders. (Lydia) In other words as long as you leave me alone, it will be possible for me to live without bothering myself with the country? Renya, who somehow realized what he wants to do, asked the archduchess, who looked as if she wanted to say Im amazing, right? Though I guess your inconveniences will increase~. Since you will become landed nobility, please make sure to properly manage your territory. (Lydia) Do your best since there are various things such as reclamation, colonization and taxation, okay? Being told so by the archduchess, Renyas expression becomes extremely displeased. Theres no way for me to be capable of doing something like that, is there? Im a simple swordsman! (Renya) I will give you Mayria-chan as your aide. (Lydia) Once the archduchess says that while raising her index finger, Mayria stares at the archduchess face with a surprised expression. Moreover, I will also add Shion-chan as the one in charge of military affairs. (Lydia) The archduchess raises her index along with her middle finger.Not only is there the strange situation of a mere adventurer being appointed to nobility, but the archduchess even says that she will send both of her daughters to him.Due to the abnormal terms added on top of the already strange situation, only the feeling of it being too late to say anything stands out, but Renya was able to comprehend what the archduchess wanted to do.By attaching both her daughters to him, she will apparently appeal to the other nobles that she shares a friendship with Renya and at the same time she will make it clear that hes under her strict control by her having placed watchdogs at his side. It seems thats what she wants to emphasize. Though, if you have any other requests, I will accept them as long as they are within my capabilities~.How about it, Renya-san? I do feel bad about it, but I wonder whether I can have you accept it~? (Lydia) In the archduchess eyes, the current Trident Principality is in a situation where it possesses two mighty combat forces, namely Renya and the armor that became the hero.Given that the archduchess roughly understands Renyas nature, she cant state for sure that she doesnt intend to use those two combat forces at all, but she also didnt have the intention to handle them imprudently.However, if Renya decides to emigrate, it will result in these two combat forces being immediately gone, which will be a huge loss for the Trident Principality.Taking things into consideration up until there, the archduchess planned to compromise quite a bit for Renya.Renya ponders.I will leave the country since its becoming troublesome, that idea was extremely attractive, but the matter of him having to wander from place to place each time hes exposed wasnt very appealing.Even while taking the matter of him having been told to travel around the world as he sees fit when he came to the world over here into account, having a proper place to call home is much better than trying to wander around with no goal in mind. Moreover, the style of visiting various places is also soothing on an emotional level. Can you really promise me that you wont push me around for the good of the country? (Renya) I cant put it down on an official document~, but I will have Mayria-chan and Shion-chan secretly hold onto a written oath signed by me~. However, I wonder if I can have your permission to make various requests if the situation develops into a national crisis~? (Lydia) Well I dont mind that, but it wont be free of charge, okay? (Renya) Theres no noble that serves the country for free~. (Lydia) Can I also get your permission to assign Rona to me? (Renya) Shes your party member after all, Renya-san~. I will approve it~. (Lydia) What about support by the country in regards to the territorys administration? (Renya) Financially, funding is impossible~. No matter what we do, I think it would take the shape of a loan~. Though I will somehow handle it so that it becomes an unsecured loan with no interest~. (Lydia) Renya started to wonder whether he can ask for any more favorable conditions from the archduchess who also stated that it would be okay for him to continue his adventurer activity after having assigned a governor. Chapter 117 C It seems to be the Postwar Handling 2 Did the Holy Kingdom swallow your terms? (Renya) The archduchess quickly nods towards Renyas question. Theres no way they could actually refuse them anyway~. And they have also released an official announcement pertaining to this times war~. (Lydia) She opened the desks drawer and after rummaging through it, took out a piece of paper from within.The archduchess immediately held out the piece of paper towards Renya. Is it fine for me to read it? (Renya) Its not like its a confidential document, you know~? (Lydia) After getting the archduchess permission, Renya took the piece of paper from her hands and scanned through its content.It was a letter sent in the name of the Holy Kingdoms 25th king.Renya casually looks at where the kingdoms generation has changed. It seems the person, who was the king when Renya visited and heldnegotiationswith the country, was taken off the throne in some sort of way.Though I think it would be nice if it didnt happen through an accident or an assassination, Renya thinks while continuing to read through the letter. I feel they used many, pointless words, but in a nutshell they are saying that the cause for the war was the hero going on a rampage and that the Holy Kingdom is a victim that was dragged into the situation. However, because theres a need for the country, who owned the hero, to take responsibility for his deeds, they will pay reparations to the countries that joined the alliance, and furthermore, they will pay reparations and offer an apology to the Trident Principality, the biggest victim. Did I get that right? (Renya) There were various other things such as Hero Yuuki having been deprived of his title as the hero and so on written in there. But for Renya the subject of whos the hero isnt all that interesting, as the hero is gone, and thus he completely skipped over that part. Mostly~. (Lydia) It appears that the majority of the things Renya told the king when he raided the Holy Kingdoms royal castle have been written down into this official document without changing the content.It was Renyas intention to raid the Holy Citys castle once more and to properly transform the area into an empty lot this time, if they had tried to act as if they didnt know what Renya had agreed upon with the late king with the excuse of the new kings take-over. But he believes that theres no need to do so with the contents of the letter being as they are. So the case is closed with this? (Renya) Theres still some fine-tuning left, but~ I think that its roughly finished~. The rest falls into the sphere of politicians~. (Lydia) Even if I tell you about that, it wont interest you, will it? Once Renya is told that by the archduchess, he can only nod.In all honesty, Renya has absolutely no interest in things related to who suffered what losses and what kind of cross-national treaties are being made to compensate for the damages caused. Which reminds me, what about Liaris? (Renya) Renya firmly warned Liaris, who was about to show her power as a dragoon as if the war was the critical moment to do so, before the battle, and made her give up on that idea.Certainly, if the opponents were common soldiers, an attack with a dragon would have been very effective. But he judged that she would likely be degraded into a mere target if the hero were to be within the enemys army.What I felt after seeing that heros light attacks, made it obvious that my predictions werent wrong, he assesses.A powerful combat asset will display its effectiveness by raising the allies morale during the time they are in good health, but it was also a fact that if they were done in, it would lead to a decline in moral that would overcome the previously raised amount. I had her return to the city of Kukrika~. After all shes a precious combat force and a valuable existence~. (Lydia) The strategy of having Dra-kun peek his head out from under the outer wall to fire his breath apparently gained him quite the military accomplishments, if one ignores the methods cheapness.As result of that, its scheduled to advertise her feat on a grand scale within the country while also keeping the method hidden, the archduchess says.Due to this Liaris fame as dragoon will rise even further once again. Did Emedra return together with them? (Renya) Definitely dont get involved with the battle over here, Renya had instructed the dragon with a firm voice when the war had begun.The reason was the same as for Liaris, but it also included Renyas fear that if the emerald dragon were to die here by any chance, it could possibly trigger many different problems in many different areas that he isnt aware of, going by Dra-kuns and Croires behaviors towards the dragon.From Renyas standpoint, he recognised the red Dra-kun and the green Emedra as the same type of flying lizards. Isnt that one~ still flying around somewhere close~? (Lydia) I see, if its still here, I will try to ask it if we can use it as transport back home. (Renya) Regardless of whether a dragon is a flying lizard or not, theres certainly no mistake in it being a quick transportation method in this world.Renya knows that it will probably be expensive if one considers a dragons maintenance costs, but its difficult to get your hands on a vehicle with the same speed as a dragon in this somewhat wide world.If I consider it from there, Id like to own at least one dragon for myself, he ends up thinking.Even if the emerald dragon is impossible, going by Dra-kuns and Croires attitudes, isnt it alright to catch at least one as long as its one of those living in the rocky mountains, just like Dra-kun?Renya wonders, but once he went to ask Dra-kun, the talk caused his deep red body to become ghastly pale. Ahaha~ just so you know, dragons are pretty much the strongest monsters and regarded as symbols of fear, okay~? (Lydia) Thats no concern of mine. (Renya) Yeah, you might be right~. So~, now its time to talk about your reward for the work you got done this time, Renya-san~. (Lydia) Okay? (Renya) Renya recalls that he told Mayria at the time she requested his cooperation to pay a reward, even if its just a small one, since he doesnt want to work for free.Given that I told her that it would be okay to stay reasonable with the reward, it probably wont be anything special anyway, Renya thinks. The archduchess smiled at him and said, I will give you a peerage and a territory~. (Lydia) What? (Renya) The archduchess clearly told Renya, who thinks that he might have misheard, while speaking slowly, As I said~, I will give you the rank of Earl and a territory~. The Kunugi Margraviate will be newly established~. (Lydia) I dont need it. (Renya) Mayrias face cramps up due to the archduchess completely unexpected words.Seemingly sensing somehow that the mood has changed, Shion, whose white eyes were opened widely, recovers her spirit and raises her body atop the chair.The archduchess looks at Renya with a face as though asking Why did you reject it immediately~? That means that I will be affiliated to the country, doesnt it? Gimme a break! (Renya) No good~? (Lydia) Yes, its hopeless. In that case it would still be better to treat this as working for free. (Renya) Hmm~, how troublesome~. (Lydia) The archduchess lets out a groan while folding her arms in front of her abundant chest.Shion apparently still doesnt understand whats going on clearly and looks at the archduchess with an absent minded expression. Mayria looks in Renyas direction, and not the archduchess, while holding her twitching, cramping cheeks with both hands. What is so troublesome about it? (Renya) Once Renya asks the archduchess, who was remaining silent while continuously groaning, she looks at Renya while keeping her arms folded, and stays quiet for a bit.Just when Renya started to wonder whether he should try asking her once more, the archduchess opened her mouth and said, You know~, I have the impression that you have gone a liiiittle bit too far, Renya-san~. (Lydia) What? (Renya) In this times war~ you definitely proved that you were far stronger than Hero-san, didnt you Renya-san~? (Lydia) The information that it was me who defeated the hero shouldnt spread though, right? (Renya) Certainly, Renya defeated the hero in a location with many onlookers.Even Renya knows that it would create various issues if this information was circulated throughout the continent.Exactly for that reason, he used the good opportunity that the alliances soldiers, who were present when he finished off the hero, were subordinated and strictly ordered the armor to command them that they are not allowed to talk about what they have seen.As one can definitely expect for the situation to become nasty if even just a bit is leaked about this matter, he made sure that they would kill themselves on the spot if they spoke of it.Renya doesnt trust the subordination state itself overly much, so its a countermeasure he came up with for techniques, that might be used on the soldiers, that could make them confess through some sort of method. Its not about other countries~. The problem is inside the Trident Principality~. (Lydia) In regards to within the country its because there was no method to impose a gag order (Mayria) As its often said Anyone can start a rumor, but no one can stop one, information will apparently leak from somewhere even if you try to keep it a secret. Until now such rumors had been to the level of Renya-san seems to be super strong~, but now its different~. (Lydia) To be precise, people were made to understand that you possess an abnormal combat power due to the fact that you defeated the hero, Renya-san. (Mayria) And if we said that it was all accomplished by that armor? (Shion) Shion, who appeared to somewhat comprehended the situation, cuts in. And whos the master of that armor-san~? (Lydia) If we said there isnt one (Shion) If we announced that the hero was defeated by a masterless armor moving about on its own devices~, it would cause panic among the people, right~? (Lydia) The reason that the armors reputation, who is currently standing stock still on the outer wall, has now settled at the level of it giving off a somewhat bad feeling is that the people, who see it, think that its probably under someones control. If that perception is changed into the armor being under no ones control even though its a being that possesses power to the extent of completely defeating the hero, that fact would likely cause quite a lot of chaos, the archduchess said.That argument applies to Renya himself in the same way as well. It doesnt matter whether its as the armors master or as a person who possess enough power himself to defeat the hero, either way it doesnt change the fact that theres a being in the Trident Principality that exceeds the hero while also being under no ones control. Even if you put the common people aside, its a truth that scares even the nobles, who are the essential building blocks for the Trident Principalitys governmental system. In other words, you are telling me that you will put a collar around my neck? (Renya) Though its not like I clearly said it in such way~. (Lydia) The archduchess nods while assuming a slightly gloomy look.It has become cumbersome, Renya sighs,but seeing that I have taken an openly aggressive stance against the hero, I think that I would have been exposed sooner or later anyway.However, I didnt predict what would happen afterward.Come to think of it, its not incomprehensible for it to turn into a conversation ofWhat kind of monster is that?if some unknown stranger crushes the hero, the strongest combat force of the humans in this world, all by himself.Though I consider such a conversation to be still better than it turning into people shoutingKill that monster!,which would be the worst case. Even if you were to escape to another country, its a liiiittle bit troublesome at the moment~. I mean, it looks like that armor-san has inherited the powers of the hero~. (Lydia) What about emigrating after handling the armor somehow? (Renya) Thats okay~. In that case I will even give you a farewell gift~ and keep it a secret from the nobles to where you emigrated~. But~ (Lydia) Releasing her folded arms, the archduchess places both her elbows on the desk, puts her chin on top of her palms and stares at Renya. Going by the way you live your life you will probably get exposed sooner or later, no matter where you go. (Lydia) Renya cant deny that assertion.If hes asked whether he can live hidden from society like a hermit after having gotten rid of the armor that possesses the heros abilities and emigrated to somewhere else, Renya has no other option but to reply that he cant.Even if he was able to do it, for arguments sake, its easy to imagine that he will most likely resolve a similar situation with force, just as he did this time, if it happens somewhere close to him.However, if he did that, his surroundings would learn of him having an abnormal combat power just as it happened this time. And in the end they would start moving, trying to attach a collar to Renyas neck in the same way. However, if its me~, I believe I can somehow handle those situations~. (Lydia) The archduchess says to Renya, whos asking himself What would be the best option? Cuz Im the archduchess. (Lydia) No, cuz, you say (Renya) Her Majesty the Archduchess presses both hands against her hips and forcefully throws out her chest.She possess something truly splendid there, Renya turns his look towards the archduchess emphasized breasts while feeling slightly weary.Shions and Mayrias gazes, who had noticed Renyas stare, naturally became chilly. Its not a collar~. I think it will be alright as long as the people in the surroundings believe that you have fallen into a trap~. (Lydia) Mother, what do you mean with that? (Shion) Upon Shions question, the archduchess pushed out her chest even further and stated, If we make Renya-san into a noble, first off it will mean that he has become affiliated with the county and it will also allow me to claim to the nobles that I didnt leave the situation unattended. (Lydia) I see, and so? Making him a duke~ is slightly difficult~. But since the rank of earl is also fairly high-ranking, only I, the archduchess, will be able to give him orders. (Lydia) In other words as long as you leave me alone, it will be possible for me to live without bothering myself with the country? Renya, who somehow realized what he wants to do, asked the archduchess, who looked as if she wanted to say Im amazing, right? Though I guess your inconveniences will increase~. Since you will become landed nobility, please make sure to properly manage your territory. (Lydia) Do your best since there are various things such as reclamation, colonization and taxation, okay? Being told so by the archduchess, Renyas expression becomes extremely displeased. Theres no way for me to be capable of doing something like that, is there? Im a simple swordsman! (Renya) I will give you Mayria-chan as your aide. (Lydia) Once the archduchess says that while raising her index finger, Mayria stares at the archduchess face with a surprised expression. Moreover, I will also add Shion-chan as the one in charge of military affairs. (Lydia) The archduchess raises her index along with her middle finger.Not only is there the strange situation of a mere adventurer being appointed to nobility, but the archduchess even says that she will send both of her daughters to him.Due to the abnormal terms added on top of the already strange situation, only the feeling of it being too late to say anything stands out, but Renya was able to comprehend what the archduchess wanted to do.By attaching both her daughters to him, she will apparently appeal to the other nobles that she shares a friendship with Renya and at the same time she will make it clear that hes under her strict control by her having placed watchdogs at his side. It seems thats what she wants to emphasize. Though, if you have any other requests, I will accept them as long as they are within my capabilities~.How about it, Renya-san? I do feel bad about it, but I wonder whether I can have you accept it~? (Lydia) In the archduchess eyes, the current Trident Principality is in a situation where it possesses two mighty combat forces, namely Renya and the armor that became the hero.Given that the archduchess roughly understands Renyas nature, she cant state for sure that she doesnt intend to use those two combat forces at all, but she also didnt have the intention to handle them imprudently.However, if Renya decides to emigrate, it will result in these two combat forces being immediately gone, which will be a huge loss for the Trident Principality.Taking things into consideration up until there, the archduchess planned to compromise quite a bit for Renya.Renya ponders.I will leave the country since its becoming troublesome, that idea was extremely attractive, but the matter of him having to wander from place to place each time hes exposed wasnt very appealing.Even while taking the matter of him having been told to travel around the world as he sees fit when he came to the world over here into account, having a proper place to call home is much better than trying to wander around with no goal in mind. Moreover, the style of visiting various places is also soothing on an emotional level. Can you really promise me that you wont push me around for the good of the country? (Renya) I cant put it down on an official document~, but I will have Mayria-chan and Shion-chan secretly hold onto a written oath signed by me~. However, I wonder if I can have your permission to make various requests if the situation develops into a national crisis~? (Lydia) Well I dont mind that, but it wont be free of charge, okay? (Renya) Theres no noble that serves the country for free~. (Lydia) Can I also get your permission to assign Rona to me? (Renya) Shes your party member after all, Renya-san~. I will approve it~. (Lydia) What about support by the country in regards to the territorys administration? (Renya) Financially, funding is impossible~. No matter what we do, I think it would take the shape of a loan~. Though I will somehow handle it so that it becomes an unsecured loan with no interest~. (Lydia) Renya started to wonder whether he can ask for any more favorable conditions from the archduchess who also stated that it would be okay for him to continue his adventurer activity after having assigned a governor. Chapter 118 Chapter 118 C It seems Public Work comes first It takes around two days by coach from the city of Kukrika to the Miasma Forest that divides the humans from the demons with its large range.On the way there, theres almost nothing but plains continuing for the whole while. Pioneer villages that have been established continuously as part of the Trident Principalitys national policy can be found here and there in the circumference of the Miasma Forest, but most of them repeatedly carried out the unproductive cycle of being destroyed by monster attacks or raided by bandits without achieving almost any results and then getting rebuild again.This vast region has quite the bad public order and one cant say that its soil is rich either. Given that there are no nobles of the Trident Principality who desired it, it has naturally taken the form of being a state-owned region under the archduchess direct control.In an area of the land, closer to the Miasma Forest by more than a days travel from Kukrika, a scene spread out that made the travelers, who were using the road, doubt their own eyes.Around ten red dragons had gathered at such a place.Dragons, which would cause a tumult with just having one of them appear, have turned up in such numbers. Moreover they have gathered in one place. It was a view that made the travelers, who witnessed it, strongly wonder whether the time of the Trident Principalitys demise had come, but the reality went beyond their imaginations.As soon as a young man completely clad in black appeared at the the restlessly loitering dragons feet, the dragons, which moved around as they pleased until then, suddenly changed their behavior and formed a tidy line standing side-by-side.The onlookers wondered just what the hell was going to happen from here on out.While the travelers stop their feet and attentively watch the spectacle, forgetting that they are in the middle of a journey, the man in black gives the dragons some kind of order, and in the next moment, lumps of fire surged out off the dragons mouths in succession and pierced the ground.With ear-splitting explosions earth, sand and flames are blown into the air.Those simultaneous attacks at several places, which seem to have sorcery spells added in as well, burn down the weeds, which thickly covered the ground that hadnt been used by anyone, and fortunately blow away the intense unevenness afflicting the terrain.The impacts shake the land. The vibrations even reached Kukrika far in the distance, but theres no reason for the travelers or the man in black, who gave the dragons the order, to be aware of that.Before long the dragons, who devoted themselves to razing the ground for a while, suddenly stopped spitting fire, as if the attacks until now were an illusion, upon seeing the man in black raise his hand.At this point in time the ground, which covered quite the wide area, was exposing its soil that had been burned, blown up and dyed black.Once the man in black points at that burned ground, the dragons, who had lined up neatly, started to run around freely across the soil that was still emanating heat and releasing faint smoke.The people watching couldnt comprehend anything of just what they were trying to do there, but the dragons in question are apparently doing it quite seriously while treading down on the thoroughly burned ground with their huge builds as they shouted Agyaagya.As such a view was somewhat ridiculous rather than being intimidating, it invited laughter, but there were only few who were really able to laugh after seeing that.After some time has passed, the dragons stop stomping across the ground they had burned, and then start to tread on the ground once more, using their body weight while being careful of their steps and surroundings as they cautiously took one step after the other.Seeing that happening, several among the travelers, who stood stock still as they watched the transition of the situation, thought,Could the dragons perhaps be preparing the ground?Immediately the feeling that such an idea was ridiculous gains in strength, but besides that, they dont find any other words to explain the situation taking place in front of their eyes.Furthermore, as if supporting such an opinion, a completely level surface became visible from the ground that had been carefully tread upon by the dragons. Damn, I didnt expect it to be necessary to start from urban development (Renya) Renya, the man in black, repeatedly mumbled on purpose as there was no one to listen to him, while gazing at the ground that had its soil prepared with a staggering momentum.I should have realized it at the time when I heard the wordsMargrave Kunugi, Renya thinks, but because at the time there were various other matters he had to consider apart from becoming a noble or managing a territory, he had ignored it.Although its a digression, the ranks of the nobles in the Principality Trident, or rather on this human continent will be explained here.If you limit the scope tobeing nobility, the rank of Duke is the topmost, below that are Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron, and then below these, Knights and Lower Knights.Knights and below are ranks that end after one generation. The Baron rank is split into around half-half when it comes to whether or not they posses territory.The ranks above Viscount always own territory. Moreover they are allowed to employ a private army unrelated to the maintenance of public order.The rank of Margrave that was bestowed onto Renya is commonly an Earl who possesses territory close to the national border, so to speak, a noble assigned with the task of guarding the border. Their authority can be compared to that of a Marquis who is one rank higher.In the case of the Principality Trident, a Duke is above a Marquis and there are no more than two nobles who hold the rank of Duke.The most important one from those two has been assigned as Archduke family, a position that allows them to give Renya orders without listening to his circumstances.By the way, its needless to point out, but the other family with the rank of a Duke is the Duke Baltan family. However, due to the current family head suffering a crushing defeat after having challenged Renya to a mock battle and having ended up in a state of having been beaten green and blue, their familys position had been weakened severely.Though, even if his position hadnt weakened to begin with, he probably wouldnt have the guts to meddle with Renya any further after having suffered such a devastating experience.Therefore, Renya currently only has to be cautious of the Duke Fatale family, the Archduchess family. Well, if its that Archduchess, I dont think that she would make a blunder in this kind of situation though. (Renya) If the ground becomes too hard, it will become troublesome later on when construction work is carried out on top of it.If the soil below the ground becomes too tough when laying the foundation, it will be difficult to drive stakes into it.Nevertheless, as strength issues will crop up if it was tread down too weakly, I told the dragons to stomp on it quite a bit.In the end Renya decided to accept the reward offered by the archduchess.There might be various merits and demerits because of that.However, what Renya thought as the very first was that there likely wouldnt be any other countries that would give him any better terms.If I can, to some extent, properly perform my task of paying taxes to the country after having accepted the title of a noble, the rest will somehow work out, since I wont be told anything too unreasonable, once he ponders about the conditions past that level, he judges that,At least I probably wont be asked later: Please manage the country since I will give it to you.Besides, it was very unlikely for a country that would give such an absurd condition to exist.If theres actually a country like that, it means that its governed by a ridiculously foolish ruler.In addition to that, wouldnt it be fine for me to escape or defect to another country if the Trident Principality creates demerits beyond those I can think of, Renya wondered.If I defect after receiving a request from the archduchess or if I defect after not accepting it, it would result in me losing almost everything I acquired up to this point.Meaning, if theres no big difference no matter what I choose, I will accept the things I can do for starters, and if it becomes really dangerous, I will throw everything away and escape. That might be called irresponsible, but its not like I could deny it either.This was something Renya clearly told the archduchess when he informed her that he would accept her reward.Its because he thought that it would be slightly dishonest to abandon everything without saying anything, even while considering such a choice as irresponsible.Putting it differently, even if its something I would get blamed for after doing it without saying anything about it; if I do do it, I can include the possible excuse of I mean, didnt I tell you properly at the time? in to my calculations.Apparently Renyas way of thinking was seen through by the archduchess. The archduchess limited her reaction to showing a troubled smile while saying It cant be helped, can it?In the archduchess eyes, Renyas mentality was probably something she didnt really want to accept, but since she fully understood that she would likely be told Then I dont need the title by Renya if she pecked at it imprudently, she apparently avoided commenting on Renyas remark, putting the highest priority on having him accept the title for starters.Its likely not as an act of revenge for that, but the archduchess said that the territory presented to Renya will only be recognized as his from the parts in the western area he reclaimed, starting from a place thats half a day away from Kukrika by carriage. From Renyas point of view that was something truly bothersome.Because the land doesnt have a good, lasting quality, and due to the archduchess words that he will have to pay taxes in proportion to the reclaimed areas, Renya wondered whether it was her roundabout way of her telling him to build buildings as he sees fit, but when he returned to his home in Kukrika and explained all of this to his party members, Frau got really into it with quite the zeal for some reason. Master! Then we have to do our best and develop the area ~no! (Frau) Eh? Why are you, a Silky, getting so hyped up over it, Frau? (Renya) I will be able to expand the range of the things Im doing in the garden ~no! (Frau) No, I mean, havingthatgetting any bigger is a really bad idea, isnt it? (Renya) Even Renya had at this point reached the conclusion that theres probably something abnormal living in his homes garden, even if he doesnt know the details.The raw materials that can be harvested from those beings have a very high utility value and thus he had left it alone, but even thats just because its limited to those things living in his homes garden. If it comes to creating a farm of these things and going at it on a large scale, he has no choice but to make his disapproval clear.But no matter how much Renya disapproved, Frau remained firm and stubborn in regards to this matter and didnt have any intention to pull back.In the end Renya gave in and for some reason the flow of the conversation turned towards it being preferable for him to properly build a city now that it has come to this.The ones who got majorly carried away in this regard were Emil and Croire, who joined in, with Frau in the lead.In contrast Shion, Rona and Mayria, the human group, wasnt overly eager about it.Renya thought that Croire probably wouldnt be very happy over him being affiliated with the Trident Principality, but once he tried asking Croire about it, she readily answered the following, Eh? Wont the position of a concubine become available if you become a noble, Renya? (Croire) As far as Renya heard, its common knowledge in this world that people at the level of normal citizen dont possess several wives, for the most part.This also applies to adventurers. As long as they didnt obtain an outrageous fortune by being very successful, monogamy was the common practice.However, once it came to nobles, it seems to be somehow natural for almost all nobles to surround themselves with several women as concubines and as additional wives. On the contrary, its said that nobles, who marry only one woman, are considered heretics and get treated as oddballs.If I consider the fact that nobles have to leave behind an heir, or rather definitely must do so, things turning out this way might be something unavoidable. But, if this also applies to the noble ranks of Knights and below, who retain their ranks for only one generation, isnt going as far as establishing this common practice a bit too much in some way?Renya doubts the nobles motives. Is something like becoming a concubine really alright for a daughter of the elven emperor? (Renya) Due to Renya hinting that her ambitions were probably far too low, Croire clearly answered, Rather, I reached the point of wondering whether even becoming your concubine will be fine, as Im the daughter ofthatemperor. (Croire) If Im treated as a legal wife, that emperors shadow will linger, no matter what. It will probably become difficult to have Renya affirm my love because of this, Croire judged,but wont all the issues be resolved in one go if its the marriage of an imperial princess as a concubine?Renya admired her for her truly strong-willed way of thinking.However, the question of whether he will marry her or not was actually a separate matter.The one who he thought would also disapprove, in addition to Croire, was Emil.She came to live at Renyas place in order to distance herself from the demons. However, Renyas territory is in an area thats closer to the Demons domain than to the city of Kukrika. Renya thought that she would hate this fact.However, even she easily gave her consent to moving after having brooded over it for a bit. Its not like we are really going beyond the Miasma Forest. If I can stay on this side of the forest, the distance between Kukrika and where we are going is like a measurement error. (Emil) Is that how it works? Thats how it is. Also, if I can live in your territory, Renya, it will be more comfortable than Kukrika for me. It looks like I will be able to add various things if you are going to build a new city. (Emil) Renya felt slightly worried due to Emils broad grin.Renya warned her to not go too far, but at the same time he decided in his mind to run away at full speed if something really absurd came to light.This is the sequence of events that led to the launch of the project called Lets build a city in an empty plain. Chapter 118 C It seems Public Work comes first It takes around two days by coach from the city of Kukrika to the Miasma Forest that divides the humans from the demons with its large range.On the way there, theres almost nothing but plains continuing for the whole while. Pioneer villages that have been established continuously as part of the Trident Principalitys national policy can be found here and there in the circumference of the Miasma Forest, but most of them repeatedly carried out the unproductive cycle of being destroyed by monster attacks or raided by bandits without achieving almost any results and then getting rebuild again.This vast region has quite the bad public order and one cant say that its soil is rich either. Given that there are no nobles of the Trident Principality who desired it, it has naturally taken the form of being a state-owned region under the archduchess direct control.In an area of the land, closer to the Miasma Forest by more than a days travel from Kukrika, a scene spread out that made the travelers, who were using the road, doubt their own eyes.Around ten red dragons had gathered at such a place.Dragons, which would cause a tumult with just having one of them appear, have turned up in such numbers. Moreover they have gathered in one place. It was a view that made the travelers, who witnessed it, strongly wonder whether the time of the Trident Principalitys demise had come, but the reality went beyond their imaginations.As soon as a young man completely clad in black appeared at the the restlessly loitering dragons feet, the dragons, which moved around as they pleased until then, suddenly changed their behavior and formed a tidy line standing side-by-side.The onlookers wondered just what the hell was going to happen from here on out.While the travelers stop their feet and attentively watch the spectacle, forgetting that they are in the middle of a journey, the man in black gives the dragons some kind of order, and in the next moment, lumps of fire surged out off the dragons mouths in succession and pierced the ground.With ear-splitting explosions earth, sand and flames are blown into the air.Those simultaneous attacks at several places, which seem to have sorcery spells added in as well, burn down the weeds, which thickly covered the ground that hadnt been used by anyone, and fortunately blow away the intense unevenness afflicting the terrain.The impacts shake the land. The vibrations even reached Kukrika far in the distance, but theres no reason for the travelers or the man in black, who gave the dragons the order, to be aware of that.Before long the dragons, who devoted themselves to razing the ground for a while, suddenly stopped spitting fire, as if the attacks until now were an illusion, upon seeing the man in black raise his hand.At this point in time the ground, which covered quite the wide area, was exposing its soil that had been burned, blown up and dyed black.Once the man in black points at that burned ground, the dragons, who had lined up neatly, started to run around freely across the soil that was still emanating heat and releasing faint smoke.The people watching couldnt comprehend anything of just what they were trying to do there, but the dragons in question are apparently doing it quite seriously while treading down on the thoroughly burned ground with their huge builds as they shouted Agyaagya.As such a view was somewhat ridiculous rather than being intimidating, it invited laughter, but there were only few who were really able to laugh after seeing that.After some time has passed, the dragons stop stomping across the ground they had burned, and then start to tread on the ground once more, using their body weight while being careful of their steps and surroundings as they cautiously took one step after the other.Seeing that happening, several among the travelers, who stood stock still as they watched the transition of the situation, thought,Could the dragons perhaps be preparing the ground?Immediately the feeling that such an idea was ridiculous gains in strength, but besides that, they dont find any other words to explain the situation taking place in front of their eyes.Furthermore, as if supporting such an opinion, a completely level surface became visible from the ground that had been carefully tread upon by the dragons. Damn, I didnt expect it to be necessary to start from urban development (Renya) Renya, the man in black, repeatedly mumbled on purpose as there was no one to listen to him, while gazing at the ground that had its soil prepared with a staggering momentum.I should have realized it at the time when I heard the wordsMargrave Kunugi, Renya thinks, but because at the time there were various other matters he had to consider apart from becoming a noble or managing a territory, he had ignored it.Although its a digression, the ranks of the nobles in the Principality Trident, or rather on this human continent will be explained here.If you limit the scope tobeing nobility, the rank of Duke is the topmost, below that are Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron, and then below these, Knights and Lower Knights.Knights and below are ranks that end after one generation. The Baron rank is split into around half-half when it comes to whether or not they posses territory.The ranks above Viscount always own territory. Moreover they are allowed to employ a private army unrelated to the maintenance of public order.The rank of Margrave that was bestowed onto Renya is commonly an Earl who possesses territory close to the national border, so to speak, a noble assigned with the task of guarding the border. Their authority can be compared to that of a Marquis who is one rank higher.In the case of the Principality Trident, a Duke is above a Marquis and there are no more than two nobles who hold the rank of Duke.The most important one from those two has been assigned as Archduke family, a position that allows them to give Renya orders without listening to his circumstances.By the way, its needless to point out, but the other family with the rank of a Duke is the Duke Baltan family. However, due to the current family head suffering a crushing defeat after having challenged Renya to a mock battle and having ended up in a state of having been beaten green and blue, their familys position had been weakened severely.Though, even if his position hadnt weakened to begin with, he probably wouldnt have the guts to meddle with Renya any further after having suffered such a devastating experience.Therefore, Renya currently only has to be cautious of the Duke Fatale family, the Archduchess family. Well, if its that Archduchess, I dont think that she would make a blunder in this kind of situation though. (Renya) If the ground becomes too hard, it will become troublesome later on when construction work is carried out on top of it.If the soil below the ground becomes too tough when laying the foundation, it will be difficult to drive stakes into it.Nevertheless, as strength issues will crop up if it was tread down too weakly, I told the dragons to stomp on it quite a bit.In the end Renya decided to accept the reward offered by the archduchess.There might be various merits and demerits because of that.However, what Renya thought as the very first was that there likely wouldnt be any other countries that would give him any better terms.If I can, to some extent, properly perform my task of paying taxes to the country after having accepted the title of a noble, the rest will somehow work out, since I wont be told anything too unreasonable, once he ponders about the conditions past that level, he judges that,At least I probably wont be asked later: Please manage the country since I will give it to you.Besides, it was very unlikely for a country that would give such an absurd condition to exist.If theres actually a country like that, it means that its governed by a ridiculously foolish ruler.In addition to that, wouldnt it be fine for me to escape or defect to another country if the Trident Principality creates demerits beyond those I can think of, Renya wondered.If I defect after receiving a request from the archduchess or if I defect after not accepting it, it would result in me losing almost everything I acquired up to this point.Meaning, if theres no big difference no matter what I choose, I will accept the things I can do for starters, and if it becomes really dangerous, I will throw everything away and escape. That might be called irresponsible, but its not like I could deny it either.This was something Renya clearly told the archduchess when he informed her that he would accept her reward.Its because he thought that it would be slightly dishonest to abandon everything without saying anything, even while considering such a choice as irresponsible.Putting it differently, even if its something I would get blamed for after doing it without saying anything about it; if I do do it, I can include the possible excuse of I mean, didnt I tell you properly at the time? in to my calculations.Apparently Renyas way of thinking was seen through by the archduchess. The archduchess limited her reaction to showing a troubled smile while saying It cant be helped, can it?In the archduchess eyes, Renyas mentality was probably something she didnt really want to accept, but since she fully understood that she would likely be told Then I dont need the title by Renya if she pecked at it imprudently, she apparently avoided commenting on Renyas remark, putting the highest priority on having him accept the title for starters.Its likely not as an act of revenge for that, but the archduchess said that the territory presented to Renya will only be recognized as his from the parts in the western area he reclaimed, starting from a place thats half a day away from Kukrika by carriage. From Renyas point of view that was something truly bothersome.Because the land doesnt have a good, lasting quality, and due to the archduchess words that he will have to pay taxes in proportion to the reclaimed areas, Renya wondered whether it was her roundabout way of her telling him to build buildings as he sees fit, but when he returned to his home in Kukrika and explained all of this to his party members, Frau got really into it with quite the zeal for some reason. Master! Then we have to do our best and develop the area ~no! (Frau) Eh? Why are you, a Silky, getting so hyped up over it, Frau? (Renya) I will be able to expand the range of the things Im doing in the garden ~no! (Frau) No, I mean, havingthatgetting any bigger is a really bad idea, isnt it? (Renya) Even Renya had at this point reached the conclusion that theres probably something abnormal living in his homes garden, even if he doesnt know the details.The raw materials that can be harvested from those beings have a very high utility value and thus he had left it alone, but even thats just because its limited to those things living in his homes garden. If it comes to creating a farm of these things and going at it on a large scale, he has no choice but to make his disapproval clear.But no matter how much Renya disapproved, Frau remained firm and stubborn in regards to this matter and didnt have any intention to pull back.In the end Renya gave in and for some reason the flow of the conversation turned towards it being preferable for him to properly build a city now that it has come to this.The ones who got majorly carried away in this regard were Emil and Croire, who joined in, with Frau in the lead.In contrast Shion, Rona and Mayria, the human group, wasnt overly eager about it.Renya thought that Croire probably wouldnt be very happy over him being affiliated with the Trident Principality, but once he tried asking Croire about it, she readily answered the following, Eh? Wont the position of a concubine become available if you become a noble, Renya? (Croire) As far as Renya heard, its common knowledge in this world that people at the level of normal citizen dont possess several wives, for the most part.This also applies to adventurers. As long as they didnt obtain an outrageous fortune by being very successful, monogamy was the common practice.However, once it came to nobles, it seems to be somehow natural for almost all nobles to surround themselves with several women as concubines and as additional wives. On the contrary, its said that nobles, who marry only one woman, are considered heretics and get treated as oddballs.If I consider the fact that nobles have to leave behind an heir, or rather definitely must do so, things turning out this way might be something unavoidable. But, if this also applies to the noble ranks of Knights and below, who retain their ranks for only one generation, isnt going as far as establishing this common practice a bit too much in some way?Renya doubts the nobles motives. Is something like becoming a concubine really alright for a daughter of the elven emperor? (Renya) Due to Renya hinting that her ambitions were probably far too low, Croire clearly answered, Rather, I reached the point of wondering whether even becoming your concubine will be fine, as Im the daughter ofthatemperor. (Croire) If Im treated as a legal wife, that emperors shadow will linger, no matter what. It will probably become difficult to have Renya affirm my love because of this, Croire judged,but wont all the issues be resolved in one go if its the marriage of an imperial princess as a concubine?Renya admired her for her truly strong-willed way of thinking.However, the question of whether he will marry her or not was actually a separate matter.The one who he thought would also disapprove, in addition to Croire, was Emil.She came to live at Renyas place in order to distance herself from the demons. However, Renyas territory is in an area thats closer to the Demons domain than to the city of Kukrika. Renya thought that she would hate this fact.However, even she easily gave her consent to moving after having brooded over it for a bit. Its not like we are really going beyond the Miasma Forest. If I can stay on this side of the forest, the distance between Kukrika and where we are going is like a measurement error. (Emil) Is that how it works? Thats how it is. Also, if I can live in your territory, Renya, it will be more comfortable than Kukrika for me. It looks like I will be able to add various things if you are going to build a new city. (Emil) Renya felt slightly worried due to Emils broad grin.Renya warned her to not go too far, but at the same time he decided in his mind to run away at full speed if something really absurd came to light.This is the sequence of events that led to the launch of the project called Lets build a city in an empty plain. Chapter 119 Chapter 119 C It seem to be in the Middle of Construction Work Theres no way for Renya to have knowledge about something like urban development.Fundamentally Renya is the type of person who does physical work. If pushed to say, his attitude towards knowledge is: He only knows the things he knows, but as for those things he doesnt know, he doesnt really care. Thats the type of person he is.So of course he doesnt possess any knowledge regarding public work either.What hes capable of doing is limited to somehow providing the building materials and securing manpower.As for the question from where he secured them from, Renya kept his mouth firmly shut and never talked about it. However, from the rumors that normal people hear by chance, news, which makes one doubt their own ears, that a single rocky mountain near Kukrika has vanished, that several dragons are present at the construction site and are being forced to carry things such as lumber and stones or that a unit of 100 soldiers, wearing the Trident Principality armys equipment, tilled an unbelievably wide plot of land in a short time with hoes in their hands, fly about everyday.While giving Frau, who was in her maid outfit, a ride on his shoulders, Renya thinks,Somehow I have been pulled into something rather bothersome, havent I?Frau managed to sever the connection with the house in Kukrika so easily that it actually surprised Renya.The various types of plants thickly growing in the garden have completely disappeared without a trace, making Renya question where they could have gone after only using two days to prepare.Even the basement, where Frau and Emil had been doing suspicious things, had been completely emptied out and only a deserted space surrounded by stone walls was visible through the entrance, which was left open.No matter how much Renya questioned Frau about this, she stayed silent.I dont know whether all this is under Fraus complete control. I wonder whether this hasnt been leaked somewhere unbeknownst to me, Renya doubted so, but as soon as he tried to press her for answers in a slightly more forceful manner, Frau immediately resisted by using her final weapon, A girls secret.As expected, even Renya wouldnt be able to pursue the matter any further with those words thrust in front of him.Therefore he only confirmed with her that nothing inopportune had been leaked to the outside and that shes properly finishing the management, processing and clean-up. Apart from that he has mostly left the topic alone.The citys layout was entrusted to Emil and Mayria.The biggest reason for this is that there is a lack of other, more capable, personnel, but even on this side various problems have started to crop up. Saaay, Emil just what the heck are you doing? (Renya) I-I wonder wh-what you are talking a-about, Renya? If I could have you remove your eagle grip on my head for starters, wouldnt that make it easier to have normal conversation? (Emil) When Renya, who discovered Emil in the area where the building stones were being stored, saw her writing something on the back side of the stone tiles, which are likely going to cover the roads of the city, one by one, he quietly drew near from behind and suddenly used an eagle grip on her head with his right hand. Once Renya continues to strengthen his grip little by little, Emil grabs Renyas right wrist with both her hands while keeping up her cramped smile, and begins trying to somehow tear his hand off her head. Didnt you hear my question? I asked you what youre doing. (Renya) I suppose confirming the quality of the tiles that will be used as paving for the roads (Emil) Hoo? (Renya) Ah, it hurts!? You dont believe me Renya!? Somehow I just heard creaking sounds coming from parts that must not provoke such sounds!? I have the feeling that this isnt the grip strength of a normal human!? (Emil) Emil began to thrash about while raising her voice in a way that resembled a scream, but shes unable to escape from Renyas palm.In fear, Emil surrendered to Renya who silently started to further increase the pressure. Ill talk! Ill do it, so cant you loosen your grip a bit!? Itll burst open! My headll burst open!? (Emil) Keep it short, okay? (Renya) Once Renya weakened his grip a bit, Emil answered him briefly as she was instructed by Renya, even though she was still struggling and wondering whether she couldnt get Renyas hand off the back of her head someway. I added a little trick to the tiles. (Emil) What kind of trick? (Renya) Renya Id like you to look and think about it. (Emil) Removing both hands from Renyas arm and abruptly shifting to a sincere tone, Emil begins to stress the importance of her words while tightly clenching her fists. The chance to participate in the creation of a city from scratch doesnt come around often. (Emil) Normally places where people live dont suddenly appear at the scale of a city.Most of the times it begins with something at a far smaller scale and then slowly grows into a considerable size.What Renya is building completely skips this regular process and is a project of designing a city from nothing.Its not like there arent any cities in this world that were built in such manner, but you can call it a rare occurrence. Yeah. (Renya) Because I ran into this rare opportunity, it makes me wonder whether it isnt my duty as an engineer to go all out and use all methods available. (Emil) What precisely do you plan to do? (Renya) That is, you know, Renya. I abundantly incorporated my special magic formulae, in other words, one that absorbs mana from the residents little by little and stores it, to ouch, ouch! It hurts, Renya! (Emil) In the middle of her speech, Renya started to put strength into his grip again. Once more Emil thrashed around while opening her clenched fists and then holding her own head. Rejected. (Renya) I-Isnt it fine? Common residents dont have many opportunities to use their mana anyway! I will configure it so that it absorbs so little that they wont even feel any fatigue from it! (Emil) Thats not the problem here. You would also hate a city where you are exploited without your consent by some unknown entity, right? (Renya) Eh? (Emil) Emil turns around in Renyas direction with a puzzled expression.While loosening the strength in his hand unconsciously due to her expression, Renya wondered whether he had said something odd. Emil asked him while looking really mystified, Human cities they dont have such function? (Emil) No or thats what I think at least. (Renya) When she asks that while staring at him, Renya lost confidence in his own words and answered while faltering a bit.Once he tries thinking about it, Emil hasnt gone out of Renyas home except for things like visiting army facilities. She probably didnt have many chances to see how typical humans spend their time. Eh? I mean, theres air conditioning and even a proper water and sewer service in your house, isnt there Renya? (Emil) Those are Fraus work. There seem to be no places that use mana for their living comfort up to such a point among the typical homes? (Renya) While answering, Frau with a puffed out chest, as if asking himHow about that!, pops up within Renyas mind.Emil muttered while intently staring at his tight, flat chest, Then what are normal humans doing about water or temperature? (Emil) They draw water from a well or accumulate rain water? The temperature is probably regulated through making a fire or allowing the wind to blow through the house. (Renya) Such a bad efficiency. (Emil) Emil said with a voice containing her astonishment, or rather her admiration, or rather her inability to comment on it any further. Our city will be completely managed by Frau and will also have the same functions as your home, Renya. Of course we have to collect mana from the residents bit by bit and set it aside for the maintenance of those functions though. (Emil) Things like water and sewer services, a certain level of temperature regulation inside the city, lights to illuminate the city during the night and a communication network within the city. The city where Emil lived, in other words the demons city, has a difference in its scope and a few disparities. Most of the communities with a size that allows them to be called cities use a system to collect mana from their residents and a system that uses the accumulated mana to maintain the citys functions, according to Emil. Though the quantity taken from the individual demon is slightly larger because we possess a lot of mana. Since the humans have larger numbers, albeit possessing little mana, I think we will be able to somehow handle it even if the collected amount per person is small. (Emil) I guess that might have a certain charm (Renya) Although all the structures within the city might be inferior to my home in Kukrika, if they can maintain the same functions, wont we be able to present that as merit which would compensate plentifully for the demerit of absorbing a little bit mana?Renya wonders. In the first place, dont you believe that you are overthinking things a bit too much, Renya? (Emil) Really? (Renya) After all, this system, it was also set up in the capital city of the Trident Principality. However, it looks like the system over there isnt used for maintaining the citys functions, but for something else. (Emil) Due to Emil stating that without hesitation, Shions body, who came to pick up building stones by chance, trembled with a start.Having been assigned to Renya as the one in charge of military affairs, Shion is mainly the same type of physical worker as Renya. She readily abandons work that requires mental capacity at Emils or Mayrias level, and works hard and diligently at manual labor such as transporting building stones or ramming stakes into the ground for the sake of establishing a foundation.Being referred to as the military official might sound nice, but currently an organization that could be called military doesnt exist in the Kunugi Margraviate.In other words, Shion had a lot of free time as there was no work for her to do as a military official.Somehow Renya has the feeling that Shion would still have plenty of free time even if they reached the point of actually having an army, but as he believes that its probably wrong to voice that out, he stays silent and limits himself to only thinking about it.As for the reason, its because Rona has been employed as Shions assistant.The opinion that all practical and businesslike matters will be very likely handled by Rona was shared by almost everyone in Shions surroundings. Shion? Do you know something about that? (Renya) N-No, nothing! I was just startled that you suddenly started speaking about the Trident Principality. (Shion) While answering in a fluster, Shion lifted up all the stone tiles that were piled up over there and ran off as if escaping.Due to Shions all too obvious attitude, Renya and Emil fully comprehended that she knows something about the function of the Trident Principalitys capital that Emil was talking about, but neither of them were in the mood to chase after Shion and confront her about it.After all that was something relatively insignificant to either of them.Rather than that, Emil grins broadly while seeing off the escaping Shion.The stone tiles, which Shion took, were apparently materials with Emils bestowal magic applied on them. So I guess that means its already too late even if I told you to stop now, huh? (Renya) To begin with, it looks like I noticed it far too late, Renya realizes.If he had done this before the city construction, he likely could have stopped it, but now the citys construction has already started with the pavement of the roads and the construction of several buildings in work. There are even parts that have been completed.Theres no way that Emil hadnt meddled with those. I feel sorry for having stayed silent about it. But I never actually thought that such functions dont exist in human cities. (Emil) I will look the other way if you promise me that the functions will be put to use for improving the livelihood of the citizens. And please make sure that magic stones can be used as a substitute. (Renya) Its probably necessary to inform the residents about it in a roundabout way, Renya feels.If the residents stopped settling down in the city because of this, we will somehow still be able to handle it with a mass production of magic stones through Frau, Renya assessed. You can leave that part to me. The elevation of the citys living standard is directly linked to the easiness of my livelihood. (Emil) You plan to settle down here? Well, whatever, but (Renya) I think itll become a city where its easy to live. At any rate, it will be a lushly green city with a set ratio of 50:50 between architectural structures and green tracts of land. (Emil) Wait a moment. (Renya) When he turned his look upwards at Frau who is riding on this shoulders, Frau tried to escape Renyas gaze by fully concentrating on looking up to the sky.Seeing that, Renya grabs both of Fraus ankles, which are swaying on both his sides, and starts to swiftly put strength into his grip.Frau, who was watching the sky, became pale due to the pain and pressure assaulting her ankles, tightly grasped her small fists and began to launch a barrage of punches towards Renyas head in silence. Frau, I havent heard anything about this, have I? (Renya) Master it will be fine ~nano. I will only plant the children with gentle temperaments. T-Thats why Id like you to take your hands off my ankles ~no. (Frau) Children with gentle temperaments, you say? What children!? (Renya) Huh? This was to be kept secret from Renya? (Emil) Frau glared at Emil, who had apparently spit this information out on purpose and was currently patting her head that had just been released from Renyas hand, with eyes that had a dangerous glint dwelling within. Emil I will remember that ~no. Master!? Fraus ankles are completely different from strong legs like those of Shion-ane-sama or Rona-ane-sama ~no! If you grasp them like that, they will be torn off ~no! Having a lot of greenland is a good thing ~nano! The human heart will feel at ease, and it will be an environment also making it easy for the elf Croire-ane-sama to live in ~no! Thats why Id like you to remove your hands ~no! (Frau) Only that an ominous place outside the human world will extend to the size of a city, right? (Renya) Thats not it ~no! It will be fine since Frau will manage it properly ~no! T-They might break ~no! (Frau) In the end Renya wasnt conscious when his hands separated from Fraus ankles.Frau, who was unable to bear the pain any longer, took the decisive action of head-butting the top of Renyas head as if planning a double suicide. Only when both were knocked out, were Fraus ankles released from Renyas grasp.Emil, who quietly moved both of them, who had lost consciousness, into a corner hidden from peoples eyes, once again started with her work at the stone tiles as if being possessed by a demon. Chapter 119 C It seem to be in the Middle of Construction Work Theres no way for Renya to have knowledge about something like urban development.Fundamentally Renya is the type of person who does physical work. If pushed to say, his attitude towards knowledge is: He only knows the things he knows, but as for those things he doesnt know, he doesnt really care. Thats the type of person he is.So of course he doesnt possess any knowledge regarding public work either.What hes capable of doing is limited to somehow providing the building materials and securing manpower.As for the question from where he secured them from, Renya kept his mouth firmly shut and never talked about it. However, from the rumors that normal people hear by chance, news, which makes one doubt their own ears, that a single rocky mountain near Kukrika has vanished, that several dragons are present at the construction site and are being forced to carry things such as lumber and stones or that a unit of 100 soldiers, wearing the Trident Principality armys equipment, tilled an unbelievably wide plot of land in a short time with hoes in their hands, fly about everyday.While giving Frau, who was in her maid outfit, a ride on his shoulders, Renya thinks,Somehow I have been pulled into something rather bothersome, havent I?Frau managed to sever the connection with the house in Kukrika so easily that it actually surprised Renya.The various types of plants thickly growing in the garden have completely disappeared without a trace, making Renya question where they could have gone after only using two days to prepare.Even the basement, where Frau and Emil had been doing suspicious things, had been completely emptied out and only a deserted space surrounded by stone walls was visible through the entrance, which was left open.No matter how much Renya questioned Frau about this, she stayed silent.I dont know whether all this is under Fraus complete control. I wonder whether this hasnt been leaked somewhere unbeknownst to me, Renya doubted so, but as soon as he tried to press her for answers in a slightly more forceful manner, Frau immediately resisted by using her final weapon, A girls secret.As expected, even Renya wouldnt be able to pursue the matter any further with those words thrust in front of him.Therefore he only confirmed with her that nothing inopportune had been leaked to the outside and that shes properly finishing the management, processing and clean-up. Apart from that he has mostly left the topic alone.The citys layout was entrusted to Emil and Mayria.The biggest reason for this is that there is a lack of other, more capable, personnel, but even on this side various problems have started to crop up. Saaay, Emil just what the heck are you doing? (Renya) I-I wonder wh-what you are talking a-about, Renya? If I could have you remove your eagle grip on my head for starters, wouldnt that make it easier to have normal conversation? (Emil) When Renya, who discovered Emil in the area where the building stones were being stored, saw her writing something on the back side of the stone tiles, which are likely going to cover the roads of the city, one by one, he quietly drew near from behind and suddenly used an eagle grip on her head with his right hand. Once Renya continues to strengthen his grip little by little, Emil grabs Renyas right wrist with both her hands while keeping up her cramped smile, and begins trying to somehow tear his hand off her head. Didnt you hear my question? I asked you what youre doing. (Renya) I suppose confirming the quality of the tiles that will be used as paving for the roads (Emil) Hoo? (Renya) Ah, it hurts!? You dont believe me Renya!? Somehow I just heard creaking sounds coming from parts that must not provoke such sounds!? I have the feeling that this isnt the grip strength of a normal human!? (Emil) Emil began to thrash about while raising her voice in a way that resembled a scream, but shes unable to escape from Renyas palm.In fear, Emil surrendered to Renya who silently started to further increase the pressure. Ill talk! Ill do it, so cant you loosen your grip a bit!? Itll burst open! My headll burst open!? (Emil) Keep it short, okay? (Renya) Once Renya weakened his grip a bit, Emil answered him briefly as she was instructed by Renya, even though she was still struggling and wondering whether she couldnt get Renyas hand off the back of her head someway. I added a little trick to the tiles. (Emil) What kind of trick? (Renya) Renya Id like you to look and think about it. (Emil) Removing both hands from Renyas arm and abruptly shifting to a sincere tone, Emil begins to stress the importance of her words while tightly clenching her fists. The chance to participate in the creation of a city from scratch doesnt come around often. (Emil) Normally places where people live dont suddenly appear at the scale of a city.Most of the times it begins with something at a far smaller scale and then slowly grows into a considerable size.What Renya is building completely skips this regular process and is a project of designing a city from nothing.Its not like there arent any cities in this world that were built in such manner, but you can call it a rare occurrence. Yeah. (Renya) Because I ran into this rare opportunity, it makes me wonder whether it isnt my duty as an engineer to go all out and use all methods available. (Emil) What precisely do you plan to do? (Renya) That is, you know, Renya. I abundantly incorporated my special magic formulae, in other words, one that absorbs mana from the residents little by little and stores it, to ouch, ouch! It hurts, Renya! (Emil) In the middle of her speech, Renya started to put strength into his grip again. Once more Emil thrashed around while opening her clenched fists and then holding her own head. Rejected. (Renya) I-Isnt it fine? Common residents dont have many opportunities to use their mana anyway! I will configure it so that it absorbs so little that they wont even feel any fatigue from it! (Emil) Thats not the problem here. You would also hate a city where you are exploited without your consent by some unknown entity, right? (Renya) Eh? (Emil) Emil turns around in Renyas direction with a puzzled expression.While loosening the strength in his hand unconsciously due to her expression, Renya wondered whether he had said something odd. Emil asked him while looking really mystified, Human cities they dont have such function? (Emil) No or thats what I think at least. (Renya) When she asks that while staring at him, Renya lost confidence in his own words and answered while faltering a bit.Once he tries thinking about it, Emil hasnt gone out of Renyas home except for things like visiting army facilities. She probably didnt have many chances to see how typical humans spend their time. Eh? I mean, theres air conditioning and even a proper water and sewer service in your house, isnt there Renya? (Emil) Those are Fraus work. There seem to be no places that use mana for their living comfort up to such a point among the typical homes? (Renya) While answering, Frau with a puffed out chest, as if asking himHow about that!, pops up within Renyas mind.Emil muttered while intently staring at his tight, flat chest, Then what are normal humans doing about water or temperature? (Emil) They draw water from a well or accumulate rain water? The temperature is probably regulated through making a fire or allowing the wind to blow through the house. (Renya) Such a bad efficiency. (Emil) Emil said with a voice containing her astonishment, or rather her admiration, or rather her inability to comment on it any further. Our city will be completely managed by Frau and will also have the same functions as your home, Renya. Of course we have to collect mana from the residents bit by bit and set it aside for the maintenance of those functions though. (Emil) Things like water and sewer services, a certain level of temperature regulation inside the city, lights to illuminate the city during the night and a communication network within the city. The city where Emil lived, in other words the demons city, has a difference in its scope and a few disparities. Most of the communities with a size that allows them to be called cities use a system to collect mana from their residents and a system that uses the accumulated mana to maintain the citys functions, according to Emil. Though the quantity taken from the individual demon is slightly larger because we possess a lot of mana. Since the humans have larger numbers, albeit possessing little mana, I think we will be able to somehow handle it even if the collected amount per person is small. (Emil) I guess that might have a certain charm (Renya) Although all the structures within the city might be inferior to my home in Kukrika, if they can maintain the same functions, wont we be able to present that as merit which would compensate plentifully for the demerit of absorbing a little bit mana?Renya wonders. In the first place, dont you believe that you are overthinking things a bit too much, Renya? (Emil) Really? (Renya) After all, this system, it was also set up in the capital city of the Trident Principality. However, it looks like the system over there isnt used for maintaining the citys functions, but for something else. (Emil) Due to Emil stating that without hesitation, Shions body, who came to pick up building stones by chance, trembled with a start.Having been assigned to Renya as the one in charge of military affairs, Shion is mainly the same type of physical worker as Renya. She readily abandons work that requires mental capacity at Emils or Mayrias level, and works hard and diligently at manual labor such as transporting building stones or ramming stakes into the ground for the sake of establishing a foundation.Being referred to as the military official might sound nice, but currently an organization that could be called military doesnt exist in the Kunugi Margraviate.In other words, Shion had a lot of free time as there was no work for her to do as a military official.Somehow Renya has the feeling that Shion would still have plenty of free time even if they reached the point of actually having an army, but as he believes that its probably wrong to voice that out, he stays silent and limits himself to only thinking about it.As for the reason, its because Rona has been employed as Shions assistant.The opinion that all practical and businesslike matters will be very likely handled by Rona was shared by almost everyone in Shions surroundings. Shion? Do you know something about that? (Renya) N-No, nothing! I was just startled that you suddenly started speaking about the Trident Principality. (Shion) While answering in a fluster, Shion lifted up all the stone tiles that were piled up over there and ran off as if escaping.Due to Shions all too obvious attitude, Renya and Emil fully comprehended that she knows something about the function of the Trident Principalitys capital that Emil was talking about, but neither of them were in the mood to chase after Shion and confront her about it.After all that was something relatively insignificant to either of them.Rather than that, Emil grins broadly while seeing off the escaping Shion.The stone tiles, which Shion took, were apparently materials with Emils bestowal magic applied on them. So I guess that means its already too late even if I told you to stop now, huh? (Renya) To begin with, it looks like I noticed it far too late, Renya realizes.If he had done this before the city construction, he likely could have stopped it, but now the citys construction has already started with the pavement of the roads and the construction of several buildings in work. There are even parts that have been completed.Theres no way that Emil hadnt meddled with those. I feel sorry for having stayed silent about it. But I never actually thought that such functions dont exist in human cities. (Emil) I will look the other way if you promise me that the functions will be put to use for improving the livelihood of the citizens. And please make sure that magic stones can be used as a substitute. (Renya) Its probably necessary to inform the residents about it in a roundabout way, Renya feels.If the residents stopped settling down in the city because of this, we will somehow still be able to handle it with a mass production of magic stones through Frau, Renya assessed. You can leave that part to me. The elevation of the citys living standard is directly linked to the easiness of my livelihood. (Emil) You plan to settle down here? Well, whatever, but (Renya) I think itll become a city where its easy to live. At any rate, it will be a lushly green city with a set ratio of 50:50 between architectural structures and green tracts of land. (Emil) Wait a moment. (Renya) When he turned his look upwards at Frau who is riding on this shoulders, Frau tried to escape Renyas gaze by fully concentrating on looking up to the sky.Seeing that, Renya grabs both of Fraus ankles, which are swaying on both his sides, and starts to swiftly put strength into his grip.Frau, who was watching the sky, became pale due to the pain and pressure assaulting her ankles, tightly grasped her small fists and began to launch a barrage of punches towards Renyas head in silence. Frau, I havent heard anything about this, have I? (Renya) Master it will be fine ~nano. I will only plant the children with gentle temperaments. T-Thats why Id like you to take your hands off my ankles ~no. (Frau) Children with gentle temperaments, you say? What children!? (Renya) Huh? This was to be kept secret from Renya? (Emil) Frau glared at Emil, who had apparently spit this information out on purpose and was currently patting her head that had just been released from Renyas hand, with eyes that had a dangerous glint dwelling within. Emil I will remember that ~no. Master!? Fraus ankles are completely different from strong legs like those of Shion-ane-sama or Rona-ane-sama ~no! If you grasp them like that, they will be torn off ~no! Having a lot of greenland is a good thing ~nano! The human heart will feel at ease, and it will be an environment also making it easy for the elf Croire-ane-sama to live in ~no! Thats why Id like you to remove your hands ~no! (Frau) Only that an ominous place outside the human world will extend to the size of a city, right? (Renya) Thats not it ~no! It will be fine since Frau will manage it properly ~no! T-They might break ~no! (Frau) In the end Renya wasnt conscious when his hands separated from Fraus ankles.Frau, who was unable to bear the pain any longer, took the decisive action of head-butting the top of Renyas head as if planning a double suicide. Only when both were knocked out, were Fraus ankles released from Renyas grasp.Emil, who quietly moved both of them, who had lost consciousness, into a corner hidden from peoples eyes, once again started with her work at the stone tiles as if being possessed by a demon. Chapter 120 Chapter 120 C And now it seems to be the End of Construction Its common to need quite a bit of time in order to build a single city.If it goes through the process of growing from a small-scaled community, it will require around 10 years to develop to the average scale of a city. Moreover the amount of money that needs to be invested isnt something to sneer at either.However, the first city built by Margrave Kunugi finished its construction in a fairly short period of time when contrasted to the little money invested into it. The disparity went so far that it became a popular topic to be talked about within the Trident Principality.One can predict that there are various reasons for such conversations to occur.The first big reason is that almost no manpower was used to prepare the soil, which is usually done by using a large number of workers.It went so far that the other nobles were suspicious about what kind of magic had been used there. But the soil preparation, which was completed casually and even mercilessly by the dragons who Renya had brought along after asking them nicely (according to Renyas account at least), transformed an unbelievably vast plain into the level ground needed to build a city in a flash.Those who learned of that method through the rumors of passing travelers and the reports from spies they had sent out, became speechless due to the information being absurdly outside their common sense.There was no way for them to imitate that, even if they tried.Its a world where only the appearance of a single dragoon, namely Liaris, caused an uproar.Before even debating about the credibility of the facts that many dragons were used, and of all things to work on soil preparation, the act itself of being in contact with many dragons was feared by the nobles as an event that would make anyone doubt the sanity of the person who had perpetrated such a deed.Furthermore, the acquisition speed of the materials for the sake of building the city was abnormal as well.Given that the process of lumbering and preparing after drying the wood already existed, as one might expect, money was apparently flowing to lumber wholesale stores to a certain extent, but as for the building stones that made up most of the city, it was completely unknown from where such a large amount of stones had been acquired and brought into Renyas city.Among the plausible rumors whispered in the streets, there was one story circulating where several of the rocky mountains of the Rocky Mountain Group, where the dragons are living, had spotlessly disappeared within a period of several nights.The things called maps in this world have only very vague records of the terrain. Naturally a map that precisely recorded how many rocky mountains existed in the Rocky Mountain Group didnt exist. But spots, which made several people wonder whether there hadnt been a mountain present before, and places, where only smooth, level ground was left behind, had been confirmed by several people. Furthermore, the figures of a faintly glowing, big-sized person and a person clad from head to toe in black silently swinging their weapons had been witnessed and various people saw dragons flying while carrying something like nets which were filled with something very heavy-looking.The authenticity of that information was uncertain though.The people among the surrounding countries and the nobility of the Trident Principality, who heard about this information by chance while also learning of the reason that the work was carried out far too efficiently and swiftly, wondered, Isnt our lack of information because we hesitated to start a detailed investigation fearing that it might not end well for us if we get too deeply involved in this?The city, which continued being built while such indefinite information about it was swirling around, had various of its parts shape up properly before anyone really realized and, in concert with that, recruitment notifications for residents were distributed within the Trident Principality.The distribution was performed at an extremely slow speed when compared to the speed of the citys creation.In the first place, for the nobles the population of a fief is a party from whom they levy taxes, or so-to-speak their assets.It was very obvious, even without any explanation, that there would be a strong opposition by the other nobles if Renya and the others gathered residents hastily with forceful methods.Nevertheless, people wont simply spawn around Renyas city, so it was definitely necessary to invite them from within the Trident Principality.There was also the method of accepting refugees from other countries, but because Renya wasnt overly eager about that, on top of Mayria indicating her disapproval of this, it naturally was never actively used as means to acquire people.The Kunugi Margraviate, which was established in practically no time, didnt have any kind of industry at the current time. Moreover, because it adopted the policy of only founding farm villages and getting agricultural land ready as the circumstances called for by watching the state of people gathering, it had to single-mindedly focus on buying food and other goods from outside and was depended on that.In other words, if they were to accept a large number of refugees from other countries, it would turn into a problem of most likely creating a food shortage within the Trident Principality.There was also the opinion wondering whether it wouldnt be fine to simply buy the lacking people, but seeing that the sellers would be the countries who exploit their people, it was near impossible for those countries to lend a hand in decreasing the number of their own people, who are the countries fortune.It was very simple to predict that almost all of them would hesitate to sell their citizens.For that reason the main group of people flowing into the city created by Renya consisted of second sons and below of merchant houses, the heirs and below of poor Knight peerages and those who were unable to get their hands on a plot of land to cultivate in farm villages. Putting the farmers aside, how about inviting the young people, who came from soldier families or Knight households, into my private army after checking their aptitude? (Renya) Renya says to Rona who is literally, not figuratively, buried more than halfway under a mountain of paper.The amount of immigration application sheets had become too much and therefore the unprocessed applications had been piled up high in a room next to the room prepared for Ronas duties, which couldnt contain all those documents. But the number stored away was such a large amount that it made one wonder whether specific documents could be excavated within several years after getting buried in that storage room. Looking at this disastrous scene you are going to increase my work even further, Renya? Are you a demon? You are definitely a demon, right? (Rona) Im a human. To begin with, whats up with this amount? Theres no way that so many immigrants are going to come to a remote territory close to the Miasma Forest, is there? (Renya) No, I mean, Renya you constructed and put up ready-made houses for immigrants for sale, didnt you? (Rona) If I tell them to build a suitable house after simply assigning them a plot of land, the people living there will likely build similar houses through various means, believed Renya and thus it took the shape of selling the buildings, which they had built to a certain extent in advance, to the immigrants.In this case the residents would be able to live in houses that had been built in the same way.Thats because Renya didnt want to be bothered with miscellaneous problems such as being asked to dig wells for drinking water or there being no drainage installation because of lacking funds.Since the scenery of the city would be neat as well, Renya considered it to be a completely positive aspect.If the people dont like it, they dont have to come here. Its not like we are going to force them into it.However, since it would be too saddening if no one came, he set the sale prices quite low. Its a set of cheap land and a house fully equipped with water and sewer services, no? Moreover, as the maintenance costs are free of charge, people will likely buy it outright if they can. Besides, it might certainly be true that this is a somewhat remote territory, but (Rona) Rona steals a fleeting glance at Renyas face.Renya tilted his head to the side not understanding the meaning behind that look. Its because the lord is Margrave Kunugi various rumors are circulating about you as no one can stop people from talking. (Rona) Renya ended up wondering for an instant about who shes talking about. Since coming to this world, he hadnt used his surname almost at all. Moreover, once a peerage title was added in front of it, it rung strange in Renyas ears as if hearing the name of some distant, unknown person. What kind of? I didnt do anything significant, did I? (Renya) Renya had absolutely no use for the word called rumor.Rona sighed deeply after seeing Renyas expression. I guess the biggest rumor is about you being the owner of the armor hero. Moreover there also rumors about you being a dragon tamer, friend of elves ah, by the way, quite a few elves have handed in immigration applications. Its fine for me to reject all of them, right? (Rona) Renya doesnt have any particular intention to hide these facts, but he doesnt have any plans to purposely spread these rumors.Even so, it looks like rumors or whatever will spread either way. Is that not a legal problem? (Renya) Renya asks while stopping Rona, who was about tear apart a bundle of applications with all her might.Although its not like there are absolutely no elves on the human continent, they are very rare. Renya wondered whether it might be fine for elves to immigrate into a human city, but while putting the applications, which had become slightly crumpled, at the side after giving up on trying to tear them apart, Rona answers, Legally theres no problem at all. There isnt much exchange between the elven country and the human countries, but there are diplomatic relations. Since its not like we are on bad terms with them, there wont be anything to blame them for as long as they apply correctly and pay their taxes properly, but the same applies in the opposite direction. (Rona) It was an argument that made Renya wonder just how it was any different from accepting an influx of refugees, but it appeared that there was a very big difference with the other side being the elven country. I guess a refuge for me has been secured in case everything goes south. (Renya) Why are you scheming your future escape? (Rona) Well, it will be troublesome if strange expectations are placed on me. (Renya) Renya wanted to insist that hes no more than a mere swordsman to the bitter end.Rona sighed once again at Renya. We will go with this for the urban areas, but as for the surrounding farm villages, the application rate for immigration is a lot higher. (Rona) Why? Compared to the urban areas, there are a lot more places that are dangerous, right? (Renya) Renya had even considered the possibility of absolutely no one coming as the worst case scenario.In that case he had planned to order the armor to employ those bone golems it can create in big numbers and have those work on the fields.At any rate, if Renya doesnt produce anything, he will become unable to pay the obligatory taxes to the Trident Principality. The first reason for the increase is the number of soldiers stationed at the farm villages. Compared to the farm villages located in the territories of other nobles, its planned to place almost twice as many soldiers in our farm villages. (Rona) Compared to other territories, its more dangerous over here, so its a reasonable measure, right? (Renya) There are no other nobles who would increase their soldiers and even go as far as mobilizing their private army just for farm villages (Rona) Nobles possess private armies only for the sake of defending themselves, Rona explains.But, in Renyas eyes , who can defend himself as much as he likes, theres not much meaning in stationing the private army in his surroundings.Wouldnt it be alright to not have a private army then? He harbored such thoughts as well, but Renya, who thought that the country doesnt have enough soldiers dispatched so as to protect the country and to defend farming areas, decided to set up a private army with the goal of defending farming areas as its main objective. If you like, I can somehow handle the defense of this city all by myself, you know? (Renya) Please realize that saying something like that is far too abnormal. As for the second reason, its because of the extraordinary condition of them being provided land and a house as one set. (Rona) Extraordinary? Which part of it? (Renya) Since I want them to cultivate crops and pay their taxes, its only natural to prepare a developed plot of land and a place for them to live, isnt it?Renya wonders.Its just side information, but upon Renyas order, both, fields and paddy fields, had been created in all farm villages.This was something completely according to Renyas wishes and even the point that rice and elven beans are to be definitely cultivated was written inside the immigration conditions for the villages.As for the matter of whether its possible to cultivate those or not, he had elven experts investigate through Croire and received a certificate that its possible.Given that it was somewhat impossible for dragons to prepare fields as one might expect, Renya borrowed Keiths unit from Kukrika.Probably because of their experience of earnestly digging through the ground during Renyas training, Keiths and the other soldiers work proceeded very quickly and once left up to them, who had built a fortress inside the Miasma Forest during their training, they even constructed wooden houses at a speed that seemed like a bad joke. Normally farmers are forced to build their own houses and fields when they immigrate. Even so, not only the agricultural land but also the houses for them to live in are provided by us. Moreover, for that to be done almost free of charge is something unheard of! (Rona) Its a recruitment of occupants for farm villages that had been prepared up to the point where the new farmers could cultivate crops as long as they sow seeds and use fertilizers.It might be somewhat dangerous, but with the many soldiers dispatched compared to other farm villages, theres no way that peasants wouldnt jump on this opportunity. For starters I will have them immigrate in order, starting from the young applicants. (Rona) Though I actually wanted to implement the same systems in those villages as the ones in the city. (Renya) Renya tried to consult about that with Emil, but he was immediately told that its impossible.Since the population in farm villages is overwhelmingly lower than that of the urban areas to begin with, the mana that can be collected is far too low. Emils scream-like response was that she cant even imagine what the hell she should do to construct those systems.Reluctantly he substituted those systems by digging wells and creating waterways that would carry the water if there was a river close to the farming areas. Well, I suppose there will be no end if you desire the highest standards. (Renya) Though I believe that you desire way too much there. (Rona) I wonder just how many nobles will faint once they properly grasp the true state of affairs in this territory?Rona pondered.With various things happening, the population began to grow and the Kunugi Margraviate began to take shape one way or another.The cityKlingewhich harbored Renyas castle later became known asForest and Stone City.Quite some time had passed since Renya was officially appointed to his peerage when a certain guest came visiting this city that possessed the special trait of having almost half of its area covered with trees and flowers. Chapter 120 C And now it seems to be the End of Construction Its common to need quite a bit of time in order to build a single city.If it goes through the process of growing from a small-scaled community, it will require around 10 years to develop to the average scale of a city. Moreover the amount of money that needs to be invested isnt something to sneer at either.However, the first city built by Margrave Kunugi finished its construction in a fairly short period of time when contrasted to the little money invested into it. The disparity went so far that it became a popular topic to be talked about within the Trident Principality.One can predict that there are various reasons for such conversations to occur.The first big reason is that almost no manpower was used to prepare the soil, which is usually done by using a large number of workers.It went so far that the other nobles were suspicious about what kind of magic had been used there. But the soil preparation, which was completed casually and even mercilessly by the dragons who Renya had brought along after asking them nicely (according to Renyas account at least), transformed an unbelievably vast plain into the level ground needed to build a city in a flash.Those who learned of that method through the rumors of passing travelers and the reports from spies they had sent out, became speechless due to the information being absurdly outside their common sense.There was no way for them to imitate that, even if they tried.Its a world where only the appearance of a single dragoon, namely Liaris, caused an uproar.Before even debating about the credibility of the facts that many dragons were used, and of all things to work on soil preparation, the act itself of being in contact with many dragons was feared by the nobles as an event that would make anyone doubt the sanity of the person who had perpetrated such a deed.Furthermore, the acquisition speed of the materials for the sake of building the city was abnormal as well.Given that the process of lumbering and preparing after drying the wood already existed, as one might expect, money was apparently flowing to lumber wholesale stores to a certain extent, but as for the building stones that made up most of the city, it was completely unknown from where such a large amount of stones had been acquired and brought into Renyas city.Among the plausible rumors whispered in the streets, there was one story circulating where several of the rocky mountains of the Rocky Mountain Group, where the dragons are living, had spotlessly disappeared within a period of several nights.The things called maps in this world have only very vague records of the terrain. Naturally a map that precisely recorded how many rocky mountains existed in the Rocky Mountain Group didnt exist. But spots, which made several people wonder whether there hadnt been a mountain present before, and places, where only smooth, level ground was left behind, had been confirmed by several people. Furthermore, the figures of a faintly glowing, big-sized person and a person clad from head to toe in black silently swinging their weapons had been witnessed and various people saw dragons flying while carrying something like nets which were filled with something very heavy-looking.The authenticity of that information was uncertain though.The people among the surrounding countries and the nobility of the Trident Principality, who heard about this information by chance while also learning of the reason that the work was carried out far too efficiently and swiftly, wondered, Isnt our lack of information because we hesitated to start a detailed investigation fearing that it might not end well for us if we get too deeply involved in this?The city, which continued being built while such indefinite information about it was swirling around, had various of its parts shape up properly before anyone really realized and, in concert with that, recruitment notifications for residents were distributed within the Trident Principality.The distribution was performed at an extremely slow speed when compared to the speed of the citys creation.In the first place, for the nobles the population of a fief is a party from whom they levy taxes, or so-to-speak their assets.It was very obvious, even without any explanation, that there would be a strong opposition by the other nobles if Renya and the others gathered residents hastily with forceful methods.Nevertheless, people wont simply spawn around Renyas city, so it was definitely necessary to invite them from within the Trident Principality.There was also the method of accepting refugees from other countries, but because Renya wasnt overly eager about that, on top of Mayria indicating her disapproval of this, it naturally was never actively used as means to acquire people.The Kunugi Margraviate, which was established in practically no time, didnt have any kind of industry at the current time. Moreover, because it adopted the policy of only founding farm villages and getting agricultural land ready as the circumstances called for by watching the state of people gathering, it had to single-mindedly focus on buying food and other goods from outside and was depended on that.In other words, if they were to accept a large number of refugees from other countries, it would turn into a problem of most likely creating a food shortage within the Trident Principality.There was also the opinion wondering whether it wouldnt be fine to simply buy the lacking people, but seeing that the sellers would be the countries who exploit their people, it was near impossible for those countries to lend a hand in decreasing the number of their own people, who are the countries fortune.It was very simple to predict that almost all of them would hesitate to sell their citizens.For that reason the main group of people flowing into the city created by Renya consisted of second sons and below of merchant houses, the heirs and below of poor Knight peerages and those who were unable to get their hands on a plot of land to cultivate in farm villages. Putting the farmers aside, how about inviting the young people, who came from soldier families or Knight households, into my private army after checking their aptitude? (Renya) Renya says to Rona who is literally, not figuratively, buried more than halfway under a mountain of paper.The amount of immigration application sheets had become too much and therefore the unprocessed applications had been piled up high in a room next to the room prepared for Ronas duties, which couldnt contain all those documents. But the number stored away was such a large amount that it made one wonder whether specific documents could be excavated within several years after getting buried in that storage room. Looking at this disastrous scene you are going to increase my work even further, Renya? Are you a demon? You are definitely a demon, right? (Rona) Im a human. To begin with, whats up with this amount? Theres no way that so many immigrants are going to come to a remote territory close to the Miasma Forest, is there? (Renya) No, I mean, Renya you constructed and put up ready-made houses for immigrants for sale, didnt you? (Rona) If I tell them to build a suitable house after simply assigning them a plot of land, the people living there will likely build similar houses through various means, believed Renya and thus it took the shape of selling the buildings, which they had built to a certain extent in advance, to the immigrants.In this case the residents would be able to live in houses that had been built in the same way.Thats because Renya didnt want to be bothered with miscellaneous problems such as being asked to dig wells for drinking water or there being no drainage installation because of lacking funds.Since the scenery of the city would be neat as well, Renya considered it to be a completely positive aspect.If the people dont like it, they dont have to come here. Its not like we are going to force them into it.However, since it would be too saddening if no one came, he set the sale prices quite low. Its a set of cheap land and a house fully equipped with water and sewer services, no? Moreover, as the maintenance costs are free of charge, people will likely buy it outright if they can. Besides, it might certainly be true that this is a somewhat remote territory, but (Rona) Rona steals a fleeting glance at Renyas face.Renya tilted his head to the side not understanding the meaning behind that look. Its because the lord is Margrave Kunugi various rumors are circulating about you as no one can stop people from talking. (Rona) Renya ended up wondering for an instant about who shes talking about. Since coming to this world, he hadnt used his surname almost at all. Moreover, once a peerage title was added in front of it, it rung strange in Renyas ears as if hearing the name of some distant, unknown person. What kind of? I didnt do anything significant, did I? (Renya) Renya had absolutely no use for the word called rumor.Rona sighed deeply after seeing Renyas expression. I guess the biggest rumor is about you being the owner of the armor hero. Moreover there also rumors about you being a dragon tamer, friend of elves ah, by the way, quite a few elves have handed in immigration applications. Its fine for me to reject all of them, right? (Rona) Renya doesnt have any particular intention to hide these facts, but he doesnt have any plans to purposely spread these rumors.Even so, it looks like rumors or whatever will spread either way. Is that not a legal problem? (Renya) Renya asks while stopping Rona, who was about tear apart a bundle of applications with all her might.Although its not like there are absolutely no elves on the human continent, they are very rare. Renya wondered whether it might be fine for elves to immigrate into a human city, but while putting the applications, which had become slightly crumpled, at the side after giving up on trying to tear them apart, Rona answers, Legally theres no problem at all. There isnt much exchange between the elven country and the human countries, but there are diplomatic relations. Since its not like we are on bad terms with them, there wont be anything to blame them for as long as they apply correctly and pay their taxes properly, but the same applies in the opposite direction. (Rona) It was an argument that made Renya wonder just how it was any different from accepting an influx of refugees, but it appeared that there was a very big difference with the other side being the elven country. I guess a refuge for me has been secured in case everything goes south. (Renya) Why are you scheming your future escape? (Rona) Well, it will be troublesome if strange expectations are placed on me. (Renya) Renya wanted to insist that hes no more than a mere swordsman to the bitter end.Rona sighed once again at Renya. We will go with this for the urban areas, but as for the surrounding farm villages, the application rate for immigration is a lot higher. (Rona) Why? Compared to the urban areas, there are a lot more places that are dangerous, right? (Renya) Renya had even considered the possibility of absolutely no one coming as the worst case scenario.In that case he had planned to order the armor to employ those bone golems it can create in big numbers and have those work on the fields.At any rate, if Renya doesnt produce anything, he will become unable to pay the obligatory taxes to the Trident Principality. The first reason for the increase is the number of soldiers stationed at the farm villages. Compared to the farm villages located in the territories of other nobles, its planned to place almost twice as many soldiers in our farm villages. (Rona) Compared to other territories, its more dangerous over here, so its a reasonable measure, right? (Renya) There are no other nobles who would increase their soldiers and even go as far as mobilizing their private army just for farm villages (Rona) Nobles possess private armies only for the sake of defending themselves, Rona explains.But, in Renyas eyes , who can defend himself as much as he likes, theres not much meaning in stationing the private army in his surroundings.Wouldnt it be alright to not have a private army then? He harbored such thoughts as well, but Renya, who thought that the country doesnt have enough soldiers dispatched so as to protect the country and to defend farming areas, decided to set up a private army with the goal of defending farming areas as its main objective. If you like, I can somehow handle the defense of this city all by myself, you know? (Renya) Please realize that saying something like that is far too abnormal. As for the second reason, its because of the extraordinary condition of them being provided land and a house as one set. (Rona) Extraordinary? Which part of it? (Renya) Since I want them to cultivate crops and pay their taxes, its only natural to prepare a developed plot of land and a place for them to live, isnt it?Renya wonders.Its just side information, but upon Renyas order, both, fields and paddy fields, had been created in all farm villages.This was something completely according to Renyas wishes and even the point that rice and elven beans are to be definitely cultivated was written inside the immigration conditions for the villages.As for the matter of whether its possible to cultivate those or not, he had elven experts investigate through Croire and received a certificate that its possible.Given that it was somewhat impossible for dragons to prepare fields as one might expect, Renya borrowed Keiths unit from Kukrika.Probably because of their experience of earnestly digging through the ground during Renyas training, Keiths and the other soldiers work proceeded very quickly and once left up to them, who had built a fortress inside the Miasma Forest during their training, they even constructed wooden houses at a speed that seemed like a bad joke. Normally farmers are forced to build their own houses and fields when they immigrate. Even so, not only the agricultural land but also the houses for them to live in are provided by us. Moreover, for that to be done almost free of charge is something unheard of! (Rona) Its a recruitment of occupants for farm villages that had been prepared up to the point where the new farmers could cultivate crops as long as they sow seeds and use fertilizers.It might be somewhat dangerous, but with the many soldiers dispatched compared to other farm villages, theres no way that peasants wouldnt jump on this opportunity. For starters I will have them immigrate in order, starting from the young applicants. (Rona) Though I actually wanted to implement the same systems in those villages as the ones in the city. (Renya) Renya tried to consult about that with Emil, but he was immediately told that its impossible.Since the population in farm villages is overwhelmingly lower than that of the urban areas to begin with, the mana that can be collected is far too low. Emils scream-like response was that she cant even imagine what the hell she should do to construct those systems.Reluctantly he substituted those systems by digging wells and creating waterways that would carry the water if there was a river close to the farming areas. Well, I suppose there will be no end if you desire the highest standards. (Renya) Though I believe that you desire way too much there. (Rona) I wonder just how many nobles will faint once they properly grasp the true state of affairs in this territory?Rona pondered.With various things happening, the population began to grow and the Kunugi Margraviate began to take shape one way or another.The cityKlingewhich harbored Renyas castle later became known asForest and Stone City.Quite some time had passed since Renya was officially appointed to his peerage when a certain guest came visiting this city that possessed the special trait of having almost half of its area covered with trees and flowers. Chapter 121 Chapter 121 C It seems to be a visitor While Renya was building his city, there were two institutions that called for a meeting at the foremost.One was the adventurers guild.One of the reasons for that was not only because of the guilds distribution network, but also due to their belief in the advantages of gathering adventurers and making progress by investigating and subjugating the monsters in the surroundings.Moreover, they could make use of the pretext that Renya himself was still registered as adventurer.Renyas authoritative pronouncement was, Set up a branch quickly since it should be useful and convenient in one way or another if its there. Seeing as that nicely agreed with the adventurers guilds forecast of There probably wont be any lack in work considering the location, the adventurers guilds branch was established quite efficiently with the guilds building being provided by Renya.The second was the creation of an adventurers training school.There were two reasons why the establishment of that was hurried. One was because Renya wondered whether he would be able to call Liaris and Az to his own city as teachers if he went skillfully about it.However in this regard there were objections from among the nobles about allowing Liaris, who holds an important position within the Trident Principality as dragoon, to go to Renyas place, who already makes others wonder whether he doesnt have, even under normal circumstances, an excessive combat force. At that point in time it felt as if it wouldnt go as well as he had expected.The second reason was the transfer gate.The transfer gate itself is something that has been set up in various institutions, but as it was necessary to make troublesome appeals and obtain permission, or due to its transfer destinations being restricted even if it was possible to set it up, its not a device thats overly handy and usable.However, only the adventurer training school was an exception because it was possible to set up a transfer gate there with quite the liberty in its work setting.In Renyas eyes a convenient transfer gate, allowing him to receive the goods sent from the elven country for Croire, was necessary. Also, going by the map he was shown before crossing over to this world, and for someone, who has been asked to get to know the entire world C with its outrageous size C he considered the existence of transfer gates, which enable instantaneous movement to quite distant places as long as theres a connection set up, as absolute necessity. Therefore he naturally poured funds into the construction and recruitment of the school, regardless of the expenses.As result of that, the school was provided with extravagant facilities and buildings to the extent of having no match anywhere else, no matter where you looked on the entire human continent. Due to the excellent teaching staff provided and its high level of education, the children of nobles not only from within the Trident Principality but also from far distant countries expressly arrived to study there.However, for Renya thats nothing more than a freebie. In his mind he thought about nothing else but the establishment of a transfer gate as his primary objective.A good while after the city took shape with people beginning to immigrate and the economy and circulation of goods and money starting to get in full swing, a certain guest visited Renyas place through the transfer gate.One thing Renya noticed after coming to this world is the fact that theres almost no climatic change if you go by the prerequisite of limiting it to the human continent.There are periods where small amounts of rain falls and other times where it rains more often, but something such as the four seasons, as they exist in his former world, dont exist in this world.It was unknown whether it was owed to the world itself being on top of a tray or whether the supervisors scrimped on the settings, making Renya wonder at first whether that wont lead to problems with the growth of crops.However, what awaited him there C seemingly having been forced to match with the already sketchy setting C was the irresponsible reality of granting reasonable crop growth throughout the entire year, no matter what crops and at what time they are sown.However, if seen from the side of those cultivating those crops, those can be called extremely welcome circumstances.After all theres no need to consider the time of planting the seeds.Since all you have to do is to calculate the crops growth period and sow the seeds in accordance to the desired harvesting time while making as many as you want, its a very comfortable matter without any problematic issues. For that reason trees are thickly growing throughout the entire city. Given that its a little bit unreasonable to plant rice inside the city, we are cultivating a large quantity of elven beans in the open spaces. (Renya) Renya said, not speaking to anyone in particular, while also standing stock still and having his hands linked behind his back.The answers towards those words were only groaning and rough breathing.The location is the arena of the adventurer training school.A great number of students were scattered on the ground around Renya, who stood all by himself in their middle, while holding onto the weapons they considered to be their forte.Basically, Renya has too much free time after the city had, to a certain extent, taken shape.He considered continuing to work as an adventurer, but after receiving the honest opinion from the guild staff that they have doubts about the feudal lord himself accepting guild requests and proceeding towards the settling of raw materials and the subjugation of monsters, he wasnt able to meddle in that too frequently.As for the practical matters of a nobles job; since Mayria is frantically dealing with those while holding one of Fraus special energy drinks in one hand, Renya doesnt get involved with that part almost at all. If I schemed to hijack this territory, it would become mine in no time, wouldnt it? (Mayria) You want it? Its all yours. (Renya) Mayria tried to threaten Renya with a voice full of resentment and a worn-out expression, but she ends up falling apart tragically in front of Renya all too simple reply.Each time he looked at Mayria prostrated on top of the table in silence, Renya thought that it would be great if he could somehow assign an assisting civil official to her, but although it was fairly easy to create or find civil officials in this world, the same wasnt true for civil officials that possess education above a certain degree.In the first place, Renya doesnt possess the know-how to educate civil officials.Speaking of what hes capable of, it would be investigating the salaries of the civil officials working for other nobles and trying to recruit them by paying higher wages.After giving up on what he couldnt do, the bored Renya quite often intruded upon the practical skill lessons of the adventurer training school and killed some time by keeping the students company.At the beginning the students were quite nervous due to having the feudal lord, with his various complicated circumstances, as their opponent, but they were immediately forced to realize that they didnt have the leeway to stay tense.Although Renya didnt do something like shredding the roots of their awareness and spirit into little pieces just as he had done at the adventurer school in Kukrika, he isnt the type of person that would hold back due to the name of practical skill lesson.As a result the students, who experienced Renyas training in practical skill even if only once, immediately gave up on wearing frilly garments such as robes and skirts, and wore attires such as patched trousers, where it wouldnt matter at all if they got torn.This stems from Renyas combat method during the training.During training Renya himself wouldnt initiate any attacks.He does nothing but make the opponents attack him consecutively while continuing to easily evade those attacks, but if the attackers stance fell apart even for a bit or if they tried to attack him with an unnatural stance, he would grab their hands, lightly trip up their feet and start to turn their bodies over and over.A certain female student, who suffered this attack, was thoroughly whirled around and then finally fainted upside-down at the arenas wall. The precedent of her fully exposing her underwear due to her shirt and skirt sliding down, is the reason the students changed their training clothes.However, this was apparently owed to her own mistake of not wearing appropriate training clothes according to Renya. This disastrous scene and the speech about growing beans inside the city I dont understand just how thats related to each other. A male student, who was lying upside-down below Renyas feet, mutters those disconnect words.Having heard that, Renya looked down at his feet with a puzzled expression. I guess you are certainly right about that. Just how did it turn into a conversation about beans? (Renya) Dont ask me. The male student, who somehow managed to retort after having mustered his last remaining strength, completely stopped moving like a puppet that had its string cut while revealing a somewhat satisfied expression.Just like at other schools, a proper barrier for mock battles has been deployed in this arena.Therefore one could say that something like dying most likely wont happen, but Renya became somewhat worried since that male student seemed to have completely let go of his consciousness in an excessive manner.At once Renya starts to collect the students by himself in order to send them to the medical treatment facility where they would get their wounds treated and allowed to recover their stamina.Just as usual, stretchers for the students should be lining up in rows outside the arena, and the staff in charge of medical treatment should be on standby there.If they are waiting outside the arena, they could at least help with the collection of the students, Renya thought, but theres a reason why the staff of the medical treatment facility insists on not helping with this job.Its something Renya doesnt know, but this collection work enjoys a secret, which is that it has great popularity among the students.This is because Renya carries each student to the stretcher while properly holding them in his arms (princess carry).In the eyes of the students the ability to directly touch the body of someone, who is far above them in skill and physical prowess, counts as precious time. Moreover, the other party is an esteemed Earl, the genuine article with the biggest accomplishments during the war against the Holy Kingdom and a person who would hear no objection even if he called himself a hero.Renya believes that the story about that hasnt spread much, but the Archduchess has secretly and indirectly spread the information between nobles of reasonable standing.Otherwise it wouldnt be weird for one or two flames of rebellion to surge up due to a mere adventurer suddenly receiving a peerage.For that reason those wishing to participate in the practical skill lessons were unable to do so unless they won against the total applicants that were several, no, ten-odd times more than those being able to join in on the actual training.The frightening fact is that this popularity didnt only stop at the female students, but also spread to a large degree among the male students.In order to enjoy this sweet and yet short time, the minimum required ability demanded of them was to keep their consciousness until the end of the training, but the students, who wished to participate, were capable of clearing this criterion very easily.In other words, it means that the students, who are currently lying around at Renyas feet, are all conscious without a single exception, but even Renya could guess as much.However, he thinks,They are very likely exhausted to the extent of being unable to move, even while conscious, or they are declaring their intentions of being spared any further.Just how would Renya react if he knew the real reason?Since it was difficult to imagine that, this matter was treated as the most important secret among the students and all of them have been given detailed instructions to never disclose it for any reason.Putting that aside, Renya carefully carried the students, who dont move while on the ground, outside the arena one by one as usual and gently puts them down on the stretchers.The faces of several students grinning slovenly bothered him somehow, but even so he finished carrying all the students without treating them roughly. At that time, in front of Renya, who unconsciously tensed his body after sensing some kind of presence, a different entrance from the one from where he carried out the students, was blown away with a thunderous roar.The destroyed door was vigorously blown towards Renyas location, and after being transformed into small, chopped-up fragments in an instant, it fell to the ground.Before anyone realized, Renya grasped the drawn katana in his hands while storing the scabbard at his waist. Ive come for a duel! Can I find Earl Renya Kunugi here!? Renya squints slightly after catching sight of the person who shouted loudly while sluggishly showing up from within the densely-rising smoke.It was a tough, toned man who was around two or three heads taller than Renya.His upper body was naked, exposing his forged muscles. Below he only wore trousers made out of a thick cloth.Both his hands were covered bytekkoushining with a golden color. Even his feet were equipped with the same golden metallic armor.His skin color was swarthy. His looks felt as if calling him wild was the best description.His sharp, conspicuous, discerning eyes were facing Renya from below his unkempt, ruffled black hair, but what attracted Renyas attention wasnt his outward appearance, but the beast ears, which unexpectedly peeked out from between the mans hair and the tail which extended towards the back through a hole that had been prepared in his trousers.Going by his figure and the lie of his hair, Renya judges him to be similar to a leopard, if put in the terms of his previous world. Beastman?(Renya) Indeed! Im the hero of the beastman race, Lepardo Panther!(T/N: OMG what naming sense!) Pressing his hands against his waist, the male beastman laughs loudly while leaning back.Renya didnt remember having heard that name, but being triggered by a single word, Renya asks, Hero, you say? (Renya) Correct! Matching with the summoning of the human races hero, the other races each selected a hero! It was decided for this me to be the beastman hero! (Lepardo) He points with his right hands at himself and grins. His mouth is a lot bigger than that of a humans. Canines that might as well be described as fangs peek out of his mouth.While feeling stumped by each of his big motions and loud words, Renya stores back his katana into the scabbard while asking, So what kind of business do you have with me after having destroyed a part of a human citys structure, hero-sama? Or rather, from where did you pop out? The lack of coherence is overwhelming here. (Renya) I just arrived here through the transfer gate! (Lepardo) Anyone that listened would understand that Renya spoke coldly because he was in quite the bad mood, but it seems like the male beastman, who introduced himself as Lepardo, didnt grasp that at all.The transfer gate, which had been installed in this school, was one with very loose usage limitations in comparison to those located in other cities.That was because Renya felt that it would just worsen the flow of goods and people if the formalities were to be bothersome, but Renya believes that it might be necessary to reconsider things a bit if the transfer gate is used by such kind of people. If its about business, I have some! Have a bout with me! (Lepardo) I have to decline. (Renya) Renyas response towards Lepardo, who determinedly pointed at Renya and demanded a match, was short and indifferent.Renya adds even more words towards Lepardo who unconsciously stiffened up. Pay the repair costs for the door you destroyed and get out of here quickly. This is my official demand no, I guess, my order as Earl Kunugi of the Trident Principality. Either way is fine with me, but if you disobey, you will be dealt with as a thug. (Renya) T-Thats dirty Youre going to wield your authority here!? (Lepardo) I use whats usable. Its very natural logic. In the first place, you suddenly come to a human city, break a building and finally demand a match? Keep your sleep-talking till after your death. (Renya) I wont be able to talk if Im dead! (Lepardo) Oh my, so you understand at least this much? I wondered whether even your head was only filled with muscles, but I guess 5% of it consist of brain tissue. (Renya) Dont fuck with me! At the very least acknowledge that its 10%! (Lepardo) Renya ended up wondering whether Lepardo was really fine with it being 10%, but in the next instant his face was faintly tinged with tension due to the impacts caused by Lepardos strong stomping on top of the arenas grounds.The ground, which should have been thoroughly prepared and hardened for the sake of carrying out mock battles, deeply caved in after receiving one of Lepardos stomps, and the vibration triggered by the impact shook the entire building.Lepardo broadly grins after displaying a portion of his unusual power. So you do understand, Earl Kunugi-sama. I heard that this times human hero was defeated. The one who did it was you bastard, right? (Lepardo) I know nothing about that. (Renya) I dont mind even if you play dumb. However, even if its against your will, I will have you accept the match against me! (Lepardo) Lepardo declared while glaring at Renya with a sharp, discerning look after suddenly lowering his body into a crouching, forward-bent posture, just like a large carnivorous animal that caught sight of its prey. Chapter 121 C It seems to be a visitor While Renya was building his city, there were two institutions that called for a meeting at the foremost.One was the adventurers guild.One of the reasons for that was not only because of the guilds distribution network, but also due to their belief in the advantages of gathering adventurers and making progress by investigating and subjugating the monsters in the surroundings.Moreover, they could make use of the pretext that Renya himself was still registered as adventurer.Renyas authoritative pronouncement was, Set up a branch quickly since it should be useful and convenient in one way or another if its there. Seeing as that nicely agreed with the adventurers guilds forecast of There probably wont be any lack in work considering the location, the adventurers guilds branch was established quite efficiently with the guilds building being provided by Renya.The second was the creation of an adventurers training school.There were two reasons why the establishment of that was hurried. One was because Renya wondered whether he would be able to call Liaris and Az to his own city as teachers if he went skillfully about it.However in this regard there were objections from among the nobles about allowing Liaris, who holds an important position within the Trident Principality as dragoon, to go to Renyas place, who already makes others wonder whether he doesnt have, even under normal circumstances, an excessive combat force. At that point in time it felt as if it wouldnt go as well as he had expected.The second reason was the transfer gate.The transfer gate itself is something that has been set up in various institutions, but as it was necessary to make troublesome appeals and obtain permission, or due to its transfer destinations being restricted even if it was possible to set it up, its not a device thats overly handy and usable.However, only the adventurer training school was an exception because it was possible to set up a transfer gate there with quite the liberty in its work setting.In Renyas eyes a convenient transfer gate, allowing him to receive the goods sent from the elven country for Croire, was necessary. Also, going by the map he was shown before crossing over to this world, and for someone, who has been asked to get to know the entire world C with its outrageous size C he considered the existence of transfer gates, which enable instantaneous movement to quite distant places as long as theres a connection set up, as absolute necessity. Therefore he naturally poured funds into the construction and recruitment of the school, regardless of the expenses.As result of that, the school was provided with extravagant facilities and buildings to the extent of having no match anywhere else, no matter where you looked on the entire human continent. Due to the excellent teaching staff provided and its high level of education, the children of nobles not only from within the Trident Principality but also from far distant countries expressly arrived to study there.However, for Renya thats nothing more than a freebie. In his mind he thought about nothing else but the establishment of a transfer gate as his primary objective.A good while after the city took shape with people beginning to immigrate and the economy and circulation of goods and money starting to get in full swing, a certain guest visited Renyas place through the transfer gate.One thing Renya noticed after coming to this world is the fact that theres almost no climatic change if you go by the prerequisite of limiting it to the human continent.There are periods where small amounts of rain falls and other times where it rains more often, but something such as the four seasons, as they exist in his former world, dont exist in this world.It was unknown whether it was owed to the world itself being on top of a tray or whether the supervisors scrimped on the settings, making Renya wonder at first whether that wont lead to problems with the growth of crops.However, what awaited him there C seemingly having been forced to match with the already sketchy setting C was the irresponsible reality of granting reasonable crop growth throughout the entire year, no matter what crops and at what time they are sown.However, if seen from the side of those cultivating those crops, those can be called extremely welcome circumstances.After all theres no need to consider the time of planting the seeds.Since all you have to do is to calculate the crops growth period and sow the seeds in accordance to the desired harvesting time while making as many as you want, its a very comfortable matter without any problematic issues. For that reason trees are thickly growing throughout the entire city. Given that its a little bit unreasonable to plant rice inside the city, we are cultivating a large quantity of elven beans in the open spaces. (Renya) Renya said, not speaking to anyone in particular, while also standing stock still and having his hands linked behind his back.The answers towards those words were only groaning and rough breathing.The location is the arena of the adventurer training school.A great number of students were scattered on the ground around Renya, who stood all by himself in their middle, while holding onto the weapons they considered to be their forte.Basically, Renya has too much free time after the city had, to a certain extent, taken shape.He considered continuing to work as an adventurer, but after receiving the honest opinion from the guild staff that they have doubts about the feudal lord himself accepting guild requests and proceeding towards the settling of raw materials and the subjugation of monsters, he wasnt able to meddle in that too frequently.As for the practical matters of a nobles job; since Mayria is frantically dealing with those while holding one of Fraus special energy drinks in one hand, Renya doesnt get involved with that part almost at all. If I schemed to hijack this territory, it would become mine in no time, wouldnt it? (Mayria) You want it? Its all yours. (Renya) Mayria tried to threaten Renya with a voice full of resentment and a worn-out expression, but she ends up falling apart tragically in front of Renya all too simple reply.Each time he looked at Mayria prostrated on top of the table in silence, Renya thought that it would be great if he could somehow assign an assisting civil official to her, but although it was fairly easy to create or find civil officials in this world, the same wasnt true for civil officials that possess education above a certain degree.In the first place, Renya doesnt possess the know-how to educate civil officials.Speaking of what hes capable of, it would be investigating the salaries of the civil officials working for other nobles and trying to recruit them by paying higher wages.After giving up on what he couldnt do, the bored Renya quite often intruded upon the practical skill lessons of the adventurer training school and killed some time by keeping the students company.At the beginning the students were quite nervous due to having the feudal lord, with his various complicated circumstances, as their opponent, but they were immediately forced to realize that they didnt have the leeway to stay tense.Although Renya didnt do something like shredding the roots of their awareness and spirit into little pieces just as he had done at the adventurer school in Kukrika, he isnt the type of person that would hold back due to the name of practical skill lesson.As a result the students, who experienced Renyas training in practical skill even if only once, immediately gave up on wearing frilly garments such as robes and skirts, and wore attires such as patched trousers, where it wouldnt matter at all if they got torn.This stems from Renyas combat method during the training.During training Renya himself wouldnt initiate any attacks.He does nothing but make the opponents attack him consecutively while continuing to easily evade those attacks, but if the attackers stance fell apart even for a bit or if they tried to attack him with an unnatural stance, he would grab their hands, lightly trip up their feet and start to turn their bodies over and over.A certain female student, who suffered this attack, was thoroughly whirled around and then finally fainted upside-down at the arenas wall. The precedent of her fully exposing her underwear due to her shirt and skirt sliding down, is the reason the students changed their training clothes.However, this was apparently owed to her own mistake of not wearing appropriate training clothes according to Renya. This disastrous scene and the speech about growing beans inside the city I dont understand just how thats related to each other. A male student, who was lying upside-down below Renyas feet, mutters those disconnect words.Having heard that, Renya looked down at his feet with a puzzled expression. I guess you are certainly right about that. Just how did it turn into a conversation about beans? (Renya) Dont ask me. The male student, who somehow managed to retort after having mustered his last remaining strength, completely stopped moving like a puppet that had its string cut while revealing a somewhat satisfied expression.Just like at other schools, a proper barrier for mock battles has been deployed in this arena.Therefore one could say that something like dying most likely wont happen, but Renya became somewhat worried since that male student seemed to have completely let go of his consciousness in an excessive manner.At once Renya starts to collect the students by himself in order to send them to the medical treatment facility where they would get their wounds treated and allowed to recover their stamina.Just as usual, stretchers for the students should be lining up in rows outside the arena, and the staff in charge of medical treatment should be on standby there.If they are waiting outside the arena, they could at least help with the collection of the students, Renya thought, but theres a reason why the staff of the medical treatment facility insists on not helping with this job.Its something Renya doesnt know, but this collection work enjoys a secret, which is that it has great popularity among the students.This is because Renya carries each student to the stretcher while properly holding them in his arms (princess carry).In the eyes of the students the ability to directly touch the body of someone, who is far above them in skill and physical prowess, counts as precious time. Moreover, the other party is an esteemed Earl, the genuine article with the biggest accomplishments during the war against the Holy Kingdom and a person who would hear no objection even if he called himself a hero.Renya believes that the story about that hasnt spread much, but the Archduchess has secretly and indirectly spread the information between nobles of reasonable standing.Otherwise it wouldnt be weird for one or two flames of rebellion to surge up due to a mere adventurer suddenly receiving a peerage.For that reason those wishing to participate in the practical skill lessons were unable to do so unless they won against the total applicants that were several, no, ten-odd times more than those being able to join in on the actual training.The frightening fact is that this popularity didnt only stop at the female students, but also spread to a large degree among the male students.In order to enjoy this sweet and yet short time, the minimum required ability demanded of them was to keep their consciousness until the end of the training, but the students, who wished to participate, were capable of clearing this criterion very easily.In other words, it means that the students, who are currently lying around at Renyas feet, are all conscious without a single exception, but even Renya could guess as much.However, he thinks,They are very likely exhausted to the extent of being unable to move, even while conscious, or they are declaring their intentions of being spared any further.Just how would Renya react if he knew the real reason?Since it was difficult to imagine that, this matter was treated as the most important secret among the students and all of them have been given detailed instructions to never disclose it for any reason.Putting that aside, Renya carefully carried the students, who dont move while on the ground, outside the arena one by one as usual and gently puts them down on the stretchers.The faces of several students grinning slovenly bothered him somehow, but even so he finished carrying all the students without treating them roughly. At that time, in front of Renya, who unconsciously tensed his body after sensing some kind of presence, a different entrance from the one from where he carried out the students, was blown away with a thunderous roar.The destroyed door was vigorously blown towards Renyas location, and after being transformed into small, chopped-up fragments in an instant, it fell to the ground.Before anyone realized, Renya grasped the drawn katana in his hands while storing the scabbard at his waist. Ive come for a duel! Can I find Earl Renya Kunugi here!? Renya squints slightly after catching sight of the person who shouted loudly while sluggishly showing up from within the densely-rising smoke.It was a tough, toned man who was around two or three heads taller than Renya.His upper body was naked, exposing his forged muscles. Below he only wore trousers made out of a thick cloth.Both his hands were covered bytekkoushining with a golden color. Even his feet were equipped with the same golden metallic armor.His skin color was swarthy. His looks felt as if calling him wild was the best description.His sharp, conspicuous, discerning eyes were facing Renya from below his unkempt, ruffled black hair, but what attracted Renyas attention wasnt his outward appearance, but the beast ears, which unexpectedly peeked out from between the mans hair and the tail which extended towards the back through a hole that had been prepared in his trousers.Going by his figure and the lie of his hair, Renya judges him to be similar to a leopard, if put in the terms of his previous world. Beastman?(Renya) Indeed! Im the hero of the beastman race, Lepardo Panther!(T/N: OMG what naming sense!) Pressing his hands against his waist, the male beastman laughs loudly while leaning back.Renya didnt remember having heard that name, but being triggered by a single word, Renya asks, Hero, you say? (Renya) Correct! Matching with the summoning of the human races hero, the other races each selected a hero! It was decided for this me to be the beastman hero! (Lepardo) He points with his right hands at himself and grins. His mouth is a lot bigger than that of a humans. Canines that might as well be described as fangs peek out of his mouth.While feeling stumped by each of his big motions and loud words, Renya stores back his katana into the scabbard while asking, So what kind of business do you have with me after having destroyed a part of a human citys structure, hero-sama? Or rather, from where did you pop out? The lack of coherence is overwhelming here. (Renya) I just arrived here through the transfer gate! (Lepardo) Anyone that listened would understand that Renya spoke coldly because he was in quite the bad mood, but it seems like the male beastman, who introduced himself as Lepardo, didnt grasp that at all.The transfer gate, which had been installed in this school, was one with very loose usage limitations in comparison to those located in other cities.That was because Renya felt that it would just worsen the flow of goods and people if the formalities were to be bothersome, but Renya believes that it might be necessary to reconsider things a bit if the transfer gate is used by such kind of people. If its about business, I have some! Have a bout with me! (Lepardo) I have to decline. (Renya) Renyas response towards Lepardo, who determinedly pointed at Renya and demanded a match, was short and indifferent.Renya adds even more words towards Lepardo who unconsciously stiffened up. Pay the repair costs for the door you destroyed and get out of here quickly. This is my official demand no, I guess, my order as Earl Kunugi of the Trident Principality. Either way is fine with me, but if you disobey, you will be dealt with as a thug. (Renya) T-Thats dirty Youre going to wield your authority here!? (Lepardo) I use whats usable. Its very natural logic. In the first place, you suddenly come to a human city, break a building and finally demand a match? Keep your sleep-talking till after your death. (Renya) I wont be able to talk if Im dead! (Lepardo) Oh my, so you understand at least this much? I wondered whether even your head was only filled with muscles, but I guess 5% of it consist of brain tissue. (Renya) Dont fuck with me! At the very least acknowledge that its 10%! (Lepardo) Renya ended up wondering whether Lepardo was really fine with it being 10%, but in the next instant his face was faintly tinged with tension due to the impacts caused by Lepardos strong stomping on top of the arenas grounds.The ground, which should have been thoroughly prepared and hardened for the sake of carrying out mock battles, deeply caved in after receiving one of Lepardos stomps, and the vibration triggered by the impact shook the entire building.Lepardo broadly grins after displaying a portion of his unusual power. So you do understand, Earl Kunugi-sama. I heard that this times human hero was defeated. The one who did it was you bastard, right? (Lepardo) I know nothing about that. (Renya) I dont mind even if you play dumb. However, even if its against your will, I will have you accept the match against me! (Lepardo) Lepardo declared while glaring at Renya with a sharp, discerning look after suddenly lowering his body into a crouching, forward-bent posture, just like a large carnivorous animal that caught sight of its prey. Chapter 122 Chapter 122 C It seems to be a Battle with the Beastman Hero ** Missing a picture here? View it at infinitenoveltranslations.net **A great number of small explosions took place on the arenas ground.When Renya realized that those were the aftereffects of Lepardo kicking the ground, Lepardo was already right in front of him.Brandishing his right hand that was covered by a crudetekkou, Lepardo launched a full-powered right straight towards Renyas face. But Lepardos fist missed leaving them without any kind of feedback, causing his body to pitch forward overenthusiastically.Renya delivered a simple front kick towards his defenseless back after having circled around him without Lepardo realizing it. Lepardo was thrown in the direction of the arenas wall with the combined momentum of him lurching forward and the force of Renyas kick.Alongside yet another thunderous roar, Lepardo opened a large hole in the wall he crashed into, shaking the entire building.At this rate its quite likely for the damage to reach such a degree that it becomes necessary to rebuild the whole building, Renya frowned.Lepardo himself, who plunged into the wall, seems to to have come out unscathed. He immediately gets up and brushes off the dust that ended up raining down on his head when he destroyed the wall. Tsk! Dont fucking move so skillfully! Once more! Lets go again! (Lepardo) Lepardo stoops down in order to accumulate power once more.His speed was quite considerable to begin with.But since his movements are too linear, evasion was simple for Renya.Even though its easy to dodge him, the building will get destroyed once he crashes into the wall again after Ive evaded his strike.Asking himself whether it was possible for him to take that Lepardos charge up front, Renya immediately concluded it as likely impossible.On top of there being quite a difference in physique, Lepardos speed is abnormal.Since he has introduced himself as hero, putting aside whether its true or not, he should possess considerable strength. Even if I were to receive his attack up front, for arguments sake, I will probably get overpowered in an instant, Renya judged.What should I do in that case?The easiest method would be to cut him down with the katana at his waist, but Renya is currently inside a barrier that was designed to not allow any casualties in order to carry out mock battles. The moment the katana attack turned into fatal damage for Lepardo, his body will be simply ejected outside the barrier.It would be a way to stop his charge, but since it wont cause him any damage, he will likely come back right away.Even if it wont result in a viable solution, it will allow me to stop his rampage.When Renya, who guessed that he had no other option but to keep sending Lepardo flying until he discovers some kind of strategy to resolve this, put his hand on the katana, people suddenly rushed into the audience seating enclosing the arena.It was unknown from where they heard about this incident, but the people in the audience seating were the students and the residents living close to the school. The seats, which have been set up so that they could accommodate quite a large number of people, become fully occupied in the blink of an eye.While Lepardo is dumbfounded and Renya watches the spectacle with his eyes turning into dots, horizontal banners are rolled out one after the other, and vendors, who shouldered baskets filled with bento and beverages, started to walk between the people. Whats this? (Renya) Renya mutters without finding any other words to express himself, but theres no way for him to receive a reply towards his question.Large, messily written letters stating Lord-sama, do your best or We pray for your certain victory are written on the horizontal banners, having been expressly stitched into them with embroidery.Renya properly caught the improper phrases of Association of Frau-sama Lovers, Croires Bodyguards and Squad of those desiring to be abused by Mayria-sama that have been added in small letters below with his eyes though.I wonder, just what criterions were used to choose the inhabitants of this city?Even though its his own city, Renya ends up harboring heavy doubts about the standards for the selection.Once he sees a place where a small group of elves holding up a banner with Group to be squeezed by Rona-sama has blended in, it becomes apparent that theres some person besides Rona processing the residents immigration applications.Given that there shouldnt have been much hope in recruiting civil officials, its bound to have been no one else but Mayria, if Rona is excluded.Team wishing to be embraced by Emil-sama doesnt make any sense anymore, and once it reached the address 16th Unit of the Shion-chan Cheering Squad, even the residents pity Shion, who has been recognized as disappointing child, and feel compelled to question just what its all about for there to be squad members to the extent of forming 17 units, even if the the 16th unit consists of only a few people. Renya couldnt do anything besides sighing really heavily.In contrast, not only did Lepardo recover faster than Renya expected, he also adapted to the situation in the vicinity before even Renya did.Each time he poses successfully as if displaying his forged body, high-pitched cheering flies at him from the audience seating.Though that guy should pretty much be treated as criminal after suddenly attacking the feudal lord, Renya thinks, but thats not something he can say in front of the excited crowd and Lepardo himself. They got really riled up! (Lepardo)/Support the translator by reading this on infinitenoveltranslations.net/Seemingly pleased by the cheers pouring down on him, Lepardo faces Renya while revealing a ferocious smile, but at that point Renyas motivation had completely pummeled into negative regions.Renya is filled with the desire to do nothing but go back to his room, but going by the circumstances, its difficult to suggest stopping the fight.As a result, once Renya prepared to continue fighting Lepardo out of necessity, while being extremely reluctant about it, the audience got very excited all at once.They simply dont understand my feelings.While warily following Lepardos movements, Renya ponders about other things inside his head.With there being almost no amusement facilities in Renyas city, which had only recently been finished, the residents were thirsting for entertainment.Since it was Renyas opinion that it was probably alright to leave some parts to the residents, he had just secured the scheduled land, but the rest had been left up to the wishes of the immigration applicants moving there. Just like in the other districts, what should be build there hadnt been set in advance.Things similar to amusement facilities started to pop up here and there, but it was only at the level where one can call it completely insufficient.For the residents of Klinge, who starved for such entertainment, the match-up of their feudal lord against a beastman, who had come from a distant, foreign country, probably seemed like a very fascinating spectacle.If theres still a doubtful point about it, it would be the all too prepared gathering of spectators although this was supposed to be an unforeseen event.If it was only the students of the school coming to watch, it would still be possible to agree with the whole situation.But, when it came to even the neighboring residents assembling, it would be weird if it turned out that no one had intentionally leaked the information.Apparently because he was thinking about such things or maybe because he felt that this situation was somewhat like an away game for Lepardo, Renya reaction ended up being slightly delayed upon Lepardos charge, who was donning a glum expression.However, in front of Renya, who started to move while thinking that it was probably pointless to only evade, Lepardos body abruptly came to a halt while sinking his feet into the ground. You are not going to charge? (Renya) Lepardo shows a smile before Renyas eyes, who thought that Lepardo would charge straight ahead once again in a foolishly honest manner.Having plunged forward with his charging speed, he forcibly brakes in front of Renya by putting all of his strength into his legs and sets up both his fists on the spot.His wide-motioned attacks will have their trajectories read and will be easily dodged. Did he understand that from his first charge? The attacks unleashed by Lepardo next were fast and repeated jabs.The power behind themis kept on the lower end, but in exchange each and every single one of them is extremely quick.Having those jabs unleashed at him at a speed capable of cutting wind, Renya twists his body, but finally receives one blow to his chest which he wasnt able to catch with his palm or handle by evading it.That one blow, which is likely a really light strike with an emphasis on speed in Lepardos eyes, successfully drills into Renyas chest, causing him to leak a small groan of pain.Seemingly because of the heavytekkouor Lepardos own strength, he receives an impact that seems to squeeze out the air from within his lungs. Renya, who stopped moving albeit only for an instant, is attacked by Lepardos follow-up attacks.Screams burst out among the audience.Judging that he would unmistakably receive several blows if he stood still, Renya grandly jumps back.However, that turned into a poor move.As if having waited for that, Lepardo swiftly steps in and shortens the combat distance. With Renyas feet still in the air, Lepardo releases a right jab with all his power.Renya estimated that Lepardo, whos a lot heavier and taller than himself, on top of wearing metallic gauntlets and boots, wouldnt be able to catch up with him, but even though he regretted having taken Lepardos explosive power too lightly, it was already too late.One blow of Lepardo hits Renya who somehow managed to adopt a defensive stance by crossing both his arms in front of his body.In addition to the power of the charge which he used to shortened the combat distance, Lepardo possesses his forged physical strength and a far heavier weight than Renya.The blow, which was released while capitalising on these factors, easily blew Renyas body away, making it crash into the arenas wall.Being caught in-between the impact of him hitting the wall with his back and the metallic gauntlets impact, which hit his flesh-made arms, Renya spit out all the air remaining inside his lungs. Furthermore Lepardo is about to pursue him in order to finish the fight. Continuing to hit the opponent until they are completely defeated is the beastmens style! (Lepardo) He unleashes his fist while roaring.Renya, who is still unable to even breath due to the pain and shock, is in a state where he cant even move his feet to evade.Lepardo was certain of his victory, but in the next instant his face cramps up for some reason and he increases the combat distance from Renya.As if chasing his body, countless lightning bolts swooped down towards Lepardo. No way!? Chantless!? (Lepardo) Apparently being an item that had some kind of spell cast on it, Lepardo holds up his equipped gauntlets and the lightning bolts are erased after touching said gauntlets.If there were one or two of these bolts, he would have likely been able to draw near Renya once again while erasing the lightning with his gauntlets, but the number of lightning bolts, invoked by Renya while he was leaning against the wall, reached the several dozen count.No matter how many of those he could erase, it doesnt seems as if he can completely negate the impact he receives while doing so. Lepardos body is gradually pushed down.Exchanging his superfluous mana into lightning bolts, Renya strokes his injured arms while continuously attacking. He slowly, little by little, put his disheveled breathing in order.Thinking back, I feel like its the first time that Ive suffered a decent amount of damage after coming to this world, Renya thinks while stroking his arms.It feels as if I have received quite the number of wounds that seem to be small and trivial since I got here, but its probably the first time that I get directly attacked like on this occasion, receiving damage that stopped my body from moving,he believes.As a matter of fact, although he hasnt received any more than a mere two blows, the damage killed his usual mobility originating from his feet. Both his arms, which defended against the blow of the boorish metallic lump-like gauntlet, were completely broken at the parts where they were hit.However, that damage is slowly recuperating due to his Superior Regeneration ability.Though it was apparent from the damages depth that it wouldnt recover right away. Kuh T-This! Even though Im erasing and erasing one after the other! Just how much mana do you have!? (Lepardo) Lepardo continues to defend against the lightning bolts launched at him in succession with an unbelievable speed considering hes wearing heavy, metallic gauntlets.Not even one of Renyas spells, which were being continuously fired for such a long time that it would cause an average sorcerer to faint, reaches Lepardos body.Even so, because they are meaningful as restraint, Renya doesnt stop releasing them repeatedly. Dont hide behind such cheap tricks! Fight me square and fair from the front! (Lepardo) Square and fair, eh? Geez, give me a rest (Renya) Regardless of liking or disliking them, theres absolutely nothing decent in getting involved with a hero, Renya sighs while looking sullen.It looked as if it would take a long time for him to recover his arms oozing with pain to a level that would allow him to wield his katana perfectly again. You did defeat that human hero, didnt you!? Dont fuck around with such petty stalling for time! (Lepardo) Thats why I told you that I dont know anything about that incident, didnt I? (Renya) Dont play dumb! I properly investigated about the guy, who defeated the hero summoned by the Holy Kingdom inheriting his powers, being in Trident. (Lepardo) I have been telling you that its not me (Renya) Its not like Renya is lying.Since its actually a fact that he hasnt finished off the hero, Renya boldly and confidently denied Lepardos word.Being denied far too clearly, Lepardos expression becomes gloomy. For real? I got the wrong person? (Lepardo) Thats what it looks like. Itll be fine for you to meet with the fellow who inherited the heros powers afterwards. Well, itll be fine for you to meet them, but (Renya) Renya ascertains the state of his hands by lightly clasping them.There was still some dullness and a little pain left, but as the regeneration had apparently advanced quite far, he was able to grasp them tightly with his full strength. Well, before that on top of having broken the arms of another person, you had them experience such a pain for the first time in a long while. (Renya) The lightning bolts that sealed Lepardos movements cease.Lepardo adjusted his two arms, which continued to erase the lightning bolts, and set them up against Renya.Seeing Renyas arms starting to be clad by something like heat haze with his eyes, Lepardos face warped in surprise. Originally Im a swordsman, so its logical for me to oppose an opponent with the sword, but since you beat the hell out of me with your fists, it would be rude if I dont pay you back with the same, right? (Renya) You, that (Lepardo) Unfortunately I dont happen to have gauntlets to equip at hand. So Im substituting them with mana. (Renya) It seems to be a state where he raises his fists strength by cladding them in something like a defensive barrier, so to speak.Because he is pouring an enormous amount of mana into them, it looks as if Renyas fists are clad by heat-haze-like fluctuations. There are various unarmed techniques, but Im not very knowledgeable about boxing. So, I pray for your forgiveness if its only rough, full-powered attacks, okay? What, theres nothing to worry about. Even if you are sent to the medical department in the worst case, I will have the guy, who inherited the hero powers, visit your hospital bed. (Renya) How amusing. Go ahead, make my day. (Lepardo) Renya releases a very casual right punch straight after taking a wide swing towards the prepared Lepardo.Its a telephone punch thats easy to evade due to its wide motion. Lepardo dodges that at the last moment and tries to shift into counterattacking immediately.Even though Renyas fist didnt even graze his body, hes still sent flying at full force while swirling in the air.Ahead of Renyas fist, which finished striking and missing at the same time, Lepardo witnesses the arenas wall breaking into small pieces and dispersing. Eh!? (Lepardo)//Read this at infinitenoveltranslations.net to support the translator.//He heard a voice from the audience shouting at the others to take refuge.Without even looking at the figures of the panicked audience in the stands evacuating outside the arena, Renya turns his eyes towards Lepardo, who had immediately adopted a fighting stance after getting up, although in the end he was suddenly slapped onto the ground.Lepardo didnt understand what the hell had happened.Even though he was sure that he had dodged Renyas attack, he was sent flying, and moreover, the attack completely destroyed the wall which is at an unreachable distance.For arguments sake, what if this damage was brought about by the impact caused by his motion of swinging a fist?If that is the case I wonder just how much power the actual fist possesses?Arriving at that thought, Lepardos expression becomes pale within no time.Renya wasnt moving any faster than at the beginning right now.While simply pasting a smile on his face, he very slowly, one firm step after the other, approaches Lepardo.Seeing Renyas fists being clad in an even thicker fluctuation than before, Lepardo thought:I might possibly die in this place. Chapter 122 C It seems to be a Battle with the Beastman Hero ** Missing a picture here? View it at infinitenoveltranslations.net **A great number of small explosions took place on the arenas ground.When Renya realized that those were the aftereffects of Lepardo kicking the ground, Lepardo was already right in front of him.Brandishing his right hand that was covered by a crudetekkou, Lepardo launched a full-powered right straight towards Renyas face. But Lepardos fist missed leaving them without any kind of feedback, causing his body to pitch forward overenthusiastically.Renya delivered a simple front kick towards his defenseless back after having circled around him without Lepardo realizing it. Lepardo was thrown in the direction of the arenas wall with the combined momentum of him lurching forward and the force of Renyas kick.Alongside yet another thunderous roar, Lepardo opened a large hole in the wall he crashed into, shaking the entire building.At this rate its quite likely for the damage to reach such a degree that it becomes necessary to rebuild the whole building, Renya frowned.Lepardo himself, who plunged into the wall, seems to to have come out unscathed. He immediately gets up and brushes off the dust that ended up raining down on his head when he destroyed the wall. Tsk! Dont fucking move so skillfully! Once more! Lets go again! (Lepardo) Lepardo stoops down in order to accumulate power once more.His speed was quite considerable to begin with.But since his movements are too linear, evasion was simple for Renya.Even though its easy to dodge him, the building will get destroyed once he crashes into the wall again after Ive evaded his strike.Asking himself whether it was possible for him to take that Lepardos charge up front, Renya immediately concluded it as likely impossible.On top of there being quite a difference in physique, Lepardos speed is abnormal.Since he has introduced himself as hero, putting aside whether its true or not, he should possess considerable strength. Even if I were to receive his attack up front, for arguments sake, I will probably get overpowered in an instant, Renya judged.What should I do in that case?The easiest method would be to cut him down with the katana at his waist, but Renya is currently inside a barrier that was designed to not allow any casualties in order to carry out mock battles. The moment the katana attack turned into fatal damage for Lepardo, his body will be simply ejected outside the barrier.It would be a way to stop his charge, but since it wont cause him any damage, he will likely come back right away.Even if it wont result in a viable solution, it will allow me to stop his rampage.When Renya, who guessed that he had no other option but to keep sending Lepardo flying until he discovers some kind of strategy to resolve this, put his hand on the katana, people suddenly rushed into the audience seating enclosing the arena.It was unknown from where they heard about this incident, but the people in the audience seating were the students and the residents living close to the school. The seats, which have been set up so that they could accommodate quite a large number of people, become fully occupied in the blink of an eye.While Lepardo is dumbfounded and Renya watches the spectacle with his eyes turning into dots, horizontal banners are rolled out one after the other, and vendors, who shouldered baskets filled with bento and beverages, started to walk between the people. Whats this? (Renya) Renya mutters without finding any other words to express himself, but theres no way for him to receive a reply towards his question.Large, messily written letters stating Lord-sama, do your best or We pray for your certain victory are written on the horizontal banners, having been expressly stitched into them with embroidery.Renya properly caught the improper phrases of Association of Frau-sama Lovers, Croires Bodyguards and Squad of those desiring to be abused by Mayria-sama that have been added in small letters below with his eyes though.I wonder, just what criterions were used to choose the inhabitants of this city?Even though its his own city, Renya ends up harboring heavy doubts about the standards for the selection.Once he sees a place where a small group of elves holding up a banner with Group to be squeezed by Rona-sama has blended in, it becomes apparent that theres some person besides Rona processing the residents immigration applications.Given that there shouldnt have been much hope in recruiting civil officials, its bound to have been no one else but Mayria, if Rona is excluded.Team wishing to be embraced by Emil-sama doesnt make any sense anymore, and once it reached the address 16th Unit of the Shion-chan Cheering Squad, even the residents pity Shion, who has been recognized as disappointing child, and feel compelled to question just what its all about for there to be squad members to the extent of forming 17 units, even if the the 16th unit consists of only a few people. Renya couldnt do anything besides sighing really heavily.In contrast, not only did Lepardo recover faster than Renya expected, he also adapted to the situation in the vicinity before even Renya did.Each time he poses successfully as if displaying his forged body, high-pitched cheering flies at him from the audience seating.Though that guy should pretty much be treated as criminal after suddenly attacking the feudal lord, Renya thinks, but thats not something he can say in front of the excited crowd and Lepardo himself. They got really riled up! (Lepardo)/Support the translator by reading this on infinitenoveltranslations.net/Seemingly pleased by the cheers pouring down on him, Lepardo faces Renya while revealing a ferocious smile, but at that point Renyas motivation had completely pummeled into negative regions.Renya is filled with the desire to do nothing but go back to his room, but going by the circumstances, its difficult to suggest stopping the fight.As a result, once Renya prepared to continue fighting Lepardo out of necessity, while being extremely reluctant about it, the audience got very excited all at once.They simply dont understand my feelings.While warily following Lepardos movements, Renya ponders about other things inside his head.With there being almost no amusement facilities in Renyas city, which had only recently been finished, the residents were thirsting for entertainment.Since it was Renyas opinion that it was probably alright to leave some parts to the residents, he had just secured the scheduled land, but the rest had been left up to the wishes of the immigration applicants moving there. Just like in the other districts, what should be build there hadnt been set in advance.Things similar to amusement facilities started to pop up here and there, but it was only at the level where one can call it completely insufficient.For the residents of Klinge, who starved for such entertainment, the match-up of their feudal lord against a beastman, who had come from a distant, foreign country, probably seemed like a very fascinating spectacle.If theres still a doubtful point about it, it would be the all too prepared gathering of spectators although this was supposed to be an unforeseen event.If it was only the students of the school coming to watch, it would still be possible to agree with the whole situation.But, when it came to even the neighboring residents assembling, it would be weird if it turned out that no one had intentionally leaked the information.Apparently because he was thinking about such things or maybe because he felt that this situation was somewhat like an away game for Lepardo, Renya reaction ended up being slightly delayed upon Lepardos charge, who was donning a glum expression.However, in front of Renya, who started to move while thinking that it was probably pointless to only evade, Lepardos body abruptly came to a halt while sinking his feet into the ground. You are not going to charge? (Renya) Lepardo shows a smile before Renyas eyes, who thought that Lepardo would charge straight ahead once again in a foolishly honest manner.Having plunged forward with his charging speed, he forcibly brakes in front of Renya by putting all of his strength into his legs and sets up both his fists on the spot.His wide-motioned attacks will have their trajectories read and will be easily dodged.Did he understand that from his first charge? The attacks unleashed by Lepardo next were fast and repeated jabs.The power behind themis kept on the lower end, but in exchange each and every single one of them is extremely quick.Having those jabs unleashed at him at a speed capable of cutting wind, Renya twists his body, but finally receives one blow to his chest which he wasnt able to catch with his palm or handle by evading it.That one blow, which is likely a really light strike with an emphasis on speed in Lepardos eyes, successfully drills into Renyas chest, causing him to leak a small groan of pain.Seemingly because of the heavytekkouor Lepardos own strength, he receives an impact that seems to squeeze out the air from within his lungs. Renya, who stopped moving albeit only for an instant, is attacked by Lepardos follow-up attacks.Screams burst out among the audience.Judging that he would unmistakably receive several blows if he stood still, Renya grandly jumps back.However, that turned into a poor move.As if having waited for that, Lepardo swiftly steps in and shortens the combat distance. With Renyas feet still in the air, Lepardo releases a right jab with all his power.Renya estimated that Lepardo, whos a lot heavier and taller than himself, on top of wearing metallic gauntlets and boots, wouldnt be able to catch up with him, but even though he regretted having taken Lepardos explosive power too lightly, it was already too late.One blow of Lepardo hits Renya who somehow managed to adopt a defensive stance by crossing both his arms in front of his body.In addition to the power of the charge which he used to shortened the combat distance, Lepardo possesses his forged physical strength and a far heavier weight than Renya.The blow, which was released while capitalising on these factors, easily blew Renyas body away, making it crash into the arenas wall.Being caught in-between the impact of him hitting the wall with his back and the metallic gauntlets impact, which hit his flesh-made arms, Renya spit out all the air remaining inside his lungs. Furthermore Lepardo is about to pursue him in order to finish the fight. Continuing to hit the opponent until they are completely defeated is the beastmens style! (Lepardo) He unleashes his fist while roaring.Renya, who is still unable to even breath due to the pain and shock, is in a state where he cant even move his feet to evade.Lepardo was certain of his victory, but in the next instant his face cramps up for some reason and he increases the combat distance from Renya.As if chasing his body, countless lightning bolts swooped down towards Lepardo. No way!? Chantless!? (Lepardo) Apparently being an item that had some kind of spell cast on it, Lepardo holds up his equipped gauntlets and the lightning bolts are erased after touching said gauntlets.If there were one or two of these bolts, he would have likely been able to draw near Renya once again while erasing the lightning with his gauntlets, but the number of lightning bolts, invoked by Renya while he was leaning against the wall, reached the several dozen count.No matter how many of those he could erase, it doesnt seems as if he can completely negate the impact he receives while doing so. Lepardos body is gradually pushed down.Exchanging his superfluous mana into lightning bolts, Renya strokes his injured arms while continuously attacking. He slowly, little by little, put his disheveled breathing in order.Thinking back, I feel like its the first time that Ive suffered a decent amount of damage after coming to this world, Renya thinks while stroking his arms.It feels as if I have received quite the number of wounds that seem to be small and trivial since I got here, but its probably the first time that I get directly attacked like on this occasion, receiving damage that stopped my body from moving,he believes.As a matter of fact, although he hasnt received any more than a mere two blows, the damage killed his usual mobility originating from his feet. Both his arms, which defended against the blow of the boorish metallic lump-like gauntlet, were completely broken at the parts where they were hit.However, that damage is slowly recuperating due to his Superior Regeneration ability.Though it was apparent from the damages depth that it wouldnt recover right away. Kuh T-This! Even though Im erasing and erasing one after the other! Just how much mana do you have!? (Lepardo) Lepardo continues to defend against the lightning bolts launched at him in succession with an unbelievable speed considering hes wearing heavy, metallic gauntlets.Not even one of Renyas spells, which were being continuously fired for such a long time that it would cause an average sorcerer to faint, reaches Lepardos body.Even so, because they are meaningful as restraint, Renya doesnt stop releasing them repeatedly. Dont hide behind such cheap tricks! Fight me square and fair from the front! (Lepardo) Square and fair, eh? Geez, give me a rest (Renya) Regardless of liking or disliking them, theres absolutely nothing decent in getting involved with a hero, Renya sighs while looking sullen.It looked as if it would take a long time for him to recover his arms oozing with pain to a level that would allow him to wield his katana perfectly again. You did defeat that human hero, didnt you!? Dont fuck around with such petty stalling for time! (Lepardo) Thats why I told you that I dont know anything about that incident, didnt I? (Renya) Dont play dumb! I properly investigated about the guy, who defeated the hero summoned by the Holy Kingdom inheriting his powers, being in Trident. (Lepardo) I have been telling you that its not me (Renya) Its not like Renya is lying.Since its actually a fact that he hasnt finished off the hero, Renya boldly and confidently denied Lepardos word.Being denied far too clearly, Lepardos expression becomes gloomy. For real? I got the wrong person? (Lepardo) Thats what it looks like. Itll be fine for you to meet with the fellow who inherited the heros powers afterwards. Well, itll be fine for you to meet them, but (Renya) Renya ascertains the state of his hands by lightly clasping them.There was still some dullness and a little pain left, but as the regeneration had apparently advanced quite far, he was able to grasp them tightly with his full strength. Well, before that on top of having broken the arms of another person, you had them experience such a pain for the first time in a long while. (Renya) The lightning bolts that sealed Lepardos movements cease.Lepardo adjusted his two arms, which continued to erase the lightning bolts, and set them up against Renya.Seeing Renyas arms starting to be clad by something like heat haze with his eyes, Lepardos face warped in surprise. Originally Im a swordsman, so its logical for me to oppose an opponent with the sword, but since you beat the hell out of me with your fists, it would be rude if I dont pay you back with the same, right? (Renya) You, that (Lepardo) Unfortunately I dont happen to have gauntlets to equip at hand. So Im substituting them with mana. (Renya) It seems to be a state where he raises his fists strength by cladding them in something like a defensive barrier, so to speak.Because he is pouring an enormous amount of mana into them, it looks as if Renyas fists are clad by heat-haze-like fluctuations. There are various unarmed techniques, but Im not very knowledgeable about boxing. So, I pray for your forgiveness if its only rough, full-powered attacks, okay? What, theres nothing to worry about. Even if you are sent to the medical department in the worst case, I will have the guy, who inherited the hero powers, visit your hospital bed. (Renya) How amusing. Go ahead, make my day. (Lepardo) Renya releases a very casual right punch straight after taking a wide swing towards the prepared Lepardo.Its a telephone punch thats easy to evade due to its wide motion. Lepardo dodges that at the last moment and tries to shift into counterattacking immediately.Even though Renyas fist didnt even graze his body, hes still sent flying at full force while swirling in the air.Ahead of Renyas fist, which finished striking and missing at the same time, Lepardo witnesses the arenas wall breaking into small pieces and dispersing. Eh!? (Lepardo)//Read this at infinitenoveltranslations.net to support the translator.//He heard a voice from the audience shouting at the others to take refuge.Without even looking at the figures of the panicked audience in the stands evacuating outside the arena, Renya turns his eyes towards Lepardo, who had immediately adopted a fighting stance after getting up, although in the end he was suddenly slapped onto the ground.Lepardo didnt understand what the hell had happened.Even though he was sure that he had dodged Renyas attack, he was sent flying, and moreover, the attack completely destroyed the wall which is at an unreachable distance.For arguments sake, what if this damage was brought about by the impact caused by his motion of swinging a fist?If that is the case I wonder just how much power the actual fist possesses?Arriving at that thought, Lepardos expression becomes pale within no time.Renya wasnt moving any faster than at the beginning right now.While simply pasting a smile on his face, he very slowly, one firm step after the other, approaches Lepardo.Seeing Renyas fists being clad in an even thicker fluctuation than before, Lepardo thought:I might possibly die in this place. Chapter 123 Chapter 123 C It seems to be a Visitor 2 Starting with the conclusion, Renya was unable to do any meaningful damage to Lepard.And its not because of the barrier covering the schools arena.If he was eager about it, he could have pretended to seriously attack Lepard, since its easy to be moved outside the barrier, and then have slowly killed him once Lepards body was outside the barrier.This beastman hero called Lepard didnt cross over to the human country bearing some kind of grudge nor did he have some kind of plan. Instead he simply followed the information saying that there was a strong guy who had managed to defeat a hero to be found here. It was completely obvious that a part of Lepard wanted to fight against that guy and that he was likely stimulated by simplistic thoughts, after having fallen into the scheme of someone with a special plan. From the start, except for when he was fighting, Renya had the faint suspicion that that might be the case.Moreover, although Renya snapped due to the pain of having both his arms broken, there was also the fact that not all spectators watching from the audience seats had evacuated, maybe due to their shallow thought process or to their boldness. Either way, a considerable number of residents hadnt stopped watching.If he beat up the beastman hero to his hearts content in a place with so many eyes watching, it would refresh Renyas own mood, but at the same time it was likely that he would implant a very scary impression of their Lord-sama into the minds of the spectating residents.Did Renya finally comprehend what he was taking on there? Renya realized this after he had walloped Lepard, whose movements had dulled and whose face had become pale. Renya pulled Lepards body, which had been sent flying, towards himself by casting on Lepardstekkou, and stepped on him from atop, sending him slamming into the ground facing up.You might say that Renya realised his situation just a little bit too late.Renya was alarmed that he might have made a mistake with his actions while feeling the sensation of Lepards bones breaking one after the other under the foot trampling down on Lepard.However, the sturdiness of a beatmans body went beyond Renyas expectations.Lepard should have quite a few of his bones broken after being hit, thrown and stepped on, but once Renya moved his foot aside, Lepard immediately started to move and tried to get up, albeit sluggishly.Even Renya was astonished by that.Since Lepard hadnt been ejected by the barrier, Renya knew that the damage wasnt lethal, but if it was a human, it wouldnt have been weird for them to have died. Or rather, even though the damage looked as if he should be 80% close to death, Renya didnt expect for Lepard to remain conscious, let alone try to stand up by himself.His excessive surprise caused Renya to kick Lepards face, who was about to get up, with the sole of his shoe.That one blow turned out to be the final straw, causing Lepard to collapse after finally fainting.After making sure that the opponent had stopped moving, the arenas recovery team finally entered the grounds.In regards to the schools students, they simply dont retrieve them since it would trigger various complaints, but recovering the unconscious people in the arena was originally one of their jobs.Having judged that theres absolutely no way for the beastman hero, who had collapsed this time, to harbor the desire to be carried by Renya, they completely wrap up Lepard, who had stopped moving altogether, with ropes and bandages, and place him on a stretcher.They were about to transport him to the medical treatment facility like that, but at this point a problem came up.The largely-built Lepard, who was a lot taller than Renya, and his boorish boots andtekkouwere so heavy that it was impossible for the two-man recovery team to carry him.As a last resort they laboriously transported Lepard with four recovery team members.A recovery team member also came up to Renya, who was observing the group around Lepard off, but Renya refused any help.Its not a mistake to say that the damage Renya suffered was originally something that merited him being sent to the medical treatment facility and getting hospitalized there for several days.Renya himself knew that best, but as his Super Regeneration was something frightening, the broken bones of both his arms had already fully recovered. Even the bluish-black wounds at various places that had caused internal bleedings had only left something like a faint birthmarks behind by now.Even though its his own body, Renya feels slightly spooked by it.However there are also advantages in regards to this. Since even his current state, which would obviously trigger him being branded as a monster in his former world, was hardly minded by anyone C probably because there are things such as divine arts over here C Renya also decided not to care about it and forget about his injuries.Despite not knowing where they popped out from, Renya has the audience leave their seats, and goes back home while brushing off his clothes that had become covered in dust due to the battle.Although Renyas home was a normal mansion in Kukrika, he lived in a designed building in Klinge that made it difficult to specify whether it still counted as a mansion or was already considered a castle.Its pretty much located in the heart of the city with a wall and moat around it.What has been erected there on a fairly spacious plot is not something that has spires like a castle, albeit its a building made out of stone, but at the same time its far too tall and wide to be considered a normal mansion.It was a half-baked building with an uncertain categorization, but for the time being it was referred to as official residence of the feudal lord Renya.Though Renya only perceived it as something like a fortress with a little bit of extravagance added to it.Its size is several times larger when compared to his mansion in Kukrika.In proportion to that, the garden has become spacious as well. The seeds and seedlings brought from Kukrika by Frau were planted and grew strangely quickly.As for the harmlessness of those plants and creatures that seem to dwell in the garden, Renya tenaciously made sure, going as far as checking twice.The reason being that Frau wont be able to manage all of it by herself once the plots size becomes as wide as it currently is.And if Frau cant cover it all by herself, they have to get the help of others by sharing the management.Renya considers the appearance of a noble to be not worth worrying about, but in the end he also wants his own home to be in order and clean, to a reasonable extent.Since he would feel sorry for having Frau take care of everything by herself just to fulfill his wish, Renya put up a recruitment ad for maids that would work as Fraus subordinates. Compared to the recruitment of civil officials which has close to having zero applications, a flood of applications rushed in for the maid positions for some reason.Renya wondered whether he was too lax in his conditions by only stating that hes looking for young, hard-working women. But as a matter of fact the cause for the rush of applications was Emil saying something unnecessary at an employment information desk-like spot, which was in charge of putting up the maid recruitment, unbeknownst of Renya.As for the precise wording, Emil took Rona and Shion along to the employment information desk and said the following to the person in charge of the desk: Our master is a properly-behaved person to the point of not having made a move on these two even after they crept into his bedroom at night. (Emil) The problem is that it always heads in that direction whenever a noble tries to recruit maids, whatever the nobles age may be.There are times when the applicants accept it as inevitable so long as its limited to a certain extent, but in the end its not something that gives them a good feeling.It is a cognizance to the point of I guess I have no choice but to give up if Im asked to have sex with them for the first time.However, with Emils brief comment, Margrave Kunugi of Klinge was recognized as a person with considerably good conduct, a fact that spread among the women wanting to be hired as maids.After all, even if you only consider their appearance, Rona and Shion are high level beauties.The existence of a male noble, who is capable of refusing their night crawling, is unexpectedly precious to an unimaginable degree.If its the truth, we probably wont be forced into a sexual relationship that easily as we wont be carelessly sought after as it would happen with other nobles. Also, in case it develops in that direction, we likely wont be driven away with nothing more than consolation money, they thought.Moreover Renya set the wages for the maids slightly high, because the burden on Frau would likely become big if no help came.Furthermore he has added the conditions that their life needs will be taken care of as its possible to live-in and that they will be allowed to take days off, albeit in a shift system.As the information that this offer was quite a good job prospect spread, the applications flooded in.The number of maids started to fill up while Frau and Croire narrowed down the number of applicants.By the way, Emil ended up being sent to the medical treatment facility due to Shion and Rona, who had been publicly exposed as pilloried criminals.As for the matter of where, for what reason and how much Emil was beat up, Renya pretended not to know anything since hes scared of asking.But then again Emil came back home with an expression as if nothing had happened the next day after being hospitalized for only one night.For that reason quite a large number of maids are already working inside Renyas residence.Among them there are also some in charge of cleaning the garden. Renya confirmed the safety of the garden many time over with Frau for their sake. Theres only one path to the house after entering the grounds of Renyas residence. A gatekeeper is standing by the entrance gate built on the path.Originally either the national armys soldiers, which were dispatched to Klinge, or the private army gathered by Renya should serve as sentries at the gate. Renya had hired the members of Keiths unit, which he had trained himself, from within the national army in the city of Kukrika. Moreover, since the private soldiers gathered in Klinge have been sent for training to Keith, Renya didnt have the capacity to dispatch soldiers to his own residence.Accordingly Renya has appointed that armor as the gatekeeper as there wont be an issue to have it stand by the gate for 24 hours without rest.There are likely very few nobles who would entrust the job of watching their gates to an autonomously moving armor, no matter what era or country it might be, but if it comes to an armor with the powers of a hero, it should be fine to openly say that there would be no nobles doing something like that.However, as mentioned, apart from there being no problem with it standing there without rest, this armor possesses combat abilities equal to a heros. As its a being that unconditionally adheres to Fraus and Renyas orders, Renya regarded the armor as extremely convenient as there was no other being as befitting as the gatekeeper.Renya returned to his room after giving a light greeting to the armor and receiving bows from the maids cleaning and washing laundry in the garden, and flung off his coat. Frau told Renya about a guest who looked for him before his return. Guest? (Renya) Yes ~no. Its a proper visitor who orderly announced their visit through the main gate ~nano. (Frau) This condition seems to be the minimal, unyieldable, required condition for someone else to be acknowledged as a visitor by Frau. Who is it and where are they from? I dont remember having made any appointments? (Renya) Once he became a noble, various people requesting a meeting had appeared.The type of people span from managers of some companies to representatives of other nobles and messengers from the archduchess herself.Those people interested in a meeting made appointments a long time before the actual date as general custom of courtesy, and visited afterwards, but its not like it doesnt occasionally happen that people request a meeting unannounced without any previous appointment.In such a situation its up to Renyas discretion whether he will meet them or not.Seeing as theres no promise, it wont develop into a problem even if he chooses not to meet them. They had no appointment ~no. Its a woman ~no. Shes an incredible beauty ~no. After telling her to wait until you come back home master, I had her wait in the parlor ~no. (Frau) I dont really feel like deciding whether I will meet them or not according to their appearance, but who is she and where is she from? (Renya) Renya sits down on the chair in his room and asks while sipping the black tea prepared by Frau. Frau takes out a piece of paper from a pocket in her maid clothes and scans it. Shes a beastman visitor hailing from the southern continent. She was able to come here through the transfer gate ~no. (Frau) Somehow I feel like I heard that story just a short time ago. (Renya) Not much time has passed since he had sent someone like that to the medical treatment facility.Even if someone were to come with a topic related to that, the response is far too fast.Having said that, it was a visitor coming from a place with heavily pinpointed relevance to the current situation making it hard to assume that they are here for a totally unrelated matter to the hero. By the way, her present was the southern speciality, steamed buns filled with red bean paste ~no. Its extremely scary how perfectly it fits with green tea ~no. (Frau) Renya feels as if he implicitly heard If its just meeting with her, please do so since we have received a present within Fraus words.While we are at it, theres red bean paste in the south?Renya is surprised by the newly obtained information.Since elven beans, which serve as ingredients formisoand soy sauce commonly exist in this world, its not weird for adzuki beans to exist as well.Im sure there was someone among the past great Lost who drifted to the southern continent. They probably imparted the existence of adzuki beans and their processing methods to the locals.Renya offered his gratitude to his predecessor whose name he doesnt know. On that subject, how come you know about its good affinity with green tea, Frau? (Renya) As head of the maids, I dont neglect checking the food entering your mouth, master ~no. (Frau) In other words you snatched some food, right? (Renya) Id like you to call it poison testing ~no. (Frau) Renya shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Frau who quietly averts her eyes from Renya while wiping away her dripping cold sweat. Chapter 123 C It seems to be a Visitor 2 Starting with the conclusion, Renya was unable to do any meaningful damage to Lepard.And its not because of the barrier covering the schools arena.If he was eager about it, he could have pretended to seriously attack Lepard, since its easy to be moved outside the barrier, and then have slowly killed him once Lepards body was outside the barrier.This beastman hero called Lepard didnt cross over to the human country bearing some kind of grudge nor did he have some kind of plan. Instead he simply followed the information saying that there was a strong guy who had managed to defeat a hero to be found here. It was completely obvious that a part of Lepard wanted to fight against that guy and that he was likely stimulated by simplistic thoughts, after having fallen into the scheme of someone with a special plan. From the start, except for when he was fighting, Renya had the faint suspicion that that might be the case.Moreover, although Renya snapped due to the pain of having both his arms broken, there was also the fact that not all spectators watching from the audience seats had evacuated, maybe due to their shallow thought process or to their boldness. Either way, a considerable number of residents hadnt stopped watching.If he beat up the beastman hero to his hearts content in a place with so many eyes watching, it would refresh Renyas own mood, but at the same time it was likely that he would implant a very scary impression of their Lord-sama into the minds of the spectating residents.Did Renya finally comprehend what he was taking on there? Renya realized this after he had walloped Lepard, whose movements had dulled and whose face had become pale. Renya pulled Lepards body, which had been sent flying, towards himself by casting on Lepardstekkou, and stepped on him from atop, sending him slamming into the ground facing up.You might say that Renya realised his situation just a little bit too late.Renya was alarmed that he might have made a mistake with his actions while feeling the sensation of Lepards bones breaking one after the other under the foot trampling down on Lepard.However, the sturdiness of a beatmans body went beyond Renyas expectations.Lepard should have quite a few of his bones broken after being hit, thrown and stepped on, but once Renya moved his foot aside, Lepard immediately started to move and tried to get up, albeit sluggishly.Even Renya was astonished by that.Since Lepard hadnt been ejected by the barrier, Renya knew that the damage wasnt lethal, but if it was a human, it wouldnt have been weird for them to have died. Or rather, even though the damage looked as if he should be 80% close to death, Renya didnt expect for Lepard to remain conscious, let alone try to stand up by himself.His excessive surprise caused Renya to kick Lepards face, who was about to get up, with the sole of his shoe.That one blow turned out to be the final straw, causing Lepard to collapse after finally fainting.After making sure that the opponent had stopped moving, the arenas recovery team finally entered the grounds.In regards to the schools students, they simply dont retrieve them since it would trigger various complaints, but recovering the unconscious people in the arena was originally one of their jobs.Having judged that theres absolutely no way for the beastman hero, who had collapsed this time, to harbor the desire to be carried by Renya, they completely wrap up Lepard, who had stopped moving altogether, with ropes and bandages, and place him on a stretcher.They were about to transport him to the medical treatment facility like that, but at this point a problem came up.The largely-built Lepard, who was a lot taller than Renya, and his boorish boots andtekkouwere so heavy that it was impossible for the two-man recovery team to carry him.As a last resort they laboriously transported Lepard with four recovery team members.A recovery team member also came up to Renya, who was observing the group around Lepard off, but Renya refused any help.Its not a mistake to say that the damage Renya suffered was originally something that merited him being sent to the medical treatment facility and getting hospitalized there for several days.Renya himself knew that best, but as his Super Regeneration was something frightening, the broken bones of both his arms had already fully recovered. Even the bluish-black wounds at various places that had caused internal bleedings had only left something like a faint birthmarks behind by now.Even though its his own body, Renya feels slightly spooked by it.However there are also advantages in regards to this. Since even his current state, which would obviously trigger him being branded as a monster in his former world, was hardly minded by anyone C probably because there are things such as divine arts over here C Renya also decided not to care about it and forget about his injuries.Despite not knowing where they popped out from, Renya has the audience leave their seats, and goes back home while brushing off his clothes that had become covered in dust due to the battle.Although Renyas home was a normal mansion in Kukrika, he lived in a designed building in Klinge that made it difficult to specify whether it still counted as a mansion or was already considered a castle.Its pretty much located in the heart of the city with a wall and moat around it.What has been erected there on a fairly spacious plot is not something that has spires like a castle, albeit its a building made out of stone, but at the same time its far too tall and wide to be considered a normal mansion.It was a half-baked building with an uncertain categorization, but for the time being it was referred to as official residence of the feudal lord Renya.Though Renya only perceived it as something like a fortress with a little bit of extravagance added to it.Its size is several times larger when compared to his mansion in Kukrika.In proportion to that, the garden has become spacious as well. The seeds and seedlings brought from Kukrika by Frau were planted and grew strangely quickly.As for the harmlessness of those plants and creatures that seem to dwell in the garden, Renya tenaciously made sure, going as far as checking twice.The reason being that Frau wont be able to manage all of it by herself once the plots size becomes as wide as it currently is.And if Frau cant cover it all by herself, they have to get the help of others by sharing the management.Renya considers the appearance of a noble to be not worth worrying about, but in the end he also wants his own home to be in order and clean, to a reasonable extent.Since he would feel sorry for having Frau take care of everything by herself just to fulfill his wish, Renya put up a recruitment ad for maids that would work as Fraus subordinates.Compared to the recruitment of civil officials which has close to having zero applications, a flood of applications rushed in for the maid positions for some reason.Renya wondered whether he was too lax in his conditions by only stating that hes looking for young, hard-working women. But as a matter of fact the cause for the rush of applications was Emil saying something unnecessary at an employment information desk-like spot, which was in charge of putting up the maid recruitment, unbeknownst of Renya.As for the precise wording, Emil took Rona and Shion along to the employment information desk and said the following to the person in charge of the desk: Our master is a properly-behaved person to the point of not having made a move on these two even after they crept into his bedroom at night. (Emil) The problem is that it always heads in that direction whenever a noble tries to recruit maids, whatever the nobles age may be.There are times when the applicants accept it as inevitable so long as its limited to a certain extent, but in the end its not something that gives them a good feeling.It is a cognizance to the point of I guess I have no choice but to give up if Im asked to have sex with them for the first time.However, with Emils brief comment, Margrave Kunugi of Klinge was recognized as a person with considerably good conduct, a fact that spread among the women wanting to be hired as maids.After all, even if you only consider their appearance, Rona and Shion are high level beauties.The existence of a male noble, who is capable of refusing their night crawling, is unexpectedly precious to an unimaginable degree.If its the truth, we probably wont be forced into a sexual relationship that easily as we wont be carelessly sought after as it would happen with other nobles. Also, in case it develops in that direction, we likely wont be driven away with nothing more than consolation money, they thought.Moreover Renya set the wages for the maids slightly high, because the burden on Frau would likely become big if no help came.Furthermore he has added the conditions that their life needs will be taken care of as its possible to live-in and that they will be allowed to take days off, albeit in a shift system.As the information that this offer was quite a good job prospect spread, the applications flooded in.The number of maids started to fill up while Frau and Croire narrowed down the number of applicants.By the way, Emil ended up being sent to the medical treatment facility due to Shion and Rona, who had been publicly exposed as pilloried criminals.As for the matter of where, for what reason and how much Emil was beat up, Renya pretended not to know anything since hes scared of asking.But then again Emil came back home with an expression as if nothing had happened the next day after being hospitalized for only one night.For that reason quite a large number of maids are already working inside Renyas residence.Among them there are also some in charge of cleaning the garden. Renya confirmed the safety of the garden many time over with Frau for their sake. Theres only one path to the house after entering the grounds of Renyas residence. A gatekeeper is standing by the entrance gate built on the path.Originally either the national armys soldiers, which were dispatched to Klinge, or the private army gathered by Renya should serve as sentries at the gate. Renya had hired the members of Keiths unit, which he had trained himself, from within the national army in the city of Kukrika. Moreover, since the private soldiers gathered in Klinge have been sent for training to Keith, Renya didnt have the capacity to dispatch soldiers to his own residence.Accordingly Renya has appointed that armor as the gatekeeper as there wont be an issue to have it stand by the gate for 24 hours without rest.There are likely very few nobles who would entrust the job of watching their gates to an autonomously moving armor, no matter what era or country it might be, but if it comes to an armor with the powers of a hero, it should be fine to openly say that there would be no nobles doing something like that.However, as mentioned, apart from there being no problem with it standing there without rest, this armor possesses combat abilities equal to a heros. As its a being that unconditionally adheres to Fraus and Renyas orders, Renya regarded the armor as extremely convenient as there was no other being as befitting as the gatekeeper.Renya returned to his room after giving a light greeting to the armor and receiving bows from the maids cleaning and washing laundry in the garden, and flung off his coat. Frau told Renya about a guest who looked for him before his return. Guest? (Renya) Yes ~no. Its a proper visitor who orderly announced their visit through the main gate ~nano. (Frau) This condition seems to be the minimal, unyieldable, required condition for someone else to be acknowledged as a visitor by Frau. Who is it and where are they from? I dont remember having made any appointments? (Renya) Once he became a noble, various people requesting a meeting had appeared.The type of people span from managers of some companies to representatives of other nobles and messengers from the archduchess herself.Those people interested in a meeting made appointments a long time before the actual date as general custom of courtesy, and visited afterwards, but its not like it doesnt occasionally happen that people request a meeting unannounced without any previous appointment.In such a situation its up to Renyas discretion whether he will meet them or not.Seeing as theres no promise, it wont develop into a problem even if he chooses not to meet them. They had no appointment ~no. Its a woman ~no. Shes an incredible beauty ~no. After telling her to wait until you come back home master, I had her wait in the parlor ~no. (Frau) I dont really feel like deciding whether I will meet them or not according to their appearance, but who is she and where is she from? (Renya) Renya sits down on the chair in his room and asks while sipping the black tea prepared by Frau. Frau takes out a piece of paper from a pocket in her maid clothes and scans it. Shes a beastman visitor hailing from the southern continent. She was able to come here through the transfer gate ~no. (Frau) Somehow I feel like I heard that story just a short time ago. (Renya) Not much time has passed since he had sent someone like that to the medical treatment facility.Even if someone were to come with a topic related to that, the response is far too fast.Having said that, it was a visitor coming from a place with heavily pinpointed relevance to the current situation making it hard to assume that they are here for a totally unrelated matter to the hero. By the way, her present was the southern speciality, steamed buns filled with red bean paste ~no. Its extremely scary how perfectly it fits with green tea ~no. (Frau) Renya feels as if he implicitly heard If its just meeting with her, please do so since we have received a present within Fraus words.While we are at it, theres red bean paste in the south?Renya is surprised by the newly obtained information.Since elven beans, which serve as ingredients formisoand soy sauce commonly exist in this world, its not weird for adzuki beans to exist as well.Im sure there was someone among the past great Lost who drifted to the southern continent. They probably imparted the existence of adzuki beans and their processing methods to the locals.Renya offered his gratitude to his predecessor whose name he doesnt know. On that subject, how come you know about its good affinity with green tea, Frau? (Renya) As head of the maids, I dont neglect checking the food entering your mouth, master ~no. (Frau) In other words you snatched some food, right? (Renya) Id like you to call it poison testing ~no. (Frau) Renya shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Frau who quietly averts her eyes from Renya while wiping away her dripping cold sweat. Chapter 124 Chapter 124 C It seems that she has quite the difficult time As sending them back home right after accepting the souvenirs would be much too inhumane, Renya decided that simply meeting them was fine and thus entered the parlor. The person, who had been shown in there earlier, stood up and greeted Renya.Renya, who quickly let his gaze wander from the persons head to their feet in a way that wouldnt be considered impolite, felt slightly surprised. Her clothes had white and red as the basic colors. Its something far closer to the attire worn by the women referred to as shrine priestess in Renyas former world than the attire worn by Shion.If pushed to say, the attire worn by Shion was something like a mix between a shrine priestess garb and a dougi, but the attire worn by the visitor has been made out of thin silk, seemingly putting emphasis on elegance rather than sturdiness. With just a slight stirring, her garb smoothly sways in accordance.What surprised Renya the most was apparently her attire, but the same could be said for her features.A white skin that didnt lose to the white of her shrine priestess garb.Something like makeup, which Renya had seen for the first time after coming to this world, has been applied to her slender, well-featured cheeks.A faint shade has been applied around her eyes. The vivid red on her lips is to the degree of being glossy, but since she can make one feel a sense of fascination with only that much, makeup is certainly something mysterious, Renya believes.Her blonde, silky hair reached down to her shoulders, but the second major reason for Renya to be surprised were the triangular beast ears standing up on top of her head and the tail shaking gently behind her.Seeing those two features, Renya thought,a fox has arrived here. Im honored to be allowed to meet with thee for the first time. Im called Kaede, a shrine priestess of the beastmen. Kaede? (Renya) Even her name caused Renya to be astonished.Its the kind of name he hasnt heard often in this world, but would come up regularly in his former world. Kaede explains to Renya who wonders whether that might be a coincidence, This name has been inherited by many generations of beastmen shrine priestesses holding the highest rank. If you trace back its history, its a name given to a shrine priestess by a Lost several tens of generations ago. (Kaede) Was that Lost a hero or something like that? (Renya) Hmm, our oral tradition doesnt tell us that much. (Kaede) Renya invites Kaede, who shows a sweet smile, to take a seat opposite to him.This time Renya stared at Kaede, who sits down as suggested, with a somewhat presumptuous look.Going by age, shes probably reasonably older than me.Judging by her well-mannered attitude, shes a person who has learned quite a bit of etiquette, Renya assesses.From the clothes shes wearing, I cant grasp her body-line at all, but going by the impression given by her nape and hands, it doesnt look like her body is one suited for fighting. So, what is the business that allows me the honor of your visit today? (Renya) With a timing seemingly as if she had waited for the two to sit down, Frau, who entered the parlor, placed brewed black tea on the table between them.The tea-cake was a cookie garnished with raspberry jam, specially made by a maid. Yes, first I believe an apology is in order. (Kaede) Due to Kaede bowing her head, Renya, who was about to pick up the tea cup, stopped in his tracks.Staying in a position where her head is lowered for a short while, Kaede finally raises her head slowly after some time had passed and matched her line of sight with Renyas who was staring her way.Renya offers the tea to Kaede, who looks slightly doubtful not understanding the reason why she is being gazed upon, and brings his own teacup to his mouth.Once he tastes it after enjoying its aroma, the black tea that was brewed in the usual skilled manner, flowed down Renyas throat. Apology, is it? (Renya) If Im told about apologizing by a beastman, the only matter that comes to mind is the hero that suddenly attacked me.But, the timing in regards to that event is suspicious.Since Lepard himself had been sent to the medical treatment faculty, it was impossible for the information to have circulated to the beastman country.Given that he was tossed in there after expressly affixing him with ropes and bandages into a state where he couldnt move about, the possibility of the hero himself contacting his own country doesnt really exist.Even though its unlikely that the news spread, the timing of this shrine priestess arrival while conveying her words of apology came almost instantly with no time in-between the events.Its also a timing that makes it seem as if they had arranged for all this to happen in advance.But, if I assume that all of these events were prearranged, what is the intention lying behind it all? Renya doesnt understand at all.Kaede answered to Renya, who believes that hes bad at trying to figuring out the true intentions of the other party, Its about the younger brother of the hero, Lenard1Panther-sama. (Kaede) Whos that? (Renya) Renya feels as if he has heard a name similar to that previously, but its obviously a different name.And, Renya had no memory of having met this person called Lenard.He turns a fleeting glance at Frau, who was on standby behind him after having finished pouring the tea, but Frau tells Renya that she doesnt know either by quietly shaking her head. Lenard-sama is the younger twin brother of the beastmans hero, Lepard-sama. On this journey we overheard that the human hero-sama was to be found here. As a preliminary investigation before introducing Lepard-sama, he visited this place together with me. (Kaede) Renya feels like retorting with From where did you get that information? or Dont come investigating human territory without permission, but since he sensed that the conversation wouldnt make any progress if he said so, he decided to silently urge her to continue. That means Lenard-sama is the younger brother of the hero and he excels in military bravery, buthis character is slightly bad. I guess you might say, he loses all consideration of his surroundings if he catches sight of a person excelling in military bravery, or that he becomes determined not letting his attention stray once he sets his heart on something? (Kaede) Kaede says with a gloomy expression, as if its very hard to speak about the subject, while also being evasive with her words. Somehow the situation took a weird turn, Renya thinks,but unless I let her explain everything, I wont be able to see the whole picture. According to the rumors, the human hero-sama, who is here, is a person who received their qualification after having defeated the original hero-sama summoned by the Holy Kingdom or such. Learning of such military prowess, Lenard-sama apparently couldnt contain himself and went missing. (Kaede) Just put a rope around his neck or something like that. (Renya) Thats something we ought to consider. (Kaede) Renya glares at her scornfully.Kaede reacts immediately by casting her eyes down.Even so, I wonder what I should do?Since its a matter of the beastmen, Renya doesnt want to get involved with it too deeply. I somehow get the picture. Certainly, I was attacked by a guy calling himself the beastman hero a while ago and merely repelled him, butthat guy clearly introduced himself as hero Lepard, you know? (Renya) Hes able to say with confidence that he hadnt misheard.Kaede cast her eyes downs while answering Renya, who wanted to ask whether its really that easy to win against one with the title of a hero, Even if hes the younger brother, he knows that misrepresenting oneself as the hero is an unforgivable felony. (Kaede) Our territory has rather lax limitations on visiting from another country through the transfer gate. Therefore it isnt a particular problem that you entered the Margraviate for a preliminary investigation, but that younger brother has attacked a human of the Trident Principality and inflicted injuries on them. This is a crime we cant overlook. (Renya) The crime of attacking an important person is heavy ~no. (Frau) Frau interrupts with a small whisper.If the person attacked had been an ordinary resident, that would still be a problem in itself, but to a certain extent it couldnt be used as a vague reason to push for an unreasonable punishment.However, if the victim is an important person belonging to the country, this turns into a cross-national issue and the situation becomes big.Frau apparently wants to tackle the issue from that angle. After being told so, Kaedes face cramps up a bit, but the words that came out of Renyas mouth were completely unexpected for both of them. I havent heard any information about an important person having been attacked. (Renya) Master? (Frau) Looking slightly surprised, Frau raises her voice, but Renya ignores her and continues speaking, In the first place, at present its difficult to imagine that a situation, where an important person unaccompanied by any guards gets attacked by a loitering person in the area, will come to pass. (Renya) Frau ends up wondering how Renya can be so barefaced to say something like that himself, but Renya declaration was calm.Certainly, originally nobles are always accompanied by guards when traveling, even if it they were traveling within a city.However, in Renyas case theres such a difference in ability that theres a wall between him and the soldiers working as guards, which the soldiers cant overcome. Going by the soldiers words, you might even say that its them wanting to be guarded by Renya. The end result was Renya clearly stating therell likely be fewer casualties if there are no people around him.For this world that put emphasis on social standing and formality, either opinion was extremely unconventional. But as Renya, the person who would originally be in danger, doesnt care about it while saying Oh well, its going to work out somehow, it has been waved through under the condition that this be limited to Renyas territory. As for posing as a hero, it would be better to judge it in accordance to your laws. However, as for the crimes committed here, I will have him abide to our laws. If it was really a noble that got attacked, it will result in the judgement being dependent on the Archduchess as it would become a national issue, but if it were an ordinary person, I will keep it to my own discretion as it would be an internal issue of the territory. That will be the basis applied here. (Renya) Once Renya glares at Kaede with a sharp, discerning look, Kaedes body on top of the chair trembles with a start.Seeing that, Frau shook her head lightly.There arent many people who can play dumb while being glared at by Renyas eyes, Frau thinks.Just a while ago he easily made me spit out that I had snatched some of the steamed buns brought along as a present. As an official stance is what it is, tell me honestly the truth as I will properly listen. (Renya) Given that I will apologize as much as thee like, cant thee somehow allow me to take custody of that idiot? (Kaede) Due to Kaedes instant reply lacking any hesitation or faltering, Frau was about to fall over.Somehow managing to put strength into her knees so that she doesnt collapse, what Frau, who fixed her posture, saw was Renya with his usual, unchanged expression drinking his tea, seemingly having predicted that it would turn out like this, and Kaede who is apparently expressing the feeling of being dispirited with her whole body by letting her ears and tail hang down dejectedly. We had tried to detain him before. I had already mobilized the tribal warriors to restrain him. Shaking free of them with physical strength, that idiot hasit was also a misfortune that the limitations to use the transfer gate over here had been kept loose. Id like thee to understand that I dont have the slightest intention to use that as excuse though. (Kaede) Were there any injured? (Renya) If her words that the tribal warriors had been mobilized are true, a splendid number of warriors should have moved to stop that hero.Going by the heros character, it was obvious that there would be no way for him to quickly escape with so many opponents in front of him.Its almost certain that he forced his way through. The injuries were at a degree recoverable with healing arts, butapparently in order to buy some time until pursuers could follow him, he took all the magic gems, which were stocked for running the transfer gate, while he was at it, causing my arrival here to be slightly delayed. (Kaede) Frau, since there should be magic gems stuffed in that idiots trouser pocket, take them away. (Renya) Roger, master ~nano. (Frau) Renya rejects Kaede, who stated Those are the property of our country with a reproachful look, saying that they would be taken as portion of the reparations. If he gets too noisy, confiscate histekkouand boots as well. (Renya) They were sparkling so much, so there will likely be eager collectors, who will try to buy it for quite the sum if I put it up for sale, as it is the equipment of a beastman. Please, spare us of that alone. Those are items of the beastman hero. If we lose these, we wont be able to face our ancestors and descendants. (Kaede) Renyas gaze, who looked down on Kaede after she started rubbing her forehead against the table in panic, somehow included plenty of pity instead of cold-heartedness.Renya guesses, Even without you telling me, I can guess that it has probably been hard on you.That means an acquittal is impossible.Considering the injuries he suffered, Renya ponders whether he should pretend that he was fine to create a heartwarming story out of it. Otherwise, the hardships of the troubled person in front of him would only grow in proportions to the painful experience he had.However, in regards to the broken facilities, Renya would lose face if he didnt demand a considerable compensation, going by the fact that it had been public property that got demolished, meaning, not being reimbursed for these would spell trouble. If you feel like paying 10% more than the actual costs for reimbursements and compensation, I wont mind turning over that younger brother to you. And send as much sugar and beans for red bean paste as possible over since it will be used to settle matters out of court with the person who received the attack. (Renya) The broken things amount to the arenas door and walls, and although those werent cheap, its not like they cost a staggering amount of money either.Adding 10% to the total sum shouldnt result in a considerable amount of money, but Renyas true desire lies in the latter part of his words, namely, obtaining the ingredients for the red bean paste.Since ready-made red bean paste itself isnt something that keeps long, theres no point in receiving great quantities of it.However, if he preserves it by immediately freezing the paste he has made from scratch with sorcery, it will keep for quite a long time.At the moment Renya cant use freezing sorcery, but he thinks,If I seize several of the magicians in the city, they will likely be able to accomplish such a task. W-Will it be fine with only that much? (Kaede) In Kaedes eyes the terms seemed to be unbelievably light.Since she looked up at Renya in relief, Renya decided to answer honestly, To be frank, I dont need something like a hero. I have no use for him. If he hadnt caused any damage at all, there wouldnt have been any problem with even sending him back as soon as possible. Or rather, hes a burden. (Renya) For just an instant Renya played with the idea of feeding him to that armor which serves as his gatekeeper, but a being that piled up hero powers and retained them shouldnt have existed even once since the creation of this world. Since he couldnt fathom what kind of side effects it would trigger if he actually created such a being, he dropped the idea.With that out of the picture, that beastman hero had absolutely no use and was nothing more than a nuisance.Immediately upon Renya thinking,I suppose I can forget the matter of having both my arms broken, if the demolished things are reimbursed and if it allows me to get my hands on red bean paste in addition to a little bit of money, Then I shall return to my home country at once to get everything ready! (Kaede) Dont forget about picking up that idiot, okay? (Renya) Y-Yes! So, that is (Kaede) Once Renya faces her with a fed-up look wondering whether theres still something left to discuss, Kaede starts to fidget around, apparently having difficulties to say it. I will at least hear you out, so hurry up and say it. (Renya) As for the demon king subjugation, at the moment it can be summed up with the movements of the demons being under investigation, but since time immemorial heroes are chosen from each continent and it has become a custom for them to gather at the human heros location to attack the demon king Sooner or later Id like to prepare a proper place and introduce our idiot to the human hero-sama, but (Kaede) Appoint a messenger and send them over first. If its after the date and program have been officially decided, there wont be any reason to not let them meet. (Renya) Thank thee very much! Margrave Kunugi-dono, please do as thee see fit. (Kaede) Due to Kaede bowing her head several time with a suddenly brightened-up expression, Renya pondered,Well then, how am I going to introduce, and on top of it explain, that armor? Chapter 124 C It seems that she has quite the difficult time As sending them back home right after accepting the souvenirs would be much too inhumane, Renya decided that simply meeting them was fine and thus entered the parlor. The person, who had been shown in there earlier, stood up and greeted Renya.Renya, who quickly let his gaze wander from the persons head to their feet in a way that wouldnt be considered impolite, felt slightly surprised. Her clothes had white and red as the basic colors. Its something far closer to the attire worn by the women referred to as shrine priestess in Renyas former world than the attire worn by Shion.If pushed to say, the attire worn by Shion was something like a mix between a shrine priestess garb and a dougi, but the attire worn by the visitor has been made out of thin silk, seemingly putting emphasis on elegance rather than sturdiness. With just a slight stirring, her garb smoothly sways in accordance.What surprised Renya the most was apparently her attire, but the same could be said for her features.A white skin that didnt lose to the white of her shrine priestess garb.Something like makeup, which Renya had seen for the first time after coming to this world, has been applied to her slender, well-featured cheeks.A faint shade has been applied around her eyes. The vivid red on her lips is to the degree of being glossy, but since she can make one feel a sense of fascination with only that much, makeup is certainly something mysterious, Renya believes.Her blonde, silky hair reached down to her shoulders, but the second major reason for Renya to be surprised were the triangular beast ears standing up on top of her head and the tail shaking gently behind her.Seeing those two features, Renya thought,a fox has arrived here. Im honored to be allowed to meet with thee for the first time. Im called Kaede, a shrine priestess of the beastmen. Kaede? (Renya) Even her name caused Renya to be astonished.Its the kind of name he hasnt heard often in this world, but would come up regularly in his former world. Kaede explains to Renya who wonders whether that might be a coincidence, This name has been inherited by many generations of beastmen shrine priestesses holding the highest rank. If you trace back its history, its a name given to a shrine priestess by a Lost several tens of generations ago. (Kaede) Was that Lost a hero or something like that? (Renya) Hmm, our oral tradition doesnt tell us that much. (Kaede) Renya invites Kaede, who shows a sweet smile, to take a seat opposite to him.This time Renya stared at Kaede, who sits down as suggested, with a somewhat presumptuous look.Going by age, shes probably reasonably older than me.Judging by her well-mannered attitude, shes a person who has learned quite a bit of etiquette, Renya assesses.From the clothes shes wearing, I cant grasp her body-line at all, but going by the impression given by her nape and hands, it doesnt look like her body is one suited for fighting. So, what is the business that allows me the honor of your visit today? (Renya) With a timing seemingly as if she had waited for the two to sit down, Frau, who entered the parlor, placed brewed black tea on the table between them.The tea-cake was a cookie garnished with raspberry jam, specially made by a maid. Yes, first I believe an apology is in order. (Kaede) Due to Kaede bowing her head, Renya, who was about to pick up the tea cup, stopped in his tracks.Staying in a position where her head is lowered for a short while, Kaede finally raises her head slowly after some time had passed and matched her line of sight with Renyas who was staring her way.Renya offers the tea to Kaede, who looks slightly doubtful not understanding the reason why she is being gazed upon, and brings his own teacup to his mouth.Once he tastes it after enjoying its aroma, the black tea that was brewed in the usual skilled manner, flowed down Renyas throat. Apology, is it? (Renya) If Im told about apologizing by a beastman, the only matter that comes to mind is the hero that suddenly attacked me.But, the timing in regards to that event is suspicious.Since Lepard himself had been sent to the medical treatment faculty, it was impossible for the information to have circulated to the beastman country.Given that he was tossed in there after expressly affixing him with ropes and bandages into a state where he couldnt move about, the possibility of the hero himself contacting his own country doesnt really exist.Even though its unlikely that the news spread, the timing of this shrine priestess arrival while conveying her words of apology came almost instantly with no time in-between the events.Its also a timing that makes it seem as if they had arranged for all this to happen in advance.But, if I assume that all of these events were prearranged, what is the intention lying behind it all? Renya doesnt understand at all.Kaede answered to Renya, who believes that hes bad at trying to figuring out the true intentions of the other party, Its about the younger brother of the hero, Lenard1Panther-sama. (Kaede) Whos that? (Renya) Renya feels as if he has heard a name similar to that previously, but its obviously a different name.And, Renya had no memory of having met this person called Lenard.He turns a fleeting glance at Frau, who was on standby behind him after having finished pouring the tea, but Frau tells Renya that she doesnt know either by quietly shaking her head. Lenard-sama is the younger twin brother of the beastmans hero, Lepard-sama. On this journey we overheard that the human hero-sama was to be found here. As a preliminary investigation before introducing Lepard-sama, he visited this place together with me. (Kaede) Renya feels like retorting with From where did you get that information? or Dont come investigating human territory without permission, but since he sensed that the conversation wouldnt make any progress if he said so, he decided to silently urge her to continue. That means Lenard-sama is the younger brother of the hero and he excels in military bravery, buthis character is slightly bad. I guess you might say, he loses all consideration of his surroundings if he catches sight of a person excelling in military bravery, or that he becomes determined not letting his attention stray once he sets his heart on something? (Kaede) Kaede says with a gloomy expression, as if its very hard to speak about the subject, while also being evasive with her words.Somehow the situation took a weird turn, Renya thinks,but unless I let her explain everything, I wont be able to see the whole picture. According to the rumors, the human hero-sama, who is here, is a person who received their qualification after having defeated the original hero-sama summoned by the Holy Kingdom or such. Learning of such military prowess, Lenard-sama apparently couldnt contain himself and went missing. (Kaede) Just put a rope around his neck or something like that. (Renya) Thats something we ought to consider. (Kaede) Renya glares at her scornfully.Kaede reacts immediately by casting her eyes down.Even so, I wonder what I should do?Since its a matter of the beastmen, Renya doesnt want to get involved with it too deeply. I somehow get the picture. Certainly, I was attacked by a guy calling himself the beastman hero a while ago and merely repelled him, butthat guy clearly introduced himself as hero Lepard, you know? (Renya) Hes able to say with confidence that he hadnt misheard.Kaede cast her eyes downs while answering Renya, who wanted to ask whether its really that easy to win against one with the title of a hero, Even if hes the younger brother, he knows that misrepresenting oneself as the hero is an unforgivable felony. (Kaede) Our territory has rather lax limitations on visiting from another country through the transfer gate. Therefore it isnt a particular problem that you entered the Margraviate for a preliminary investigation, but that younger brother has attacked a human of the Trident Principality and inflicted injuries on them. This is a crime we cant overlook. (Renya) The crime of attacking an important person is heavy ~no. (Frau) Frau interrupts with a small whisper.If the person attacked had been an ordinary resident, that would still be a problem in itself, but to a certain extent it couldnt be used as a vague reason to push for an unreasonable punishment.However, if the victim is an important person belonging to the country, this turns into a cross-national issue and the situation becomes big.Frau apparently wants to tackle the issue from that angle. After being told so, Kaedes face cramps up a bit, but the words that came out of Renyas mouth were completely unexpected for both of them. I havent heard any information about an important person having been attacked. (Renya) Master? (Frau) Looking slightly surprised, Frau raises her voice, but Renya ignores her and continues speaking, In the first place, at present its difficult to imagine that a situation, where an important person unaccompanied by any guards gets attacked by a loitering person in the area, will come to pass. (Renya) Frau ends up wondering how Renya can be so barefaced to say something like that himself, but Renya declaration was calm.Certainly, originally nobles are always accompanied by guards when traveling, even if it they were traveling within a city.However, in Renyas case theres such a difference in ability that theres a wall between him and the soldiers working as guards, which the soldiers cant overcome. Going by the soldiers words, you might even say that its them wanting to be guarded by Renya. The end result was Renya clearly stating therell likely be fewer casualties if there are no people around him.For this world that put emphasis on social standing and formality, either opinion was extremely unconventional. But as Renya, the person who would originally be in danger, doesnt care about it while saying Oh well, its going to work out somehow, it has been waved through under the condition that this be limited to Renyas territory. As for posing as a hero, it would be better to judge it in accordance to your laws. However, as for the crimes committed here, I will have him abide to our laws. If it was really a noble that got attacked, it will result in the judgement being dependent on the Archduchess as it would become a national issue, but if it were an ordinary person, I will keep it to my own discretion as it would be an internal issue of the territory. That will be the basis applied here. (Renya) Once Renya glares at Kaede with a sharp, discerning look, Kaedes body on top of the chair trembles with a start.Seeing that, Frau shook her head lightly.There arent many people who can play dumb while being glared at by Renyas eyes, Frau thinks.Just a while ago he easily made me spit out that I had snatched some of the steamed buns brought along as a present. As an official stance is what it is, tell me honestly the truth as I will properly listen. (Renya) Given that I will apologize as much as thee like, cant thee somehow allow me to take custody of that idiot? (Kaede) Due to Kaedes instant reply lacking any hesitation or faltering, Frau was about to fall over.Somehow managing to put strength into her knees so that she doesnt collapse, what Frau, who fixed her posture, saw was Renya with his usual, unchanged expression drinking his tea, seemingly having predicted that it would turn out like this, and Kaede who is apparently expressing the feeling of being dispirited with her whole body by letting her ears and tail hang down dejectedly. We had tried to detain him before. I had already mobilized the tribal warriors to restrain him. Shaking free of them with physical strength, that idiot hasit was also a misfortune that the limitations to use the transfer gate over here had been kept loose. Id like thee to understand that I dont have the slightest intention to use that as excuse though. (Kaede) Were there any injured? (Renya) If her words that the tribal warriors had been mobilized are true, a splendid number of warriors should have moved to stop that hero.Going by the heros character, it was obvious that there would be no way for him to quickly escape with so many opponents in front of him.Its almost certain that he forced his way through. The injuries were at a degree recoverable with healing arts, butapparently in order to buy some time until pursuers could follow him, he took all the magic gems, which were stocked for running the transfer gate, while he was at it, causing my arrival here to be slightly delayed. (Kaede) Frau, since there should be magic gems stuffed in that idiots trouser pocket, take them away. (Renya) Roger, master ~nano. (Frau) Renya rejects Kaede, who stated Those are the property of our country with a reproachful look, saying that they would be taken as portion of the reparations. If he gets too noisy, confiscate histekkouand boots as well. (Renya) They were sparkling so much, so there will likely be eager collectors, who will try to buy it for quite the sum if I put it up for sale, as it is the equipment of a beastman. Please, spare us of that alone. Those are items of the beastman hero. If we lose these, we wont be able to face our ancestors and descendants. (Kaede) Renyas gaze, who looked down on Kaede after she started rubbing her forehead against the table in panic, somehow included plenty of pity instead of cold-heartedness.Renya guesses, Even without you telling me, I can guess that it has probably been hard on you.That means an acquittal is impossible.Considering the injuries he suffered, Renya ponders whether he should pretend that he was fine to create a heartwarming story out of it. Otherwise, the hardships of the troubled person in front of him would only grow in proportions to the painful experience he had.However, in regards to the broken facilities, Renya would lose face if he didnt demand a considerable compensation, going by the fact that it had been public property that got demolished, meaning, not being reimbursed for these would spell trouble. If you feel like paying 10% more than the actual costs for reimbursements and compensation, I wont mind turning over that younger brother to you. And send as much sugar and beans for red bean paste as possible over since it will be used to settle matters out of court with the person who received the attack. (Renya) The broken things amount to the arenas door and walls, and although those werent cheap, its not like they cost a staggering amount of money either.Adding 10% to the total sum shouldnt result in a considerable amount of money, but Renyas true desire lies in the latter part of his words, namely, obtaining the ingredients for the red bean paste.Since ready-made red bean paste itself isnt something that keeps long, theres no point in receiving great quantities of it.However, if he preserves it by immediately freezing the paste he has made from scratch with sorcery, it will keep for quite a long time.At the moment Renya cant use freezing sorcery, but he thinks,If I seize several of the magicians in the city, they will likely be able to accomplish such a task. W-Will it be fine with only that much? (Kaede) In Kaedes eyes the terms seemed to be unbelievably light.Since she looked up at Renya in relief, Renya decided to answer honestly, To be frank, I dont need something like a hero. I have no use for him. If he hadnt caused any damage at all, there wouldnt have been any problem with even sending him back as soon as possible. Or rather, hes a burden. (Renya) For just an instant Renya played with the idea of feeding him to that armor which serves as his gatekeeper, but a being that piled up hero powers and retained them shouldnt have existed even once since the creation of this world. Since he couldnt fathom what kind of side effects it would trigger if he actually created such a being, he dropped the idea.With that out of the picture, that beastman hero had absolutely no use and was nothing more than a nuisance.Immediately upon Renya thinking,I suppose I can forget the matter of having both my arms broken, if the demolished things are reimbursed and if it allows me to get my hands on red bean paste in addition to a little bit of money, Then I shall return to my home country at once to get everything ready! (Kaede) Dont forget about picking up that idiot, okay? (Renya) Y-Yes! So, that is (Kaede) Once Renya faces her with a fed-up look wondering whether theres still something left to discuss, Kaede starts to fidget around, apparently having difficulties to say it. I will at least hear you out, so hurry up and say it. (Renya) As for the demon king subjugation, at the moment it can be summed up with the movements of the demons being under investigation, but since time immemorial heroes are chosen from each continent and it has become a custom for them to gather at the human heros location to attack the demon king Sooner or later Id like to prepare a proper place and introduce our idiot to the human hero-sama, but (Kaede) Appoint a messenger and send them over first. If its after the date and program have been officially decided, there wont be any reason to not let them meet. (Renya) Thank thee very much! Margrave Kunugi-dono, please do as thee see fit. (Kaede) Due to Kaede bowing her head several time with a suddenly brightened-up expression, Renya pondered,Well then, how am I going to introduce, and on top of it explain, that armor? Chapter 125 Chapter 125 C It seems to be a Secret Consultation with Emil Completely unable to come up with a good plan on how to explain the matters regarding the human hero, Renya visited Emils room.In Renyas castle, all his party members had been properly allocated their own rooms. Just like in the mansion in Kukrika, Emils room was a considerably vast area in the basement section.One has to walk through dark corridors while relying on candle light providing an amount of illumination that cant be called sufficient by any means. Her room doesnt really enjoy a good reputation among the maids either.The biggest reason for that was that the room was nothing but eerie.Even for Renya its a place he doesnt like approaching frequently, despite it being an area located inside his own castle.Once he passed through the dim corridors, a bulky, metallic door awaited him in front.It just has a boorish knocker and knob affixed to its smooth surface, lacking any other kind of decoration.Renya uses the knocker and calls out to Emil. Emil, are you there? Theres something Id like to discuss with you for a bit. (Renya) The surroundings consist of thick stone walls and the metallic door.Renya wondered whether his voice didnt reach the inside of the room, but after waiting for a short while, the knob turns and the door is slightly opened.The one who quietly showed her face from within was Emil who had her hair tied in a side tail today as well. Thats rare, for you to come to consult me, Renya. (Emil) Even I think so. But, is it fine for me to enter? Or do you want us to go somewhere else? (Renya) Please, come in. Though its a bit messy, okay? (Emil) Fully opening the door, Emil shows Renya inside the room.The rooms interior was brightly illuminated in comparison to the corridors, but probably because it was underground, Renya still felt a strange oppression nevertheless.The fact that there isnt a single window either only served to spur that feeling on.As the illumination used here is something caused by sorcery, its plenty bright, but even so it gives one a cold impression when compared to sunlight.The rooms furniture consists of a bed and a box with clothes. All the other furniture are tables which are fully packed with some kind of experimental equipment-like items.Its certainly a mess here, Renya judged. Well, sit down. But then again, theres no place to sit down either. I guess you can sit down on the bed? (Emil) Emils offers Renya the bed while dragging out a chair from below a table for herself.Taking her up on it, Renya sat down on the edge of the bed.Just as he does that, Emil starts to act as if shes wiping away her drool while licking her lips. What are you doing? (Renya) Unable to understand the meaning behind her actions, Renya asks her casually. Emil waves her hands in panic. Ah, no, its nothing. So, what is it that you want to consult me about? (Emil) As a matter of fact, its about that armor whom Im making work as the gatekeeper of this castle, but (Renya) The moment he said that, Emils face became stiff.Due to the all too sudden change in her expression, Renya, who started to speak, becomes surprised.With awkward movements, to the extent that it would seems that shes making creaking sounds from around her neck, Emil takes her eyes off of Renya and looks into the far distance. E-Even if you discuss that with me, I think its a troublesome subject, you know? (Emil) Hearing how Emils voice trembles, albeit only slightly, Renyas face becomes grim. Are you really telling me that? (Renya) If shes serious, thatll be quite a problem, Renya thinks.Although even Renya at times tends to forget due to her aloof words and deeds, Emil is a demon possessing reasonable strength. Moreover, shes someone that calls herself a researcher among demons.Even though he has admitted repeatedly that its a prejudice, in Renyas eyes someone with the title of researcher attached to them is someone that cannot help but start to meddle with a target in the name of curiosity, no matter how dangerous it might be.Such a researcher is now saying that shes giving up all hope without even listening to the details of the consultation. Well, seen from my standpoint, you, Shion and the others seem to be disinterested in that kind of area, therefore I think its not unreasonable for you to be unable to understand. (Emil) Emil says with her eyes still averted.A slight amount of sweat surfaces on her forehead. Emil, at least in this city theres no one superior to you in these kind of matters, is there? (Renya) Isnt that actually something you should clear up with Frau? (Emil) Certainly, youre right there, but (Renya) Renya scratches his head.Even Renya was aware that this would surely be the most reliable and shortest way to get what he wanted. She would dodge the issue by sayingWhat, theres no problem ~no!dont you think? (Renya) Ahthats possible for sure. (Emil) While nodding as if having understood and accepted Renyas rebuttal as valid, Emil turned her gaze back towards Renya, who was in front of her. Even if there might be someone who understands these kind of matters, Im sure that theres likely no one besides me who could also be able to put it into words. (Emil) What do you mean? (Renya) You know, Renya, the contents of that armor; they are far more dangerous than what you have been thinking. (Emil) Emils voice was tinged with seriousness.The Emil, who looked like she could happily hum even when testing things on a living person or handling something that looked to be a matter of life and death, speaks in a way of deliberately letting the seriousness in her vocal tone show through.Naturally, Renya becomes tense after listening to her. Basically the armor is like an undead. It might be strange why a fairy like Frau is capable of creating something like that, but a few of them do exist. However, what makes it different from a normal undead is very likely its entirely different manufacturing method. The manufacturing method of undead, or rather their origin itself is largely divided into two types, Emil says. One is them spawning naturally.As its often said, its a pattern where people or creatures become undead after dying while possessing strong emotions on the verge of death, transforming them into beings which use those emotions as their foundation. It looks like in most cases its negative emotions such as resentment, hatred and sorrow. (Emil) Well, I guess thats probably because a guy harboring feelings of delight wont succeed in becoming an undead? If they died in a state of being, so to speak, close to heaven, they will likely ascend obediently, Renya says, but Emil denies that by shaking her head. Its not completely impossible. Its exceedingly rare, but such souls do exist. (Emil) Essentially it seems that its completely unrelated to the emotions being positive or negative with the only important point being that they have to be strong emotions to the extent of allowing them to cling to this world.However, given that most of the living beings have an inclination to manifest strong negative emotions such as hatred or grudges rather than positive emotions such as joy and delight, the percentage of undead left behind with such negative emotions is much higher.The second method is someone who was made or rather becomes an undead forcefully through some kind of sorcery.The spell to create wraiths and vampires was something long lost, as those who passed it on as spell have already ceased to exist among the humans, but using said spell is possible if its someone who studied sorcery to a high degree, as is the case on the demon continent. Actually Emil says that she can use said spell as well.A demons lifespan is considerably long, but if they turn undead, they can continue to exist for eternity until they are destroyed.With just that reasoning, its not that rare for a demon, who studied sorcery to the degree of being able to use the spell, to become an undead on the demon continent.Even further, where the simple spell is concerned, most demons apparently know of it and can use it.The spell cant create anything but weak undead to the point where they have no ego, or rather its no exaggeration to say that they dont possess one, such as low-ranking zombies or skeletons once they have moved on from being rotten corpses. So you are saying that neither method applies to the armor? (Renya) Correct. The words to express that areI guess you could call it a patchwork of souls? (Emil) Due to Renya blinking his eyes in surprise, unable to understand the words he heard, Emil ponders how to phrase it best while saying, Even though you cant say that its completely the same, that armor-kun resembles the technique of creating a perfect soul that was used among demon researchers a long time ago. Are you aware of the belief that the souls of living beings are incomplete and full of holes? (Emil) Being asked that, Renya shakes his head.Theres no reason for him to have heard of such a belief after coming to this world, and in his former world such a belief would leave the stage after being asked Soul, whats that? in the first place. The souls possessed by humans, elves, beastmen and of course demons are incomplete, having many holes. If it was possible to fill these holes to compensate for the souls imperfection, just how many perfect souls would one be able to create if they patched the countless souls existing in this world together? And, wont those perfect souls lead to the existences called gods? In the past there were people who fervently researched these ridiculous questions. (Emil) Renya thinks about Emils words.Her manner of calling it a patchwork probably refers to trying to fill those lacking parts or holes by repeatedly dividing and joining souls, which are said to be imperfect and full of holes, after preparing a great number of them.Whats left behind is the doubt of whether thats really possible to accomplish, but Renya urged Emil to continue for the time being. The research naturally fell through. In the first place, something like processing souls is far too unreasonable. Even if you were to compensate for the incomplete parts of a soul, you have to consider just how many components a single soul possesses, right? Moreover, if you reach such a level, defining those souls as being imperfect becomes vague unless you know what perfect is. If you were to ask me, I dont think it was a research worth its time, but you know how people are. (Emil) Knowing about that means that you have taken part in the research for a bit, doesnt it? (Renya) Uh (Emil) Emil faltered a bit due to Renyas retort.It seems I hit bulls-eye. When Renya shows a mean smile, Emils cheeks blush slightly and she turns her face away. I dont have to explain any further, right? (Emil) Sorry. Please continue. (Renya) Renya bowed his head since he would be troubled if she were to stop her explanation after becoming bad-mooded.Emil, who mumbled something under her breath while looking at Renya, exhales once after a short moment and continues, I will lay aside the idle gossip of stuff like reaching the place of the gods and so on, but that armor-kuns content are very likely beings that resemble perfect souls quite closely. In other words, as countless human souls have been bundled together and refined into one, they are existences that have been allowed to ascend to an elevated position as existences. The armor is full of such things. (Emil) There is a reason why thearmorwill start to eat people gradually as compensation, if its released only slightly from its seal, Emil added, I think it tries to complement its own ego by gradually predating on souls for the sake of supplementing its own holes and imperfectness, you know? Ive been told that this is also the same reason why wraiths use energy drain and why vampires suck blood. (Emil) According to her understanding bloodsucking to vampires is like a reproductive act, but after having her return to the current matter by raising his hand to caution Emil that she was about to digress, Renya asked, Going by only what I heardit sounds like those contents are extremely dangerous, arent they? (Renya) Even though its still fine since its under Renyas and Fraus proper control for now, if hes told that its an existence that might very well continue to devour people once its control is lost, Renya even feels that treating it as a dangerous being is still not enough.Moreover, going by the failure of the research to complement souls, its predation wont come to an end no matter how many people the armors contents devour. Thats right. Its also the reason why I dont want to get involved in this. Renya, do you know what you want to do with that armor-kun? (Emil) As a matter of fact, the hero of the beastmen arrived in this city. Since his behavior was far too retarded, I turned him away once, but I have been told that next time he will come to have a meeting with the human hero after properly sending a messenger and setting a schedule (Renya) Based on his status, he isnt a person you can refuse, is he? (Emil) Indeed, but I cant believe that presenting the armor just like that and saying,This is the herowill be accepted by the other party so easily. (Renya) At very least Im pretty sure that we will be told to show them its contents.Having said that, even if we show its contents, theres nothing but that black smoke-like cluster inside. I cant possibly imagine them being able to understand after having told them that this is the hero. In other words, you are saying that you want something that can be shown? (Emil) Yes. Ideally it would be great if we could put something human-like in there. (Renya) Its kind of extreme, but it would be enough with simply putting a freshly severed head that could talk inside the helmet,Renya thinks.As long as the other party can consent to this being the hero after the armor removes its helmet, shows its head and talks with them, then it wont be any kind of problem for Renya, even if theres nothing below the head. Uwaahthe creation of a gods vessel? How troublesome. (Emil) A gods vessel? (Renya) Renya says, parroting the phrase he isnt familiar with. Well its a continuation of the previous story about the complementation of souls. Its about a body created with a perfect ratio following the idea that a gods soul should be put into a suitable vessel. Since theres a tendency for the soul to be influenced strongly by the flesh, it was researched that theres no point in an imperfect body, even if the soul itself is perfect. (Emil) The fact that you can dish out that information so smoothly is probably owed to you getting involved with this story more than once, Renya assesses.But, even though he thinks that, he doesnt let it show on his face or say it.Its because he fully knows that he would offend Emil if he did. I think it should be fine even if we dont make something that close to a gods vessel this time, but those matters require me to consult with Frau for starters. (Emil) Can I request that of you? And in addition, as fast as possible. (Renya) The present state is that we dont know how fast the beastman priestess and hero will come back here, but no matter how soon that might be, its absolutely necessary to get ready in advance so that we wont run into any problems. If youd like, you can get in contact with Frau through me. (Renya) Yeah, Id like to ask that of youafter all even I will be troubled if Im snapped in two due to meddling in the wrong way. (Emil) Emil shows an unpleasant smile, but the words she said arent words that can be washed away by smiling.Renya turns a severe look at Emil. You are saying that such possibility exists? (Renya) I cant definitely state that it doesnt. I mean, after all the only ones controlling that armor are you and Frau, Renya. Getting involved with something you dont control yourself is usually a suicidal action, Emil laughs. If you think that its dangerous, refusing this is (Renya) Wont it be alright as long as I can talk with Frau through you, Renya? Besides, its necessary, isnt it? (Emil) That is, well, (Renya) If Emil is so cautious, Renya believes that it would be better to become defiant and introduce the armor as the hero rather than forcing things.Though, if he did that, he wouldnt be able to predict at all what kind of effect it would have. I guess my biggest worry is that my sleeping hours will be cut down since its a very urgent task. (Emil) That isIm sorry (Renya) Not knowing what else he could say, Renya simply apologized to Emil who said that in jest. Chapter 125 C It seems to be a Secret Consultation with Emil Completely unable to come up with a good plan on how to explain the matters regarding the human hero, Renya visited Emils room.In Renyas castle, all his party members had been properly allocated their own rooms. Just like in the mansion in Kukrika, Emils room was a considerably vast area in the basement section.One has to walk through dark corridors while relying on candle light providing an amount of illumination that cant be called sufficient by any means. Her room doesnt really enjoy a good reputation among the maids either.The biggest reason for that was that the room was nothing but eerie.Even for Renya its a place he doesnt like approaching frequently, despite it being an area located inside his own castle.Once he passed through the dim corridors, a bulky, metallic door awaited him in front.It just has a boorish knocker and knob affixed to its smooth surface, lacking any other kind of decoration.Renya uses the knocker and calls out to Emil. Emil, are you there? Theres something Id like to discuss with you for a bit. (Renya) The surroundings consist of thick stone walls and the metallic door.Renya wondered whether his voice didnt reach the inside of the room, but after waiting for a short while, the knob turns and the door is slightly opened.The one who quietly showed her face from within was Emil who had her hair tied in a side tail today as well. Thats rare, for you to come to consult me, Renya. (Emil) Even I think so. But, is it fine for me to enter? Or do you want us to go somewhere else? (Renya) Please, come in. Though its a bit messy, okay? (Emil) Fully opening the door, Emil shows Renya inside the room.The rooms interior was brightly illuminated in comparison to the corridors, but probably because it was underground, Renya still felt a strange oppression nevertheless.The fact that there isnt a single window either only served to spur that feeling on.As the illumination used here is something caused by sorcery, its plenty bright, but even so it gives one a cold impression when compared to sunlight.The rooms furniture consists of a bed and a box with clothes. All the other furniture are tables which are fully packed with some kind of experimental equipment-like items.Its certainly a mess here, Renya judged. Well, sit down. But then again, theres no place to sit down either. I guess you can sit down on the bed? (Emil) Emils offers Renya the bed while dragging out a chair from below a table for herself.Taking her up on it, Renya sat down on the edge of the bed.Just as he does that, Emil starts to act as if shes wiping away her drool while licking her lips. What are you doing? (Renya) Unable to understand the meaning behind her actions, Renya asks her casually. Emil waves her hands in panic. Ah, no, its nothing. So, what is it that you want to consult me about? (Emil) As a matter of fact, its about that armor whom Im making work as the gatekeeper of this castle, but (Renya) The moment he said that, Emils face became stiff.Due to the all too sudden change in her expression, Renya, who started to speak, becomes surprised.With awkward movements, to the extent that it would seems that shes making creaking sounds from around her neck, Emil takes her eyes off of Renya and looks into the far distance. E-Even if you discuss that with me, I think its a troublesome subject, you know? (Emil) Hearing how Emils voice trembles, albeit only slightly, Renyas face becomes grim. Are you really telling me that? (Renya) If shes serious, thatll be quite a problem, Renya thinks.Although even Renya at times tends to forget due to her aloof words and deeds, Emil is a demon possessing reasonable strength. Moreover, shes someone that calls herself a researcher among demons.Even though he has admitted repeatedly that its a prejudice, in Renyas eyes someone with the title of researcher attached to them is someone that cannot help but start to meddle with a target in the name of curiosity, no matter how dangerous it might be.Such a researcher is now saying that shes giving up all hope without even listening to the details of the consultation. Well, seen from my standpoint, you, Shion and the others seem to be disinterested in that kind of area, therefore I think its not unreasonable for you to be unable to understand. (Emil) Emil says with her eyes still averted.A slight amount of sweat surfaces on her forehead. Emil, at least in this city theres no one superior to you in these kind of matters, is there? (Renya) Isnt that actually something you should clear up with Frau? (Emil) Certainly, youre right there, but (Renya) Renya scratches his head.Even Renya was aware that this would surely be the most reliable and shortest way to get what he wanted. She would dodge the issue by sayingWhat, theres no problem ~no!dont you think? (Renya) Ahthats possible for sure. (Emil) While nodding as if having understood and accepted Renyas rebuttal as valid, Emil turned her gaze back towards Renya, who was in front of her. Even if there might be someone who understands these kind of matters, Im sure that theres likely no one besides me who could also be able to put it into words. (Emil) What do you mean? (Renya) You know, Renya, the contents of that armor; they are far more dangerous than what you have been thinking. (Emil) Emils voice was tinged with seriousness.The Emil, who looked like she could happily hum even when testing things on a living person or handling something that looked to be a matter of life and death, speaks in a way of deliberately letting the seriousness in her vocal tone show through.Naturally, Renya becomes tense after listening to her. Basically the armor is like an undead. It might be strange why a fairy like Frau is capable of creating something like that, but a few of them do exist. However, what makes it different from a normal undead is very likely its entirely different manufacturing method. The manufacturing method of undead, or rather their origin itself is largely divided into two types, Emil says. One is them spawning naturally.As its often said, its a pattern where people or creatures become undead after dying while possessing strong emotions on the verge of death, transforming them into beings which use those emotions as their foundation. It looks like in most cases its negative emotions such as resentment, hatred and sorrow. (Emil) Well, I guess thats probably because a guy harboring feelings of delight wont succeed in becoming an undead? If they died in a state of being, so to speak, close to heaven, they will likely ascend obediently, Renya says, but Emil denies that by shaking her head. Its not completely impossible. Its exceedingly rare, but such souls do exist. (Emil) Essentially it seems that its completely unrelated to the emotions being positive or negative with the only important point being that they have to be strong emotions to the extent of allowing them to cling to this world.However, given that most of the living beings have an inclination to manifest strong negative emotions such as hatred or grudges rather than positive emotions such as joy and delight, the percentage of undead left behind with such negative emotions is much higher.The second method is someone who was made or rather becomes an undead forcefully through some kind of sorcery.The spell to create wraiths and vampires was something long lost, as those who passed it on as spell have already ceased to exist among the humans, but using said spell is possible if its someone who studied sorcery to a high degree, as is the case on the demon continent. Actually Emil says that she can use said spell as well.A demons lifespan is considerably long, but if they turn undead, they can continue to exist for eternity until they are destroyed.With just that reasoning, its not that rare for a demon, who studied sorcery to the degree of being able to use the spell, to become an undead on the demon continent.Even further, where the simple spell is concerned, most demons apparently know of it and can use it.The spell cant create anything but weak undead to the point where they have no ego, or rather its no exaggeration to say that they dont possess one, such as low-ranking zombies or skeletons once they have moved on from being rotten corpses. So you are saying that neither method applies to the armor? (Renya) Correct. The words to express that areI guess you could call it a patchwork of souls? (Emil) Due to Renya blinking his eyes in surprise, unable to understand the words he heard, Emil ponders how to phrase it best while saying, Even though you cant say that its completely the same, that armor-kun resembles the technique of creating a perfect soul that was used among demon researchers a long time ago. Are you aware of the belief that the souls of living beings are incomplete and full of holes? (Emil) Being asked that, Renya shakes his head.Theres no reason for him to have heard of such a belief after coming to this world, and in his former world such a belief would leave the stage after being asked Soul, whats that? in the first place. The souls possessed by humans, elves, beastmen and of course demons are incomplete, having many holes. If it was possible to fill these holes to compensate for the souls imperfection, just how many perfect souls would one be able to create if they patched the countless souls existing in this world together? And, wont those perfect souls lead to the existences called gods? In the past there were people who fervently researched these ridiculous questions. (Emil) Renya thinks about Emils words.Her manner of calling it a patchwork probably refers to trying to fill those lacking parts or holes by repeatedly dividing and joining souls, which are said to be imperfect and full of holes, after preparing a great number of them.Whats left behind is the doubt of whether thats really possible to accomplish, but Renya urged Emil to continue for the time being. The research naturally fell through. In the first place, something like processing souls is far too unreasonable. Even if you were to compensate for the incomplete parts of a soul, you have to consider just how many components a single soul possesses, right? Moreover, if you reach such a level, defining those souls as being imperfect becomes vague unless you know what perfect is. If you were to ask me, I dont think it was a research worth its time, but you know how people are. (Emil) Knowing about that means that you have taken part in the research for a bit, doesnt it? (Renya) Uh (Emil) Emil faltered a bit due to Renyas retort.It seems I hit bulls-eye. When Renya shows a mean smile, Emils cheeks blush slightly and she turns her face away. I dont have to explain any further, right? (Emil) Sorry. Please continue. (Renya) Renya bowed his head since he would be troubled if she were to stop her explanation after becoming bad-mooded.Emil, who mumbled something under her breath while looking at Renya, exhales once after a short moment and continues, I will lay aside the idle gossip of stuff like reaching the place of the gods and so on, but that armor-kuns content are very likely beings that resemble perfect souls quite closely. In other words, as countless human souls have been bundled together and refined into one, they are existences that have been allowed to ascend to an elevated position as existences. The armor is full of such things. (Emil) There is a reason why thearmorwill start to eat people gradually as compensation, if its released only slightly from its seal, Emil added, I think it tries to complement its own ego by gradually predating on souls for the sake of supplementing its own holes and imperfectness, you know? Ive been told that this is also the same reason why wraiths use energy drain and why vampires suck blood. (Emil) According to her understanding bloodsucking to vampires is like a reproductive act, but after having her return to the current matter by raising his hand to caution Emil that she was about to digress, Renya asked, Going by only what I heardit sounds like those contents are extremely dangerous, arent they? (Renya) Even though its still fine since its under Renyas and Fraus proper control for now, if hes told that its an existence that might very well continue to devour people once its control is lost, Renya even feels that treating it as a dangerous being is still not enough.Moreover, going by the failure of the research to complement souls, its predation wont come to an end no matter how many people the armors contents devour. Thats right. Its also the reason why I dont want to get involved in this. Renya, do you know what you want to do with that armor-kun? (Emil) As a matter of fact, the hero of the beastmen arrived in this city. Since his behavior was far too retarded, I turned him away once, but I have been told that next time he will come to have a meeting with the human hero after properly sending a messenger and setting a schedule (Renya) Based on his status, he isnt a person you can refuse, is he? (Emil) Indeed, but I cant believe that presenting the armor just like that and saying,This is the herowill be accepted by the other party so easily. (Renya) At very least Im pretty sure that we will be told to show them its contents.Having said that, even if we show its contents, theres nothing but that black smoke-like cluster inside. I cant possibly imagine them being able to understand after having told them that this is the hero. In other words, you are saying that you want something that can be shown? (Emil) Yes. Ideally it would be great if we could put something human-like in there. (Renya) Its kind of extreme, but it would be enough with simply putting a freshly severed head that could talk inside the helmet,Renya thinks.As long as the other party can consent to this being the hero after the armor removes its helmet, shows its head and talks with them, then it wont be any kind of problem for Renya, even if theres nothing below the head. Uwaahthe creation of a gods vessel? How troublesome. (Emil) A gods vessel? (Renya) Renya says, parroting the phrase he isnt familiar with. Well its a continuation of the previous story about the complementation of souls. Its about a body created with a perfect ratio following the idea that a gods soul should be put into a suitable vessel. Since theres a tendency for the soul to be influenced strongly by the flesh, it was researched that theres no point in an imperfect body, even if the soul itself is perfect. (Emil) The fact that you can dish out that information so smoothly is probably owed to you getting involved with this story more than once, Renya assesses.But, even though he thinks that, he doesnt let it show on his face or say it.Its because he fully knows that he would offend Emil if he did. I think it should be fine even if we dont make something that close to a gods vessel this time, but those matters require me to consult with Frau for starters. (Emil) Can I request that of you? And in addition, as fast as possible. (Renya) The present state is that we dont know how fast the beastman priestess and hero will come back here, but no matter how soon that might be, its absolutely necessary to get ready in advance so that we wont run into any problems. If youd like, you can get in contact with Frau through me. (Renya) Yeah, Id like to ask that of youafter all even I will be troubled if Im snapped in two due to meddling in the wrong way. (Emil) Emil shows an unpleasant smile, but the words she said arent words that can be washed away by smiling.Renya turns a severe look at Emil. You are saying that such possibility exists? (Renya) I cant definitely state that it doesnt. I mean, after all the only ones controlling that armor are you and Frau, Renya. Getting involved with something you dont control yourself is usually a suicidal action, Emil laughs. If you think that its dangerous, refusing this is (Renya) Wont it be alright as long as I can talk with Frau through you, Renya? Besides, its necessary, isnt it? (Emil) That is, well, (Renya) If Emil is so cautious, Renya believes that it would be better to become defiant and introduce the armor as the hero rather than forcing things.Though, if he did that, he wouldnt be able to predict at all what kind of effect it would have. I guess my biggest worry is that my sleeping hours will be cut down since its a very urgent task. (Emil) That isIm sorry (Renya) Not knowing what else he could say, Renya simply apologized to Emil who said that in jest. Chapter 126 It was the early afternoon on a certain day when Croire was summoned to Renyas office with the words, Theres something we have to talk about.The act of being summoned doesnt give Croire a very good feeling.In the first place, usually when one is called out in such way, the probability that some kind of trouble is awaiting you is extremely high.That was something I had learned through experience during my time in the elven country, but Im pretty sure that its the very same on the human continent as well, or is it not?Croire pondered.Meaning, its a commonly shared fact across the whole world that this will become a seed for trouble.Even so, seeing that it had been Renya who had summoned her, she couldnt ignore it.On top of it being an official summons by a Margrave, Renya acts as Croires guarantor and moreover guardian while shes in the human continent.In addition, for Croire he is her benefactor and also her loved one.There had been times when she wondered whether she could somehow pull him over to the elven country, but she soon abandoned that idea since Renyas impression towards her father, the emperor, was close to being the worst possible.Later, after Renya had been appointed to be a noble of the Trident Principality, any paths leading in that direction were basically shut down.In exchange for becoming a noble, Renya gained a position that allows him to welcome several women as his wives without any problems, thus its probably easier for me to stay at his side by now, she judges.She has also been vaguely telling something along those lines to her father through her letters, but he apparently was uninterested as no particularly conspicuous reaction came back and thus she started to think that her father probably considered this matter as relatively unimportant.Putting all that aside, since she had to respond to the summons, Croire changed into a navy blue skirt and a white shirt, an outfit which she had taken a liking to most recently, and furthermore put on a navy blue jacket, black knee-high socks and silver pumps. After fixing her outfit in such manner, she headed over towards Renyas office.By the way, the entire outfit worn by Croire was handmade by Frau.Croire, an elf, has quite the resistance to wearing the somewhat unfashionable attires created by human tailors who put priority on the clothes durability.But Fraus clothes are both durable and of thin make. Moreover the design is completely different from any clothes available on the market.Its not that she didnt feel worried about the fact that the raw materials origin was still somewhat ambiguous, but because they look and feel good when worn, Croire became completely dependent on Frau when it came to clothes.Its a digression, but even the underwear worn by Croire had been completely handmade by Frau.However, in regards to the underwear, Croire highly valued design and functionality. However when Rona and Shion saw her underwear by coincidence, they averted their looks with brightly red faces. From that fact alone one could probably guess what kind of design it has.Having arrived in front of Renyas office, Croire takes a deep breath to prepare herself and then knocks on the door.Since she was answered with Please come in in no time, Croire turns the knob, opens the door and goes inside. The first thing she sees inside the room is Renya sitting at the desk of his office with a somewhat sullen expression.Looks like this will be a seed for trouble after all, while sighing in her mind, Croire bowed elegantly and approached the desk with Renya sitting behind it. I heard you asked to see me. (Croire) Yeah. First of allah, sorry, I didnt prepare a chair for you. (Renya) Given that its a room designed for Renya to carry out his desk work, it wasnt equipped with furniture suitable to receive guests.Renya didnt consider it acceptable to keep talking while having Croire stand throughout the conversation, thus, while tapping his index finger on the table as he looks at Croire, who told him to not concern himself with the chair, he asks, How about sitting here? (Renya) On top of the desk? Isnt that bad manners? (Croire) Theres no one present who would be bothered by it, right? Besides, it might trigger some feelings of superiority in me by making an elven princess sit on a desk, since Im actually one of the nobles doing their own work. (Renya) I guess hes joking about it.However, due to Renyas expression being difficult to read as to the extent that hes joking and how far hes talking about his true feelings, Croire nimbly sat down on the edge of the table after pretending to consider it for a bit.Croire sat diagonally to the right ahead of Renya with her back turned towards him, but while watching her figure, Renya secretly thinks,Surprisingly this might actually be a nice view.With her butt resting slightly on top of the desk, her slender and smooth back could be seen. As a finisher, by looking over her shoulders, Croires smiling face was turned his way.His work doesnt show any signs of making any progress at all, but Renya felt extremely at ease.Aware or unaware of the fact that she was being watched by Renya like that, Croire C feeling that things wont get anywhere at this rate C smiles impishly and addresses Renya in an attempt to get the business as for why she was summoned out of the way. So, Renya, whats your business with me today? (Croire) Eh? Ah, right. Something Id like to consult you about has been delivered. (Renya) As if finally remembering after being spoken to, Renya retrieved a paper roll, which seemed to be as thick as a bundle on a first glance, with an effort from below his desk.Renya spreads a part of the paper roll on top of the desk in front of Croire, who has question marks floating above her head, not understanding the true identity of the paper roll he took out.Small, densely packed characters were noted down on the paper. A letter? (Croire) Its in elvish, right? Its a letter from that elven emperor, your father. It arrived here this morning. (Renya) Renyas expression while answering was one of puzzlement, looking cryptic rather than displeased. I can read elvish as well, so I tried to read it from the beginning, butI dont get the meaning at all. (Renya) So? (Croire) Well, I think its probably faster to have an actual elf read it. (Renya) Is it something Im allowed to see? (Croire) So far as it goes, its a handwritten letter from His Majesty the Elven Emperor to a Margrave of the Trident Principality.Croire cant believe for a second that its fine to readily allow another person to read it, but Renya nodded without any hesitation. Yeah, I mean, its weird for the Elven Emperor to directly send a handwritten letter to a noble of a human country to begin with. He probably anticipated that I would show you the letter anyway, Croire. (Renya) While sitting on top of the desk, Croire pulls the letter towards herself and lowers her eyes onto its contents.What was written in there was foolish rambling.Beginning with a seasonal greeting, it started from describing the elven countrys state and then proceeded towards the results of field produce.After that the emperor began to report about his own current condition, then proceeded to state the names and personalities of the many empresses, then moved on to a talk about his hobbies that he had started to enjoy recently and then continued onto the names of the children born from each empress and the origins of those names. To be honest, its a letter sent by that emperor. I dont think that its a mere letter, butthe contents are far too disconnected from me and my territory. (Renya) Renya, what do you think this is? (Croire) A roundabout harassment. (Renya) Croire smiled wryly due to Renyas plain answer.Thats because she also thought that this is certainly some kind of harassment by the emperor.If it was a letter written with the intent of wanting to inform Renya of something, the deciphering would be far too difficult, resulting in Renya racking his brain. On the other hand, even if there was no real information hidden in that letter, it would also mean that theres some plot at work here, resulting in Renya also having to rack his brain.That means, no matter which was true, Renya would still fall into a situation where he has to think about this letter, whether he wants to or not. Cant he be at least upfront in a letter? That emperor is (Renya) This kind of mischief is something we elves like. What did you think after reading this, Renya? (Croire) Renya tilted his head to the side in confusion, not getting the meaning of Croires question, who asked him while laughing. Please tell me honestly what your thoughts are. (Croire) For something written by His Majesty the Emperor, the contents are too common in many ways. The words used are ordinary as well. However some places in the letter used cryptic words that bothered me. (Renya) Renya wondered whether the emperor had made a mistake in his writing, but there was a fair share of words mixed in which Renyas different world language ability couldnt translate.Without those being changed into words that could be understood by Renya, they look like a listing of elvish characters to Renya. This mentions that they wish to meet with the human hero since the elven hero has been chosen. In line with this, they want to hold a preparatory meeting about the date and time and thus wish to dispatch a diplomat our way, but they wonder whether theres any suitable day for that. (Croire) Once Croire says so as she scans through the long letter while winding out the paper roll, Renya looks at her in surprise.Its only natural, but such sentences werent there when Renya read the letter. In addition it mentions various thingsand asks how I am doing, but well, I think the important information he wanted to pass on is only the matter regarding the hero, or what do you think? (Croire) Wheres that written, what youve just said? (Renya) As Renya wondered whether he overlooked something due to the absurdly high number of sentences, Croire confronted him with a question from a completely different direction. Lets see. Can you look at this letter while excluding the elvish characters, Renya? (Croire) Being told so, Renya switches his consciousness over to the human language.As he does so, the letters contents, which he understood until then, completely transformed into a series of elvish characters. I guess it looks like I can. (Renya) Really? So, which of the unknown words can you actually understand? (Croire) Upon Croires question, Renya lowers his eyes on the sentences written in the letter once again, but he cant see them as anything but a listing of symbols that make absolutely no sense to him in that state. He doesnt comprehend at all what words hes looking at right now. No, in this state I dont understand it at all. (Renya) I see. Father might have been aware of Renyas abilities. Is it fine for me to scribble on this letter a bit? (Croire) Croire asked for permission while pulling a nearby quill and inkwell to herself. Renya nods.After getting Renyas approval, Croire started to circle a part of the elvish characters lining up in huge numbers in the letter. Usually, when you write a letter, its written in cursive style, but this one is expressly written in block letters. And, the cryptic words, you couldnt read Renya, had each a single character exchanged with another inside the word, thus making it incomprehensible to you. (Croire) Okay? (Renya) Croire draws one circle after the other on the letter while explaining.When she had finished drawing a certain number of circles, she then connects said circles in order with lines. As encryption methodhaving the locations, where the deliberately wrong characters are written, holding a meaning is an overused technique. (Croire) Once Renya looks at the connected lines after switching his consciousness to the elvish language, he immediately noticed that those lines had turned into the word hero.In other words, that emperor apparently came up with a drawn-out letter on purpose to insert this cipher.For the sake of encrypting the letter with this method, it became necessary to write a considerable amount of words. Because of that, it apparently resulted in the dummy letter becoming much too long.Feeling as if he was suddenly hit by exhaustion, Renya fell prostrate on top of the desk. Just what is he thinking (Renya) Hmm, I think I somehow get it though. (Croire) In contrast to Renya who speaks up tiredly, Croire said her words somewhat happily. You do? The intention of this stupid prank? (Renya) Yes. First he probably wanted to tell you, who possesses the human hero at present, about the hero selection having finished, butI think, maybe Father wrote it like this believing that you probably wont be able to read this letter alone, Renya. (Croire) But, is there any intention behind doing that, besides it serving as a prank? (Renya) Yes, after all you will try to consult with someone, if you cant read it, right? (Croire) With a bright smile Croire announces her reasoning. As its a handwritten letter from the elven emperor, its not like you could speak about it with just anyone. Naturally its easy to predict that you will likely consult with me, isnt it? (Croire) Well, after all the only elf close to me is you, Croire, so I guess its set in stone that I will consult with you, if we go by logic. (Renya) Moreover its a handwritten letter with unknown contents, so you likely cant show it to other people, right? (Croire) If he showed the letter to other humans while not knowing what might be written within, it would naturally turn into a really bad situation if the letter included information that must not be shown to others.But then again its usually impossible for a letter with such dangerous content to be directly sent to a noble of a foreign country. However, the current elven emperor had an unreliable character that made him capable of doing such a thing.Precisely because Renya has actually seen the real emperor once, that thought had taken strong hold on his mind. I dont follow what you want to say? (Renya) If he sends this letter, you wont be able to consult with anyone but me, Renya. Furthermore, since you wont know the content, you wont be able to allow anyone else to be present either. To sum it up. (Croire) While smiling, Croire lowered her voice a tiny bit.Sensing something dark lurking in some parts of that smile, Renya backs away slightly on top of his chair. This letter was sent while foreseeing that it will result in just the two of us being together without anyone else meddling. (Croire) Renya stays silent upon Croires words.Renya didnt know how Croire interpreted his silence, but Croire continued in a good mood, Im surprised that even Father understood the concept of taking others into consideration. In reality he probably wrote the letter thinking that I likely need more time to think various things over for a bit and test a few things, but as it looks like it would be troublesome for you, Renya, he tried to solve it quickly. (Croire) AhI got it. Im thankful for his consideration. (Renya) As such, Im happy that you are able to understand my feelings as well, Renya. (Croire) Being confronted with it directly and openly, Renya silently shifts his gaze from Croire.For some reason he couldnt look straight into her eyes, but Croires happiness only intensified due to Renyas behavior. If we dont call anyone, there wont be even any tea at hand here. (Renya) I dont mind. Lets stay like this for a while. (Croire) Being asked that, Renya sighs deeply, leans back into his chair and looks up to the ceiling.What so interesting about it being just the two of us in a situation where no tea or sweets are available?Such boring thoughts circulated within Renyas mind, but once he looks at Croire, who is smiling happily while sitting on top of the desk, he ends up wondering whether shell be fine at this rate, considering how glad she seems to be about only this much.Since he has given detailed instructions for no one to enter his office since theres an important conversation waiting for him, no one will visit his office as long as Renya doesnt call for anyone.Like this Croire delightfully spent a very calm and peaceful time next to Renya, which she usually cant experience very often. It was the early afternoon on a certain day when Croire was summoned to Renyas office with the words, Theres something we have to talk about.The act of being summoned doesnt give Croire a very good feeling.In the first place, usually when one is called out in such way, the probability that some kind of trouble is awaiting you is extremely high.That was something I had learned through experience during my time in the elven country, but Im pretty sure that its the very same on the human continent as well, or is it not?Croire pondered.Meaning, its a commonly shared fact across the whole world that this will become a seed for trouble.Even so, seeing that it had been Renya who had summoned her, she couldnt ignore it.On top of it being an official summons by a Margrave, Renya acts as Croires guarantor and moreover guardian while shes in the human continent.In addition, for Croire he is her benefactor and also her loved one.There had been times when she wondered whether she could somehow pull him over to the elven country, but she soon abandoned that idea since Renyas impression towards her father, the emperor, was close to being the worst possible.Later, after Renya had been appointed to be a noble of the Trident Principality, any paths leading in that direction were basically shut down.In exchange for becoming a noble, Renya gained a position that allows him to welcome several women as his wives without any problems, thus its probably easier for me to stay at his side by now, she judges.She has also been vaguely telling something along those lines to her father through her letters, but he apparently was uninterested as no particularly conspicuous reaction came back and thus she started to think that her father probably considered this matter as relatively unimportant.Putting all that aside, since she had to respond to the summons, Croire changed into a navy blue skirt and a white shirt, an outfit which she had taken a liking to most recently, and furthermore put on a navy blue jacket, black knee-high socks and silver pumps. After fixing her outfit in such manner, she headed over towards Renyas office.By the way, the entire outfit worn by Croire was handmade by Frau.Croire, an elf, has quite the resistance to wearing the somewhat unfashionable attires created by human tailors who put priority on the clothes durability.But Fraus clothes are both durable and of thin make. Moreover the design is completely different from any clothes available on the market.Its not that she didnt feel worried about the fact that the raw materials origin was still somewhat ambiguous, but because they look and feel good when worn, Croire became completely dependent on Frau when it came to clothes.Its a digression, but even the underwear worn by Croire had been completely handmade by Frau.However, in regards to the underwear, Croire highly valued design and functionality. However when Rona and Shion saw her underwear by coincidence, they averted their looks with brightly red faces. From that fact alone one could probably guess what kind of design it has.Having arrived in front of Renyas office, Croire takes a deep breath to prepare herself and then knocks on the door.Since she was answered with Please come in in no time, Croire turns the knob, opens the door and goes inside. The first thing she sees inside the room is Renya sitting at the desk of his office with a somewhat sullen expression.Looks like this will be a seed for trouble after all, while sighing in her mind, Croire bowed elegantly and approached the desk with Renya sitting behind it. I heard you asked to see me. (Croire) Yeah. First of allah, sorry, I didnt prepare a chair for you. (Renya) Given that its a room designed for Renya to carry out his desk work, it wasnt equipped with furniture suitable to receive guests.Renya didnt consider it acceptable to keep talking while having Croire stand throughout the conversation, thus, while tapping his index finger on the table as he looks at Croire, who told him to not concern himself with the chair, he asks, How about sitting here? (Renya) On top of the desk? Isnt that bad manners? (Croire) Theres no one present who would be bothered by it, right? Besides, it might trigger some feelings of superiority in me by making an elven princess sit on a desk, since Im actually one of the nobles doing their own work. (Renya) I guess hes joking about it.However, due to Renyas expression being difficult to read as to the extent that hes joking and how far hes talking about his true feelings, Croire nimbly sat down on the edge of the table after pretending to consider it for a bit.Croire sat diagonally to the right ahead of Renya with her back turned towards him, but while watching her figure, Renya secretly thinks,Surprisingly this might actually be a nice view.With her butt resting slightly on top of the desk, her slender and smooth back could be seen. As a finisher, by looking over her shoulders, Croires smiling face was turned his way.His work doesnt show any signs of making any progress at all, but Renya felt extremely at ease.Aware or unaware of the fact that she was being watched by Renya like that, Croire C feeling that things wont get anywhere at this rate C smiles impishly and addresses Renya in an attempt to get the business as for why she was summoned out of the way. So, Renya, whats your business with me today? (Croire) Eh? Ah, right. Something Id like to consult you about has been delivered. (Renya) As if finally remembering after being spoken to, Renya retrieved a paper roll, which seemed to be as thick as a bundle on a first glance, with an effort from below his desk.Renya spreads a part of the paper roll on top of the desk in front of Croire, who has question marks floating above her head, not understanding the true identity of the paper roll he took out.Small, densely packed characters were noted down on the paper. A letter? (Croire) Its in elvish, right? Its a letter from that elven emperor, your father. It arrived here this morning. (Renya) Renyas expression while answering was one of puzzlement, looking cryptic rather than displeased. I can read elvish as well, so I tried to read it from the beginning, butI dont get the meaning at all. (Renya) So? (Croire) Well, I think its probably faster to have an actual elf read it. (Renya) Is it something Im allowed to see? (Croire) So far as it goes, its a handwritten letter from His Majesty the Elven Emperor to a Margrave of the Trident Principality.Croire cant believe for a second that its fine to readily allow another person to read it, but Renya nodded without any hesitation. Yeah, I mean, its weird for the Elven Emperor to directly send a handwritten letter to a noble of a human country to begin with. He probably anticipated that I would show you the letter anyway, Croire. (Renya) While sitting on top of the desk, Croire pulls the letter towards herself and lowers her eyes onto its contents.What was written in there was foolish rambling.Beginning with a seasonal greeting, it started from describing the elven countrys state and then proceeded towards the results of field produce.After that the emperor began to report about his own current condition, then proceeded to state the names and personalities of the many empresses, then moved on to a talk about his hobbies that he had started to enjoy recently and then continued onto the names of the children born from each empress and the origins of those names. To be honest, its a letter sent by that emperor. I dont think that its a mere letter, butthe contents are far too disconnected from me and my territory. (Renya) Renya, what do you think this is? (Croire) A roundabout harassment. (Renya) Croire smiled wryly due to Renyas plain answer.Thats because she also thought that this is certainly some kind of harassment by the emperor.If it was a letter written with the intent of wanting to inform Renya of something, the deciphering would be far too difficult, resulting in Renya racking his brain. On the other hand, even if there was no real information hidden in that letter, it would also mean that theres some plot at work here, resulting in Renya also having to rack his brain.That means, no matter which was true, Renya would still fall into a situation where he has to think about this letter, whether he wants to or not. Cant he be at least upfront in a letter? That emperor is (Renya) This kind of mischief is something we elves like. What did you think after reading this, Renya? (Croire) Renya tilted his head to the side in confusion, not getting the meaning of Croires question, who asked him while laughing. Please tell me honestly what your thoughts are. (Croire) For something written by His Majesty the Emperor, the contents are too common in many ways. The words used are ordinary as well. However some places in the letter used cryptic words that bothered me. (Renya) Renya wondered whether the emperor had made a mistake in his writing, but there was a fair share of words mixed in which Renyas different world language ability couldnt translate.Without those being changed into words that could be understood by Renya, they look like a listing of elvish characters to Renya. This mentions that they wish to meet with the human hero since the elven hero has been chosen. In line with this, they want to hold a preparatory meeting about the date and time and thus wish to dispatch a diplomat our way, but they wonder whether theres any suitable day for that. (Croire) Once Croire says so as she scans through the long letter while winding out the paper roll, Renya looks at her in surprise.Its only natural, but such sentences werent there when Renya read the letter. In addition it mentions various thingsand asks how I am doing, but well, I think the important information he wanted to pass on is only the matter regarding the hero, or what do you think? (Croire) Wheres that written, what youve just said? (Renya) As Renya wondered whether he overlooked something due to the absurdly high number of sentences, Croire confronted him with a question from a completely different direction. Lets see. Can you look at this letter while excluding the elvish characters, Renya? (Croire) Being told so, Renya switches his consciousness over to the human language.As he does so, the letters contents, which he understood until then, completely transformed into a series of elvish characters. I guess it looks like I can. (Renya) Really? So, which of the unknown words can you actually understand? (Croire) Upon Croires question, Renya lowers his eyes on the sentences written in the letter once again, but he cant see them as anything but a listing of symbols that make absolutely no sense to him in that state. He doesnt comprehend at all what words hes looking at right now. No, in this state I dont understand it at all. (Renya) I see. Father might have been aware of Renyas abilities. Is it fine for me to scribble on this letter a bit? (Croire) Croire asked for permission while pulling a nearby quill and inkwell to herself. Renya nods.After getting Renyas approval, Croire started to circle a part of the elvish characters lining up in huge numbers in the letter. Usually, when you write a letter, its written in cursive style, but this one is expressly written in block letters. And, the cryptic words, you couldnt read Renya, had each a single character exchanged with another inside the word, thus making it incomprehensible to you. (Croire) Okay? (Renya) Croire draws one circle after the other on the letter while explaining.When she had finished drawing a certain number of circles, she then connects said circles in order with lines. As encryption methodhaving the locations, where the deliberately wrong characters are written, holding a meaning is an overused technique. (Croire) Once Renya looks at the connected lines after switching his consciousness to the elvish language, he immediately noticed that those lines had turned into the word hero.In other words, that emperor apparently came up with a drawn-out letter on purpose to insert this cipher.For the sake of encrypting the letter with this method, it became necessary to write a considerable amount of words. Because of that, it apparently resulted in the dummy letter becoming much too long.Feeling as if he was suddenly hit by exhaustion, Renya fell prostrate on top of the desk. Just what is he thinking (Renya) Hmm, I think I somehow get it though. (Croire) In contrast to Renya who speaks up tiredly, Croire said her words somewhat happily. You do? The intention of this stupid prank? (Renya) Yes. First he probably wanted to tell you, who possesses the human hero at present, about the hero selection having finished, butI think, maybe Father wrote it like this believing that you probably wont be able to read this letter alone, Renya. (Croire) But, is there any intention behind doing that, besides it serving as a prank? (Renya) Yes, after all you will try to consult with someone, if you cant read it, right? (Croire) With a bright smile Croire announces her reasoning. As its a handwritten letter from the elven emperor, its not like you could speak about it with just anyone. Naturally its easy to predict that you will likely consult with me, isnt it? (Croire) Well, after all the only elf close to me is you, Croire, so I guess its set in stone that I will consult with you, if we go by logic. (Renya) Moreover its a handwritten letter with unknown contents, so you likely cant show it to other people, right? (Croire) If he showed the letter to other humans while not knowing what might be written within, it would naturally turn into a really bad situation if the letter included information that must not be shown to others.But then again its usually impossible for a letter with such dangerous content to be directly sent to a noble of a foreign country. However, the current elven emperor had an unreliable character that made him capable of doing such a thing.Precisely because Renya has actually seen the real emperor once, that thought had taken strong hold on his mind. I dont follow what you want to say? (Renya) If he sends this letter, you wont be able to consult with anyone but me, Renya. Furthermore, since you wont know the content, you wont be able to allow anyone else to be present either. To sum it up. (Croire) While smiling, Croire lowered her voice a tiny bit.Sensing something dark lurking in some parts of that smile, Renya backs away slightly on top of his chair. This letter was sent while foreseeing that it will result in just the two of us being together without anyone else meddling. (Croire) Renya stays silent upon Croires words.Renya didnt know how Croire interpreted his silence, but Croire continued in a good mood, Im surprised that even Father understood the concept of taking others into consideration. In reality he probably wrote the letter thinking that I likely need more time to think various things over for a bit and test a few things, but as it looks like it would be troublesome for you, Renya, he tried to solve it quickly. (Croire) AhI got it. Im thankful for his consideration. (Renya) As such, Im happy that you are able to understand my feelings as well, Renya. (Croire) Being confronted with it directly and openly, Renya silently shifts his gaze from Croire.For some reason he couldnt look straight into her eyes, but Croires happiness only intensified due to Renyas behavior. If we dont call anyone, there wont be even any tea at hand here. (Renya) I dont mind. Lets stay like this for a while. (Croire) Being asked that, Renya sighs deeply, leans back into his chair and looks up to the ceiling.What so interesting about it being just the two of us in a situation where no tea or sweets are available?Such boring thoughts circulated within Renyas mind, but once he looks at Croire, who is smiling happily while sitting on top of the desk, he ends up wondering whether shell be fine at this rate, considering how glad she seems to be about only this much.Since he has given detailed instructions for no one to enter his office since theres an important conversation waiting for him, no one will visit his office as long as Renya doesnt call for anyone.Like this Croire delightfully spent a very calm and peaceful time next to Renya, which she usually cant experience very often. Chapter 127 Chapter 127 C It seems to be the Hero of the Northern Continent Im called Albert, the hero of the dragonoids, who are the blood descendants of the Jade Dragon Berylprakeo. I give you, Your Excellency Margrave Kunugi, my utmost gratitude for granting me the honor of an audience on this occasion. (Albert) His green hair, without a single curl visible, is tightly gathered at his nape. Wearing an attire, that no matter how Renya looks at it appears to be a dark blue kinagashi1and a katana hanging at his waist. The young man, who hadtekkoucreated out of some scale-like cloth equipped, bows his head courteously.While listening to the greetings of the man called Albert as he sits, deeply sunken into the sofa in the parlor, Renya kept wondering How did it turn out like this? without knowing just how many times that particular sentiment assailed him since having arrived to this world.The other day he reported to the archduchess, who was in the capital, that a handwritten letter from the emperor of the elven country had been delivered to him.Without referring to the pointless encryption, he only informed her about the contents, but the reply from the archduchess was truly concise, telling him Please take care of it as suitably as possible on your side~.Renya ended up wondering whether only doing that much was acceptable for the highest authority of the Principality, but as he obtained authorization for the time being, Renya wrote a reply addressed to elven emperor.That letter was a bundle of paper numbering several times those of the letter received from the emperor. The content was composed of sentences conforming to the misspelling rules of the received letter, confirming the intention of including said errors and through them giving a detailed and thorough description of Renyas thoughts regarding the subject.Using expressions in elvish in several places of the document, it looked like an answer to the encrypted text sent by the emperor on first glance, like a text that would likely include some kind of message. But as a matter of fact, Renya hasnt used any kind of encryption.In short its a letter trying to have the emperor believe that the mixed-in elvish words have some kind of meaning, written as an answer to his own encoded letter, as long as he can decode it. Moreover, Renya pretended that he wasnt able to decipher the encrypted text on top of it.When Croire read the content of Renyas letter, she looked at Renya with an expression that was rare for an elf C a faint smile, but Renya pretended to not have noticed that.Renya felt indifferent saying that its a pretty bad move to not insert an encrypted message in a letter that might be classified as a diplomatic document, but then again he has no obligation to go along with that.Furthermore, since Renyas return letter is a proper reply towards the contents mentioned in the letter sent by the emperor, theres also no reason for him to get criticized by anyone.While revealing a malicious grin judging that it would be great if the emperor racked his brain to the utmost, Renya sent the letter to the elven country through the transfer gate.Putting that aside; alongside the reply from the archduchess regarding his report of a handwritten letter having arrived from the elven emperor, a directive was delivered to Renyas place.Given that it was a message stating that a hero had been chosen from among the dragonoids ruling the northern continent and that they were requesting a meeting with the human hero, it was an official order from the archduchess, telling him to welcome the dragonoid hero on his side.When he saw that, Renya dropped the directive from the archduchess on the table after being overwhelmed with surprise.Rona, who happened to be present by coincidence, became flustered, wondering just what had happened for Renya to become so astonished. After obtaining permission with a few words, she gathers the documents scattered on the table and looks through them. Confirming that theres no particularly surprising content written within, she looks at Renya, who was still frozen, with a puzzled expression. What was so shocking about it? (Rona) T-There is a hero, who will arrive here after going through the proper channels (Renya) Pardon? (Rona) Apparently not having noticed Rona saying the words similar to asking Whats this guy going on about?, Renya continues as if reciting a monologue, No, I mean, hes a hero, isnt he? Hes one of those heroes, right? The ones who foolishly chase skirts and when they finally become unable to do so, come to force a war while being angry at the victim or those who come picking a fight with a noble after arriving at a human city all of a sudden. That person is a hero, a term that stands as a synonym for idiocy in my mind, you know? (Renya) Umm, Renya? (Rona) Rona tried to interrupt him timidly, but there was no sign for Renya being about to stop. Moreover, these guys are probably deeply related to dragons, seeing as they are called dragonoids, correct? Considering it normally, wouldnt it be natural then for him to appear while riding a dragon, partially destroying the city, after spouting some bullshit along the linesHere I am~with a smile as his dragon spits its fiery breath or such? (Renya) No, umm just a moment? (Rona) Its weird, dont you think!? Its strange, right? Its definitely strange! That means, this guy is a weirdo. (Renya) In this case, the weird one here is you. (Rona) As expected, even as Rona retorted calmly, she was unable to put up with this any longer.Did her voice finally reach his ears? Renya looks at Rona with an expression full of shock. If there were only such heroes, you could expect them to get subjugated even before the demon king. Besides, you also couldnt expect us to express any level of respect towards the existence referred to as hero. (Rona) Noway (Renya) Being at his wits end and feebly tottering, Renya suddenly lifts his head in the next instant, as if having recovered his vitality all of a sudden. I see! The matter of this guy seeming to be relatively decent is just a prelude to the arrival of an exceptionally insane elven hero (Renya) Rona urgently blocks Renyas mouth, who was starting to talk, with both her hands.Due to Renya appearing to want to say something with him mumbling into her hands, Rona brought her face close to him with a serious expression and said, Please stop it. What do you plan to do if someone like that really came here? (Rona) From Ronas viewpoint, the elves are a race she cant develop any fondness for, despite Croire being nearby.Even under normal circumstances elves seem to go as far as creating factions for various sizes of breasts. If now even an insane elf with the power-up of being a hero arrived here, it would become necessary for Rona to escape to the archduchess in the capital. Please think about the reply to the dragonoids without jinxing it unnecessarily. (Rona) NNmu (Renya) Due to Ronas overpowering, threatening attitude, Renya had no option but to nod while still having his mouth blocked.Such being the case, he asked Mayria and Rona to carefully teach him about a harmless and inoffensive way of writing a reply. Almost at the same time as Renya sent his answer to the dragonoids through the transfer gate, the dragonoid hero arrived through said transfer gate.Since it was much too fast, Renya suspected him lying in wait on the other side of the gate, but that actually turned out to be the truth. The dragonoids, who should be deeply related to dragons, who pass their time suitably as they have basically a very long life, seem to actually have a strict way of thinking in regards to time and timing for some reason. Its said that its their standard to regard making the other party wait for them as unreasonable.Since its also said that they are not very concerned about being made to wait themselves in comparison, Renya considers them to be a strange race.Moreover, it was only a single person that arrived in Klinge.Since hes tentatively a key figure of a country, Renya thought that he would always be accompanied by servants or comrades, resulting in him being surprised by the unexpected state of the visit.It became apparent on Renyas face that he was thinking,I wonder whether this guy is maybe a loner who doesnt even have comrades or friends, considering that even that beastman hero had a proper priestess as a companion. Albert looked at Renya with a slightly suspicious expression. Your Excellency Margrave Kunugi, is there something on my face? (Albert) No, nothingthough its not like I can say that either. Its the first time I see a dragonoid, but I suppose except for your eyes, you arent any different from us humans. (Renya) No matter how long he stared, Renya was unable to discover any difference between the humans and dragonoids.But once he very carefully observed Albert, he was able to perceive that the shape of his pupils wasnt round like those of humans, but instead had a shape similar to an oblong rugby ball.If he were to speak the unvarnished truth, Alberts pupils have a shape similar to those of reptiles. I guess youre right. What differentiates us from humans are the shape of our pupils andthe scales remaining on some parts of our bodies. (Albert) Ah, so you do have scales. (Renya) After dismissing the discourtesy with a brief comment, Albert suddenly opens the neckband of his kinagashi.As he apparently doesnt wear an undershirt, his bare chest becomes exposed right away, but at the same time a cluster of scales growing around his solar plexus became visible. Thats how it has turned out. (Albert) Are those hard? (Renya) For the time beingif you consider us being descendants of dragons, quite hard. (Albert) Isnt it strange to call them dragonoids although they are descendants of dragons?2Renya wonders, but there appear to be reasons for this as well.The biggest reason is that they were apparently not deemed worthy enough to call themselves dragons as their strength had fallen quite a bit, despite being descendants, since they were treated as the lowest rank of dragons, somewhat below serpents, that are treated as beings below the noble dragons. So, Your Excellency Margrave Kunugi, where might I find hero-dono? Although its a honor to have an audience with you, Id like to request an audience with hero-dono as hero of the dragonoids. (Albert) I have fully grasped your wish. Given that I have sent for someone to call him, I think he will arrive shortly. For the time being, how about sitting down and, well, having a cup of tea? (Renya) To be frank, Renya himself has absolutely no clue about the normal behavior of nobles.Hes aware that he might be handling some things differently, but theres no way for him to fix that at this point. Even if he tried to feign friendliness, that being fake should get exposed quickly.Even while thinking that theres certainly no noble who would offer tea to a hero with a feeling of friendship, Renya believed it to be wasteful to not have the hero taste the tea-cake that was specially prepared for his visit today as it was quite the work of art.Due to the fact that he was being offered tea by a noble himself all of a sudden without any maid attending or any guard being on standby, Albert might have felt that it was slightly different from usual, but with the green tea releasing a highly aromatic steam and the pitch black clusters, that were loosely scattered on top of a plate placed next to his tea cup, Albert takes the seat opposite of Renya, obviously having his interest aroused.Seeing Albert properly remove the katana from his waist and leaning it against the table at the time of sitting down, Renya breathed out in slight admiration of Albert. This isred bean jam, I guess? Did the beastman hero arrive over here already? (Albert) No, I dont know. This is something I received as an apology from the companion of a criminal, who went on a rampage in the city, at the time when I handed the criminal over to said companion. (Renya) Even Renya was unable to do something like serving the red bean jam in its jam state.If there was arrowroot, he would have considered making sweet bean jelly, but he was unable to find something similar within the short period of time. Renya regretted that he didnt also rip off the ingredients for making sweets using red bean jam from the beastmen once he had received the ingredients for red bean jam, but it was too late now.Since theres wheat flour, he considered making steamed buns at first, but since they already existed as souvenir on the southern continent, it wasnt an overly novel idea.What Renya came up with after considering various options are the fakeohagiwhich are currently placed on the plate right in front of Albert.Originally one must use glutinous rice for these, but currently thats not an ingredient Renya has at hand.Since he had a vague feeling that this specific type of rice existed on the southern continent, Renya was planning to have Lepard spit everything out when he comes to meet the human hero, but since theres no point in worrying about something that isnt available at the moment, he settled for fakeohagi, mixing lightly cooked rice and red beans, and rolling it all up together.He couldnt deny that the foods texture was different after all, but since he felt like the taste had worked out reasonably well when he sampled the food, he decided to serve it as a treat for the hero. Its a pastry of lightly crushed alos with a red bean jam coating. I dont know whether it will be to your liking, but I can guarantee that it fits very well with green tea. (Renya) Hoored bean jam itself is something that doesnt appear on the market overly often. (Albert) Using the toothpick that was provided, Albert skillfully cuts up the fakeohagi. While looking at Albert, Renya throws a fleeting glance at the entrance to the parlor located behind Albert.The entrance door has been faintly opened and only Fraus head peeks through that gap. She told him A little bit longer ~nano, through the movements of her lips.Albert carries the cut-up fakeohagito his mouth C apparently not having noticed the shift in Renyas sight, whos thinkingBah, although its not like I have plenty of topics to talk about with himC and squints his eyes eyes happily as he slurps the green tea. Oh, you have a sweet tooth? (Renya) I believe that to not be the case, but sweets are a treasure. (Albert) Well, I guess thats true as wellone cant obtain the raw materials for sugar anywhere but in the south after all? (Renya) Even our continent has produce that allows us to procure sugar, albeit a different one from the south, but its not cultivated much. (Albert) Im sure its millet in the north and daikon in the south, Renya arbitrarily decides.Although he didnt know whether it might be procured from something slimy, sopping and really fantasy-like.As Renya is harboring such selfish illusions the entrance door opens again slightly and this time only Fraus hand is thrust through the gap while giving an OK sign.It seems as if the person whom they awaited has arrived.Expressly knocking on the partly-opened door, Frau says, Master, he has arrived. (Frau) I see. Please let him through. (Renya) Once the door is opened, light footsteps enter the room.Albert, who rose half to his feet as the human hero apparently arrived, voiced out a slight surprise after seeing the owner of the footsteps. Your Excellency, is it alright for me to sit down next to you? Of course, hero-dono. There are no other seats. Even Albert-dono has taken a seat, but I think thats alright. Being too formal is nothing I or hero-dono like. (Renya) As hes told by Renya, Albert lowered his waist again and fixedly stares at the person referred to as the human hero who sat down next to Renya.He has snow white hair that was cut and evened out at the nape, but the skin below that is even whiter, as if transparent.His body has been clad in a magician-like robe with a hood attached. The arms peeking out slightly from there are graceful and thin as if they had never done anything like physical labor until now.The deep crimson eyes stand out in his calm expression on his slender, well-featured face.Hes a person unifying conflicting colors such as white and black or white and red into one, but Albert is unable to judge whether the person in front of him is a man or a woman.Even if he was told that its a little girl, he would be able to come to terms with that. Same applies if he was told that its a boy.Albert was a swordsman before becoming a hero. He had the experience that allowed him to know the gender of his opponent, albeit only vaguely, going by their aura.But the person in front of him, far from feeling any aura, their existence itself possesses a unsteadiness as if they will disappear like an empty dream. Due to them being a type he never met until now, Albert felt perplexed. T-The person over there is hero-dono, right? (Albert) That person nodded at the words Albert managed to squeeze out somehow.Albert believes the other part to be a man due to such a behavior.As strange as it might be, a woman being chosen as the hero has never been recorded in history across the large human continent.All the heroes have always been men. Im glad to meet you, hero-dono of the dragonoids. Im the human hero, Kurz Verde. Chapter 127 C It seems to be the Hero of the Northern Continent Im called Albert, the hero of the dragonoids, who are the blood descendants of the Jade Dragon Berylprakeo. I give you, Your Excellency Margrave Kunugi, my utmost gratitude for granting me the honor of an audience on this occasion. (Albert) His green hair, without a single curl visible, is tightly gathered at his nape. Wearing an attire, that no matter how Renya looks at it appears to be a dark blue kinagashi1and a katana hanging at his waist. The young man, who hadtekkoucreated out of some scale-like cloth equipped, bows his head courteously.While listening to the greetings of the man called Albert as he sits, deeply sunken into the sofa in the parlor, Renya kept wondering How did it turn out like this? without knowing just how many times that particular sentiment assailed him since having arrived to this world.The other day he reported to the archduchess, who was in the capital, that a handwritten letter from the emperor of the elven country had been delivered to him.Without referring to the pointless encryption, he only informed her about the contents, but the reply from the archduchess was truly concise, telling him Please take care of it as suitably as possible on your side~.Renya ended up wondering whether only doing that much was acceptable for the highest authority of the Principality, but as he obtained authorization for the time being, Renya wrote a reply addressed to elven emperor.That letter was a bundle of paper numbering several times those of the letter received from the emperor. The content was composed of sentences conforming to the misspelling rules of the received letter, confirming the intention of including said errors and through them giving a detailed and thorough description of Renyas thoughts regarding the subject.Using expressions in elvish in several places of the document, it looked like an answer to the encrypted text sent by the emperor on first glance, like a text that would likely include some kind of message. But as a matter of fact, Renya hasnt used any kind of encryption.In short its a letter trying to have the emperor believe that the mixed-in elvish words have some kind of meaning, written as an answer to his own encoded letter, as long as he can decode it. Moreover, Renya pretended that he wasnt able to decipher the encrypted text on top of it.When Croire read the content of Renyas letter, she looked at Renya with an expression that was rare for an elf C a faint smile, but Renya pretended to not have noticed that.Renya felt indifferent saying that its a pretty bad move to not insert an encrypted message in a letter that might be classified as a diplomatic document, but then again he has no obligation to go along with that.Furthermore, since Renyas return letter is a proper reply towards the contents mentioned in the letter sent by the emperor, theres also no reason for him to get criticized by anyone.While revealing a malicious grin judging that it would be great if the emperor racked his brain to the utmost, Renya sent the letter to the elven country through the transfer gate.Putting that aside; alongside the reply from the archduchess regarding his report of a handwritten letter having arrived from the elven emperor, a directive was delivered to Renyas place.Given that it was a message stating that a hero had been chosen from among the dragonoids ruling the northern continent and that they were requesting a meeting with the human hero, it was an official order from the archduchess, telling him to welcome the dragonoid hero on his side.When he saw that, Renya dropped the directive from the archduchess on the table after being overwhelmed with surprise.Rona, who happened to be present by coincidence, became flustered, wondering just what had happened for Renya to become so astonished. After obtaining permission with a few words, she gathers the documents scattered on the table and looks through them. Confirming that theres no particularly surprising content written within, she looks at Renya, who was still frozen, with a puzzled expression. What was so shocking about it? (Rona) T-There is a hero, who will arrive here after going through the proper channels (Renya) Pardon? (Rona) Apparently not having noticed Rona saying the words similar to asking Whats this guy going on about?, Renya continues as if reciting a monologue, No, I mean, hes a hero, isnt he? Hes one of those heroes, right? The ones who foolishly chase skirts and when they finally become unable to do so, come to force a war while being angry at the victim or those who come picking a fight with a noble after arriving at a human city all of a sudden. That person is a hero, a term that stands as a synonym for idiocy in my mind, you know? (Renya) Umm, Renya? (Rona) Rona tried to interrupt him timidly, but there was no sign for Renya being about to stop. Moreover, these guys are probably deeply related to dragons, seeing as they are called dragonoids, correct? Considering it normally, wouldnt it be natural then for him to appear while riding a dragon, partially destroying the city, after spouting some bullshit along the linesHere I am~with a smile as his dragon spits its fiery breath or such? (Renya) No, umm just a moment? (Rona) Its weird, dont you think!? Its strange, right? Its definitely strange! That means, this guy is a weirdo. (Renya) In this case, the weird one here is you. (Rona) As expected, even as Rona retorted calmly, she was unable to put up with this any longer.Did her voice finally reach his ears? Renya looks at Rona with an expression full of shock. If there were only such heroes, you could expect them to get subjugated even before the demon king. Besides, you also couldnt expect us to express any level of respect towards the existence referred to as hero. (Rona) Noway (Renya) Being at his wits end and feebly tottering, Renya suddenly lifts his head in the next instant, as if having recovered his vitality all of a sudden. I see! The matter of this guy seeming to be relatively decent is just a prelude to the arrival of an exceptionally insane elven hero (Renya) Rona urgently blocks Renyas mouth, who was starting to talk, with both her hands.Due to Renya appearing to want to say something with him mumbling into her hands, Rona brought her face close to him with a serious expression and said, Please stop it. What do you plan to do if someone like that really came here? (Rona) From Ronas viewpoint, the elves are a race she cant develop any fondness for, despite Croire being nearby.Even under normal circumstances elves seem to go as far as creating factions for various sizes of breasts. If now even an insane elf with the power-up of being a hero arrived here, it would become necessary for Rona to escape to the archduchess in the capital. Please think about the reply to the dragonoids without jinxing it unnecessarily. (Rona) NNmu (Renya) Due to Ronas overpowering, threatening attitude, Renya had no option but to nod while still having his mouth blocked.Such being the case, he asked Mayria and Rona to carefully teach him about a harmless and inoffensive way of writing a reply. Almost at the same time as Renya sent his answer to the dragonoids through the transfer gate, the dragonoid hero arrived through said transfer gate.Since it was much too fast, Renya suspected him lying in wait on the other side of the gate, but that actually turned out to be the truth.The dragonoids, who should be deeply related to dragons, who pass their time suitably as they have basically a very long life, seem to actually have a strict way of thinking in regards to time and timing for some reason. Its said that its their standard to regard making the other party wait for them as unreasonable.Since its also said that they are not very concerned about being made to wait themselves in comparison, Renya considers them to be a strange race.Moreover, it was only a single person that arrived in Klinge.Since hes tentatively a key figure of a country, Renya thought that he would always be accompanied by servants or comrades, resulting in him being surprised by the unexpected state of the visit.It became apparent on Renyas face that he was thinking,I wonder whether this guy is maybe a loner who doesnt even have comrades or friends, considering that even that beastman hero had a proper priestess as a companion. Albert looked at Renya with a slightly suspicious expression. Your Excellency Margrave Kunugi, is there something on my face? (Albert) No, nothingthough its not like I can say that either. Its the first time I see a dragonoid, but I suppose except for your eyes, you arent any different from us humans. (Renya) No matter how long he stared, Renya was unable to discover any difference between the humans and dragonoids.But once he very carefully observed Albert, he was able to perceive that the shape of his pupils wasnt round like those of humans, but instead had a shape similar to an oblong rugby ball.If he were to speak the unvarnished truth, Alberts pupils have a shape similar to those of reptiles. I guess youre right. What differentiates us from humans are the shape of our pupils andthe scales remaining on some parts of our bodies. (Albert) Ah, so you do have scales. (Renya) After dismissing the discourtesy with a brief comment, Albert suddenly opens the neckband of his kinagashi.As he apparently doesnt wear an undershirt, his bare chest becomes exposed right away, but at the same time a cluster of scales growing around his solar plexus became visible. Thats how it has turned out. (Albert) Are those hard? (Renya) For the time beingif you consider us being descendants of dragons, quite hard. (Albert) Isnt it strange to call them dragonoids although they are descendants of dragons?2Renya wonders, but there appear to be reasons for this as well.The biggest reason is that they were apparently not deemed worthy enough to call themselves dragons as their strength had fallen quite a bit, despite being descendants, since they were treated as the lowest rank of dragons, somewhat below serpents, that are treated as beings below the noble dragons. So, Your Excellency Margrave Kunugi, where might I find hero-dono? Although its a honor to have an audience with you, Id like to request an audience with hero-dono as hero of the dragonoids. (Albert) I have fully grasped your wish. Given that I have sent for someone to call him, I think he will arrive shortly. For the time being, how about sitting down and, well, having a cup of tea? (Renya) To be frank, Renya himself has absolutely no clue about the normal behavior of nobles.Hes aware that he might be handling some things differently, but theres no way for him to fix that at this point. Even if he tried to feign friendliness, that being fake should get exposed quickly.Even while thinking that theres certainly no noble who would offer tea to a hero with a feeling of friendship, Renya believed it to be wasteful to not have the hero taste the tea-cake that was specially prepared for his visit today as it was quite the work of art.Due to the fact that he was being offered tea by a noble himself all of a sudden without any maid attending or any guard being on standby, Albert might have felt that it was slightly different from usual, but with the green tea releasing a highly aromatic steam and the pitch black clusters, that were loosely scattered on top of a plate placed next to his tea cup, Albert takes the seat opposite of Renya, obviously having his interest aroused.Seeing Albert properly remove the katana from his waist and leaning it against the table at the time of sitting down, Renya breathed out in slight admiration of Albert. This isred bean jam, I guess? Did the beastman hero arrive over here already? (Albert) No, I dont know. This is something I received as an apology from the companion of a criminal, who went on a rampage in the city, at the time when I handed the criminal over to said companion. (Renya) Even Renya was unable to do something like serving the red bean jam in its jam state.If there was arrowroot, he would have considered making sweet bean jelly, but he was unable to find something similar within the short period of time. Renya regretted that he didnt also rip off the ingredients for making sweets using red bean jam from the beastmen once he had received the ingredients for red bean jam, but it was too late now.Since theres wheat flour, he considered making steamed buns at first, but since they already existed as souvenir on the southern continent, it wasnt an overly novel idea.What Renya came up with after considering various options are the fakeohagiwhich are currently placed on the plate right in front of Albert.Originally one must use glutinous rice for these, but currently thats not an ingredient Renya has at hand.Since he had a vague feeling that this specific type of rice existed on the southern continent, Renya was planning to have Lepard spit everything out when he comes to meet the human hero, but since theres no point in worrying about something that isnt available at the moment, he settled for fakeohagi, mixing lightly cooked rice and red beans, and rolling it all up together.He couldnt deny that the foods texture was different after all, but since he felt like the taste had worked out reasonably well when he sampled the food, he decided to serve it as a treat for the hero. Its a pastry of lightly crushed alos with a red bean jam coating. I dont know whether it will be to your liking, but I can guarantee that it fits very well with green tea. (Renya) Hoored bean jam itself is something that doesnt appear on the market overly often. (Albert) Using the toothpick that was provided, Albert skillfully cuts up the fakeohagi. While looking at Albert, Renya throws a fleeting glance at the entrance to the parlor located behind Albert.The entrance door has been faintly opened and only Fraus head peeks through that gap. She told him A little bit longer ~nano, through the movements of her lips.Albert carries the cut-up fakeohagito his mouth C apparently not having noticed the shift in Renyas sight, whos thinkingBah, although its not like I have plenty of topics to talk about with himC and squints his eyes eyes happily as he slurps the green tea. Oh, you have a sweet tooth? (Renya) I believe that to not be the case, but sweets are a treasure. (Albert) Well, I guess thats true as wellone cant obtain the raw materials for sugar anywhere but in the south after all? (Renya) Even our continent has produce that allows us to procure sugar, albeit a different one from the south, but its not cultivated much. (Albert) Im sure its millet in the north and daikon in the south, Renya arbitrarily decides.Although he didnt know whether it might be procured from something slimy, sopping and really fantasy-like.As Renya is harboring such selfish illusions the entrance door opens again slightly and this time only Fraus hand is thrust through the gap while giving an OK sign.It seems as if the person whom they awaited has arrived.Expressly knocking on the partly-opened door, Frau says, Master, he has arrived. (Frau) I see. Please let him through. (Renya) Once the door is opened, light footsteps enter the room.Albert, who rose half to his feet as the human hero apparently arrived, voiced out a slight surprise after seeing the owner of the footsteps. Your Excellency, is it alright for me to sit down next to you? Of course, hero-dono. There are no other seats. Even Albert-dono has taken a seat, but I think thats alright. Being too formal is nothing I or hero-dono like. (Renya) As hes told by Renya, Albert lowered his waist again and fixedly stares at the person referred to as the human hero who sat down next to Renya.He has snow white hair that was cut and evened out at the nape, but the skin below that is even whiter, as if transparent.His body has been clad in a magician-like robe with a hood attached. The arms peeking out slightly from there are graceful and thin as if they had never done anything like physical labor until now.The deep crimson eyes stand out in his calm expression on his slender, well-featured face.Hes a person unifying conflicting colors such as white and black or white and red into one, but Albert is unable to judge whether the person in front of him is a man or a woman.Even if he was told that its a little girl, he would be able to come to terms with that. Same applies if he was told that its a boy.Albert was a swordsman before becoming a hero. He had the experience that allowed him to know the gender of his opponent, albeit only vaguely, going by their aura.But the person in front of him, far from feeling any aura, their existence itself possesses a unsteadiness as if they will disappear like an empty dream. Due to them being a type he never met until now, Albert felt perplexed. T-The person over there is hero-dono, right? (Albert) That person nodded at the words Albert managed to squeeze out somehow.Albert believes the other part to be a man due to such a behavior.As strange as it might be, a woman being chosen as the hero has never been recorded in history across the large human continent.All the heroes have always been men. Im glad to meet you, hero-dono of the dragonoids. Im the human hero, Kurz Verde. Chapter 128 Chapter 128 C It seems to be a Hero Conference Thats unexpectedisnt it? (Albert) Albert says with a somewhat exhausted voice while fixedly staring at Kurz who sat in front of him. I had already heard about the human hero-dono having a tall figure and wearing a big armor, but (Albert) As for the information regarding who killed the previous hero might be, it hasnt spread.This is the result of the Trident Principalitys Archduchess thorough information lockdown, but its not like she can completely stop information from leaking either and thus there are some pieces of information that spread to some extent.One of those pieces of information is that the ones who personally fought the human hero were a swordsman and a tall, armored swordsman. The swordsman, who defeated the hero between either of the two, seems to be the one who took over his status.Information regarding his identity was completely hidden, but the news that the tall armor apparently became the hero has propagated to some degree.On that occasion, the question of whether the name of the swordsman, who accompanied the armor, wasnt Margrave Kunugi swirled about as well, but as there was no definitive confirmation, it didnt leave the area of simple speculation.It was conceivable that the information Albert heard about was very likely at least a part of said pieces of information.Kurz, the target of Alberts gaze, doesnt have a physique that would allow him to clad his body with such a large armor.Even his height is around one head smaller than Renyas. In the first place, going by the thinness of his arms and legs that peeked out from the cuffs and sleeves of his robe, there was no doubt that he should get crushed by the weight of such a big armor if he put it on. That armor is actually a magic craft produced by myself. (Renya) Renya explained as he tapped Kurzs head, who was sitting next to him, while scattering a bright smile into the surroundings. Its great that this child succeeded the heros powers, butas you can see, hes an albino with a frail body and a weakness towards sunlight. If his skin is exposed to strong sunlight for an extended period, it will become bright red and get sunburnt, causing him to develop a fever that forces him into staying in bed for a while. Thats the kind of child he is. (Renya) Renya smoothly provides information about the human hero, but in his mind hes in a state of cold sweat streaming down like a waterfall.He had received an explanation about the Setting related to the human hero from Frau and Emil in advance. He was given a stuffy, detailed account in their hopes that he would not making any mistakes when introducing him. Theres no way I could make such a child head into battle just like that, right? (Renya) Thats certainly true. (Albert) Since fortunately his amount of mana is off-the-chart in comparison to normal humans, I had him participate in the battle while using something like a shell that can be controlled with mana. The battle against the hero was so-to-speak something akin to a first battle for that armor and this child. (Renya) The entire explanation had been composed by Emil and Frau.On top of that, the contents were checked by Mayria, adding finishing touches to it so that it wouldnt sound unnatural as much as was possible.This boy called Kurz is a homunculus built by Emil, using the body of the former hero, which apparently had remained in a half-eaten state, as raw material after having pulled it out from within the the black cluster which has been stuffed into the armor by Frau.Even Emil, who should be accustomed to test subjects in not overly good condition, felt slightly sick after seeing the corpse dragged out by Frau, but there was no objection as for the quality of the material.Of course the human faction within Renyas party refused to be present in that place from the start, and Croire ran away quickly as well,Only Frau was completely unperturbed, but everyones opinion matched up with the words Oh well, shes a fairy.The work was carried out secretly in Emils laboratory in the basement of Renyas feudal lord castle, but seeing as the preparatory period was unavoidably short, it ended up becoming a workmanship leaving behind extreme dissatisfaction in Emil because she had almost no time to train her creation.The pigments all over its body were transparent and as a result of that it was in the state of a so-called albino. More importance was put on its abilities rather than its appearance, but although it boasted abilities befitting a hero plentifully, it had a very weak constitution.The explanation about the sunlight and so on was neither a lie nor exaggeration, but the plain truth. Having done that, you are (Albert) Yes, I beat that human hero. (Kurz) Kurz readily agrees with Albert while also lacking any kind of enthusiasm.After groaning slightly due to that answer, Albert shook his head while sighing. As those are the honorable words of His Excellency the Margraveit seems they are the truth, but it has become a story that is hard to believe in all of a sudden. (Albert) Seemingly incapable of arbitrarily deciding that the words of a noble from a foreign country might be completely untrue, Albert points out to Renya that there are still some questionable parts in the story, choosing his words carefully,That surely makes sense, doesnt it?Renya thinks in his mind without changing his expression.Even if one might say this or that, its an obvious fact that the previous hero Yuuki boasted strength unsurpassed by any other human.Being told that the boy sitting in front of Albert, who looks like an albino and moreover like a young girl, has a weak constitution as the hero is ridiculously difficult to believe.Although even Renya was well aware of that fact, he has no other option but to continue insisting on it for now.Thats because the words of Renyas group should eventually establish themselves as truth as long as its not exposed which parts of their statements are actually true. Do you doubt them? (Kurz) The words directed towards Albert, who was brooding while groaning, chosen by Kurz had a sound quality that felt sweet and gooey like honey.As if taken aback by that voice, Albert shifts his eyes towards Kurz, and Renya, who sat next to Kurz, feels a shudder travel down his spine.Renya hasnt had much to do with this boy called Kurz until this point in time.Speaking of the only time he got involved with him; it was when Renya was half-forcefully dragged to Emils laboratory for a visit after Kurzs exterior had been finished. It was around that time that he saw Kurz floating inside a transparent cylinder filled with a liquid, which was called a cultivation tube.The black mass gushed out into the cylinder from within the armor that was placed on top of the cylinder. For some reason Renya clearly remembered thinking,I guessthathas changed into something like a liquid for the time being.At that time it already had features that made it hard to discern whether it was a young boy or girl. Due to Renya cocking his head in contemplation in front of the cylinder, Emil and Frau, who happened to be present, pointed simultaneously at the nether region of the young boy floating while being nude and said, He has one. Ah, yeah. It looks like it. (Renya) Frau and Emil deliver the finishing blow to Renya, who nods with a dejected expression, Quite the splendid one ~no! (Frau) Hes a gap character with a fiendish lower half while having such a cute face! (Emil) Yeah, I got it, so both of you shut up. (Renya) I wonder, is Croire actually the only one who has some understanding of the wordshameamong my party members, Renya sinks into a gloomy feeling.Which reminds me, just how did I end up pondering over these past events?Once he tries to recall that, he noticed that he was stared at by Kurz, sitting next to him and Albert, sitting in front, with somewhat worried expressions. Are you alright? (Kurz) Somehow you wore an unspeakably pained expression just now, Margrave-sama? (Albert) The emotions stemming from an experience, which he must not remember, and the final debacle of something eerie traveling down his back as he was about to recall the past events seemed to have clearly appeared on his face.At any rate, Renya looks at Kurz face whos looking anxiously in his direction.Even looking from nearby, its the face of a little girl with no visible faults.However, his lower half is fiendish. Somehow you seem to agonize, Margrave-sama? (Kurz) To meno matter how I look at it, it seems as if hes simply enduring not bursting out loud laughing though. (Albert) Renyas attacked by a chain of laughing impulses that they have adequately guessed.The appearance of his shoulders trembling while hes slightly blushing and covering his mouth with a hand can certainly be seen as him suffering, but at the same time it might also be regarded as him resisting to laugh out loud. N-No, sorryI was just laughing a bit due to something I remembered. (Renya) Renya, who finally escaped from the cycle of laughing impulses after a little while, wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes while apologizing to Albert with his doubtful expression and Kurz with his worried expression.Its not like Renya is a person who laughs especially easily, but this is probably because he usually wasnt blessed with too many opportunities to burst into loud laughter, but he appeared to have quite a bit of trouble in suppressing his laughing urges once he entered into such a state. Uummwhat were we talking about? (Renya) About me defeating the human hero. (Kurz) Ah, yea, now I remember. I participated in that battle as well, more or less. It feels as if we somehow managed to win with the two of us. The one who finished him off was Kurz and seemingly as a result of that, he inherited the heros powers. (Renya) The fact that it was not a deed accomplished solely by Kurz was one of the settings they had agreed on in advance in a preparatory meeting.After all there would be people finding it difficult to believe that Kurz did it all by himself, judging by his outward appearance.Once it turned into an explanation of Kurz having accomplished his victory in cooperation with Renya, it apparently becomes a story that is strangely agreeable.Undoubtedly it seemed that Kurz had luckily, or unluckily, picked up the hero abilities with just the finishing blow against the hero.Wondering whether thats alright with him, Renya asked Kurz about it, but Kurz didnt show an inkling of interest as that was apparently something completely unimportant to him. By the way, Albert-dono, you said that you are the hero of the dragonoids, but (Renya) Margrave-dono, please address me without adding any honorifics. This me has been given the role of serving as a hero, but in reality Im no more than a mere swordsman. (Albert) Thats quite the tall order, isnt it?Renya ends up thinking.Seemingly because the impression of the human hero he met before was too powerful, Renya vaguely wonders whether Albert is really a hero, albeit him being the hero of the dragonoids who are supposed to be very respectable in their interactions with others.Its a bad tendency, but I probably cant help it since its been a continuous series of disappointing heroes what with the human and the beastman hero, Renya rectifies. Then Albert, it looks like you were chosen as the hero of the dragonoids, but were you able to hear the voice of the dragonoids god? (Renya) No, unfortunately not. (Albert) In Renyas eyes that was a question with the intent of trying to obtain even the slightest information about other gods from the hero in front of him, but the reply was unfavorable.In front of Renya, who believes that it probably wont be that easy to get his hands on said information, Albert continues his words, Gods voice of the hero selection can only be heard by the priestess of the dragonoids. According to the words of that priestess, I was chosen as the hero. (Albert) Priestess, eh? (Renya) Now that he mentions it, there was a priestess attached to the beastman hero as well, wasnt there?Renya remembers.That priestess looked as if she was having quite the hard time, but if its the priestess following Albert, she probably wont have that many problems, he believes. All heroes have been selected by a priestess that received a divine message. Only the human hero is called from a different world through a summoning ceremony. (Albert) What a bother, only Renya believes.Unable to guess Renyas thoughts, Albert bows his head deeply and matches his look with Kurz. Im sorry for doubting you. Kurz-dono, hero of the humans. I wonder whether I can request from you the permission to fight together as the hero of the dragonoids? (Albert) Hero Albert-dono, I would be delighted to receive your assistance. Also, it would be an honor to be allowed to fight together with you. (Kurz) It seems the only one thinking,Huh?, in this place is Renya.While looking at the two heroes who stood up from their seats and exchanged smiles as they grasped each others hand, Renya dispatches a telepathic communication to Frau, (Renya) (Frau) Very likely no one except Renya knows that the battle between demon king and the heroes in this world is actually linked to a game of the supervisors who call themselves gods.But, even Renya, who is aware of those circumstances, doesnt comprehend at all which rules the game uses.He believes that the game is made up based on some kind of rules, but he hasnt seen therule bookfor himself.For an instant Renya considered whether he should try asking the little girl goddess about this, but immediately denies that motion himself.Its because he expected that the little girl C putting aside the people actually playing it C who was moving in order to stop this game, doesnt really grasp its rules either.Renyas thoughts, that included such considerations, are pulled back into reality by Alberts voice. Margrave-dono, although the existence of the demon king hasnt been confirmed yet, they will definitely make an appearance, seeing as the heroes, such as us have appeared. It was fortuitous that I was able to get acquainted with the human hero in preparation of that coming day. (Albert) Mmhyeah, I suppose thats true. Thats probably the same for our sides hero, too. (Renya) Renya answers with a calm smile while repeating lip service after lip service in his mind.Kurz probably doesnt have any impressions about the meeting with Albert.He should only harbor the concept of having met since he was told to do so by Frau and Renya.According to Emil, his adjustments and accumulated experiences seem to be too insufficient to express emotions. Well then, I shall return to my country for the time being. Then I will find the right time to visit this place again while bringing along my friends and the hero equipment. (Albert) Renya was previously told by Rona that an extended stay of a hero in a foreign country isnt welcomed much since their combat abilities are exceedingly high.Thats why he will probably go back right away after a bit of a conversation and a face-to-face meeting, she said. Im looking forward to the day where I can introduce my priestess and friends to you, Hero-dono, Margrave-dono. (Albert) Im pretty sure that the priestess is a beauty. I can grasp that much from your tone, Albert-san. Im looking forward to that day as well. (Kurz) Kurz responds to Albert words while smiling.Seemingly because his priestess was praised, Albert scratched his head with a slightly embarrassed smile.While gazing at those two, Renya couldnt help but entertain the doubt of whether the emotional aspect of Kurz, who is far more honeymouthed than himself, are really in the middle of adjustment. Chapter 128 C It seems to be a Hero Conference Thats unexpectedisnt it? (Albert) Albert says with a somewhat exhausted voice while fixedly staring at Kurz who sat in front of him. I had already heard about the human hero-dono having a tall figure and wearing a big armor, but (Albert) As for the information regarding who killed the previous hero might be, it hasnt spread.This is the result of the Trident Principalitys Archduchess thorough information lockdown, but its not like she can completely stop information from leaking either and thus there are some pieces of information that spread to some extent.One of those pieces of information is that the ones who personally fought the human hero were a swordsman and a tall, armored swordsman. The swordsman, who defeated the hero between either of the two, seems to be the one who took over his status.Information regarding his identity was completely hidden, but the news that the tall armor apparently became the hero has propagated to some degree.On that occasion, the question of whether the name of the swordsman, who accompanied the armor, wasnt Margrave Kunugi swirled about as well, but as there was no definitive confirmation, it didnt leave the area of simple speculation.It was conceivable that the information Albert heard about was very likely at least a part of said pieces of information.Kurz, the target of Alberts gaze, doesnt have a physique that would allow him to clad his body with such a large armor.Even his height is around one head smaller than Renyas. In the first place, going by the thinness of his arms and legs that peeked out from the cuffs and sleeves of his robe, there was no doubt that he should get crushed by the weight of such a big armor if he put it on. That armor is actually a magic craft produced by myself. (Renya) Renya explained as he tapped Kurzs head, who was sitting next to him, while scattering a bright smile into the surroundings. Its great that this child succeeded the heros powers, butas you can see, hes an albino with a frail body and a weakness towards sunlight. If his skin is exposed to strong sunlight for an extended period, it will become bright red and get sunburnt, causing him to develop a fever that forces him into staying in bed for a while. Thats the kind of child he is. (Renya) Renya smoothly provides information about the human hero, but in his mind hes in a state of cold sweat streaming down like a waterfall.He had received an explanation about the Setting related to the human hero from Frau and Emil in advance. He was given a stuffy, detailed account in their hopes that he would not making any mistakes when introducing him. Theres no way I could make such a child head into battle just like that, right? (Renya) Thats certainly true. (Albert) Since fortunately his amount of mana is off-the-chart in comparison to normal humans, I had him participate in the battle while using something like a shell that can be controlled with mana. The battle against the hero was so-to-speak something akin to a first battle for that armor and this child. (Renya) The entire explanation had been composed by Emil and Frau.On top of that, the contents were checked by Mayria, adding finishing touches to it so that it wouldnt sound unnatural as much as was possible.This boy called Kurz is a homunculus built by Emil, using the body of the former hero, which apparently had remained in a half-eaten state, as raw material after having pulled it out from within the the black cluster which has been stuffed into the armor by Frau.Even Emil, who should be accustomed to test subjects in not overly good condition, felt slightly sick after seeing the corpse dragged out by Frau, but there was no objection as for the quality of the material.Of course the human faction within Renyas party refused to be present in that place from the start, and Croire ran away quickly as well,Only Frau was completely unperturbed, but everyones opinion matched up with the words Oh well, shes a fairy.The work was carried out secretly in Emils laboratory in the basement of Renyas feudal lord castle, but seeing as the preparatory period was unavoidably short, it ended up becoming a workmanship leaving behind extreme dissatisfaction in Emil because she had almost no time to train her creation.The pigments all over its body were transparent and as a result of that it was in the state of a so-called albino. More importance was put on its abilities rather than its appearance, but although it boasted abilities befitting a hero plentifully, it had a very weak constitution.The explanation about the sunlight and so on was neither a lie nor exaggeration, but the plain truth. Having done that, you are (Albert) Yes, I beat that human hero. (Kurz) Kurz readily agrees with Albert while also lacking any kind of enthusiasm.After groaning slightly due to that answer, Albert shook his head while sighing. As those are the honorable words of His Excellency the Margraveit seems they are the truth, but it has become a story that is hard to believe in all of a sudden. (Albert) Seemingly incapable of arbitrarily deciding that the words of a noble from a foreign country might be completely untrue, Albert points out to Renya that there are still some questionable parts in the story, choosing his words carefully,That surely makes sense, doesnt it?Renya thinks in his mind without changing his expression.Even if one might say this or that, its an obvious fact that the previous hero Yuuki boasted strength unsurpassed by any other human.Being told that the boy sitting in front of Albert, who looks like an albino and moreover like a young girl, has a weak constitution as the hero is ridiculously difficult to believe.Although even Renya was well aware of that fact, he has no other option but to continue insisting on it for now.Thats because the words of Renyas group should eventually establish themselves as truth as long as its not exposed which parts of their statements are actually true. Do you doubt them? (Kurz) The words directed towards Albert, who was brooding while groaning, chosen by Kurz had a sound quality that felt sweet and gooey like honey.As if taken aback by that voice, Albert shifts his eyes towards Kurz, and Renya, who sat next to Kurz, feels a shudder travel down his spine.Renya hasnt had much to do with this boy called Kurz until this point in time.Speaking of the only time he got involved with him; it was when Renya was half-forcefully dragged to Emils laboratory for a visit after Kurzs exterior had been finished. It was around that time that he saw Kurz floating inside a transparent cylinder filled with a liquid, which was called a cultivation tube.The black mass gushed out into the cylinder from within the armor that was placed on top of the cylinder. For some reason Renya clearly remembered thinking,I guessthathas changed into something like a liquid for the time being.At that time it already had features that made it hard to discern whether it was a young boy or girl. Due to Renya cocking his head in contemplation in front of the cylinder, Emil and Frau, who happened to be present, pointed simultaneously at the nether region of the young boy floating while being nude and said, He has one. Ah, yeah. It looks like it. (Renya) Frau and Emil deliver the finishing blow to Renya, who nods with a dejected expression, Quite the splendid one ~no! (Frau) Hes a gap character with a fiendish lower half while having such a cute face! (Emil) Yeah, I got it, so both of you shut up. (Renya) I wonder, is Croire actually the only one who has some understanding of the wordshameamong my party members, Renya sinks into a gloomy feeling.Which reminds me, just how did I end up pondering over these past events?Once he tries to recall that, he noticed that he was stared at by Kurz, sitting next to him and Albert, sitting in front, with somewhat worried expressions. Are you alright? (Kurz) Somehow you wore an unspeakably pained expression just now, Margrave-sama? (Albert) The emotions stemming from an experience, which he must not remember, and the final debacle of something eerie traveling down his back as he was about to recall the past events seemed to have clearly appeared on his face.At any rate, Renya looks at Kurz face whos looking anxiously in his direction.Even looking from nearby, its the face of a little girl with no visible faults.However, his lower half is fiendish. Somehow you seem to agonize, Margrave-sama? (Kurz) To meno matter how I look at it, it seems as if hes simply enduring not bursting out loud laughing though. (Albert) Renyas attacked by a chain of laughing impulses that they have adequately guessed.The appearance of his shoulders trembling while hes slightly blushing and covering his mouth with a hand can certainly be seen as him suffering, but at the same time it might also be regarded as him resisting to laugh out loud. N-No, sorryI was just laughing a bit due to something I remembered. (Renya) Renya, who finally escaped from the cycle of laughing impulses after a little while, wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes while apologizing to Albert with his doubtful expression and Kurz with his worried expression.Its not like Renya is a person who laughs especially easily, but this is probably because he usually wasnt blessed with too many opportunities to burst into loud laughter, but he appeared to have quite a bit of trouble in suppressing his laughing urges once he entered into such a state. Uummwhat were we talking about? (Renya) About me defeating the human hero. (Kurz) Ah, yea, now I remember. I participated in that battle as well, more or less. It feels as if we somehow managed to win with the two of us. The one who finished him off was Kurz and seemingly as a result of that, he inherited the heros powers. (Renya) The fact that it was not a deed accomplished solely by Kurz was one of the settings they had agreed on in advance in a preparatory meeting.After all there would be people finding it difficult to believe that Kurz did it all by himself, judging by his outward appearance.Once it turned into an explanation of Kurz having accomplished his victory in cooperation with Renya, it apparently becomes a story that is strangely agreeable.Undoubtedly it seemed that Kurz had luckily, or unluckily, picked up the hero abilities with just the finishing blow against the hero.Wondering whether thats alright with him, Renya asked Kurz about it, but Kurz didnt show an inkling of interest as that was apparently something completely unimportant to him. By the way, Albert-dono, you said that you are the hero of the dragonoids, but (Renya) Margrave-dono, please address me without adding any honorifics. This me has been given the role of serving as a hero, but in reality Im no more than a mere swordsman. (Albert) Thats quite the tall order, isnt it?Renya ends up thinking.Seemingly because the impression of the human hero he met before was too powerful, Renya vaguely wonders whether Albert is really a hero, albeit him being the hero of the dragonoids who are supposed to be very respectable in their interactions with others.Its a bad tendency, but I probably cant help it since its been a continuous series of disappointing heroes what with the human and the beastman hero, Renya rectifies. Then Albert, it looks like you were chosen as the hero of the dragonoids, but were you able to hear the voice of the dragonoids god? (Renya) No, unfortunately not. (Albert) In Renyas eyes that was a question with the intent of trying to obtain even the slightest information about other gods from the hero in front of him, but the reply was unfavorable.In front of Renya, who believes that it probably wont be that easy to get his hands on said information, Albert continues his words, Gods voice of the hero selection can only be heard by the priestess of the dragonoids. According to the words of that priestess, I was chosen as the hero. (Albert) Priestess, eh? (Renya) Now that he mentions it, there was a priestess attached to the beastman hero as well, wasnt there?Renya remembers.That priestess looked as if she was having quite the hard time, but if its the priestess following Albert, she probably wont have that many problems, he believes. All heroes have been selected by a priestess that received a divine message. Only the human hero is called from a different world through a summoning ceremony. (Albert) What a bother, only Renya believes.Unable to guess Renyas thoughts, Albert bows his head deeply and matches his look with Kurz. Im sorry for doubting you. Kurz-dono, hero of the humans. I wonder whether I can request from you the permission to fight together as the hero of the dragonoids? (Albert) Hero Albert-dono, I would be delighted to receive your assistance. Also, it would be an honor to be allowed to fight together with you. (Kurz) It seems the only one thinking,Huh?, in this place is Renya.While looking at the two heroes who stood up from their seats and exchanged smiles as they grasped each others hand, Renya dispatches a telepathic communication to Frau, (Renya) (Frau) Very likely no one except Renya knows that the battle between demon king and the heroes in this world is actually linked to a game of the supervisors who call themselves gods.But, even Renya, who is aware of those circumstances, doesnt comprehend at all which rules the game uses.He believes that the game is made up based on some kind of rules, but he hasnt seen therule bookfor himself.For an instant Renya considered whether he should try asking the little girl goddess about this, but immediately denies that motion himself.Its because he expected that the little girl C putting aside the people actually playing it C who was moving in order to stop this game, doesnt really grasp its rules either.Renyas thoughts, that included such considerations, are pulled back into reality by Alberts voice. Margrave-dono, although the existence of the demon king hasnt been confirmed yet, they will definitely make an appearance, seeing as the heroes, such as us have appeared. It was fortuitous that I was able to get acquainted with the human hero in preparation of that coming day. (Albert) Mmhyeah, I suppose thats true. Thats probably the same for our sides hero, too. (Renya) Renya answers with a calm smile while repeating lip service after lip service in his mind.Kurz probably doesnt have any impressions about the meeting with Albert.He should only harbor the concept of having met since he was told to do so by Frau and Renya.According to Emil, his adjustments and accumulated experiences seem to be too insufficient to express emotions. Well then, I shall return to my country for the time being. Then I will find the right time to visit this place again while bringing along my friends and the hero equipment. (Albert) Renya was previously told by Rona that an extended stay of a hero in a foreign country isnt welcomed much since their combat abilities are exceedingly high.Thats why he will probably go back right away after a bit of a conversation and a face-to-face meeting, she said. Im looking forward to the day where I can introduce my priestess and friends to you, Hero-dono, Margrave-dono. (Albert) Im pretty sure that the priestess is a beauty. I can grasp that much from your tone, Albert-san. Im looking forward to that day as well. (Kurz) Kurz responds to Albert words while smiling.Seemingly because his priestess was praised, Albert scratched his head with a slightly embarrassed smile.While gazing at those two, Renya couldnt help but entertain the doubt of whether the emotional aspect of Kurz, who is far more honeymouthed than himself, are really in the middle of adjustment. Chapter 129 A short while after the dragonoids hero went back to his country, the peaceful days resumed.There wasnt any news coming from the beastmen, and neither was there a reply or inquiry regarding the letter sent by the elves.As for confirming the existence of the demon king, even the Trident Principality moved in an attempt to validate its existence while investing quite a bit of time and labor, but with the demon country being on the other side of the Miasma Forest, which had an unimaginable size if using Renyas former as standard, and moreover because the demon king would stay in their own castle, located in the center of the demon country, assuming they actually made an appearance, its almost impossible to simply confirm them by sight. How are you going to confirm the existence of someone like that? (Renya) Renya asks while scooping up a pure white, syrupy liquid from a metallic container.Inside the container was milk. He let it rest for one night while being cooled with a clump of ice he had requested the sorcerers in Klinge to make.By doing that, the milk separated and fresh cream could be obtained.Renya skillfully transferred that separated fresh cream into another container and furthermore added more milk to it.He also added egg yolks and sugar, which he managed to officially receive from the beastmen, and stirred all of it well. Normally there should be an oracle from god, saying that the demon king has appeared. (Shion) Shion replies while watching very attentively what Renya is doing.Kurz, who was next to her while resting his chin in his hands, seemingly enjoyed something about Renyas work and thus watched it while smiling brightly.Renya had received a request from Frau and Emil that they would like him to spend as much time as possible with Kurz.It seems that they finished putting various information regarding combat techniques and dignified behavior into his head, but as experience was apparently preferred over plain knowledge in regards to the emotional aspect, Kurz current emotional level seems to be mostly below that of an average baby between 3 and 5 years.Due to Renya considering even that to not be much of an issue, Emil passionately pointed out the problems with that.The biggest problem can be summarized with Kurz being unable to control himself like a child, compared to the crazy power he possesses.Even if a child threw a tantrum, the level of damage would be obviously low, but that changes if its Kurz throwing a tantrum.Jokes aside, hes quite capable of destroying one block of the city.If he was a normal homunculus, such problem wouldnt crop up.Thats because they are absolutely obedient to their creator.But as for Kurz; although he has been created using the production method of homunculi, his interior is based on the black something which filled that armor.According to Frau, evil spirits and similar, which she had controlled in Renyas home in Kukrika, that were adequately and tightly stuffed together are the true identity of that black, misty something. Due to it partaking in the war against the Holy Kingdom, the number of spirits inside grew rapidly, and apparently because of that, the personalities of those spirits disappeared. However, Kurz, who was configured as a synthetic personality, apparently cant draw out any human traits no matter what he does. Right now the national power of the Holy Kingdom has declinedand even the priests seemingly havent been given an oracle as they appear to be lacking. But, since the hero summoning took place, theres no doubt that the demon king will appear sooner or later. (Shion) According to Shion, the fact that theres an oracle and a period of time until the demon king appears after the hero summoning follows the gods intention to allow the hero to be raised into an adult, but in Renyas eyes, who knows that the chain of events is nothing more than the supervisors, who call themselves gods, killing time, it doesnt look as anything but a mere period of time to raise levels and a chance to form close ties with royalty and friends.However, so far as it goes, Renya is a man as well.Theres no way that he wont feel some envy over a romantic relationship with a princess.However, if one properly assesses things, even Shion, who is intently staring at Renyas work, should be a woman in a position that forces others to nod while saying Certainly, youre right there if one insisted that she was a princess.And yet, no matter how long he looks at Shions face, the word romance (lol) simply doesnt pop up.While sighing slightly as he thinks,Even though the base should be at quite a high level, what a disappointing child, Renya taps Shions head to caress it gently. Shion, whose expression became blank in an instant, smiled happily with her expression becoming all slack for some reason.While feeling slightly startled due to that smile, Renya hermetically seals the container that contained all the prepared ingredients and puts it into a far bigger cask filled with crushed ice. After he finished cramming it inside, he shuts the casks lid.The cask is a special-made cask that has been tightly reinforced with metallic sheets. As test Renya tried kicking it with quite a bit of strength, but it was so sturdy that it didnt even budge.Of course the weight of the cask itself has become considerably high. Moreover, with it having been filled with a large amount of ice, it had become impossible to move it easily.Yet Renya lifts that without any difficulty and addresses Kurz who is chasing the cask with his eyes as if being lured by it, Alright, Kurz. You want to play with me a bit inside the castles courtyard? (Renya) Yeees. (Kurz) Shion, you want to join as well? (Renya) If its a game I can join. (Shion) While thinking that it might be slightly unreasonable, Renya takes Kurz and Shion along and heads to the castles courtyard.Having arrived at the courtyard, the three take up positions with a distance of around 10 m from each other while being instructed by Renya, forming a triangle. The rules are simple. We just have to toss this cask to each other without breaking it. The person, who breaks or drops it, loses. I dont intend to impose a penalty even if you break it, but there will be a reward for those who persist all the way to the end. (Renya) Yeees. (Kurz) Kurz raises his arm with a cheerful smile.Contrary to that, Shion mutters with a quite troubled expression, You make it sound simple, butthats quite a chore. (Shion) One can easily imagine what will happen if one starts throwing that casket, which is mostly just a lump of metal, which weighs a considerable amount, making it look difficult to even lift up. As a handicap, I will allow you to use tools, Shion. And, as long as it doesnt break, you can drop it to the ground. (Renya) In that case, well, I guess I will manage somehow? (Shion) Upon the terms provided by Renya, Shion nods even while pondering.Just her nodding at this point in time is already an act disconnected from common sense, but Shion doesnt realize that. Its fine to throw it back to whomever. Since they might die if they are unlucky, make sure to take your target into account. (Renya) Yeees. (Kurz) Ah, its possible to diethen this is not playing around anymore, is it? Oh well, whateverRenya, Id like to borrow the pole sword I used in the mock battle the other day. (Shion) Here you go. (Renya) Renya temporarily places the cask on the ground, takes out one pole from his inventory and tosses it in Shions direction. Safely catching it, Shion prepares herself while holding the pole in both hands.Making sure that Shion had apparently finished getting ready, Renya picks up the cask and casually throws it in Shions direction with a curved trajectory.Due to having it suddenly thrown towards herself, Shion frowned. But she puts power in the pole sword in her hands and swings it downwards towards the casks side while stepping in sharply.A shrill sound of metal clashing resounded.The struck cask falls down right were it was after having lost its momentum, but Shion launched the falling cask upwards with a single blow of her pole as if scooping the cask up from below.The flying cask falls down right above Kurz head whos looking up.For an instant Shion thought that Kurz might be unable to catch that cask, but the black, misty something, which gushed out from behind Kurz, catches the falling cask and revolves it around Kurz while turning the cask around once. After that it threw the cask towards Renya with a speed similar to that of a bullet.The cask with a speed that would cause unfortunate consequences no matter which part of Renyas body it hit was caught by Renyas spell.The cask that passed to the back next to Renya with its staggering momentum easily stops there for a moment and then, after being given a spiraling rotation, it attacked Kurz, passing from behind Renya while buzzing.Kurz tried to stop it once again with the black mist, but the cask, which received a rotation that raised its penetration power, pierces the expanded mist and approaches Kurz.Slight surprise clouded Kurz expression, but without even getting flustered, countless fists growing out from the black mist, which was behind the cask, beat the airborne cask to a stop.At the moment when the black mist caught the cask, which had its momentum killed by the continuous impacts, once again, Renya threw a fleeting glance in Shions direction.As if following that look, Kurz face turns towards Shion and Shion grasped that she had become the next target.While deciding in her heart that she would try to escape with all her might if the cask came flying at the same speed as it had been exchanged between Renya and Kurz, Shion closely observes the whereabouts of the cask.Aware or not of Shions thoughts, Kurz let the cask, which had lost its speed, circulate around him several times and then flung the cask in Shions direction with a curved trajectory just like Renya did at the very beginning.The cask, which was thrown while going quite easy on her, slowly flies towards Shion, but in Shions eyes just the fact of a mass of metal flying in her direction is a view that makes her innards freeze.While watching Shion intercepting the casket as she raised a loud, encouraging yell, Renya breathed a slight sigh in relief.The cask, which was struck, sent around and thrown by the three for almost an hour in the end, somehow managed to stay in one piece even while being treated in such way, finishing its job without being broken. Remarkable, you two. You did very well. (Renya) Although it hadnt been destroyed, the cask had become full of dents due to Shions pole sword and Kurz black fists, resulting in its shape changing quite a bit. While calling out to the two of them, Renya takes out tools from his inventory and starts to disassemble the cask.The praised Kurz was delighted, smiling innocently like a child. Shion breathed roughly, unable to speak due to her exceeding fatigue while supporting her body with the pole sword as a cane.No matter how easy they might have gone on her, the act of repeatedly blowing back a fairly heavy lump of metal with her pole sword required appropriate strength. Having done that by mobilizing the full power of her whole body, Shion apparently ended up having all her stamina drained.Just as Renya thought that Shion will likely have difficulties moving in her current state if she didnt take a good, long rest, Frau suddenly appeared while bringing some maids along. They set up a table in the courtyard, covered it with a tablecloth, prepared tableware and spoons, and lined up jars filled with honey and various jams.Frau silently stands behind Renya, who gazed at the table being prepared like magic, all without stopping his hands from disassembling the cask with his hands. Master, how did it go ~no? (Frau) He has the smarts to go easy on someone. I couldnt feel any sentiment towards Shion or me. Theres no particular issue with him suppressing his power either. Its probably necessary to observe further, but its not at a level that requires worry. Thats about it, I guess? (Renya) Todays game was something carried out upon Renyas insistent request to Emil and Frau.Thats because Renya sensed something that bothered him in Kurz tone.Although it was just vaguely, he felt that the way Kurz talks, or rather his choice of words somehow resembled that Yuuki whos also a part of the souls that formed the base of Kurz body.If that element had affected Kurz, it would turn into a problem, now that he had likely become a far more powerful existence compared to the time when Yuuki was alive.As result of that, Emil felt offended, saying that she wouldnt make such trivial mistake ~no. (Frau) Since it might cause damage to the entire city if we make a single mistake here, I believe that its natural to be careful to the degree of cowardice though. (Renya) Master, you should put a bit more trust in the pride of an engineer ~nano. (Frau) Whispering that into his ear, Frau quietly separates from him.The ones who approached in exchange are Kurz and Shion. Margrave-sama, whats the reward? (Kurz) Im curious about that as well. Is it related to the set-up of this table? (Shion) Of course. Theres no way that we would bring out a table if it had absolutely no relation to it. (Renya) He takes out the first container with the various ingredients from the disassembled cask and opens its lid.Once he scrapes out the content on a large platter on top of the table with a spoon provided by Frau and the other maids, a pure-white, soft-looking solid matter appeared from within. Renya, just what is this!? (Shion) Its a sweet and cold snack. It would be great if we could add vanilla as a flavor, butsadly I didnt find anything similar to it in this world. Well, even in this state, its tasty. Please eat it while adding any jam you like to it. (Renya) What Renya had created was handmade ice cream.Originally its something you create by filling a container with the necessary ingredients and ice, and then stir around, but it was a very hard work as it becomes increasingly difficult to stir it as it solidifies.Renya substituted that process by putting the container in an ice-cooled cask and throwing that cask around continuously for around an hour.Since the contents wont turn out properly unless its whipped entirely, Renya secretly turned the cask around meaninglessly each time the cask came around to his side.The ice cream scraped out by Renya and placed on top of a big platter is divided onto small plates by the maids.Shion and Kurz picked up small plates swiftly, scooped the ice cream with their spoons and put it into their mouths. Margrave-sama, this is delicious. (Kurz) Its a taste that takes time and effort, doesnt it? But Renya, do you have to do the same thing each time you make this? (Shion) No matter how delicious the finished product might be, being forced to do work that puts ones life at risk each time one wants to eat it is intolerable.Renya shook his head towards Shion who apparently wanted to say something like that. The next time I make this, I will have the proper tools for doing so at hand. This time it was a game that served as a little test at the same time. (Renya) I seethen its fine. (Shion) At any rate, Shion you did well to persevere until the end. I certainly believed that you would give up or go beyond recovery in the middle of it. (Renya) Being told that by Renya in a jesting manner, Shions cheeks puffed up as she held the plate with the ice cream on it. Even Im making a bit of progress. In the first place, whats up with calling it a game although there exists the possibility of a player going beyond recovery? (Shion) It was fun! Lets do it again, okay Margrave-sama!? (Kurz) As recommended by Frau, Kurz began to cover the ice with various kinds of jams in large amounts.While worrying,Hasnt this already been reduced to a mere object of nothing but sweetness?, Renya nodded towards Kurz while smiling wryly. A short while after the dragonoids hero went back to his country, the peaceful days resumed.There wasnt any news coming from the beastmen, and neither was there a reply or inquiry regarding the letter sent by the elves.As for confirming the existence of the demon king, even the Trident Principality moved in an attempt to validate its existence while investing quite a bit of time and labor, but with the demon country being on the other side of the Miasma Forest, which had an unimaginable size if using Renyas former as standard, and moreover because the demon king would stay in their own castle, located in the center of the demon country, assuming they actually made an appearance, its almost impossible to simply confirm them by sight. How are you going to confirm the existence of someone like that? (Renya) Renya asks while scooping up a pure white, syrupy liquid from a metallic container.Inside the container was milk. He let it rest for one night while being cooled with a clump of ice he had requested the sorcerers in Klinge to make.By doing that, the milk separated and fresh cream could be obtained.Renya skillfully transferred that separated fresh cream into another container and furthermore added more milk to it.He also added egg yolks and sugar, which he managed to officially receive from the beastmen, and stirred all of it well. Normally there should be an oracle from god, saying that the demon king has appeared. (Shion) Shion replies while watching very attentively what Renya is doing.Kurz, who was next to her while resting his chin in his hands, seemingly enjoyed something about Renyas work and thus watched it while smiling brightly.Renya had received a request from Frau and Emil that they would like him to spend as much time as possible with Kurz.It seems that they finished putting various information regarding combat techniques and dignified behavior into his head, but as experience was apparently preferred over plain knowledge in regards to the emotional aspect, Kurz current emotional level seems to be mostly below that of an average baby between 3 and 5 years.Due to Renya considering even that to not be much of an issue, Emil passionately pointed out the problems with that.The biggest problem can be summarized with Kurz being unable to control himself like a child, compared to the crazy power he possesses.Even if a child threw a tantrum, the level of damage would be obviously low, but that changes if its Kurz throwing a tantrum.Jokes aside, hes quite capable of destroying one block of the city.If he was a normal homunculus, such problem wouldnt crop up.Thats because they are absolutely obedient to their creator.But as for Kurz; although he has been created using the production method of homunculi, his interior is based on the black something which filled that armor.According to Frau, evil spirits and similar, which she had controlled in Renyas home in Kukrika, that were adequately and tightly stuffed together are the true identity of that black, misty something. Due to it partaking in the war against the Holy Kingdom, the number of spirits inside grew rapidly, and apparently because of that, the personalities of those spirits disappeared. However, Kurz, who was configured as a synthetic personality, apparently cant draw out any human traits no matter what he does. Right now the national power of the Holy Kingdom has declinedand even the priests seemingly havent been given an oracle as they appear to be lacking. But, since the hero summoning took place, theres no doubt that the demon king will appear sooner or later. (Shion) According to Shion, the fact that theres an oracle and a period of time until the demon king appears after the hero summoning follows the gods intention to allow the hero to be raised into an adult, but in Renyas eyes, who knows that the chain of events is nothing more than the supervisors, who call themselves gods, killing time, it doesnt look as anything but a mere period of time to raise levels and a chance to form close ties with royalty and friends.However, so far as it goes, Renya is a man as well.Theres no way that he wont feel some envy over a romantic relationship with a princess.However, if one properly assesses things, even Shion, who is intently staring at Renyas work, should be a woman in a position that forces others to nod while saying Certainly, youre right there if one insisted that she was a princess.And yet, no matter how long he looks at Shions face, the word romance (lol) simply doesnt pop up.While sighing slightly as he thinks,Even though the base should be at quite a high level, what a disappointing child, Renya taps Shions head to caress it gently. Shion, whose expression became blank in an instant, smiled happily with her expression becoming all slack for some reason.While feeling slightly startled due to that smile, Renya hermetically seals the container that contained all the prepared ingredients and puts it into a far bigger cask filled with crushed ice. After he finished cramming it inside, he shuts the casks lid.The cask is a special-made cask that has been tightly reinforced with metallic sheets. As test Renya tried kicking it with quite a bit of strength, but it was so sturdy that it didnt even budge.Of course the weight of the cask itself has become considerably high. Moreover, with it having been filled with a large amount of ice, it had become impossible to move it easily.Yet Renya lifts that without any difficulty and addresses Kurz who is chasing the cask with his eyes as if being lured by it, Alright, Kurz. You want to play with me a bit inside the castles courtyard? (Renya) Yeees. (Kurz) Shion, you want to join as well? (Renya) If its a game I can join. (Shion) While thinking that it might be slightly unreasonable, Renya takes Kurz and Shion along and heads to the castles courtyard.Having arrived at the courtyard, the three take up positions with a distance of around 10 m from each other while being instructed by Renya, forming a triangle. The rules are simple. We just have to toss this cask to each other without breaking it. The person, who breaks or drops it, loses. I dont intend to impose a penalty even if you break it, but there will be a reward for those who persist all the way to the end. (Renya) Yeees. (Kurz) Kurz raises his arm with a cheerful smile.Contrary to that, Shion mutters with a quite troubled expression, You make it sound simple, butthats quite a chore. (Shion) One can easily imagine what will happen if one starts throwing that casket, which is mostly just a lump of metal, which weighs a considerable amount, making it look difficult to even lift up. As a handicap, I will allow you to use tools, Shion. And, as long as it doesnt break, you can drop it to the ground. (Renya) In that case, well, I guess I will manage somehow? (Shion) Upon the terms provided by Renya, Shion nods even while pondering.Just her nodding at this point in time is already an act disconnected from common sense, but Shion doesnt realize that. Its fine to throw it back to whomever. Since they might die if they are unlucky, make sure to take your target into account. (Renya) Yeees. (Kurz) Ah, its possible to diethen this is not playing around anymore, is it? Oh well, whateverRenya, Id like to borrow the pole sword I used in the mock battle the other day. (Shion) Here you go. (Renya) Renya temporarily places the cask on the ground, takes out one pole from his inventory and tosses it in Shions direction. Safely catching it, Shion prepares herself while holding the pole in both hands.Making sure that Shion had apparently finished getting ready, Renya picks up the cask and casually throws it in Shions direction with a curved trajectory.Due to having it suddenly thrown towards herself, Shion frowned. But she puts power in the pole sword in her hands and swings it downwards towards the casks side while stepping in sharply.A shrill sound of metal clashing resounded.The struck cask falls down right were it was after having lost its momentum, but Shion launched the falling cask upwards with a single blow of her pole as if scooping the cask up from below.The flying cask falls down right above Kurz head whos looking up.For an instant Shion thought that Kurz might be unable to catch that cask, but the black, misty something, which gushed out from behind Kurz, catches the falling cask and revolves it around Kurz while turning the cask around once. After that it threw the cask towards Renya with a speed similar to that of a bullet.The cask with a speed that would cause unfortunate consequences no matter which part of Renyas body it hit was caught by Renyas spell.The cask that passed to the back next to Renya with its staggering momentum easily stops there for a moment and then, after being given a spiraling rotation, it attacked Kurz, passing from behind Renya while buzzing.Kurz tried to stop it once again with the black mist, but the cask, which received a rotation that raised its penetration power, pierces the expanded mist and approaches Kurz.Slight surprise clouded Kurz expression, but without even getting flustered, countless fists growing out from the black mist, which was behind the cask, beat the airborne cask to a stop.At the moment when the black mist caught the cask, which had its momentum killed by the continuous impacts, once again, Renya threw a fleeting glance in Shions direction.As if following that look, Kurz face turns towards Shion and Shion grasped that she had become the next target.While deciding in her heart that she would try to escape with all her might if the cask came flying at the same speed as it had been exchanged between Renya and Kurz, Shion closely observes the whereabouts of the cask.Aware or not of Shions thoughts, Kurz let the cask, which had lost its speed, circulate around him several times and then flung the cask in Shions direction with a curved trajectory just like Renya did at the very beginning.The cask, which was thrown while going quite easy on her, slowly flies towards Shion, but in Shions eyes just the fact of a mass of metal flying in her direction is a view that makes her innards freeze.While watching Shion intercepting the casket as she raised a loud, encouraging yell, Renya breathed a slight sigh in relief.The cask, which was struck, sent around and thrown by the three for almost an hour in the end, somehow managed to stay in one piece even while being treated in such way, finishing its job without being broken. Remarkable, you two. You did very well. (Renya) Although it hadnt been destroyed, the cask had become full of dents due to Shions pole sword and Kurz black fists, resulting in its shape changing quite a bit. While calling out to the two of them, Renya takes out tools from his inventory and starts to disassemble the cask.The praised Kurz was delighted, smiling innocently like a child. Shion breathed roughly, unable to speak due to her exceeding fatigue while supporting her body with the pole sword as a cane.No matter how easy they might have gone on her, the act of repeatedly blowing back a fairly heavy lump of metal with her pole sword required appropriate strength. Having done that by mobilizing the full power of her whole body, Shion apparently ended up having all her stamina drained.Just as Renya thought that Shion will likely have difficulties moving in her current state if she didnt take a good, long rest, Frau suddenly appeared while bringing some maids along. They set up a table in the courtyard, covered it with a tablecloth, prepared tableware and spoons, and lined up jars filled with honey and various jams.Frau silently stands behind Renya, who gazed at the table being prepared like magic, all without stopping his hands from disassembling the cask with his hands. Master, how did it go ~no? (Frau) He has the smarts to go easy on someone. I couldnt feel any sentiment towards Shion or me. Theres no particular issue with him suppressing his power either. Its probably necessary to observe further, but its not at a level that requires worry. Thats about it, I guess? (Renya) Todays game was something carried out upon Renyas insistent request to Emil and Frau.Thats because Renya sensed something that bothered him in Kurz tone.Although it was just vaguely, he felt that the way Kurz talks, or rather his choice of words somehow resembled that Yuuki whos also a part of the souls that formed the base of Kurz body.If that element had affected Kurz, it would turn into a problem, now that he had likely become a far more powerful existence compared to the time when Yuuki was alive.As result of that, Emil felt offended, saying that she wouldnt make such trivial mistake ~no. (Frau) Since it might cause damage to the entire city if we make a single mistake here, I believe that its natural to be careful to the degree of cowardice though. (Renya) Master, you should put a bit more trust in the pride of an engineer ~nano. (Frau) Whispering that into his ear, Frau quietly separates from him.The ones who approached in exchange are Kurz and Shion. Margrave-sama, whats the reward? (Kurz) Im curious about that as well. Is it related to the set-up of this table? (Shion) Of course. Theres no way that we would bring out a table if it had absolutely no relation to it. (Renya) He takes out the first container with the various ingredients from the disassembled cask and opens its lid.Once he scrapes out the content on a large platter on top of the table with a spoon provided by Frau and the other maids, a pure-white, soft-looking solid matter appeared from within. Renya, just what is this!? (Shion) Its a sweet and cold snack. It would be great if we could add vanilla as a flavor, butsadly I didnt find anything similar to it in this world. Well, even in this state, its tasty. Please eat it while adding any jam you like to it. (Renya) What Renya had created was handmade ice cream.Originally its something you create by filling a container with the necessary ingredients and ice, and then stir around, but it was a very hard work as it becomes increasingly difficult to stir it as it solidifies.Renya substituted that process by putting the container in an ice-cooled cask and throwing that cask around continuously for around an hour.Since the contents wont turn out properly unless its whipped entirely, Renya secretly turned the cask around meaninglessly each time the cask came around to his side.The ice cream scraped out by Renya and placed on top of a big platter is divided onto small plates by the maids.Shion and Kurz picked up small plates swiftly, scooped the ice cream with their spoons and put it into their mouths. Margrave-sama, this is delicious. (Kurz) Its a taste that takes time and effort, doesnt it? But Renya, do you have to do the same thing each time you make this? (Shion) No matter how delicious the finished product might be, being forced to do work that puts ones life at risk each time one wants to eat it is intolerable.Renya shook his head towards Shion who apparently wanted to say something like that. The next time I make this, I will have the proper tools for doing so at hand. This time it was a game that served as a little test at the same time. (Renya) I seethen its fine. (Shion) At any rate, Shion you did well to persevere until the end. I certainly believed that you would give up or go beyond recovery in the middle of it. (Renya) Being told that by Renya in a jesting manner, Shions cheeks puffed up as she held the plate with the ice cream on it. Even Im making a bit of progress. In the first place, whats up with calling it a game although there exists the possibility of a player going beyond recovery? (Shion) It was fun! Lets do it again, okay Margrave-sama!? (Kurz) As recommended by Frau, Kurz began to cover the ice with various kinds of jams in large amounts.While worrying,Hasnt this already been reduced to a mere object of nothing but sweetness?, Renya nodded towards Kurz while smiling wryly. Chapter 130 Chapter 130 C It seems the Beastman Hero has come back It was several days after Renya, Shion and Kurz played when a letter in Kaedes name, the priestess of the beastmen, as the sender arrived in Renyas hands through the archduchess.The letter itself was folded carefully and a slight scent of burned incense clung to it. The contents were attentively written seasonal greetings, inquiries about the present status and similar, using quite the skillful wording.These kinds of contents are similar to a rite of passage characteristic for people with a reasonably high social standing. Renya follows the words with his eyes while somehow feeling as if hes only skimming over the content.If this was written by a politician, it would use difficult sentences to indirectly hide their intentions all over the document as if harassing the recipient, but as expected of one in the priestess position, she apparently didnt intend to be so roundabout it to begin with. And thus she wrote a text that accurately transmits the intent of each sentences.Because it has been written in a very polite and literary style, it took Renya some time to translate it. But before long he somehow managed to succeed in reading between the lines of the letters content.Since she apparently overcame the beastman heros skin-pass, she seemed to request permission for them to directly meet the human hero soon.In Renyas eyes, he couldnt believe that the beastman hero could be tamed at all, as he was a person who had even his brain full of muscles and possessed a way of thinking that didnt even try to comprehend that a baseball pitch such as a curve ball is a lure for the batter to swing in a straight ball match, but if its the words of that priestess, who went home after apologizing to him while prostrating herself in front of him, it reached the point of him believing that it might be fine to give her the benefit of the doubt to some extent.Even if the letter was a lie in the worst case scenario or something if it were something written with an overly optimistic forecast, that beastman hero would only be arrested once again and he would be able to watch the fox-eared priestess kowtowing once again.Renya was a person who didnt possess any particular fixation towards what is commonly referred to as animal ears, but he believes that it might be slightly cute to see that fox-eared priestess, who seems to have high pride, letting her ears and tail hang despondently while looking really apologetic.Renya himself feels some doubt as to whether that in itself isnt such a particular fixation, but as for the panther ears of the beastman hero, he senses no strong emotions for them at all.In other words, having an interest in a cute woman is a very normal feeling harbored by any man. By no means is it a reaction towards animal ears, was the conclusion that felt somehow like an excuse to Renya.Putting that aside, as for the letter, which had an additional note from the archduchess attached telling him Please deal with them appropriately on your side, Renya gave a short reply of My side has no particular thoughts regarding this matter, so I leave the decision up to you after thinking it over for a little while.In the first place it has been decided to treat the case from a few days ago as if it never happened in exchange for adzuki beans and sugar.The one who caused trouble for Renya was the heros younger brother, not the hero himself. Thats the official version that has been announced. Renya doesnt harbor any thoughts towards the hero himself.And so he responded with a reply telling her to do as she likes, but the response was swift.Once they received Renyas reply, the beastmen immediately dispatched a diplomat to the capital of the Trident Principality.Once they received permission from the archduchess, they returned to Renyas place with a non-stop trip and started the coordination of the date and time for the heroes direct meeting.Due to the praiseworthiness of the priestess performance, Renya could only shake his head, wondering why the hero was a person that would carry out such disappointing actions.By the way, the one who headed out to deal with that diplomat was Mayria who is one or two steps ahead of the other members on the political field, but once she finished the conference with the diplomat, she stopped by at Renyas place and whispered, The diplomat was a fat, middle-aged, bald man with rabbit ears (Mayria) Mayrias words, who bluntly declared such a thing while looking at Renya with glazed eyes as if she had seen the end of this world, delivered a terrible shock to Renya and the others.Certainly as long as the beastman race isnt a race made up by only women or a special race who grows very old while not experiencing any change of their outward experience like the elves, men and women of all ages should exist among them. Its really no wonder for a elderly beastman to exist if there are also little beast-girls.However, not a single person among Renyas group could accept the truth of the lovely trait referred to as rabbit ears being placed on top of a bald ossan.1Whats even more dreadful is the fact that the beastmen arent only endowed with ears, but also possess tails.The view of a perfectly round, fluffy rabbit tail sticking to the butt of a fat, middle-aged manAs soon as Mayria, who ended up taking a straight look at that, started to talk about it, Croire and Shion, who imagined the picture, went down with foam bubbling out of their mouths.Rona barely avoids imagining the scenery. Renya ended up imagining it, but mustering his emotional strength at full power, he barely endured.The only ones who kept a totally calm faces were Frau and Kurz. Emil looked as if she was hyperventilating due to laughing far too hard, resulting in her being carried to the bed in her own room while she was leaking wheezing sounds from her throat.Although he couldnt say it clearly with the other members nearby, Renya became pale due to the destructive power of a middle-aged man with rabbit ears which made Emil, a demon, powerless with nothing but her own imagination.Due to this terrible spectacle, Renya belatedly noticed that the visit of the other beastmen in the city might very likely turn into a very dangerous situation. In a hurry he sent a request to the beastman country to provide a simple summary of the age, gender, names and appearance of the beastman members, who would visit, ahead of time.Due to this request, the beastmen side was puzzled wondering just what kind of meaning it might have, but seemingly not deeming it acceptable to displease Renya by hesitating to provide the information, they immediately sent the member list to Renya.Renya checked the delivered member list with eyes opened wide like saucers.In case there had been such a dangerous being like that diplomat in the group with the hero, Renya thought that he would decline their entry, or if thats not possible, at least mentally steel himself for it.Almost all the members mentioned on the list were young women if one excludes the hero Lepard, calming Renyas worries.Renya wondered whether it was over excessive with that being the case, but he more or less agreed with Ronas words that their side probably considered his feelings and did something tactful.They probably dont know what disastrous scene the outward appearance of a single diplomat caused among Renyas group, but it seems they do at least know that young, animal-eared women are more popular than a flock of middle-aged men with animal ears and tails. Fuhahahaha! Its been awhile, Margrave! Previously it was my defeat, but this time for sureah, ouch!? Wha-, hey!? (Lepard) Since the number of people that arrived from the beastman race was relatively large this time, Renya gave up on meeting them in the parlor, and instead used the biggest dining room of the several located in the castle to meet the beastman heros group. As for the style; Renya held something like a buffet party and tried to let Kurz and Lepard meet there.Since its also a room that more or less can be called an audience hall, Renya thought that it might be fine to use that place, but as he wasnt overly familiar with it going by the rooms title, Renya didnt consider using this room at first.Its not like its such a formal meeting, so it will be probably be fine just to prepare food and welcome them, Renya thought.He entrusted the dish serving to Frau.Renya believed that to clearly be the most efficient option, and there was not a single person objecting to Renyas decision.Renya instructed her to order things that looked as delicious as possible from the market, but thinking that it would probably be better to also have some unusual dishes, he provided wyvern hearts and flesh, which are still being preserved inside in large amounts inside his inventory, as ingredients.Whenever he remembered that he still had wyvern meat, which was at least worth ten wyverns, he would knead it, chop it up and grill it, but there was no sign of the amount of flesh available having decreased.Apparently it didnt rot during the time it was stored inside the inventory, but since there werent that many occasions to consume large amounts of it, Renya was inclined towards using it only when it could be used.Once Frau examined it and then dried, roasted, boiled and pickled it, she applied various ideas and managed to finish a plethora of different dishes.Lepard, who was guided to Renyas castle after passing through the transfer gate and then entered the dining room that had just become the place to welcome the beastmen with dishes lining up that used an abundant amount of wyvern meat, a delicious C on top of being rare C high-class ingredient, suddenly entered and spoke those words alongside a loud laughter. However Kaede made him shut up by mercilessly hitting his head with her fist.It apparently didnt have the power to rob him of his consciousness, but as it seemingly made him suffer a significant amount of pain, Lepard tried to raise his voice in protest while holding the place where he was hit.Kaede, who kicked his crotch without a shred of hesitation, faced Renya, who dumbfoundedly watched the spectacle, and bowed courteously without sparing a single glance towards Lepard who fainted in agony while squatting. We are extremely delighted to have been granted an audience with you today, Margrave-sama. I am Kaede, the priestess of the beastman race. The beastmen, who stood behind Kaede, bowed their heads all at once.Almost all of them were young women. All of them wore shrine maiden garbs, but compared to the one worn by Kaede, their clothes gave off a slightly plain impression. In order to meet with the human hero-sama, I brought the beastman hero Lepard and his attendant, the warrior Lion, with me today. (Kaede) Even as hes introduced, Lepard, whos still crouching, shows no signs of getting up and only twitches at times.The young man next to him, who wore a ceremonial dress of the beastmen that made it difficult to say that it fits his figure very well, has unkempt brown hair and a swarthy skin. He bowed his head towards Renya while checking Lepards state with sideways glances.Going by the member list obtained in advance, he seems to be the sole male except for Lepard within this group.The ears and tail attached to him were close to what-is-called a lion in Renyas previous world.Since his name is like that as well, theres probably no mistake in him being one, Renya thinks. The ones who were selected for the demon king subjugation from among the beastmen will be these two and me. (Kaede) Eh? Its not six people? (Renya) While looking curious, Kaede honestly answers Renya, who is under the selfish impression that six people would be a party in such case, regardless of the demon king subjugation, No, the number of people chosen for the heros party isnt really set in stone, but (Kaede) I seewell, its my arbitrary imagination anyway. Id like you to not mind it. (Renya) Come to think of it, its a party consisting of two warrior types and a single priest type.Its not like the balance is that bad. You did well to arrive here from a distant place. Although I say that, it probably only took an instant with the transfer gate. Anyway, I shall welcome you. Let me introduce Kurz over here, the human hero. (Renya) Even while being poked by Shion who stood behind Renya as if making sure that he doesnt say anything unnecessary, Renya introduces Kurz, who stood next to him, to the beastmen.Having been introduced, Kurz took a step forward and quietly bowed his head. Thanks for the introduction. Im Kurz. I am pleased to meet you, everyone of the beastman race. (Kurz) Once he reveals a sweet smile after raising his lowered head, Kaede blushed while revealing a startled expression. Although they were small, shrill screams were raised by the group of priestesses behind her.Kurz looks, which dont seem like anything but those of a young girl no matter how you look at them, apparently have no influence on his charm even if the other party are beastmen.Looking at Kurz who manage to grab the hearts of almost everyone of the beastman group by just smiling at them brightly, Renya ends up thinking,After all beauty is a kind of power.If its like that, I probably should have asked that little girl to give me beauty as well when I crossed over to this world, was the stupid thought popping up in Renyas head, but completely unable to imagine himself with a beautiful appearance, Renya shrugged his shoulders and stopped letting him imagination run free. Well then, as I dont like being too formal, just stay at ease. Because the numbers of the visiting group today are high, I had the meeting take the form of a party. I intended to gather as many delicious dishes as possible, so I will be happy if they suit your taste. (Renya) Lepard still hasnt revived.However, everyone present started to chat while naturally ignoring Lepard as if he didnt enter their field of view.Renya wanted to ask anyone whether thats really okay, but theres no one to ask. We are grateful for your consideration, Your Excellency. Theres no need to mind it. Its my happiness to assist in restoring the energy of the heroes and his friends who are going to fight together. Now, please eat before it gets cold. (Renya) As if responding to Renyas words, the maids on serving duty surged into the dining room and started to skillfully set the tables.Watching that, Kaede silently nods towards the priestesses behind her and taking that as their signal, the priestesses swiftly started to pick up the prepared dishes and sit at the tables they fancied.Renya, who is the organizer, invites Kaede and Lion to the table that had been prepared for him and his group.Renya didnt mind at all, but according to Mayrias proposal that he should be accompanied by a woman at such occasions, Shion, who wore a dress that used the very unusual basic color blue, has joined him.It was a simple dress that had an opening at her back while supporting her breasts, but on top of her wearing it stylishly, several accessories have been added to it. Shion, whose black hair naturally flowed down along her back, looked just like a young woman from a good family, that is as long as she stayed silent.Shion claimed that shes the daughter of a high-class family even without staying silent, but being easily rejected by Frau and Emil, she has been given strict instructions to not talk at all while smiling at the party from the beginning to the end.Seeing that he isnt all that fluent in various topics himself, Renya thought that it wouldnt be that strange for his pretense to be stripped off right away since its not like hes well-bred, but going by his position, he was required to talk with Kaede and her followers. While casting a sidelong glance at Kurz, who started to innocently gulp down the food, Renya frantically dragged out topics and a proper way of talking from within his head while striving to not get worn-out.Thus the get-together with the beastman heros party was carried out in a very calm manner, except for one person who didnt revive until the very end. Chapter 130 C It seems the Beastman Hero has come back It was several days after Renya, Shion and Kurz played when a letter in Kaedes name, the priestess of the beastmen, as the sender arrived in Renyas hands through the archduchess.The letter itself was folded carefully and a slight scent of burned incense clung to it. The contents were attentively written seasonal greetings, inquiries about the present status and similar, using quite the skillful wording.These kinds of contents are similar to a rite of passage characteristic for people with a reasonably high social standing. Renya follows the words with his eyes while somehow feeling as if hes only skimming over the content.If this was written by a politician, it would use difficult sentences to indirectly hide their intentions all over the document as if harassing the recipient, but as expected of one in the priestess position, she apparently didnt intend to be so roundabout it to begin with. And thus she wrote a text that accurately transmits the intent of each sentences.Because it has been written in a very polite and literary style, it took Renya some time to translate it. But before long he somehow managed to succeed in reading between the lines of the letters content.Since she apparently overcame the beastman heros skin-pass, she seemed to request permission for them to directly meet the human hero soon.In Renyas eyes, he couldnt believe that the beastman hero could be tamed at all, as he was a person who had even his brain full of muscles and possessed a way of thinking that didnt even try to comprehend that a baseball pitch such as a curve ball is a lure for the batter to swing in a straight ball match, but if its the words of that priestess, who went home after apologizing to him while prostrating herself in front of him, it reached the point of him believing that it might be fine to give her the benefit of the doubt to some extent.Even if the letter was a lie in the worst case scenario or something if it were something written with an overly optimistic forecast, that beastman hero would only be arrested once again and he would be able to watch the fox-eared priestess kowtowing once again.Renya was a person who didnt possess any particular fixation towards what is commonly referred to as animal ears, but he believes that it might be slightly cute to see that fox-eared priestess, who seems to have high pride, letting her ears and tail hang despondently while looking really apologetic.Renya himself feels some doubt as to whether that in itself isnt such a particular fixation, but as for the panther ears of the beastman hero, he senses no strong emotions for them at all.In other words, having an interest in a cute woman is a very normal feeling harbored by any man. By no means is it a reaction towards animal ears, was the conclusion that felt somehow like an excuse to Renya.Putting that aside, as for the letter, which had an additional note from the archduchess attached telling him Please deal with them appropriately on your side, Renya gave a short reply of My side has no particular thoughts regarding this matter, so I leave the decision up to you after thinking it over for a little while.In the first place it has been decided to treat the case from a few days ago as if it never happened in exchange for adzuki beans and sugar.The one who caused trouble for Renya was the heros younger brother, not the hero himself. Thats the official version that has been announced. Renya doesnt harbor any thoughts towards the hero himself.And so he responded with a reply telling her to do as she likes, but the response was swift.Once they received Renyas reply, the beastmen immediately dispatched a diplomat to the capital of the Trident Principality.Once they received permission from the archduchess, they returned to Renyas place with a non-stop trip and started the coordination of the date and time for the heroes direct meeting.Due to the praiseworthiness of the priestess performance, Renya could only shake his head, wondering why the hero was a person that would carry out such disappointing actions.By the way, the one who headed out to deal with that diplomat was Mayria who is one or two steps ahead of the other members on the political field, but once she finished the conference with the diplomat, she stopped by at Renyas place and whispered, The diplomat was a fat, middle-aged, bald man with rabbit ears (Mayria) Mayrias words, who bluntly declared such a thing while looking at Renya with glazed eyes as if she had seen the end of this world, delivered a terrible shock to Renya and the others.Certainly as long as the beastman race isnt a race made up by only women or a special race who grows very old while not experiencing any change of their outward experience like the elves, men and women of all ages should exist among them. Its really no wonder for a elderly beastman to exist if there are also little beast-girls.However, not a single person among Renyas group could accept the truth of the lovely trait referred to as rabbit ears being placed on top of a bald ossan.1Whats even more dreadful is the fact that the beastmen arent only endowed with ears, but also possess tails.The view of a perfectly round, fluffy rabbit tail sticking to the butt of a fat, middle-aged manAs soon as Mayria, who ended up taking a straight look at that, started to talk about it, Croire and Shion, who imagined the picture, went down with foam bubbling out of their mouths.Rona barely avoids imagining the scenery. Renya ended up imagining it, but mustering his emotional strength at full power, he barely endured.The only ones who kept a totally calm faces were Frau and Kurz. Emil looked as if she was hyperventilating due to laughing far too hard, resulting in her being carried to the bed in her own room while she was leaking wheezing sounds from her throat.Although he couldnt say it clearly with the other members nearby, Renya became pale due to the destructive power of a middle-aged man with rabbit ears which made Emil, a demon, powerless with nothing but her own imagination.Due to this terrible spectacle, Renya belatedly noticed that the visit of the other beastmen in the city might very likely turn into a very dangerous situation. In a hurry he sent a request to the beastman country to provide a simple summary of the age, gender, names and appearance of the beastman members, who would visit, ahead of time.Due to this request, the beastmen side was puzzled wondering just what kind of meaning it might have, but seemingly not deeming it acceptable to displease Renya by hesitating to provide the information, they immediately sent the member list to Renya.Renya checked the delivered member list with eyes opened wide like saucers.In case there had been such a dangerous being like that diplomat in the group with the hero, Renya thought that he would decline their entry, or if thats not possible, at least mentally steel himself for it.Almost all the members mentioned on the list were young women if one excludes the hero Lepard, calming Renyas worries.Renya wondered whether it was over excessive with that being the case, but he more or less agreed with Ronas words that their side probably considered his feelings and did something tactful.They probably dont know what disastrous scene the outward appearance of a single diplomat caused among Renyas group, but it seems they do at least know that young, animal-eared women are more popular than a flock of middle-aged men with animal ears and tails. Fuhahahaha! Its been awhile, Margrave! Previously it was my defeat, but this time for sureah, ouch!? Wha-, hey!? (Lepard) Since the number of people that arrived from the beastman race was relatively large this time, Renya gave up on meeting them in the parlor, and instead used the biggest dining room of the several located in the castle to meet the beastman heros group.As for the style; Renya held something like a buffet party and tried to let Kurz and Lepard meet there.Since its also a room that more or less can be called an audience hall, Renya thought that it might be fine to use that place, but as he wasnt overly familiar with it going by the rooms title, Renya didnt consider using this room at first.Its not like its such a formal meeting, so it will be probably be fine just to prepare food and welcome them, Renya thought.He entrusted the dish serving to Frau.Renya believed that to clearly be the most efficient option, and there was not a single person objecting to Renyas decision.Renya instructed her to order things that looked as delicious as possible from the market, but thinking that it would probably be better to also have some unusual dishes, he provided wyvern hearts and flesh, which are still being preserved inside in large amounts inside his inventory, as ingredients.Whenever he remembered that he still had wyvern meat, which was at least worth ten wyverns, he would knead it, chop it up and grill it, but there was no sign of the amount of flesh available having decreased.Apparently it didnt rot during the time it was stored inside the inventory, but since there werent that many occasions to consume large amounts of it, Renya was inclined towards using it only when it could be used.Once Frau examined it and then dried, roasted, boiled and pickled it, she applied various ideas and managed to finish a plethora of different dishes.Lepard, who was guided to Renyas castle after passing through the transfer gate and then entered the dining room that had just become the place to welcome the beastmen with dishes lining up that used an abundant amount of wyvern meat, a delicious C on top of being rare C high-class ingredient, suddenly entered and spoke those words alongside a loud laughter. However Kaede made him shut up by mercilessly hitting his head with her fist.It apparently didnt have the power to rob him of his consciousness, but as it seemingly made him suffer a significant amount of pain, Lepard tried to raise his voice in protest while holding the place where he was hit.Kaede, who kicked his crotch without a shred of hesitation, faced Renya, who dumbfoundedly watched the spectacle, and bowed courteously without sparing a single glance towards Lepard who fainted in agony while squatting. We are extremely delighted to have been granted an audience with you today, Margrave-sama. I am Kaede, the priestess of the beastman race. The beastmen, who stood behind Kaede, bowed their heads all at once.Almost all of them were young women. All of them wore shrine maiden garbs, but compared to the one worn by Kaede, their clothes gave off a slightly plain impression. In order to meet with the human hero-sama, I brought the beastman hero Lepard and his attendant, the warrior Lion, with me today. (Kaede) Even as hes introduced, Lepard, whos still crouching, shows no signs of getting up and only twitches at times.The young man next to him, who wore a ceremonial dress of the beastmen that made it difficult to say that it fits his figure very well, has unkempt brown hair and a swarthy skin. He bowed his head towards Renya while checking Lepards state with sideways glances.Going by the member list obtained in advance, he seems to be the sole male except for Lepard within this group.The ears and tail attached to him were close to what-is-called a lion in Renyas previous world.Since his name is like that as well, theres probably no mistake in him being one, Renya thinks. The ones who were selected for the demon king subjugation from among the beastmen will be these two and me. (Kaede) Eh? Its not six people? (Renya) While looking curious, Kaede honestly answers Renya, who is under the selfish impression that six people would be a party in such case, regardless of the demon king subjugation, No, the number of people chosen for the heros party isnt really set in stone, but (Kaede) I seewell, its my arbitrary imagination anyway. Id like you to not mind it. (Renya) Come to think of it, its a party consisting of two warrior types and a single priest type.Its not like the balance is that bad. You did well to arrive here from a distant place. Although I say that, it probably only took an instant with the transfer gate. Anyway, I shall welcome you. Let me introduce Kurz over here, the human hero. (Renya) Even while being poked by Shion who stood behind Renya as if making sure that he doesnt say anything unnecessary, Renya introduces Kurz, who stood next to him, to the beastmen.Having been introduced, Kurz took a step forward and quietly bowed his head. Thanks for the introduction. Im Kurz. I am pleased to meet you, everyone of the beastman race. (Kurz) Once he reveals a sweet smile after raising his lowered head, Kaede blushed while revealing a startled expression. Although they were small, shrill screams were raised by the group of priestesses behind her.Kurz looks, which dont seem like anything but those of a young girl no matter how you look at them, apparently have no influence on his charm even if the other party are beastmen.Looking at Kurz who manage to grab the hearts of almost everyone of the beastman group by just smiling at them brightly, Renya ends up thinking,After all beauty is a kind of power.If its like that, I probably should have asked that little girl to give me beauty as well when I crossed over to this world, was the stupid thought popping up in Renyas head, but completely unable to imagine himself with a beautiful appearance, Renya shrugged his shoulders and stopped letting him imagination run free. Well then, as I dont like being too formal, just stay at ease. Because the numbers of the visiting group today are high, I had the meeting take the form of a party. I intended to gather as many delicious dishes as possible, so I will be happy if they suit your taste. (Renya) Lepard still hasnt revived.However, everyone present started to chat while naturally ignoring Lepard as if he didnt enter their field of view.Renya wanted to ask anyone whether thats really okay, but theres no one to ask. We are grateful for your consideration, Your Excellency. Theres no need to mind it. Its my happiness to assist in restoring the energy of the heroes and his friends who are going to fight together. Now, please eat before it gets cold. (Renya) As if responding to Renyas words, the maids on serving duty surged into the dining room and started to skillfully set the tables.Watching that, Kaede silently nods towards the priestesses behind her and taking that as their signal, the priestesses swiftly started to pick up the prepared dishes and sit at the tables they fancied.Renya, who is the organizer, invites Kaede and Lion to the table that had been prepared for him and his group.Renya didnt mind at all, but according to Mayrias proposal that he should be accompanied by a woman at such occasions, Shion, who wore a dress that used the very unusual basic color blue, has joined him.It was a simple dress that had an opening at her back while supporting her breasts, but on top of her wearing it stylishly, several accessories have been added to it. Shion, whose black hair naturally flowed down along her back, looked just like a young woman from a good family, that is as long as she stayed silent.Shion claimed that shes the daughter of a high-class family even without staying silent, but being easily rejected by Frau and Emil, she has been given strict instructions to not talk at all while smiling at the party from the beginning to the end.Seeing that he isnt all that fluent in various topics himself, Renya thought that it wouldnt be that strange for his pretense to be stripped off right away since its not like hes well-bred, but going by his position, he was required to talk with Kaede and her followers. While casting a sidelong glance at Kurz, who started to innocently gulp down the food, Renya frantically dragged out topics and a proper way of talking from within his head while striving to not get worn-out.Thus the get-together with the beastman heros party was carried out in a very calm manner, except for one person who didnt revive until the very end. Chapter 131 Chapter 131 C It seems to be a short stay For some reason the single-minded beastman hero decided to stay in Klinge for a short while.For Renya, who fully believed that he would temporarily return to his own country like the dragonoids hero, it was unexpected, but there seem to be various reasons for that.The biggest issue was Lepards personality.Lepards character, who might as well be called a battle junkie, wasnt something unusual for a beastman warrior, but even among them hes clearly too strong and his obsession with battle is apparently abnormal. Since he snatches away other warriors jobs on top of forcing them into battles without reason, he was apparently told by his surroundings to stay away for a while.Kaede explained these circumstances to Renya with a truly apologetic attitude while furrowing her brows.The depth of her wrinkles was such that it made Renya worry that the wrinkles would deeply engrain themselves into her face without ever disappearing again.Lepard was an excellent warrior to begin with, but he became completely uncontrollable after being granted power as the hero. However, this whole situation of him staying here apparently originated from Lepard being easily defeated by Renya. It seems that the beastmens kings intention was to pay any amount of money for troubling the Margravate on this matter as he assumed that Lepard could likely be stopped by Margrave Kunugi if he were to lose control. Being forced to reluctantly agree with that opinion, Kaedes group was dispatched in order to take care of the hero.Of course all of this is nothing but a huge nuisance in Renyas eyes.It went as far as him having spontaneously considered going to the northern continent through the transfer gate to give the beastmens king a truckload of threats in the name of a sermon.If no one had stopped him, Renya would have very likely put that into practice on the spot, but once Kaede pleaded, Theres currently no one except for you, Margrave-sama, on whom I can rely on, in tears, he somehow became unable to disregard her words without consideration. Furthermore, once he was promised that he will be paid a hefty sum of money during their stay in the land near his mansion, his brain got dazzled by the prospect of obtaining foreign currency.In addition to that, matters concerning Kurz apparently turned into a benefit for Renya.Kurz outward appearance is that of a boy with the face of a charming girl. This was strangely popular with the beastman priestesses.Seemingly clinging to him like crazy fans, several priestesses started to appear who took care of Kurz while ignoring their own hero in reverse.Having his work as margrave, Renya was in a position where he definitely didnt have all day long time to take care of Kurz, but since the beastman priestesses, who had partly transformed into Kurz personal bodyguard squad, took over that task, it resulted in their enthusiasm being an extremely big help for Renya.What was slightly worrying was Kurz nature of not stating his own opinion or putting up any resistance. That resulted in him being treated quite often as dress-up doll by the priestesses. Moreover, the clothes they made him wear are somewhat items a girl would prefer, or rather there were many clothes exclusively used by girls.The clothes popular in Klinge are mainly practical attires made by the hands of human tailors. Clothes to be used for the sake of dressing up were rarely sold in the city.For that reason the majority of the clothes, which the priestesses put on Kurz, were apparently reused attires which they had brought from their own country as spare clothes.Renya couldnt pinpoint whether it would be a good or bad influence on the accumulation of experiences and education for the emotional aspect, but Emils opinion was that Kurz would probably obtain a peaceful rather than savage personality, even if he grew up while developing slight tendencies towards girlish tastes.However, as might be expected, when Kurz came running with his arms spread and a smile plastered all over his face while wearing a priestess outfit that had been retailored into ahakamawith something like a miniskirt, even Renya considered that to have gone too far and filed a strong protest to Kaede.Due to Renya declaring, That person is a boy and a man, several beastman priestesses opposed him by saying, Isnt it fine since making him adorable suits him.Because Kurz himself appealed to Renya, who started to say, You guys, take his position, or rather the difference in social status as a problem of reality into consideration, with upturned eyes, wondering whether it might be wrong for him to do that even though he likes being cute, Renya firmly shut his eyes towards this case and decided not to have seen anything regarding the matter.Cuteness is justice, thats the sole, absolute, universal rule.Even Renya has no idea how to resist that right now.Precisely because the materials shaping Kurz are as they are, Renya ended up wondering how it turned out like this.Meanwhile the hero Lepard and his attendant Lion had been mostly neglected. Lepard was trying to ask Renya for a rematch at every opportunity.He was apparently fairly frustrated due to having been taken out so easily the last time. Yo margrave, what fine weather. Such nice weather is the best for moving your body, isnt it? I happen to be free right now, so how bout a mock battle against meoomph!? (Lepard) The neck of Lepard, who was about to enter the office, where Renya was processing documents, with a smile while opening the door, was pulled back similar to a decayed piece of wood being knocked down due to the rope that Renya had tied around his neck.Renya was about to immediately seethe with anger telling him, You are a damn nuisance during work, but without being allowed to even get up, Lepard, who was lying face up on the other side of the door, was beaten up with clubs, kicked and trampled on by several priestesses starting with Kaede. Seeing that scene, his bloodthirst ends up dispersing.Before long priestesses arrived all of a sudden out of nowhere, placed Lepard, who had stopped moving completely while covered in blood all over, and carried him away somewhere. Kaede, who had stayed behind, deeply bowed her head towards Renya from outside the door.It was a quick job that took mere seconds to finish. Sorry for disturbing you, Margrave-sama. (Kaede) Because she had carried out an intense exercise, Kaede, whose breathing has slightly sped up and whose face is flushing, looks somewhat alluring.However, if thats the result of her having half-killed a single person, it doesnt make me feel that shes beautiful. Y-Yeah, okay. Good work. (Renya) Renya has pulled back quite a bit from her in his mind, but he nods generously without showing an inkling of that on his face. He had a feeling of wanting to retort with, So the reason for yourhakamabeing red is so that the blood spurts wont stand out? if at all possible, but he didnt know what would happen to him right after he told her that. We ended up dirtying the hallway. As I will quickly call for a person to clean up, I would like to beg for your forgiveness. (Kaede) What Renya thought due to Kaedes apology was only the somewhat chilly judgment,You sure did it with a power to make his blood fly. You have it difficult, dont you? (Renya) Because the other party is a hero, it might allow him to escape or counterattack unexpectedly which would hinder making him powerless, if they went easy on him.Considering it like that, one could even say that the actions of Kaedes group make sense, but while Renya wonders just how many times that Lepard would have died if he wasnt the hero, a sigh escapes Kaedes scarlet lips once hearing the grateful remark by Renya. If the time comes, please do as you see fit (Kaede) Kaede bowed while warping her composed expression slightly in mortification, and left.Wondering,Isnt it a lie that you werent able to manage the heros actions in the beastmen country?, he pondered,Does that time to come mean the situation where the hero would become increasingly uncontrollable, or does it refer to the time when Kaede herself would collapse out of anxiety?Moreover, there was a mountain of things he wanted to tell Kaede such as For starters close the door. But, swallowing all of that, Renya stood up quietly and shut the door himself.Its a digression, but the hero Lepard, who had all this done to him, surprisingly would visit Renyas office doing the same thing with a face as if nothing happened on the next day.Should I blame him for his inability to learn? Should I praise his stamina and healing ability allowing him to be knocked down so much and yet come back on the next day as if nothing happened?Renya has absolutely no idea.He saw off the priestesses and the hero with such a feeling every day, but the attendant Lion dropped out, unable to join in on this uproar, at an early stage. He spent every day groaning while being heavily wrapped up in bandages as he laid on the bed of the medical institution.According to the medical diagnosis of the medical institutes staff, he will need 2 to 3 months for a full recovery.If healing arts were to be used, it would take less time, but Rona refuses any treatment and since the beastman priestesses hated to cast divine arts, a healer of the medical institute is diligently applying healing as a last resort.It looked as if he was more or less getting better, but as the emotional scars were apparently deeper than the physical injuries, he showed symptoms of getting scared after seeing Shions face and succumbing to panic once Emil arrived.Once Renya ask just what she had done, Shion awkwardly answers, Ummbecause he said something along the lines of wanting to learn the strength of a human soldier (Shion) You were the one who did this? (Renya) I-It wasnt just me! Keith was the one who started it. (Shion) According to Shion, Lion, who intruded on Keiths and the others training, said that he wants to request a bout. Therefore Keith took him on and easily repelled him.Knowing that his opponent is an attendant of a hero, Keith apparently went quite easy on him.It would have been fine if I had lost to save the face of my opponent if possible, Keith said later on.This consideration of Keith caused Lion to misunderstand that he might be able to win if he goes down the ranks a bit.As a matter of fact, Lion should have noticed that the soldiers in this place are somewhat weird at the moment when he lost against a common soldier as a person following a hero, even if Keith was the Soldier Leader.Next, hearing of a reasonably distinguished man among Keiths soldiers, Lion challenged him to a fight thinking that he will likely win if its a subordinate, but he had a little too much trouble with the soldier chosen as his opponent, resulting in Lion getting crushed in the end.Not learning by experience, Lion challenged the sole woman, Shion, after finding her among the soldiers, but Shion, who was unable to stomach Lions attitude who was under the impression that he will be able to win if he had a woman as his opponent, showered him with blows with her rod sword, sending him to the medical facility for the first time.Lion suffered injuries that would heal completely within one week, but at this time a beastman priestess healed him, allowing him to leave the hospital quickly.Although it would have been great if he had gotten smarter at this point, Lion C seemingly misunderstanding something C challenged Rona to a fight next.Since Rona very likely gave him the impression that shes gentle, he apparently estimated her to be weaker than Shion.However, contrary to her looks, Rona piled up combat training as a knight.Given that she also had her ability as a priestess on top of that, she was able to heal and strengthen herself.Rona was completely overpowered by his strength, but she somehow managed to obtain a narrow victory by continuously shaving off Lions endurance with skill and stamina.Lion should possess reasonable ability since hes accompanying a hero, but because he kept losing until this point, his thoughts seemingly took a different turn, resulting in him choosing the worst possible option.Of all things he set his sight on Emil, who might be considered a civilian, and challenged her to a fight.Certainly, judging by her usual attire, Emil, who had put a white robe above her tube top bra and hot pants attire, is completely unsuited to battle.However, in reality shes actually a demon, although thats a secret.The challenged Emil smiled sweetly after pondering it over for a bit and then it apparently turned into a one-sided, violent scenery.One of the watching soldiers said: If he wasnt a beastman warrior, its almost certain that he would have died.It went even as far that weird opinions C regarding it from a different angle C judging him as amazing for surviving all the excessive violence appeared among the soldiers that watched Lion continually lose until then.By just having received the first charge of blows, he lost his fighting spirit due to their power. Lion declared his will to surrender.Emil entirely ignored that sign of surrender and continued to torment him to her hearts content, going as far as feeling good about ignoring him weeping and screaming.In the end, Frau, who came flying after hearing Lions screams, clung to Emils waist, pulled her forcibly away from Lion and finally brought the incident to a close, but this chain of events left a deep scar in Lions heart. Even now Lion is unable to do anything but tremble weakly on top of his bed in the medical institute.It was obvious that Lions naive view invited all of this. Paying for his own mistakes, he has become a mere shadow of his former self, but Renya ends up thinking that it would have been best to not drive him into a situation where traumas are planted.However, allowing the beastman priestesses to speak, even if the fights have certainly been different as well, they apparently considered Lion as pathetic for a warrior.Its not like his opponents have done this or that. Him continuing to lose has turned into a problem, Kaede says.At the moment when a person calling themselves a warrior thinks that he might win if its women or children, they are a lost case in Renyas eyes, but its said that they will be given a reasonable assessment among beastmen as long as they win.Good grief, are the brains of all their races members filled with nothing but muscles?Renya was completely fed up.Therefore Lion, who was denied healing by the beastmen priestesses, was refused by Rona as well. While receiving the minimum required healing, he was unable to leave the medical institute. For better or worse he was a warrior belonging to a considerably excellent group within the tribe, but Kaede came to inform Renya that Lion, who was of no use any longer, was sent back to his country to heal and re-train, and said while looking at Renya slightly reproachfully, Not only was he easily defeated, its said he even suffered a trauma to the degree of becoming unusableIm curious what kind of training the people over here carry out allowing them to obtain such strength. (Kaede) In this worldthere are many things you are better off not knowing about. (Renya) As far as possible Renya stuck to audacity, repelling Kaedes persistent questioning.Renya and the others passed reasonably peaceful days after one person dropped out in such a manner. And then, early in the morning of a certain day, a handwritten letter from the elven emperor was delivered to Renyas place. Chapter 131 C It seems to be a short stay For some reason the single-minded beastman hero decided to stay in Klinge for a short while.For Renya, who fully believed that he would temporarily return to his own country like the dragonoids hero, it was unexpected, but there seem to be various reasons for that.The biggest issue was Lepards personality.Lepards character, who might as well be called a battle junkie, wasnt something unusual for a beastman warrior, but even among them hes clearly too strong and his obsession with battle is apparently abnormal. Since he snatches away other warriors jobs on top of forcing them into battles without reason, he was apparently told by his surroundings to stay away for a while.Kaede explained these circumstances to Renya with a truly apologetic attitude while furrowing her brows.The depth of her wrinkles was such that it made Renya worry that the wrinkles would deeply engrain themselves into her face without ever disappearing again.Lepard was an excellent warrior to begin with, but he became completely uncontrollable after being granted power as the hero. However, this whole situation of him staying here apparently originated from Lepard being easily defeated by Renya. It seems that the beastmens kings intention was to pay any amount of money for troubling the Margravate on this matter as he assumed that Lepard could likely be stopped by Margrave Kunugi if he were to lose control. Being forced to reluctantly agree with that opinion, Kaedes group was dispatched in order to take care of the hero.Of course all of this is nothing but a huge nuisance in Renyas eyes.It went as far as him having spontaneously considered going to the northern continent through the transfer gate to give the beastmens king a truckload of threats in the name of a sermon.If no one had stopped him, Renya would have very likely put that into practice on the spot, but once Kaede pleaded, Theres currently no one except for you, Margrave-sama, on whom I can rely on, in tears, he somehow became unable to disregard her words without consideration. Furthermore, once he was promised that he will be paid a hefty sum of money during their stay in the land near his mansion, his brain got dazzled by the prospect of obtaining foreign currency.In addition to that, matters concerning Kurz apparently turned into a benefit for Renya.Kurz outward appearance is that of a boy with the face of a charming girl. This was strangely popular with the beastman priestesses.Seemingly clinging to him like crazy fans, several priestesses started to appear who took care of Kurz while ignoring their own hero in reverse.Having his work as margrave, Renya was in a position where he definitely didnt have all day long time to take care of Kurz, but since the beastman priestesses, who had partly transformed into Kurz personal bodyguard squad, took over that task, it resulted in their enthusiasm being an extremely big help for Renya.What was slightly worrying was Kurz nature of not stating his own opinion or putting up any resistance. That resulted in him being treated quite often as dress-up doll by the priestesses. Moreover, the clothes they made him wear are somewhat items a girl would prefer, or rather there were many clothes exclusively used by girls.The clothes popular in Klinge are mainly practical attires made by the hands of human tailors. Clothes to be used for the sake of dressing up were rarely sold in the city.For that reason the majority of the clothes, which the priestesses put on Kurz, were apparently reused attires which they had brought from their own country as spare clothes.Renya couldnt pinpoint whether it would be a good or bad influence on the accumulation of experiences and education for the emotional aspect, but Emils opinion was that Kurz would probably obtain a peaceful rather than savage personality, even if he grew up while developing slight tendencies towards girlish tastes.However, as might be expected, when Kurz came running with his arms spread and a smile plastered all over his face while wearing a priestess outfit that had been retailored into ahakamawith something like a miniskirt, even Renya considered that to have gone too far and filed a strong protest to Kaede.Due to Renya declaring, That person is a boy and a man, several beastman priestesses opposed him by saying, Isnt it fine since making him adorable suits him.Because Kurz himself appealed to Renya, who started to say, You guys, take his position, or rather the difference in social status as a problem of reality into consideration, with upturned eyes, wondering whether it might be wrong for him to do that even though he likes being cute, Renya firmly shut his eyes towards this case and decided not to have seen anything regarding the matter.Cuteness is justice, thats the sole, absolute, universal rule.Even Renya has no idea how to resist that right now.Precisely because the materials shaping Kurz are as they are, Renya ended up wondering how it turned out like this.Meanwhile the hero Lepard and his attendant Lion had been mostly neglected. Lepard was trying to ask Renya for a rematch at every opportunity.He was apparently fairly frustrated due to having been taken out so easily the last time. Yo margrave, what fine weather. Such nice weather is the best for moving your body, isnt it? I happen to be free right now, so how bout a mock battle against meoomph!? (Lepard) The neck of Lepard, who was about to enter the office, where Renya was processing documents, with a smile while opening the door, was pulled back similar to a decayed piece of wood being knocked down due to the rope that Renya had tied around his neck.Renya was about to immediately seethe with anger telling him, You are a damn nuisance during work, but without being allowed to even get up, Lepard, who was lying face up on the other side of the door, was beaten up with clubs, kicked and trampled on by several priestesses starting with Kaede. Seeing that scene, his bloodthirst ends up dispersing.Before long priestesses arrived all of a sudden out of nowhere, placed Lepard, who had stopped moving completely while covered in blood all over, and carried him away somewhere. Kaede, who had stayed behind, deeply bowed her head towards Renya from outside the door.It was a quick job that took mere seconds to finish. Sorry for disturbing you, Margrave-sama. (Kaede) Because she had carried out an intense exercise, Kaede, whose breathing has slightly sped up and whose face is flushing, looks somewhat alluring.However, if thats the result of her having half-killed a single person, it doesnt make me feel that shes beautiful. Y-Yeah, okay. Good work. (Renya) Renya has pulled back quite a bit from her in his mind, but he nods generously without showing an inkling of that on his face.He had a feeling of wanting to retort with, So the reason for yourhakamabeing red is so that the blood spurts wont stand out? if at all possible, but he didnt know what would happen to him right after he told her that. We ended up dirtying the hallway. As I will quickly call for a person to clean up, I would like to beg for your forgiveness. (Kaede) What Renya thought due to Kaedes apology was only the somewhat chilly judgment,You sure did it with a power to make his blood fly. You have it difficult, dont you? (Renya) Because the other party is a hero, it might allow him to escape or counterattack unexpectedly which would hinder making him powerless, if they went easy on him.Considering it like that, one could even say that the actions of Kaedes group make sense, but while Renya wonders just how many times that Lepard would have died if he wasnt the hero, a sigh escapes Kaedes scarlet lips once hearing the grateful remark by Renya. If the time comes, please do as you see fit (Kaede) Kaede bowed while warping her composed expression slightly in mortification, and left.Wondering,Isnt it a lie that you werent able to manage the heros actions in the beastmen country?, he pondered,Does that time to come mean the situation where the hero would become increasingly uncontrollable, or does it refer to the time when Kaede herself would collapse out of anxiety?Moreover, there was a mountain of things he wanted to tell Kaede such as For starters close the door. But, swallowing all of that, Renya stood up quietly and shut the door himself.Its a digression, but the hero Lepard, who had all this done to him, surprisingly would visit Renyas office doing the same thing with a face as if nothing happened on the next day.Should I blame him for his inability to learn? Should I praise his stamina and healing ability allowing him to be knocked down so much and yet come back on the next day as if nothing happened?Renya has absolutely no idea.He saw off the priestesses and the hero with such a feeling every day, but the attendant Lion dropped out, unable to join in on this uproar, at an early stage. He spent every day groaning while being heavily wrapped up in bandages as he laid on the bed of the medical institution.According to the medical diagnosis of the medical institutes staff, he will need 2 to 3 months for a full recovery.If healing arts were to be used, it would take less time, but Rona refuses any treatment and since the beastman priestesses hated to cast divine arts, a healer of the medical institute is diligently applying healing as a last resort.It looked as if he was more or less getting better, but as the emotional scars were apparently deeper than the physical injuries, he showed symptoms of getting scared after seeing Shions face and succumbing to panic once Emil arrived.Once Renya ask just what she had done, Shion awkwardly answers, Ummbecause he said something along the lines of wanting to learn the strength of a human soldier (Shion) You were the one who did this? (Renya) I-It wasnt just me! Keith was the one who started it. (Shion) According to Shion, Lion, who intruded on Keiths and the others training, said that he wants to request a bout. Therefore Keith took him on and easily repelled him.Knowing that his opponent is an attendant of a hero, Keith apparently went quite easy on him.It would have been fine if I had lost to save the face of my opponent if possible, Keith said later on.This consideration of Keith caused Lion to misunderstand that he might be able to win if he goes down the ranks a bit.As a matter of fact, Lion should have noticed that the soldiers in this place are somewhat weird at the moment when he lost against a common soldier as a person following a hero, even if Keith was the Soldier Leader.Next, hearing of a reasonably distinguished man among Keiths soldiers, Lion challenged him to a fight thinking that he will likely win if its a subordinate, but he had a little too much trouble with the soldier chosen as his opponent, resulting in Lion getting crushed in the end.Not learning by experience, Lion challenged the sole woman, Shion, after finding her among the soldiers, but Shion, who was unable to stomach Lions attitude who was under the impression that he will be able to win if he had a woman as his opponent, showered him with blows with her rod sword, sending him to the medical facility for the first time.Lion suffered injuries that would heal completely within one week, but at this time a beastman priestess healed him, allowing him to leave the hospital quickly.Although it would have been great if he had gotten smarter at this point, Lion C seemingly misunderstanding something C challenged Rona to a fight next.Since Rona very likely gave him the impression that shes gentle, he apparently estimated her to be weaker than Shion.However, contrary to her looks, Rona piled up combat training as a knight.Given that she also had her ability as a priestess on top of that, she was able to heal and strengthen herself.Rona was completely overpowered by his strength, but she somehow managed to obtain a narrow victory by continuously shaving off Lions endurance with skill and stamina.Lion should possess reasonable ability since hes accompanying a hero, but because he kept losing until this point, his thoughts seemingly took a different turn, resulting in him choosing the worst possible option.Of all things he set his sight on Emil, who might be considered a civilian, and challenged her to a fight.Certainly, judging by her usual attire, Emil, who had put a white robe above her tube top bra and hot pants attire, is completely unsuited to battle.However, in reality shes actually a demon, although thats a secret.The challenged Emil smiled sweetly after pondering it over for a bit and then it apparently turned into a one-sided, violent scenery.One of the watching soldiers said: If he wasnt a beastman warrior, its almost certain that he would have died.It went even as far that weird opinions C regarding it from a different angle C judging him as amazing for surviving all the excessive violence appeared among the soldiers that watched Lion continually lose until then.By just having received the first charge of blows, he lost his fighting spirit due to their power. Lion declared his will to surrender.Emil entirely ignored that sign of surrender and continued to torment him to her hearts content, going as far as feeling good about ignoring him weeping and screaming.In the end, Frau, who came flying after hearing Lions screams, clung to Emils waist, pulled her forcibly away from Lion and finally brought the incident to a close, but this chain of events left a deep scar in Lions heart. Even now Lion is unable to do anything but tremble weakly on top of his bed in the medical institute.It was obvious that Lions naive view invited all of this. Paying for his own mistakes, he has become a mere shadow of his former self, but Renya ends up thinking that it would have been best to not drive him into a situation where traumas are planted.However, allowing the beastman priestesses to speak, even if the fights have certainly been different as well, they apparently considered Lion as pathetic for a warrior.Its not like his opponents have done this or that. Him continuing to lose has turned into a problem, Kaede says.At the moment when a person calling themselves a warrior thinks that he might win if its women or children, they are a lost case in Renyas eyes, but its said that they will be given a reasonable assessment among beastmen as long as they win.Good grief, are the brains of all their races members filled with nothing but muscles?Renya was completely fed up.Therefore Lion, who was denied healing by the beastmen priestesses, was refused by Rona as well. While receiving the minimum required healing, he was unable to leave the medical institute. For better or worse he was a warrior belonging to a considerably excellent group within the tribe, but Kaede came to inform Renya that Lion, who was of no use any longer, was sent back to his country to heal and re-train, and said while looking at Renya slightly reproachfully, Not only was he easily defeated, its said he even suffered a trauma to the degree of becoming unusableIm curious what kind of training the people over here carry out allowing them to obtain such strength. (Kaede) In this worldthere are many things you are better off not knowing about. (Renya) As far as possible Renya stuck to audacity, repelling Kaedes persistent questioning.Renya and the others passed reasonably peaceful days after one person dropped out in such a manner. And then, early in the morning of a certain day, a handwritten letter from the elven emperor was delivered to Renyas place. Chapter 132 Chapter 132 C It seems to be a Double Effort Yo, Margrave-dono. What a fine morning it is. Such a great morning is wonderful for moving ones body, so how about it? Having a light match against me in the courtyard isgeha!? (Lepard) A full power blow of Shions right fist was driven into Lepards solar plexus who had opened the door to Renyas office with a very bright smile while raising a loud voice early in the morning.Lepard didnt wear any armor, but his abdominal muscles had been trained and tempered. Renya, who viciously beat him up in the previous battle, got a good look at those steel-like muscles.Unlike the last time where Lepard had been naked from above the waist, hes now at least wearing some clothes, but him not wearing any body armor is probably owed to his high confidence in his defensive capabilities, Renya assessed.Shions fist easily bored through Lepards prided muscle defense and delivered damage to his internal organs, causing Lepards body to crumble down. Lepard begins to suffer in silent agony as he crouches down in the corridor in front of Renyas office.Suddenly, out of nowhere, several dog beastmen priestesses with their ears drooping dejectedly and carrying apologetic expressions appeared in front of Shion, who looked down on Lepard with a face full of bloodthirst, violently grabbed Lepards feet and dragged him away through the corridor.For some reason its slightly terrifying that theres even a priestess whos pulling the rope around Lepards neck. Youhave certainly become strong, havent you? (Renya) Renya calls out in admiration to Shion, whos making sure of the blows sensation just now by opening and tightly clenching her fist several times.If she had possessed that much strength at the time when Renya crossed over to this world, there would have been no chance for him to play any role against the mercenaries, who picked a fight with Shion and Rona back then, as they would have likely been buried into the ground to serve as nutrients of the Miasma Forest after thoroughly having been processed into the same minced meat as used in hamburgers.However, Renya tilts his head to the side.In my former world a shrine maiden that is part of the Shinto priesthood should definitely be an occupation that doesnt have the reputation of being proficient in hand-to-hand combat.And yet in this world the beastmen priestesses mainly silence the hero with fists and weapons, and even Shion, whos always wearing an attire resembling that of the priestesses, has become skillful at physical offense with her sorcery skills still being those of an ordinary person.Its not that Renya believes this to be one of the different world corrections, but he cant help feeling that something is wrong.Wasnt the existence referred to as priestess a lot more graceful and feminine?Having absolutely no idea of the thoughts that Renya was harboring, Shion temporarily continues to tightly clench her fist and, Havent I become more skillful because of your training, Renya? (Shion) Once she does several jabs as if shadow boxing, the sound of air being torn reaches even Renyas ears.No matter how you think about it, thats not an attack usually unleashed by a person who hasprincessattached to their name. I dont remember giving you any special instructions though? (Renya) Within himself Renya apparently doesnt refer to Keiths groups training, which Shion had joined, as combat instructions. You taught me the basicsbesides, as I have sufficiently watched your fighting style, I believe it to be natural for me to have picked up some of it? (Shion) Closing the door that had been opened by Lepard, Shion approaches the desk where Renya is sitting and sits down on top of it just like Croire had done before.Of course that doesnt mean that Shion knows about the previous conversation between Renya and Croire.But, as theres nowhere else to sit down since Renya hasnt prepared any chairs in the room, which he usually doesnt use to entertain visitors, except for his own party members, sitting on top of the desk becomes the natural conclusion once one plans to sit down somewhere.Though Frau and Kurz try to sit down on Renyas knees as if its a matter of course.In Croires case it was impolite to do so without Renyas permission, since they respectively have the social standings of being a margrave and a foreign princess, but since those social standings change into the archduchess daughter and her subordinate margrave in Shion case, she wouldnt be accused of disrespect, even if her real authority is a different one.While casting a sidelong glance at Shion, who places her butt, which has a considerable volume when compared to Croires, on top of the desks surface, Renya spreads out one sheet of paper.That, which had sentences in an elegant calligraphic style written on a paper of considerably high quality, was a letter that had been delivered to Renya early in the morning.Seeing the name of the sender, Renya exhaled very deeply while being filled with the desire to toss the letter into the trash just like that, but as theres no way that he can do so, he has kept it at hand.Shion, obviously interested, took a peek on what Renya had unfolded on top of the desk. A letter? (Shion) Yes. Handwritten letter no. 2 from His Majesty the Elven Emperor. (Renya) Number 1 is the paper roll he had previously shown to Croire, but thats something Shion isnt aware of.According to Croire Renyas revenge for the mischief included in the emperors first letter apparently couldnt be deciphered by the elven state authorities.Of course, since it hadnt been written so that one could actually decipher it, it wasnt a question of being able or unable to do so though. Croire used the wordscouldnt be decipheredtowards Renya with the implication that the elves hadnt been able to grasp the intention behind Renyas letter.As a last resort the elven emperor forwarded the letter to Croire and earnestly requested her to teach him Renyas intention if its something shes aware of.In exchange for a not small remuneration, Croire sent a short reply stating, It tells you to send normal letters, to the emperor.Renya praised that as being something really skillful for a rebut.On top of it being far easier to understand than an explanation that its merely an act of revenge, it also doesnt worsen the relationship. Whats written in there? (Shion) Shions voice pulls Renya, who was deep in thought, back to reality.The contents of the emperors letter were normal, but all of it was written in elvish.Naturally Shion couldnt read it at all.I wonder what hes thinking to use elvish in a letter thats sent to a human country?Renya ponders.Since the Trident Principality is a country of a reasonable scale boasting power ranked second only to the Holy Kingdom, the probability that theres no one capable of reading elvish in the principality is probably next to zero, but if it was a small country with a corresponding scale, it wouldnt be odd for there to be no people that could read said language either, Renya feels.Since elves are a race that isnt often seen on the human continent to begin with, theres no way that their language is widely known.By the way, this situation doesnt apply to Klinge where Renya resides.After all one can commonly see elves when walking through the city.Moreover, if there are so many elves, there will naturally also be humans who try to learn their language.As it seems that the majority of those people are found amongst the merchants, several elvish language classes have already been set up and the number of humans capable of using elvish has been steadily growing.But then again, this is a matter limited to the citizens. The military authorities, which are Renyas subordinates, are mostly composed of humans that cant use elvish at all.The reason for that seems to be that theres no use for it, but Renya secretly harbored the sinful idea that they will probably change their attitude if he lined up a full set of beautiful elven women in front of their eyes. Its about the selection of the elven hero having finished and them wanting the elven hero to meet with the human hero. In line with this the letter mentions that they wish to dispatch a diplomat to us for the sake of a preparatory meeting, buthasnt this merely turned into a double effort? Wouldnt it have been better if he had sent a proper letter from the start? (Renya) The second half of Renyas remark was something Shion didnt understand as to what it was about, but seemingly perceiving that Renya is irritated, she smiles wryly. BesidesI wonder, why is that elven emperor sending such a letter to me? It only increases the workload as I have to ask Her Majesty the Archduchess whether its actually alright to do so anyway. (Renya) That isits just a guess, but that emperor likely puts more importance on you than on my mother. (Shion) Upon saying that with a bitter smile, Renya looks at Shion with a face full of question marks. How should I say itthe archduchess of a human principality is probably an existence of very little interest to the elven emperor. (Shion) Shion says while thinking,Although thats probably something not limited to the archduchess.Basically the elves are a race that dont have much interest in other races.Its said that in recent years the number of elves for whom that statement doesnt apply has increased, but despite this the majority of elves doesnt show any interest in the other races and continents and there are many elves who completely stay amongst each other.Speaking of humans who are paid attention to among the elves, and moreover that elven emperor, I wonder whether theres any apart from Renya, Shion ponders. Even if you say something like that, someone like me is no more than one of her subordinates though? (Renya) Yet it seems that the person himself isnt aware of that. Im certain thatHer Majesty the Archduchess would burst into loud laughter, if she heard those words. (Shion) As for making Renya a noble; that was pretty much a result of the archduchess publicly being expected to put a collar around his neck, but Shion and Mayria were well aware that theres no way for the archduchess herself to believe in something like that.Given that the surroundings would nag at her if she hadnt done so, she tried arranging something like a restraint for forms sake; these are very likely the archduchess real thoughts.In Renyas eyes something like social status bears almost no significance at all.He simply settled into becoming a margrave since he thought that it seemed less troublesome to just go along with it. Its obvious that he will readily throw the title away and abscond to somewhere else if it become too inconvenient for him.For that reason alone the current fact that Renya is properly getting involved in capital investment and domestic affairs was something beyond the archduchess expectations. If its too much trouble for you, Renya, wouldnt it be alright for you to wholly delegate the matter by sending the letter to Her Majesty the Archduchess and ask her to deal with the negotiations from her side? (Shion) How typical for someone as bad at thinking as Shion. She seems to simplistically believe that all the troublesome matters should be passed away to the capital. Thats probably a faultless approach. (Renya) In Renyas eyes the issue is the emperor.I feel like its not something that will turn into a particular problem even if I handle it somewhat irresponsibly, but where matters concern the heroes, its expected to be handled between countries, so I cant say so either.Even going by the chain of command, entrusting the matter to the archduchess side is a justified measure. Its also not a mistake to have the civil officials of the capital, who have abundant experience and a large number of people, do their best rather than holding the meeting in Renyas territory which still lacks civil officials.No matter how little interest the elves might have in other races, thats something at a level that even they should understand, but I wonder whether there are no civil officials who express their opinion to the elven emperor, Renya ends up puzzled.But because he doesnt know the current state of the elven country, no answers will present themselves to him, no matter how much he broods over it, as such, Renya completely shelved those thoughts for the time being and started to take out writing utensils to compose a letter to the archduchess for the sake of requesting her to deal with the elven country. Chapter 132 C It seems to be a Double Effort Yo, Margrave-dono. What a fine morning it is. Such a great morning is wonderful for moving ones body, so how about it? Having a light match against me in the courtyard isgeha!? (Lepard) A full power blow of Shions right fist was driven into Lepards solar plexus who had opened the door to Renyas office with a very bright smile while raising a loud voice early in the morning.Lepard didnt wear any armor, but his abdominal muscles had been trained and tempered. Renya, who viciously beat him up in the previous battle, got a good look at those steel-like muscles.Unlike the last time where Lepard had been naked from above the waist, hes now at least wearing some clothes, but him not wearing any body armor is probably owed to his high confidence in his defensive capabilities, Renya assessed.Shions fist easily bored through Lepards prided muscle defense and delivered damage to his internal organs, causing Lepards body to crumble down. Lepard begins to suffer in silent agony as he crouches down in the corridor in front of Renyas office.Suddenly, out of nowhere, several dog beastmen priestesses with their ears drooping dejectedly and carrying apologetic expressions appeared in front of Shion, who looked down on Lepard with a face full of bloodthirst, violently grabbed Lepards feet and dragged him away through the corridor.For some reason its slightly terrifying that theres even a priestess whos pulling the rope around Lepards neck. Youhave certainly become strong, havent you? (Renya) Renya calls out in admiration to Shion, whos making sure of the blows sensation just now by opening and tightly clenching her fist several times.If she had possessed that much strength at the time when Renya crossed over to this world, there would have been no chance for him to play any role against the mercenaries, who picked a fight with Shion and Rona back then, as they would have likely been buried into the ground to serve as nutrients of the Miasma Forest after thoroughly having been processed into the same minced meat as used in hamburgers.However, Renya tilts his head to the side.In my former world a shrine maiden that is part of the Shinto priesthood should definitely be an occupation that doesnt have the reputation of being proficient in hand-to-hand combat.And yet in this world the beastmen priestesses mainly silence the hero with fists and weapons, and even Shion, whos always wearing an attire resembling that of the priestesses, has become skillful at physical offense with her sorcery skills still being those of an ordinary person.Its not that Renya believes this to be one of the different world corrections, but he cant help feeling that something is wrong.Wasnt the existence referred to as priestess a lot more graceful and feminine?Having absolutely no idea of the thoughts that Renya was harboring, Shion temporarily continues to tightly clench her fist and, Havent I become more skillful because of your training, Renya? (Shion) Once she does several jabs as if shadow boxing, the sound of air being torn reaches even Renyas ears.No matter how you think about it, thats not an attack usually unleashed by a person who hasprincessattached to their name. I dont remember giving you any special instructions though? (Renya) Within himself Renya apparently doesnt refer to Keiths groups training, which Shion had joined, as combat instructions. You taught me the basicsbesides, as I have sufficiently watched your fighting style, I believe it to be natural for me to have picked up some of it? (Shion) Closing the door that had been opened by Lepard, Shion approaches the desk where Renya is sitting and sits down on top of it just like Croire had done before.Of course that doesnt mean that Shion knows about the previous conversation between Renya and Croire.But, as theres nowhere else to sit down since Renya hasnt prepared any chairs in the room, which he usually doesnt use to entertain visitors, except for his own party members, sitting on top of the desk becomes the natural conclusion once one plans to sit down somewhere.Though Frau and Kurz try to sit down on Renyas knees as if its a matter of course.In Croires case it was impolite to do so without Renyas permission, since they respectively have the social standings of being a margrave and a foreign princess, but since those social standings change into the archduchess daughter and her subordinate margrave in Shion case, she wouldnt be accused of disrespect, even if her real authority is a different one.While casting a sidelong glance at Shion, who places her butt, which has a considerable volume when compared to Croires, on top of the desks surface, Renya spreads out one sheet of paper.That, which had sentences in an elegant calligraphic style written on a paper of considerably high quality, was a letter that had been delivered to Renya early in the morning.Seeing the name of the sender, Renya exhaled very deeply while being filled with the desire to toss the letter into the trash just like that, but as theres no way that he can do so, he has kept it at hand.Shion, obviously interested, took a peek on what Renya had unfolded on top of the desk. A letter? (Shion) Yes. Handwritten letter no. 2 from His Majesty the Elven Emperor. (Renya) Number 1 is the paper roll he had previously shown to Croire, but thats something Shion isnt aware of.According to Croire Renyas revenge for the mischief included in the emperors first letter apparently couldnt be deciphered by the elven state authorities.Of course, since it hadnt been written so that one could actually decipher it, it wasnt a question of being able or unable to do so though. Croire used the wordscouldnt be decipheredtowards Renya with the implication that the elves hadnt been able to grasp the intention behind Renyas letter.As a last resort the elven emperor forwarded the letter to Croire and earnestly requested her to teach him Renyas intention if its something shes aware of.In exchange for a not small remuneration, Croire sent a short reply stating, It tells you to send normal letters, to the emperor.Renya praised that as being something really skillful for a rebut.On top of it being far easier to understand than an explanation that its merely an act of revenge, it also doesnt worsen the relationship. Whats written in there? (Shion) Shions voice pulls Renya, who was deep in thought, back to reality.The contents of the emperors letter were normal, but all of it was written in elvish.Naturally Shion couldnt read it at all.I wonder what hes thinking to use elvish in a letter thats sent to a human country?Renya ponders.Since the Trident Principality is a country of a reasonable scale boasting power ranked second only to the Holy Kingdom, the probability that theres no one capable of reading elvish in the principality is probably next to zero, but if it was a small country with a corresponding scale, it wouldnt be odd for there to be no people that could read said language either, Renya feels.Since elves are a race that isnt often seen on the human continent to begin with, theres no way that their language is widely known.By the way, this situation doesnt apply to Klinge where Renya resides.After all one can commonly see elves when walking through the city.Moreover, if there are so many elves, there will naturally also be humans who try to learn their language.As it seems that the majority of those people are found amongst the merchants, several elvish language classes have already been set up and the number of humans capable of using elvish has been steadily growing.But then again, this is a matter limited to the citizens. The military authorities, which are Renyas subordinates, are mostly composed of humans that cant use elvish at all.The reason for that seems to be that theres no use for it, but Renya secretly harbored the sinful idea that they will probably change their attitude if he lined up a full set of beautiful elven women in front of their eyes. Its about the selection of the elven hero having finished and them wanting the elven hero to meet with the human hero. In line with this the letter mentions that they wish to dispatch a diplomat to us for the sake of a preparatory meeting, buthasnt this merely turned into a double effort? Wouldnt it have been better if he had sent a proper letter from the start? (Renya) The second half of Renyas remark was something Shion didnt understand as to what it was about, but seemingly perceiving that Renya is irritated, she smiles wryly. BesidesI wonder, why is that elven emperor sending such a letter to me? It only increases the workload as I have to ask Her Majesty the Archduchess whether its actually alright to do so anyway. (Renya) That isits just a guess, but that emperor likely puts more importance on you than on my mother. (Shion) Upon saying that with a bitter smile, Renya looks at Shion with a face full of question marks. How should I say itthe archduchess of a human principality is probably an existence of very little interest to the elven emperor. (Shion) Shion says while thinking,Although thats probably something not limited to the archduchess.Basically the elves are a race that dont have much interest in other races.Its said that in recent years the number of elves for whom that statement doesnt apply has increased, but despite this the majority of elves doesnt show any interest in the other races and continents and there are many elves who completely stay amongst each other.Speaking of humans who are paid attention to among the elves, and moreover that elven emperor, I wonder whether theres any apart from Renya, Shion ponders. Even if you say something like that, someone like me is no more than one of her subordinates though? (Renya) Yet it seems that the person himself isnt aware of that. Im certain thatHer Majesty the Archduchess would burst into loud laughter, if she heard those words. (Shion) As for making Renya a noble; that was pretty much a result of the archduchess publicly being expected to put a collar around his neck, but Shion and Mayria were well aware that theres no way for the archduchess herself to believe in something like that.Given that the surroundings would nag at her if she hadnt done so, she tried arranging something like a restraint for forms sake; these are very likely the archduchess real thoughts.In Renyas eyes something like social status bears almost no significance at all.He simply settled into becoming a margrave since he thought that it seemed less troublesome to just go along with it. Its obvious that he will readily throw the title away and abscond to somewhere else if it become too inconvenient for him.For that reason alone the current fact that Renya is properly getting involved in capital investment and domestic affairs was something beyond the archduchess expectations. If its too much trouble for you, Renya, wouldnt it be alright for you to wholly delegate the matter by sending the letter to Her Majesty the Archduchess and ask her to deal with the negotiations from her side? (Shion) How typical for someone as bad at thinking as Shion. She seems to simplistically believe that all the troublesome matters should be passed away to the capital. Thats probably a faultless approach. (Renya) In Renyas eyes the issue is the emperor.I feel like its not something that will turn into a particular problem even if I handle it somewhat irresponsibly, but where matters concern the heroes, its expected to be handled between countries, so I cant say so either.Even going by the chain of command, entrusting the matter to the archduchess side is a justified measure. Its also not a mistake to have the civil officials of the capital, who have abundant experience and a large number of people, do their best rather than holding the meeting in Renyas territory which still lacks civil officials.No matter how little interest the elves might have in other races, thats something at a level that even they should understand, but I wonder whether there are no civil officials who express their opinion to the elven emperor, Renya ends up puzzled.But because he doesnt know the current state of the elven country, no answers will present themselves to him, no matter how much he broods over it, as such, Renya completely shelved those thoughts for the time being and started to take out writing utensils to compose a letter to the archduchess for the sake of requesting her to deal with the elven country. Chapter 133 Chapter 133 C It seems the Elven Hero has arrived The elven hero, Grn Pas Tifalet, initiated his visit to Klinge a few days after Renya had sent the elven emperors handwritten letter to Trident Principalitys capital.Previously a directive written by the archduchess with a heart mark attached, stating that he should suitably deal with the elven heros party that would soon come to his place, had been delivered.Renya ended up thinking,Consider your age when you are writing something, but since it had been more or less arranged in the proper, official format for directives, he couldnt complain about it either.Moreover, there was no mention of a specified date and time when the elven hero was going to arrive in the archduchess directive.Say what you like, thats too unclear! Renya was slightly peeved, but Croire soothed Renya, telling him that this all has a reason.Probably because of their very long lifespans, elves apparently arent fixated on dates and time so much.Once they decide on a rough time span, they seem to not mind an approximate range of several days as measurement error.Renya, who was informed about those circumstances by Croire, admired that they were able to properly keep the country and other organizations running with such an attitude, but its apparently not an issue as the elves are precise with their deadlines and dates when they have to be.Once he takes that information into consideration, it appeared that the elven heros visit to a human country had been classified as a comparatively inconsequential event. You dont have to think about it too obstinately. Likely no one will get angry even if our reception is somewhat noncommittal. (Croire) Croire says while scanning through the directive from the archduchess, but Renya wonders whether itll actually be fine to handle it like that.However, Renyas thoughts were immediately brushed aside when he saw Croires serious expression as she caught sight of a sentence in the directive. Whats wrong? (Renya) Basically the women around Renya never show overly troubled expressions.It was needless to speak about Shion, but Frau and Emil smile a lot while their thoughts are unclear. And Renya hardly meets Croire in situations that would force her to change her expression since her position is practically that of a freeloader.Mayria was swamped with work due to having to process a mountain of documents in the beginning when they started Klinge and thus looked daggers at him, but now that they started to sporadically gather a few civil officials, it became rare for her to have a scary face as she apparently learned to delegate work to her subordinates.The sole exception is Rona who has been involved with both, military and administrative affairs. Even now shes grappling with documents and concerns while furrowing her brows in her own allocated room.Frau, who had become worried about her condition, visited her quite often and brought medicine and food, which she claims to be good for her health and beauty, to Rona.But then again, the food and medicine had colors and smells that made Renya doubt whether those things are really good for ones health and beauty.Even when asked by Renya, Frau stubbornly withheld the ingredients of those things, but Rona, who uses the items diligently, apparently experienced substantial results as far as the gloss of her hair and skin are concerned.Renya ponders whether he should soon try selling it to noble ladies in the capital.Back to the topic; Croire, who showed a troubled expression after being asked by Renya, lifted her eyes from the directive, looked at Renya and said, This person called Grn is (Croire) Yeah? Going by his name, its obvious that hes someone related to His Majesty the Elven Emperor like you, Croire, but what about it? (Renya) Pas Tifalet is the same family name as Croires. Its immediately clear that he has a blood relation with the emperor.But, the other party isthatemperor.Although you might call it a blood relationship, I cant imagine at all how much of a connection he has with the emperor and how he obtained it.I mean, after all there also are 35 people that might be considered legitimate if only going by lineage. Grn-niisama is the 17th child of His Majesty going from the top. (Croire) Hes not an adult? As in elven terms. (Renya) Hes a minor. Though you cant call him a child. (Croire) He seems to have passed the age of 100, but using the elven accepted practice, hes not seen as adult.However, if asked whether that defaults him into being called a child as thats what it would actually mean, things apparently become slightly different. Hes simply not an adult. That much is fine, but (Croire) Okay. (Renya) Idont know this person. (Croire) Renya was about to say that its probably not weird if theres one or two people she doesnt know given that there are 35 brothers and sisters, but hes interrupted by Croires next words. I have 34 siblings above me in rank, but I only know the faces and names of 33 people. (Croire) Okay? (Renya) Should I retort here that she cant remember a single person? Or should I retort to her having memorized 33 people?Renya wavers. However just this Grn-niisama alone; I know his name but I cant remember his face. (Croire) Renya thinks about Croires words for a bit and then tries telling her what came into his mind. You simply didnt meet him often or something like that? (Renya) That much is the same with the other siblings as well. Generally I see them around once or twice a year. (Croire) You are on very bad terms with him or he gave you such a traumatic experience that you forgot his face? (Renya) Croire quickly denied Renya who asked while thinking,Though it will be a problem if she actually confirmed one of these. Given that Im the youngest child, I was mostly treated with love. (Croire) So what exactly does that mean? (Renya) I dont know. (Croire) Receiving an immediate reply, Renyas shoulders slump down.However, Croire said with a thoroughly serious face, Its weird that I dont remember. Since hes at the very least a person with a standing that would allow him to be chosen as the hero, it shouldnt be strange for him to leave behind some kind of impression when meeting him, but (Croire) If he didnt give Croire any kind of impression, not even a redeeming feature as that of being incompetent, thats not something that can be disregarded with information that only states that such an air pocket-like person just doesnt exist or is missing.However, such a person will likely not be chosen as hero is what Croire says.Different from the summoned human hero, the heroes of the other races are expected to be selected from among those who have reasonable ability, going by past precedents.If he was incompetent, he shouldnt have even qualified as a candidate. Sorry, Renya. Since I cant abandon the possibility that his face has simply slipped my mind either, it doesnt seem as if Im going to be of much help regarding this matter. (Croire) It would be a big help if he could obtain information about the other party in advance, but Croire apologetically bows her head towards Renya. Dont mind it. As its just a story that would simply be helpful by giving us some information in advance, it also wont become a problem for me for not knowing. It will become clear once I meet him, right? (Renya) Saying so, Renya had Croire lift her head in a slight fluster.Its was the next day when the elven heros party passed through Klinges transfer gate.A messenger announced the arrival of the hero party in advance and then, afterwards, elves appeared from the transfer gate in succession.As its a group that brought a priestess along like the beastmen had, they dont give off a feeling like the dragonoids, whose hero came by himself, did. However, its a party full of soldiers that were completely armed with leather armors, longswords and bows.Murmurs rise up among the soldiers who guarded the transfer gate.Even if its inevitable to be armed to some extent if using a transfer gate, passing through the gate while armed to the teeth is rare.And its even rarer if the transfer gates destination is a foreign country.Of course, since its not possible to transfer a large number of soldiers all at once, it would be fine to crush every last one of them as they appear if they acted odd in any way, but even so, tension swelled among the soldiers on Klinges side. Sorry, human soldiers. Theres a reason for us being armed, but that doesnt mean that we plan to do something nefarious. A female elf with shortcut blond hair and blue eyes said.As expected, seemingly not wanting to escalate the situation any further by talking in elvish, she uses the human language. My name is Skuld Solweiss. I have been entrusted with the duty of escorting the hero on this occasion. The armament is something used for accomplishing that duty. In the name of His Majesty the Emperor, I swear that we will absolutely not turn our weapons towards you. (Skuld) Hearing her distinctive and well-carrying voice, the soldiers of Klinge look at each other.It was no mistake to say that the elven country is related to Renya as an individual rather than the Trident Principality, but to the soldiers it was recognized as a friendly nation.Thats why there was merit in believing the words of the woman called Skuld, but if they place their trust in those words, theres still one issue left unsolved.That is, why is she talking about escorting the hero?At the very least he should boast of a strength that cannot be compared to common soldiers since he has been chosen as hero.So the question is: just what is the reason that makes it indispensable for that hero to be escorted by common soldiers that should be inferior in combat power?In front of the soldiers of Klinge, who harbored such a doubt, something that made them fall even further into confusion appears through the transfer gate.It was a cage made out of thick iron poles.Having a size of around one meter in all three directions, the cage has been placed on a wooden wagon which is pulled by four elves.A thin figure sat inside that cage while embracing his knees.Pointed ears are visible through the gaps in his smooth blonde hair.For some reason a fiery light was dwelling in his blue eyes which were looking up from his downcast face.His mouth has been covered by a mask made out of some kind of hide which was tightly affixed to his face, making it impossible for him to speak.The clothes he wore, or rather than clothes, its just a plain cloth that had been tightened around his neck and has holes at its sides allowing the arms to pass through. An unrefined collar has been attached to his neck and four chains connected that collar with the cage.Manacles have been put on his arms and just as with the collar, four chains connected the manacles with the cage. Also, shackles with weights have been firmly affixed to his feet.No matter how you look at it, the whole procession simply looks like the escort of some prisoner, and on top of that of a very atrocious prisoner. What the hell is this? Skuld responds to the words muttered by one of the transfer gate guards, lacking any more appropriate words to use. He is Grn Pas Tifalet, the one who was selected to be the elven hero. Id like to request someone to announce our arrival to Margrave Kunugi. Howeverwe would like to refuse a formal audience. If possible, we want him to check the heros face in this place as we wish to bring him back to the elven country right away. (Skuld) Y-You are saying that t-this is your hero? Due to Skulds speech a single soldier ran off in order to inform Renya for the time being, but the soldiers, who stayed back at the transfer gate, dumbfoundedly stared at the person inside the cage as if having heard something unbelievable.Upon the question of one of those soldiers, Skuld nodded solemnly. I know what you want to say, but its the truthdefinitely not a lie. (Skuld) At the same moment, Renya, who looked through the letter sent by the elven country the other day, toppled over from the chair in his office.The following text had been written in the letter which Renya had tossed on the desk: Grn Pas Tifalet is the 17th ranked prince, possessing a legitimate blood relation with His Majesty the currently reigning Emperor. At the same time hes a major offender under imprisonment for the proven murder of 30 people in 8 cases and furthermore for suspicion of involvement with the murder of 87 people in 29 cases. Chapter 133 C It seems the Elven Hero has arrived The elven hero, Grn Pas Tifalet, initiated his visit to Klinge a few days after Renya had sent the elven emperors handwritten letter to Trident Principalitys capital.Previously a directive written by the archduchess with a heart mark attached, stating that he should suitably deal with the elven heros party that would soon come to his place, had been delivered.Renya ended up thinking,Consider your age when you are writing something, but since it had been more or less arranged in the proper, official format for directives, he couldnt complain about it either.Moreover, there was no mention of a specified date and time when the elven hero was going to arrive in the archduchess directive.Say what you like, thats too unclear! Renya was slightly peeved, but Croire soothed Renya, telling him that this all has a reason.Probably because of their very long lifespans, elves apparently arent fixated on dates and time so much.Once they decide on a rough time span, they seem to not mind an approximate range of several days as measurement error.Renya, who was informed about those circumstances by Croire, admired that they were able to properly keep the country and other organizations running with such an attitude, but its apparently not an issue as the elves are precise with their deadlines and dates when they have to be.Once he takes that information into consideration, it appeared that the elven heros visit to a human country had been classified as a comparatively inconsequential event. You dont have to think about it too obstinately. Likely no one will get angry even if our reception is somewhat noncommittal. (Croire) Croire says while scanning through the directive from the archduchess, but Renya wonders whether itll actually be fine to handle it like that.However, Renyas thoughts were immediately brushed aside when he saw Croires serious expression as she caught sight of a sentence in the directive. Whats wrong? (Renya) Basically the women around Renya never show overly troubled expressions.It was needless to speak about Shion, but Frau and Emil smile a lot while their thoughts are unclear. And Renya hardly meets Croire in situations that would force her to change her expression since her position is practically that of a freeloader.Mayria was swamped with work due to having to process a mountain of documents in the beginning when they started Klinge and thus looked daggers at him, but now that they started to sporadically gather a few civil officials, it became rare for her to have a scary face as she apparently learned to delegate work to her subordinates.The sole exception is Rona who has been involved with both, military and administrative affairs. Even now shes grappling with documents and concerns while furrowing her brows in her own allocated room.Frau, who had become worried about her condition, visited her quite often and brought medicine and food, which she claims to be good for her health and beauty, to Rona.But then again, the food and medicine had colors and smells that made Renya doubt whether those things are really good for ones health and beauty.Even when asked by Renya, Frau stubbornly withheld the ingredients of those things, but Rona, who uses the items diligently, apparently experienced substantial results as far as the gloss of her hair and skin are concerned.Renya ponders whether he should soon try selling it to noble ladies in the capital.Back to the topic; Croire, who showed a troubled expression after being asked by Renya, lifted her eyes from the directive, looked at Renya and said, This person called Grn is (Croire) Yeah? Going by his name, its obvious that hes someone related to His Majesty the Elven Emperor like you, Croire, but what about it? (Renya) Pas Tifalet is the same family name as Croires. Its immediately clear that he has a blood relation with the emperor.But, the other party isthatemperor.Although you might call it a blood relationship, I cant imagine at all how much of a connection he has with the emperor and how he obtained it.I mean, after all there also are 35 people that might be considered legitimate if only going by lineage. Grn-niisama is the 17th child of His Majesty going from the top. (Croire) Hes not an adult? As in elven terms. (Renya) Hes a minor. Though you cant call him a child. (Croire) He seems to have passed the age of 100, but using the elven accepted practice, hes not seen as adult.However, if asked whether that defaults him into being called a child as thats what it would actually mean, things apparently become slightly different. Hes simply not an adult. That much is fine, but (Croire) Okay. (Renya) Idont know this person. (Croire) Renya was about to say that its probably not weird if theres one or two people she doesnt know given that there are 35 brothers and sisters, but hes interrupted by Croires next words. I have 34 siblings above me in rank, but I only know the faces and names of 33 people. (Croire) Okay? (Renya) Should I retort here that she cant remember a single person? Or should I retort to her having memorized 33 people?Renya wavers. However just this Grn-niisama alone; I know his name but I cant remember his face. (Croire) Renya thinks about Croires words for a bit and then tries telling her what came into his mind. You simply didnt meet him often or something like that? (Renya) That much is the same with the other siblings as well. Generally I see them around once or twice a year. (Croire) You are on very bad terms with him or he gave you such a traumatic experience that you forgot his face? (Renya) Croire quickly denied Renya who asked while thinking,Though it will be a problem if she actually confirmed one of these. Given that Im the youngest child, I was mostly treated with love. (Croire) So what exactly does that mean? (Renya) I dont know. (Croire) Receiving an immediate reply, Renyas shoulders slump down.However, Croire said with a thoroughly serious face, Its weird that I dont remember. Since hes at the very least a person with a standing that would allow him to be chosen as the hero, it shouldnt be strange for him to leave behind some kind of impression when meeting him, but (Croire) If he didnt give Croire any kind of impression, not even a redeeming feature as that of being incompetent, thats not something that can be disregarded with information that only states that such an air pocket-like person just doesnt exist or is missing.However, such a person will likely not be chosen as hero is what Croire says.Different from the summoned human hero, the heroes of the other races are expected to be selected from among those who have reasonable ability, going by past precedents.If he was incompetent, he shouldnt have even qualified as a candidate. Sorry, Renya. Since I cant abandon the possibility that his face has simply slipped my mind either, it doesnt seem as if Im going to be of much help regarding this matter. (Croire) It would be a big help if he could obtain information about the other party in advance, but Croire apologetically bows her head towards Renya. Dont mind it. As its just a story that would simply be helpful by giving us some information in advance, it also wont become a problem for me for not knowing. It will become clear once I meet him, right? (Renya) Saying so, Renya had Croire lift her head in a slight fluster.Its was the next day when the elven heros party passed through Klinges transfer gate.A messenger announced the arrival of the hero party in advance and then, afterwards, elves appeared from the transfer gate in succession.As its a group that brought a priestess along like the beastmen had, they dont give off a feeling like the dragonoids, whose hero came by himself, did. However, its a party full of soldiers that were completely armed with leather armors, longswords and bows.Murmurs rise up among the soldiers who guarded the transfer gate.Even if its inevitable to be armed to some extent if using a transfer gate, passing through the gate while armed to the teeth is rare.And its even rarer if the transfer gates destination is a foreign country.Of course, since its not possible to transfer a large number of soldiers all at once, it would be fine to crush every last one of them as they appear if they acted odd in any way, but even so, tension swelled among the soldiers on Klinges side. Sorry, human soldiers. Theres a reason for us being armed, but that doesnt mean that we plan to do something nefarious. A female elf with shortcut blond hair and blue eyes said.As expected, seemingly not wanting to escalate the situation any further by talking in elvish, she uses the human language. My name is Skuld Solweiss. I have been entrusted with the duty of escorting the hero on this occasion. The armament is something used for accomplishing that duty. In the name of His Majesty the Emperor, I swear that we will absolutely not turn our weapons towards you. (Skuld) Hearing her distinctive and well-carrying voice, the soldiers of Klinge look at each other.It was no mistake to say that the elven country is related to Renya as an individual rather than the Trident Principality, but to the soldiers it was recognized as a friendly nation.Thats why there was merit in believing the words of the woman called Skuld, but if they place their trust in those words, theres still one issue left unsolved.That is, why is she talking about escorting the hero?At the very least he should boast of a strength that cannot be compared to common soldiers since he has been chosen as hero.So the question is: just what is the reason that makes it indispensable for that hero to be escorted by common soldiers that should be inferior in combat power?In front of the soldiers of Klinge, who harbored such a doubt, something that made them fall even further into confusion appears through the transfer gate.It was a cage made out of thick iron poles.Having a size of around one meter in all three directions, the cage has been placed on a wooden wagon which is pulled by four elves.A thin figure sat inside that cage while embracing his knees.Pointed ears are visible through the gaps in his smooth blonde hair.For some reason a fiery light was dwelling in his blue eyes which were looking up from his downcast face.His mouth has been covered by a mask made out of some kind of hide which was tightly affixed to his face, making it impossible for him to speak.The clothes he wore, or rather than clothes, its just a plain cloth that had been tightened around his neck and has holes at its sides allowing the arms to pass through. An unrefined collar has been attached to his neck and four chains connected that collar with the cage.Manacles have been put on his arms and just as with the collar, four chains connected the manacles with the cage. Also, shackles with weights have been firmly affixed to his feet.No matter how you look at it, the whole procession simply looks like the escort of some prisoner, and on top of that of a very atrocious prisoner. What the hell is this? Skuld responds to the words muttered by one of the transfer gate guards, lacking any more appropriate words to use. He is Grn Pas Tifalet, the one who was selected to be the elven hero. Id like to request someone to announce our arrival to Margrave Kunugi. Howeverwe would like to refuse a formal audience. If possible, we want him to check the heros face in this place as we wish to bring him back to the elven country right away. (Skuld) Y-You are saying that t-this is your hero? Due to Skulds speech a single soldier ran off in order to inform Renya for the time being, but the soldiers, who stayed back at the transfer gate, dumbfoundedly stared at the person inside the cage as if having heard something unbelievable.Upon the question of one of those soldiers, Skuld nodded solemnly. I know what you want to say, but its the truthdefinitely not a lie. (Skuld) At the same moment, Renya, who looked through the letter sent by the elven country the other day, toppled over from the chair in his office.The following text had been written in the letter which Renya had tossed on the desk: Grn Pas Tifalet is the 17th ranked prince, possessing a legitimate blood relation with His Majesty the currently reigning Emperor. At the same time hes a major offender under imprisonment for the proven murder of 30 people in 8 cases and furthermore for suspicion of involvement with the murder of 87 people in 29 cases. Chapter 134 Chapter 134 C It seems thats how it is There are only a few people who properly know about Grn Pas Tifalet.The current emperor, who is his biological father, is said to have answered the following when asked what kind of elf Grn is: That iswho was that again? Receiving retorts from all his close aides as might be expected, the emperor said, as if finally having recalled, That ones mother washow to say ittruly free and yet an inconspicuous woman. I think that she was a beautiful woman, but I dont really remember her well. Its not particularly a problem of my memories, but its said that she possessed the ability to keep the awareness of her existence lowbut then again, why did I seduce such a woman? I think its necessary to have a requirement beyond being just a woman for me to whisper my love into her ears? Its an anecdote of when the elven emperor, who was exposed to gazes that were close to absolute zero from the elven court ladies following his statement, escaped from the palace in a hurry.If one asks why it had become this type of story, the entire matter dates back to when several assassins aimed for the emperors life, a time of various disputes right after the enthronement of the current emperor.There existed quite a few nobles who opposed his enthronement, who didnt display an overly appropriate behavior. This is regarding an incident caused by the opposing faction relying on force. Having said that, definite proof still hasnt been found to this very day.The problem is that a female assassin had been included among the assassins sent to kill the emperor.Even though the emperor, who repelled the assassins sent for his life by himself, might be regarded as being outside the norm, but on top of repelling the assassins, one of them was raped by him.The person himself insists that it bore love as a result, but its not clear what the other party thought about that.Additionally, as an outcome from the time needed to gather testimonies and evidence to somehow punish the nobles, who caused this chain of incidents, the assassin, who was raped, gave birth to a child. Thats the origin of the current situation.This kind of story would be unthinkable for humans, but all of this took place because of the overly laid-back style of the elves.While doing something equivalent to a carefree investigation, the assassin somehow gave birth to a child. Moreover, although its a story of the emperor himself, it was a sight to see the faces of the higher-ups, who confirmed the fact that this child seemed to be the emperors child, and they couldnt avoid being dragged into the whole ordeal.Thus it became the very unusual birth of Grn, a child born between the emperor and an assassin. By the way, what about his mother? (Renya) Having received an explanation from Skuld, Renya asks her that out of curiosity.I certainly dont think so, but has she been given clemency for being the emperors lover?He wondered. After receiving a trial, she was executed for high treason. The prince himself was entrusted into the care of the empress. I hear it was judged that a child, who has been just born, has no sin. (Skuld) Even though it was different for his mother, him being considered a legitimate heir was apparently due to those circumstances.The emperor who entrusted Grn to her is one thing, but would the empress, who actually accepted him, normally take him in so broad-mindedly or rather with such a big heart?Renya ponders. So why did that prince, who was judged to be sinless, became a major criminal? (Renya) T-That is, ummhow to explain it (Skuld) Once Renya asks about the crux of the matter, Skuld averted her eyes and dilutes her words.Even Renya, who doesnt know the situation, understands that it is a story she doesnt really want to leak to the outside, however it would be wrong for him to overlook the facts just because of that. How about I ask the person himself if its something you cant talk about? (Renya) Shifting his eyes away from Skuld, he looks at the cage that has been placed in the center of the room.The escorting soldiers were strangely unwilling to remove the restraints from Grn, saying that they would lose sight of Grn no sooner than they had removed the restraints.Renya didnt understand what they meant, but in that case there would be no way to allow the cage into the parlor even if he was asked to give his permission.As a last resort Renya told them to bring the wagon with the cage to one of the storehouses in order to have a talk with Grn there. Removing the mouth constraint isnt possible. He is a master of sorcery. (Skuld) Skuld says in a hurry while stopping Renya who was about to approach the cage.Renya furrowed his eyebrows, obviously troubled. No, I mean, thats because I cant get an explanation from you. (Renya) As I said, as long as you can just confirm his face this time (Skuld) Hes the elven hero who might act together with our Kurz, right? Something like fighting together with a person, whose background is unclear, is a terrible idea. (Renya) Due to the words our Kurz naturally coming out of Renyas mouth, something similar to bitter smiles appeared on the faces of the human soldiers who were guarding the surroundings, but the expressions of the elven soldiers remained stiff.After sighing once Renya suggested to the elf, who said that they are unable to provide an explanation albeit understanding that its a situation that definitely requires one, Should I order everybody to leave since Im going to talk with him by myself then? (Renya) N-No, that isif something were to happen to Your Excellency (Skuld) We fought together once, so let me ask you, is this child stronger than me? Please give me an honest answer, okay? Its okay since I will pretend that what you are going to say from now on has never been actually mentioned. (Renya) Skuld has observed Renyas battle prowess from close-by when the elven city was attacked by the demons.Going by Skulds words, Renya wondered whether Grn was an outstanding master, but Skuld immediately denied it by shaking her head. I think that he doesnt reach your level, Renya-san. (Skuld) Due to Skulds reply, the elven soldiers stare at her face with their mouths wide-open. Even Grn within the cage widens his eyes slightly, appearing to be surprised, and looks at Skuld.Indifferent of whether she has noticed those looks or not, Skuld continued confidently, Honestly spoken, it will probably be very good if he lasts 2 or 3 minutes when fighting up front. Of course, if someone like me fought with you, Renya-san, it would probably end in a tenth of that. (Skuld) Her way of calling him naturally changed from Your Excellency to Renya-san, but Renya has no intention of criticize her for that.The current conversation will be treated as a conversation that never took place, and Skuld is a soldier who once fought shoulder-to-shoulder with him.In Renyas eyes being called Your Excellency was originally something that made him feel uncomfortable. Why are you worried then? (Renya) I mentioned up front. I believe he will immediately shift towards escape in case his restraints were to be removed. And, in case he escapes, the probability that even you, Renya-san, will fail to catch him is extremely high. (Skuld) I see. (Renya) Renya had the confidence that he would be able to deal with anything, even if the opponent is so quick that hes likely unable to catch him with his eyes, as long as the opponent faces him properly.However, things are different if it comes to an opponent who only devotes himself to escape.If he didnt mind transforming the surrounding area into scorched earth, it would be possible to suppress them through the scattering of a wide-ranged spell, but in a place, where he cant use that method, like the center of the city where they are right now, the possibility that Grn manages to escape if hes able to disappear from Renyas sight was high.Renyas abilities and skills are tailored towards facing opponents head on and have a bad affinity with escaping opponents.On top of that, Renya noticed that Grn seems to be the owner of certain abilities that make it difficult to capture him, such as hiding and covert actions, while observing him as he sits inside the cage.Even though hes simply sitting in front of him, Renya understands that hes a being that is hard to catch and that hes ready to escape at any time going by the glint in his eyes. But, as soon as he takes his eyes off of Grn, he cant clearly remember what kind of gaze it was. I believe the number of victims will increaseif he returns to our country with his restraints removed. (Skuld) Huh? You dont consider any damage to human countries? (Renya) I cant definitely state that its impossible for it to happen, but I believe the chances of it are extremely low. (Skuld) From Skulds words Renya is able to remove the possibility of Grn being a hedonist.If he was the type who finds pleasure in such deeds, it shouldnt matter whether the other party is an elf or a human.I cant exclude the possibility of him being an elf fetishist, but the chances of that being the case seems to be low, as far as I can see from Grn himself, Renya assesses. If thats the case, there must be a reason after all, huh? (Renya) You understand? (Skuld) Somehow. Its an overused and common expression based on a temporarily comforting evaluation criterion, but I somehow understand from looking into his eyes. (Renya) Since my words are really vague, its nothing I can state proudly, but his eye color is different, tinged with the goal or means to kill people.If Im asked how they are different, I will have trouble expressing it.Often words such as clouded or rotten are used to describe such eyes, but for Renya it feels as if such words somehow dont fit here. Your Highness (Skuld) From the words leaked by Skuld as if they had escaped unintentionally, Renya realizes that his thoughts arent that wrong.Theres no one but Grn here with a position justifying them being called Your Highness. It appears as if hes a person worthy to be addressed as such despite being a prisoner inside a cage. Skuld, Id like you to free just the mouth of this person after all. I will take responsibility for anything that happens hereafter. (Renya) ReYour Excellency (Skuld) I want to hear the words out of his mouth. Please. (Renya) Even with Renya bowing his head, Skuld hesitated for a moment.But, after opening and closing her mouth several times while watching Renya not lifting his head at all, she said very quietly, Release the mouth constraint of His Highness Grn. (Skuld) Captain Thats an order. I will take responsibility. (Skuld) Being clearly told so, the elven soldiers remove the chains connected to the cage while being slightly hesitant.But with only that the removal of the mouth constraint was incomplete, however, using the spell from outside the cage, Renya removed the fasteners holding the mouth constraints main part.Once the constraint drops with a plop, Grns face can be fully seen.At this point Renya was finally able to clearly examine Grns face.The something, which obstructed his field of vision as if it had been somewhat blurred until then, suddenly cleared up at the same time as the face constraint was removed.While staring at Grns exposed face from the front, Renya asked, Its an honor to meet you for the first time, Elven Hero-dono. Is there something youd like to say? (Renya) I am (Grn) Grns voice, which replied to Renyas question, was deep and low for an elf. It had a calm tone. Im a person with a father who is the elven emperor and a mother, who tried to kill that very emperor. Human Margrave, are you going to laugh at that? (Grn) Lets see. (Renya) Renya places his hand at his chin and thinks.The sound of the surrounding elves catching their breath could be heard.Its probably because they knew that something fatal might very likely happen depending on Renyas answer. How should I say it? I guess its a curious and amusing circumstance. (Renya) Upon Renyas forthright reply, blood thirst is released from within the cage.While looking at the soldiers who have become pale due to its fierceness, Renya still continued his reply, Though I dont have any intention to use your origin as reason to laugh at you. (Renya) Can I ask for the reason? (Grn) A child cant choose his parents. Therefore one cant laugh at a child with his parents as the reason. Also, no matter what kind of parents they might be, someone who ridicules the parents in front of a child cant complain even if they are killed by the child, right? However (Renya) He takes a short break and then after thinking about what he said, Renya speaks again, I dont know your mother so I cant say anything about her, but I have met the emperor once. Before I even consider whether to laugh or not, just the fact that you are the son of that emperor makes it hard for me to resist feeling sympathetic for you as you likely suffered quite a bit. (Renya) Im greatly obliged by your consideration. (Grn) After a short answer, Grn moves his body, thats bound by chains, with a rustle. Adjusting his sitting posture somewhat, he faced Renya and bowed his head.The blood thirst emitted at Renya vanishes as if it had never existed to begin with. Let me apologize for the rudeness of meeting you in such a state. Im called Grn, the one chosen as the elven hero. Although Im a person with such a history, please give me your permission to assist the Human Hero-dono. (Grn) It is I who should say so. I apologize for the rudeness of receiving the Elven Hero-dono in a place like this. Let me apologize in advance, but since I cant invite you to my parlor in this state, Id like to speak with you, oh hero, in this place. But is that fine with you? (Renya) Its a higher honor than I deserve. Id like to repeatedly apologize for the unworthiness of this me who has to ask the Human Hero-dono to go through the ordeal of coming here. (Grn) Bending over to the degree of making his chains creak and bowing his head, Grns tone was extremely calm and gentle. Renya! I remember! (Croire) After setting the conversation in order, Renya called Kurz and had him meet with Grn. The two heroes swore to cooperate with each other right then and there, and then the elves re-affixed the mouth constraint on Grn and quickly returned to their country by passing through the transfer gate.That was a really hurried visit, wasnt it?Renya believed,But it looks like the elven country has various circumstances going on for it as well.Having finished his job, Kurz was handed over to the beastmen priestesses and Renya returned to his office. On the way he was called out by Croire. I finally recalled the circumstances revolving around Grn-niisama. Ah, I still cant remember his face though. (Croire) While walking along the hallways after lining up with Croire, who nonchalantly said something cruel without even realizing it, Renya asked, What is it that you remembered? (Renya) The details of how nii-sama became a criminal. (Croire) Since I actually met him, I guess I can predict it somewhat though. (Renya) Considering his mothers vile occupation, her son has become the ideal target of slander for the nobles who want to complain to the emperor one way or another.Given that it would be treated as lese majeste, if they make fun of the emperor himself, they cant go ahead and simply do that, but if its his son, who doesnt possess any authority whatsoever, and his mother, who was executed for high treason, no one will ever blame them, no matter what insults they might use for either.Even if the emperor was able to protect his son somewhat, even he wouldnt be able to cover for his mother as her crime was set in stone.Although it was possible for the nobles to retort with, Then dont make a child with a woman in such circumstances in the first place, its one of the profound mysteries of a relationship between a man and a woman.Even if something I cant imagine happened, it wouldnt be all that strange either, Renya judges.As far as Renya knows there are no laws that prohibits falling in love with an assassin, who came to kill them.From Renyas point of view, that emperor lacks fidelity, but hes not irresponsible.He probably intended to place Grn under his protection as much as possible for him.However, Grn inherited the abilities of both his parents: a blade that reached even the emperor from his mother and the skill to reach the top of the elven race from his father. So the prince, who was mentally inexperienced while still possessing talent, ended up flying into a rage unintentionally? (Renya) Its as if you had seen it, Renya. (Croire) According to the protocol taken afterwards, it appears to have been a result of him repeatedly enduring and enduring, though. Croire says.Going by her words, Grn, who couldnt put up with the incessant denunciations by the nobles any longer, used all of the abilities he inherited and started to massacre all the family members and followers of the nobles who had continued to to insult him and his mother. So thats the reason for the high number of crimes and victims. (Renya) Originally he would likely have been executed promptly, but father, who was aware of the circumstances, groped for a solution wondering whether there was no way to somehow show him mercythough its an abuse of his power. Fortunatelyor maybe not, the verification of the overwhelming number of crimes and victims has been taking quite a lot of time, much less to say that its still an ongoing process. (Croire) For Croire being unable to match Grns name with his face was apparently an effect of a concealment skill thats continuously kept up unconsciously by Grn.Even if he was in front of her, she would only be able to weakly sense his existence and it would be difficult for her to vaguely keep remembering information about his facial features due to said skill. However, a samurai-like dragonoid, a muscle-brained beastman and now an elf similar to a natural-born assassin? Aint there too much weirdos in that lineup of heroes? (Renya) They are holding cards stating their races. Below their names and short descriptions. If he uses the title of hero to the fullest, its likely possible to move Grn to Renyas territory.Moreover, if they manage to successfully subjugate the demon king, it shouldnt be difficult to have him escape from death in exchange for that achievement.Due to the words Renya muttered while thinking,Its probably necessary to negotiate with the emperor about the permission to take care of Grn here while making use of his circumstances as material for the talks, Croire clearly replied, The previous human hero, who was ruined due to being a lustful man, Kurz-san, who is the current hero and capable of destroying an army by himself, and you, his manageris it wrong to think that the height of weirdness lies on the human side? (Croire) Being told that, Renya lacked the words to give a reply and thus let his gaze quietly wander through the air. Chapter 134 C It seems thats how it is There are only a few people who properly know about Grn Pas Tifalet.The current emperor, who is his biological father, is said to have answered the following when asked what kind of elf Grn is: That iswho was that again? Receiving retorts from all his close aides as might be expected, the emperor said, as if finally having recalled, That ones mother washow to say ittruly free and yet an inconspicuous woman. I think that she was a beautiful woman, but I dont really remember her well. Its not particularly a problem of my memories, but its said that she possessed the ability to keep the awareness of her existence lowbut then again, why did I seduce such a woman? I think its necessary to have a requirement beyond being just a woman for me to whisper my love into her ears? Its an anecdote of when the elven emperor, who was exposed to gazes that were close to absolute zero from the elven court ladies following his statement, escaped from the palace in a hurry.If one asks why it had become this type of story, the entire matter dates back to when several assassins aimed for the emperors life, a time of various disputes right after the enthronement of the current emperor.There existed quite a few nobles who opposed his enthronement, who didnt display an overly appropriate behavior. This is regarding an incident caused by the opposing faction relying on force. Having said that, definite proof still hasnt been found to this very day.The problem is that a female assassin had been included among the assassins sent to kill the emperor.Even though the emperor, who repelled the assassins sent for his life by himself, might be regarded as being outside the norm, but on top of repelling the assassins, one of them was raped by him.The person himself insists that it bore love as a result, but its not clear what the other party thought about that.Additionally, as an outcome from the time needed to gather testimonies and evidence to somehow punish the nobles, who caused this chain of incidents, the assassin, who was raped, gave birth to a child. Thats the origin of the current situation.This kind of story would be unthinkable for humans, but all of this took place because of the overly laid-back style of the elves.While doing something equivalent to a carefree investigation, the assassin somehow gave birth to a child. Moreover, although its a story of the emperor himself, it was a sight to see the faces of the higher-ups, who confirmed the fact that this child seemed to be the emperors child, and they couldnt avoid being dragged into the whole ordeal.Thus it became the very unusual birth of Grn, a child born between the emperor and an assassin. By the way, what about his mother? (Renya) Having received an explanation from Skuld, Renya asks her that out of curiosity.I certainly dont think so, but has she been given clemency for being the emperors lover?He wondered. After receiving a trial, she was executed for high treason. The prince himself was entrusted into the care of the empress. I hear it was judged that a child, who has been just born, has no sin. (Skuld) Even though it was different for his mother, him being considered a legitimate heir was apparently due to those circumstances.The emperor who entrusted Grn to her is one thing, but would the empress, who actually accepted him, normally take him in so broad-mindedly or rather with such a big heart?Renya ponders. So why did that prince, who was judged to be sinless, became a major criminal? (Renya) T-That is, ummhow to explain it (Skuld) Once Renya asks about the crux of the matter, Skuld averted her eyes and dilutes her words.Even Renya, who doesnt know the situation, understands that it is a story she doesnt really want to leak to the outside, however it would be wrong for him to overlook the facts just because of that. How about I ask the person himself if its something you cant talk about? (Renya) Shifting his eyes away from Skuld, he looks at the cage that has been placed in the center of the room.The escorting soldiers were strangely unwilling to remove the restraints from Grn, saying that they would lose sight of Grn no sooner than they had removed the restraints.Renya didnt understand what they meant, but in that case there would be no way to allow the cage into the parlor even if he was asked to give his permission.As a last resort Renya told them to bring the wagon with the cage to one of the storehouses in order to have a talk with Grn there. Removing the mouth constraint isnt possible. He is a master of sorcery. (Skuld) Skuld says in a hurry while stopping Renya who was about to approach the cage.Renya furrowed his eyebrows, obviously troubled. No, I mean, thats because I cant get an explanation from you. (Renya) As I said, as long as you can just confirm his face this time (Skuld) Hes the elven hero who might act together with our Kurz, right? Something like fighting together with a person, whose background is unclear, is a terrible idea. (Renya) Due to the words our Kurz naturally coming out of Renyas mouth, something similar to bitter smiles appeared on the faces of the human soldiers who were guarding the surroundings, but the expressions of the elven soldiers remained stiff.After sighing once Renya suggested to the elf, who said that they are unable to provide an explanation albeit understanding that its a situation that definitely requires one, Should I order everybody to leave since Im going to talk with him by myself then? (Renya) N-No, that isif something were to happen to Your Excellency (Skuld) We fought together once, so let me ask you, is this child stronger than me? Please give me an honest answer, okay? Its okay since I will pretend that what you are going to say from now on has never been actually mentioned. (Renya) Skuld has observed Renyas battle prowess from close-by when the elven city was attacked by the demons.Going by Skulds words, Renya wondered whether Grn was an outstanding master, but Skuld immediately denied it by shaking her head. I think that he doesnt reach your level, Renya-san. (Skuld) Due to Skulds reply, the elven soldiers stare at her face with their mouths wide-open. Even Grn within the cage widens his eyes slightly, appearing to be surprised, and looks at Skuld.Indifferent of whether she has noticed those looks or not, Skuld continued confidently, Honestly spoken, it will probably be very good if he lasts 2 or 3 minutes when fighting up front. Of course, if someone like me fought with you, Renya-san, it would probably end in a tenth of that. (Skuld) Her way of calling him naturally changed from Your Excellency to Renya-san, but Renya has no intention of criticize her for that.The current conversation will be treated as a conversation that never took place, and Skuld is a soldier who once fought shoulder-to-shoulder with him.In Renyas eyes being called Your Excellency was originally something that made him feel uncomfortable. Why are you worried then? (Renya) I mentioned up front. I believe he will immediately shift towards escape in case his restraints were to be removed. And, in case he escapes, the probability that even you, Renya-san, will fail to catch him is extremely high. (Skuld) I see. (Renya) Renya had the confidence that he would be able to deal with anything, even if the opponent is so quick that hes likely unable to catch him with his eyes, as long as the opponent faces him properly.However, things are different if it comes to an opponent who only devotes himself to escape.If he didnt mind transforming the surrounding area into scorched earth, it would be possible to suppress them through the scattering of a wide-ranged spell, but in a place, where he cant use that method, like the center of the city where they are right now, the possibility that Grn manages to escape if hes able to disappear from Renyas sight was high.Renyas abilities and skills are tailored towards facing opponents head on and have a bad affinity with escaping opponents.On top of that, Renya noticed that Grn seems to be the owner of certain abilities that make it difficult to capture him, such as hiding and covert actions, while observing him as he sits inside the cage.Even though hes simply sitting in front of him, Renya understands that hes a being that is hard to catch and that hes ready to escape at any time going by the glint in his eyes. But, as soon as he takes his eyes off of Grn, he cant clearly remember what kind of gaze it was. I believe the number of victims will increaseif he returns to our country with his restraints removed. (Skuld) Huh? You dont consider any damage to human countries? (Renya) I cant definitely state that its impossible for it to happen, but I believe the chances of it are extremely low. (Skuld) From Skulds words Renya is able to remove the possibility of Grn being a hedonist.If he was the type who finds pleasure in such deeds, it shouldnt matter whether the other party is an elf or a human.I cant exclude the possibility of him being an elf fetishist, but the chances of that being the case seems to be low, as far as I can see from Grn himself, Renya assesses. If thats the case, there must be a reason after all, huh? (Renya) You understand? (Skuld) Somehow. Its an overused and common expression based on a temporarily comforting evaluation criterion, but I somehow understand from looking into his eyes. (Renya) Since my words are really vague, its nothing I can state proudly, but his eye color is different, tinged with the goal or means to kill people.If Im asked how they are different, I will have trouble expressing it.Often words such as clouded or rotten are used to describe such eyes, but for Renya it feels as if such words somehow dont fit here. Your Highness (Skuld) From the words leaked by Skuld as if they had escaped unintentionally, Renya realizes that his thoughts arent that wrong.Theres no one but Grn here with a position justifying them being called Your Highness. It appears as if hes a person worthy to be addressed as such despite being a prisoner inside a cage. Skuld, Id like you to free just the mouth of this person after all. I will take responsibility for anything that happens hereafter. (Renya) ReYour Excellency (Skuld) I want to hear the words out of his mouth. Please. (Renya) Even with Renya bowing his head, Skuld hesitated for a moment.But, after opening and closing her mouth several times while watching Renya not lifting his head at all, she said very quietly, Release the mouth constraint of His Highness Grn. (Skuld) Captain Thats an order. I will take responsibility. (Skuld) Being clearly told so, the elven soldiers remove the chains connected to the cage while being slightly hesitant.But with only that the removal of the mouth constraint was incomplete, however, using the spell from outside the cage, Renya removed the fasteners holding the mouth constraints main part.Once the constraint drops with a plop, Grns face can be fully seen.At this point Renya was finally able to clearly examine Grns face.The something, which obstructed his field of vision as if it had been somewhat blurred until then, suddenly cleared up at the same time as the face constraint was removed.While staring at Grns exposed face from the front, Renya asked, Its an honor to meet you for the first time, Elven Hero-dono. Is there something youd like to say? (Renya) I am (Grn) Grns voice, which replied to Renyas question, was deep and low for an elf. It had a calm tone. Im a person with a father who is the elven emperor and a mother, who tried to kill that very emperor. Human Margrave, are you going to laugh at that? (Grn) Lets see. (Renya) Renya places his hand at his chin and thinks.The sound of the surrounding elves catching their breath could be heard.Its probably because they knew that something fatal might very likely happen depending on Renyas answer. How should I say it? I guess its a curious and amusing circumstance. (Renya) Upon Renyas forthright reply, blood thirst is released from within the cage.While looking at the soldiers who have become pale due to its fierceness, Renya still continued his reply, Though I dont have any intention to use your origin as reason to laugh at you. (Renya) Can I ask for the reason? (Grn) A child cant choose his parents. Therefore one cant laugh at a child with his parents as the reason. Also, no matter what kind of parents they might be, someone who ridicules the parents in front of a child cant complain even if they are killed by the child, right? However (Renya) He takes a short break and then after thinking about what he said, Renya speaks again, I dont know your mother so I cant say anything about her, but I have met the emperor once. Before I even consider whether to laugh or not, just the fact that you are the son of that emperor makes it hard for me to resist feeling sympathetic for you as you likely suffered quite a bit. (Renya) Im greatly obliged by your consideration. (Grn) After a short answer, Grn moves his body, thats bound by chains, with a rustle. Adjusting his sitting posture somewhat, he faced Renya and bowed his head.The blood thirst emitted at Renya vanishes as if it had never existed to begin with. Let me apologize for the rudeness of meeting you in such a state. Im called Grn, the one chosen as the elven hero. Although Im a person with such a history, please give me your permission to assist the Human Hero-dono. (Grn) It is I who should say so. I apologize for the rudeness of receiving the Elven Hero-dono in a place like this. Let me apologize in advance, but since I cant invite you to my parlor in this state, Id like to speak with you, oh hero, in this place. But is that fine with you? (Renya) Its a higher honor than I deserve. Id like to repeatedly apologize for the unworthiness of this me who has to ask the Human Hero-dono to go through the ordeal of coming here. (Grn) Bending over to the degree of making his chains creak and bowing his head, Grns tone was extremely calm and gentle. Renya! I remember! (Croire) After setting the conversation in order, Renya called Kurz and had him meet with Grn. The two heroes swore to cooperate with each other right then and there, and then the elves re-affixed the mouth constraint on Grn and quickly returned to their country by passing through the transfer gate.That was a really hurried visit, wasnt it?Renya believed,But it looks like the elven country has various circumstances going on for it as well.Having finished his job, Kurz was handed over to the beastmen priestesses and Renya returned to his office. On the way he was called out by Croire. I finally recalled the circumstances revolving around Grn-niisama. Ah, I still cant remember his face though. (Croire) While walking along the hallways after lining up with Croire, who nonchalantly said something cruel without even realizing it, Renya asked, What is it that you remembered? (Renya) The details of how nii-sama became a criminal. (Croire) Since I actually met him, I guess I can predict it somewhat though. (Renya) Considering his mothers vile occupation, her son has become the ideal target of slander for the nobles who want to complain to the emperor one way or another.Given that it would be treated as lese majeste, if they make fun of the emperor himself, they cant go ahead and simply do that, but if its his son, who doesnt possess any authority whatsoever, and his mother, who was executed for high treason, no one will ever blame them, no matter what insults they might use for either.Even if the emperor was able to protect his son somewhat, even he wouldnt be able to cover for his mother as her crime was set in stone.Although it was possible for the nobles to retort with, Then dont make a child with a woman in such circumstances in the first place, its one of the profound mysteries of a relationship between a man and a woman.Even if something I cant imagine happened, it wouldnt be all that strange either, Renya judges.As far as Renya knows there are no laws that prohibits falling in love with an assassin, who came to kill them.From Renyas point of view, that emperor lacks fidelity, but hes not irresponsible.He probably intended to place Grn under his protection as much as possible for him.However, Grn inherited the abilities of both his parents: a blade that reached even the emperor from his mother and the skill to reach the top of the elven race from his father. So the prince, who was mentally inexperienced while still possessing talent, ended up flying into a rage unintentionally? (Renya) Its as if you had seen it, Renya. (Croire) According to the protocol taken afterwards, it appears to have been a result of him repeatedly enduring and enduring, though. Croire says.Going by her words, Grn, who couldnt put up with the incessant denunciations by the nobles any longer, used all of the abilities he inherited and started to massacre all the family members and followers of the nobles who had continued to to insult him and his mother. So thats the reason for the high number of crimes and victims. (Renya) Originally he would likely have been executed promptly, but father, who was aware of the circumstances, groped for a solution wondering whether there was no way to somehow show him mercythough its an abuse of his power. Fortunatelyor maybe not, the verification of the overwhelming number of crimes and victims has been taking quite a lot of time, much less to say that its still an ongoing process. (Croire) For Croire being unable to match Grns name with his face was apparently an effect of a concealment skill thats continuously kept up unconsciously by Grn.Even if he was in front of her, she would only be able to weakly sense his existence and it would be difficult for her to vaguely keep remembering information about his facial features due to said skill. However, a samurai-like dragonoid, a muscle-brained beastman and now an elf similar to a natural-born assassin? Aint there too much weirdos in that lineup of heroes? (Renya) They are holding cards stating their races. Below their names and short descriptions. If he uses the title of hero to the fullest, its likely possible to move Grn to Renyas territory.Moreover, if they manage to successfully subjugate the demon king, it shouldnt be difficult to have him escape from death in exchange for that achievement.Due to the words Renya muttered while thinking,Its probably necessary to negotiate with the emperor about the permission to take care of Grn here while making use of his circumstances as material for the talks, Croire clearly replied, The previous human hero, who was ruined due to being a lustful man, Kurz-san, who is the current hero and capable of destroying an army by himself, and you, his manageris it wrong to think that the height of weirdness lies on the human side? (Croire) Being told that, Renya lacked the words to give a reply and thus let his gaze quietly wander through the air. Chapter 135 The negotiations to turn Grn, the elven hero, over to Renyas side finished so easily that Mayria dumbfoundedly muttered, Is it really okay to decide on this in such a short amount of time?In the letter Renya sent to the emperor, as if the letter was chasing Grns party that had just returned to the elven country, he made a list of requests revolving around Renya wanting to take Grn, who is being treated as criminal, under his care, and in case they successful subjugated the demon king, expressed his wish for Grns crimes to be pardoned and a revocation of the high treason charge imposed on his mother.His point is that Grns achievements in the subjugation of the demon king will likely be more than enough in order to revoke the high treason charge as the hero Grn wouldnt have come to be without his mother.Although one might say that Renya holds a reasonably high social status, hes nothing more than a single noble in a single nation of the human continent. Naturally it was a letter that would inevitably be criticized as being an intervention in the elven countrys domestic affairs, seeing as Renya isnt considering his own position at all.As a natural reaction, people, who opposed Renyas proposal, appeared among elven nobility.However, after calmly listening to the claims of the opposing side, the elven emperor said: I fully understand your view points. Then, I wonder, who among you has the courage to go to the letters sender and state their opinion, which you have just told me, directly to them? Due to the emperors words, which were bluntly stated in a dispassionate manner all without changing his expression, its said that some people suddenly remembered that they had some urgent business to attend to and others excused themselves in front of the emperor after immediately retracting their own complaints with pale faces.Renya, who heard about this story later on, believed that he hadnt done anything scary enough to justify their behavior. However Renyas name, who was said to have forced an army of monsters, with numbers dozens of times larger than the few soldiers he led, to retreat and on top of that to have defeated a demon, which was later on finished off by the imperial princess Croire, in an one-on-one battle, had apparently spread among the nobles of the elven country alongside the warning Dont touch, dangerous.The emperor, who is more than well aware of this fact, gazed at the nobles of the opposing faction, a faction whose numbers had been dwindling little-by-little, while calmly linking his hands on top of his knees. Before long not one of them remained in front of him. Slowly he signed the document related to the hand-over of Grn, wrote the necessary decree for it to happen and affixed his seal to it.Renya was angry thinking,What does he think other people are?, but Croire and even Grn, who was sent to Renya alongside the decree, shared the opinion that the emperors actions were correct. If I were the one criticizing that the letter is an intervention in domestic affairs, I would at least request the emperor to do something about it. (Renya) Huh? (Croire & Grn) Although he was dissatisfied, Renya was forced into silence due to the questioning looks of younger sister and elder brother.By the way, as he couldnt agree with it no matter what, he told Shion and Rona the same thing later on, but their reaction was exactly the same as that of the elven siblings.Even if its a digression, Grn had officially been handed over to Renya under those circumstances.As for the public announcement, it took the form of him staying as a guest after being asked to do so by the human hero.Whatever might be the truth, the elves couldnt just say that they allowed this to happen in response to the request of a single human noble after all.It goes without saying that the one who complained about this matter until the very end was Renya who grumbled all by himself, You should have just said that it was possible to keep him here in the form of it being the heros request from the very beginning.At any rate, due to this it has resulted in three of the four existing heroes in this world having gathered under Renya, who is no more than a single member of a single human country. Havent I obtained combat power that seems capable of at least unifying the human continent if I insist on it? (Renya) In reality the only one who seems likely to do what hes told after being ordered by Renya is just Kurz.However, Grn doesnt look to have the same kind of attitude towards humans as he has towards elves.There were signs that he might unexpectedly obediently cooperate if he was presented some kind of merit for the elves.As for Lepard, it doesnt feel overly complicated to make him cooperate by tricking him. A rebellion? You know, I was told by mother to inform her in advance by all means, if you are going to start a rebellion. (Shion) Renya muttered those words accidentally while scanning through a list of goods and money both in amounts that are more than plenty for the sake of Grns livelihood, which had been sent by the elven emperor under the pretext of it being an expense allowance. Hearing that, Shion, who was carrying those goods to the storehouse together with the soldiers, stopped and said that to Renya. Nah, I wont do something so troublesome like that, buttell me, what will Her Majesty the Archduchess do after receiving such information? (Renya) If its someone dim-witted, they would dream of becoming the supreme ruler by conquering the whole continent, but for Renya it only caused him to question,Why do I have to deliberately burden myself with such a troublesome task?With it taking quite the effort to to even manage a single margraviate, theres no way that I will be able to manage a whole continent of unknown size, he ends up pondering. She will easily give up and think of a method to cajole you somehow, Renya. (Shion) Renya feels shocked due to Shions smooth reply. Just what is that person thinking!? (Renya) Me and Mayria plan to help you to the best of our abilities, so please make sure to tell us in advance. (Shion) Just what are you guys even thinking!? (Renya) Father also told me that hed like to discuss this with you at the time when you make your stand, Renya. (Croire) Croire-san!? (Renya) He said that the foundation of a unified nation, similar to that of the elven continent, on the human continent would be a joyous eventhowever, since it would be established with you as ruler, he asked me to tell you that he requests you to spare him from attacking the elven country. (Croire) Didnt I tell you? I wont do it! Whats with the uneasiness of His Majesty the Emperor!? (Renya) Margravesince I will restrain myself, attacking the beastman country isif you like, we can arrange for several priestesses for you? KaedeI will cooperate obediently, so please overlook her. (Lepard) Shuddap, meathead! Just carry the goods silently, you fool! (Renya) Renya sends Lepard, who approached with a somewhat meek expression, flying with a kick.The beastman hero-dono, who always brags about his own strength, apparently assisted with the moving of the goods after being skillfully drawn into it by Klinges soldiers.Opposite to Lepard, who runs away with his ears and tail curled up, they could see Kaede, who was twisting and turning her body while muttering Geez, that Lepard with an enraptured expression and both her hands covering her cheeks, but Renya does his best to pretend that he didnt see that.They both apparently intended not to be noticed, but the hero Lepard and the priestess Kaede seem to be in love with each other. They have been observed together in the shadows of buildings and corners of the city by Klinges soldiers with quite a high frequency.The sightings of them together have been delivered as official reports to Renya as if it was somehow natural. Renya himself wards those reports of, as he sees them as inconsequential information, but among the soldiers patrolling the city, there are talks that they have managed to draw up something like a date course map that follows the beastman heros steps.That part has reached Renyas ears as well and it has become one of his worries whether he should rebuke the voyeur-like soldiers asking them what they are doing during work hours, or whether he should praise their ability to thoroughly investigate the details so far without being caught by the beastmens perception. In my opinion I think its a problem that your impact on your surroundings was too big in comparison to the time it took you to make a name for yourself. (Shion) Shion says to Renya, who shoos away all the people who had gathered here.Renya looks at Shion wondering,What the hell is she talking about all of a sudden?, but as if having not noticed his gaze, Shion continued, Normally, a person, who boasts of military power similar to yours, Renya, is someone who climbs up after having some gossip about them spread before becoming famous, but in your case you fought a demon, tied a hero to you and became a noble no sooner than your name suddenly appeared. Arent only those big stories circulating about you the only sources of information? (Shion) Well, all of that is the truth though (Croire) Croire retorts, but Shion continues further while ignoring her, In other words, the information regarding the person called Renya is spearheaded by only your oversized accomplishments because theres too little other information about you. Isnt this the reason why nicknames such as Demon King, Slaughterer and Soul Collector are running rampant as your image, Renya? (Shion) No, just a moment. This is the first time Im hearing of these titles. (Renya) Tapping Shions shoulder, who spouts forth a torrent of speech while raising her index finger, Renya stops her.Having been interrupted, Shion looks at Renya with eyes as though asking him just what his business is, but even for Renya this wasnt a topic he could simply let slide. Just what are those nicknames that make one embarrassed from just hearing them? (Renya) Your plausible nicknames that are circulating on the human continent. (Shion) Who circulated them? Tell me. (Renya) Theres no way for me to know that, is there? It seems you are called Jet-black Renegade or something like that in the Holy Kingdom, I think? (Shion) Why do people I dont know who are in places I havent visited add weird nicknames to people they havent even met!? (Renya) Renya unintentionally raises his voice, but he receives an even bigger shock from Croires next words. In the elven country you are referred to as Visitor of the Strong Sword or Flame of Condemnation. (Croire) Those are names given to you from you crossing swords with a demon and you burning that demon to death, arent they? Croire laughs brightly, but for Renya this is no laughing matter. Have them stop right away! (Renya) Asking for that is unreasonable. (Croire) Croire frowns, but even Renya cannot afford to withdraw due to something of this level.In the first place, the one who finished off the demon by setting him on fire was Croire, so it should be fine for me to declare that I have no recollection of having condemned anyone.Renya thrust that fact at Croire, but he soon became speechless due to her lashing back at him with You were the one who had me do that, Renya. Being given nicknames is something fairly honorable, no? Albeit you did not decide on these nicknames, they were assigned to you naturally. Isnt that proof of their admiration? (Croire) Please be more confident, Croire said, but Renya has a gloomy expression while being at his wits end. I want them to refrain and hold back on me (Renya) Well, I thought that you would say so, Renya, thus I have a suggestion for you. (Shion) Upon Shions words, Renya shifts his attention towards her while wondering whether shes going to spout something worthless again. What is it? For the time being, lets hear it. (Renya) For the elves and humans its too late. (Shion) Too late, you say? What is too late!? (Renya) If were talking about the southern continent where the beastmen live and the northern continent where the dragonoids live, I wonder if youll still be able to avoid more nicknames before its too late. (Shion) Once she emphasizes thetoo latepart, even Renya couldnt find any words to rebuke her.Even putting that aside, just what does Shion want to say with being in time?Renya didnt understand at all. In short, if we properly show what kind of person you are before any kind of nickname can take hold, nicknames like those disliked by you wont cling to your person, right? Thats what I think, but how about it? (Shion) Really? (Renya) It sounds like a relatively decent suggestion, but then again, it comes from Shion.Renya cannot help but feel that a trap is waiting for him somewhere down the line. Even if you put the matter about nicknames aside for a moment, I think that Id like you to come to our country at least once, Margrave. Id like you to have seen our hometown once, if we are going to fight together from now on. (Lepard) Having returned without being noticed by anyone, Lepard interjects.This proposal sounds like something decent as well, but I cannot help but feel that theres some kind of loophole in this with the person saying these words being Lepard. You are in the middle of being driven out by your country for being a nuisance, arent you? (Renya) Once Renya said so while glaring at him with scornful eyes, Lepard swiftly averted his eyes.Kaede appears from within the shadow of Lepards back and says to Renya, That is certainly so. But at present the situation has stabilized itself to some degree. If we can have you, Margrave-sama, visit our country for the sake of learning about us better, even if its just for a short time, this me will prepare everything. (Kaede) A treatment as a state guest is impossible, but I shall promise you that you will be received as a VIP. Being told that by Kaede, even Renyas heart sways a bit.Seeing as Im in a situation where I cant carefreely go on trips much after being appointed as a noble, Id like to have a change of pace from stories connected to the heroes.Moreover, if the destination is the beastman country which he had never visited before, it stimulates his curiosity. I fear its very likely that investigation personnel from all around will flow into your territory as a result of you having accepted the elven prince-sama. (Kaede) Kaede whispered while secretly leaning in close to the worrying Renya.Once Renya looks at Kaedes face with a surprised look, Kaede reveals a smile full of hidden meanings. How about coming to our country for a while, even if it has the connotation of dodging the brunt of their investigations? Of course, together with everybody. (Kaede) Please do so by all means, okay? Kaede laughs.Is this a pre-arranged talk or an unforeseen talk that came about during the progress of our conversation?While unable to make a decision, Renya ended up thinking,With this flow, its probably been decided that we will proceed towards their country. The negotiations to turn Grn, the elven hero, over to Renyas side finished so easily that Mayria dumbfoundedly muttered, Is it really okay to decide on this in such a short amount of time?In the letter Renya sent to the emperor, as if the letter was chasing Grns party that had just returned to the elven country, he made a list of requests revolving around Renya wanting to take Grn, who is being treated as criminal, under his care, and in case they successful subjugated the demon king, expressed his wish for Grns crimes to be pardoned and a revocation of the high treason charge imposed on his mother.His point is that Grns achievements in the subjugation of the demon king will likely be more than enough in order to revoke the high treason charge as the hero Grn wouldnt have come to be without his mother.Although one might say that Renya holds a reasonably high social status, hes nothing more than a single noble in a single nation of the human continent. Naturally it was a letter that would inevitably be criticized as being an intervention in the elven countrys domestic affairs, seeing as Renya isnt considering his own position at all.As a natural reaction, people, who opposed Renyas proposal, appeared among elven nobility.However, after calmly listening to the claims of the opposing side, the elven emperor said: I fully understand your view points. Then, I wonder, who among you has the courage to go to the letters sender and state their opinion, which you have just told me, directly to them? Due to the emperors words, which were bluntly stated in a dispassionate manner all without changing his expression, its said that some people suddenly remembered that they had some urgent business to attend to and others excused themselves in front of the emperor after immediately retracting their own complaints with pale faces.Renya, who heard about this story later on, believed that he hadnt done anything scary enough to justify their behavior. However Renyas name, who was said to have forced an army of monsters, with numbers dozens of times larger than the few soldiers he led, to retreat and on top of that to have defeated a demon, which was later on finished off by the imperial princess Croire, in an one-on-one battle, had apparently spread among the nobles of the elven country alongside the warning Dont touch, dangerous.The emperor, who is more than well aware of this fact, gazed at the nobles of the opposing faction, a faction whose numbers had been dwindling little-by-little, while calmly linking his hands on top of his knees. Before long not one of them remained in front of him. Slowly he signed the document related to the hand-over of Grn, wrote the necessary decree for it to happen and affixed his seal to it.Renya was angry thinking,What does he think other people are?, but Croire and even Grn, who was sent to Renya alongside the decree, shared the opinion that the emperors actions were correct. If I were the one criticizing that the letter is an intervention in domestic affairs, I would at least request the emperor to do something about it. (Renya) Huh? (Croire & Grn) Although he was dissatisfied, Renya was forced into silence due to the questioning looks of younger sister and elder brother.By the way, as he couldnt agree with it no matter what, he told Shion and Rona the same thing later on, but their reaction was exactly the same as that of the elven siblings.Even if its a digression, Grn had officially been handed over to Renya under those circumstances.As for the public announcement, it took the form of him staying as a guest after being asked to do so by the human hero.Whatever might be the truth, the elves couldnt just say that they allowed this to happen in response to the request of a single human noble after all.It goes without saying that the one who complained about this matter until the very end was Renya who grumbled all by himself, You should have just said that it was possible to keep him here in the form of it being the heros request from the very beginning.At any rate, due to this it has resulted in three of the four existing heroes in this world having gathered under Renya, who is no more than a single member of a single human country. Havent I obtained combat power that seems capable of at least unifying the human continent if I insist on it? (Renya) In reality the only one who seems likely to do what hes told after being ordered by Renya is just Kurz.However, Grn doesnt look to have the same kind of attitude towards humans as he has towards elves.There were signs that he might unexpectedly obediently cooperate if he was presented some kind of merit for the elves.As for Lepard, it doesnt feel overly complicated to make him cooperate by tricking him. A rebellion? You know, I was told by mother to inform her in advance by all means, if you are going to start a rebellion. (Shion) Renya muttered those words accidentally while scanning through a list of goods and money both in amounts that are more than plenty for the sake of Grns livelihood, which had been sent by the elven emperor under the pretext of it being an expense allowance. Hearing that, Shion, who was carrying those goods to the storehouse together with the soldiers, stopped and said that to Renya. Nah, I wont do something so troublesome like that, buttell me, what will Her Majesty the Archduchess do after receiving such information? (Renya) If its someone dim-witted, they would dream of becoming the supreme ruler by conquering the whole continent, but for Renya it only caused him to question,Why do I have to deliberately burden myself with such a troublesome task?With it taking quite the effort to to even manage a single margraviate, theres no way that I will be able to manage a whole continent of unknown size, he ends up pondering. She will easily give up and think of a method to cajole you somehow, Renya. (Shion) Renya feels shocked due to Shions smooth reply. Just what is that person thinking!? (Renya) Me and Mayria plan to help you to the best of our abilities, so please make sure to tell us in advance. (Shion) Just what are you guys even thinking!? (Renya) Father also told me that hed like to discuss this with you at the time when you make your stand, Renya. (Croire) Croire-san!? (Renya) He said that the foundation of a unified nation, similar to that of the elven continent, on the human continent would be a joyous eventhowever, since it would be established with you as ruler, he asked me to tell you that he requests you to spare him from attacking the elven country. (Croire) Didnt I tell you? I wont do it! Whats with the uneasiness of His Majesty the Emperor!? (Renya) Margravesince I will restrain myself, attacking the beastman country isif you like, we can arrange for several priestesses for you? KaedeI will cooperate obediently, so please overlook her. (Lepard) Shuddap, meathead! Just carry the goods silently, you fool! (Renya) Renya sends Lepard, who approached with a somewhat meek expression, flying with a kick.The beastman hero-dono, who always brags about his own strength, apparently assisted with the moving of the goods after being skillfully drawn into it by Klinges soldiers.Opposite to Lepard, who runs away with his ears and tail curled up, they could see Kaede, who was twisting and turning her body while muttering Geez, that Lepard with an enraptured expression and both her hands covering her cheeks, but Renya does his best to pretend that he didnt see that.They both apparently intended not to be noticed, but the hero Lepard and the priestess Kaede seem to be in love with each other. They have been observed together in the shadows of buildings and corners of the city by Klinges soldiers with quite a high frequency.The sightings of them together have been delivered as official reports to Renya as if it was somehow natural. Renya himself wards those reports of, as he sees them as inconsequential information, but among the soldiers patrolling the city, there are talks that they have managed to draw up something like a date course map that follows the beastman heros steps.That part has reached Renyas ears as well and it has become one of his worries whether he should rebuke the voyeur-like soldiers asking them what they are doing during work hours, or whether he should praise their ability to thoroughly investigate the details so far without being caught by the beastmens perception. In my opinion I think its a problem that your impact on your surroundings was too big in comparison to the time it took you to make a name for yourself. (Shion) Shion says to Renya, who shoos away all the people who had gathered here.Renya looks at Shion wondering,What the hell is she talking about all of a sudden?, but as if having not noticed his gaze, Shion continued, Normally, a person, who boasts of military power similar to yours, Renya, is someone who climbs up after having some gossip about them spread before becoming famous, but in your case you fought a demon, tied a hero to you and became a noble no sooner than your name suddenly appeared. Arent only those big stories circulating about you the only sources of information? (Shion) Well, all of that is the truth though (Croire) Croire retorts, but Shion continues further while ignoring her, In other words, the information regarding the person called Renya is spearheaded by only your oversized accomplishments because theres too little other information about you. Isnt this the reason why nicknames such as Demon King, Slaughterer and Soul Collector are running rampant as your image, Renya? (Shion) No, just a moment. This is the first time Im hearing of these titles. (Renya) Tapping Shions shoulder, who spouts forth a torrent of speech while raising her index finger, Renya stops her.Having been interrupted, Shion looks at Renya with eyes as though asking him just what his business is, but even for Renya this wasnt a topic he could simply let slide. Just what are those nicknames that make one embarrassed from just hearing them? (Renya) Your plausible nicknames that are circulating on the human continent. (Shion) Who circulated them? Tell me. (Renya) Theres no way for me to know that, is there? It seems you are called Jet-black Renegade or something like that in the Holy Kingdom, I think? (Shion) Why do people I dont know who are in places I havent visited add weird nicknames to people they havent even met!? (Renya) Renya unintentionally raises his voice, but he receives an even bigger shock from Croires next words. In the elven country you are referred to as Visitor of the Strong Sword or Flame of Condemnation. (Croire) Those are names given to you from you crossing swords with a demon and you burning that demon to death, arent they? Croire laughs brightly, but for Renya this is no laughing matter. Have them stop right away! (Renya) Asking for that is unreasonable. (Croire) Croire frowns, but even Renya cannot afford to withdraw due to something of this level.In the first place, the one who finished off the demon by setting him on fire was Croire, so it should be fine for me to declare that I have no recollection of having condemned anyone.Renya thrust that fact at Croire, but he soon became speechless due to her lashing back at him with You were the one who had me do that, Renya. Being given nicknames is something fairly honorable, no? Albeit you did not decide on these nicknames, they were assigned to you naturally. Isnt that proof of their admiration? (Croire) Please be more confident, Croire said, but Renya has a gloomy expression while being at his wits end. I want them to refrain and hold back on me (Renya) Well, I thought that you would say so, Renya, thus I have a suggestion for you. (Shion) Upon Shions words, Renya shifts his attention towards her while wondering whether shes going to spout something worthless again. What is it? For the time being, lets hear it. (Renya) For the elves and humans its too late. (Shion) Too late, you say? What is too late!? (Renya) If were talking about the southern continent where the beastmen live and the northern continent where the dragonoids live, I wonder if youll still be able to avoid more nicknames before its too late. (Shion) Once she emphasizes thetoo latepart, even Renya couldnt find any words to rebuke her.Even putting that aside, just what does Shion want to say with being in time?Renya didnt understand at all. In short, if we properly show what kind of person you are before any kind of nickname can take hold, nicknames like those disliked by you wont cling to your person, right? Thats what I think, but how about it? (Shion) Really? (Renya) It sounds like a relatively decent suggestion, but then again, it comes from Shion.Renya cannot help but feel that a trap is waiting for him somewhere down the line. Even if you put the matter about nicknames aside for a moment, I think that Id like you to come to our country at least once, Margrave. Id like you to have seen our hometown once, if we are going to fight together from now on. (Lepard) Having returned without being noticed by anyone, Lepard interjects.This proposal sounds like something decent as well, but I cannot help but feel that theres some kind of loophole in this with the person saying these words being Lepard. You are in the middle of being driven out by your country for being a nuisance, arent you? (Renya) Once Renya said so while glaring at him with scornful eyes, Lepard swiftly averted his eyes.Kaede appears from within the shadow of Lepards back and says to Renya, That is certainly so. But at present the situation has stabilized itself to some degree. If we can have you, Margrave-sama, visit our country for the sake of learning about us better, even if its just for a short time, this me will prepare everything. (Kaede) A treatment as a state guest is impossible, but I shall promise you that you will be received as a VIP. Being told that by Kaede, even Renyas heart sways a bit.Seeing as Im in a situation where I cant carefreely go on trips much after being appointed as a noble, Id like to have a change of pace from stories connected to the heroes.Moreover, if the destination is the beastman country which he had never visited before, it stimulates his curiosity. I fear its very likely that investigation personnel from all around will flow into your territory as a result of you having accepted the elven prince-sama. (Kaede) Kaede whispered while secretly leaning in close to the worrying Renya.Once Renya looks at Kaedes face with a surprised look, Kaede reveals a smile full of hidden meanings. How about coming to our country for a while, even if it has the connotation of dodging the brunt of their investigations? Of course, together with everybody. (Kaede) Please do so by all means, okay? Kaede laughs.Is this a pre-arranged talk or an unforeseen talk that came about during the progress of our conversation?While unable to make a decision, Renya ended up thinking,With this flow, its probably been decided that we will proceed towards their country. Chapter 136 Normally a human with a position like Renyas is a person with considerable social status in certain countries. Due to this, in the case they visit a foreign nation, a lot of troublesome formalities have to be observed.Also, because all countries have one or two things they cant expose or information they dont want leaked to a human with a high social status in a foreign country, it becomes necessary to hide or make sure that the guest is not allowed to get close to those things and that information.Additionally, there are also various agreements and procedures when it comes to a foreign national military force, with a magnitude above a certain level, crossing the border.If they were to cross the border arbitrarily, without having made any kind of previous arrangement, it would lead to a case of border infringement, provoking a situation that could very well lead to war.Pertaining to this point, it was customary on the human continent to not be given permission unless it was a big emergency.Cross-national military joint operations were never carried out to begin with. If there was some kind of threat that crossed the borders, it was normal to leave the matter to the national army of the country which had its border infringed.Not to mention that theres never been a precedent of any kind of military force crossing the borders between continents.The sole exception to this rule is the heroes mobilization. As the heroes themselves own combat power thats equivalent to a whole army, there are never any restrictions imposed on the heroes and their comrades.As for the heroes comrades sphere of action, theres of course the preface that they have to keep it in a sensible range. Say, why is the examination so strict just for me? You have passed on the documents related to a nobles border transgression, right? (Renya) Renya asks Shion, whos next to him, as only he receives a tenacious body check and documents inspection in the room with Klinges transfer gate.Starting with Kurz, all the heroes very quickly passed through the gate, which resulted in them going ahead.As to whether the one transferring is a hero or not seems to be verified by the exclusive hero equipment. Kurz showed the holy sword, Lepard presented those boorishtekkouand boots. Those pieces of equipment served as proof of them being heroes.Theres an inscription sayingHoly Sword Tillwingon Kurzs holy sword, and Lepards equipment had the nameFang Kingattached to it as well.It appears to have that name engraved in the set oftekkouand boots, but since Renya suffered a bashing from the beastmen priestesses after he laughed at the name for being too unsuitable, he carved it into his brain to not ridicule it ever again.Although you might call the bashing an attack, it wasnt at the level which Lepard suffers every day. Those among the priestesses, who belong to the childish category, hit Renya with their tiny fists which seemed to fit the sound effect poka poka1perfectly, but even if their fists didnt carry any real power, Renya simply endured them as they seemed to be really angry going by their expressions.Predicting that this kind of attack is likely more effective against Renya than direct force, Kaede applied such a tactic, but this matter caused Renya to change his perception of Kaede from her being a muscle-brains wife to a wily and scheming woman.In the middle of this matter, Renya happened to see Grns hero equipment for the first time.Two blades that are a bit too large to be called knives.If Renya were to judge, their make was something similar to what can be called Western-styled, but the sword blade was unmistakably close to that of akodachi.2Their inscriptions seem to say Wings Abreast. It seems to mean that a single swing wont accomplish anything, and that only two swings will achieve a level of significance for the first time. Its apparently an inscription added by a Lost who came to the elven continent in the past. (Grn) Grn gave Renya an explanation, who was gazing at the two blades full of keen interest.Due to those two katana, one could say that Grns main combat method appears to be close combat or surprise attacks from the targets blind spot.The fighting style of unleashing a single strike from the targets blind spot after freely using concealment skills so that he will be out of sight, even if only for a short period of time, in addition to a dual blade style that emphasizes speed, is really assassin-like, Renya judges.Given that there were to many people for everyone to pass through the gate at the same time as the heroes, a part of the priestesses carefully selected by Kaede and Renyas comrades such as Frau and Rona passed through the gate while sticking together. Only Renya was stopped before passing through, which leads us to the present situation.The reason why Shion remained beside him was that she noticed Renya being detained right before passing through the gate. The other members of Renyas party went through the gate before he was stopped. We are terribly sorry, Your Excellency. This is also our duty. One of the soldiers defending the transfer gate apologetically calls out to Renya, who is still being held back.Since the transfer gates are a transportation system that allow anyone to visit a foreign country instantly, soldiers from territories that belong to other nobles who have established specialized defense units are dispatched as well.This is a safety net so that the country will also take responsibility in case something happens, but the soldiers that stopped Renya were under the direct control of the Trident Principality.Renya replied honestly at first, wondering whether this is an inspection carried out each time a noble crosses the border, but as they examined him too strictly, a single complaint escapes his mouth unintentionally, It cant be helped if its your duty, butis it because Im a noble after all? (Renya) If thats the case, I ended up in a troublesome position,Renya assessed, but the words returned by the soldier were slightly different from Renyas expectations. No, normally youd be fine to go. Renya throws a puzzled look at the soldier who continues with, The authentication of the documents for the normal procedure has finished.If its just as he stated, I dont get why Im the only one they held back. It would be fine? (Renya) Correct. Normally theres would be no issues. Even Her Majesty the Archduchess should have it easier to pass through this gate. Though I guess it would be impossible if she took along a group of guards~, the soldier laughs, but Renya tilts his head to the side in confusion due to those words. This kind of treatment, is for me alone? Why? (Renya) Its because you are Margrave Kunugi. Are you still unable to understand with just that? Shion immediately dons a comprehending expression upon that evasive remark.Only Renya himself doesnt understand. Whats with that? Its limited to me? (Renya) I think its really limited to only you, Renya. (Shion) It is limited to you, Margrave-sama. According to the explanation of the defense soldier C mixed with a wry smile C orders apparently arrived to perform a check just for Renya equal to one that a whole army would have to go through in order to pass through the gate. This is not a demand from the beastmen, but a direct order from the Archduchess, says the soldier. Why? (Renya) It would have been fine if you had been a hero, Margrave-sama, but In other words, its regarded as a problem that Renya holds power above a hero despite not being a hero himself.No matter how much they restrain or supervise such a being, if Renya acts up just a little bit, its obvious that he will become uncontrollable. This extensive revision at the border seems to express their intention, Because hes a requiring such a strict inspection, dont allow him to cause any trouble over there. How bothersomeit would have been plenty enough if you had just told me, you know? (Renya) Since you are no child, theres no way that we can tell you,Please behave yourselves over there, correct? We are telling you,Please get our intentions without us telling you explicitly. Realizing that he wont be understood unless he uses direct words to indicate what intention stands behind all of this, the soldier gives Renya an explanation.While somehow feeling unsatisfied, Renya passes through the transfer gate just to run into more trouble on the other side next.Frau had frozen while standing at attention in a state where her skin is colored ash white. The cause of death is (Emil) No, shes not dead. (Renya) With an angry expression Frau clings to Renyas back, who interrupted Emil who is about to give an explanation with a triumphant look for some reason. I was in a dangerous spot ~no. (Frau) Sorry, it was my bad. (Renya) Frau originally couldnt be too far away from her home or from the house owner, although her being separated from Renya wasnt Renyas fault at all, but the reason he was retained originated from Renya himself.Although it would have been fine to pass the responsibility to the soldiers who stopped him, Renya apologized to the angry Frau while believing that he should obediently take the blame. If I had been a little bit slower in entering the self-shutdown mode, I would have disappeared ~no! (Frau) Wait, are you really a fairy? (Renya) Renya doesnt think that hes that well-informed on fairies, but he ponders,Fairies dont usually act like Frau, do they?Frau cut apart Renyas retort with the shot comment, Im highly efficient ~no.To begin with, Renya himself didnt notice because Frau was clinging to his back, but Fraus eyes were darting left and right quite a bit.The location of the beastmens transfer gate is a fairly small and narrow room. Except for Renyas party, there was only Grn, Lepard, Kaede and several guards.The priestesses, who should have arrived first, apparently left the room to inform every quarter of Renyas groups arrival. Welcome, Margrave Kunugi-dono. We are very delighted with your visit. One person, with likely the highest standing among the soldiers present in the room, bows their head after noticing Renya.Because they are wearing armor with a helmet attached, Renya didnt discover what kind of beast ears they had, but going by the long, vertically striped tail that has been dangling behind them, Renya predicted that they are likely some kind of feline animal. Thank you for your polite reception. Theres no need to be so formal, is there? Its not an official visit. (Renya) Renya says while returning a bow.Its not like he has been told anything peculiar by the Trident Principality either, so he didnt come here with a specific objective in mind.Renya said that with the intention to tell him that its unnecessary to humble himself as its a very private visit, but judging by the other side reaction, the information was apparently slightly different as the soldier shook their head. Even if its unofficial, we are receiving that Margrave Kunugi. We must not show any discourtesy. Umm, what do you mean by that? (Renya) Renya felt an extremely ill boding premonition, but, for some reason, the soldier talks to Renya with the tone and the sparkling eyes of a boy, who is just in front of his idol athlete. The beastmen are a race that value military prowess. I was told that Lepard-dono, who is proud of being the strongest among the beastmen, was casually and single-handedly defeated by you, Margrave-dono. Uh (Renya) Thats a fact.Its certainly true, but that definitely shouldnt be a reason for me to be stared at with sparkling eyes full of reverence, Renya believes.Renya wants to ask why they honor the person who beat up their hero, to begin with, but he settled his doubts with the simple theory that a strong person is always right and extremely cool in their eyes. Even if its just once, please show us the strength, which doesnt allow Lepard-dono to get close, during your stay in our country by all means Wait, wait, just what are you asking of a noble from a foreign country in such a natural manner? In the first place, as for the story of me having repelled the hero-dono; even if I fought seriously, theres no way that hero-dono did the same, right? (Renya) Eh? Lepard, who had grown timid in a corner of the room, and Kaede, who comforted him, had question marks pop up above their heads in harmony.While thinking,At least pretend to not have heard my words, even if you actually did, Renya makes an effort to continue calmly, No matter how able or fabled the other party might be, your opponent will still be a noble of a foreign country, right? Even for the hero its impossible to attack someone like that with his full power at full throttle, correct? Me being able to drive Lepard-dono away was only because I was somehow able by chance to handle the situation before Lepard-dono got serious. Or such. Can we pretend that this story never happened, Kaede? (Renya) He ended up blurting it out with a force that overwhelmed the atmosphere, but this story should have been replaced with a tale about a person impersonating the heros younger brother having tried to hurt the common people of the Trident Principality to begin with.It wont be strange if a person of a certain standing learns what really happened, but its plain weird to inform someone who might as well be calledSoldier Aabout it. Publicly its just as you say, buttheres no way that even the report to the king would describe the public version. While saying that its a secret, that king spread this story all over the place (Kaede) As for Renya, he intended to follow-up, but Kaede, who consoled Lepard who had curled up while stuffing his big body even further into the corner after having heard Renyas words, says while looking in Renyas direction.Due to the fact that the king himself spread the rumor of the factual story, which they expressly considered as to never have happened, makes Renya think,Just how much of an idiot is that king?, but once he considers the beastmens nature, he changes his mind to,It might be something inevitable since the other party is someone whose brain is basically made out of muscles. Anyway, this time I have come to have something similar to a simple pleasure trip. Please spare me from any hassle. (Renya) Since the three heroes have become close at last, it should be fine to delegate all combat to them, shouldnt it?Renya estimated casually. Normally a human with a position like Renyas is a person with considerable social status in certain countries. Due to this, in the case they visit a foreign nation, a lot of troublesome formalities have to be observed.Also, because all countries have one or two things they cant expose or information they dont want leaked to a human with a high social status in a foreign country, it becomes necessary to hide or make sure that the guest is not allowed to get close to those things and that information.Additionally, there are also various agreements and procedures when it comes to a foreign national military force, with a magnitude above a certain level, crossing the border.If they were to cross the border arbitrarily, without having made any kind of previous arrangement, it would lead to a case of border infringement, provoking a situation that could very well lead to war.Pertaining to this point, it was customary on the human continent to not be given permission unless it was a big emergency.Cross-national military joint operations were never carried out to begin with. If there was some kind of threat that crossed the borders, it was normal to leave the matter to the national army of the country which had its border infringed.Not to mention that theres never been a precedent of any kind of military force crossing the borders between continents.The sole exception to this rule is the heroes mobilization. As the heroes themselves own combat power thats equivalent to a whole army, there are never any restrictions imposed on the heroes and their comrades.As for the heroes comrades sphere of action, theres of course the preface that they have to keep it in a sensible range. Say, why is the examination so strict just for me? You have passed on the documents related to a nobles border transgression, right? (Renya) Renya asks Shion, whos next to him, as only he receives a tenacious body check and documents inspection in the room with Klinges transfer gate.Starting with Kurz, all the heroes very quickly passed through the gate, which resulted in them going ahead.As to whether the one transferring is a hero or not seems to be verified by the exclusive hero equipment. Kurz showed the holy sword, Lepard presented those boorishtekkouand boots. Those pieces of equipment served as proof of them being heroes.Theres an inscription sayingHoly Sword Tillwingon Kurzs holy sword, and Lepards equipment had the nameFang Kingattached to it as well.It appears to have that name engraved in the set oftekkouand boots, but since Renya suffered a bashing from the beastmen priestesses after he laughed at the name for being too unsuitable, he carved it into his brain to not ridicule it ever again.Although you might call the bashing an attack, it wasnt at the level which Lepard suffers every day. Those among the priestesses, who belong to the childish category, hit Renya with their tiny fists which seemed to fit the sound effect poka poka1perfectly, but even if their fists didnt carry any real power, Renya simply endured them as they seemed to be really angry going by their expressions.Predicting that this kind of attack is likely more effective against Renya than direct force, Kaede applied such a tactic, but this matter caused Renya to change his perception of Kaede from her being a muscle-brains wife to a wily and scheming woman.In the middle of this matter, Renya happened to see Grns hero equipment for the first time.Two blades that are a bit too large to be called knives.If Renya were to judge, their make was something similar to what can be called Western-styled, but the sword blade was unmistakably close to that of akodachi.2Their inscriptions seem to say Wings Abreast. It seems to mean that a single swing wont accomplish anything, and that only two swings will achieve a level of significance for the first time. Its apparently an inscription added by a Lost who came to the elven continent in the past. (Grn) Grn gave Renya an explanation, who was gazing at the two blades full of keen interest.Due to those two katana, one could say that Grns main combat method appears to be close combat or surprise attacks from the targets blind spot.The fighting style of unleashing a single strike from the targets blind spot after freely using concealment skills so that he will be out of sight, even if only for a short period of time, in addition to a dual blade style that emphasizes speed, is really assassin-like, Renya judges.Given that there were to many people for everyone to pass through the gate at the same time as the heroes, a part of the priestesses carefully selected by Kaede and Renyas comrades such as Frau and Rona passed through the gate while sticking together. Only Renya was stopped before passing through, which leads us to the present situation.The reason why Shion remained beside him was that she noticed Renya being detained right before passing through the gate. The other members of Renyas party went through the gate before he was stopped. We are terribly sorry, Your Excellency. This is also our duty. One of the soldiers defending the transfer gate apologetically calls out to Renya, who is still being held back.Since the transfer gates are a transportation system that allow anyone to visit a foreign country instantly, soldiers from territories that belong to other nobles who have established specialized defense units are dispatched as well.This is a safety net so that the country will also take responsibility in case something happens, but the soldiers that stopped Renya were under the direct control of the Trident Principality.Renya replied honestly at first, wondering whether this is an inspection carried out each time a noble crosses the border, but as they examined him too strictly, a single complaint escapes his mouth unintentionally, It cant be helped if its your duty, butis it because Im a noble after all? (Renya) If thats the case, I ended up in a troublesome position,Renya assessed, but the words returned by the soldier were slightly different from Renyas expectations. No, normally youd be fine to go. Renya throws a puzzled look at the soldier who continues with, The authentication of the documents for the normal procedure has finished.If its just as he stated, I dont get why Im the only one they held back. It would be fine? (Renya) Correct. Normally theres would be no issues. Even Her Majesty the Archduchess should have it easier to pass through this gate. Though I guess it would be impossible if she took along a group of guards~, the soldier laughs, but Renya tilts his head to the side in confusion due to those words. This kind of treatment, is for me alone? Why? (Renya) Its because you are Margrave Kunugi. Are you still unable to understand with just that? Shion immediately dons a comprehending expression upon that evasive remark.Only Renya himself doesnt understand. Whats with that? Its limited to me? (Renya) I think its really limited to only you, Renya. (Shion) It is limited to you, Margrave-sama. According to the explanation of the defense soldier C mixed with a wry smile C orders apparently arrived to perform a check just for Renya equal to one that a whole army would have to go through in order to pass through the gate. This is not a demand from the beastmen, but a direct order from the Archduchess, says the soldier. Why? (Renya) It would have been fine if you had been a hero, Margrave-sama, but In other words, its regarded as a problem that Renya holds power above a hero despite not being a hero himself.No matter how much they restrain or supervise such a being, if Renya acts up just a little bit, its obvious that he will become uncontrollable. This extensive revision at the border seems to express their intention, Because hes a requiring such a strict inspection, dont allow him to cause any trouble over there. How bothersomeit would have been plenty enough if you had just told me, you know? (Renya) Since you are no child, theres no way that we can tell you,Please behave yourselves over there, correct? We are telling you,Please get our intentions without us telling you explicitly. Realizing that he wont be understood unless he uses direct words to indicate what intention stands behind all of this, the soldier gives Renya an explanation.While somehow feeling unsatisfied, Renya passes through the transfer gate just to run into more trouble on the other side next.Frau had frozen while standing at attention in a state where her skin is colored ash white. The cause of death is (Emil) No, shes not dead. (Renya) With an angry expression Frau clings to Renyas back, who interrupted Emil who is about to give an explanation with a triumphant look for some reason. I was in a dangerous spot ~no. (Frau) Sorry, it was my bad. (Renya) Frau originally couldnt be too far away from her home or from the house owner, although her being separated from Renya wasnt Renyas fault at all, but the reason he was retained originated from Renya himself.Although it would have been fine to pass the responsibility to the soldiers who stopped him, Renya apologized to the angry Frau while believing that he should obediently take the blame. If I had been a little bit slower in entering the self-shutdown mode, I would have disappeared ~no! (Frau) Wait, are you really a fairy? (Renya) Renya doesnt think that hes that well-informed on fairies, but he ponders,Fairies dont usually act like Frau, do they?Frau cut apart Renyas retort with the shot comment, Im highly efficient ~no.To begin with, Renya himself didnt notice because Frau was clinging to his back, but Fraus eyes were darting left and right quite a bit.The location of the beastmens transfer gate is a fairly small and narrow room. Except for Renyas party, there was only Grn, Lepard, Kaede and several guards.The priestesses, who should have arrived first, apparently left the room to inform every quarter of Renyas groups arrival. Welcome, Margrave Kunugi-dono. We are very delighted with your visit. One person, with likely the highest standing among the soldiers present in the room, bows their head after noticing Renya.Because they are wearing armor with a helmet attached, Renya didnt discover what kind of beast ears they had, but going by the long, vertically striped tail that has been dangling behind them, Renya predicted that they are likely some kind of feline animal. Thank you for your polite reception. Theres no need to be so formal, is there? Its not an official visit. (Renya) Renya says while returning a bow.Its not like he has been told anything peculiar by the Trident Principality either, so he didnt come here with a specific objective in mind.Renya said that with the intention to tell him that its unnecessary to humble himself as its a very private visit, but judging by the other side reaction, the information was apparently slightly different as the soldier shook their head. Even if its unofficial, we are receiving that Margrave Kunugi. We must not show any discourtesy. Umm, what do you mean by that? (Renya) Renya felt an extremely ill boding premonition, but, for some reason, the soldier talks to Renya with the tone and the sparkling eyes of a boy, who is just in front of his idol athlete. The beastmen are a race that value military prowess. I was told that Lepard-dono, who is proud of being the strongest among the beastmen, was casually and single-handedly defeated by you, Margrave-dono. Uh (Renya) Thats a fact.Its certainly true, but that definitely shouldnt be a reason for me to be stared at with sparkling eyes full of reverence, Renya believes.Renya wants to ask why they honor the person who beat up their hero, to begin with, but he settled his doubts with the simple theory that a strong person is always right and extremely cool in their eyes. Even if its just once, please show us the strength, which doesnt allow Lepard-dono to get close, during your stay in our country by all means Wait, wait, just what are you asking of a noble from a foreign country in such a natural manner? In the first place, as for the story of me having repelled the hero-dono; even if I fought seriously, theres no way that hero-dono did the same, right? (Renya) Eh? Lepard, who had grown timid in a corner of the room, and Kaede, who comforted him, had question marks pop up above their heads in harmony.While thinking,At least pretend to not have heard my words, even if you actually did, Renya makes an effort to continue calmly, No matter how able or fabled the other party might be, your opponent will still be a noble of a foreign country, right? Even for the hero its impossible to attack someone like that with his full power at full throttle, correct? Me being able to drive Lepard-dono away was only because I was somehow able by chance to handle the situation before Lepard-dono got serious. Or such. Can we pretend that this story never happened, Kaede? (Renya) He ended up blurting it out with a force that overwhelmed the atmosphere, but this story should have been replaced with a tale about a person impersonating the heros younger brother having tried to hurt the common people of the Trident Principality to begin with.It wont be strange if a person of a certain standing learns what really happened, but its plain weird to inform someone who might as well be calledSoldier Aabout it. Publicly its just as you say, buttheres no way that even the report to the king would describe the public version. While saying that its a secret, that king spread this story all over the place (Kaede) As for Renya, he intended to follow-up, but Kaede, who consoled Lepard who had curled up while stuffing his big body even further into the corner after having heard Renyas words, says while looking in Renyas direction.Due to the fact that the king himself spread the rumor of the factual story, which they expressly considered as to never have happened, makes Renya think,Just how much of an idiot is that king?, but once he considers the beastmens nature, he changes his mind to,It might be something inevitable since the other party is someone whose brain is basically made out of muscles. Anyway, this time I have come to have something similar to a simple pleasure trip. Please spare me from any hassle. (Renya) Since the three heroes have become close at last, it should be fine to delegate all combat to them, shouldnt it?Renya estimated casually. Chapter 137 Chapter 137 C It seems the King is waiting Renyas group is currently in the area that is mainly ruled by the beastmen and only referred to as the Southern Continent by the humans.However, there was a reason why this continent wasnt called beastmen continent. Somehowthis place lacks uniformity, doesnt it? (Emil) Thats Emils impression which was said half in astonishment and half in admiration.The Southern Continent is also called the continent of mixed races. Around half of its population consists of beastmen, but the remaining half consists of quite the large variety of races. Emils surprised as its said that humans, elves, dwarves, midgets, oni and even weak demons, albeit only very few, are dwelling on this continent.Is it because of that? Different from elves, who are building their towns by basically making use of the forests trees, and humans, who build their towns precisely with lumber and stones, the town here greatly diverges in its construction materials, designs and even the scope. The city had turned into something that gave off a very disorderly impression to every visitor.There are buildings that are commonly seen in human cities, there are also buildings that look as if theyre likely inhabited by elves. Next to those there are buildings, which are quite hard to describe, with open holes and earthen mounds, where its unknown just how many people are living within.In the same way theres absolutely no sense of unity even among the walking residents.Even if you lump all the beastmen together, they cant be regarded as a single race due to the differences in their ears and tails. Meanwhile the sight of humans, elves, races that arent even half the size of a human, and, on the other hand, people that are growing horns on their foreheads and have towering heights, walking around this city made Renya wonder whether this could be called the true scenery of a fantasy world.If its within such a scenery, people like Renyas group C a group that has an elf and fairy with them C melts into the surroundings as being very ordinary. Those of the human continent, who were able to come here for the first time, have all made the same faces as you. Apparently having revealed expressions full of surprise, Kaede, who perceived that, called out to Renya while leaking a small chuckle.Renya felt disappointed, pondering whether he might have given the impression of being a country bumpkin, but with Kaedes guidance, saying Please come this way, the party starts to walk through the city. Us beastmen dont reject the other races much. Although we wont actively invite them, we wont refuse those that come. I guess you might call that our nature. If you say it positively, we are broadminded, and if you phrase it negatively, we are an indifferent race. (Kaede) I heard about it, buteven after seeing it with my own eyes, its still an unbelievable sight. (Shion) Shion, who surveyed the surroundings by looking around restlessly as though she was a hick that came to the big city for the first time, without even trying to hide the fact, says that with a half shocked tone.Humans like Shion, who almost never leave the human continent, seem to at most catch sight of an elf in their lifetime if theyre lucky. If ones unlucky, oni and midgets seem to be taken as races only appearing in stories.If we are speaking of human-shaped races, arent there also goblins, orcs and ogres?Renya wonders, but in the eyes of the humans, those are monsters, not having the requirements to be classified as proper races. The king might be a beastman, butare his surroundings also composed of several races like here? (Mayria) Kaede nods upon Mayrias question. Given that this is the beastman country, the rulership has been taken over by one of the beastmen for many generations, but the nobles, knights and civil officials are not always beastmen. (Kaede) Governing with several racesthats very inefficient. (Mayria) That Mayria-like thought didnt impress Kaede at all, and she limited it to a sudden shoulder shrugging. We dont look for efficiency in politics. But then again, since almost all matters are decided by the king, it doesnt take that much time to reach a decision either. (Kaede) In short, it appears to be a stance of saying We wont refuse you if you come here, but we dont mind if you leave because you dislike it here. Is the beastman country a unified state ruling the entire continent like the elves country? (Croire) No way. The only ones doing that in this vast world are the elves. (Kaede) As if being slightly haughty, Croire throws out her chest with pride due to Kaedes words.Renyas thoughtThough things that dont exist cant be pushed outwas apparently shared by almost all those present. For some reason the groups gazes focused on the area around Croires chest. Sensing that, Croire blushed, crossed both arms in front of her chest in a hurry and shrunk her body.Warding off Croires glaring eyes with a smile that appeared around the edges of his mouth, Renya asks Kaede, In other words, this continent is split into several countries just like the human continent, right? (Renya) Its not several. Its divided into four states. (Kaede) There are four kings among the beastmen. They respectively bear the names Fang King, High King, Fist King and Black King, Kaede says.The one who had invited Renyas group this time seems to be Fang King, the king of the clan that had the largest number of heroes born among them. As far as it goes, its not wrong to think of him as an influential king who governs half of the continent along with its mixed clans. (Kaede) The remaining half is ruled by the other three? (Renya) No, the Fist King is referred to as a king, but he doesnt possess land at a scale that can be called a country. Its at the level of him having several small settlements and people, who bear the same will as him, in one part of the continent. (Kaede) Normally, if its a group of that scale, it will result in the leader of such a group being ignored and greeted by laughter, no matter how much he calls himself a king, but the Fist King and his comrades boast an abnormal level of combat prowess. Thanks to that, there are no objections from anywhere when he calls himself king.As for their background; no country wants to start a fight with them because of their eccentric characteristic of being a group whose doctrine preaches the supremacy of the body and doesnt even recognize reinforcing ones body with atekkouand boots like Lepards.In short, its a group sharing such a common will.Arent they quite the big deal in that case, since its said that they boast the most prominent combat power on the continent despite that restriction?Renya ponders.However, it didnt look as if getting along with them would be possible.The beastmen should finally learn just how much the exposure of skin, on top of their cute animal ears, erodes the mind of humans and whittles down their resistance, Renya feels. In contrast to the Fist King, the Black King rules over a fairly large area, but its a nation that has been formed by the beastmen who unusually admire sorcery. The name of the Black King comes from that. Kaede explains to Renya. Seemingly a racial trait, the beastmens compatibility with sorcery isnt overly good.Thanks to that, the Black Kings influence was never able to spread beyond a certain threshold, but his country has assembled a considerable number of beastmen that have mastered sorcery to a reasonable degree all in their own way. Well, if you put it nicely, those two are treading down their own paths. Putting it roughly, they are only focused on their own paths. Since they are such people, they dont show much interest in worldly matters and thus are harmless, but (Kaede) On the other side of Kaede, who continues the explanation while swinging her tail left and right, Kurz had zeroed in on a street stall that was doing business along the road.Apparently it was a stall that allowed one to eat grilled meat sandwiched between baked batter made out of kneaded wheat flour. He was apparently lured in by the aroma of the sauce mixed together with the meat.Since he clung to the smell with an energy that implied that he would very likely get lost if left alone, Renya approached Kurz back while sighing, grabbed his nape with his left hand and tore him off the stall. With his right hand he tossed silver coins on the counter with a clinking, asking the stall owner to give him what he could buy with that amount of money.The currency circulating on the human and the beastmen continents are different, but Renya had put a considerable amount of beastmen currency, which had been used by Lepards group in Klinge, into his inventory in advance.He secures one serving for himself from the owner, who started to wrap up his merchandise in a hurry, and releases Kurz after telling him to share the rest with the other members of the group if they wanted any. Then he returns to Kaede while sinking his teeth into the serving he had taken for himself.Renyas impression, who tries eating it, is that its somewhat hard.Theres absolutely no sign that the thick batter had been allowed to expand. Although its freshly made, it already has a tough texture. Due to that, its emphasizing its firmness so much that its likely going to become very hard to chew once the meat, which has been placed into the cut batter, cools down.And yet the sauce, which is permeating the batter amply, is fairly delicious, Renya judged.Seeing as it had been allowed to properly soak into the batter, has it been repeatedly broiled in soy many times? The salty-sweet flavor that doesnt disappear, no matter how much time passes, and moreover the stimulus of the spices directly penetrating the nose are interesting.If theres a problem, its likely how the meats hardness is spurred on by baking the sauce that had fully permeated the batter, Renya analyses. Its a grilled Ooiwa Lizard. Its a popular dish as the price is quite reasonable. (Kaede) Seemingly because they heard the wordlizardMayria and Rona, who were in the process of stretching out their hands towards the large amount of servings in Kurz hands, draw back in a hurry.Emil and the elves didnt try to extend their hands to begin with, but Shion does so without hesitation, picks up one serving and puts it in her mouth. However, she was bewildered by its hardness.In contrast, the beastmen group, which seemingly possess a different basic biting strength compared to humans, chew on it quite easily. Lepard gulps down several servings, and Kaede, even while making sure to look refined, quickly bites off pieces off her serving without looking troubled by its toughness.Kurz is the only exception. Although the composition of his body is unknown he spreads his mouth widely and tosses that grilled meat into it one after the other while showing an extremely delighted expression. Even though his cheeks are bulging, theres no sign of them being full at all.Hes swallowing without chewing, isnt he?Renya worries. Kurz, chew the food properly and enjoy its taste, okay? (Renya) Twnks fewr ha ur har adise (Kurz) (Thank you for your advice) In front of Renya, who gave his advice, Kurz tossed the last piece into his mouth.Speedwise, Renya just finished his own share finally. Shion and the others are still in the middle of frantically chewing through about half of their first serving.In just that time Kurz managed to stuff 20 servings into his stomach.That didnt mean that he had entirely swallowed them as he was still chewing them more or less, but going by his speed, one can say that his way of eating isnt very good for his digestion.As his existence is based on what it is, its unlikely for him to lay in bed due to indigestion, Renya re-thinks and taps the head of the satisfied Kurz. Did you enjoy it? (Renya) Yes, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Once Kurz answers while smiling cheerfully, several high-pitched screams were raised from Renyas groups surroundings for some reason.When he looks, the passing residents and the stall vendors had been unable to take off their eyes from Kurz face and hes able to catch sight of people who seem to have become completely entranced. As expected of Kurz-sama. Although its a part of our citys residents, he has a tight hold on their hearts. (Kaede) Kaede says while obviously shuddering in excitement.Even the person herself had been one of the priestesses that had stuck closely to Kurz before coming here. Because I can painfully understand their feelings, I really want to offer him up so that they can enjoy him to their hearts content, butif things go badly, it will likely turn into an uproar, so lets hurry up a bit? (Kaede) Since that childs adorable, it will develop into a riot if we allow him to be touched, Kaede says. The beastmens combat power is said to rise in proportion to their excitement. In this case, the residents combat power will easily be capable of surpassing the soldiers due to them getting excited over Kurz-samas cuteness. (Kaede) I wonder whether something like that is really alright for the people bearing the job of soldiers?Renya ends up worrying although its a matter that concerns a foreign country.He feels that entrusting the defense of a country to soldiers, who are liable to lose to residents that just ride on their emotions, is a very bad idea, but different from humans, it might be nothing strange for the beastmen even if something like that occurs since their abilities, whether it be as soldiers or as common people, excel in battle. Im fine with hurrying, but where are we headed to? (Renya) Renya broke into a jog behind Kaede, who started to move at a faster pace, after signaling to his friends to follow.With people, who noticed their hero Lepard in addition to Kurz, apparently starting to appear, the commotion in the surroundings became all the more intense. For the time being, to the royal palace. His Majesty the Fang King is waiting there. (Kaede) Hearing royal palace, Renya is on the verge of stopping his feet, but immediately realizing the overwhelming commotion forming behind them, he starts to run once again.Renya didnt have the courage to check the situation by turning around, but going by the volume of the audible voices, it was apparently in the process of becoming a situation where it wouldnt be odd for things to become critical anytime soon.If we stop our feet, we might get jumped on by the crowd.Such thoughts kept Renya going.Its not like he would get jumped in particular, but even if the sturdy Lepard might be fine, Kurz would misunderstand that as aggression and its not unlikely that he would be forced into activating the annihilation mode of generating a thick fog after equipping his armor.In that case, theres plenty of possibility that a section of the city would be completely obliterated together with its residents.In order for the situation to not turn out like that, Renya pulled Kurz, who still didnt comprehend the situation, with his left hand while having Frau cling to his back, and increased his pace a bit. Chapter 137 C It seems the King is waiting Renyas group is currently in the area that is mainly ruled by the beastmen and only referred to as the Southern Continent by the humans.However, there was a reason why this continent wasnt called beastmen continent. Somehowthis place lacks uniformity, doesnt it? (Emil) Thats Emils impression which was said half in astonishment and half in admiration.The Southern Continent is also called the continent of mixed races. Around half of its population consists of beastmen, but the remaining half consists of quite the large variety of races. Emils surprised as its said that humans, elves, dwarves, midgets, oni and even weak demons, albeit only very few, are dwelling on this continent.Is it because of that? Different from elves, who are building their towns by basically making use of the forests trees, and humans, who build their towns precisely with lumber and stones, the town here greatly diverges in its construction materials, designs and even the scope. The city had turned into something that gave off a very disorderly impression to every visitor.There are buildings that are commonly seen in human cities, there are also buildings that look as if theyre likely inhabited by elves. Next to those there are buildings, which are quite hard to describe, with open holes and earthen mounds, where its unknown just how many people are living within.In the same way theres absolutely no sense of unity even among the walking residents.Even if you lump all the beastmen together, they cant be regarded as a single race due to the differences in their ears and tails. Meanwhile the sight of humans, elves, races that arent even half the size of a human, and, on the other hand, people that are growing horns on their foreheads and have towering heights, walking around this city made Renya wonder whether this could be called the true scenery of a fantasy world.If its within such a scenery, people like Renyas group C a group that has an elf and fairy with them C melts into the surroundings as being very ordinary. Those of the human continent, who were able to come here for the first time, have all made the same faces as you. Apparently having revealed expressions full of surprise, Kaede, who perceived that, called out to Renya while leaking a small chuckle.Renya felt disappointed, pondering whether he might have given the impression of being a country bumpkin, but with Kaedes guidance, saying Please come this way, the party starts to walk through the city. Us beastmen dont reject the other races much. Although we wont actively invite them, we wont refuse those that come. I guess you might call that our nature. If you say it positively, we are broadminded, and if you phrase it negatively, we are an indifferent race. (Kaede) I heard about it, buteven after seeing it with my own eyes, its still an unbelievable sight. (Shion) Shion, who surveyed the surroundings by looking around restlessly as though she was a hick that came to the big city for the first time, without even trying to hide the fact, says that with a half shocked tone.Humans like Shion, who almost never leave the human continent, seem to at most catch sight of an elf in their lifetime if theyre lucky. If ones unlucky, oni and midgets seem to be taken as races only appearing in stories.If we are speaking of human-shaped races, arent there also goblins, orcs and ogres?Renya wonders, but in the eyes of the humans, those are monsters, not having the requirements to be classified as proper races. The king might be a beastman, butare his surroundings also composed of several races like here? (Mayria) Kaede nods upon Mayrias question. Given that this is the beastman country, the rulership has been taken over by one of the beastmen for many generations, but the nobles, knights and civil officials are not always beastmen. (Kaede) Governing with several racesthats very inefficient. (Mayria) That Mayria-like thought didnt impress Kaede at all, and she limited it to a sudden shoulder shrugging. We dont look for efficiency in politics. But then again, since almost all matters are decided by the king, it doesnt take that much time to reach a decision either. (Kaede) In short, it appears to be a stance of saying We wont refuse you if you come here, but we dont mind if you leave because you dislike it here. Is the beastman country a unified state ruling the entire continent like the elves country? (Croire) No way. The only ones doing that in this vast world are the elves. (Kaede) As if being slightly haughty, Croire throws out her chest with pride due to Kaedes words.Renyas thoughtThough things that dont exist cant be pushed outwas apparently shared by almost all those present. For some reason the groups gazes focused on the area around Croires chest. Sensing that, Croire blushed, crossed both arms in front of her chest in a hurry and shrunk her body.Warding off Croires glaring eyes with a smile that appeared around the edges of his mouth, Renya asks Kaede, In other words, this continent is split into several countries just like the human continent, right? (Renya) Its not several. Its divided into four states. (Kaede) There are four kings among the beastmen. They respectively bear the names Fang King, High King, Fist King and Black King, Kaede says.The one who had invited Renyas group this time seems to be Fang King, the king of the clan that had the largest number of heroes born among them. As far as it goes, its not wrong to think of him as an influential king who governs half of the continent along with its mixed clans. (Kaede) The remaining half is ruled by the other three? (Renya) No, the Fist King is referred to as a king, but he doesnt possess land at a scale that can be called a country. Its at the level of him having several small settlements and people, who bear the same will as him, in one part of the continent. (Kaede) Normally, if its a group of that scale, it will result in the leader of such a group being ignored and greeted by laughter, no matter how much he calls himself a king, but the Fist King and his comrades boast an abnormal level of combat prowess. Thanks to that, there are no objections from anywhere when he calls himself king.As for their background; no country wants to start a fight with them because of their eccentric characteristic of being a group whose doctrine preaches the supremacy of the body and doesnt even recognize reinforcing ones body with atekkouand boots like Lepards.In short, its a group sharing such a common will.Arent they quite the big deal in that case, since its said that they boast the most prominent combat power on the continent despite that restriction?Renya ponders.However, it didnt look as if getting along with them would be possible.The beastmen should finally learn just how much the exposure of skin, on top of their cute animal ears, erodes the mind of humans and whittles down their resistance, Renya feels. In contrast to the Fist King, the Black King rules over a fairly large area, but its a nation that has been formed by the beastmen who unusually admire sorcery. The name of the Black King comes from that. Kaede explains to Renya. Seemingly a racial trait, the beastmens compatibility with sorcery isnt overly good.Thanks to that, the Black Kings influence was never able to spread beyond a certain threshold, but his country has assembled a considerable number of beastmen that have mastered sorcery to a reasonable degree all in their own way. Well, if you put it nicely, those two are treading down their own paths. Putting it roughly, they are only focused on their own paths. Since they are such people, they dont show much interest in worldly matters and thus are harmless, but (Kaede) On the other side of Kaede, who continues the explanation while swinging her tail left and right, Kurz had zeroed in on a street stall that was doing business along the road.Apparently it was a stall that allowed one to eat grilled meat sandwiched between baked batter made out of kneaded wheat flour. He was apparently lured in by the aroma of the sauce mixed together with the meat.Since he clung to the smell with an energy that implied that he would very likely get lost if left alone, Renya approached Kurz back while sighing, grabbed his nape with his left hand and tore him off the stall. With his right hand he tossed silver coins on the counter with a clinking, asking the stall owner to give him what he could buy with that amount of money.The currency circulating on the human and the beastmen continents are different, but Renya had put a considerable amount of beastmen currency, which had been used by Lepards group in Klinge, into his inventory in advance.He secures one serving for himself from the owner, who started to wrap up his merchandise in a hurry, and releases Kurz after telling him to share the rest with the other members of the group if they wanted any. Then he returns to Kaede while sinking his teeth into the serving he had taken for himself.Renyas impression, who tries eating it, is that its somewhat hard.Theres absolutely no sign that the thick batter had been allowed to expand. Although its freshly made, it already has a tough texture. Due to that, its emphasizing its firmness so much that its likely going to become very hard to chew once the meat, which has been placed into the cut batter, cools down.And yet the sauce, which is permeating the batter amply, is fairly delicious, Renya judged.Seeing as it had been allowed to properly soak into the batter, has it been repeatedly broiled in soy many times? The salty-sweet flavor that doesnt disappear, no matter how much time passes, and moreover the stimulus of the spices directly penetrating the nose are interesting.If theres a problem, its likely how the meats hardness is spurred on by baking the sauce that had fully permeated the batter, Renya analyses. Its a grilled Ooiwa Lizard. Its a popular dish as the price is quite reasonable. (Kaede) Seemingly because they heard the wordlizardMayria and Rona, who were in the process of stretching out their hands towards the large amount of servings in Kurz hands, draw back in a hurry.Emil and the elves didnt try to extend their hands to begin with, but Shion does so without hesitation, picks up one serving and puts it in her mouth. However, she was bewildered by its hardness.In contrast, the beastmen group, which seemingly possess a different basic biting strength compared to humans, chew on it quite easily. Lepard gulps down several servings, and Kaede, even while making sure to look refined, quickly bites off pieces off her serving without looking troubled by its toughness.Kurz is the only exception. Although the composition of his body is unknown he spreads his mouth widely and tosses that grilled meat into it one after the other while showing an extremely delighted expression. Even though his cheeks are bulging, theres no sign of them being full at all.Hes swallowing without chewing, isnt he?Renya worries. Kurz, chew the food properly and enjoy its taste, okay? (Renya) Twnks fewr ha ur har adise (Kurz) (Thank you for your advice) In front of Renya, who gave his advice, Kurz tossed the last piece into his mouth.Speedwise, Renya just finished his own share finally. Shion and the others are still in the middle of frantically chewing through about half of their first serving.In just that time Kurz managed to stuff 20 servings into his stomach.That didnt mean that he had entirely swallowed them as he was still chewing them more or less, but going by his speed, one can say that his way of eating isnt very good for his digestion.As his existence is based on what it is, its unlikely for him to lay in bed due to indigestion, Renya re-thinks and taps the head of the satisfied Kurz. Did you enjoy it? (Renya) Yes, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Once Kurz answers while smiling cheerfully, several high-pitched screams were raised from Renyas groups surroundings for some reason.When he looks, the passing residents and the stall vendors had been unable to take off their eyes from Kurz face and hes able to catch sight of people who seem to have become completely entranced. As expected of Kurz-sama. Although its a part of our citys residents, he has a tight hold on their hearts. (Kaede) Kaede says while obviously shuddering in excitement.Even the person herself had been one of the priestesses that had stuck closely to Kurz before coming here. Because I can painfully understand their feelings, I really want to offer him up so that they can enjoy him to their hearts content, butif things go badly, it will likely turn into an uproar, so lets hurry up a bit? (Kaede) Since that childs adorable, it will develop into a riot if we allow him to be touched, Kaede says. The beastmens combat power is said to rise in proportion to their excitement. In this case, the residents combat power will easily be capable of surpassing the soldiers due to them getting excited over Kurz-samas cuteness. (Kaede) I wonder whether something like that is really alright for the people bearing the job of soldiers?Renya ends up worrying although its a matter that concerns a foreign country.He feels that entrusting the defense of a country to soldiers, who are liable to lose to residents that just ride on their emotions, is a very bad idea, but different from humans, it might be nothing strange for the beastmen even if something like that occurs since their abilities, whether it be as soldiers or as common people, excel in battle. Im fine with hurrying, but where are we headed to? (Renya) Renya broke into a jog behind Kaede, who started to move at a faster pace, after signaling to his friends to follow.With people, who noticed their hero Lepard in addition to Kurz, apparently starting to appear, the commotion in the surroundings became all the more intense. For the time being, to the royal palace. His Majesty the Fang King is waiting there. (Kaede) Hearing royal palace, Renya is on the verge of stopping his feet, but immediately realizing the overwhelming commotion forming behind them, he starts to run once again.Renya didnt have the courage to check the situation by turning around, but going by the volume of the audible voices, it was apparently in the process of becoming a situation where it wouldnt be odd for things to become critical anytime soon.If we stop our feet, we might get jumped on by the crowd.Such thoughts kept Renya going.Its not like he would get jumped in particular, but even if the sturdy Lepard might be fine, Kurz would misunderstand that as aggression and its not unlikely that he would be forced into activating the annihilation mode of generating a thick fog after equipping his armor.In that case, theres plenty of possibility that a section of the city would be completely obliterated together with its residents.In order for the situation to not turn out like that, Renya pulled Kurz, who still didnt comprehend the situation, with his left hand while having Frau cling to his back, and increased his pace a bit. Chapter 138 Chapter 138 C It seems to be the Destination where we were guided to If you speak about a royal castle in a human country, there are certain expectations towards its appearance, even if theyre only vague.In most of the common fantasy settings it should be a structure similar to a western-styled castle.The castle, where Renya himself is living, was miles apart from that very image, but if hes asked what he prefers, Renya wants a design that stresses practicality over eccentricity and a structure that also allowed for it to be used as a high-performance fortress.If its an elven castle, anyone can imagine it.Isnt it a very elegantly-built structure that uses many curves and green colors as its base?One can easily make such predictions.Renya has never seen the real thing, but from the things he has heard from Croire so far, it doesnt seem his imagination was that far off.However, where the beastmens royal castle is concerned, Renya doesnt have the slightest clue as for what it could look like.Its not like I think theyre using some dug-out rocky mountain as a castle. Somehow I feel like they have castles similar to the ones used by humans.Also I cant discard the possibility that they are using an absurdly, graceful structure due to some kind of accident. Theres even the possibility that they are claiming that a building, which cant be called a castle, is actually one.When he arrived at a hut to which he had been guided to while blindly running behind Kaede for a while, Renya showed an idiotic and flabbergasted expression which is rare for him. Okay everybody, this way please. (Kaede) That, which is located in the center of a garden that had been more or less tended to while also being surrounded by walls, has a number of beastman soldiers assigned to it as a defensive unit, which seems to be nothing more than an excuse given their numbers and organization. Once they recognize Kaede, they salute and open the door of the hut. Oi, Kaede? (Renya) What might it be? (Kaede) Kaede turns around with a curious expression after being called to a halt by Renya.While thinking,Im sure that everyone behind me except for Lepard is most likely showing the same expression as me, Renya asked Kaede, representing the groups doubts, You said that you would be guiding us to the royal castle, didnt you? (Renya) Yes, quite so. (Kaede) Behind Kaede, who answers with a smile plastered all over her face, her fox tail shakes up and down in a somewhat good mood.While being almost completely certain that they are being messed with, Renya saw Lepard quietly avert his eyes when he looked back.It seems its not the first time this conversation has taken place.In the first place, there are many occasions in literature and art where foxes are described as mischievous beings, so she might have partially feigned friendliness during her stay in Klinge as it was a foreign country, Renya decides to interpret this in her favor.As its not like they are in any special hurry, he wont get angry even if they are forced to accompany her in her childish mischief. To my eyes it looks like a simple hut, butdo the beastmen call that hut a royal castle? (Renya) Theres no way for that to be the case. A hut is a hut. (Kaede) You are going to guide us to the royal castle, right? (Renya) Yes. I will guide you there. (Kaede) This kind of exchange is not at a level that would worry the current Renya too much.Seemingly letting their patience, which was proportional to their life spans, surface, the elves absentmindedly watch the conversation between Renya and Kaede.Emil looks like a human, but her contents are of something else. She too watched Renya without looking offended.The problem problem originated from the humans.Likely because of her lower social standing compared to Kaede, Rona endures it patiently.Shion seems to not understand whats happening and just looks at Renyas conduct, but Mayria, who doesnt have the issue of being in a lower social position and wouldnt be punished even if she directly complained, snapped at Kaedes attitude. Is inviting us a prank? Your taste in humor is really bad. (Mayria) No, not at all. Its a very serious invitation. Its definitely not a prank. (Kaede) Talk to me while looking this way. (Mayria) Also due to Mayrias low and suppressed voice, Kaede looks as though she isnt able to put up with it at all.While subtlety averting her eyes from Mayria, she still responds calmly, Ah, no. Since it looks like I have offended you in various ways, I felt uncertain what would happen if I looked you in the eyes. (Kaede) Havent you been taught to look the person you are talking to in the eyes? (Mayria) I have been continuously trained as a priestess since my childhood. Though I was taught to slightly avert my eyes from the other party when talking with them. (Kaede) Its not like you can say that either party is in the wrong here.Its probably just like not knowing something that they havent been taught, Renya believes. Mayria, calm down. What are you going to do with such a low boiling point as the next Archduchess? (Renya) But, Renya-san (Mayria) I told you to calm down. Its not a very praiseworthy story, but Kaede said that its this way, not that this is the royal castle. (Renya) Uuh? (Mayria) If someone other than yourself starts to get worked up with emotions due to taking offense, the other humans will be either lured in and get all emotional too, or theyll remain calm and still be able to think things through logically.Even Renya began to faintly feel irritated due to Kaedes attitude, however, thanks to Mayria snapping at her, he was able to assess the situation objectively, allowing him to scrutinize Kaedes words carefully. Since she hasnt said a single word about this place being the royal castle, its most likely not, right? (Renya) When Renya says so while staring at Kaede in order to make sure, Kaede answers to that with a smile. Its just as you say. To be accurate, we are still on the way to the royal castle. The entrance is this way. (Kaede) Being encouraged with a Please go inside, Renya and the others enter the hut.Mayria could be heard mumbling complaints in the back, but Renya thought it strange that Lepard apologized to her for some reason.Similar to the feeling that this isnt the first time this conversation has been held, Lepard apologizing to the offended visitors also seems to be something normal.The hut, which Renyas group entered, was pitch dark inside as it had no windows.After holding back Renya, who was about to cast a magic light, with a gesture, Kaede closes the huts door.Seemingly succumbing to slight anxiousness inside the hut that had become completely dark, Shion snuggled up to Renyas right shoulder. Okay, everybody, please be careful as it will shake a bit. (Kaede) Kaedes voice reverberates in the darkness.No sooner than hearing that, the floor at their feet releases a faint, white light. Eh? Uwah!? Moreover, although its just a bit, the entire floor began to vibrate.Different from the astonished humans and elves, Frau, who clung to Renyas back, calmly whispered close to his ear, Master, the ceiling continues to grow distant ~no. (Renya) Once Renya looks up above after being told that, he could see that the ceiling, which was faintly illuminated by the light released from the floor, was gradually disappearing, apparently exiting the range where the light could reach. His other party members are preoccupied with just the shining, trembling floor and still havent noticed the ceiling.While watching the ceiling disappear little-by-little, Renya thinks,It feels like one of those things you enter in some haunted house in my original world. Renya, Renya! The floor is shining and jolting! (Shion) Thats right. (Renya) Why are you so calm!? (Shion) The humans and elves, who dont understand the situation, were somehow looking shaken up, but for Renya, who somewhat understands whats going on, theres no reason to panic.Its because he knew that there simply was a shaft right below the floor and that the floor had begun to go downwards just like an elevator, traveling along that shaft.But, given that it would be bothersome to explain all that, he caught Shions attention, who is kicking up a fuss while clinging to his right shoulder, by pointing at the ceiling.Following Renyas finger, Shion turned her eyes towards the ceiling, but now she started making an uproar due to the ceiling having already disappeared.Once Renya looks at Kaede thinking,Once they have been surprised so much, Kaede will certainly be satisfied, Kaede glumly looked at Renya, betraying his expectations. Huh? (Renya) Why arent you surprised, Renya-san? Even though everyone seeing it for the first time loses their composure without exception. (Kaede) Repressing the feeling of wanting to retort,Dont look forward to something like that, Renya replies as if its really no big deal, We are only descending to a lower strata alongside the floor, right? Thats not really all that unusual. (Renya) Eh!? This is moving down? (Shion) Hearing Renyas answer, Shion stares at her feet. Kuheven though I planned to surprise you even furtherits just as you say. Currently we are in the middle of descending through a shaft that was dug out right below that hut. (Kaede) You are really maliciousthe real issue is about where we are descending to, no? (Renya) Thats of course to the place where the royal castle stands. (Kaede) As if taking Kaedes reply as cue, the space, which had been illuminated by only the light from the floor, became bright in an instant.Reflexively squinting his eyes as his eyes cant keep up with the difference in brightness, Renya looks at the things located in his narrowed field of view and, this time, reveals a slightly surprised expression.Due to his reaction, Kaede said, apparently in a good mood, How is it, Renya-san? This is the the royal castle, where our king, His Majesty the Fang King, resides. (Kaede) There was one long, transparent tube extending from the ceiling to the surface.One platform is slowly descending within.Renya, who stands on that platform, looked through the transparent wall and the view widely spreading in front of his eyes are just a countless number of lights.(T/N: Welcome to the Geofront! Be wary of Angels!)And, on the other side beyond the lights, theres a stone building towering over everything else.That, which is illuminated brightly in defiance to the fact that this is a place where the sun doesnt shine, existed inside Renyas mind as a word, but its a structure he certainly never expected to see in this world, moreover not in the beastmens country. No waythis is an underground city? (Renya) While looking at several pipes going down from the ceiling just like the one they are currently in, Renya mentions those words, causing Kaede to glare at Renya with a somewhat frustrated expression while tightly clenching her fists.Without caring about that, Shion stared at Renya. Undergroundcity? (Shion) Its a city built in a naturally-formed or human-made underground cave. On top of it becoming necessary to use a great amount of lighting, as sunlight doesnt shine down here, you have to build a device to circulate the air here with air from above the ground with some kind of method to make sure that the air here doesnt become polluted. Its a city thats absurdly costly. (Renya) Muuyou are well-informed, Renya-san. (Kaede) Kaede says while pouting, but its not like Renya is as calm as she believes.Rather, he had become pseudo-calm, only one step away from being unable to close his mouth due to the overwhelming surprise. Because there are several entrances on the surface, you cant come here unless you use this elevator thats said to put the spell to use. This city is truly equivalent to the central part of our beastmen country. (Kaede) Bui-Building something like a city in the underground, thats too absurd. (Mayria) Blankly looking at the scenery exceeding her comprehension as to how much it costs just to maintain the city, Mayria mutters, but Kaede pressed a finger against her chin and while pretending to brood, she answered, Is that so? As for me, I cant understand the humans cities, who announce, Theres an important person here, by expressly building pompous buildings on the surface though. (Kaede) Since those also possess a symbolic meaning, they are fine like that. Leaving that aside, the royal castle is the one over there? (Renya) For the buildings, where royalty and nobility live, to expressly have gaudiness and extravagance to the extent that they are easy to find also has the implication towards the citizens and fief residents, demonstrating, The people above you are amazing people living in such imposing houses, is what Renya had heard.Thats probably not the entire reason, but its a part of keeping up appearances.For Renya it was a reason he could understand, but for Kaede, a beastman, its apparently a reality she cant comprehend at all.Deciding to shelve this matter for later with,It might be racial differences, Renya points at the conspicuous stone building on the other side of the area where the lights are concentrated, likely the citys residential and commercial districts.After quickly checking the direction where Renya is pointing, Kaede nodded by bobbing her head. Yes. Over there is the royal castle, which serves as residence of our king, His Majesty the Fang King. (Kaede) Being told that, Renya looks once again at the huge structure.That is, how to call it? With there being a huge city in the underground; was it necessary to erect such a gigantic castle? (Renya) This underground space, where Renya and the others continue to descend, had several hundred meters from the ceiling to the surface going by Renyas eye measurement.And the building said to be the royal castle, which Renya is watching right now, is cone-shaped. Boasting of such a height that its about to reach the ceiling, it occupied a fraction of the underground space with its fringes having a fitting size to sustain itself. That is somewhat like a mountain. (Renya) For generation the esteemed kingsapparently put particular preference into big and flashy things (Kaede) Kaede answered Renya, who implicitly said that theres likely too much waste involved with the castle, while being evasive, apparently thinking the same as well. Chapter 138 C It seems to be the Destination where we were guided to If you speak about a royal castle in a human country, there are certain expectations towards its appearance, even if theyre only vague.In most of the common fantasy settings it should be a structure similar to a western-styled castle.The castle, where Renya himself is living, was miles apart from that very image, but if hes asked what he prefers, Renya wants a design that stresses practicality over eccentricity and a structure that also allowed for it to be used as a high-performance fortress.If its an elven castle, anyone can imagine it.Isnt it a very elegantly-built structure that uses many curves and green colors as its base?One can easily make such predictions.Renya has never seen the real thing, but from the things he has heard from Croire so far, it doesnt seem his imagination was that far off.However, where the beastmens royal castle is concerned, Renya doesnt have the slightest clue as for what it could look like.Its not like I think theyre using some dug-out rocky mountain as a castle. Somehow I feel like they have castles similar to the ones used by humans.Also I cant discard the possibility that they are using an absurdly, graceful structure due to some kind of accident. Theres even the possibility that they are claiming that a building, which cant be called a castle, is actually one.When he arrived at a hut to which he had been guided to while blindly running behind Kaede for a while, Renya showed an idiotic and flabbergasted expression which is rare for him. Okay everybody, this way please. (Kaede) That, which is located in the center of a garden that had been more or less tended to while also being surrounded by walls, has a number of beastman soldiers assigned to it as a defensive unit, which seems to be nothing more than an excuse given their numbers and organization. Once they recognize Kaede, they salute and open the door of the hut. Oi, Kaede? (Renya) What might it be? (Kaede) Kaede turns around with a curious expression after being called to a halt by Renya.While thinking,Im sure that everyone behind me except for Lepard is most likely showing the same expression as me, Renya asked Kaede, representing the groups doubts, You said that you would be guiding us to the royal castle, didnt you? (Renya) Yes, quite so. (Kaede) Behind Kaede, who answers with a smile plastered all over her face, her fox tail shakes up and down in a somewhat good mood.While being almost completely certain that they are being messed with, Renya saw Lepard quietly avert his eyes when he looked back.It seems its not the first time this conversation has taken place.In the first place, there are many occasions in literature and art where foxes are described as mischievous beings, so she might have partially feigned friendliness during her stay in Klinge as it was a foreign country, Renya decides to interpret this in her favor.As its not like they are in any special hurry, he wont get angry even if they are forced to accompany her in her childish mischief. To my eyes it looks like a simple hut, butdo the beastmen call that hut a royal castle? (Renya) Theres no way for that to be the case. A hut is a hut. (Kaede) You are going to guide us to the royal castle, right? (Renya) Yes. I will guide you there. (Kaede) This kind of exchange is not at a level that would worry the current Renya too much.Seemingly letting their patience, which was proportional to their life spans, surface, the elves absentmindedly watch the conversation between Renya and Kaede.Emil looks like a human, but her contents are of something else. She too watched Renya without looking offended.The problem problem originated from the humans.Likely because of her lower social standing compared to Kaede, Rona endures it patiently.Shion seems to not understand whats happening and just looks at Renyas conduct, but Mayria, who doesnt have the issue of being in a lower social position and wouldnt be punished even if she directly complained, snapped at Kaedes attitude. Is inviting us a prank? Your taste in humor is really bad. (Mayria) No, not at all. Its a very serious invitation. Its definitely not a prank. (Kaede) Talk to me while looking this way. (Mayria) Also due to Mayrias low and suppressed voice, Kaede looks as though she isnt able to put up with it at all.While subtlety averting her eyes from Mayria, she still responds calmly, Ah, no. Since it looks like I have offended you in various ways, I felt uncertain what would happen if I looked you in the eyes. (Kaede) Havent you been taught to look the person you are talking to in the eyes? (Mayria) I have been continuously trained as a priestess since my childhood. Though I was taught to slightly avert my eyes from the other party when talking with them. (Kaede) Its not like you can say that either party is in the wrong here.Its probably just like not knowing something that they havent been taught, Renya believes. Mayria, calm down. What are you going to do with such a low boiling point as the next Archduchess? (Renya) But, Renya-san (Mayria) I told you to calm down. Its not a very praiseworthy story, but Kaede said that its this way, not that this is the royal castle. (Renya) Uuh? (Mayria) If someone other than yourself starts to get worked up with emotions due to taking offense, the other humans will be either lured in and get all emotional too, or theyll remain calm and still be able to think things through logically.Even Renya began to faintly feel irritated due to Kaedes attitude, however, thanks to Mayria snapping at her, he was able to assess the situation objectively, allowing him to scrutinize Kaedes words carefully. Since she hasnt said a single word about this place being the royal castle, its most likely not, right? (Renya) When Renya says so while staring at Kaede in order to make sure, Kaede answers to that with a smile. Its just as you say. To be accurate, we are still on the way to the royal castle. The entrance is this way. (Kaede) Being encouraged with a Please go inside, Renya and the others enter the hut.Mayria could be heard mumbling complaints in the back, but Renya thought it strange that Lepard apologized to her for some reason.Similar to the feeling that this isnt the first time this conversation has been held, Lepard apologizing to the offended visitors also seems to be something normal.The hut, which Renyas group entered, was pitch dark inside as it had no windows.After holding back Renya, who was about to cast a magic light, with a gesture, Kaede closes the huts door.Seemingly succumbing to slight anxiousness inside the hut that had become completely dark, Shion snuggled up to Renyas right shoulder. Okay, everybody, please be careful as it will shake a bit. (Kaede) Kaedes voice reverberates in the darkness.No sooner than hearing that, the floor at their feet releases a faint, white light. Eh? Uwah!? Moreover, although its just a bit, the entire floor began to vibrate.Different from the astonished humans and elves, Frau, who clung to Renyas back, calmly whispered close to his ear, Master, the ceiling continues to grow distant ~no. (Renya) Once Renya looks up above after being told that, he could see that the ceiling, which was faintly illuminated by the light released from the floor, was gradually disappearing, apparently exiting the range where the light could reach. His other party members are preoccupied with just the shining, trembling floor and still havent noticed the ceiling.While watching the ceiling disappear little-by-little, Renya thinks,It feels like one of those things you enter in some haunted house in my original world. Renya, Renya! The floor is shining and jolting! (Shion) Thats right. (Renya) Why are you so calm!? (Shion) The humans and elves, who dont understand the situation, were somehow looking shaken up, but for Renya, who somewhat understands whats going on, theres no reason to panic.Its because he knew that there simply was a shaft right below the floor and that the floor had begun to go downwards just like an elevator, traveling along that shaft.But, given that it would be bothersome to explain all that, he caught Shions attention, who is kicking up a fuss while clinging to his right shoulder, by pointing at the ceiling.Following Renyas finger, Shion turned her eyes towards the ceiling, but now she started making an uproar due to the ceiling having already disappeared.Once Renya looks at Kaede thinking,Once they have been surprised so much, Kaede will certainly be satisfied, Kaede glumly looked at Renya, betraying his expectations. Huh? (Renya) Why arent you surprised, Renya-san? Even though everyone seeing it for the first time loses their composure without exception. (Kaede) Repressing the feeling of wanting to retort,Dont look forward to something like that, Renya replies as if its really no big deal, We are only descending to a lower strata alongside the floor, right? Thats not really all that unusual. (Renya) Eh!? This is moving down? (Shion) Hearing Renyas answer, Shion stares at her feet. Kuheven though I planned to surprise you even furtherits just as you say. Currently we are in the middle of descending through a shaft that was dug out right below that hut. (Kaede) You are really maliciousthe real issue is about where we are descending to, no? (Renya) Thats of course to the place where the royal castle stands. (Kaede) As if taking Kaedes reply as cue, the space, which had been illuminated by only the light from the floor, became bright in an instant.Reflexively squinting his eyes as his eyes cant keep up with the difference in brightness, Renya looks at the things located in his narrowed field of view and, this time, reveals a slightly surprised expression.Due to his reaction, Kaede said, apparently in a good mood, How is it, Renya-san? This is the the royal castle, where our king, His Majesty the Fang King, resides. (Kaede) There was one long, transparent tube extending from the ceiling to the surface.One platform is slowly descending within.Renya, who stands on that platform, looked through the transparent wall and the view widely spreading in front of his eyes are just a countless number of lights.(T/N: Welcome to the Geofront! Be wary of Angels!)And, on the other side beyond the lights, theres a stone building towering over everything else.That, which is illuminated brightly in defiance to the fact that this is a place where the sun doesnt shine, existed inside Renyas mind as a word, but its a structure he certainly never expected to see in this world, moreover not in the beastmens country. No waythis is an underground city? (Renya) While looking at several pipes going down from the ceiling just like the one they are currently in, Renya mentions those words, causing Kaede to glare at Renya with a somewhat frustrated expression while tightly clenching her fists.Without caring about that, Shion stared at Renya. Undergroundcity? (Shion) Its a city built in a naturally-formed or human-made underground cave. On top of it becoming necessary to use a great amount of lighting, as sunlight doesnt shine down here, you have to build a device to circulate the air here with air from above the ground with some kind of method to make sure that the air here doesnt become polluted. Its a city thats absurdly costly. (Renya) Muuyou are well-informed, Renya-san. (Kaede) Kaede says while pouting, but its not like Renya is as calm as she believes.Rather, he had become pseudo-calm, only one step away from being unable to close his mouth due to the overwhelming surprise. Because there are several entrances on the surface, you cant come here unless you use this elevator thats said to put the spell to use. This city is truly equivalent to the central part of our beastmen country. (Kaede) Bui-Building something like a city in the underground, thats too absurd. (Mayria) Blankly looking at the scenery exceeding her comprehension as to how much it costs just to maintain the city, Mayria mutters, but Kaede pressed a finger against her chin and while pretending to brood, she answered, Is that so? As for me, I cant understand the humans cities, who announce, Theres an important person here, by expressly building pompous buildings on the surface though. (Kaede) Since those also possess a symbolic meaning, they are fine like that. Leaving that aside, the royal castle is the one over there? (Renya) For the buildings, where royalty and nobility live, to expressly have gaudiness and extravagance to the extent that they are easy to find also has the implication towards the citizens and fief residents, demonstrating, The people above you are amazing people living in such imposing houses, is what Renya had heard.Thats probably not the entire reason, but its a part of keeping up appearances.For Renya it was a reason he could understand, but for Kaede, a beastman, its apparently a reality she cant comprehend at all.Deciding to shelve this matter for later with,It might be racial differences, Renya points at the conspicuous stone building on the other side of the area where the lights are concentrated, likely the citys residential and commercial districts.After quickly checking the direction where Renya is pointing, Kaede nodded by bobbing her head. Yes. Over there is the royal castle, which serves as residence of our king, His Majesty the Fang King. (Kaede) Being told that, Renya looks once again at the huge structure.That is, how to call it? With there being a huge city in the underground; was it necessary to erect such a gigantic castle? (Renya) This underground space, where Renya and the others continue to descend, had several hundred meters from the ceiling to the surface going by Renyas eye measurement.And the building said to be the royal castle, which Renya is watching right now, is cone-shaped. Boasting of such a height that its about to reach the ceiling, it occupied a fraction of the underground space with its fringes having a fitting size to sustain itself. That is somewhat like a mountain. (Renya) For generation the esteemed kingsapparently put particular preference into big and flashy things (Kaede) Kaede answered Renya, who implicitly said that theres likely too much waste involved with the castle, while being evasive, apparently thinking the same as well. Chapter 139 Chapter 139 C It seems to be an Underground City Once the descending platform touches the ground of the undergrounds space, Renyas group is led outside through an exit that opened up in the transparent tube.The beastmen, who carried the luggage in rotation, and the armed soldiers of the various races step on the ground and as they murmur something or other about the platform, it releases a pale phosphorescence once again and ascends up the tube. Before long it vanished as if it was sucked into the hole that opened up in the ceiling.Compared to its descent, its ascent proceeded with quite the speed, Renya assesses while following it with his eyes until its out of sight.If it descended as if free falling, it would be life threatening to the people inside, but even if it accelerates a bit excessively during its ascent, it will probably be fine. That seems to be the general idea here.He feels like he can strangely consent with it being a device located in the beastmen country, despite them being a bunch of muscle heads. A sorcery device? Its a sophisticated device that doesnt seem to suit the beastmen country, doesnt it? I think that such a device doesnt even exist on the human country in the first place, but (Mayria) Seemingly unable to recover from her surprise, Mayria mutters while still having a somewhat blank expression.For Renya, who knows about elevators, its doubtful for a device, which simply makes a platform go up and down, to be such an amazingly surprising installation, even if it is operated through sorcery, but as Renyas doubts appear on his face, Rona secretly whispers, If its a device one tenth in scale compared to this one, then even the royal palace of the Holy Kingdom should have it, if I remember correctly, but one this size, its very unlikely to exist anywhere else. (Rona) How about the Trident Principality? (Renya) As far as I know, there isnt a single one there. Introducing it might be possible, but Her Majesty the Archduchess is a friend of sayingIf you are going to use something like this, you might as well walk on your own two feet~. (Rona) At the same time of thinking,Then it sure would be something valuable, Renya believes that it might end up broken.Although he believes,By no means is it something you can demand compensation for, even so it will create a feeling of guilt for the party responsible for breaking it after all.In this case, rather than saying that the destruction of such a device and the monetary compensation needed is inconvenient for the royal palace, the point lies in the feelings of guilt towards the craftsmen who made such a valuable device. This is a typical Renya way of thinking. In the elven country there are devices that seem to have more or less the same size, butthose are things that require the hands of artisans skilled in producing complex sorcery handicraft. Is the beastmens knowledge in this branch of sorcery this profound? (Croire) Let me tell you (Kaede) No, Ive heard that all of this existed here from the start. (Lepard) Interrupting Kaede, who was about to say something while puffing out her chest, Lepard answered Croires question.Lepard continues his explanation while doing his best to not look at Kaede who started to glare at him after being startled by his interruption. I dont know which of the previous Fang Kings it was, but in the middle of his training in his youth, he accidentally discovered historic ruins. Once he tried to enter, he apparently fell down to this place through a transparent tube. (Lepard) He fell? (Renya) Being told that, Renya looks upwards once again.If he was on the surface, he could have seen the sky, but in this place he can only see bare rocks that stand out due to being illuminated by the light in the far distance.The distance until the ceiling, which is located quite high over his head, isnt a height one would be able to survive after having fallen from there, no matter how he looks at it. Ah, of course that doesnt mean that he fell from the surface just like that. Even for me there aint no way to come out unhurt from such a height. (Lepard) No, you will die, you know? Renya retorted calmly, but Lepard looks at Renya as if asking himWhat are you talking about? You wont? If you use the walls of the tube, you can kill the speed somewhat, no? (Lepard) Ahtrue. (Renya) Renya arbitrarily decides,Most likely his abilities as a living creature are completely different.Though the other members behind Renya uniformly shared the impressionIf its Renya, he will probably get down without any injuries. So, he apparently discovered this place, but from the start it seems to have been in a state which allowed it to be used as the groundworks for a city to some extent. Deciding that it would be possible to make some profit with it, he created the current city on the surface. (Lepard) Meaning? (Renya) The majority of this underground city had already been built back when it was discovered. The elevator we used just now is an accessory of the historic ruins. Right now we aint capable of repairing it, so it will stay broken should it break down once. (Lepard) Kaede silently punched the back of Lepards head who burst into laughter while saying, I wonder whether well end up going up and down on rope ladders sooner or later once all of the tubes break down.Going by the sound caused by having the back of his head hit, it appears that she attacked him with considerable strength. Lepard becomes teary-eyed, holds the back of his head with both hands and squats down. Lepardwhy are you revealing everything by flapping your mouth thoughtlessly!? (Kaede) No, I mean, leaving you aside, Kaede, its the culmination of the beastmen races entire wisdom not to tell lies? That means, as a result of hearing this story, there will be countries on the human continent thatll believe that the beastmen country is undoubtedly world-leading in sorcery handicraft techniques, no? (Lepard) Its fine since it wont be leaked anyway! (Kaede) Kaede started making absurd claims with the humans and elves closely listening, but the reaction in the vicinity was weak.Everyone was apparently thinking,Her again? Is even that ridiculously large royal castle a relic of the historic ruins? (Renya) When Renya asks while recalling the building, which might as well be called a mountain, that he saw in the middle of descending, Kaede, who apparently accepted it as unreasonable to deceive them any longer, denied him so easily that it was a let-down. Just as I told you some time ago, thats His Majestys preference. Ah, of course it was the Fang King from many generations ago who excavated these historic ruins. (Kaede) Huge things are incredible! Thats our value system after all. (Lepard) Thanks to that, theres a continuous recruitment of maids and guards to serve in the castle. (Kaede) Its a royal castle thats mostly just a mountain.Renya ends up wondering how many hallways and rooms are contained within.How much do they have to pay for the labor to guard, clean and maintain those rooms and corridors? With just thinking about it, theres no mistake that it causes astronomically high expenses.There is a large distance between the elevator, which Renya and the others used, to the royal castle.Even Kaede seemingly has no intention of going to the castle by foot, so she tells the guarding soldiers something, and a couple minutes later two carriages to turn up.Due to them being the heroes and their patrons, Renya and Kurz sat together with Kaede and Lepard.Given that Frau and Shion firmly requested it, they got on the same carriage as Renya.Once the remaining members boarded the second carriage, the carriages began to slowly head towards the castle. You said you continue recruiting guards and maids. But the numbers become saturated sooner or later, right? Are there many who resign due to it being difficult? (Renya) While viewing the outside scenery through the carriages window, Renya continues the previous topic.Frau and Kurz were captivated by the extremely unusual scenery of an underground city and thus tried to stick to the window, but Shion firmly clung to Renyas right shoulder without even trying to look outside. Thats correct. After all its laborious to cover so much space, so its certainly difficult, buttheres a big problem besides that (Kaede) The end of her remark vanished within the sounds caused by the carriages wheels, apparently tapering off, or rather her speaking became ambiguous as she didnt seem to be very eager to talk about the topic.Seemingly having an idea due to the topic, Lepard frowns slightly. Problem? (Renya) Yeswell, umm, how to say itthe problem is that its too spacious. (Kaede) Lepard takes over for Kaede who hesitated to continue. The inside of the castle is practically a labyrinth. We, or rather the the beastmen, especially the men, arent very good at thinking about minor details. That castle looks finished only when looked at from outside. As a result of repeatedly remodeling and extending the interior by adding and adjusting things afterwardsits in such a sorry state that even the castles residents dont really know how to navigate through the corridors which seem to be all over (Lepard) We are generally able to grasp the main corridors because our predecessors drew up a map while paying dearly for it. But, if it comes to the corridors at the ends of these main corridors, things become extremely vague and complicated. To put things bluntly, theres quite a number of people that went missing. (Kaede) Once that happened, there was a motion to find out the detailed information regarding the castles interior through a proper investigation once and for all, but several investigation teams became stranded again due to the paths not being clear at all, resulting in there being missing people even among those who headed out to rescue them.Moreover, for some reasons there are also spots where traps unknown even to royalty have been set up. While at it, the beastmen often destroyed those traps here and there using their excessive strength, but after confirming the fact that the configuration of the corridors changed each time the traps repaired themselves, there wasnt anyone left suggesting to create a detailed map of the castle any more.As for the mystery of why there have been traps placed in the corridors; until this very day that hasnt been clarified and its treated as one of the 12 mysteries surrounding the royal castle. The fact that theres 11 more mysteries is quite scaryhow much of the interior has been actually grasped? The parts that have been completely mapped out amount to around 60%, I think? As for the remaining parts: we have vague information on 10%, there are records with lacking credibility remaining for another 10% and as for the last 20% its said to just give up on returning once you get lost in there. (Kaede) Kaede calmly speaks the sentences with such outrageous contents.Renya has never heard of a royal castle where its possible to go missing. Tear down and rebuild that defective structure. (Renya) As far as it goes, the construction has begun from the time when this underground city was discovered. For the present beastmen its a building with an ancient and honorable origin, so even if they were told to turn it back into an empty lot (Kaede) Due to Kaede calling it a historical structure, Renya breathes out very deeply and then suddenly tries asking cautiously, Just out of curiosity, but how many victims are there every year? (Renya) By victims you mean the missing people, right? Then its approximately 20-30 people. The ones resigning due to worry and fatigue are around ten times that though. If its the number of people that have been rescued after going astray, I think its a little short of 100. (Kaede) While massaging the wrinkles that stood out on his forehead, Renya once more asks Kaede, who said so nonchalantly, Is there a difference between victims and missing people? (Renya) Just because they have gone missing, that doesnt naturally connect to them being victims. In reality theres a story about a maid who was found alive after many years of having gone missing. (Kaede) Until today it was apparently unclear on how she kept on living for so long.Its conceivable that she very likely drank water such as rain that fell in through cracks and fissures, and ate rats and some kinds of wildly growing plants, but the rescued maid was extremely weakened. Furthermore, once she finished recuperation after the rescue, she had completely forgotten about her experiences while missing, resulting in the actual happenings remaining unknown. Weeell, as expected of beastmen. Even your maids are strong, arent they? What a pleasant topic. Its not really pleasant, is it? Being informed about the truth of the place they are currently led to, Renya drops his shoulders in depression.At the same time he decides in his mind that he definitely wont go anywhere else but the places they are guided to as long as hes inside the royal castle, even if an emergency occurs. Master, it will be fine, so you dont need to worry so much ~no. (Frau) Frau, who had apparently noticed Renyas state, taps Renyas left shoulder. After all its no more than a stone building that has been built irresponsibly ~nano. Its not like countermeasures against sorcery have been set up, so you just have to destroy it to get outside if you get lost ~no. (Frau) If its for the sake of Margrave-sama, I will do my best! (Kurz) Frau says with a smile while Kurz speaks his words with both fists tightly clenched and his eyes sparkling, but the contents of either remarks are dangerous. Gotcha.I will gratefully accept your feelings of worrying for me, but make seriously sure to not go on a rampage. (Renya) It was far too easy to predict that those two would cause large-scaled destructions with just a bit of rampaging.If they actually got serious about destruction, the royal castle might vanish from existence before the beastmen can reassess and try to return the castle to an empty lot.While thinking that he must not get lost by any means so as to avoid that from coming true, Renya and the others slowly passed through the underground in their carriages and directly headed towards the castle. Chapter 139 C It seems to be an Underground City Once the descending platform touches the ground of the undergrounds space, Renyas group is led outside through an exit that opened up in the transparent tube.The beastmen, who carried the luggage in rotation, and the armed soldiers of the various races step on the ground and as they murmur something or other about the platform, it releases a pale phosphorescence once again and ascends up the tube. Before long it vanished as if it was sucked into the hole that opened up in the ceiling.Compared to its descent, its ascent proceeded with quite the speed, Renya assesses while following it with his eyes until its out of sight.If it descended as if free falling, it would be life threatening to the people inside, but even if it accelerates a bit excessively during its ascent, it will probably be fine. That seems to be the general idea here.He feels like he can strangely consent with it being a device located in the beastmen country, despite them being a bunch of muscle heads. A sorcery device? Its a sophisticated device that doesnt seem to suit the beastmen country, doesnt it? I think that such a device doesnt even exist on the human country in the first place, but (Mayria) Seemingly unable to recover from her surprise, Mayria mutters while still having a somewhat blank expression.For Renya, who knows about elevators, its doubtful for a device, which simply makes a platform go up and down, to be such an amazingly surprising installation, even if it is operated through sorcery, but as Renyas doubts appear on his face, Rona secretly whispers, If its a device one tenth in scale compared to this one, then even the royal palace of the Holy Kingdom should have it, if I remember correctly, but one this size, its very unlikely to exist anywhere else. (Rona) How about the Trident Principality? (Renya) As far as I know, there isnt a single one there. Introducing it might be possible, but Her Majesty the Archduchess is a friend of sayingIf you are going to use something like this, you might as well walk on your own two feet~. (Rona) At the same time of thinking,Then it sure would be something valuable, Renya believes that it might end up broken.Although he believes,By no means is it something you can demand compensation for, even so it will create a feeling of guilt for the party responsible for breaking it after all.In this case, rather than saying that the destruction of such a device and the monetary compensation needed is inconvenient for the royal palace, the point lies in the feelings of guilt towards the craftsmen who made such a valuable device. This is a typical Renya way of thinking. In the elven country there are devices that seem to have more or less the same size, butthose are things that require the hands of artisans skilled in producing complex sorcery handicraft. Is the beastmens knowledge in this branch of sorcery this profound? (Croire) Let me tell you (Kaede) No, Ive heard that all of this existed here from the start. (Lepard) Interrupting Kaede, who was about to say something while puffing out her chest, Lepard answered Croires question.Lepard continues his explanation while doing his best to not look at Kaede who started to glare at him after being startled by his interruption. I dont know which of the previous Fang Kings it was, but in the middle of his training in his youth, he accidentally discovered historic ruins. Once he tried to enter, he apparently fell down to this place through a transparent tube. (Lepard) He fell? (Renya) Being told that, Renya looks upwards once again.If he was on the surface, he could have seen the sky, but in this place he can only see bare rocks that stand out due to being illuminated by the light in the far distance.The distance until the ceiling, which is located quite high over his head, isnt a height one would be able to survive after having fallen from there, no matter how he looks at it. Ah, of course that doesnt mean that he fell from the surface just like that. Even for me there aint no way to come out unhurt from such a height. (Lepard) No, you will die, you know? Renya retorted calmly, but Lepard looks at Renya as if asking himWhat are you talking about? You wont? If you use the walls of the tube, you can kill the speed somewhat, no? (Lepard) Ahtrue. (Renya) Renya arbitrarily decides,Most likely his abilities as a living creature are completely different.Though the other members behind Renya uniformly shared the impressionIf its Renya, he will probably get down without any injuries. So, he apparently discovered this place, but from the start it seems to have been in a state which allowed it to be used as the groundworks for a city to some extent. Deciding that it would be possible to make some profit with it, he created the current city on the surface. (Lepard) Meaning? (Renya) The majority of this underground city had already been built back when it was discovered. The elevator we used just now is an accessory of the historic ruins. Right now we aint capable of repairing it, so it will stay broken should it break down once. (Lepard) Kaede silently punched the back of Lepards head who burst into laughter while saying, I wonder whether well end up going up and down on rope ladders sooner or later once all of the tubes break down.Going by the sound caused by having the back of his head hit, it appears that she attacked him with considerable strength. Lepard becomes teary-eyed, holds the back of his head with both hands and squats down. Lepardwhy are you revealing everything by flapping your mouth thoughtlessly!? (Kaede) No, I mean, leaving you aside, Kaede, its the culmination of the beastmen races entire wisdom not to tell lies? That means, as a result of hearing this story, there will be countries on the human continent thatll believe that the beastmen country is undoubtedly world-leading in sorcery handicraft techniques, no? (Lepard) Its fine since it wont be leaked anyway! (Kaede) Kaede started making absurd claims with the humans and elves closely listening, but the reaction in the vicinity was weak.Everyone was apparently thinking,Her again? Is even that ridiculously large royal castle a relic of the historic ruins? (Renya) When Renya asks while recalling the building, which might as well be called a mountain, that he saw in the middle of descending, Kaede, who apparently accepted it as unreasonable to deceive them any longer, denied him so easily that it was a let-down. Just as I told you some time ago, thats His Majestys preference. Ah, of course it was the Fang King from many generations ago who excavated these historic ruins. (Kaede) Huge things are incredible! Thats our value system after all. (Lepard) Thanks to that, theres a continuous recruitment of maids and guards to serve in the castle. (Kaede) Its a royal castle thats mostly just a mountain.Renya ends up wondering how many hallways and rooms are contained within.How much do they have to pay for the labor to guard, clean and maintain those rooms and corridors? With just thinking about it, theres no mistake that it causes astronomically high expenses.There is a large distance between the elevator, which Renya and the others used, to the royal castle.Even Kaede seemingly has no intention of going to the castle by foot, so she tells the guarding soldiers something, and a couple minutes later two carriages to turn up.Due to them being the heroes and their patrons, Renya and Kurz sat together with Kaede and Lepard.Given that Frau and Shion firmly requested it, they got on the same carriage as Renya.Once the remaining members boarded the second carriage, the carriages began to slowly head towards the castle. You said you continue recruiting guards and maids. But the numbers become saturated sooner or later, right? Are there many who resign due to it being difficult? (Renya) While viewing the outside scenery through the carriages window, Renya continues the previous topic.Frau and Kurz were captivated by the extremely unusual scenery of an underground city and thus tried to stick to the window, but Shion firmly clung to Renyas right shoulder without even trying to look outside. Thats correct. After all its laborious to cover so much space, so its certainly difficult, buttheres a big problem besides that (Kaede) The end of her remark vanished within the sounds caused by the carriages wheels, apparently tapering off, or rather her speaking became ambiguous as she didnt seem to be very eager to talk about the topic.Seemingly having an idea due to the topic, Lepard frowns slightly. Problem? (Renya) Yeswell, umm, how to say itthe problem is that its too spacious. (Kaede) Lepard takes over for Kaede who hesitated to continue. The inside of the castle is practically a labyrinth. We, or rather the the beastmen, especially the men, arent very good at thinking about minor details. That castle looks finished only when looked at from outside. As a result of repeatedly remodeling and extending the interior by adding and adjusting things afterwardsits in such a sorry state that even the castles residents dont really know how to navigate through the corridors which seem to be all over (Lepard) We are generally able to grasp the main corridors because our predecessors drew up a map while paying dearly for it. But, if it comes to the corridors at the ends of these main corridors, things become extremely vague and complicated. To put things bluntly, theres quite a number of people that went missing. (Kaede) Once that happened, there was a motion to find out the detailed information regarding the castles interior through a proper investigation once and for all, but several investigation teams became stranded again due to the paths not being clear at all, resulting in there being missing people even among those who headed out to rescue them.Moreover, for some reasons there are also spots where traps unknown even to royalty have been set up. While at it, the beastmen often destroyed those traps here and there using their excessive strength, but after confirming the fact that the configuration of the corridors changed each time the traps repaired themselves, there wasnt anyone left suggesting to create a detailed map of the castle any more.As for the mystery of why there have been traps placed in the corridors; until this very day that hasnt been clarified and its treated as one of the 12 mysteries surrounding the royal castle. The fact that theres 11 more mysteries is quite scaryhow much of the interior has been actually grasped? The parts that have been completely mapped out amount to around 60%, I think? As for the remaining parts: we have vague information on 10%, there are records with lacking credibility remaining for another 10% and as for the last 20% its said to just give up on returning once you get lost in there. (Kaede) Kaede calmly speaks the sentences with such outrageous contents.Renya has never heard of a royal castle where its possible to go missing. Tear down and rebuild that defective structure. (Renya) As far as it goes, the construction has begun from the time when this underground city was discovered. For the present beastmen its a building with an ancient and honorable origin, so even if they were told to turn it back into an empty lot (Kaede) Due to Kaede calling it a historical structure, Renya breathes out very deeply and then suddenly tries asking cautiously, Just out of curiosity, but how many victims are there every year? (Renya) By victims you mean the missing people, right? Then its approximately 20-30 people. The ones resigning due to worry and fatigue are around ten times that though. If its the number of people that have been rescued after going astray, I think its a little short of 100. (Kaede) While massaging the wrinkles that stood out on his forehead, Renya once more asks Kaede, who said so nonchalantly, Is there a difference between victims and missing people? (Renya) Just because they have gone missing, that doesnt naturally connect to them being victims. In reality theres a story about a maid who was found alive after many years of having gone missing. (Kaede) Until today it was apparently unclear on how she kept on living for so long.Its conceivable that she very likely drank water such as rain that fell in through cracks and fissures, and ate rats and some kinds of wildly growing plants, but the rescued maid was extremely weakened. Furthermore, once she finished recuperation after the rescue, she had completely forgotten about her experiences while missing, resulting in the actual happenings remaining unknown. Weeell, as expected of beastmen. Even your maids are strong, arent they? What a pleasant topic. Its not really pleasant, is it? Being informed about the truth of the place they are currently led to, Renya drops his shoulders in depression.At the same time he decides in his mind that he definitely wont go anywhere else but the places they are guided to as long as hes inside the royal castle, even if an emergency occurs. Master, it will be fine, so you dont need to worry so much ~no. (Frau) Frau, who had apparently noticed Renyas state, taps Renyas left shoulder. After all its no more than a stone building that has been built irresponsibly ~nano. Its not like countermeasures against sorcery have been set up, so you just have to destroy it to get outside if you get lost ~no. (Frau) If its for the sake of Margrave-sama, I will do my best! (Kurz) Frau says with a smile while Kurz speaks his words with both fists tightly clenched and his eyes sparkling, but the contents of either remarks are dangerous. Gotcha.I will gratefully accept your feelings of worrying for me, but make seriously sure to not go on a rampage. (Renya) It was far too easy to predict that those two would cause large-scaled destructions with just a bit of rampaging.If they actually got serious about destruction, the royal castle might vanish from existence before the beastmen can reassess and try to return the castle to an empty lot.While thinking that he must not get lost by any means so as to avoid that from coming true, Renya and the others slowly passed through the underground in their carriages and directly headed towards the castle. Chapter 140 Chapter 140 C It seems to be the Events in the Fang Kings Royal Castle Yoo, you came. The humansMargrave-sama, was it? No need to be so frigging stiff. Take it easy. Being called out by a low, suppressed, threatening voice, Renya is troubled on how he should interpret the scenery in front of him.Renyas group that was let into the castle just like that was led to the audience hall with the Fang King waiting within.Renyas impression of the beastmens royal castle didnt change fromWhat a huge pyramid-like buildingeven after he got close to it. He didnt realize when gazing at it from afar, but the sight of building materials being carried one after the other and scaffolds being linked together all over the place surprised him as he wondered whether they still planed on expanding the castle.Different from other such castles, the royal castle itself hasnt been adorned with the usual ornaments or engravings.Once he asked Kaede for the reason, she gave the truly tasteless reply that they would likely get destroyed right away anyway.If it were in one of the royal castle of a human country, the preparations and preliminary announcements C on top of strict body-checks C would take time and it would turn into a peerlessly exhausting matter, but in the beastmens royal castle they were led to the audience hall without even being disarmed.Renya, who can take out his weapons from his inventory whenever he needs them, was completely unarmed, so that was no issue, but even Shion and the others, who are carrying quite a few weapons, despite it being more or less a pleasure trip, werent examined by the castles sentinels either.Mayria, who got anxious as might be expected, took out the daggers she had concealed in her pockets and asked a sentinel whether its okay for them to not take the weapons away, but the answer exceeded Mayrias expectations by leaps and bounds. Ah, dont worry since theres no one here you can hurt with those things. If youd like, how about trying to aim for my life? I will be unable to guarantee your life though. Eeh!? (Mayria) If you defeat me magnificently, you will become the next king, okay? So how about it? Want to have a go? Since Id like to start gambling on which one of us is going to win, there will definitely be a reward when you finish me off, the sentinel smiles brightly.Renya and the others worried whether its alright for a sentinel, who serves in the castle, to offer something like that despite them being from another country, but neither Kaede nor Lepard looked as if they minded as it was seemingly common practice. Mmh? Ah, let me explain just in case. Its not like that guy is actually disrespecting you. Lepard, who noticed the look of Renya who seemed as if he wanted to say something, states while scratching his head. On the contrary, those are indeed words owed to his overflowing loyalty. In other words, our king trusts them that they will repel any challengers, I guess? (Lepard) Yet again what a bothersome loyaltythere havent actually been any casualties, have there? (Renya) There were. Several people have been finished off by the successive generations of Fang Kings. But you know, the Fang King is an existence on whom the lower classes pin such hopes. I mean, someone called king gotta act like that, rite? (Lepard) Seeing as they are bearing the expectations that the king who possesses such strength that they dont even need to worry about assassins, the position of king is one where you cant betray those hopes, is what Lepards saying.What a truly difficult position, Renya felt a little bit of pity.They were guided all the way to the audience hall by the sentinel who continued to smile brightly while not knowing of Renyas thoughts.Renya felt relieved since the route so far didnt have that many forks or curves as they were all hallways that have been completely mapped out. When they passed through the entrance door of the audience hall and were about to step up in front of the throne, Renya and the others became aware of her.With the base of a beastman, she looks like a fox just like Kaede.Her body leans slovenly on the throne, she wears a disheveled indigo blue casual dress and both her feet, which she had stretched out carelessly, are barefoot.Her hair has a hue closer to gray rather than to silver and its length goes slightly beyond her shoulder blades.As she wasnt wearing any ornaments and didnt seem to have put on any make-up at all, the sole spot C her lips C stands out with their extremely vivid vermilion color.Is it her life force or her aura that seem to overflow from within her? Either way, it made her look as though she was a young woman in her 20s, but going by the feeling of her lips and the slightly visible area around her eyes, Renya judges that her age is likely ranging from the latter half of the 30s to the early 40s.For an instant the wordprostitutepops up in Renyas mind, but at once he swallows it down without voicing it out.He felt that something bad would happen if he said anything untactful.Next to the throne where she was sitting, a somewhat largely-built beastman, who seems to be a man clad in something like a thick dougi, is prostrating himself without the slightest movement.Just like Lepard, that man possesses leopard ears and tail. Even the color of his short, bristled hair is likewise black.However, in contrast to Lepard, its obvious that some white streaks are mixed in here and there. Who? (Renya) Based on the situation, its possible to deduce which one of them is likely the Fang King, but when hes asked which one of them it actually is, Renya doesnt find any words to give a clear answer.Assuming that they have the strength to be trusted by the soldiers so much, he has a hunch that its not the fallen man, but once he considers whether the Fang King is actually a queen just because of the current scene, he cannot help but to feel that its somehow different.Thus you can say that its only natural for Renya to instinctively ask before bowing towards the king.And even the questioned woman shows no sign that she feels offended from being confronted with Renyas question without him even going on his knees or lowering his head. She only reveals a broad grin that had the feel of a carnivore. Lobelia Panther, thats who I am! Whos the one laying over there? (Renya) This guy? Well, I wonder? (Lobelia) In the slight moment when the woman, who introduced herself as Lobelia, shifted her attention to the fallen man next to her, Renya grabs the nape of Lepard, who was behind him, and pulls him closer.If it was a simple contest of strength, Lepard should be the clear winner, but even though hes being pulled, Lepard doesnt show any mentionable resistance. She said Panther, didnt she? (Renya) Yeah, she did. (Lepard) Lepard nodded with clear resignation plastered on his face. You were Panther as well, werent you? Spit it out! How are you related to her? (Renya) That person is my mother. And the one lying next to her is father, I guess. So far as it goes, my father, Sigurd Panther, is the Fang King. (Lepard) Eh? All of the humans blink in surprise.Having been told that, Renya shifts his focus to the man laying next to Lobelia in a hurry, but as he doesnt even twitch while laying there limply, he cant quite believe Lepard, even if hes told that this man is the Fang King himself. I understand how you feel. But its a fact, so theres nothing I can do bout it. (Lepard) Lepard says while casting his eyes downwards and shaking his head.Seemingly not having noticed that, Lobelia is immersing herself in poking Sigurds body with the tip of her foot. Though theres a tendency for it to be misunderstood occasionally. (Kaede) Kaede said absentmindedly as if having just recalled it. His Majesty the Fang King is certainly strong, butHer Highness the Queen is far beyond him in strength. (Kaede) Why!? Even if Im asked for a reason, all I can say is thats its the realityit looks like Her Highness was a mercenary who made a name for herself on this continent in her youth. (Kaede) Its just a story I heard, but that High King and father fought over who was going to marry mother, resulting in both of them being beaten up. (Lepard) I dont know about His Majesty the Black King, but His Majesty the Fist King came several times to challenge her and each time he was sent back half-dead. (Kaede) If thats the truth, then it means that its not an exaggeration to call the woman, who is in the process of gradually switching over to kicking the felled man after she got tired of just poking him, in front of Renya and the others as the strongest among the beastmen. Doesnt that mean that your mother could unify this continent all by herself? (Renya) Yeah, I think so as well. (Lepard) What are you whispering amongst each other over there? Youre in the presence of the king, arent you? (Lobelia) Not only had she switched to kicking that very king, she was now trampling down on him. While doing that, Lobelia called out to Renya and the others who were secretly whispering among each other.Lepards body trembles with a start and he switches to standing on attention.In contrast to that, Kaede slowly bends her waist and bows. As for you, Your Highness, its a true pleasure to find you in good humor. This Kaede, who received permission for an audience on this occasion, shall express her utmost gratitude. (Kaede) Kaede, thats sickening. Dont humble yourself in such strange way. (Lobelia) For better or worse, its appropriate in front of the king. (Kaede) Lobelia snorts once at Kaede who declares that nonchalantly. So, the guy blankly standing over there is the aforementioned human Margrave-sama, right? (Lobelia) Hes Margrave Kunugi-sama of the Trident Principality, a human nation. (Kaede) That weak-looking fellow whos accompanied by a group made entirely out of women? (Lobelia) Being told that its only women, Renya tilts his head in confusion.There should be at least two men called Kurz and Grn though, he turns around, looks into their faces and comprehends for some reason.It was needless to point out, but Kurz has the face of a girl. As for Grn; even if you set aside his bodys appearance, his face is beautiful, a common trait among elves. If one persists in being fairly unreasonable, insisting that hes a woman can be accepted one way or another.All the more if the other party is a beastman who doesnt care at all about minor details.Renya ends up thinking,I guess it cant be helped even if she regards all the members behind me as women. So anyway, Im hearing that youre getting things done reasonably well. You did well to comeumm (Lobelia) Lobelia lets her eyes wander from Renyas face to empty space and ponders.Renya felt suspicious whether she might have been unable to remember his name, but Kaede helped her out right away. He is Earl Renya Kunugi-dono, Your Highness. (Kaede) Oh, right. You said Renya or such, correct? Let me welcome you. Im Lobelia, the queen of the Fang Kings country. Glad to make your acquaintance. Its a honor to meet you, Your Highness (Renya) While wondering what he should do next, Renya gives his greetings in an extremely flat tone and bows his head formally.By the way, the party to whom Renya should have originally bowed his head to still shows no signs of recovering his consciousness while laying next to Lobelia.The humans and elves began to worry whether he might have died, but for the beastmen this scenery doesnt seem to be anything of significance. Your Highness, for what reason did you beat the hell out of His Majesty this time? (Kaede) Because he heard that a guy stronger than Lepard was going to come from a human country, he kicked up a fuss saying that he will go challenge him. (Lobelia) In contrast to Lobelias disappointed expression, theres no change on Kaedes.While staying expressionless as if wearing a noh mask, she says words lacking any emotions. You are saying, you made him obedient with physical force? (Kaede) Yeah, once blood rushes into the heads of our men, they wont listen to what others say. (Lobelia) Thats a decisive judgment, Your Highness. As ever, your skills are splendid. As expected of the monster that led three kings around by the nose in her youth (Kaede) While feeling a shudder due to the words spoken by Kaede without any hesitation, Renya and the others look in her direction.Even as she says a word that will unmistakably become a huge problem if directed to the queen in the situation of being in the presence of the king, Kaedes expression doesnt change.Even Lobelia, who was told that, looks down on Kaede from the throne without losing her temper, but Renya didnt miss how her hands, which were grasping the armrests, were filled with a little bit of power. What did you sayjust now? (Lobelia) Kaede tilts her head to the side and shows a blank expression towards Lobelia, who asks as such while grasping the armrests which was, by now, making grinding sounds. Oh my? You failed to hear it at this distance? It looks like even someone like you, Your Highness, is unable to avoid the approaching old age. Age doesnt stop before anyone. (Kaede) Kaede who revealed a faint, cutting smile, conceals her mouth with the cuff of her sleeve and starts to laugh in a deep voice.The corners of Lobelias mouth twitch as if cramping and veins appeared on her forehead. Thats big coming from you, the likes of a lass who directs amorous glances towards other peoples son. (Lobelia) My goodness! Even at this age you are still unable to let go of your son? (Kaede) The glaring gazes of the two clash against each other. Renya clearly perceived the scattering sparks.He can hear someone from somewhere shouting, It started again! Anyone who can, run away! Oi, whats with this (Renya) Its the usual, but I think you will be dragged into it if you are close-by, okay? Solets get away from here for the time being. I will guide you. (Lepard) Lepard guides Renya and the others, who cannot follow the rapidly changing situation, outside the audience hall by pushing their backs.Even as Renyas group is about to exit the room on their own accord, Kaede and Lobelia looked at each other, apparently not noticing Renya and the others escape, and began to raise low indistinguishable laughters. Whats up with this? (Renya) Given that Renya agreed unconditionally with the proposal of leaving the location for the time being, he moves on while being urged on as he asked Lepard.Lepard threw a glance over his shoulder, and after seeing the two quarreling, he sighed. So far as it goes, Im this countrys hero and prince. Which also means that Im a candidate for the next Fang King. (Lepard) Do you have any siblings? (Renya) No, Im the sole biological child. However, since there aint no way for a weak guy to become the Fang King, at present it has stopped at candidacy. (Lepard) Even if they had a blood connection, it was apparently impossible for the beastmen to allow a weakling to be the Fang King. Hows that related to that dangerous atmosphere in there though? (Shion) Lepard nods at Shions question. Kaede and me are, umwell, how to call it (Lepard) In a relationship, right? (Shion) Once Shion asked in order to make sure, Lepards face became bright red in an instant. Yeah, welldue to those feelings, I believe we are going to be together sooner or later, but (Lepard) The view of Lepard winding his body with his cheeks becoming red wasnt anything nice to look at for too long.Renya decides to urge him to quickly continue. Im going to strangle you. Continue. (Renya) Ah, yeah. So I talked with father and mother about that. Father gave his permission, but the problem is mother (Lepard) Did she oppose? (Renya) She said that she will introduce a far better woman than such a black-hearted priestessand, Kaede, who heard that, took offense (Lepard) Just as we were leaving the audience hall, Lepard quietly turns his gaze towards the two women still glaring at each other.Theres no way that he can side with the woman that he loves in his position as a son, but likewise its not like he can do what his mother tells him. He appears unable to do anything while being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Isnt that a matter of standing? No matter how much the beastmen dont care about minor details such as race, the act of a mere priestess opposing royalty would definitely be punishable in any human country.Renya worried about that part, but Lepard relieved him of those worries. In our place a priestess is unrelated to politics. Even among the priestesses, Kaede is the Main Priestess and the heros companion. No matter what mother says, that certainly aint an opponent she can handle with the authority of royalty. (Lepard) So they spew venom at each other like this each time they meet? (Renya) Nothey use force right away (Lepard) Just when Lepard mentioned that, the sound of an explosion could be heard from inside the audience hall they had left moments ago.Renya and the others are startled, but seemingly it isnt that unusual for Lepard and the soldiers serving in the castle. Theres no one that seems to hurriedly run around in panic. Call the repair squad right away. Of course do the repairs after the two give up, okay? I will guide our visitors to the guest room. Report to me if it looks like the damages are going to spread. Prince, are you going to stop that? The castle guard, who nodded towards Lepards orders, asked that with a voice full of hope, but Lepard shook his head. If it was something I could stop, Id have done so a long time agoits necessary to buy time to let the visitors get away, right? (Lepard) I see, I understand. I will arrange for the repair squad right away. I leave it to you. Now then, Margrave-sanIm sorry, but please stay in the castle for today. If I let you go back to the city without meeting with the king, I dont know what mother would do to me. (Lepard) I believe the main cause for that is the queen though? (Renya) I know. I full realize that. Please, consider it as you helping me out. (Lepard) Once hes begged like this, even Renya finds it difficult to feel like abandoning him and leaving the castle unreasonably.He thought that at least those interested would return to the city, but once Renya said that would will stay, all the other members unanimously decided to stay in the castle in the end. Chapter 140 C It seems to be the Events in the Fang Kings Royal Castle Yoo, you came. The humansMargrave-sama, was it? No need to be so frigging stiff. Take it easy. Being called out by a low, suppressed, threatening voice, Renya is troubled on how he should interpret the scenery in front of him.Renyas group that was let into the castle just like that was led to the audience hall with the Fang King waiting within.Renyas impression of the beastmens royal castle didnt change fromWhat a huge pyramid-like buildingeven after he got close to it. He didnt realize when gazing at it from afar, but the sight of building materials being carried one after the other and scaffolds being linked together all over the place surprised him as he wondered whether they still planed on expanding the castle.Different from other such castles, the royal castle itself hasnt been adorned with the usual ornaments or engravings.Once he asked Kaede for the reason, she gave the truly tasteless reply that they would likely get destroyed right away anyway.If it were in one of the royal castle of a human country, the preparations and preliminary announcements C on top of strict body-checks C would take time and it would turn into a peerlessly exhausting matter, but in the beastmens royal castle they were led to the audience hall without even being disarmed.Renya, who can take out his weapons from his inventory whenever he needs them, was completely unarmed, so that was no issue, but even Shion and the others, who are carrying quite a few weapons, despite it being more or less a pleasure trip, werent examined by the castles sentinels either.Mayria, who got anxious as might be expected, took out the daggers she had concealed in her pockets and asked a sentinel whether its okay for them to not take the weapons away, but the answer exceeded Mayrias expectations by leaps and bounds. Ah, dont worry since theres no one here you can hurt with those things. If youd like, how about trying to aim for my life? I will be unable to guarantee your life though. Eeh!? (Mayria) If you defeat me magnificently, you will become the next king, okay? So how about it? Want to have a go? Since Id like to start gambling on which one of us is going to win, there will definitely be a reward when you finish me off, the sentinel smiles brightly.Renya and the others worried whether its alright for a sentinel, who serves in the castle, to offer something like that despite them being from another country, but neither Kaede nor Lepard looked as if they minded as it was seemingly common practice. Mmh? Ah, let me explain just in case. Its not like that guy is actually disrespecting you. Lepard, who noticed the look of Renya who seemed as if he wanted to say something, states while scratching his head. On the contrary, those are indeed words owed to his overflowing loyalty. In other words, our king trusts them that they will repel any challengers, I guess? (Lepard) Yet again what a bothersome loyaltythere havent actually been any casualties, have there? (Renya) There were. Several people have been finished off by the successive generations of Fang Kings. But you know, the Fang King is an existence on whom the lower classes pin such hopes. I mean, someone called king gotta act like that, rite? (Lepard) Seeing as they are bearing the expectations that the king who possesses such strength that they dont even need to worry about assassins, the position of king is one where you cant betray those hopes, is what Lepards saying.What a truly difficult position, Renya felt a little bit of pity.They were guided all the way to the audience hall by the sentinel who continued to smile brightly while not knowing of Renyas thoughts.Renya felt relieved since the route so far didnt have that many forks or curves as they were all hallways that have been completely mapped out. When they passed through the entrance door of the audience hall and were about to step up in front of the throne, Renya and the others became aware of her.With the base of a beastman, she looks like a fox just like Kaede.Her body leans slovenly on the throne, she wears a disheveled indigo blue casual dress and both her feet, which she had stretched out carelessly, are barefoot.Her hair has a hue closer to gray rather than to silver and its length goes slightly beyond her shoulder blades.As she wasnt wearing any ornaments and didnt seem to have put on any make-up at all, the sole spot C her lips C stands out with their extremely vivid vermilion color.Is it her life force or her aura that seem to overflow from within her? Either way, it made her look as though she was a young woman in her 20s, but going by the feeling of her lips and the slightly visible area around her eyes, Renya judges that her age is likely ranging from the latter half of the 30s to the early 40s.For an instant the wordprostitutepops up in Renyas mind, but at once he swallows it down without voicing it out.He felt that something bad would happen if he said anything untactful.Next to the throne where she was sitting, a somewhat largely-built beastman, who seems to be a man clad in something like a thick dougi, is prostrating himself without the slightest movement.Just like Lepard, that man possesses leopard ears and tail. Even the color of his short, bristled hair is likewise black.However, in contrast to Lepard, its obvious that some white streaks are mixed in here and there. Who? (Renya) Based on the situation, its possible to deduce which one of them is likely the Fang King, but when hes asked which one of them it actually is, Renya doesnt find any words to give a clear answer.Assuming that they have the strength to be trusted by the soldiers so much, he has a hunch that its not the fallen man, but once he considers whether the Fang King is actually a queen just because of the current scene, he cannot help but to feel that its somehow different.Thus you can say that its only natural for Renya to instinctively ask before bowing towards the king.And even the questioned woman shows no sign that she feels offended from being confronted with Renyas question without him even going on his knees or lowering his head. She only reveals a broad grin that had the feel of a carnivore. Lobelia Panther, thats who I am! Whos the one laying over there? (Renya) This guy? Well, I wonder? (Lobelia) In the slight moment when the woman, who introduced herself as Lobelia, shifted her attention to the fallen man next to her, Renya grabs the nape of Lepard, who was behind him, and pulls him closer.If it was a simple contest of strength, Lepard should be the clear winner, but even though hes being pulled, Lepard doesnt show any mentionable resistance. She said Panther, didnt she? (Renya) Yeah, she did. (Lepard) Lepard nodded with clear resignation plastered on his face. You were Panther as well, werent you? Spit it out! How are you related to her? (Renya) That person is my mother. And the one lying next to her is father, I guess. So far as it goes, my father, Sigurd Panther, is the Fang King. (Lepard) Eh? All of the humans blink in surprise.Having been told that, Renya shifts his focus to the man laying next to Lobelia in a hurry, but as he doesnt even twitch while laying there limply, he cant quite believe Lepard, even if hes told that this man is the Fang King himself. I understand how you feel. But its a fact, so theres nothing I can do bout it. (Lepard) Lepard says while casting his eyes downwards and shaking his head.Seemingly not having noticed that, Lobelia is immersing herself in poking Sigurds body with the tip of her foot. Though theres a tendency for it to be misunderstood occasionally. (Kaede) Kaede said absentmindedly as if having just recalled it. His Majesty the Fang King is certainly strong, butHer Highness the Queen is far beyond him in strength. (Kaede) Why!? Even if Im asked for a reason, all I can say is thats its the realityit looks like Her Highness was a mercenary who made a name for herself on this continent in her youth. (Kaede) Its just a story I heard, but that High King and father fought over who was going to marry mother, resulting in both of them being beaten up. (Lepard) I dont know about His Majesty the Black King, but His Majesty the Fist King came several times to challenge her and each time he was sent back half-dead. (Kaede) If thats the truth, then it means that its not an exaggeration to call the woman, who is in the process of gradually switching over to kicking the felled man after she got tired of just poking him, in front of Renya and the others as the strongest among the beastmen. Doesnt that mean that your mother could unify this continent all by herself? (Renya) Yeah, I think so as well. (Lepard) What are you whispering amongst each other over there? Youre in the presence of the king, arent you? (Lobelia) Not only had she switched to kicking that very king, she was now trampling down on him. While doing that, Lobelia called out to Renya and the others who were secretly whispering among each other.Lepards body trembles with a start and he switches to standing on attention.In contrast to that, Kaede slowly bends her waist and bows. As for you, Your Highness, its a true pleasure to find you in good humor. This Kaede, who received permission for an audience on this occasion, shall express her utmost gratitude. (Kaede) Kaede, thats sickening. Dont humble yourself in such strange way. (Lobelia) For better or worse, its appropriate in front of the king. (Kaede) Lobelia snorts once at Kaede who declares that nonchalantly. So, the guy blankly standing over there is the aforementioned human Margrave-sama, right? (Lobelia) Hes Margrave Kunugi-sama of the Trident Principality, a human nation. (Kaede) That weak-looking fellow whos accompanied by a group made entirely out of women? (Lobelia) Being told that its only women, Renya tilts his head in confusion.There should be at least two men called Kurz and Grn though, he turns around, looks into their faces and comprehends for some reason.It was needless to point out, but Kurz has the face of a girl. As for Grn; even if you set aside his bodys appearance, his face is beautiful, a common trait among elves. If one persists in being fairly unreasonable, insisting that hes a woman can be accepted one way or another.All the more if the other party is a beastman who doesnt care at all about minor details.Renya ends up thinking,I guess it cant be helped even if she regards all the members behind me as women. So anyway, Im hearing that youre getting things done reasonably well. You did well to comeumm (Lobelia) Lobelia lets her eyes wander from Renyas face to empty space and ponders.Renya felt suspicious whether she might have been unable to remember his name, but Kaede helped her out right away. He is Earl Renya Kunugi-dono, Your Highness. (Kaede) Oh, right. You said Renya or such, correct? Let me welcome you. Im Lobelia, the queen of the Fang Kings country. Glad to make your acquaintance. Its a honor to meet you, Your Highness (Renya) While wondering what he should do next, Renya gives his greetings in an extremely flat tone and bows his head formally.By the way, the party to whom Renya should have originally bowed his head to still shows no signs of recovering his consciousness while laying next to Lobelia.The humans and elves began to worry whether he might have died, but for the beastmen this scenery doesnt seem to be anything of significance. Your Highness, for what reason did you beat the hell out of His Majesty this time? (Kaede) Because he heard that a guy stronger than Lepard was going to come from a human country, he kicked up a fuss saying that he will go challenge him. (Lobelia) In contrast to Lobelias disappointed expression, theres no change on Kaedes.While staying expressionless as if wearing a noh mask, she says words lacking any emotions. You are saying, you made him obedient with physical force? (Kaede) Yeah, once blood rushes into the heads of our men, they wont listen to what others say. (Lobelia) Thats a decisive judgment, Your Highness. As ever, your skills are splendid. As expected of the monster that led three kings around by the nose in her youth (Kaede) While feeling a shudder due to the words spoken by Kaede without any hesitation, Renya and the others look in her direction.Even as she says a word that will unmistakably become a huge problem if directed to the queen in the situation of being in the presence of the king, Kaedes expression doesnt change.Even Lobelia, who was told that, looks down on Kaede from the throne without losing her temper, but Renya didnt miss how her hands, which were grasping the armrests, were filled with a little bit of power. What did you sayjust now? (Lobelia) Kaede tilts her head to the side and shows a blank expression towards Lobelia, who asks as such while grasping the armrests which was, by now, making grinding sounds. Oh my? You failed to hear it at this distance? It looks like even someone like you, Your Highness, is unable to avoid the approaching old age. Age doesnt stop before anyone. (Kaede) Kaede who revealed a faint, cutting smile, conceals her mouth with the cuff of her sleeve and starts to laugh in a deep voice.The corners of Lobelias mouth twitch as if cramping and veins appeared on her forehead. Thats big coming from you, the likes of a lass who directs amorous glances towards other peoples son. (Lobelia) My goodness! Even at this age you are still unable to let go of your son? (Kaede) The glaring gazes of the two clash against each other. Renya clearly perceived the scattering sparks.He can hear someone from somewhere shouting, It started again! Anyone who can, run away! Oi, whats with this (Renya) Its the usual, but I think you will be dragged into it if you are close-by, okay? Solets get away from here for the time being. I will guide you. (Lepard) Lepard guides Renya and the others, who cannot follow the rapidly changing situation, outside the audience hall by pushing their backs.Even as Renyas group is about to exit the room on their own accord, Kaede and Lobelia looked at each other, apparently not noticing Renya and the others escape, and began to raise low indistinguishable laughters. Whats up with this? (Renya) Given that Renya agreed unconditionally with the proposal of leaving the location for the time being, he moves on while being urged on as he asked Lepard.Lepard threw a glance over his shoulder, and after seeing the two quarreling, he sighed. So far as it goes, Im this countrys hero and prince. Which also means that Im a candidate for the next Fang King. (Lepard) Do you have any siblings? (Renya) No, Im the sole biological child. However, since there aint no way for a weak guy to become the Fang King, at present it has stopped at candidacy. (Lepard) Even if they had a blood connection, it was apparently impossible for the beastmen to allow a weakling to be the Fang King. Hows that related to that dangerous atmosphere in there though? (Shion) Lepard nods at Shions question. Kaede and me are, umwell, how to call it (Lepard) In a relationship, right? (Shion) Once Shion asked in order to make sure, Lepards face became bright red in an instant. Yeah, welldue to those feelings, I believe we are going to be together sooner or later, but (Lepard) The view of Lepard winding his body with his cheeks becoming red wasnt anything nice to look at for too long.Renya decides to urge him to quickly continue. Im going to strangle you. Continue. (Renya) Ah, yeah. So I talked with father and mother about that. Father gave his permission, but the problem is mother (Lepard) Did she oppose? (Renya) She said that she will introduce a far better woman than such a black-hearted priestessand, Kaede, who heard that, took offense (Lepard) Just as we were leaving the audience hall, Lepard quietly turns his gaze towards the two women still glaring at each other.Theres no way that he can side with the woman that he loves in his position as a son, but likewise its not like he can do what his mother tells him. He appears unable to do anything while being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Isnt that a matter of standing? No matter how much the beastmen dont care about minor details such as race, the act of a mere priestess opposing royalty would definitely be punishable in any human country.Renya worried about that part, but Lepard relieved him of those worries. In our place a priestess is unrelated to politics. Even among the priestesses, Kaede is the Main Priestess and the heros companion. No matter what mother says, that certainly aint an opponent she can handle with the authority of royalty. (Lepard) So they spew venom at each other like this each time they meet? (Renya) Nothey use force right away (Lepard) Just when Lepard mentioned that, the sound of an explosion could be heard from inside the audience hall they had left moments ago.Renya and the others are startled, but seemingly it isnt that unusual for Lepard and the soldiers serving in the castle. Theres no one that seems to hurriedly run around in panic. Call the repair squad right away. Of course do the repairs after the two give up, okay? I will guide our visitors to the guest room. Report to me if it looks like the damages are going to spread. Prince, are you going to stop that? The castle guard, who nodded towards Lepards orders, asked that with a voice full of hope, but Lepard shook his head. If it was something I could stop, Id have done so a long time agoits necessary to buy time to let the visitors get away, right? (Lepard) I see, I understand. I will arrange for the repair squad right away. I leave it to you. Now then, Margrave-sanIm sorry, but please stay in the castle for today. If I let you go back to the city without meeting with the king, I dont know what mother would do to me. (Lepard) I believe the main cause for that is the queen though? (Renya) I know. I full realize that. Please, consider it as you helping me out. (Lepard) Once hes begged like this, even Renya finds it difficult to feel like abandoning him and leaving the castle unreasonably.He thought that at least those interested would return to the city, but once Renya said that would will stay, all the other members unanimously decided to stay in the castle in the end. Chapter 141 Speaking of night events, right, in short, its peeking. I wont allow any objection, so get ready. Renya turned an utterly amazed gaze at the elderly, big man who stated such a thing so boldly.Right now theyre in the Fang Kings office in the royal castle. In addition its actually just a small room with no furniture.The one sitting on the floor while folding his arms across his chest is a man with the ears and tail of a leopard, and black fur that had slight streaks of gray mixed in.A little while ago Renya has seen his figure next to the throne.Assuming that Lepards words back then were correct, it means that the one sitting in front of Renya right now is the Fang King Sigurd himself, but Renya cannot quite believe that yet.Next to Sigurd, theres Lepard whos nodding silently also folding his arms across his chest despite sitting inseiza. Behind Renya, Grn, whos wondering why he was here, stayed motionless while sitting on the floor grasping his knees for some reason.Renyas group relaxed after they had finished their meal which had been carried to their assigned rooms by Renya, it was at this moment when Lepard visited Renya while saying Theres something we have to talk about.As a fight was happening inside the castle and the dining hall was actually somewhat close to the battlefield, nothing too fancy could be prepared and thus Renya expressly brought the food to their roomsThe distinct hand-to-hand battle between Lobelia and Kaede, which provoked this whole situation, caused explosions and vibration that even reached Renyas current location which was supposed to be quite a bit away, but after the sounds reverberated for a while, they suddenly came to a stop.Wondering what might have happened, Renya grabbed a random soldier that happened to pass by his room and tried to ask him about the situation.Even the soldier he caught apparently hadnt been informed about the situation in detail, but it seems that the battle between the two women concluded with a double knockout.It looked like battle between beastmen wouldnt stop until one of the parties or both become unable to continue any further.Due to the soldier laughing while saying Its truly an unproductive outcome that has happened in all 134 battles that have been recorded, Renya ponders whether something like that is really okay, but he gives up after deciding,Its nothing an outsider should comment on if its something that the surroundings take as funny story.Even so, should I praise Kaede for being on par with the somewhat aged Lobelia who overwhelmed three beastmen kings? Or should I praise Lobelia who seems to still be in active duty at her age?As Renya was in the midst of brooding over such inconsequential things, Lepard appeared.Each person of Renyas group has been allocated a room.Frau requested to stay in the same room as Renya, but for some reason Lepard obstinately refused that.It was Lepards claim that something like putting many guests in the same room would be an action that would shame the kings name, but Renya felt that his words were somehow contrived.In the end Frau settled with being assigned to her own room after judging that its probably not a problem even if shes separated from Renya as long as they are both inside the castle, but when Lepard secretly visited Renyas room, Renya judged this to be the reason that he was so obsessive about them having private rooms.Renya tried to usher him onto the room thinking that theres something he wants to talk about, but Lepard told Renya, This place is no good. Come with me.Holding the languid and exhausted Grn with his left arm wrapped around his waist, Renya walked through the castle while being guided by Lepard despite feeling suspicious of what was going on here.No matter how much of a secret conversation it might be, Lepard used properly mapped out corridors without any apparent intention to lead him to some unknown place, but because its a building so chaotic that people have even died here, let alone got lost, Renya perceives all the sensations coming from the soles of his feet and the state of the walls within his visionary field as weird.Not only is the floor not straight, but even the walls are not vertical either.The corridors dont extend straight ahead and the stairways are drawing complicated curves.Just in case Renya walked while mapping the path in his head, but after several minutes that pathing immediately became doubtful.It got to such a point that he started to think,I might have no other choice but to go outside after destroying a part of the castle if something sketchy happens.As Renya was thinking this Lepard came to a halt.It seems we have reached our destination.After Lepard knocked several times on the door he had stopped in front of, he opened it and invited Renya in.The one who awaited Renya inside that room was the Fang King, bringing us back to the current situation. Just what are you proposing all of a sudden,ossan? (Renya) Its notossan. Call me Your Majesty. (Sigurd) Renya thinks that the person in front of him, who has said something so excessively stupid, probably doesnt deserve to be branded as anything but aossan, but since the other party is his superior for better or for worse, he corrects himself as told. What are you talking about so abruptly, Your Majesty? Did you suffer some brain damage after being hit too often by Her Highness the Queen? (Renya) Mine is not a head that would be broken by just that much! (Sigurd) The Fang King throws out his chest in pride stating that him being beat up was an everyday occurrence, while Renyas eyes were tinged with a bit of exasperation.If thats an everyday occurrence, it means that theossanin front of me is laying on the floor everyday after having the shit beaten out of him by the queen.The king is the king, and the queen is the queen. But, in just what kind of country are you going to find such a king and queen? Renyaits disappointing, but hes in front of you, you know? (Grn) Grn whispered, seemingly guessing Renyas thoughts.Renya covered his mouth with a hand so that it wouldnt be visible on his face, and after fixedly looking at the Fang King in front of him, he dropped his shoulders. I sense some very strong feelings of disappointment, but (Sigurd) Its just your imagination, dad. Lets pretend thats the case. (Lepard) Lepard tapped the Fang Kings shoulder, who became slightly flustered due to Renyas overly dispirited manner. A-Anyway! One of my subordinates has whispered into my ears about the female groups bath schedule! Theres no way that we can let that chance slip by! (Sigurd) The ones being peeped at are only our groups women though? (Renya) Renya didnt have any way to learn who was going to enter the bath at what time, but even so, once he considers the fact that the Fang King has declared that hes going to peep after expressly assembling these members, the possible peeping targets are the female group of Renyas party, the priestess Kaede or Lobelia, the queen, who in this case is a dark horse.Taking Lobelia as the dark hose is because Renya wonders,Arent there as many possibilities to watch her as he likes, even without expressly trying to peep at her since they have the relationship of king and queen? In my castle several paths leading to the ceiling and behind the walls of the bathroom have been set up in advance! (Sigurd) Renya tried to retort as calmly as possible by suppressing his emotions, but the Fang King apparently doesnt possess good ears.As a consequence Renya started pondering about something as dangerous asLets tear out his ears then since they dont work anyway, but apparently not noticing Renyas gaze, the Fang King continues his advocacy while putting more force into it. If you call yourself a man dont you have to make the best out of this opportunity!? (Sigurd) Say, Lepard. Do you automatically become the next Fang King if I beat up thisossan? (Renya) In the elven country Renya asked Croire whether she wasnt planning on staging a coup detat by killing the emperor, but he surely didnt expect in his wildest dreams that he would end up asking a similar question after coming to the beastmen country. No, a selection will be carried out, and the one who wins will become the next Fang King. Lineage doesnt matter in this case. (Lepard) Regardless of self-recommendation or recommendation by others, a huge martial arts tournament, where the warriors within the clan are assembled, will be held, Lepard says.Its similar to a festival and it apparently would be a large-scaled event lasting for up to a month, depending on the number of candidates. But, arent you pretty much the strongest warrior in this clan? (Renya) There arent any absolutes in battle. (Lepard) Due to Lepard saying that with a meek look that seemed to lack any conceit even though hes a battle maniac, Renya evaluates him a bit higher for being able to calmly make such a precise judgment. Im off then. I leave it to you guys whether you are going to follow me or not. (Sigurd) Ah, hey! (Renya) Although he was called to halt by Renya, the Fang King doesnt listen after all. No sooner than he stood up did he rush towards the rooms wall.In front of Renya, who wonders what he might be planning on doing, a part of the wall opened up with a swing and after swallowing the Fang Kings body, returns to being a normal wall. Is this place a ninjas mansion!? (Renya) Renya is convinced that the designer of this castle was definitely a Lost. There he goes, but what are you going to do? (Lepard) Renya tries to repeatedly hit the part through which the Fang King vanished with his fist.It doesnt look as if a key has been used. The hit wall moves faintly, making it apparent that theres a space on the other side.Renya thinks.Of course the option of going to peep in accordance with the Fang Kings recommendation doesnt exist within Renya.It wasnt as if he hadnt the faint desire of wanting to have a peek, but even if he was right now in a different world, Renya regards peeping as crime within his mind.Its not a deed that can be forgiven.One might retort withIsnt murder a lot worse in that case?, but thats that and this is thisRenya believes.Its wrong to put peeping on the same level as the outcome of battle. Should I leave it alone? (Renya) The Fang King said that hes going to to go peep at the female group bathing, but Renya doesnt feel as if it would be a particular problem even if he leaves it alone due to the members who are going to be peeped at.If Emil is bathing there, it will likely develop into a situation where even the Fang King will be driven into a very difficult situation connected to his survival once she notices the peeping.If theres a problem, then it would be whether Emil possesses a shyness that makes her get angry over being peeped at.While looking at the pondering Renya, Lepard stands up and hits a part of the wall with a tap-tap.Some unspecified, quiet voice is audible. After hearing that, Lepard nodded. The ones who have currently entered the bath are apparently Rona, Shion and Mayria. (Lepard) There seems to be someone on the other side of the wall, who apparently gave an answer towards Lepards inquiry.Its very likely the subordinate mentioned by the Fang King, but rather than worrying about that, Renyas expression slightly changes after hearing Lepards words. Im going to chase him. I will stop thatossanbefore he gets there. (Renya) Hearing that the members such as Frau, Emil and Croire, who can oppose the Fang King, are not included, Renya hit the hidden door without any hesitation.Lepard grabbed the shoulder of Renya, who was about to jump into the opening, and detained him. If you are going to forestall him, entering through an entrance close to the bathroom is faster. If its from here, it will be the slightly long way around. (Lepard) Have you guys grasped even those kind of passages? (Renya) We are of the royal family after all. (Lepard) The original purpose of the passages is apparently to serve as escape routes.Its information thats only passed onto the members of the royal family. Since Lepard is a prince, he was apparently told about it. Grn, what are you going to do? (Renya) I will come with you. (Grn) Upon Grns short reply, Renya dons a slightly surprised face.He believed that Grn would certainly state that hes going to return to his room since its a stupid event unrelated to him. Well then, its going to be fun as a covert action training-like event. (Grn) Ah, yeah, I see. (Renya) For some reason Grn looks delighted.It looked as if Renya had pressed some strange button, but he has absolutely no clue whats so fun about it. Come to think of it, your subordinatehas already peeped into the bathroom, hasnt he? (Renya) While walking behind Lepard, who started to walk ahead of Renya, Renya tried to throw a question he suddenly came up with at Lepard, causing Lepard to nod without even looking back.Renya wonders whether hes screwing around with the topic of peeping on the scene of other peoples friends bathing without even giving any proper warning, but Lepards next words soothed his anger. Dont worry. It wasnt a man. (Lepard) Its not like its fine as long as its not a man, but well, I guess I will let you off with this. (Renya) Its a job unsuited for male beastmen. You can expect all of them to be women. (Lepard) The wordssecretlyandsneakilywere apparently terms unsuitable for the male beastmen.Be that as it may, Renya thinks.Looking at the queen, the priestesses and the ninja-like people; arent the female beastmen actually too capable?In reverse, the men cannot be regarded as anything but reckless advocates of physical superiority.Once Renya expresses such impressions, Lepards shoulders dropped, obviously feeling slightly despondent. Well, youre right there. Even If Im told that, there aint anything I can do about it. (Lepard) It appears that hes not unaware of it himself at all.And yet, being unable to improve on that might be owed to a uselessness having been etched into the male beastmen side due to their instincts overwriting reason. Im surprised it didnt result in a race of female supremacy. (Renya) Of course thats probably something anyone can come up with, Renya believes.If you allow Lobelia, Kaede and the women that seem to be working on covert actions to show what they can do, they will have enough energy to deal with most of the matters as long as theres only women, whether it might be actual battle or intelligence gathering. I also asked a similar question to mother: why dont you come forward if you are so capable in everything? Her reply was that it makes it easier to move in various ways if the beastmen are thought of as a foolish race that only believe in physical strength. (Lepard) The ones who really have to be watched carefully among the beastmen are the women.Renya carved this truth deeply into his mind so as to not forget about it by any means. Speaking of night events, right, in short, its peeking. I wont allow any objection, so get ready. Renya turned an utterly amazed gaze at the elderly, big man who stated such a thing so boldly.Right now theyre in the Fang Kings office in the royal castle. In addition its actually just a small room with no furniture.The one sitting on the floor while folding his arms across his chest is a man with the ears and tail of a leopard, and black fur that had slight streaks of gray mixed in.A little while ago Renya has seen his figure next to the throne.Assuming that Lepards words back then were correct, it means that the one sitting in front of Renya right now is the Fang King Sigurd himself, but Renya cannot quite believe that yet.Next to Sigurd, theres Lepard whos nodding silently also folding his arms across his chest despite sitting inseiza. Behind Renya, Grn, whos wondering why he was here, stayed motionless while sitting on the floor grasping his knees for some reason.Renyas group relaxed after they had finished their meal which had been carried to their assigned rooms by Renya, it was at this moment when Lepard visited Renya while saying Theres something we have to talk about.As a fight was happening inside the castle and the dining hall was actually somewhat close to the battlefield, nothing too fancy could be prepared and thus Renya expressly brought the food to their roomsThe distinct hand-to-hand battle between Lobelia and Kaede, which provoked this whole situation, caused explosions and vibration that even reached Renyas current location which was supposed to be quite a bit away, but after the sounds reverberated for a while, they suddenly came to a stop.Wondering what might have happened, Renya grabbed a random soldier that happened to pass by his room and tried to ask him about the situation.Even the soldier he caught apparently hadnt been informed about the situation in detail, but it seems that the battle between the two women concluded with a double knockout.It looked like battle between beastmen wouldnt stop until one of the parties or both become unable to continue any further.Due to the soldier laughing while saying Its truly an unproductive outcome that has happened in all 134 battles that have been recorded, Renya ponders whether something like that is really okay, but he gives up after deciding,Its nothing an outsider should comment on if its something that the surroundings take as funny story.Even so, should I praise Kaede for being on par with the somewhat aged Lobelia who overwhelmed three beastmen kings? Or should I praise Lobelia who seems to still be in active duty at her age?As Renya was in the midst of brooding over such inconsequential things, Lepard appeared.Each person of Renyas group has been allocated a room.Frau requested to stay in the same room as Renya, but for some reason Lepard obstinately refused that.It was Lepards claim that something like putting many guests in the same room would be an action that would shame the kings name, but Renya felt that his words were somehow contrived.In the end Frau settled with being assigned to her own room after judging that its probably not a problem even if shes separated from Renya as long as they are both inside the castle, but when Lepard secretly visited Renyas room, Renya judged this to be the reason that he was so obsessive about them having private rooms.Renya tried to usher him onto the room thinking that theres something he wants to talk about, but Lepard told Renya, This place is no good. Come with me.Holding the languid and exhausted Grn with his left arm wrapped around his waist, Renya walked through the castle while being guided by Lepard despite feeling suspicious of what was going on here.No matter how much of a secret conversation it might be, Lepard used properly mapped out corridors without any apparent intention to lead him to some unknown place, but because its a building so chaotic that people have even died here, let alone got lost, Renya perceives all the sensations coming from the soles of his feet and the state of the walls within his visionary field as weird.Not only is the floor not straight, but even the walls are not vertical either.The corridors dont extend straight ahead and the stairways are drawing complicated curves.Just in case Renya walked while mapping the path in his head, but after several minutes that pathing immediately became doubtful.It got to such a point that he started to think,I might have no other choice but to go outside after destroying a part of the castle if something sketchy happens.As Renya was thinking this Lepard came to a halt.It seems we have reached our destination.After Lepard knocked several times on the door he had stopped in front of, he opened it and invited Renya in.The one who awaited Renya inside that room was the Fang King, bringing us back to the current situation. Just what are you proposing all of a sudden,ossan? (Renya) Its notossan. Call me Your Majesty. (Sigurd) Renya thinks that the person in front of him, who has said something so excessively stupid, probably doesnt deserve to be branded as anything but aossan, but since the other party is his superior for better or for worse, he corrects himself as told. What are you talking about so abruptly, Your Majesty? Did you suffer some brain damage after being hit too often by Her Highness the Queen? (Renya) Mine is not a head that would be broken by just that much! (Sigurd) The Fang King throws out his chest in pride stating that him being beat up was an everyday occurrence, while Renyas eyes were tinged with a bit of exasperation.If thats an everyday occurrence, it means that theossanin front of me is laying on the floor everyday after having the shit beaten out of him by the queen.The king is the king, and the queen is the queen. But, in just what kind of country are you going to find such a king and queen? Renyaits disappointing, but hes in front of you, you know? (Grn) Grn whispered, seemingly guessing Renyas thoughts.Renya covered his mouth with a hand so that it wouldnt be visible on his face, and after fixedly looking at the Fang King in front of him, he dropped his shoulders. I sense some very strong feelings of disappointment, but (Sigurd) Its just your imagination, dad. Lets pretend thats the case. (Lepard) Lepard tapped the Fang Kings shoulder, who became slightly flustered due to Renyas overly dispirited manner. A-Anyway! One of my subordinates has whispered into my ears about the female groups bath schedule! Theres no way that we can let that chance slip by! (Sigurd) The ones being peeped at are only our groups women though? (Renya) Renya didnt have any way to learn who was going to enter the bath at what time, but even so, once he considers the fact that the Fang King has declared that hes going to peep after expressly assembling these members, the possible peeping targets are the female group of Renyas party, the priestess Kaede or Lobelia, the queen, who in this case is a dark horse.Taking Lobelia as the dark hose is because Renya wonders,Arent there as many possibilities to watch her as he likes, even without expressly trying to peep at her since they have the relationship of king and queen? In my castle several paths leading to the ceiling and behind the walls of the bathroom have been set up in advance! (Sigurd) Renya tried to retort as calmly as possible by suppressing his emotions, but the Fang King apparently doesnt possess good ears.As a consequence Renya started pondering about something as dangerous asLets tear out his ears then since they dont work anyway, but apparently not noticing Renyas gaze, the Fang King continues his advocacy while putting more force into it. If you call yourself a man dont you have to make the best out of this opportunity!? (Sigurd) Say, Lepard. Do you automatically become the next Fang King if I beat up thisossan? (Renya) In the elven country Renya asked Croire whether she wasnt planning on staging a coup detat by killing the emperor, but he surely didnt expect in his wildest dreams that he would end up asking a similar question after coming to the beastmen country. No, a selection will be carried out, and the one who wins will become the next Fang King. Lineage doesnt matter in this case. (Lepard) Regardless of self-recommendation or recommendation by others, a huge martial arts tournament, where the warriors within the clan are assembled, will be held, Lepard says.Its similar to a festival and it apparently would be a large-scaled event lasting for up to a month, depending on the number of candidates. But, arent you pretty much the strongest warrior in this clan? (Renya) There arent any absolutes in battle. (Lepard) Due to Lepard saying that with a meek look that seemed to lack any conceit even though hes a battle maniac, Renya evaluates him a bit higher for being able to calmly make such a precise judgment. Im off then. I leave it to you guys whether you are going to follow me or not. (Sigurd) Ah, hey! (Renya) Although he was called to halt by Renya, the Fang King doesnt listen after all. No sooner than he stood up did he rush towards the rooms wall.In front of Renya, who wonders what he might be planning on doing, a part of the wall opened up with a swing and after swallowing the Fang Kings body, returns to being a normal wall. Is this place a ninjas mansion!? (Renya) Renya is convinced that the designer of this castle was definitely a Lost. There he goes, but what are you going to do? (Lepard) Renya tries to repeatedly hit the part through which the Fang King vanished with his fist.It doesnt look as if a key has been used. The hit wall moves faintly, making it apparent that theres a space on the other side.Renya thinks.Of course the option of going to peep in accordance with the Fang Kings recommendation doesnt exist within Renya.It wasnt as if he hadnt the faint desire of wanting to have a peek, but even if he was right now in a different world, Renya regards peeping as crime within his mind.Its not a deed that can be forgiven.One might retort withIsnt murder a lot worse in that case?, but thats that and this is thisRenya believes.Its wrong to put peeping on the same level as the outcome of battle. Should I leave it alone? (Renya) The Fang King said that hes going to to go peep at the female group bathing, but Renya doesnt feel as if it would be a particular problem even if he leaves it alone due to the members who are going to be peeped at.If Emil is bathing there, it will likely develop into a situation where even the Fang King will be driven into a very difficult situation connected to his survival once she notices the peeping.If theres a problem, then it would be whether Emil possesses a shyness that makes her get angry over being peeped at.While looking at the pondering Renya, Lepard stands up and hits a part of the wall with a tap-tap.Some unspecified, quiet voice is audible. After hearing that, Lepard nodded. The ones who have currently entered the bath are apparently Rona, Shion and Mayria. (Lepard) There seems to be someone on the other side of the wall, who apparently gave an answer towards Lepards inquiry.Its very likely the subordinate mentioned by the Fang King, but rather than worrying about that, Renyas expression slightly changes after hearing Lepards words. Im going to chase him. I will stop thatossanbefore he gets there. (Renya) Hearing that the members such as Frau, Emil and Croire, who can oppose the Fang King, are not included, Renya hit the hidden door without any hesitation.Lepard grabbed the shoulder of Renya, who was about to jump into the opening, and detained him. If you are going to forestall him, entering through an entrance close to the bathroom is faster. If its from here, it will be the slightly long way around. (Lepard) Have you guys grasped even those kind of passages? (Renya) We are of the royal family after all. (Lepard) The original purpose of the passages is apparently to serve as escape routes.Its information thats only passed onto the members of the royal family. Since Lepard is a prince, he was apparently told about it. Grn, what are you going to do? (Renya) I will come with you. (Grn) Upon Grns short reply, Renya dons a slightly surprised face.He believed that Grn would certainly state that hes going to return to his room since its a stupid event unrelated to him. Well then, its going to be fun as a covert action training-like event. (Grn) Ah, yeah, I see. (Renya) For some reason Grn looks delighted.It looked as if Renya had pressed some strange button, but he has absolutely no clue whats so fun about it. Come to think of it, your subordinatehas already peeped into the bathroom, hasnt he? (Renya) While walking behind Lepard, who started to walk ahead of Renya, Renya tried to throw a question he suddenly came up with at Lepard, causing Lepard to nod without even looking back.Renya wonders whether hes screwing around with the topic of peeping on the scene of other peoples friends bathing without even giving any proper warning, but Lepards next words soothed his anger. Dont worry. It wasnt a man. (Lepard) Its not like its fine as long as its not a man, but well, I guess I will let you off with this. (Renya) Its a job unsuited for male beastmen. You can expect all of them to be women. (Lepard) The wordssecretlyandsneakilywere apparently terms unsuitable for the male beastmen.Be that as it may, Renya thinks.Looking at the queen, the priestesses and the ninja-like people; arent the female beastmen actually too capable?In reverse, the men cannot be regarded as anything but reckless advocates of physical superiority.Once Renya expresses such impressions, Lepards shoulders dropped, obviously feeling slightly despondent. Well, youre right there. Even If Im told that, there aint anything I can do about it. (Lepard) It appears that hes not unaware of it himself at all.And yet, being unable to improve on that might be owed to a uselessness having been etched into the male beastmen side due to their instincts overwriting reason. Im surprised it didnt result in a race of female supremacy. (Renya) Of course thats probably something anyone can come up with, Renya believes.If you allow Lobelia, Kaede and the women that seem to be working on covert actions to show what they can do, they will have enough energy to deal with most of the matters as long as theres only women, whether it might be actual battle or intelligence gathering. I also asked a similar question to mother: why dont you come forward if you are so capable in everything? Her reply was that it makes it easier to move in various ways if the beastmen are thought of as a foolish race that only believe in physical strength. (Lepard) The ones who really have to be watched carefully among the beastmen are the women.Renya carved this truth deeply into his mind so as to not forget about it by any means. Chapter 142 Hoh? (Rona) W-What is it with your gaze and tone, Rona? Hoh hohI see, I see. (Rona) If you dont quit itI will twist them. Being looked up at from below with an obvious glare, Rona averted her eyes in a hurry.Ahead of Ronas averted gaze, white, dense steam is rising up and spreading in the vast bathtub, which makes one feel suspicious about the motive behind making a bath like this.Even though the walls and ceiling are made out of pure white marble, only the bathtub is made out of wood for some reason. Its beautiful, curly grains looked pretty under the sorcery lights illuminating the entire bathroom.Rona didnt know what kind of wood it was, but from being heated up due to the hot water, its creating an extremely calming, nice scent. One could tell the merit of the designers taste, who had created this bathroom.The location being within the beastmens royal castle.Its a large public bath that had been set up in a section of said castle.Support the translator by reading this novel at Infinite Novel Translation!Uh~. Once Rona turns her eyes towardsthatagain due to the groans coming from that direction, she sees Mayria standing there with a very dissatisfied expression.Since its a bathroom, shes of course nude, but she has completely covered the area from her chest to her feet with a towel. Whats visible is no more than the area above her chest.Rona had fully witnessed how Mayria had expressly negotiated with a beastman priestess to have her look for the biggest towel available.As far as she saw with a fleeting glance in the dressing room, the bulging of Mayrias body is very modest and almost non-existence.Rona didnt know to what extent Mayrias chest had grown when she mentioned it, but now she wouldnt run her mouth as Mayria would definitely come to hit her. However, even if she considers Mayrias age, her body shape is somewhat lacking.Since Rona confirmed that Mayrias waist area is properly tightening, its not like she can call it a childs body shape, but either way the volume of her chest and lumbar region is meager.Though it doesnt go as far as Croires body.After thinking this far, Rona changes her mind.No matter what she might say, the other party is the next archduchess, the person to whom she had been assigned by her superior.Thinking thatmeagermight not be a good term, Rona rethinks and searches for an appropriate word inside her memory.Mayrias body shape is slender and ephemeral.Believing that might be a slightly less objectionable term, she breathes out once, wondering whether such a term is all that different.She hasnt reached a marriageable age where she has to hurry either, has she?Rona ponders.The same couldnt be said about Shion, but there are quite a few people who suddenly begin to grow once they reach a certain age. Just what the hell are you eating for those to become like that, Rona? (Mayria) Being asked by Mayria, Rona looks down at her own body.Rona wonders what she should say here, but its a body that definitely has distinct proportions to it.Rona has the confidence that her volume is abundant compared to others.On the other hand its also not to the extent that Ill be called fat, Rona believes.In short, she has proportions where she can claim that the parts that should stick out, do, and the parts that should be tight, are.However, if shes asked whether thats attractive, Rona has slightly lost her confidence recently.In the past she was conceitedly believing that there was probably no one who could refuse her if she approached them, but now that she has gone through the experience of being firmly turned down, shes embarrassed about her previous arrogance to the extent of blushing. What do you want me to tell youI dont think Im eating anything unusual worth mentioning. (Rona) Rather, arent my eating habits fairly modest since I had been in a position where I worked as a knight to begin with?Rona even wonders.Its because she regards eating as a necessary daily task and not as something to be enjoyed.However, nowadays theres Renyas influence. Somehow she feels as if shes only eating unusual and delicious dishes.But, thats definitely a recent matter. It shouldnt be related to what Mayria is asking. Gununu (Mayria) Expressing a bitter smile towards Mayria who seems to audibly grind her teeth, Rona draws hot water into a bucket and lets it stream down her body.As for the human countries, they are not overly familiar with the establishment referred to as a bath.In the first place its because such an establishment wont work without heating up large amounts of water and having a bathtub that can maintain the heat of so much water.In general households it isnt possible to install it, thus it was mostly used as a hobby by people who have enough money.However, after Rona began to work together with Renya, she took baths with regular frequency.Once the usage frequency went up, Rona understood that this thing called a bath apparently has an effect that allows one to feel good and also eases ones mood apart from its main purpose of keeping the body clean. After that she started to forget about what kind of a life she had led without bathing.Renya cautioned her over and over again to wash her body before entering the bath.Certainly, if you enter the bath with a dirty body, the large amount of hot water filling the tub will get polluted, resulting in extremely bad efficiency.In that case, washing off the dirt first, even if it takes some time, and entering the bathtub with a clean body is truly reasonable, Rona thinks.Hence Rona properly sticks to Renyas instruction and always washes her body first.Rona also reads the continuation of this novel at infinitenoveltranslations_netIf its you, Rona, you have a body that seems difficult to wash, dont you? (Mayria) One cant wash their body while covered by a towel.Mayria, who stared at Rona rinsing off her body with hot water, finally flung off her towel as if having resigned herself, and whispered that while starting to fetch hot water with a bucket and pouring it over her body.Once Rona looked at Mayria wondering what she might be talking about, Mayria said with a broad grin, You have a big, fat and heavy cleavage and a butt with a lot of crevices in-between. (Mayria) Mayria-sama, your body sure is easier to wash. I mean, you just have to smoothly wipe across your body with a whoosh. (Rona) Due to Mayria trying to put some kind of implicit meaning into her words while stressing the wordsbigandfat, Rona gave her a sharp response without hesitation.In front of Ronya, who believes,She probably didnt expect that she would be answered in such a way, Mayrias body, who has an expression as if an invisible blade had been pierced right into the middle of her chest, heeled over in a grand manner and fell into the bathtub while instantly causing water to spray all around.After looking at Mayrias back, which was lightly floating on the baths surface, for a while Rona fires off her finishing blow. Oh my, Mayria-samayour face is deep black, you know? Ah, sorry, thats the back of your head. (Rona) Seemingly having heard Ronas words, whos laughing with a Hohohoho, Mayria, who was floating, quickly got up inside the bathtub and adopted a daunting pose. Then she pointed at the laughing Rona and yelled, Fat Chest! You are to sag! (Mayria) S-Sag? (Rona) Rona murmured words of shock due to the remark that might have gone over the top. Did Mayria see on Ronas expression that she had suffered a bit of damage? Mayria declares further, For someone like you, Rona, your chest and butt should just sag! No, at this size its an unavoidable fact that they will sag in another ten years! (Mayria) Due to Mayria arbitrarily deciding that to be the case while sternly thrusting a finger at her, even Ronas face started to twitch.No matter how much she might be the daughter of my superior, she should make a distinction of what can be said and what cannot. Isnt it natural for her to receive one or two spankings, if she doesnt differentiate?Rona started to scrutinize. Mayria-sama? Even If I am the subordinate of Her Majesty the Archduchess, there are things you can say and others you cant, dont you think? (Rona) Going by that volume of yours, Rona, saying it will take 10 years is too optimistic. 2 or 3 years is much more realistic, I think? (Mayria) In addition to her face twitching, veins popped out on Ronas forehead.However, she keeps up her smile.Rona slowly puts her feet into the bathtub and moreover slowly approaches Mayria, who is standing imposingly inside the tub. Very well, Mayria-sama. I shall teach you how to talk properly. While at it, I will kindly enlarge the flatness and broad sparseness of your flat chest. (Rona) N-Now youve said it!? In that case I will immediately transform the massive chest and butt of yours into loose, saggy goods! (Mayria) Matching her hands with Mayrias hands, who came grasping for her with a bright red face, Rona grapples with Mayria right in the middle of the bathtub.Rona had an overwhelming advantage in strength and weight, but contrary to the expectation that Mayria would likely be overpowered in no time, she unleashes a plain counterattack. Eh? Ah, ou-ouch-ouch!? Mayria-sama!? Your stepping on my foot, my foot! (Rona) On the verge of being overcome in the grappling contest, Mayria trampled down with all her might on the instep of Ronas foot.Just then Mayrias big toe of the right foot stimulates the space between the little toe and the fourth toe of Ronas left foot by grinding against it. Fufujust as expected. This place hurting means (Mayria) Meanswhat? (Rona) Rona, it means that you have very stiff shoulders! Its because of those lumps of fat dangling down from your chest. I will give you a nice medical treatment! Here we go! Grind grind (Mayria) Ha? Stiff shoulders? Wai-, ouch, ouch, ooouch!? That really hurts!? (Rona) Having her instep drilled with the big toe as if thrusting into it, Rona screams as shes unable to endure it.Since the knowledge mentioned by Mayria more or less matches with the knowledge in this world on top of being something that she had asked Renya about, she wasnt wrong about it being an acupuncture point against stiff shoulders, but she was quite wrong about the way of using it. Now then, Rona. Prepare yourself. After all you wont be able to escape the fate of sagging. (Mayria) T-Thats totally unrelated, isnt it!? (Rona) No, it is related. Having stiff shoulders means that your body hasnt adapted to the weight of those lumps of fat. In other words, for now its fine, but once you lose your youthfulness, those lumps will lose their ability to maintain their shape, resulting in them sagging! (Mayria) Guufor some reason that sounds reasonable (Rona) However, Mayria, the one actually saying all that, has absolutely no knowledge in this matter to base her words on.In short, Mayria thinks that she could win if her opponent believes what shes claiming despite having no evidence to back it up.Against what shes going to win or lose; thats very likely something even Mayria herself doesnt know. B-But, then I just have to raise my body to maintain the shape by training it accurately! (Rona) Rona was about to get overpowered, but bearing the pain of having the instep of her foot being drilled into, she makes an effort and starts to put power into her hands that are tightly joined together with Mayrias.The difference in gripping strength between the former knight Rona and the office worker Mayria is more than obvious.Mayrias face, which was relaxed until then, started to distort in slight pain.Rona began to directly attack Mayrias hands and not the joints or some acupuncture points. The tides changing, Mayria-sama. That delicate build of yourswill still stay delicate even if you do train it! (Rona) Gunu!? (Mayria) Thats the difference between haves and have-nots! (Rona) U-Ummwhat on earth are you doing? Rona is about to push Mayria, who received a shock, as if its the critical moment.The one who timidly cut into the scene of two nude women quarreling inside a bathtub that cant be seen normally is Shion who stepped into the bath as the very last member.Due to the sudden voice, Rona and Mayria look at Shion with only their eyes as they are still grappling, and their expressions freeze at the same time. Eh? Just what happened? (Shion) Rona and Mayria let their eyes run several times across Shions body.Rona somewhat knows about Shions recent body build, but even that information originates from a time slightly before both of them started to act together with Renya.When speaking of Shions body build back then, she had firm muscles at her arms and legs, apparently because she was carrying out her training as a swordswoman. Although it wasnt that terrible, her body build gave Rona the impression of being rugged.After that Shion went through the training carried out by Keiths unit, acquiring a physical strength that allowed her to blow away a soldier wearing full armor with one strike.Rona thought that she had certainly gained muscles, but contrary to those expectations, the body build of the entering Shion had changed into such a slender and supple silhouette that one might doubt where that physical strength of hers stems from.The muscles at her arms and legs have disappeared. And as if that wasnt already enough, her body is showing curves that are tinged with a womanly roundness.Even her abs that were close to six packs have completely lost their shape, leaving only a tense and glossy skin behind.What surprised Rona even more is Shions chest. Theres no doubt that the size has gone up compared to the last time she saw it. Its maintaining a firm, dome shape as if displaying that the muscles around it have been properly trained due to the nature of her job as a swordswoman. Thats cheating, right? (Rona) Even though her body line has become womanly on the whole, its a fact that only her power has steeply risen compared to before.What can you call this if not cheating? Rona muttered feebly.Not comprehending just what had happened in front of her, she looks at Shion, whos acting flustered without even hiding her body.Certainly, if its in regards to volume, my own body wins by far, but if Im told by Mayria that it will sag sooner or later, I cant really refute it, can I?She even started to believe.Just what kind of training has Renya put Shion through?Rona wonders.I wonder whether I should ask him to allow me to go through that training myself as well.Mayria is unable to hide her shock.The Shion Mayria knows about is her elder sister from further back in the past than the Shion in Ronas memory, but if pushed to say, Shion, who aimed to become a swordswoman since that time, was muscular. Moreover, at that time she didnt have such a curvy body.Well, in fact Shion, whos standing in front of them right now, likely falls behind in the value maxima compared to Rona, but if judged comprehensively, shes showing evaluation values exceeding Ronas proportions by far.What surprised Mayria the most is not the chest, which she worries about due to its size, but the shape of Shions waist.Its so tightly stretched that you most likely cant even pinch it with a finger as theres no place to hold on to, Mayria judged.Mayria herself was also confident about that place being tight and firm, but compared to her older sister, she loses out, no matter how you look at it.In the first place, around the area of her belly theres a reasonable amount of fat that can be pinched.Mayria ended up doubting whether this woman covered all over in foam is really her own sister. Mayria? Rona? (Shion) I feel empty (Mayria) Thats right, Mayria-samaat this level its already hurting physically, isnt it? (Rona)You like reading chapters without ads? Come to Infinite Novel TL!Not understanding whats going on, Shion tilts her head to the side in confusion due to the two sinking down into the bathtub with lifeless mumblings. Since it didnt look like she would understand even if she pondered over it, she plainly gave up on thinking about it, drew hot water into a bucket and started to pour it over her body.Shion had also heard from Renya about the need to decently wash her body before entering the bathtub.Hence she properly rinses her body with hot water and after getting warmed up to the extent of her body flushing slightly, she slowly submerges her body in the bathtub.Her black hair, which she always ties up, quickly spreads inside the bathtub.Originally this is not good for the hair. Usually women with long hair wear their hair up when entering the bathtub, but Renya didnt give her a warning about such a thing.For that reason Renya is the only one aware of that fact. Its the appearance, isnt it? (Mayria) Its the appearance, right? (Rona) Mayria and Rona mutter the same thing while looking at Shion who is stretching out her whole body in the bathtub looking really comfortable.As if about to ask whats happening, Shion suddenly frowned while looking up to the ceiling. Ane-sama? (Mayria) Cant youhear some sound? (Shion) Being told so by Shion, Rona and Mayria held their tongues and tried to strain their ears, but neither of them could hear anything but the occasional drop of water falling down from the ceiling into the bathtub with a plop. Can you hear something, ane-sama? (Mayria) Just so you know, I cant hear anything. (Rona) Its notmy imagination, I think, butright now I cant hear it. (Shion) The sound I heard was similar to a small explosion, Shion thinks.The battle between the queen and the priestess should have come to an end, but I wonder, is there something else going on that would trigger an explosion within the castle besides that battle?While being puzzled, Shion submerged her body even deeper into the hot water to enjoy the warmth of the bath for now. Hoh? (Rona) W-What is it with your gaze and tone, Rona? Hoh hohI see, I see. (Rona) If you dont quit itI will twist them. Being looked up at from below with an obvious glare, Rona averted her eyes in a hurry.Ahead of Ronas averted gaze, white, dense steam is rising up and spreading in the vast bathtub, which makes one feel suspicious about the motive behind making a bath like this.Even though the walls and ceiling are made out of pure white marble, only the bathtub is made out of wood for some reason. Its beautiful, curly grains looked pretty under the sorcery lights illuminating the entire bathroom.Rona didnt know what kind of wood it was, but from being heated up due to the hot water, its creating an extremely calming, nice scent. One could tell the merit of the designers taste, who had created this bathroom.The location being within the beastmens royal castle.Its a large public bath that had been set up in a section of said castle.Support the translator by reading this novel at Infinite Novel Translation!Uh~. Once Rona turns her eyes towardsthatagain due to the groans coming from that direction, she sees Mayria standing there with a very dissatisfied expression.Since its a bathroom, shes of course nude, but she has completely covered the area from her chest to her feet with a towel. Whats visible is no more than the area above her chest.Rona had fully witnessed how Mayria had expressly negotiated with a beastman priestess to have her look for the biggest towel available.As far as she saw with a fleeting glance in the dressing room, the bulging of Mayrias body is very modest and almost non-existence.Rona didnt know to what extent Mayrias chest had grown when she mentioned it, but now she wouldnt run her mouth as Mayria would definitely come to hit her. However, even if she considers Mayrias age, her body shape is somewhat lacking.Since Rona confirmed that Mayrias waist area is properly tightening, its not like she can call it a childs body shape, but either way the volume of her chest and lumbar region is meager.Though it doesnt go as far as Croires body.After thinking this far, Rona changes her mind.No matter what she might say, the other party is the next archduchess, the person to whom she had been assigned by her superior.Thinking thatmeagermight not be a good term, Rona rethinks and searches for an appropriate word inside her memory.Mayrias body shape is slender and ephemeral.Believing that might be a slightly less objectionable term, she breathes out once, wondering whether such a term is all that different.She hasnt reached a marriageable age where she has to hurry either, has she?Rona ponders.The same couldnt be said about Shion, but there are quite a few people who suddenly begin to grow once they reach a certain age. Just what the hell are you eating for those to become like that, Rona? (Mayria) Being asked by Mayria, Rona looks down at her own body.Rona wonders what she should say here, but its a body that definitely has distinct proportions to it.Rona has the confidence that her volume is abundant compared to others.On the other hand its also not to the extent that Ill be called fat, Rona believes.In short, she has proportions where she can claim that the parts that should stick out, do, and the parts that should be tight, are.However, if shes asked whether thats attractive, Rona has slightly lost her confidence recently.In the past she was conceitedly believing that there was probably no one who could refuse her if she approached them, but now that she has gone through the experience of being firmly turned down, shes embarrassed about her previous arrogance to the extent of blushing. What do you want me to tell youI dont think Im eating anything unusual worth mentioning. (Rona) Rather, arent my eating habits fairly modest since I had been in a position where I worked as a knight to begin with?Rona even wonders.Its because she regards eating as a necessary daily task and not as something to be enjoyed.However, nowadays theres Renyas influence. Somehow she feels as if shes only eating unusual and delicious dishes.But, thats definitely a recent matter. It shouldnt be related to what Mayria is asking. Gununu (Mayria) Expressing a bitter smile towards Mayria who seems to audibly grind her teeth, Rona draws hot water into a bucket and lets it stream down her body.As for the human countries, they are not overly familiar with the establishment referred to as a bath.In the first place its because such an establishment wont work without heating up large amounts of water and having a bathtub that can maintain the heat of so much water.In general households it isnt possible to install it, thus it was mostly used as a hobby by people who have enough money.However, after Rona began to work together with Renya, she took baths with regular frequency.Once the usage frequency went up, Rona understood that this thing called a bath apparently has an effect that allows one to feel good and also eases ones mood apart from its main purpose of keeping the body clean. After that she started to forget about what kind of a life she had led without bathing.Renya cautioned her over and over again to wash her body before entering the bath.Certainly, if you enter the bath with a dirty body, the large amount of hot water filling the tub will get polluted, resulting in extremely bad efficiency.In that case, washing off the dirt first, even if it takes some time, and entering the bathtub with a clean body is truly reasonable, Rona thinks.Hence Rona properly sticks to Renyas instruction and always washes her body first.Rona also reads the continuation of this novel at infinitenoveltranslations_netIf its you, Rona, you have a body that seems difficult to wash, dont you? (Mayria) One cant wash their body while covered by a towel.Mayria, who stared at Rona rinsing off her body with hot water, finally flung off her towel as if having resigned herself, and whispered that while starting to fetch hot water with a bucket and pouring it over her body.Once Rona looked at Mayria wondering what she might be talking about, Mayria said with a broad grin, You have a big, fat and heavy cleavage and a butt with a lot of crevices in-between. (Mayria) Mayria-sama, your body sure is easier to wash. I mean, you just have to smoothly wipe across your body with a whoosh. (Rona) Due to Mayria trying to put some kind of implicit meaning into her words while stressing the wordsbigandfat, Rona gave her a sharp response without hesitation.In front of Ronya, who believes,She probably didnt expect that she would be answered in such a way, Mayrias body, who has an expression as if an invisible blade had been pierced right into the middle of her chest, heeled over in a grand manner and fell into the bathtub while instantly causing water to spray all around.After looking at Mayrias back, which was lightly floating on the baths surface, for a while Rona fires off her finishing blow. Oh my, Mayria-samayour face is deep black, you know? Ah, sorry, thats the back of your head. (Rona) Seemingly having heard Ronas words, whos laughing with a Hohohoho, Mayria, who was floating, quickly got up inside the bathtub and adopted a daunting pose. Then she pointed at the laughing Rona and yelled, Fat Chest! You are to sag! (Mayria) S-Sag? (Rona) Rona murmured words of shock due to the remark that might have gone over the top.Did Mayria see on Ronas expression that she had suffered a bit of damage? Mayria declares further, For someone like you, Rona, your chest and butt should just sag! No, at this size its an unavoidable fact that they will sag in another ten years! (Mayria) Due to Mayria arbitrarily deciding that to be the case while sternly thrusting a finger at her, even Ronas face started to twitch.No matter how much she might be the daughter of my superior, she should make a distinction of what can be said and what cannot. Isnt it natural for her to receive one or two spankings, if she doesnt differentiate?Rona started to scrutinize. Mayria-sama? Even If I am the subordinate of Her Majesty the Archduchess, there are things you can say and others you cant, dont you think? (Rona) Going by that volume of yours, Rona, saying it will take 10 years is too optimistic. 2 or 3 years is much more realistic, I think? (Mayria) In addition to her face twitching, veins popped out on Ronas forehead.However, she keeps up her smile.Rona slowly puts her feet into the bathtub and moreover slowly approaches Mayria, who is standing imposingly inside the tub. Very well, Mayria-sama. I shall teach you how to talk properly. While at it, I will kindly enlarge the flatness and broad sparseness of your flat chest. (Rona) N-Now youve said it!? In that case I will immediately transform the massive chest and butt of yours into loose, saggy goods! (Mayria) Matching her hands with Mayrias hands, who came grasping for her with a bright red face, Rona grapples with Mayria right in the middle of the bathtub.Rona had an overwhelming advantage in strength and weight, but contrary to the expectation that Mayria would likely be overpowered in no time, she unleashes a plain counterattack. Eh? Ah, ou-ouch-ouch!? Mayria-sama!? Your stepping on my foot, my foot! (Rona) On the verge of being overcome in the grappling contest, Mayria trampled down with all her might on the instep of Ronas foot.Just then Mayrias big toe of the right foot stimulates the space between the little toe and the fourth toe of Ronas left foot by grinding against it. Fufujust as expected. This place hurting means (Mayria) Meanswhat? (Rona) Rona, it means that you have very stiff shoulders! Its because of those lumps of fat dangling down from your chest. I will give you a nice medical treatment! Here we go! Grind grind (Mayria) Ha? Stiff shoulders? Wai-, ouch, ouch, ooouch!? That really hurts!? (Rona) Having her instep drilled with the big toe as if thrusting into it, Rona screams as shes unable to endure it.Since the knowledge mentioned by Mayria more or less matches with the knowledge in this world on top of being something that she had asked Renya about, she wasnt wrong about it being an acupuncture point against stiff shoulders, but she was quite wrong about the way of using it. Now then, Rona. Prepare yourself. After all you wont be able to escape the fate of sagging. (Mayria) T-Thats totally unrelated, isnt it!? (Rona) No, it is related. Having stiff shoulders means that your body hasnt adapted to the weight of those lumps of fat. In other words, for now its fine, but once you lose your youthfulness, those lumps will lose their ability to maintain their shape, resulting in them sagging! (Mayria) Guufor some reason that sounds reasonable (Rona) However, Mayria, the one actually saying all that, has absolutely no knowledge in this matter to base her words on.In short, Mayria thinks that she could win if her opponent believes what shes claiming despite having no evidence to back it up.Against what shes going to win or lose; thats very likely something even Mayria herself doesnt know. B-But, then I just have to raise my body to maintain the shape by training it accurately! (Rona) Rona was about to get overpowered, but bearing the pain of having the instep of her foot being drilled into, she makes an effort and starts to put power into her hands that are tightly joined together with Mayrias.The difference in gripping strength between the former knight Rona and the office worker Mayria is more than obvious.Mayrias face, which was relaxed until then, started to distort in slight pain.Rona began to directly attack Mayrias hands and not the joints or some acupuncture points. The tides changing, Mayria-sama. That delicate build of yourswill still stay delicate even if you do train it! (Rona) Gunu!? (Mayria) Thats the difference between haves and have-nots! (Rona) U-Ummwhat on earth are you doing? Rona is about to push Mayria, who received a shock, as if its the critical moment.The one who timidly cut into the scene of two nude women quarreling inside a bathtub that cant be seen normally is Shion who stepped into the bath as the very last member.Due to the sudden voice, Rona and Mayria look at Shion with only their eyes as they are still grappling, and their expressions freeze at the same time. Eh? Just what happened? (Shion) Rona and Mayria let their eyes run several times across Shions body.Rona somewhat knows about Shions recent body build, but even that information originates from a time slightly before both of them started to act together with Renya.When speaking of Shions body build back then, she had firm muscles at her arms and legs, apparently because she was carrying out her training as a swordswoman. Although it wasnt that terrible, her body build gave Rona the impression of being rugged.After that Shion went through the training carried out by Keiths unit, acquiring a physical strength that allowed her to blow away a soldier wearing full armor with one strike.Rona thought that she had certainly gained muscles, but contrary to those expectations, the body build of the entering Shion had changed into such a slender and supple silhouette that one might doubt where that physical strength of hers stems from.The muscles at her arms and legs have disappeared. And as if that wasnt already enough, her body is showing curves that are tinged with a womanly roundness.Even her abs that were close to six packs have completely lost their shape, leaving only a tense and glossy skin behind.What surprised Rona even more is Shions chest. Theres no doubt that the size has gone up compared to the last time she saw it. Its maintaining a firm, dome shape as if displaying that the muscles around it have been properly trained due to the nature of her job as a swordswoman. Thats cheating, right? (Rona) Even though her body line has become womanly on the whole, its a fact that only her power has steeply risen compared to before.What can you call this if not cheating? Rona muttered feebly.Not comprehending just what had happened in front of her, she looks at Shion, whos acting flustered without even hiding her body.Certainly, if its in regards to volume, my own body wins by far, but if Im told by Mayria that it will sag sooner or later, I cant really refute it, can I?She even started to believe.Just what kind of training has Renya put Shion through?Rona wonders.I wonder whether I should ask him to allow me to go through that training myself as well.Mayria is unable to hide her shock.The Shion Mayria knows about is her elder sister from further back in the past than the Shion in Ronas memory, but if pushed to say, Shion, who aimed to become a swordswoman since that time, was muscular. Moreover, at that time she didnt have such a curvy body.Well, in fact Shion, whos standing in front of them right now, likely falls behind in the value maxima compared to Rona, but if judged comprehensively, shes showing evaluation values exceeding Ronas proportions by far.What surprised Mayria the most is not the chest, which she worries about due to its size, but the shape of Shions waist.Its so tightly stretched that you most likely cant even pinch it with a finger as theres no place to hold on to, Mayria judged.Mayria herself was also confident about that place being tight and firm, but compared to her older sister, she loses out, no matter how you look at it.In the first place, around the area of her belly theres a reasonable amount of fat that can be pinched.Mayria ended up doubting whether this woman covered all over in foam is really her own sister. Mayria? Rona? (Shion) I feel empty (Mayria) Thats right, Mayria-samaat this level its already hurting physically, isnt it? (Rona)You like reading chapters without ads? Come to Infinite Novel TL!Not understanding whats going on, Shion tilts her head to the side in confusion due to the two sinking down into the bathtub with lifeless mumblings. Since it didnt look like she would understand even if she pondered over it, she plainly gave up on thinking about it, drew hot water into a bucket and started to pour it over her body.Shion had also heard from Renya about the need to decently wash her body before entering the bathtub.Hence she properly rinses her body with hot water and after getting warmed up to the extent of her body flushing slightly, she slowly submerges her body in the bathtub.Her black hair, which she always ties up, quickly spreads inside the bathtub.Originally this is not good for the hair. Usually women with long hair wear their hair up when entering the bathtub, but Renya didnt give her a warning about such a thing.For that reason Renya is the only one aware of that fact. Its the appearance, isnt it? (Mayria) Its the appearance, right? (Rona) Mayria and Rona mutter the same thing while looking at Shion who is stretching out her whole body in the bathtub looking really comfortable.As if about to ask whats happening, Shion suddenly frowned while looking up to the ceiling. Ane-sama? (Mayria) Cant youhear some sound? (Shion) Being told so by Shion, Rona and Mayria held their tongues and tried to strain their ears, but neither of them could hear anything but the occasional drop of water falling down from the ceiling into the bathtub with a plop. Can you hear something, ane-sama? (Mayria) Just so you know, I cant hear anything. (Rona) Its notmy imagination, I think, butright now I cant hear it. (Shion) The sound I heard was similar to a small explosion, Shion thinks.The battle between the queen and the priestess should have come to an end, but I wonder, is there something else going on that would trigger an explosion within the castle besides that battle?While being puzzled, Shion submerged her body even deeper into the hot water to enjoy the warmth of the bath for now. Chapter 143 Grn runs through the darkness.Although the hidden passage isnt that broad, theres no illumination. At the same time, Renya is unable to brighten up the whole passage with just the occasionally tossed sorcery lights clinging to the ceiling. Moreover, since the Fang Kings speed, who had gone ahead, easily escapes the range thats illuminated by those lights, they bear almost no meaning.Under the condition of being inside darkness, human eyes cant see anything.For Renya to be able to barely chase after the Fang King is owed to his perception and because hes running while somehow sensing the surroundings by the footsteps caused by the Fang King, himself and Lepard.If this was a perfect darkness, even the Fang King and Lepard should be unable to see anything just like Renya, but according to Lepard, light at a level that he can barely see seems to be flowing into his beastman eyes.If you compare the average values of combat abilities, the beastmen doubtlessly surpass the humans by far, but it was apparently the same in regards to the performance of their eyes. In that case, it cant be helped (Renya) Ahead of the running Renya, there are small sparks and metallic sounds.At first Renya couldnt collate those, but it appears that Grn, who is ahead of him, has started to attack the Fang King while looking for opportunities.The Fang King blocking and repelling those attacks is the true identity of those sparks and sounds.In the beginning Grn used some spells or tools that flared up and exploded, but because the stray shots caused serious damage to parts of the passage and since the soldiers and maids, who seemed to accidentally be on the other side of the wall, screamed, he changed his tactics to close combat. Grn, is going at it quite spiritedly~ (Renya) I have heard that elves can see well in the darkness, but they have indeed quite the astounding night vision. (Lepard) Lepard, whos running next to Renya, says in admiration.Him being able to keep up with is simply because Renya is keeping a slow pace.Lepard, who puts emphasis on strength in battles, possesses the ears and tail of a leopard, but he wasnt that much of a fast runner, seemingly due to the heavy muscles covering his whole body.But then again its because hes running while taking the damage to the building itself into account. It looks like he could have run faster if it was fine to break the floor in the process, but if he did that, he would get scolded by a strict Lobelia as it would increase the repair costs.If he learned to adjust his strength, he might be able to run a lot faster while keeping the damage to the building low, Renya believes, but the fact that Lepard is unable to consider that option is very much like him.Compared to that, the agility of Grn could be summed up with the wordmagnificent.Not only does he keep running through a darkness, where he shouldnt be able to see much if anything at all, at an outrageous speed, but he doesnt make any noise with his footsteps at all, although he should be wearing normal boots while running on top of a stone floor.While sticking close to the Fang King running in front, he delivers pointed attacks no sooner than slipping into the Fang Kings blind spots, weakening the Fang Kings legs.It was no exaggeration to say that Renya and Lepard have managed to avoid losing the Fang King thanks to that. Your father is quite swift-footed (Renya) He weighs less than me. His strength might have declined a bit, but he has been training everyday after allin running away. (Lepard) Lepards last words were muttered very quietly and feebly.It seems the remark mentioned by the Fang King that its an everyday occurrence is not a lie, but just the plain truth.However, I wonder what the fact that he has trained his speed as the first priority for the sake of running away from his queen says about him as a king, Renya wonders.Once again a single, high-pitched sound was audible as sparks scattered.The blow just now seemed to be somehow different from the ones before. Sensing that something was flying their way, even though he couldnt see it, Renya tried to take evasive actions.It seems as though Lepards perception caught that presence as well, but instead of trying to evade like Renya, he spreads both arms in order to catch the approaching object from the front. Lepard? (Renya) Its Grn. (Lepard) The second Lepard says that, Renya can hear the impact of flesh colliding with flesh.Although stifled, Grns cries of pain were mixed into it as well. What happened!? (Renya) As expected of the beastmen kinghes formidable. (Grn) Once Grn said that alongside a small tongue clicking, Lepard laughed. Looks like your attacks got countered, eh? (Lepard) Due to Lepards words, Renya is able to mostly guess what had happened.Apparently having become used to Grns attacks, the Fang King counterattacked him. It seems that Grn was blown away after receiving that blow.Since Renya didnt expect for the object approaching him to be Grn, he took evasive actions, but Lepard, who realized that it was Grn, caught him. Its fine. I can run myself. (Grn) Even though he can hear their voices, Renya practically cant see either of them.But he perceives Grns presence becoming more distant right away. Lepard, can the Fang King use the elven language? (Renya) Hah? We cant use anything but the human language. As theres too many races around us, we wouldnt understand each other, if we started to use native languages. (Lepard) Ignoring Lepard, who continues with In the first place, whos going to come up and create something like a native beastman language?, for the moment, Renya yelled towards the distant presence while focusing on the elven language, Grn! Listen up, once I give you the signal, stop that idiots legs completely for just a moment! (Renya) Got it. (Grn) There was a reply from way ahead, albeit being faint.While believing,Probably neither the Fang King nor Lepard, whos running next to me, were able to understand my instruction just now, he next focuses on the human language again and then addresses Lepard, Lepard, for the most part I dont grasp the situation around us. (Renya) Im surprised that you keep running without crashing into a wall like that. (Lepard) That doesnt matter now. Tell me if we enter a straight, narrow passage. If possible please make sure that the Fang King is straight ahead of me. (Renya) Understood. (Lepard) How very soldier-like of him to not start asking what Im planning, Renya thinks.Lepard understood from Renyas tone that hes likely intending to stop the Fang King, using some kind of method. Make sure not to die if possiblebah, that stupid old man! (Lepard) Whats wrong? (Renya) Surprised at Lepard was cursing all of a sudden, Renya felt like he stepped on something soft in the next instant.It was similar to a bundle of cloth, but as it wasnt that big either, it immediately disappeared behind them. The Fang Kingtook off his jacket while running. (Lepard) Hah? (Renya) Before being stopped by us, that person intends to launch a suicide attack on the bathtub as soon as he arrives on-site. (Lepard) While feeling his brain freezing as he tries to understand Lepards words, Renya thought,Oh, what I stepped on moments ago was the Fang Kings jacket?as if its almost completely someone elses problem.In other words, Renya didnt know at all when he would be arriving at his destination, the bathroom, at this pace, but the Fang King was apparently planning to take off all clothes on the way.Renya is filled with the urge of wanting to retort,Thats not what you call peeping, but in the Fang Kings eyes C seeing that he already had pursuers on his heels C he will definitely get caught even if he tries to give those pursuers the slip as Lepard knows the way anyway.Thus he apparently jumped to the hasty conclusion,In that case I would rather storm into the bathroom.The idea that looking at what is visible before being caught is a nicely resolute, truly manly action is limited to the performer, but when seen from the side that is forced to keep the tea company, its intolerable. Is that something a king would do? (Renya) Thats definitely not the way a king, or rather even an ordinary person, should act, Renya believes.For better or worse its a bathroom with foreign and moreover noble women inside,he thinks, but even if there was a protest from the Trident Principality with that as a reason, they have very likely no other option but to use the transfer gate for communications, seeing as the beastman country is too far away.Also, if the beastmen deliberately continue pretending to not be aware of it, just the protest and the verification of the event will cost too much money. Renya, I take back what I said before. Beat him to death. (Lepard) Renya wonders whats that about, but he changes his mind towardI suppose theres no need to hold back since I got authorization from his own son. Once we turn around the next corner, it should be a long, straight passagealright! I see his back! Hes right in front, Renya. (Lepard) Grn! Stop him! (Renya) According to Renyas shouted an instruction in elvish, Grn steps in front of the Fang King for just an instant.If hes hit directly from the front, Grns body wont be able to hinder the Fang Kings charge.The Fang King swoops down on Grn, obviously planning to tackle him as hes well aware of that fact.But, Grn didnt have any intention to foolishly challenge the Fang King to a contest of strength. He takes something out of his pocket, throws it on the ground, lowers his body in the same motion and does a forward somersault. Passing between the feet of the charging Fang King, he landed behind him.In front of the Fang King, whos still rushing while having lost his target, the object that was thrown by Grn starts to unfold furiously.It was fine threads that had been entwined over and over again.Just like a spiderweb, they blocked the passage clinging all around, not just to the ceiling or a wall.The single threads werent that strong, but once the Fang Kings body plunged into that spiderweb, which was formed by all those thin threads gathering together, his body was snared on the spot even while a part of the spiderweb was torn off. Nuu!? (Sigurd) Renya! I stopped him! (Grn) Dont think you were able to stop me with only this much! (Sigurd) Even though his charge has been stopped, its not as though the Fang Kings power has diminished. He gathers his strength and tears up the spiderweb with ripping sounds.But, for Renya the time he had been stopped was more than enough. Grn! Get out of the way! (Renya) If the target is right in front in a straight passage, he will hit his target as long as he only runs straight ahead, even if he cant see the vicinity.There was also the concern that Grn would be dragged into it if things went badly, but while expecting that he will likely be able to skillfully dodge it, Renya kicked the ground with all his power.He reaches an acceleration that cannot be compared to the running speed he had until now.Not knowing the distance to the Fang King, Renya crossed both his arms in front of his face and rushed forward in that state. Guu (Renya) Gaha!? (Sigurd) Due to the impact assailing his arms, Renya leaks a faint groan. The Fang King, who directly received that assault with his back, screamed in pain.The spiderweb that suffered the impact of Renyas charge and had to bear the weight of two people, is easily torn to pieces and the Fang Kings body is released, but Renyas arms have been already wedged into his back and their bodies slither along the passage with almost no deceleration. L-Let go! Hey! Stop! (Sigurd) You think Im an idiot that will do that!? (Renya) Theres a wall in front of us! (Sigurd) The Fang King, who has memorized the map, knew that they would crash into a wall if they continued like this, going by their current location and the direction of movement. So what about it!? The one crashing into the wall will be just you, Fang King! (Renya) Even if theres a wall ahead, Renya, whos pressing down on the back, wont directly crash into the wall since the Fang Kings body will act as a buffer.Rather, the Fang King will be sandwiched between him and the wall. Renya had the intention of bringing the Fang King down by delivering a reliable amount of damage. T-The likes of a wall wont even make my steel body quiver! (Sigurd) Then resign yourself as I will keep beating you, even if you smash into the wall, until you give up! (Renya) A-Are you sure? On the other side of the wall is (Sigurd) The Fang Kings words were interrupted half way.At the same time a shock travels through Renyas entire body.Before he even comprehended that they had hit against the wall, Renya steps powerfully forward and drives both his elbows into the back of the Fang King using the weight of his entire body.It was unclear whether it was the Fang Kings body or the wall that caused the creaking sounds.Rather than pondering about something like that, he focuses his mind on the possibility of him being unable to catch the Fang King again if he lets him escape here. Thus he doesnt cease pushing the Fang Kings body into the wall until all power definitely escapes his body. S-Stooopon the other side of this wall (Sigurd) How tenacious! (Renya) Renya fears that he might be lacking power, but theres no way that he will be able to correct his hold after separating once.The Fang King, whos still conscious, might run away if he uses the moment when Renya lets go.But, its also a fact that he cant dish out any effective attacks while they are glued to each other.In that case Renya has no option but to keep pushing here. Renya braces his legs, puts his strength into them and continues pressing against the Fang Kings back.Before he realized, the grating and creaking sound changed into a sound as if something hard was gradually breaking apart.Wondering whether that might be the start of some of the Fang Kings bones breaking or becoming dislocated due to the pressure, Renya puts his strength into both his arms as if going for a finishing blow.Just as he was about to do that, the pressure he felt on both arms vanished as if slipping away. Eh? (Renya) Renya unintentionally ends up letting out a silly sound out.As if in slow motion, Renya watches how the Fang Kings body falls towards the other side while breaking through the wall and how light floods the passage that had been pitch dark until then.That was the moment when the wall collapsed, unable to bear Renyas power.The body of the Fang King, who had lost consciousness at this point, is thrust into something, which was on the other side, with a glugging alongside the broken wall.And Renyas body, which lost the resistance from pushing against the Fang Kings body, pitches forward with the force he had loaded into it so far.He makes 2-3 steps as if stumbling forward.Treading across the body of the Fang King who had collapsed first, Renya looks directly into the eyes of the person who was ahead of him. Ah? Renya!? Due to the surprised voice, Renya considers evading, but with the momentum that was already driving his body, he plunges into that person.Spreading both arms, Renya looked as if he was going to embrace them. That person likewise spread their arms and apparently tried to catch him, but going by the difference in body weight and power of the person they were going to catch in their arms, it seemed to be a reckless challenge. Both of them clashed into the bathtub in the shape of Renya pushing down the other person while raising a spray of hot water. Sorry! Are you alright!? (Renya) Renya thrust his face into something that had an exceedingly soft springiness, but he lifts his head out of the tub in a hurry without even the spare time to enjoy that softness and lifts up the person, whom he had pushed down, in his arms.Its not unlikely for me to make her suffocate if Im careless, he thought.It was Shion in a state where her long black hair was showily spreading within the bathtub.Briefly looking at Shion, who incessantly blinks her eyes not understanding just what has happened, Renya confirms that he hasnt injured her and then breathes out in relief.Since he bumped into her with a reasonable force, he worried whether he had hurt her.And at the same time he realizes that the Fang King had tried to tell him something.His current location was the bathroom, the final spot the Fang King was aiming for.The sensation of the hot water soaking into my clothes doesnt really feel all that nice, Renya frowns.Shion repeatedly nudged Renyas chest. Mmh? (Renya) Renyaumm, you knowId be lying if I said that Im not happy, butafter all, umm, its embarrassing. (Shion) As he was about to look at Shion, whos in his arms, once again after being told so, he turned his face away in a hurry.Although its only natural as they are inside the bathtub, Shion wasnt wearing anything, so-to-speak, she was in her birthday suit.Given that she didnt even cover herself with a towel, her figure burned itself deeply into Renyas brain, but as he would likely make Shion feel even more embarrassed if he blushed here or instead stared at her openly, Renya makes an effort to pretend to be calm and separates his body from Shion. Ah, no, umm, sorryI will leave right away. (Renya) Mmhsince it looks like it was an accident, its okay. (Shion) Not knowing what would be the best reply to return to Shion who smiles pleasantly while hiding her breasts with both arms, Renya grabbed the body of the unconscious Fang King, who was releasing foam from his mouth while submerged in the bath, and quickly ran away into the hidden passage through the hole he had opened up himself.By the way, time-wise Rona and Mayria, who had entered the bath before Shion, were just in the middle of washing their bodies at the washing place. They did notice Renya breaking through the wall and plunging into the bathtub, but on the other hand Renya didnt perceive the two at all because he ended up catching a glimpse of Shions naked body. But thats just a postscript here. Grn runs through the darkness.Although the hidden passage isnt that broad, theres no illumination. At the same time, Renya is unable to brighten up the whole passage with just the occasionally tossed sorcery lights clinging to the ceiling. Moreover, since the Fang Kings speed, who had gone ahead, easily escapes the range thats illuminated by those lights, they bear almost no meaning.Under the condition of being inside darkness, human eyes cant see anything.For Renya to be able to barely chase after the Fang King is owed to his perception and because hes running while somehow sensing the surroundings by the footsteps caused by the Fang King, himself and Lepard.If this was a perfect darkness, even the Fang King and Lepard should be unable to see anything just like Renya, but according to Lepard, light at a level that he can barely see seems to be flowing into his beastman eyes.If you compare the average values of combat abilities, the beastmen doubtlessly surpass the humans by far, but it was apparently the same in regards to the performance of their eyes. In that case, it cant be helped (Renya) Ahead of the running Renya, there are small sparks and metallic sounds.At first Renya couldnt collate those, but it appears that Grn, who is ahead of him, has started to attack the Fang King while looking for opportunities.The Fang King blocking and repelling those attacks is the true identity of those sparks and sounds.In the beginning Grn used some spells or tools that flared up and exploded, but because the stray shots caused serious damage to parts of the passage and since the soldiers and maids, who seemed to accidentally be on the other side of the wall, screamed, he changed his tactics to close combat. Grn, is going at it quite spiritedly~ (Renya) I have heard that elves can see well in the darkness, but they have indeed quite the astounding night vision. (Lepard) Lepard, whos running next to Renya, says in admiration.Him being able to keep up with is simply because Renya is keeping a slow pace.Lepard, who puts emphasis on strength in battles, possesses the ears and tail of a leopard, but he wasnt that much of a fast runner, seemingly due to the heavy muscles covering his whole body.But then again its because hes running while taking the damage to the building itself into account. It looks like he could have run faster if it was fine to break the floor in the process, but if he did that, he would get scolded by a strict Lobelia as it would increase the repair costs.If he learned to adjust his strength, he might be able to run a lot faster while keeping the damage to the building low, Renya believes, but the fact that Lepard is unable to consider that option is very much like him.Compared to that, the agility of Grn could be summed up with the wordmagnificent.Not only does he keep running through a darkness, where he shouldnt be able to see much if anything at all, at an outrageous speed, but he doesnt make any noise with his footsteps at all, although he should be wearing normal boots while running on top of a stone floor.While sticking close to the Fang King running in front, he delivers pointed attacks no sooner than slipping into the Fang Kings blind spots, weakening the Fang Kings legs.It was no exaggeration to say that Renya and Lepard have managed to avoid losing the Fang King thanks to that. Your father is quite swift-footed (Renya) He weighs less than me. His strength might have declined a bit, but he has been training everyday after allin running away. (Lepard) Lepards last words were muttered very quietly and feebly.It seems the remark mentioned by the Fang King that its an everyday occurrence is not a lie, but just the plain truth.However, I wonder what the fact that he has trained his speed as the first priority for the sake of running away from his queen says about him as a king, Renya wonders.Once again a single, high-pitched sound was audible as sparks scattered.The blow just now seemed to be somehow different from the ones before. Sensing that something was flying their way, even though he couldnt see it, Renya tried to take evasive actions.It seems as though Lepards perception caught that presence as well, but instead of trying to evade like Renya, he spreads both arms in order to catch the approaching object from the front. Lepard? (Renya) Its Grn. (Lepard) The second Lepard says that, Renya can hear the impact of flesh colliding with flesh.Although stifled, Grns cries of pain were mixed into it as well. What happened!? (Renya) As expected of the beastmen kinghes formidable. (Grn) Once Grn said that alongside a small tongue clicking, Lepard laughed. Looks like your attacks got countered, eh? (Lepard) Due to Lepards words, Renya is able to mostly guess what had happened.Apparently having become used to Grns attacks, the Fang King counterattacked him. It seems that Grn was blown away after receiving that blow.Since Renya didnt expect for the object approaching him to be Grn, he took evasive actions, but Lepard, who realized that it was Grn, caught him. Its fine. I can run myself. (Grn) Even though he can hear their voices, Renya practically cant see either of them.But he perceives Grns presence becoming more distant right away. Lepard, can the Fang King use the elven language? (Renya) Hah? We cant use anything but the human language. As theres too many races around us, we wouldnt understand each other, if we started to use native languages. (Lepard) Ignoring Lepard, who continues with In the first place, whos going to come up and create something like a native beastman language?, for the moment, Renya yelled towards the distant presence while focusing on the elven language, Grn! Listen up, once I give you the signal, stop that idiots legs completely for just a moment! (Renya) Got it. (Grn) There was a reply from way ahead, albeit being faint.While believing,Probably neither the Fang King nor Lepard, whos running next to me, were able to understand my instruction just now, he next focuses on the human language again and then addresses Lepard, Lepard, for the most part I dont grasp the situation around us. (Renya) Im surprised that you keep running without crashing into a wall like that. (Lepard) That doesnt matter now. Tell me if we enter a straight, narrow passage. If possible please make sure that the Fang King is straight ahead of me. (Renya) Understood. (Lepard) How very soldier-like of him to not start asking what Im planning, Renya thinks.Lepard understood from Renyas tone that hes likely intending to stop the Fang King, using some kind of method. Make sure not to die if possiblebah, that stupid old man! (Lepard) Whats wrong? (Renya) Surprised at Lepard was cursing all of a sudden, Renya felt like he stepped on something soft in the next instant.It was similar to a bundle of cloth, but as it wasnt that big either, it immediately disappeared behind them. The Fang Kingtook off his jacket while running. (Lepard) Hah? (Renya) Before being stopped by us, that person intends to launch a suicide attack on the bathtub as soon as he arrives on-site. (Lepard) While feeling his brain freezing as he tries to understand Lepards words, Renya thought,Oh, what I stepped on moments ago was the Fang Kings jacket?as if its almost completely someone elses problem.In other words, Renya didnt know at all when he would be arriving at his destination, the bathroom, at this pace, but the Fang King was apparently planning to take off all clothes on the way.Renya is filled with the urge of wanting to retort,Thats not what you call peeping, but in the Fang Kings eyes C seeing that he already had pursuers on his heels C he will definitely get caught even if he tries to give those pursuers the slip as Lepard knows the way anyway.Thus he apparently jumped to the hasty conclusion,In that case I would rather storm into the bathroom.The idea that looking at what is visible before being caught is a nicely resolute, truly manly action is limited to the performer, but when seen from the side that is forced to keep the tea company, its intolerable. Is that something a king would do? (Renya) Thats definitely not the way a king, or rather even an ordinary person, should act, Renya believes.For better or worse its a bathroom with foreign and moreover noble women inside,he thinks, but even if there was a protest from the Trident Principality with that as a reason, they have very likely no other option but to use the transfer gate for communications, seeing as the beastman country is too far away.Also, if the beastmen deliberately continue pretending to not be aware of it, just the protest and the verification of the event will cost too much money. Renya, I take back what I said before. Beat him to death. (Lepard) Renya wonders whats that about, but he changes his mind towardI suppose theres no need to hold back since I got authorization from his own son. Once we turn around the next corner, it should be a long, straight passagealright! I see his back! Hes right in front, Renya. (Lepard) Grn! Stop him! (Renya) According to Renyas shouted an instruction in elvish, Grn steps in front of the Fang King for just an instant.If hes hit directly from the front, Grns body wont be able to hinder the Fang Kings charge.The Fang King swoops down on Grn, obviously planning to tackle him as hes well aware of that fact.But, Grn didnt have any intention to foolishly challenge the Fang King to a contest of strength. He takes something out of his pocket, throws it on the ground, lowers his body in the same motion and does a forward somersault. Passing between the feet of the charging Fang King, he landed behind him.In front of the Fang King, whos still rushing while having lost his target, the object that was thrown by Grn starts to unfold furiously.It was fine threads that had been entwined over and over again.Just like a spiderweb, they blocked the passage clinging all around, not just to the ceiling or a wall.The single threads werent that strong, but once the Fang Kings body plunged into that spiderweb, which was formed by all those thin threads gathering together, his body was snared on the spot even while a part of the spiderweb was torn off. Nuu!? (Sigurd) Renya! I stopped him! (Grn) Dont think you were able to stop me with only this much! (Sigurd) Even though his charge has been stopped, its not as though the Fang Kings power has diminished. He gathers his strength and tears up the spiderweb with ripping sounds.But, for Renya the time he had been stopped was more than enough. Grn! Get out of the way! (Renya) If the target is right in front in a straight passage, he will hit his target as long as he only runs straight ahead, even if he cant see the vicinity.There was also the concern that Grn would be dragged into it if things went badly, but while expecting that he will likely be able to skillfully dodge it, Renya kicked the ground with all his power.He reaches an acceleration that cannot be compared to the running speed he had until now.Not knowing the distance to the Fang King, Renya crossed both his arms in front of his face and rushed forward in that state. Guu (Renya) Gaha!? (Sigurd) Due to the impact assailing his arms, Renya leaks a faint groan. The Fang King, who directly received that assault with his back, screamed in pain.The spiderweb that suffered the impact of Renyas charge and had to bear the weight of two people, is easily torn to pieces and the Fang Kings body is released, but Renyas arms have been already wedged into his back and their bodies slither along the passage with almost no deceleration. L-Let go! Hey! Stop! (Sigurd) You think Im an idiot that will do that!? (Renya) Theres a wall in front of us! (Sigurd) The Fang King, who has memorized the map, knew that they would crash into a wall if they continued like this, going by their current location and the direction of movement. So what about it!? The one crashing into the wall will be just you, Fang King! (Renya) Even if theres a wall ahead, Renya, whos pressing down on the back, wont directly crash into the wall since the Fang Kings body will act as a buffer.Rather, the Fang King will be sandwiched between him and the wall. Renya had the intention of bringing the Fang King down by delivering a reliable amount of damage. T-The likes of a wall wont even make my steel body quiver! (Sigurd) Then resign yourself as I will keep beating you, even if you smash into the wall, until you give up! (Renya) A-Are you sure? On the other side of the wall is (Sigurd) The Fang Kings words were interrupted half way.At the same time a shock travels through Renyas entire body.Before he even comprehended that they had hit against the wall, Renya steps powerfully forward and drives both his elbows into the back of the Fang King using the weight of his entire body.It was unclear whether it was the Fang Kings body or the wall that caused the creaking sounds.Rather than pondering about something like that, he focuses his mind on the possibility of him being unable to catch the Fang King again if he lets him escape here. Thus he doesnt cease pushing the Fang Kings body into the wall until all power definitely escapes his body. S-Stooopon the other side of this wall (Sigurd) How tenacious! (Renya) Renya fears that he might be lacking power, but theres no way that he will be able to correct his hold after separating once.The Fang King, whos still conscious, might run away if he uses the moment when Renya lets go.But, its also a fact that he cant dish out any effective attacks while they are glued to each other.In that case Renya has no option but to keep pushing here. Renya braces his legs, puts his strength into them and continues pressing against the Fang Kings back.Before he realized, the grating and creaking sound changed into a sound as if something hard was gradually breaking apart.Wondering whether that might be the start of some of the Fang Kings bones breaking or becoming dislocated due to the pressure, Renya puts his strength into both his arms as if going for a finishing blow.Just as he was about to do that, the pressure he felt on both arms vanished as if slipping away. Eh? (Renya) Renya unintentionally ends up letting out a silly sound out.As if in slow motion, Renya watches how the Fang Kings body falls towards the other side while breaking through the wall and how light floods the passage that had been pitch dark until then.That was the moment when the wall collapsed, unable to bear Renyas power.The body of the Fang King, who had lost consciousness at this point, is thrust into something, which was on the other side, with a glugging alongside the broken wall.And Renyas body, which lost the resistance from pushing against the Fang Kings body, pitches forward with the force he had loaded into it so far.He makes 2-3 steps as if stumbling forward.Treading across the body of the Fang King who had collapsed first, Renya looks directly into the eyes of the person who was ahead of him. Ah? Renya!? Due to the surprised voice, Renya considers evading, but with the momentum that was already driving his body, he plunges into that person.Spreading both arms, Renya looked as if he was going to embrace them. That person likewise spread their arms and apparently tried to catch him, but going by the difference in body weight and power of the person they were going to catch in their arms, it seemed to be a reckless challenge. Both of them clashed into the bathtub in the shape of Renya pushing down the other person while raising a spray of hot water. Sorry! Are you alright!? (Renya) Renya thrust his face into something that had an exceedingly soft springiness, but he lifts his head out of the tub in a hurry without even the spare time to enjoy that softness and lifts up the person, whom he had pushed down, in his arms.Its not unlikely for me to make her suffocate if Im careless, he thought.It was Shion in a state where her long black hair was showily spreading within the bathtub.Briefly looking at Shion, who incessantly blinks her eyes not understanding just what has happened, Renya confirms that he hasnt injured her and then breathes out in relief.Since he bumped into her with a reasonable force, he worried whether he had hurt her.And at the same time he realizes that the Fang King had tried to tell him something.His current location was the bathroom, the final spot the Fang King was aiming for.The sensation of the hot water soaking into my clothes doesnt really feel all that nice, Renya frowns.Shion repeatedly nudged Renyas chest. Mmh? (Renya) Renyaumm, you knowId be lying if I said that Im not happy, butafter all, umm, its embarrassing. (Shion) As he was about to look at Shion, whos in his arms, once again after being told so, he turned his face away in a hurry.Although its only natural as they are inside the bathtub, Shion wasnt wearing anything, so-to-speak, she was in her birthday suit.Given that she didnt even cover herself with a towel, her figure burned itself deeply into Renyas brain, but as he would likely make Shion feel even more embarrassed if he blushed here or instead stared at her openly, Renya makes an effort to pretend to be calm and separates his body from Shion. Ah, no, umm, sorryI will leave right away. (Renya) Mmhsince it looks like it was an accident, its okay. (Shion) Not knowing what would be the best reply to return to Shion who smiles pleasantly while hiding her breasts with both arms, Renya grabbed the body of the unconscious Fang King, who was releasing foam from his mouth while submerged in the bath, and quickly ran away into the hidden passage through the hole he had opened up himself.By the way, time-wise Rona and Mayria, who had entered the bath before Shion, were just in the middle of washing their bodies at the washing place. They did notice Renya breaking through the wall and plunging into the bathtub, but on the other hand Renya didnt perceive the two at all because he ended up catching a glimpse of Shions naked body. But thats just a postscript here. Chapter 144 Chapter 144 C It seems to be a Bad Story Since the matter of the Fang King going mad, the treatment Renya and the others received in the beastmens royal castle has become extremely pleasant.As for the Fang King, who lost consciousness after being attacked and thrust into the bathroom, Renya handed him over to the castles guards after casually dragging him around with a somewhat fickle feeling.Renya hasnt seen the Fang King since then.Even when Lobelia, who gave off a somehow haughty and wanton impression when they met for the first time, came to apologize while kowtowing, he didnt accompany her.Since Lepard along with Kaede acted together with Renya and the others as usual, Renya tried to indirectly ask the two about it, but Lepard only averted his eyes in silence and Kaede answered with the following: He has received the proper treatment for his behavior during that incident. (Kaede) Without putting any emotions in her voice, the temperature of her tone was close to absolute zero.Given that the Fang King mentioned peeping all too readily, it means that the act itself seems to not be spited much by the beastmen. Renya worried that they might be too broad-minded, but apparently that wasnt the case at all. Hes the king, isnt he? (Renya) Yes, he wasah, noyes, he is. (Kaede) Due to Kaede deliberately correcting herself, Renya sensed something cold hearted and thus timidly asked, Is the next selection battlepossibly close? (Renya) Being judged as unsuitable for a high position, a person is treated as having died to illness after a while of confinement; even in Renyas previous world thats a story that occasionally takes place.Ronya wondered whether the Fang King, who incurred Lobelias anger, wouldnt be disposed of in secret, but with those thoughts apparently being completely groundless, Kaede sighs while shaking her head and denies it with, As expected, going that far issomething like being treated as having died from illness over peeking at the womens bath is a story that must not be recorded in our historythough there are many of us who want that to happen. (Kaede) Kaede was expected to cleverly feign friendliness on the human continent, but after coming here, her real thoughts sporadically leaked out, especially with that incident where she couldnt suppress her anger at all.I wonder what would have happened if even Lepard plunged into that bathroom with the energetic wordsLeave it to me! Renya ponders.Did Lepards instinctive danger senses kick in? When Renya broke through the wall and the light shone through the opened hole, he understood that something risky is going on and immediately left the place, avoiding any troubles with that.Apart from Lepard, Grn, who has a much better senses, vanished into the darkness before even the hole opened. You are Lepards lover, arent you? Thats a major issue, right? That thing is going to become your father-in-law, you know? (Renya) Renya said so with the intention to make fun of her, but Kaede nodded with glazed eyes as these words had apparently very deeply stabbed into her heart for a change. Thatsrightyes. My hope right now is that Lepard hasnt inherited even the slightest trait from that thing. The sole salvation is that because of thats approval of Lepards and mine relationship, that thing hathe Queen cant make any movements that are too powerful, I guess. (Kaede) Just now you suddenly broke off mid-sentence (Renya) Renya becomes worried about the future of the beastmen race.Returning to the topic: Seemingly intending to apologize for the Fang Kings mental derangement, Renyas party was given even more luxurious and spacious rooms than the guest rooms that had been assigned to them at the beginning and even the meals were the same dishes as those eaten by the royal family.Originally the highest level of hospitality was apparently to share the table with the royal family, but since the cause for this times incident was royalty, and even more so the most important member of the royal family, it would likely be rude towards Renyas group instead and thus Lobelia never invited them to have a meal together.Moreover they were even provided with maids to take care of their personal needs, but on top of their numbers getting close to almost twice that of before, it made Renya wrack his brain a lot because, for some reason, only girls of marriageable age, which still had some childish characteristics remaining, had been gathered.At first Renya wondered whether it might be the beastmens concern that those kinds of girls at marriageable age might be better, going by Kurz appearance, but he felt that to be a somewhat weak reasoning.In the first place, since they will be doing a lot of physical work, assigning a task thats beyond their power to small girls makes no sense.Also, considering the tastes of my party members, theres no one that openly prefers little girls.He considered the suspicion that either Lepard or Grn might be one of those life-forms called Lolicon, but Grn is a serious hero and if you look at Kaedes figure, whos going steady with Lepard, its absolutely unbelievable for him to have that kind of preference.Unable to reach a conclusion after thinking about it in various ways, Renya tried asking Kaede about that matter. We gathered women at an age that you would most likely forgive in case something went wrong. (Kaede) The reason for your selection of personnel is far too black-hearted, Renya sat down on the spot. Certainly Renya often shows a very lenient reaction towards young children.Theres also the matter of him having continued to receive the protests and the concentrated attacks by the small fists of the childish priestesses silently without any resistance.Considering the fact that I was at an age where I could very well be called grandpa before I came to this world, this might be the mental state of an old person looking fondly at their willful grandchildren which might have been deeply ingrained into my body, even with my memories having been erased, Renya thinks, but why its actually like that, even Renya himself doesnt quite understand.However, Renya considers the black-heartedness of Kaede, who does things expressly aiming at that character trait of his, to be far too awful.Even so, because he somehow calmed down by watching the little maids work with all their might, matters really proceeded in the direction Kaede had aimed for. It became a feast for your eyes, didnt it? (Kaede) If you are going for that direction, then bring maids that are a bit more curvy. (Renya) Renya reflexively answered Kaede, who asked him that nonchalantly, but later it caused a situation where he was rushed by female maids, who were not inferior in muscularity to Lepard, in great numbers, wrapping their bodies in a combination of maid skirts for the lower part and bikinis for the upper part with their abs and thick arms shining dazzlingly with oil.It turned into a situation where Renya quite seriously chased Kaede with a cramped face, believing it to be necessary to have once a proper talk with her due to the personnel selection that made her spite all too obvious, although those maids certainly had bodies possessing plenty of curviness.Though Kaede, who had the locational advantage in this game of tag, wanted to win by getting away.One day a message from Lobelia indicating that she wished to talk reached Renya and the others, who had spent several days in the castle like that.Renya, who felt cold sweat run down his spine upon Lobelias invitation, telling them that she wishes to speak with everyone including Kaede and Lepard, as he wondered whether they might be given warnings because of having kicked up too much of a fuss, gathers the other members and visits the room designated by Lobelia.The room was similar to a conference room with a circular table large enough that it allowed everyone to sit around it.Lobelia, who waited for them in the room, encourages Renyas group to sit down and starts to operate some kind of tool when everyone had taken a seat.Nothing in particular changed or happened, but Renyas perception was able to pick up some kind of sorcery being at work. I dont believe anyone lurking around to listen in, butjust for cautions sake. (Lobelia) Lobelia says, apparently sensing a need to give an explanation due to Renyas expression.From those words, Renya guessed that Lobelia probably applied a soundproof mechanism by using some kind of tool in the room they are currently in. Sorry for summoning you. Its a story that must not be heard by others. (Lobelia) It was Lobelias usual tone, but her voice was somewhat powerless.From just that Renya judged that the details he will hear next are likely nothing good. No, wellwe are in a situation where we are currently allowed to play around in the kings castle. Its something else. Its me who called you to talk. (Lobelia) Your Majesty did? Just what might be your business with us today? Did you possibly make up your mind to soon abdicate? (Kaede) Lepard starts trying to reign Kaede in, who began to spew out venom right away, but for some reason Lobelia, who would normally bite back, remains quiet this time.With her palms placed on top of the table, she only looks at Kaede while smiling bitterly.Even the agitated Kaede senses that somethings different from usual due to Lobelias behavior and watches her. If that were to be toleratedabdication might be the easy way out. Renya, today I prepared three topics: an inconsequential one, a slightly bad one and a very bad one. Which one do you want to start with? (Lobelia) Isnt there any good story among them? (Renya) Even while feeling dejected, Renya selects the inconsequential story for the time being, thinking that he should probably listen to the stories with the level of severity going up in steps. The morons punishment has been decided. (Lobelia) Ah, the Fang Kings? (Renya) Almost everyone present wondered what to think of it being clear who was being referred to using the single wordmoron, but neither Lobelia nor Renya looked as if they cared about such a thing.After the Fang King was utterly defeated by Renya, he hadnt shown himself once until this very day. As expected, execution is impossible. I guess it will end up being some money as consolation payment for the troubles caused. Also we will supply you with your desired products at a low price through the transfer gate, Renya. I wonder, can I have you compromise with just this much? (Lobelia) While thinking,I wouldnt have wished for his execution either way, Renya looks at Shion, Rona and Mayria in turns.As soon as the three noticed Renyas eyes pointed at them, they nodded as if telling him, We leave it to you. Since there are no objections from the victims, it will be alright with that. (Renya) Sorry. I will let the civil officials go through the details at a later time. This is the inconsequential story. Next? (Lobelia) While harboring the faint hope,Seeing as the inconsequential story was at such level, wont the remaining two stories actually be nothing of significance?, Renya chooses the slightly bad story.Lobelia nodded and started to speak clearly and slowly after taking a single deep breath as if to calm herself down. There was a message from the human continent. It seems the demon kings descent has been confirmed.(Lobelia) For a moment an uproarious atmosphere spread in the room.While everyones faces became stiff in surprise, Renya shrugged his shoulders without any particular change in his expression. I see, so thats the slightly bad story. In the first place, with the summoning of the human hero, it was almost definite for the demon king to appear sooner or later, right? (Renya) That is so. However, this time the interval between the hero summoning and the oracle of the demon kings descent has been a bit long. (Lobelia) Upon Lobelias words, Shion, Rona, Mayria, Lepard, Kaede, Croire and Grn nod.Renya is unable to respond as he doesnt know how long it usually takes, and Kurz as well as Frau are entirely relaxing their attention on top of their chairs as if its a trivial matter.It was something Renya and the others dont know, but there was actually a reason for this large interval between the hero summoning and the demon lord announcement.Its the drama about the human supervisor change.Originally there should be almost no pause between the hero summoning and the oracle, but if you limit the talk to this time, the hero Yuuki suddenly started a war and in addition the human supervisor focused on just that matter.Moreover, afterwards the human supervisor was beaten senseless by Giliel, who invaded the human supervisors domain.And on top of that, Giliel, who took over as human supervisor, caused it to take a very long time from the summoning to the oracle as she didnt know about its existence.Giliel, who learned from the information she extracted from the trashed human supervisor that she has to inform the humans of the demon kings descent in an oracle, hurriedly handed down an oracle to all places across the human continent.Of course these kind of circumstances are matters concerning the gods, and thus theres no way for Renya and the others to be aware of them. Oh well, the feelingFinally, huh?is strong. Moreover, for some reason no oracle has been handed down to the church officials of the humans Holy Kingdom. It was apparently sent to the governments of all other nations. (Lobelia) Thats great to hear. The church has certainly completely lost face. That part doesnt matter at all though. With this all military forces of the continents will enter a state of war against the demons. (Lobelia) Even if she mentions the wordstate of war, its not the kind where they will invade the demon continent with all of the continents forces.The forces will converge on one of the four continents and it will become the main goal to create a path to the demon capital said to house the demon king.The other three continents will commit to a non-aggressive defense with the remaining forces.Its a procedure owed to the fact that only the hero is considered capable of facing off against the demon king in the end. Soon the heads of all races will gather for a conference to determine the route that will be used to head towards the demon kings castle. (Lobelia) Either way, its an important matter and its a war that wont end in a single day, right? (Renya) Thats certainly true. The area inhabited by the demons is vast and their resistance will be extreme. I cant predict how long it will take to just secure a route to the demon kings castle. (Lobelia) What a tedious story, Renya shakes his head.Its something he cant tell anyone, but knowing that all these events are only the supervisors playing around, he feels even more depressed. So, if the slightly bad story is at such levelwhat kind of story will the extremely bad story be? (Renya) Ah, yeaabout that (Lobelia) Lobelia is evasive.Due to Lobelia having started to ponder about how to talk about it, everyone feels convinced that it must be a considerably bad matter.They wonder, isnt it an unimaginably bad story since even that Lobelia, who talked about the demon kings descent forthrightly, falters to speak up?Lobelia let her eyes wander for a while, and opened and closed her mouth several times, but before long she apparently resolved herself and said the following a bit rushed, Communication with the dragonoid continent has ceased. Even the transfer gates stopped working. (Lobelia) The one who grasped the situation first was Renya after all.While the other members begin to wonder about how this information is worse than the demon kings descent, he mutters, Does that mean that the demon have already started invading? (Renya) I dont know. Right now we havent checked whether its a disorder of the transfer gates themselves. But, if this is because of the destruction of the transfer gates on the dragonoids side, its very likely that the dragonoid continent is already in a state of combat, if you consider it normally. (Lobelia) They destroyed them or they were destroyed.Either way, if its not trouble related to the sorcery of the transfer gates, it means that the transfer gates installed on the dragonoid continents side have been destroyed.The destruction of transfer gates, which cant be set up at a moments notice, wont happen as long as there are no extreme circumstances in the area where they have been installed.In that case, if you also consider it in combination of the timing for the oracles arrival, the possibility of them being invaded is somewhat high.While thinking so, Renya clicked his tongue quietly. Then I guess the communication with the dragonoids hero has ceased as well (Renya) Right now we are seeking information from the human continent and the elven continent. If he managed to run away to either continent before the path was been cut off, he will be fine. (Lobelia) Both, Lobelia and Renya, consider that possibility to be unlikely.Lobelia doesnt believe that the hero is someone who would abandon his own country, which is under attack, to escape to another country. Renya, who has directly met him, couldnt think of that hero as the type who would desert under enemy fire.The probability of him having died is likely low as well, Renya estimates.At least Renya couldnt consider that dragonoid hero to be a person who would die so easily either way. Its a matter thats difficult to judge, butits indeed an extremely bad story. (Renya) In order to look away from his comrades, whose faces are turning pale after beginning to understand the heaviness of the situation, Renya looked up to the ceiling and sighed very deeply. Chapter 144 C It seems to be a Bad Story Since the matter of the Fang King going mad, the treatment Renya and the others received in the beastmens royal castle has become extremely pleasant.As for the Fang King, who lost consciousness after being attacked and thrust into the bathroom, Renya handed him over to the castles guards after casually dragging him around with a somewhat fickle feeling.Renya hasnt seen the Fang King since then.Even when Lobelia, who gave off a somehow haughty and wanton impression when they met for the first time, came to apologize while kowtowing, he didnt accompany her.Since Lepard along with Kaede acted together with Renya and the others as usual, Renya tried to indirectly ask the two about it, but Lepard only averted his eyes in silence and Kaede answered with the following: He has received the proper treatment for his behavior during that incident. (Kaede) Without putting any emotions in her voice, the temperature of her tone was close to absolute zero.Given that the Fang King mentioned peeping all too readily, it means that the act itself seems to not be spited much by the beastmen. Renya worried that they might be too broad-minded, but apparently that wasnt the case at all. Hes the king, isnt he? (Renya) Yes, he wasah, noyes, he is. (Kaede) Due to Kaede deliberately correcting herself, Renya sensed something cold hearted and thus timidly asked, Is the next selection battlepossibly close? (Renya) Being judged as unsuitable for a high position, a person is treated as having died to illness after a while of confinement; even in Renyas previous world thats a story that occasionally takes place.Ronya wondered whether the Fang King, who incurred Lobelias anger, wouldnt be disposed of in secret, but with those thoughts apparently being completely groundless, Kaede sighs while shaking her head and denies it with, As expected, going that far issomething like being treated as having died from illness over peeking at the womens bath is a story that must not be recorded in our historythough there are many of us who want that to happen. (Kaede) Kaede was expected to cleverly feign friendliness on the human continent, but after coming here, her real thoughts sporadically leaked out, especially with that incident where she couldnt suppress her anger at all.I wonder what would have happened if even Lepard plunged into that bathroom with the energetic wordsLeave it to me! Renya ponders.Did Lepards instinctive danger senses kick in? When Renya broke through the wall and the light shone through the opened hole, he understood that something risky is going on and immediately left the place, avoiding any troubles with that.Apart from Lepard, Grn, who has a much better senses, vanished into the darkness before even the hole opened. You are Lepards lover, arent you? Thats a major issue, right? That thing is going to become your father-in-law, you know? (Renya) Renya said so with the intention to make fun of her, but Kaede nodded with glazed eyes as these words had apparently very deeply stabbed into her heart for a change. Thatsrightyes. My hope right now is that Lepard hasnt inherited even the slightest trait from that thing. The sole salvation is that because of thats approval of Lepards and mine relationship, that thing hathe Queen cant make any movements that are too powerful, I guess. (Kaede) Just now you suddenly broke off mid-sentence (Renya) Renya becomes worried about the future of the beastmen race.Returning to the topic: Seemingly intending to apologize for the Fang Kings mental derangement, Renyas party was given even more luxurious and spacious rooms than the guest rooms that had been assigned to them at the beginning and even the meals were the same dishes as those eaten by the royal family.Originally the highest level of hospitality was apparently to share the table with the royal family, but since the cause for this times incident was royalty, and even more so the most important member of the royal family, it would likely be rude towards Renyas group instead and thus Lobelia never invited them to have a meal together.Moreover they were even provided with maids to take care of their personal needs, but on top of their numbers getting close to almost twice that of before, it made Renya wrack his brain a lot because, for some reason, only girls of marriageable age, which still had some childish characteristics remaining, had been gathered.At first Renya wondered whether it might be the beastmens concern that those kinds of girls at marriageable age might be better, going by Kurz appearance, but he felt that to be a somewhat weak reasoning.In the first place, since they will be doing a lot of physical work, assigning a task thats beyond their power to small girls makes no sense.Also, considering the tastes of my party members, theres no one that openly prefers little girls.He considered the suspicion that either Lepard or Grn might be one of those life-forms called Lolicon, but Grn is a serious hero and if you look at Kaedes figure, whos going steady with Lepard, its absolutely unbelievable for him to have that kind of preference.Unable to reach a conclusion after thinking about it in various ways, Renya tried asking Kaede about that matter. We gathered women at an age that you would most likely forgive in case something went wrong. (Kaede) The reason for your selection of personnel is far too black-hearted, Renya sat down on the spot. Certainly Renya often shows a very lenient reaction towards young children.Theres also the matter of him having continued to receive the protests and the concentrated attacks by the small fists of the childish priestesses silently without any resistance.Considering the fact that I was at an age where I could very well be called grandpa before I came to this world, this might be the mental state of an old person looking fondly at their willful grandchildren which might have been deeply ingrained into my body, even with my memories having been erased, Renya thinks, but why its actually like that, even Renya himself doesnt quite understand.However, Renya considers the black-heartedness of Kaede, who does things expressly aiming at that character trait of his, to be far too awful.Even so, because he somehow calmed down by watching the little maids work with all their might, matters really proceeded in the direction Kaede had aimed for. It became a feast for your eyes, didnt it? (Kaede) If you are going for that direction, then bring maids that are a bit more curvy. (Renya) Renya reflexively answered Kaede, who asked him that nonchalantly, but later it caused a situation where he was rushed by female maids, who were not inferior in muscularity to Lepard, in great numbers, wrapping their bodies in a combination of maid skirts for the lower part and bikinis for the upper part with their abs and thick arms shining dazzlingly with oil.It turned into a situation where Renya quite seriously chased Kaede with a cramped face, believing it to be necessary to have once a proper talk with her due to the personnel selection that made her spite all too obvious, although those maids certainly had bodies possessing plenty of curviness.Though Kaede, who had the locational advantage in this game of tag, wanted to win by getting away.One day a message from Lobelia indicating that she wished to talk reached Renya and the others, who had spent several days in the castle like that.Renya, who felt cold sweat run down his spine upon Lobelias invitation, telling them that she wishes to speak with everyone including Kaede and Lepard, as he wondered whether they might be given warnings because of having kicked up too much of a fuss, gathers the other members and visits the room designated by Lobelia.The room was similar to a conference room with a circular table large enough that it allowed everyone to sit around it.Lobelia, who waited for them in the room, encourages Renyas group to sit down and starts to operate some kind of tool when everyone had taken a seat.Nothing in particular changed or happened, but Renyas perception was able to pick up some kind of sorcery being at work. I dont believe anyone lurking around to listen in, butjust for cautions sake. (Lobelia) Lobelia says, apparently sensing a need to give an explanation due to Renyas expression.From those words, Renya guessed that Lobelia probably applied a soundproof mechanism by using some kind of tool in the room they are currently in. Sorry for summoning you. Its a story that must not be heard by others. (Lobelia) It was Lobelias usual tone, but her voice was somewhat powerless.From just that Renya judged that the details he will hear next are likely nothing good. No, wellwe are in a situation where we are currently allowed to play around in the kings castle. Its something else. Its me who called you to talk. (Lobelia) Your Majesty did? Just what might be your business with us today? Did you possibly make up your mind to soon abdicate? (Kaede) Lepard starts trying to reign Kaede in, who began to spew out venom right away, but for some reason Lobelia, who would normally bite back, remains quiet this time.With her palms placed on top of the table, she only looks at Kaede while smiling bitterly.Even the agitated Kaede senses that somethings different from usual due to Lobelias behavior and watches her. If that were to be toleratedabdication might be the easy way out. Renya, today I prepared three topics: an inconsequential one, a slightly bad one and a very bad one. Which one do you want to start with? (Lobelia) Isnt there any good story among them? (Renya) Even while feeling dejected, Renya selects the inconsequential story for the time being, thinking that he should probably listen to the stories with the level of severity going up in steps. The morons punishment has been decided. (Lobelia) Ah, the Fang Kings? (Renya) Almost everyone present wondered what to think of it being clear who was being referred to using the single wordmoron, but neither Lobelia nor Renya looked as if they cared about such a thing.After the Fang King was utterly defeated by Renya, he hadnt shown himself once until this very day. As expected, execution is impossible. I guess it will end up being some money as consolation payment for the troubles caused. Also we will supply you with your desired products at a low price through the transfer gate, Renya. I wonder, can I have you compromise with just this much? (Lobelia) While thinking,I wouldnt have wished for his execution either way, Renya looks at Shion, Rona and Mayria in turns.As soon as the three noticed Renyas eyes pointed at them, they nodded as if telling him, We leave it to you. Since there are no objections from the victims, it will be alright with that. (Renya) Sorry. I will let the civil officials go through the details at a later time. This is the inconsequential story. Next? (Lobelia) While harboring the faint hope,Seeing as the inconsequential story was at such level, wont the remaining two stories actually be nothing of significance?, Renya chooses the slightly bad story.Lobelia nodded and started to speak clearly and slowly after taking a single deep breath as if to calm herself down. There was a message from the human continent. It seems the demon kings descent has been confirmed.(Lobelia) For a moment an uproarious atmosphere spread in the room.While everyones faces became stiff in surprise, Renya shrugged his shoulders without any particular change in his expression. I see, so thats the slightly bad story. In the first place, with the summoning of the human hero, it was almost definite for the demon king to appear sooner or later, right? (Renya) That is so. However, this time the interval between the hero summoning and the oracle of the demon kings descent has been a bit long. (Lobelia) Upon Lobelias words, Shion, Rona, Mayria, Lepard, Kaede, Croire and Grn nod.Renya is unable to respond as he doesnt know how long it usually takes, and Kurz as well as Frau are entirely relaxing their attention on top of their chairs as if its a trivial matter.It was something Renya and the others dont know, but there was actually a reason for this large interval between the hero summoning and the demon lord announcement.Its the drama about the human supervisor change.Originally there should be almost no pause between the hero summoning and the oracle, but if you limit the talk to this time, the hero Yuuki suddenly started a war and in addition the human supervisor focused on just that matter.Moreover, afterwards the human supervisor was beaten senseless by Giliel, who invaded the human supervisors domain.And on top of that, Giliel, who took over as human supervisor, caused it to take a very long time from the summoning to the oracle as she didnt know about its existence.Giliel, who learned from the information she extracted from the trashed human supervisor that she has to inform the humans of the demon kings descent in an oracle, hurriedly handed down an oracle to all places across the human continent.Of course these kind of circumstances are matters concerning the gods, and thus theres no way for Renya and the others to be aware of them. Oh well, the feelingFinally, huh?is strong. Moreover, for some reason no oracle has been handed down to the church officials of the humans Holy Kingdom. It was apparently sent to the governments of all other nations. (Lobelia) Thats great to hear. The church has certainly completely lost face. That part doesnt matter at all though. With this all military forces of the continents will enter a state of war against the demons. (Lobelia) Even if she mentions the wordstate of war, its not the kind where they will invade the demon continent with all of the continents forces.The forces will converge on one of the four continents and it will become the main goal to create a path to the demon capital said to house the demon king.The other three continents will commit to a non-aggressive defense with the remaining forces.Its a procedure owed to the fact that only the hero is considered capable of facing off against the demon king in the end. Soon the heads of all races will gather for a conference to determine the route that will be used to head towards the demon kings castle. (Lobelia) Either way, its an important matter and its a war that wont end in a single day, right? (Renya) Thats certainly true. The area inhabited by the demons is vast and their resistance will be extreme. I cant predict how long it will take to just secure a route to the demon kings castle. (Lobelia) What a tedious story, Renya shakes his head.Its something he cant tell anyone, but knowing that all these events are only the supervisors playing around, he feels even more depressed. So, if the slightly bad story is at such levelwhat kind of story will the extremely bad story be? (Renya) Ah, yeaabout that (Lobelia) Lobelia is evasive.Due to Lobelia having started to ponder about how to talk about it, everyone feels convinced that it must be a considerably bad matter.They wonder, isnt it an unimaginably bad story since even that Lobelia, who talked about the demon kings descent forthrightly, falters to speak up?Lobelia let her eyes wander for a while, and opened and closed her mouth several times, but before long she apparently resolved herself and said the following a bit rushed, Communication with the dragonoid continent has ceased. Even the transfer gates stopped working. (Lobelia) The one who grasped the situation first was Renya after all.While the other members begin to wonder about how this information is worse than the demon kings descent, he mutters, Does that mean that the demon have already started invading? (Renya) I dont know. Right now we havent checked whether its a disorder of the transfer gates themselves. But, if this is because of the destruction of the transfer gates on the dragonoids side, its very likely that the dragonoid continent is already in a state of combat, if you consider it normally. (Lobelia) They destroyed them or they were destroyed.Either way, if its not trouble related to the sorcery of the transfer gates, it means that the transfer gates installed on the dragonoid continents side have been destroyed.The destruction of transfer gates, which cant be set up at a moments notice, wont happen as long as there are no extreme circumstances in the area where they have been installed.In that case, if you also consider it in combination of the timing for the oracles arrival, the possibility of them being invaded is somewhat high.While thinking so, Renya clicked his tongue quietly. Then I guess the communication with the dragonoids hero has ceased as well (Renya) Right now we are seeking information from the human continent and the elven continent. If he managed to run away to either continent before the path was been cut off, he will be fine. (Lobelia) Both, Lobelia and Renya, consider that possibility to be unlikely.Lobelia doesnt believe that the hero is someone who would abandon his own country, which is under attack, to escape to another country. Renya, who has directly met him, couldnt think of that hero as the type who would desert under enemy fire.The probability of him having died is likely low as well, Renya estimates.At least Renya couldnt consider that dragonoid hero to be a person who would die so easily either way. Its a matter thats difficult to judge, butits indeed an extremely bad story. (Renya) In order to look away from his comrades, whose faces are turning pale after beginning to understand the heaviness of the situation, Renya looked up to the ceiling and sighed very deeply. Chapter 144.5 Chapter 144.5 C It seems to be Interlude 13 The reason why he chosethatwas because it was the weakest individual among the race referred to as demons.Itwas awfully menial and diminutive, and yet that was owed toitbeing very, very hungry.The demons as a race place the greatest importance on power.A demon was seriously treated as a being as long as they were endowed with power, even if they had various other problems.To give an example; even though Emil had so many problems in regards to her character and conduct that it was difficult to call it a trifling matter, shes well-known as a superior being even among the demons thanks to the extent of the powers shes been gifted with.As for the powers mentioned here, it doesnt matter what kind of power it is.Simple physical strength, mana in possession and accumulated knowledge; all of them were recognized as powers as long as they were excelling.However,thathadnt been endowed with a single excelling power among those.The fact thatitwas born as a noble might also have been its misfortune.The more expectations were placed intoit, the bigger the disappointment by its surroundings whenitfailed to deliver.That, which should have received the same education as the people arounditin the same circumstances, had hope placed on its future from the very beginning, butitimmediately fell behind and thus was separated from the others.Due to its overwhelming worthlessness, its parents lamented why such a failure had been born into their bloodline each time they saw its face. They cursed at each other, blaming the other for the worthlessness of the child.Continuing to endlessly watch that scene,thatsoon lost any motivation to do anything as it was abandoned and completely forgotten.Being in such situation,thatalways felt hungry.Itconstantly desired some kind of power so thatitmight not have fallen into its current circumstances, even ifithad to attain that power by itself.Thatspent its time as if in a stupor, excreting and taking in enough food so thatitwouldnt die while being locked away in a room of the mansion, having its existence completely forgotten.The sole desireitcould feel while inside that mental idleness of stopped time, was its hunger. It seethed withinit, a locked-up emotion that gnawed atitlike a sordid black mass.He targeted that black mass.At first he considered calling upon a being, which has ability from the start, as a method to achieve his objective, but once he sawthat, he entirely abandoned that notion.If youre going to give something, its easier to do so when the other party is starving for it.If you give something to someone thats already satisfied, they might end up complacent without even trying to use what was given to them to its full potential. You want power? He askedthat.Being asked by him, whose true identity and ulterior motive was unknown,thatnodded its head without any hesitation. Somehow its strange. In a space that can be said to be somewhere but not here and at some time but not now, Giliel tilted her head to the side in confusion.The phenomenon that caused her to be weirded out is the situation that has been progressing since a little while ago.The origin of the current situation came from the encroachment running day and night for the sake of opening a path into the domains of the other supervisors to invade those spaces.Usually they would thoroughly resist and then speedily escape to another domain when the path was finally about to form. It was a routine task that made her stamp her feet in frustration, but it looked like she would finally be able to capture the opponent.Without any indication of the other party trying to escape, Giliel had almost completely grasped them inside her attack range.All thats left was to carefully form a path into that domain, pass through it and enter the domain of the other party.As long as she encounters them. Giliel wont lose.Thanks to her masters workmanship, her combat ability has been risen a couple dozen times above that of a supervisor in this world.Even if all of them faced off against Giliel together, she possesses so much strength that shes capable of turning the tables on them.Even the supervisors of this world should be aware of that. For them not escaping isnt an option.And yet, this.The connection to the target domain finished forming in the lower strata of Giliels consciousness, who cocks her head in contemplation, wondering whether the opponent overestimated their own ability to asses the situation.Confirming that she had even finished the countermeasures in case the other party tried to run away at the last moment, Giliel wavers for a tiny bit.She is wondering about the reason why the other party isnt escaping despite being in a situation where they will definitely lose if they encounter her.About the case that the other party believes that they can win even if they encounter her by themselves, she believes:Its impossible.If that was possibly true, I cant evaluate the supervisor in the seized domain as anything but an utter fool. Giliel didnt want to imagine that her own master had such an idiot bear part of the worlds supervisory authority.However, that possibility cannot be ruled out completely either.After all, my opponents are retards to the extent of amusing themselves with playing around with the world they are supervising.Giliel didnt want to believe that they had such characters from the very start.After all it would mean that her own master didnt see through their level of stupidity. Still, its possible that. (Giliel) Giliel mutters a line that would make the loli goddess clench her fist with a smile if she heard it. As for the other possibility, a trap might have been planted at the exit point of the path.Given that she forcibly connected the path, it wouldnt be strange even if it had been leaked to her opponents from where and through which path Giliel would enter the domain.Once she puts a little bit of strength into both of her arms, she covers them up to the elbows withtekkouthat have a completely-visible, sinister design.After checking her condition by tightly clenching her fists several times, Giliel suspended the process of managing the human continent temporarily.As far as it goes, even if Giliel abandons supervising the human continent its not like it will suddenly be riddled with abnormal events that bring it close to destruction.In addition, as a result of Giliel frantically endeavoring on her administrative tasks, she has a bit of leeway as several angels specialized in office work have been sent in as helpers by her master. If its just maintaining the status quo, it should be possible to barely keep the processes running with only those angels.A few calamities might take place, but as all the abilities Giliel posses are tailored towards combat, she deliberately took this measure. If its a trapI just have to crush it (Giliel) While putting her overwhelming power at full throttle, Giliel, an existence that can be treated as a god in this world, passed through the path she had created.But, Giliels resolve ended up being almost completely in vain.The paths destination was a small domain. It was in such an unstable state that it could vanish any time soon.For an instant Giliel was cautious of whether it might be a trap after all, but she immediately sees the reason for the domains instability in front of her eyes.It was the figure of a man with long, blue hair gathered around his nape.What hes wearing is simple clothing, but the cloth that should have been white has a red liquid oozing out from around the mans flank. The white cloth is dyed black rather than red.He has lost a considerable amount of blood.To be precise, Giliel and the other supervisors dont possess a body made out of flesh in their domain.Since they dont possess a body, theres no way for them to bleed either.The scenery that meets Giliels eyes right now was no more than the result of her visually perceiving the blue-haired man in such state. The Dragonoid Supervisor? (Giliel) The domains instability was caused by the supervisor, the owner of the domain, being at the verge of death.If she leaves him alone like this, its very likely that the domain will vanish alongside the Dragonoid Supervisor.Once that comes to pass, various problems will arise, even if Giliels abilities excel the supervisors.Specifically, in the worst case scenario its possible that shell be destroyed due to getting mixed up in the collapsing domain.Pondering whether she should temporarily return to her own domain through the path while carrying the supervisors body, Giliel stretched out her hand to grab the body of the fallen Dragonoid Supervisor while snorting. I dont get the point at all. What the hell happened here? (Giliel) S-Stop. Dont touch me Please obediently allow me to capture you as theres no way for you to be capable of escaping in such a condition. Id like you to not take up my time. (Giliel) Saying that with a fed-up tone, Giliel tried to grab the supervisors body. S-Stop! This is a trap! What!? (Giliel) Blood sprayed from the yelling supervisor as a blade flew out of his body.On a glance it looked like the blade of a longsword. That blade protruded out, aiming at Giliel who was about to grab the Dragonoid Supervisors body.Giliel was taken by surprise, but her reaction was swift.Clenching the hand, which she had extended in order to grab the supervisor, into a fist, she repelled the blade aimed at her, breaking it in the process.A high-pitched, metallic sound reverberated.With that sound as a start, a stream of blades appeared, breaking through the supervisors body.The supervisor screams of pain from having his body penetrated by blades. His blood splattered all over with splashing sounds.Giliel flicked off the blades that were about to pierce her with thetekkouon both her arms, but there was no end to them. Moreover, she leapt back, trying to avoid the flying blood clots, and in the next instant looked back in the direction of the path she used before. Damn it! (Giliel) The instant she had turned her focus on the blades and blood sprays, the maintenance of the path had escaped her consciousness for a tiny moment.Originally it would be impossible for the path to disconnect with only that much, but Giliel sensed how someone interfered with the path and severed its connection as if having waited for that momentary fluctuation.It was a trap after all, Giliel thinks bitterly.However, although it might be called a trap, its craftiness exceeded Giliels expectations by far.Of all things the mastermind, who had planted that trap, lured in Giliel by preparing the Dragonoid Supervisor as bait and then intended to erase her along with the bait.The one who set up this trap is someone among the remaining supervisors.In other words, it cant be anyone but the Elf Supervisor, the Beastmen Supervisor or the Demon Supervisor.Even so, its probably too much of a desperate decision, Giliel believes.Giliel didnt think in her wildest dreams that just because they had realized that they wouldnt be able to win against her in a direct confrontation with their united power, they would set up a trap, going as far as forcibly sacrificing one of their own.Moreover, Giliel turns her eyes in front of her.In the corner of her eyes, the Dragonoid Supervisor is slowly trying to stand up with his body riddled with countless blades like a hedgehog while leaking blood from all over his body.By now theres no focus in his eyes anymore. He totteringly starts to walk towards Giliel with a vacant expression. So youre saying the bait becomes the finishing blow against the prey that was caught in the trap, huh? The one who came up with this has a really nasty character. (Giliel) Blades that grew out of the supervisors body flew at Giliel as she cursed.Beating down the approaching blades, Giliels movements were slightly dull.It meant that Giliels combat ability has deteriorated. In addition to reconnecting the pathI have to maintain an unstable domain and furthermore settle the fight with the supervisor, whos equivalent to the domains core, before his death while being tight on time (Giliel) If she attacked him with her full power, she would be able to blast away the supervisor in an instant.But, if she did that, the death of the Dragonoid Supervisor, who is the domains origin, would spell the end of the domain shes currently in.If the domain collapses, Giliel wont come out unscathed as she will be dragged down with it.In order to avoid that, it was necessary for her to first reconnect the path, through which she had passed, in order to evacuate to the Human Supervisors domain.And now the domain, which was already influenced from the supervisor being half-dead when Giliel arrived, is in a state of extreme instability.If she stole the management authority, it would be possible for Giliel to maintain it a lot more comfortably, but even when hes on the verge of death, the Dragonoid Supervisor still exists, making it impossible to usurp his authority.In other words, Giliel had to cover the maintenance of a domain, which is in a terribly fragile and unstable state, while not holding complete management authority.Due to this Giliel had been corned into a situation, where she has to resolve those issues while at the same time splitting up her faculties. That fact directly lead to the decline in her combat abilities. I have to either open the path beforethatterminates due to the damage from the blades growing out of its bodyor I have to immediately steal the management authority of this domain right afterthatwas terminated. For either choice I wont have any surplus in time and faculty (Giliel) Giliel mutters scattering, breaking and repelling the approaching blades with hertekkouin succession. Dangerous stuff. Giliel-chan, its a pinch, isnt it? (Giliel) Twisting her lips into a wry smile, Giliel purposely talks foolishly.Once again countless bloodstained blades protrude out of the supervisors body, who screams hoarsely due to the pain caused by the blades penetrating his body, and assail the prepared Giliel.While pushing the grating, shrill sound of breaking the blades with her fists out of her mind, Giliel suppressed her feeling of panic and turned her focus towards coping with the situation after having decentralized her consciousness as much as the situation allowed. Chapter 144.5 C It seems to be Interlude 13 The reason why he chosethatwas because it was the weakest individual among the race referred to as demons.Itwas awfully menial and diminutive, and yet that was owed toitbeing very, very hungry.The demons as a race place the greatest importance on power.A demon was seriously treated as a being as long as they were endowed with power, even if they had various other problems.To give an example; even though Emil had so many problems in regards to her character and conduct that it was difficult to call it a trifling matter, shes well-known as a superior being even among the demons thanks to the extent of the powers shes been gifted with.As for the powers mentioned here, it doesnt matter what kind of power it is.Simple physical strength, mana in possession and accumulated knowledge; all of them were recognized as powers as long as they were excelling.However,thathadnt been endowed with a single excelling power among those.The fact thatitwas born as a noble might also have been its misfortune.The more expectations were placed intoit, the bigger the disappointment by its surroundings whenitfailed to deliver.That, which should have received the same education as the people arounditin the same circumstances, had hope placed on its future from the very beginning, butitimmediately fell behind and thus was separated from the others.Due to its overwhelming worthlessness, its parents lamented why such a failure had been born into their bloodline each time they saw its face. They cursed at each other, blaming the other for the worthlessness of the child.Continuing to endlessly watch that scene,thatsoon lost any motivation to do anything as it was abandoned and completely forgotten.Being in such situation,thatalways felt hungry.Itconstantly desired some kind of power so thatitmight not have fallen into its current circumstances, even ifithad to attain that power by itself.Thatspent its time as if in a stupor, excreting and taking in enough food so thatitwouldnt die while being locked away in a room of the mansion, having its existence completely forgotten.The sole desireitcould feel while inside that mental idleness of stopped time, was its hunger. It seethed withinit, a locked-up emotion that gnawed atitlike a sordid black mass.He targeted that black mass.At first he considered calling upon a being, which has ability from the start, as a method to achieve his objective, but once he sawthat, he entirely abandoned that notion.If youre going to give something, its easier to do so when the other party is starving for it.If you give something to someone thats already satisfied, they might end up complacent without even trying to use what was given to them to its full potential. You want power? He askedthat.Being asked by him, whose true identity and ulterior motive was unknown,thatnodded its head without any hesitation. Somehow its strange. In a space that can be said to be somewhere but not here and at some time but not now, Giliel tilted her head to the side in confusion.The phenomenon that caused her to be weirded out is the situation that has been progressing since a little while ago.The origin of the current situation came from the encroachment running day and night for the sake of opening a path into the domains of the other supervisors to invade those spaces.Usually they would thoroughly resist and then speedily escape to another domain when the path was finally about to form. It was a routine task that made her stamp her feet in frustration, but it looked like she would finally be able to capture the opponent.Without any indication of the other party trying to escape, Giliel had almost completely grasped them inside her attack range.All thats left was to carefully form a path into that domain, pass through it and enter the domain of the other party.As long as she encounters them. Giliel wont lose.Thanks to her masters workmanship, her combat ability has been risen a couple dozen times above that of a supervisor in this world.Even if all of them faced off against Giliel together, she possesses so much strength that shes capable of turning the tables on them.Even the supervisors of this world should be aware of that. For them not escaping isnt an option.And yet, this.The connection to the target domain finished forming in the lower strata of Giliels consciousness, who cocks her head in contemplation, wondering whether the opponent overestimated their own ability to asses the situation.Confirming that she had even finished the countermeasures in case the other party tried to run away at the last moment, Giliel wavers for a tiny bit.She is wondering about the reason why the other party isnt escaping despite being in a situation where they will definitely lose if they encounter her.About the case that the other party believes that they can win even if they encounter her by themselves, she believes:Its impossible.If that was possibly true, I cant evaluate the supervisor in the seized domain as anything but an utter fool. Giliel didnt want to imagine that her own master had such an idiot bear part of the worlds supervisory authority.However, that possibility cannot be ruled out completely either.After all, my opponents are retards to the extent of amusing themselves with playing around with the world they are supervising.Giliel didnt want to believe that they had such characters from the very start.After all it would mean that her own master didnt see through their level of stupidity. Still, its possible that. (Giliel) Giliel mutters a line that would make the loli goddess clench her fist with a smile if she heard it.As for the other possibility, a trap might have been planted at the exit point of the path.Given that she forcibly connected the path, it wouldnt be strange even if it had been leaked to her opponents from where and through which path Giliel would enter the domain.Once she puts a little bit of strength into both of her arms, she covers them up to the elbows withtekkouthat have a completely-visible, sinister design.After checking her condition by tightly clenching her fists several times, Giliel suspended the process of managing the human continent temporarily.As far as it goes, even if Giliel abandons supervising the human continent its not like it will suddenly be riddled with abnormal events that bring it close to destruction.In addition, as a result of Giliel frantically endeavoring on her administrative tasks, she has a bit of leeway as several angels specialized in office work have been sent in as helpers by her master. If its just maintaining the status quo, it should be possible to barely keep the processes running with only those angels.A few calamities might take place, but as all the abilities Giliel posses are tailored towards combat, she deliberately took this measure. If its a trapI just have to crush it (Giliel) While putting her overwhelming power at full throttle, Giliel, an existence that can be treated as a god in this world, passed through the path she had created.But, Giliels resolve ended up being almost completely in vain.The paths destination was a small domain. It was in such an unstable state that it could vanish any time soon.For an instant Giliel was cautious of whether it might be a trap after all, but she immediately sees the reason for the domains instability in front of her eyes.It was the figure of a man with long, blue hair gathered around his nape.What hes wearing is simple clothing, but the cloth that should have been white has a red liquid oozing out from around the mans flank. The white cloth is dyed black rather than red.He has lost a considerable amount of blood.To be precise, Giliel and the other supervisors dont possess a body made out of flesh in their domain.Since they dont possess a body, theres no way for them to bleed either.The scenery that meets Giliels eyes right now was no more than the result of her visually perceiving the blue-haired man in such state. The Dragonoid Supervisor? (Giliel) The domains instability was caused by the supervisor, the owner of the domain, being at the verge of death.If she leaves him alone like this, its very likely that the domain will vanish alongside the Dragonoid Supervisor.Once that comes to pass, various problems will arise, even if Giliels abilities excel the supervisors.Specifically, in the worst case scenario its possible that shell be destroyed due to getting mixed up in the collapsing domain.Pondering whether she should temporarily return to her own domain through the path while carrying the supervisors body, Giliel stretched out her hand to grab the body of the fallen Dragonoid Supervisor while snorting. I dont get the point at all. What the hell happened here? (Giliel) S-Stop. Dont touch me Please obediently allow me to capture you as theres no way for you to be capable of escaping in such a condition. Id like you to not take up my time. (Giliel) Saying that with a fed-up tone, Giliel tried to grab the supervisors body. S-Stop! This is a trap! What!? (Giliel) Blood sprayed from the yelling supervisor as a blade flew out of his body.On a glance it looked like the blade of a longsword. That blade protruded out, aiming at Giliel who was about to grab the Dragonoid Supervisors body.Giliel was taken by surprise, but her reaction was swift.Clenching the hand, which she had extended in order to grab the supervisor, into a fist, she repelled the blade aimed at her, breaking it in the process.A high-pitched, metallic sound reverberated.With that sound as a start, a stream of blades appeared, breaking through the supervisors body.The supervisor screams of pain from having his body penetrated by blades. His blood splattered all over with splashing sounds.Giliel flicked off the blades that were about to pierce her with thetekkouon both her arms, but there was no end to them. Moreover, she leapt back, trying to avoid the flying blood clots, and in the next instant looked back in the direction of the path she used before. Damn it! (Giliel) The instant she had turned her focus on the blades and blood sprays, the maintenance of the path had escaped her consciousness for a tiny moment.Originally it would be impossible for the path to disconnect with only that much, but Giliel sensed how someone interfered with the path and severed its connection as if having waited for that momentary fluctuation.It was a trap after all, Giliel thinks bitterly.However, although it might be called a trap, its craftiness exceeded Giliels expectations by far.Of all things the mastermind, who had planted that trap, lured in Giliel by preparing the Dragonoid Supervisor as bait and then intended to erase her along with the bait.The one who set up this trap is someone among the remaining supervisors.In other words, it cant be anyone but the Elf Supervisor, the Beastmen Supervisor or the Demon Supervisor.Even so, its probably too much of a desperate decision, Giliel believes.Giliel didnt think in her wildest dreams that just because they had realized that they wouldnt be able to win against her in a direct confrontation with their united power, they would set up a trap, going as far as forcibly sacrificing one of their own.Moreover, Giliel turns her eyes in front of her.In the corner of her eyes, the Dragonoid Supervisor is slowly trying to stand up with his body riddled with countless blades like a hedgehog while leaking blood from all over his body.By now theres no focus in his eyes anymore. He totteringly starts to walk towards Giliel with a vacant expression. So youre saying the bait becomes the finishing blow against the prey that was caught in the trap, huh? The one who came up with this has a really nasty character. (Giliel) Blades that grew out of the supervisors body flew at Giliel as she cursed.Beating down the approaching blades, Giliels movements were slightly dull.It meant that Giliels combat ability has deteriorated. In addition to reconnecting the pathI have to maintain an unstable domain and furthermore settle the fight with the supervisor, whos equivalent to the domains core, before his death while being tight on time (Giliel) If she attacked him with her full power, she would be able to blast away the supervisor in an instant.But, if she did that, the death of the Dragonoid Supervisor, who is the domains origin, would spell the end of the domain shes currently in.If the domain collapses, Giliel wont come out unscathed as she will be dragged down with it.In order to avoid that, it was necessary for her to first reconnect the path, through which she had passed, in order to evacuate to the Human Supervisors domain.And now the domain, which was already influenced from the supervisor being half-dead when Giliel arrived, is in a state of extreme instability.If she stole the management authority, it would be possible for Giliel to maintain it a lot more comfortably, but even when hes on the verge of death, the Dragonoid Supervisor still exists, making it impossible to usurp his authority.In other words, Giliel had to cover the maintenance of a domain, which is in a terribly fragile and unstable state, while not holding complete management authority.Due to this Giliel had been corned into a situation, where she has to resolve those issues while at the same time splitting up her faculties. That fact directly lead to the decline in her combat abilities. I have to either open the path beforethatterminates due to the damage from the blades growing out of its bodyor I have to immediately steal the management authority of this domain right afterthatwas terminated. For either choice I wont have any surplus in time and faculty (Giliel) Giliel mutters scattering, breaking and repelling the approaching blades with hertekkouin succession. Dangerous stuff. Giliel-chan, its a pinch, isnt it? (Giliel) Twisting her lips into a wry smile, Giliel purposely talks foolishly.Once again countless bloodstained blades protrude out of the supervisors body, who screams hoarsely due to the pain caused by the blades penetrating his body, and assail the prepared Giliel.While pushing the grating, shrill sound of breaking the blades with her fists out of her mind, Giliel suppressed her feeling of panic and turned her focus towards coping with the situation after having decentralized her consciousness as much as the situation allowed. Chapter 145 Chapter 145 C It seems to be a Consultation The news announced by the oracle regarding the demon kings descent had spread throughout the world.This is because most of the military forces from all the continents are mobilized for the anti-demon war.But, the notification that was handed down alongside the oracle C the cessation of communication with the dragonoid continent C shook up the governments of all nations.Its not because of the demon invasions speed.Among the five continents, the dragonoids were a race with low numbers, coming right after the demons, but their individual strength was said to be so high that they wouldnt lose against demons.The origin of the dragonoids is something even the dragonoids themselves dont understand well.According to oral tradition, its said that long ago their human ancestors inherited a part of the draconic powers in their bodies after having taken over draconic elements from each of the Four Greater Dragons, which are said to live in a mountain range called the Dragon Den located on the northernmost tip of the dragonoids continent, but seeing as the story itself took place more than a thousand years ago, theres no positive proof since the dragonoids of that time didnt leave any records behind.The Four Greater Dragons refer to the four dragons called Ruby Dragon, Jade Dragon, Azure Pearl Dragon and True Wind Dragon.Albert, the current dragonoid hero, is a descendant of a family endowed with the element of the Jade Dragon. Moreover, Emedra-kun, who served as Renyas mount before, is one of the dragons connected to the Jade Dragons lineage.Its no more than a guess, but this Jade Dragon is considered to have likely been alive for more than a thousand years while still being in good health.Its said that theres not a single person alive who has witnessed its human figure.Others, like the beastmen arent even allowed close to the Dragon Den. While only a really small part of the elves was allowed to get a glimpse of the Four Greater Dragons from very far away. They are existences of which almost nothing is known about.And yet, although the Four Greater Dragons evade public appearances to such an extent, their strength is still famous throughout the world.According to the rumors about them, they wiped cities off the map with a flap of their wings, broke down entire mountains with a single roar or pulverized a mountain range with one breath attack. If one were to ask Renya, all of those rumors are things that would make him say that theres a limit to shadiness. What kind of outrageous creatures are they supposed to be? (Renya) Ahyeah, I can understand you saying that, Renya, but its the truth since theres also evidence. (Shion) Dragons are existences that can be turned into a huge amount of money.If you are capable of getting your hands on one body, you will have access to a mountain of excellent, usable materials. Starting from their scales, you can take their fangs, skin, while even their meat, intestines and bones wont be thrown away or spared.If you turn all of those into some kind of goods, the items will exhibit an extremely superior performance, naturally making their value immeasurable.Its the bad habit of humans to get very greedy once they learn that something is lucrative.Theres a never-ending supply of people scheming to somehow subjugate a dragon in order to obtain its body. As a result of them not understanding their own status, most of them are taught that only death awaits them at the end of their greed, but in really rare cases there are some people who succeed in killing a dragon. We dont really know what happened since theres nothing left at that place anymore, but (Shion) Theplacementioned by Shion is a huge bay called Dragons Breath, a place located on the human continent.That bay, which is a continuous tear that draws a clean triangle from the coastline towards the inland areas over a span of several dozens kilometers, had apparently been a city on land in the past.The people living in that city succeeded in subjugating a dragon by using some kind of plan, but its said their bad luck was that the subjugated dragon was a still a very young dragon situated quite high in the hierarchy of the Ruby Dragons lineage.Its completely unknown why a direct descendant of the Four Greater Dragons, who live at the northernmost tip of the northern continent, had expressly gone as far as the eastern continent.Various theories about this point are circulating among the researchers that investigated this later on, but only the Ruby Dragon knows the truth.Anyway, the Ruby Dragon grieved over the death of its own blood-related baby dragon, causing several of the mountains forming the Dragon Den to collapse with its roars.Unable to calm down with only that much, the Ruby Dragon, which had gone insane due to its rage, took off from the Dragon Den, went into the vicinity of the city, which had killed the infant, and released a breath of retribution while still overwhelmed by its anger.The super-high-temperature flame breath it shot at that time annihilated the land along with the city and moreover blew away several other cities and villages nearby, producing a trench in the process which later became a bay after being filled up with sea water. Its said that thanks to the exceedingly high temperature of the dragons breath, the water inside the bay stayed hot for around ten years. (Lobelia) As if such a stupid story is possible. (Renya) As a consequence of the raging flames, ash ascended into the sky, coming down as black rain over a period of several years or something like that (Lobelia) Ah, yeah, sure. I get that its one of those stories, but why are you talking about it right now? (Renya) Renya and the others, who were made to hear a terrible story from Lobelia, were holding a meeting to determine their upcoming plans.When Shion started to explain about the Four Greater Dragons in the middle of that meeting, Renya interjected with one thing he still couldnt understand regarding why the fact that the dragonoids continent was invaded by the demons brought about such a shock to all other races.In Renyas eyes its only at the level of the dragonoids, who were attacked by the demons blitzkrieg in a war that even lacked a proper declaration of war, probably having lost on such a large scale that its even unclear as to how many losses they suffered.He wonders whether thats something worthy of causing such an uproar for, but in Shions and the others eyes, its Renya who seems to be the odd one out. In short, the dragonoids are a great race possessing draconic elements. You can understand that, right? Somehow or other. (Renya) While thinking,Having Shion explain something to me in a polite way that makes it easy to understand sure is a fresh experience, Renya nods. Those same dragonoids likely having suffered a crushing defeat is the problem here. (Shion) Thats the part I dont get. (Renya) Once her conclusion was quickly denied by Renya, Shion dropped her shoulders in frustration. No, I mean, Renya, its like the dragonoids, who are so strong that they far surpass the humans and also remain unattainable for elves and beastmen, were crushed by the demons, got it? (Shion) Even so, Renya still tilts his head to the side in confusion upon Shion identifying that as the problem. Why dont you understand that part? (Shion) Well, you know, no matter how powerful they might be; if they suffer a surprise attack while unprepared, they will lose, wont they? If the attacking side has suddenly assailed them after putting all its preparations in order, its not strange for them to be defeated. What you should consider a problem is not the fact that the dragonoids continent was invaded by the demons, but what actually happened to the dragonoids. Right? (Renya) Well, yeahthat might be true, but we wouldnt be so troubled if we knew that (Shion) In Renyas eyes, who believes that the outcome of a battle depends on luck and opportunities and that theres no definite method to always guarantee victory or defeat, he can only consider clamoring over who lost or won in each single battle as pointless.Because the side that takes the opponents or the kings head wins in the end, its nothing to fuss about or worth mentioning as long as your own side is still safe. Hence I believe that we should first investigate what happened to the dragonoids afterwards. (Renya) I have an objection. (Mayria) Mayria interjects while raising her hand a bit.Even while thinking,Theres no need to obtain permission to speak by raising your hand though, Renya urges Mayria to continue with his eyes. Renya-san, you are one of the nobles of our Trident Principality. You are a person who should become a shield of the principality against the Miasma Forest. The matter with the dragonoids is also worrisome, but I wonder whether we shouldnt hurry back to our territory at this point in time to focus on solidifying our defenses. (Mayria) Mmh? Thats only natural. (Renya) Unexpectedly, Renya readily approved of Mayrias words.Mayria falls over with a flop, but Renya says, using a tone that made one feel he was saying the most reasonable thing in the world, In such circumstances there probably wont be any people making strange moves on my territory. Wont there be a recall order from Her Majesty? (Renya) If you know that much (Mayria) What I mentioned is a common argument. Why would I have to go out of my way to search for information, going even as far as to head over to the dragonoids territory? (Renya) Renya firmly endured having one troublesome thing after the other added, but Lepard requested permission to speak from Renya by lifting his hand timidly. Yes, Lepard-kun? (Renya) Kun? Oh well, whatever. I believe the situation wont get any better like this? (Lepard) Why? (Renya) In response to Renyas question, Lepard pointed at Kurz, who was beginning to nod off while sitting on his chair, and said, The humans hero is this guy, right? (Lepard) No doubt. Our Kurz is the human hero, but what of it? (Renya) While hurriedly shaking his head at Renya, who seemingly wants to ask him whether he has some problem with it, Lepard continues, It aint like I have any complaints. Howeversince ancient times it has been decided that we will obey the orders of the human hero as our leader (Lepard) That might as well be called a custom.Among the heroes within the four races who appear with the summoning of the human hero as a trigger, its always considered the human heros duty to lead the others.Its impossible to check back with Albert, the dragonoid hero, whos not present, but Lepard and Grn tell Renya that they have been told to follow said custom.After hearing that, Renya wondered about something while groaning for a while, but before long he looked in Kurz direction.As if being lured by that, everybodys eyes focus on Kurz face who had started to calmly sleep with a happy expression without anyone noticing.Putting aside Kurz contents, Kurz innocent expression while sleeping had a force that caused several of the beastman priestesses to faint after screaming with high-pitched voices, but no matter how you looked at it, it wasnt a face that seemed capable of giving commands as a leader in order to pull the other races heroes along. You mustnt judge a person by their looks. (Renya) Lepard mercilessly retorted towards Renyas considerably strained words, Hes capable of it then? (Lepard) If its at the level of Show no mercy! or Kill anything that moves! I guess? (Renya) Are thosestrategic orders? To begin with, whats the difference between the two? (Lepard) The former is limited to the enemy. The latter makes no difference between enemy and ally. (Renya) Oi (Lepard) Renya declared calmly, but what he said was quite cruel.If you only talk about Kurz combat abilities, he boasts of a strength that rivals or even surpasses that of Lepard and Grn.Rather, even if they challenged him to a 2 vs. 1 battle, Kurz abilities should allow him to wrestle away victory.But, Kurz mental and emotional age doesnt go beyond that of a 5~6 years-old human child. Renya knows that Kurz likely wont be able to give out anything but commands at the level of jokes, even if Renya told him to take command or to develop a strategy.He wonders whether it wouldnt be fine to have Grn act as the leader, but the custom of making the human hero the leader seems to be a point neither the beastmen nor the elves will yield on. When Renya tries to suggest that idea to Grn, he doesnt nod either. Margrave-donofor us, the heroes lend their help to the human hero in order for him to defeat the demon king. We cant concede on that part. (Grn) Even if you tell me something like that, you should understand that planning or anything like that is probably impossible for Kurz, right? (Renya) Im well aware of that. In that case his guardian has to do it in his stead. As far as the past records go back, the summoned human heroes were people with a reasonable level of education and ages between their late 10s and early 20s, but it seems there were also cases where heroes with an age of approximately 10 years had been summoned, apparently as some kind of mistake.In that case its the rule for a human guardian, who is chosen from a consensus between the humans and the other races, to serve as the heros helper. In other words, in this case it becomes your role, Margrave. Im his patron. (Renya) It doesnt really matter either way. I dont know whether you have the position of his guardian or the authority to take care of him, but in order to deny that role, its necessary to entrust Kurz to someone else by abdicating his guardianship. (Lepard) From Renyas point of view, he wants to leave all the troublesome stuff to others.But, if hes asked whether he will be able to entrust Kurz to someone else in order to achieve that, theres no other option for him but to admit that hes incapable of such a decision.Theres certainly a connection between them on an emotional level, but the real reason is that theres no place where Kurz can stay except close to Renya, if one considers the possible dangers.If he imprudently entrusts him to some noble with high pride, he cant deny the possibility of the nobles territory turning into an empty lot within a month.Whats scary in this case wont be the disappearance of the buildings or facilities, but the erasure of all the residents, soldiers and nobility. If you cant abdicate from it, you dont have any other option but to accompany the hero in his travels as Kurz guardian, do you? (Lepard) Gununu (Renya) I wont tell you to accompany him up to the battle against the demon king, butI have a hunch that you would manage somehow either way (Lepard) Lepard felt that they definitely wouldnt be able to win against the Margrave in front of his eyes, even if all the heroes faced him at the same time. Chapter 145 C It seems to be a Consultation The news announced by the oracle regarding the demon kings descent had spread throughout the world.This is because most of the military forces from all the continents are mobilized for the anti-demon war.But, the notification that was handed down alongside the oracle C the cessation of communication with the dragonoid continent C shook up the governments of all nations.Its not because of the demon invasions speed.Among the five continents, the dragonoids were a race with low numbers, coming right after the demons, but their individual strength was said to be so high that they wouldnt lose against demons.The origin of the dragonoids is something even the dragonoids themselves dont understand well.According to oral tradition, its said that long ago their human ancestors inherited a part of the draconic powers in their bodies after having taken over draconic elements from each of the Four Greater Dragons, which are said to live in a mountain range called the Dragon Den located on the northernmost tip of the dragonoids continent, but seeing as the story itself took place more than a thousand years ago, theres no positive proof since the dragonoids of that time didnt leave any records behind.The Four Greater Dragons refer to the four dragons called Ruby Dragon, Jade Dragon, Azure Pearl Dragon and True Wind Dragon.Albert, the current dragonoid hero, is a descendant of a family endowed with the element of the Jade Dragon. Moreover, Emedra-kun, who served as Renyas mount before, is one of the dragons connected to the Jade Dragons lineage.Its no more than a guess, but this Jade Dragon is considered to have likely been alive for more than a thousand years while still being in good health.Its said that theres not a single person alive who has witnessed its human figure.Others, like the beastmen arent even allowed close to the Dragon Den. While only a really small part of the elves was allowed to get a glimpse of the Four Greater Dragons from very far away. They are existences of which almost nothing is known about.And yet, although the Four Greater Dragons evade public appearances to such an extent, their strength is still famous throughout the world.According to the rumors about them, they wiped cities off the map with a flap of their wings, broke down entire mountains with a single roar or pulverized a mountain range with one breath attack. If one were to ask Renya, all of those rumors are things that would make him say that theres a limit to shadiness. What kind of outrageous creatures are they supposed to be? (Renya) Ahyeah, I can understand you saying that, Renya, but its the truth since theres also evidence. (Shion) Dragons are existences that can be turned into a huge amount of money.If you are capable of getting your hands on one body, you will have access to a mountain of excellent, usable materials. Starting from their scales, you can take their fangs, skin, while even their meat, intestines and bones wont be thrown away or spared.If you turn all of those into some kind of goods, the items will exhibit an extremely superior performance, naturally making their value immeasurable.Its the bad habit of humans to get very greedy once they learn that something is lucrative.Theres a never-ending supply of people scheming to somehow subjugate a dragon in order to obtain its body. As a result of them not understanding their own status, most of them are taught that only death awaits them at the end of their greed, but in really rare cases there are some people who succeed in killing a dragon. We dont really know what happened since theres nothing left at that place anymore, but (Shion) Theplacementioned by Shion is a huge bay called Dragons Breath, a place located on the human continent.That bay, which is a continuous tear that draws a clean triangle from the coastline towards the inland areas over a span of several dozens kilometers, had apparently been a city on land in the past.The people living in that city succeeded in subjugating a dragon by using some kind of plan, but its said their bad luck was that the subjugated dragon was a still a very young dragon situated quite high in the hierarchy of the Ruby Dragons lineage.Its completely unknown why a direct descendant of the Four Greater Dragons, who live at the northernmost tip of the northern continent, had expressly gone as far as the eastern continent.Various theories about this point are circulating among the researchers that investigated this later on, but only the Ruby Dragon knows the truth.Anyway, the Ruby Dragon grieved over the death of its own blood-related baby dragon, causing several of the mountains forming the Dragon Den to collapse with its roars.Unable to calm down with only that much, the Ruby Dragon, which had gone insane due to its rage, took off from the Dragon Den, went into the vicinity of the city, which had killed the infant, and released a breath of retribution while still overwhelmed by its anger.The super-high-temperature flame breath it shot at that time annihilated the land along with the city and moreover blew away several other cities and villages nearby, producing a trench in the process which later became a bay after being filled up with sea water. Its said that thanks to the exceedingly high temperature of the dragons breath, the water inside the bay stayed hot for around ten years. (Lobelia) As if such a stupid story is possible. (Renya) As a consequence of the raging flames, ash ascended into the sky, coming down as black rain over a period of several years or something like that (Lobelia) Ah, yeah, sure. I get that its one of those stories, but why are you talking about it right now? (Renya) Renya and the others, who were made to hear a terrible story from Lobelia, were holding a meeting to determine their upcoming plans.When Shion started to explain about the Four Greater Dragons in the middle of that meeting, Renya interjected with one thing he still couldnt understand regarding why the fact that the dragonoids continent was invaded by the demons brought about such a shock to all other races.In Renyas eyes its only at the level of the dragonoids, who were attacked by the demons blitzkrieg in a war that even lacked a proper declaration of war, probably having lost on such a large scale that its even unclear as to how many losses they suffered.He wonders whether thats something worthy of causing such an uproar for, but in Shions and the others eyes, its Renya who seems to be the odd one out. In short, the dragonoids are a great race possessing draconic elements. You can understand that, right? Somehow or other. (Renya) While thinking,Having Shion explain something to me in a polite way that makes it easy to understand sure is a fresh experience, Renya nods. Those same dragonoids likely having suffered a crushing defeat is the problem here. (Shion) Thats the part I dont get. (Renya) Once her conclusion was quickly denied by Renya, Shion dropped her shoulders in frustration. No, I mean, Renya, its like the dragonoids, who are so strong that they far surpass the humans and also remain unattainable for elves and beastmen, were crushed by the demons, got it? (Shion) Even so, Renya still tilts his head to the side in confusion upon Shion identifying that as the problem. Why dont you understand that part? (Shion) Well, you know, no matter how powerful they might be; if they suffer a surprise attack while unprepared, they will lose, wont they? If the attacking side has suddenly assailed them after putting all its preparations in order, its not strange for them to be defeated. What you should consider a problem is not the fact that the dragonoids continent was invaded by the demons, but what actually happened to the dragonoids. Right? (Renya) Well, yeahthat might be true, but we wouldnt be so troubled if we knew that (Shion) In Renyas eyes, who believes that the outcome of a battle depends on luck and opportunities and that theres no definite method to always guarantee victory or defeat, he can only consider clamoring over who lost or won in each single battle as pointless.Because the side that takes the opponents or the kings head wins in the end, its nothing to fuss about or worth mentioning as long as your own side is still safe. Hence I believe that we should first investigate what happened to the dragonoids afterwards. (Renya) I have an objection. (Mayria) Mayria interjects while raising her hand a bit.Even while thinking,Theres no need to obtain permission to speak by raising your hand though, Renya urges Mayria to continue with his eyes. Renya-san, you are one of the nobles of our Trident Principality. You are a person who should become a shield of the principality against the Miasma Forest. The matter with the dragonoids is also worrisome, but I wonder whether we shouldnt hurry back to our territory at this point in time to focus on solidifying our defenses. (Mayria) Mmh? Thats only natural. (Renya) Unexpectedly, Renya readily approved of Mayrias words.Mayria falls over with a flop, but Renya says, using a tone that made one feel he was saying the most reasonable thing in the world, In such circumstances there probably wont be any people making strange moves on my territory. Wont there be a recall order from Her Majesty? (Renya) If you know that much (Mayria) What I mentioned is a common argument. Why would I have to go out of my way to search for information, going even as far as to head over to the dragonoids territory? (Renya) Renya firmly endured having one troublesome thing after the other added, but Lepard requested permission to speak from Renya by lifting his hand timidly. Yes, Lepard-kun? (Renya) Kun? Oh well, whatever. I believe the situation wont get any better like this? (Lepard) Why? (Renya) In response to Renyas question, Lepard pointed at Kurz, who was beginning to nod off while sitting on his chair, and said, The humans hero is this guy, right? (Lepard) No doubt. Our Kurz is the human hero, but what of it? (Renya) While hurriedly shaking his head at Renya, who seemingly wants to ask him whether he has some problem with it, Lepard continues, It aint like I have any complaints. Howeversince ancient times it has been decided that we will obey the orders of the human hero as our leader (Lepard) That might as well be called a custom.Among the heroes within the four races who appear with the summoning of the human hero as a trigger, its always considered the human heros duty to lead the others.Its impossible to check back with Albert, the dragonoid hero, whos not present, but Lepard and Grn tell Renya that they have been told to follow said custom.After hearing that, Renya wondered about something while groaning for a while, but before long he looked in Kurz direction.As if being lured by that, everybodys eyes focus on Kurz face who had started to calmly sleep with a happy expression without anyone noticing.Putting aside Kurz contents, Kurz innocent expression while sleeping had a force that caused several of the beastman priestesses to faint after screaming with high-pitched voices, but no matter how you looked at it, it wasnt a face that seemed capable of giving commands as a leader in order to pull the other races heroes along. You mustnt judge a person by their looks. (Renya) Lepard mercilessly retorted towards Renyas considerably strained words, Hes capable of it then? (Lepard) If its at the level of Show no mercy! or Kill anything that moves! I guess? (Renya) Are thosestrategic orders? To begin with, whats the difference between the two? (Lepard) The former is limited to the enemy. The latter makes no difference between enemy and ally. (Renya) Oi (Lepard) Renya declared calmly, but what he said was quite cruel.If you only talk about Kurz combat abilities, he boasts of a strength that rivals or even surpasses that of Lepard and Grn.Rather, even if they challenged him to a 2 vs. 1 battle, Kurz abilities should allow him to wrestle away victory.But, Kurz mental and emotional age doesnt go beyond that of a 5~6 years-old human child. Renya knows that Kurz likely wont be able to give out anything but commands at the level of jokes, even if Renya told him to take command or to develop a strategy.He wonders whether it wouldnt be fine to have Grn act as the leader, but the custom of making the human hero the leader seems to be a point neither the beastmen nor the elves will yield on. When Renya tries to suggest that idea to Grn, he doesnt nod either. Margrave-donofor us, the heroes lend their help to the human hero in order for him to defeat the demon king. We cant concede on that part. (Grn) Even if you tell me something like that, you should understand that planning or anything like that is probably impossible for Kurz, right? (Renya) Im well aware of that. In that case his guardian has to do it in his stead. As far as the past records go back, the summoned human heroes were people with a reasonable level of education and ages between their late 10s and early 20s, but it seems there were also cases where heroes with an age of approximately 10 years had been summoned, apparently as some kind of mistake.In that case its the rule for a human guardian, who is chosen from a consensus between the humans and the other races, to serve as the heros helper. In other words, in this case it becomes your role, Margrave. Im his patron. (Renya) It doesnt really matter either way. I dont know whether you have the position of his guardian or the authority to take care of him, but in order to deny that role, its necessary to entrust Kurz to someone else by abdicating his guardianship. (Lepard) From Renyas point of view, he wants to leave all the troublesome stuff to others.But, if hes asked whether he will be able to entrust Kurz to someone else in order to achieve that, theres no other option for him but to admit that hes incapable of such a decision.Theres certainly a connection between them on an emotional level, but the real reason is that theres no place where Kurz can stay except close to Renya, if one considers the possible dangers.If he imprudently entrusts him to some noble with high pride, he cant deny the possibility of the nobles territory turning into an empty lot within a month.Whats scary in this case wont be the disappearance of the buildings or facilities, but the erasure of all the residents, soldiers and nobility. If you cant abdicate from it, you dont have any other option but to accompany the hero in his travels as Kurz guardian, do you? (Lepard) Gununu (Renya) I wont tell you to accompany him up to the battle against the demon king, butI have a hunch that you would manage somehow either way (Lepard) Lepard felt that they definitely wouldnt be able to win against the Margrave in front of his eyes, even if all the heroes faced him at the same time. Chapter 146 For starters you should give up, Margrave-sama. As for the current issue, us three heroes will pool our thoughts on how to move from here on out. Were all transfer gates to the dragonoid continent shut down? (Renya) Renya groaned deeply for a while, but by seeing Kurz sleeping face Renya seemingly accepted his fate despite his groaning after which he decided to reevaluate how to solve the situation as quickly as possible if he wasnt able to escape the current circumstances or he at least decided to think constructively and then asked for Lepards opinion.At the moment, Renyas group is in the beastmen country. He estimated that Lepard, whos related to the person with the highest authority in said country, likely possesses the most information. As far as I know, all the channels that connect to the dragonoid continent through transfer gates in the beastmen country have been closed down. (Lepard) Since we didnt have such a close relationship with them, there were only 2 or 3 channels to begin with, though. (Kaede) Kaede shrugs her shoulders as she supplements Lepards reply. What about the channels using the transfer gates on the human side? (Renya) I believe it to be pretty much the same as the beastmens situation. (Shion) Once the questions perspective switched over to the human side, Shion provided the answer.Tentatively Renya tries to confirm with Rona and Mayria with his eyes, but both of them nod, apparently agreeing with Shion. So theres no method to go to the dragonoid continent? (Renya) Umm, Renya, I propose testing the transfer gates in the elven country. (Croire) Upon Croires suggestion, almost everyone turned her way.The almost comes from Frau not showing any interest in the discussion and Kurz sleeping through it all. Contrary to the humans and the beastmen, the elves own a transfer gate close to the Dragon Nest located at the northernmost tip of the dragonoid continent. It might not work if the demons devoted themselves to conquering the entire continent, but no matter how strong they might be, I believe it to be highly unlikely for them to have reached the Dragon Nest immediately. (Croire) While saying so, Croire sent a fleeting glance towards Emil.Emil, who somehow managed to guess the meaning behind that gaze, stayed silent for a moment, obviously choosing her words carefully, but soon started to talk slowly. Lets see. If the the power of the Four Greater Dragon doesnt fall short from what I heard in rumors, it might be impossible for even the demons to advance that far with so little time. (Emil) In a certain meaning, you could regard those words as a certification.If heard by someone who doesnt know about Emils true identity it sounds like a conjecture proposing that even the demons are likely unable to occupy the dragonoid continent so easily as long as the power of the dragons, who appear to be outrageous creatures in Renyas eyes, is the real thing.But in reality, those are words coming from Emil, who has a certain extent of knowledge regarding the demons combat prowess and predicts that the northernmost tip of the dragonoid country is likely still alright. Its a quite trustworthy statement. In the worst case scenario it means that only those dragons have survived then There seems to be merit in testing the transfer gates in the elven country, butwhy were only the elves able to set up a channel through a transfer gate to such a place? The elves, ummrespect and honor the dragons quite a bit. (Croire) Croire becoming flustered and shocked when Renya used Emedra as a means of transportation is due to her knowing that Emedra-kun is related to the Jade Dragon and because the Four Greater Dragons are worshiped for carrying the power of nature by the elves. To the humans, the dragonsappear to be a pile of treasures. Based on the humans multiple attempts to subjugate the Four Greater Dragons, they hate the human race. And for the beastmen, the dragons are beings they want to fight just because they are said to be strong. As there was a never ending stream of beastmen marching into the Dragon Nest and rampaging there without even considering the difference in combat power between both sides, we were told to not go there as its nothing but a bother C before we even started arguing about hating or liking. (Kaede) For the beastmen warriors its a matter of course to challenge those who are strong. Its troublesome if we are blamed for that. (Lepard) Lepard says while puffing out his chest in pride, but Renya replies to that with a very deep sigh.And yet Renya thinks,The beastmen will certainly never realize their good luck for it having ended at them being told to not come over since its a bother by the Four Greater Dragons.If the stories are true, it should be possible for all the Four Greater Dragons to head together towards the beastmen continent and destroy the continent to such an extent that the beastmen wouldnt be able to live on it decently, even if they didnt go as far as blowing away the continent itself, once they freely exhibited their powers.It was probably the Four Greater Dragons showing mercy to stop at the level of warning the beastmen without going any further, Renya judged.Renya is confident that he would have gone on a rampage on the beastmen continent, if he was in the dragons shoes.In case it turned into a situation where the beastmen went as far as to coming to meet with a strong person, they would have become simple nuisances that dont even consider their surroundings and the circumstances of their opponents. Its strange that you guys havent been annihilated by now (Renya) I have heard that there had been several times where we were in danger of that happening. (Kaede) Kaede says as if its nothing of importance. The Head Priestesses and the queens of those times always managed to somehow avoid that fate through the use of various schemes. (Kaede) I guess tenacity is also a characteristic of your race (Renya) I think we should return our talks to the matter of the transfer gates. (Kaede) Kaede attempted to change the topic forcefully, but as Renya didnt have any intention to continue the conversation about the beastmens tenacity and stubbornness either, he didnt oppose the topic shift. Is there a transfer channel to the elven country on the beastmens side? (Renya) There is, I think. (Lepard) For some reason Lepards words lacked confidence. Bringing her mouth close to the puzzled Renyas ear, Croire quietly whispers, In the eyes of the beastmen, the elves dont have any appeal and thus their interest is low, too. (Croire) Hmm? (Renya) Its because you guys dont have breasts and only eat food with thin taste. (Lepard) As even Croires whispering was apparently heard loud and clearly by Lepard, he cuts in right away.Understanding that its pointless to whisper, Croire distanced herself from Renya, fixed her seating posture and clearly stated, The body shape is something race specific. As for our food, its not like we are only eating things with a bland taste. (Croire) Yeah, thats true. Occasionally theres something delicious to be found, but your body shape is so slender precisely because you dont eat any meat or fish. The female beastmens bodies are so splendid because they eat plenty of meat. How about following their example a bit? (Lepard) In Renyas eyes, Lepard said that with kind intentions, probably lacking any ill will.The elven women and men, who mainly eat vegetables and fruits, for the most part have slender figures.As for Renya, he cant regard this as anything other than a racial trait, as Croire says, but for Lepard it apparently means that they are eating the wrong food.Croire puts in a lot effort to pretend that shes calm, but Renya could perceive that there seems to actually be a few parts she cannot stomach, going by fact that she is sitting with her fists clenched and trembling on top of her knees. Rona, Shion, whats the opinion of the humans side? I dont particularly believe that it depends on eating only meat. (Rona) Me neither. I eat everything without being picky. (Shion) Shion brags, likely thinking that its remarkable, but after being told that being praised for not being picky with ones food is something that only lasts until the age of 10, she becomes disheartened.While repeatedly touching her own breasts next to Shion, Mayria continuously mutters that its alright as she still has time left. Even I dont like a meat-only diet either. (Emil) Emil participated in the discussion while smirking, but after fixedly staring at Emils breasts concealed by her tube top, Renya absentmindedly mutters, You arent much of a reference. (Renya) Renya!? (Emil) Due to Emil standing up reflexively with a surprised expression plastered all over her face, Renya calmly said to her, No, I mean, dont you have only a little bit more than Mayria? If you consider the difference in age, you are worse off than Mayria. (Renya) Mayria, who was suddenly dragged into the argument, leaked an extremely powerless chuckle, probably because of her complicated mental state, but compared to that, for Emil it was something she couldnt let pass without having commented. Isnt the target of comparison far too terrible? (Emil) UmmEmil-san, how should I interpret that? (Mayria) Mayria tries to protest humbly, but taking no notice of that, Emil presses Renya.Not understanding what he should say to soothe the agitated Emil, Renya pointed at Shion in the end and said to Emil, who had drawn close to him, Look at that! If you think that you can oppose that, I will listen to your complaints. (Renya) Having been told that, Emil turns her face in Shions direction with stiff movements.Exposed to her gaze, Shion crosses both her arms in front of her breasts as if protecting them from the stooping gaze of Emils eyes while blushing in slight embarrassment. And then Rona confidently placed her hands on her waist and suddenly showed off her chest for some reason.Intently staring at those, which were overflowing with a thick and heavy wobbliness, Emil dejectedly returns to her seat in low spirits.It seems that she understood her own position. Its not like I want to say that theres an issue just because they are small, okay? (Renya) For the time being Renya follows up on Emil who began to mumble something under her breath with her face cast downwards and her eyes affixed to the floor after having returned to her seat.He felt that it would become scary later on if he hadnt followed up on her.If Emil feels like it, shes quite capable of contorting something like a medicine that lets a humans chest shrivel down to the bone.She should have that much knowledge and alchemical capability. Renya, you dont dislike small ones? (Emil) Dont worry. Shape is more important than size. (Renya) Due to Renya declaring that decisively, a delicate mood, which makes it somehow difficult for the woman camp C omitting Kaede and Frau C to say anything, hangs in the air.They pretty obviously didnt expect Renya to give a stupidly honest reply, but hearing this, Lepard raised a direct objection against Renyas opinion. Thats wrong, Margrave. Isnt the size actually all that matters? Something like tiny boobs cant be even even gropgefuh!? (Lepard) Renya calmly sees Lepards body off as it was blown away parallel to the ground in the middle of his speech.Him being able to coolly watch Lepard crashing into the wall and then disappearing from sight after destroying said wall was because he noticed in advance that Croire seemed to be close to exploding.Even Renya didnt comprehend what she had actually done, but seeing that Lepard broke through the wall and screamed on the other side, it was apparent that he had flown with considerable momentum. You havent killed him, have you Croire? (Renya) I have adjusted it only to that extent. (Croire) Master, the talks have derailed ~no. (Frau) Were Fraus fed-up words.Hearing that, Croire and the woman group became silent and ducked their heads in shame.Grn, who has been mostly left out of the loop, spoke up, trying to change the atmosphere in the room that had fallen into silence. First we should return to the Margraves territory, I think. Klinge is the closest to the Miasma Forest. If the defense there isnt in order, one cant say that the human continents defenses are sufficient in the first place. We should think about the matter with the dragonoids after that. (Grn) What about the defenses in the elven country? To Grn, who apparently wanted to say that Renya should first worry about his own territory, Renya retorts with the question whether Grn himself shouldnt worry about how the elven country is going to move as his first priority, but Grn confidently replied to that retort, The emperor should handle that part skillfully. (Grn) Father has no oversights in that area after all. (Croire) Even if they might say this or that about the him, both, Croire and Grn seem to place a lot of trust in that emperors ability. Im envious of the elves as they tend to band together easily at such times. Due to Mayria saying As expected of a unified nation that placed the emperor at the top with a tinge of envy soaked within her words, Renya asked her, Is it different for the humans? (Renya) There are many humans who take this as an opportunity to sabotage each other. (Mayria) Even though all of them will perish if they make a single mistake? (Renya) The world would probably be a lot more peaceful if all the humans holding political power had the intelligence to at least notice as much. (Mayria) Hearing something that resembled a grumble from Mayria, who spat those words out with a sigh, Renya decided to hurriedly return to his own territory. For starters you should give up, Margrave-sama. As for the current issue, us three heroes will pool our thoughts on how to move from here on out. Were all transfer gates to the dragonoid continent shut down? (Renya) Renya groaned deeply for a while, but by seeing Kurz sleeping face Renya seemingly accepted his fate despite his groaning after which he decided to reevaluate how to solve the situation as quickly as possible if he wasnt able to escape the current circumstances or he at least decided to think constructively and then asked for Lepards opinion.At the moment, Renyas group is in the beastmen country. He estimated that Lepard, whos related to the person with the highest authority in said country, likely possesses the most information. As far as I know, all the channels that connect to the dragonoid continent through transfer gates in the beastmen country have been closed down. (Lepard) Since we didnt have such a close relationship with them, there were only 2 or 3 channels to begin with, though. (Kaede) Kaede shrugs her shoulders as she supplements Lepards reply. What about the channels using the transfer gates on the human side? (Renya) I believe it to be pretty much the same as the beastmens situation. (Shion) Once the questions perspective switched over to the human side, Shion provided the answer.Tentatively Renya tries to confirm with Rona and Mayria with his eyes, but both of them nod, apparently agreeing with Shion. So theres no method to go to the dragonoid continent? (Renya) Umm, Renya, I propose testing the transfer gates in the elven country. (Croire) Upon Croires suggestion, almost everyone turned her way.The almost comes from Frau not showing any interest in the discussion and Kurz sleeping through it all. Contrary to the humans and the beastmen, the elves own a transfer gate close to the Dragon Nest located at the northernmost tip of the dragonoid continent. It might not work if the demons devoted themselves to conquering the entire continent, but no matter how strong they might be, I believe it to be highly unlikely for them to have reached the Dragon Nest immediately. (Croire) While saying so, Croire sent a fleeting glance towards Emil.Emil, who somehow managed to guess the meaning behind that gaze, stayed silent for a moment, obviously choosing her words carefully, but soon started to talk slowly. Lets see. If the the power of the Four Greater Dragon doesnt fall short from what I heard in rumors, it might be impossible for even the demons to advance that far with so little time. (Emil) In a certain meaning, you could regard those words as a certification.If heard by someone who doesnt know about Emils true identity it sounds like a conjecture proposing that even the demons are likely unable to occupy the dragonoid continent so easily as long as the power of the dragons, who appear to be outrageous creatures in Renyas eyes, is the real thing.But in reality, those are words coming from Emil, who has a certain extent of knowledge regarding the demons combat prowess and predicts that the northernmost tip of the dragonoid country is likely still alright. Its a quite trustworthy statement. In the worst case scenario it means that only those dragons have survived then There seems to be merit in testing the transfer gates in the elven country, butwhy were only the elves able to set up a channel through a transfer gate to such a place? The elves, ummrespect and honor the dragons quite a bit. (Croire) Croire becoming flustered and shocked when Renya used Emedra as a means of transportation is due to her knowing that Emedra-kun is related to the Jade Dragon and because the Four Greater Dragons are worshiped for carrying the power of nature by the elves. To the humans, the dragonsappear to be a pile of treasures. Based on the humans multiple attempts to subjugate the Four Greater Dragons, they hate the human race. And for the beastmen, the dragons are beings they want to fight just because they are said to be strong. As there was a never ending stream of beastmen marching into the Dragon Nest and rampaging there without even considering the difference in combat power between both sides, we were told to not go there as its nothing but a bother C before we even started arguing about hating or liking. (Kaede) For the beastmen warriors its a matter of course to challenge those who are strong. Its troublesome if we are blamed for that. (Lepard) Lepard says while puffing out his chest in pride, but Renya replies to that with a very deep sigh.And yet Renya thinks,The beastmen will certainly never realize their good luck for it having ended at them being told to not come over since its a bother by the Four Greater Dragons.If the stories are true, it should be possible for all the Four Greater Dragons to head together towards the beastmen continent and destroy the continent to such an extent that the beastmen wouldnt be able to live on it decently, even if they didnt go as far as blowing away the continent itself, once they freely exhibited their powers.It was probably the Four Greater Dragons showing mercy to stop at the level of warning the beastmen without going any further, Renya judged.Renya is confident that he would have gone on a rampage on the beastmen continent, if he was in the dragons shoes.In case it turned into a situation where the beastmen went as far as to coming to meet with a strong person, they would have become simple nuisances that dont even consider their surroundings and the circumstances of their opponents. Its strange that you guys havent been annihilated by now (Renya) I have heard that there had been several times where we were in danger of that happening. (Kaede) Kaede says as if its nothing of importance. The Head Priestesses and the queens of those times always managed to somehow avoid that fate through the use of various schemes. (Kaede) I guess tenacity is also a characteristic of your race (Renya) I think we should return our talks to the matter of the transfer gates. (Kaede) Kaede attempted to change the topic forcefully, but as Renya didnt have any intention to continue the conversation about the beastmens tenacity and stubbornness either, he didnt oppose the topic shift. Is there a transfer channel to the elven country on the beastmens side? (Renya) There is, I think. (Lepard) For some reason Lepards words lacked confidence.Bringing her mouth close to the puzzled Renyas ear, Croire quietly whispers, In the eyes of the beastmen, the elves dont have any appeal and thus their interest is low, too. (Croire) Hmm? (Renya) Its because you guys dont have breasts and only eat food with thin taste. (Lepard) As even Croires whispering was apparently heard loud and clearly by Lepard, he cuts in right away.Understanding that its pointless to whisper, Croire distanced herself from Renya, fixed her seating posture and clearly stated, The body shape is something race specific. As for our food, its not like we are only eating things with a bland taste. (Croire) Yeah, thats true. Occasionally theres something delicious to be found, but your body shape is so slender precisely because you dont eat any meat or fish. The female beastmens bodies are so splendid because they eat plenty of meat. How about following their example a bit? (Lepard) In Renyas eyes, Lepard said that with kind intentions, probably lacking any ill will.The elven women and men, who mainly eat vegetables and fruits, for the most part have slender figures.As for Renya, he cant regard this as anything other than a racial trait, as Croire says, but for Lepard it apparently means that they are eating the wrong food.Croire puts in a lot effort to pretend that shes calm, but Renya could perceive that there seems to actually be a few parts she cannot stomach, going by fact that she is sitting with her fists clenched and trembling on top of her knees. Rona, Shion, whats the opinion of the humans side? I dont particularly believe that it depends on eating only meat. (Rona) Me neither. I eat everything without being picky. (Shion) Shion brags, likely thinking that its remarkable, but after being told that being praised for not being picky with ones food is something that only lasts until the age of 10, she becomes disheartened.While repeatedly touching her own breasts next to Shion, Mayria continuously mutters that its alright as she still has time left. Even I dont like a meat-only diet either. (Emil) Emil participated in the discussion while smirking, but after fixedly staring at Emils breasts concealed by her tube top, Renya absentmindedly mutters, You arent much of a reference. (Renya) Renya!? (Emil) Due to Emil standing up reflexively with a surprised expression plastered all over her face, Renya calmly said to her, No, I mean, dont you have only a little bit more than Mayria? If you consider the difference in age, you are worse off than Mayria. (Renya) Mayria, who was suddenly dragged into the argument, leaked an extremely powerless chuckle, probably because of her complicated mental state, but compared to that, for Emil it was something she couldnt let pass without having commented. Isnt the target of comparison far too terrible? (Emil) UmmEmil-san, how should I interpret that? (Mayria) Mayria tries to protest humbly, but taking no notice of that, Emil presses Renya.Not understanding what he should say to soothe the agitated Emil, Renya pointed at Shion in the end and said to Emil, who had drawn close to him, Look at that! If you think that you can oppose that, I will listen to your complaints. (Renya) Having been told that, Emil turns her face in Shions direction with stiff movements.Exposed to her gaze, Shion crosses both her arms in front of her breasts as if protecting them from the stooping gaze of Emils eyes while blushing in slight embarrassment. And then Rona confidently placed her hands on her waist and suddenly showed off her chest for some reason.Intently staring at those, which were overflowing with a thick and heavy wobbliness, Emil dejectedly returns to her seat in low spirits.It seems that she understood her own position. Its not like I want to say that theres an issue just because they are small, okay? (Renya) For the time being Renya follows up on Emil who began to mumble something under her breath with her face cast downwards and her eyes affixed to the floor after having returned to her seat.He felt that it would become scary later on if he hadnt followed up on her.If Emil feels like it, shes quite capable of contorting something like a medicine that lets a humans chest shrivel down to the bone.She should have that much knowledge and alchemical capability. Renya, you dont dislike small ones? (Emil) Dont worry. Shape is more important than size. (Renya) Due to Renya declaring that decisively, a delicate mood, which makes it somehow difficult for the woman camp C omitting Kaede and Frau C to say anything, hangs in the air.They pretty obviously didnt expect Renya to give a stupidly honest reply, but hearing this, Lepard raised a direct objection against Renyas opinion. Thats wrong, Margrave. Isnt the size actually all that matters? Something like tiny boobs cant be even even gropgefuh!? (Lepard) Renya calmly sees Lepards body off as it was blown away parallel to the ground in the middle of his speech.Him being able to coolly watch Lepard crashing into the wall and then disappearing from sight after destroying said wall was because he noticed in advance that Croire seemed to be close to exploding.Even Renya didnt comprehend what she had actually done, but seeing that Lepard broke through the wall and screamed on the other side, it was apparent that he had flown with considerable momentum. You havent killed him, have you Croire? (Renya) I have adjusted it only to that extent. (Croire) Master, the talks have derailed ~no. (Frau) Were Fraus fed-up words.Hearing that, Croire and the woman group became silent and ducked their heads in shame.Grn, who has been mostly left out of the loop, spoke up, trying to change the atmosphere in the room that had fallen into silence. First we should return to the Margraves territory, I think. Klinge is the closest to the Miasma Forest. If the defense there isnt in order, one cant say that the human continents defenses are sufficient in the first place. We should think about the matter with the dragonoids after that. (Grn) What about the defenses in the elven country? To Grn, who apparently wanted to say that Renya should first worry about his own territory, Renya retorts with the question whether Grn himself shouldnt worry about how the elven country is going to move as his first priority, but Grn confidently replied to that retort, The emperor should handle that part skillfully. (Grn) Father has no oversights in that area after all. (Croire) Even if they might say this or that about the him, both, Croire and Grn seem to place a lot of trust in that emperors ability. Im envious of the elves as they tend to band together easily at such times. Due to Mayria saying As expected of a unified nation that placed the emperor at the top with a tinge of envy soaked within her words, Renya asked her, Is it different for the humans? (Renya) There are many humans who take this as an opportunity to sabotage each other. (Mayria) Even though all of them will perish if they make a single mistake? (Renya) The world would probably be a lot more peaceful if all the humans holding political power had the intelligence to at least notice as much. (Mayria) Hearing something that resembled a grumble from Mayria, who spat those words out with a sigh, Renya decided to hurriedly return to his own territory. Chapter 147 Chapter 147 C It seems to be the Return to my Territory Once a plan has been made, Renya is quick to take action.After telling Shion and the others to immediately start gathering their luggage, he requested a meeting with Lobelia.Apparently having predicted Renyas behavior as it was directly after her previous explanation, his request for a meeting passed without a problem. Renya tells Lobelia that he wishes to return to his own territory right away, and that on top of reinforcing his citys defenses, he will go check the state of the dragonoid continent by using the elven countrys gates.After silently listening to Renyas words, Lobelia composedly nods once. You are going to take that simpleton, Lepard, and that fool, Kaede, with you, right? (Lobelia) Personally I dont think I have a need for a simpleton and a fool though? In the first place, doesnt the beastman country need to reinforce its own defenses from now on? You need their strength, dont you? (Renya) Renya wants to reject the help that comes from people that are evaluated as simpletons and as fools as theyll only become hindrances, but even if there are some issues with Lepards and Kaedes manner of speech and conduct, they are still not people who can be referred to as simpletons or fools, Renya thinks.If I were to ask for their help, it would become remarkably easier in regards to combat prowess, but apart from the demon kings subjugation, their power is something that should only be put to use for the sake of the beastmen. They are already set to be members of the heros party. I know that they have the intention to go search for the dragonoid hero for Kurz, but I planned to leave them in the beastmens continent for the moment.As if she had predicted Renyas words, Lobelia says while donning a very troubled expression, If you take those two with you, I will let two priestesses with fox ears and that have about the same age as Kurz stay at his side. (Lobelia) Nuuu (Renya) The gallant beastmen priestesses, who are capable of taking care of Kurz, are a big help for Renya and the others.Seemingly because of the difference in age with Kurz, Renya and Shion have the status of being Kurz guardians, no matter what they do, but if it comes to priestesses with the same age, they are an extremely positive influence on Kurz cultivation of aesthetic senses, this is apparently because they look after him with a feeling of friendship.Though that also created a development in a certain area thats not really good.In regards to having approximately the same age in appearance, there was also the possibility of asking Frau, but even if Frau looks childish, shes mentally closer in age to Renya and the others than to Kurz. Moreover, coupled with the fact that she had created Kurz with Emil, an overly close and friendly atmosphere wont develop between the two. Understood. I will borrow the two. (Renya) After having hesitated for a short while, Renya finally made up his mind.He judged the merits to be large, considering the handling of Kurz along with Kaedes and Lepards combat power.Lobelia bared a ferocious smile towards Renya, whos thinking,Im sorry for pointlessly burdening the beastmen with hardshipsinstead. You dont need to worry about us. Im here and the Fang King is as well. (Lobelia) Thank you for taking me into consideration. (Renya) Renya thought that Lobelia telling him to take Lepards group along might be her being considerate as Lepard and Kaede will be of great help for Renyas group when they go search for the dragonoid hero on the dragonoid continent.Due to Renya expressing his gratitude for that consideration, Lobelia waves her hand as if to say that its nothing. Stop it. Its not like we are going to be in as much danger as you, who will be going to a place that seems to be under attack by the demons. (Lobelia) I will make sure to bring those two back saf (Renya) Stop that as well. (Lobelia) Lobelia interrupts Renya in the middle of his sentence while glaring at him. Im sending those two out as the hero and his escort. Do you believe that Im going to say or think that they mustnt die? I have taken their deaths into consideration from the outset. (Lobelia) Thats (Renya) You think thats cruel for a parent? (Lobelia) I couldnt even guess what you are truly feeling and as such I lack the qualification to make a judgment. (Renya) Renya might have been the parent of someone else in his previous life, but he doesnt remember.By no means could he say that he understands Lobelias emotions, who sends her own child off as a hero while even factoring in the possibility of his death.After looking puzzled for a moment due to Renyas reply, Lobelia grinned broadly again. I would have beaten the shit out of you if you had spouted some sycophancy such as that you understand. (Lobelia) Honesty is a virtue, that seems to be the best approach. (Renya) Its much better than lining up one lie after the otherBe careful, okay? I will pray for your safety. (Lobelia) Being prompted with a gaze to exit the room as the chat has ended with this, Renya bows his head, pouring his gratitude and respect into it, and then leaves Lobelias place.Now that I have finished my goodbyes, all thats left is to return to my territory by passing through the transfer gate.Once they quickly went through the transfer gate after tossing the red bean jam and other stuff, they bought as souvenirs, into Renyas inventory, they arrived in Klinge within seconds.Renya thinks that he couldnt enjoy a quiet, simple and subdued journey, but as soon as he came back, his own territory was in an uproar as well. Is it really true that Margrave-sama came back!? (Keith) It was Soldier Leader Keith who plunged into Klinges gate room, where Renyas group was signing various documents as was necessary by law.Keith and the soldiers under him, who continued with almost the same training menu even after having been trained well by Renya, have reached the point of receiving words of praise by their surroundings, calling them gross as their footsteps are almost inaudible and their breathing isnt disheveled even after running a considerable amount.Although its just very faintly, Keiths breathing is disturbed. He must have come running here from very far away in a hurry, Renya judged. Yo, Keith, Im home. (Renya) Its not the time forIm home! Do you understand the situation were in right now? (Keith) YeahI heard that the oracle has been handed down, but what about it? (Renya) Renya tilts his head to the side wondering whether thats something to panic about.It has been predicted that the demon king will likely appear sooner or later for a while now. This time that fact has merely been confirmed.Once Renya says that its probably nothing worth mentioning or making a fuss over, Keith falls to his knees in depression, obviously exhausted. No, well, in your eyes that might surely be the case, Margrave-sama. (Keith) Even you guys have been training in order to be capable of handling such a situation within certain limitations, havent you? (Renya) Well, thats correct too, but our numbers are insufficient. Same applies to our equipment as well. Cant you give me some of your time as I will explain the situation? (Keith) After being begged like that, Renya calls out to Shion, Emil, Grn and Lepard.He told the other members to sort their luggage and to allow their bodies to rest properly.Of course he also ordered Kurz to get plenty of sleep after returning to his own room accompanied by the two priestesses who were attached to him by Lobelia.Although its said that sleep brings up a child well, Kurz dozes off and wanders between dream and reality as soon as he has spare time.He slept so much that Renya wondered,Shouldnt he have easily overtaken us in height if a body were to grow in proportion to ones sleeping time? Where are we going? (Renya) To the barracks strategy room. I shall guide you. (Keith) In the strategy room a large map of the Trident Principality has been spread out on a big table.In Renyas eyes, who knows about maps from his former world, the map he was shown was quite vague and half-baked, but as land measurements and such werent carried out much in this world, accurate maps dont exist.Seeing as it still seems to serve its purpose, even that vague map is treated as a confidential document. For this world it was precious enough that if someone takes it out without permission theyll definitely get dismissed.Several entries have already been noted down on that valuable map. Going by a brief glance, Renya can see that it was filled with notes about the flow of soldiers and residents as well as the time needed for them to reach their destination. Spanning a defense net across the whole territory is impossible. Theres no mistake in this. (Keith) After waiting for Renya and the others to gather around the map, Keith opened his mouth.Renyas territory is vast, but there are only a few cities.To be precise, the only city at the moment is Klinge. Otherwise its only a few settlements with the scale of villages, which posses a little defense power due to things like fences and moats. The settlements that are closer to the Miasma Forest than to Klinge are under review to be abandoned at the moment. (Keith) That will hurt, but its probably inevitable. (Renya) The number of soldiers, which can be stationed at each settlement, was at present limited to around ten soldiers.You could consider that number plenty as long as they face bandits or the sporadically appearing monsters, but in case of a genuine invasion, their opponents would be demons and an organized army of monsters. Theres absolutely no way for them to defend against that.Keith, who considers leaving the soldiers and citizens in those places while knowing that they cant defend themselves the same as abandoning them, said that he will start to work on a plan to have them evacuate to Klinge or to even deeper inland areas as soon as possible, once he receives Renyas permission. You work quickly. As expected of you, Keith. I give you my authorization, so go ahead with it immediately. (Renya) Thank you. I will put it into effect right away. But, even if we do this, you cant call it perfect. (Keith) Keith spreads out another paper on top of the map.The numbers written on that paper apparently recorded the amount and classifications of the soldiers stationed in Klinge. Margrave-sama, your soldiers amount to 3,000. Another 1,000 soldiers have been dispatched by the Trident Principality after receiving the oracle. This is the currently entire military force of Klinge. (Keith) What about their classifications? (Renya) All 3,000 soldiers of your army are infantrymen. The soldiers dispatched by the principality consist of 100 cavalrymen, 100 archers and 800 infantrymen. Since it will cause confusion if they enter Klinge, we are building a garrison right next to the city at the moment to have them on standby there. (Keith) I think its not a topic where an outsider should interfere, but can I have a word? (Grn) Grn asks Keith. I wonder what one should think about stationing soldiers, who were dispatched to defend the city, in a garrison outside the city? (Grn) Let me speak frankly, between us. We cant expect much from the principalitys soldiers. (Keith) Upon Keiths words, Lepard and Grn cant hide their surprise, but on the other hand Shion and Emil dont even raise an eyebrow, and when it comes to Keith, its as if hes saying that its truly natural for this to be the case.Even Renya shares the same opinion.However, he also harbored the desire to retort with But you are a former soldier of the principality, too. They are this countrys soldiers, arent they? (Lepard) Due to Lepard asking that in disbelief, Keith replies somewhat proudly, We have been directly trained by Margrave-sama and continue that training to this day. Our skills are probably wide ahead of those of the principalitys soldiers. (Keith) In addition, the soldiers that have been sent here are likely new recruits or people that are not much different from new recruits. (Renya) Due to the words mentioned by Renya, who followed up on Keith, Shion slightly knits her brows. Renya, do you want to say that mother cut corners in her selection of the soldiers? (Shion) Seemingly ill-tempered due to the fact that her mother was being doubted, Shion ended up using a somewhat interrogative tone, but Renya shakes his head. No, but its not like Her Majesty herself selected the soldiers to be sent here, right? (Renya) It might have been the archduchess who gave the order, but the ones actually putting it into practice should be civil officials or military officers.From their point of view, they would desire to keep the soldiers, who could be called elites, after repeatedly practicing, close at hand for the defense of the capital rather than sending them to a dangerous margraviate.Probably thinking that its fine as long as they gather the numbers, they would preferentially send new recruits, who had just been conscripted, and soldiers, who had received only a little bit of training, to the front line. This behavior is nothing that unusual either. Margrave-samas worries can likely be considered correct. (Keith) Though its an understandable behavior. (Renya) Everybody regarding themselves as precious was something Renya could understand as well, but its a sound assumption that itll turn into a very dire situation for the Trident Principality if Renyas territory is overrun. He ends up thinking that it would have been nice if they had taken that fact into consideration, too.As long as time allows for it, it would be a good idea to raise their combat power by training them in the same way as I trained Keith and the others, but in this situation, where its unclear when the enemy might come attacking, theres no way I can have them do as much training as Keiths unit did. If its only Klinge, I have the confidence that we will be able to hold out even if we are rushed by a big enemy army as long as we have 300 soldiers with us, but there are still concerns due to our current equipment. (Keith) The equipment, which Keith and his men are currently using, are items that can be regularly purchased in the stores around here.That doesnt mean that they are bad items, just that they are very ordinary and have no excelling parts worth of mentioning.Its not like they wouldnt be able to somehow deal with the medium-sized monsters using their strength and techniques, but if it comes to facing tough enemies or large-sized monsters, one can predict a considerable loss of equipment. This is something that cannot be ignored in a defensive battle. Also, the goods necessary while defending, and the fact that we are unable to dispatch some soldiers for the sake of the residents evacuation have become a concern that has caused a certain level of anxiety. (Keith) It looks like this is not a situation where we can worry about the dragonoids hero. (Grn) Having been confronted with reality from Grns precise assessment, Renya started to ponder about a solution to deal with these urgent matters while smiling bitterly. Chapter 147 C It seems to be the Return to my Territory Once a plan has been made, Renya is quick to take action.After telling Shion and the others to immediately start gathering their luggage, he requested a meeting with Lobelia.Apparently having predicted Renyas behavior as it was directly after her previous explanation, his request for a meeting passed without a problem. Renya tells Lobelia that he wishes to return to his own territory right away, and that on top of reinforcing his citys defenses, he will go check the state of the dragonoid continent by using the elven countrys gates.After silently listening to Renyas words, Lobelia composedly nods once. You are going to take that simpleton, Lepard, and that fool, Kaede, with you, right? (Lobelia) Personally I dont think I have a need for a simpleton and a fool though? In the first place, doesnt the beastman country need to reinforce its own defenses from now on? You need their strength, dont you? (Renya) Renya wants to reject the help that comes from people that are evaluated as simpletons and as fools as theyll only become hindrances, but even if there are some issues with Lepards and Kaedes manner of speech and conduct, they are still not people who can be referred to as simpletons or fools, Renya thinks.If I were to ask for their help, it would become remarkably easier in regards to combat prowess, but apart from the demon kings subjugation, their power is something that should only be put to use for the sake of the beastmen. They are already set to be members of the heros party. I know that they have the intention to go search for the dragonoid hero for Kurz, but I planned to leave them in the beastmens continent for the moment.As if she had predicted Renyas words, Lobelia says while donning a very troubled expression, If you take those two with you, I will let two priestesses with fox ears and that have about the same age as Kurz stay at his side. (Lobelia) Nuuu (Renya) The gallant beastmen priestesses, who are capable of taking care of Kurz, are a big help for Renya and the others.Seemingly because of the difference in age with Kurz, Renya and Shion have the status of being Kurz guardians, no matter what they do, but if it comes to priestesses with the same age, they are an extremely positive influence on Kurz cultivation of aesthetic senses, this is apparently because they look after him with a feeling of friendship.Though that also created a development in a certain area thats not really good.In regards to having approximately the same age in appearance, there was also the possibility of asking Frau, but even if Frau looks childish, shes mentally closer in age to Renya and the others than to Kurz. Moreover, coupled with the fact that she had created Kurz with Emil, an overly close and friendly atmosphere wont develop between the two. Understood. I will borrow the two. (Renya) After having hesitated for a short while, Renya finally made up his mind.He judged the merits to be large, considering the handling of Kurz along with Kaedes and Lepards combat power.Lobelia bared a ferocious smile towards Renya, whos thinking,Im sorry for pointlessly burdening the beastmen with hardshipsinstead. You dont need to worry about us. Im here and the Fang King is as well. (Lobelia) Thank you for taking me into consideration. (Renya) Renya thought that Lobelia telling him to take Lepards group along might be her being considerate as Lepard and Kaede will be of great help for Renyas group when they go search for the dragonoid hero on the dragonoid continent.Due to Renya expressing his gratitude for that consideration, Lobelia waves her hand as if to say that its nothing. Stop it. Its not like we are going to be in as much danger as you, who will be going to a place that seems to be under attack by the demons. (Lobelia) I will make sure to bring those two back saf (Renya) Stop that as well. (Lobelia) Lobelia interrupts Renya in the middle of his sentence while glaring at him. Im sending those two out as the hero and his escort. Do you believe that Im going to say or think that they mustnt die? I have taken their deaths into consideration from the outset. (Lobelia) Thats (Renya) You think thats cruel for a parent? (Lobelia) I couldnt even guess what you are truly feeling and as such I lack the qualification to make a judgment. (Renya) Renya might have been the parent of someone else in his previous life, but he doesnt remember.By no means could he say that he understands Lobelias emotions, who sends her own child off as a hero while even factoring in the possibility of his death.After looking puzzled for a moment due to Renyas reply, Lobelia grinned broadly again. I would have beaten the shit out of you if you had spouted some sycophancy such as that you understand. (Lobelia) Honesty is a virtue, that seems to be the best approach. (Renya) Its much better than lining up one lie after the otherBe careful, okay? I will pray for your safety. (Lobelia) Being prompted with a gaze to exit the room as the chat has ended with this, Renya bows his head, pouring his gratitude and respect into it, and then leaves Lobelias place.Now that I have finished my goodbyes, all thats left is to return to my territory by passing through the transfer gate.Once they quickly went through the transfer gate after tossing the red bean jam and other stuff, they bought as souvenirs, into Renyas inventory, they arrived in Klinge within seconds.Renya thinks that he couldnt enjoy a quiet, simple and subdued journey, but as soon as he came back, his own territory was in an uproar as well. Is it really true that Margrave-sama came back!? (Keith) It was Soldier Leader Keith who plunged into Klinges gate room, where Renyas group was signing various documents as was necessary by law.Keith and the soldiers under him, who continued with almost the same training menu even after having been trained well by Renya, have reached the point of receiving words of praise by their surroundings, calling them gross as their footsteps are almost inaudible and their breathing isnt disheveled even after running a considerable amount.Although its just very faintly, Keiths breathing is disturbed. He must have come running here from very far away in a hurry, Renya judged. Yo, Keith, Im home. (Renya) Its not the time forIm home! Do you understand the situation were in right now? (Keith) YeahI heard that the oracle has been handed down, but what about it? (Renya) Renya tilts his head to the side wondering whether thats something to panic about.It has been predicted that the demon king will likely appear sooner or later for a while now. This time that fact has merely been confirmed.Once Renya says that its probably nothing worth mentioning or making a fuss over, Keith falls to his knees in depression, obviously exhausted. No, well, in your eyes that might surely be the case, Margrave-sama. (Keith) Even you guys have been training in order to be capable of handling such a situation within certain limitations, havent you? (Renya) Well, thats correct too, but our numbers are insufficient. Same applies to our equipment as well. Cant you give me some of your time as I will explain the situation? (Keith) After being begged like that, Renya calls out to Shion, Emil, Grn and Lepard.He told the other members to sort their luggage and to allow their bodies to rest properly.Of course he also ordered Kurz to get plenty of sleep after returning to his own room accompanied by the two priestesses who were attached to him by Lobelia.Although its said that sleep brings up a child well, Kurz dozes off and wanders between dream and reality as soon as he has spare time.He slept so much that Renya wondered,Shouldnt he have easily overtaken us in height if a body were to grow in proportion to ones sleeping time? Where are we going? (Renya) To the barracks strategy room. I shall guide you. (Keith) In the strategy room a large map of the Trident Principality has been spread out on a big table.In Renyas eyes, who knows about maps from his former world, the map he was shown was quite vague and half-baked, but as land measurements and such werent carried out much in this world, accurate maps dont exist.Seeing as it still seems to serve its purpose, even that vague map is treated as a confidential document. For this world it was precious enough that if someone takes it out without permission theyll definitely get dismissed.Several entries have already been noted down on that valuable map. Going by a brief glance, Renya can see that it was filled with notes about the flow of soldiers and residents as well as the time needed for them to reach their destination. Spanning a defense net across the whole territory is impossible. Theres no mistake in this. (Keith) After waiting for Renya and the others to gather around the map, Keith opened his mouth.Renyas territory is vast, but there are only a few cities.To be precise, the only city at the moment is Klinge. Otherwise its only a few settlements with the scale of villages, which posses a little defense power due to things like fences and moats. The settlements that are closer to the Miasma Forest than to Klinge are under review to be abandoned at the moment. (Keith) That will hurt, but its probably inevitable. (Renya) The number of soldiers, which can be stationed at each settlement, was at present limited to around ten soldiers.You could consider that number plenty as long as they face bandits or the sporadically appearing monsters, but in case of a genuine invasion, their opponents would be demons and an organized army of monsters. Theres absolutely no way for them to defend against that.Keith, who considers leaving the soldiers and citizens in those places while knowing that they cant defend themselves the same as abandoning them, said that he will start to work on a plan to have them evacuate to Klinge or to even deeper inland areas as soon as possible, once he receives Renyas permission. You work quickly. As expected of you, Keith. I give you my authorization, so go ahead with it immediately. (Renya) Thank you. I will put it into effect right away. But, even if we do this, you cant call it perfect. (Keith) Keith spreads out another paper on top of the map.The numbers written on that paper apparently recorded the amount and classifications of the soldiers stationed in Klinge. Margrave-sama, your soldiers amount to 3,000. Another 1,000 soldiers have been dispatched by the Trident Principality after receiving the oracle. This is the currently entire military force of Klinge. (Keith) What about their classifications? (Renya) All 3,000 soldiers of your army are infantrymen. The soldiers dispatched by the principality consist of 100 cavalrymen, 100 archers and 800 infantrymen. Since it will cause confusion if they enter Klinge, we are building a garrison right next to the city at the moment to have them on standby there. (Keith) I think its not a topic where an outsider should interfere, but can I have a word? (Grn) Grn asks Keith. I wonder what one should think about stationing soldiers, who were dispatched to defend the city, in a garrison outside the city? (Grn) Let me speak frankly, between us. We cant expect much from the principalitys soldiers. (Keith) Upon Keiths words, Lepard and Grn cant hide their surprise, but on the other hand Shion and Emil dont even raise an eyebrow, and when it comes to Keith, its as if hes saying that its truly natural for this to be the case.Even Renya shares the same opinion.However, he also harbored the desire to retort with But you are a former soldier of the principality, too. They are this countrys soldiers, arent they? (Lepard) Due to Lepard asking that in disbelief, Keith replies somewhat proudly, We have been directly trained by Margrave-sama and continue that training to this day. Our skills are probably wide ahead of those of the principalitys soldiers. (Keith) In addition, the soldiers that have been sent here are likely new recruits or people that are not much different from new recruits. (Renya) Due to the words mentioned by Renya, who followed up on Keith, Shion slightly knits her brows. Renya, do you want to say that mother cut corners in her selection of the soldiers? (Shion) Seemingly ill-tempered due to the fact that her mother was being doubted, Shion ended up using a somewhat interrogative tone, but Renya shakes his head. No, but its not like Her Majesty herself selected the soldiers to be sent here, right? (Renya) It might have been the archduchess who gave the order, but the ones actually putting it into practice should be civil officials or military officers.From their point of view, they would desire to keep the soldiers, who could be called elites, after repeatedly practicing, close at hand for the defense of the capital rather than sending them to a dangerous margraviate.Probably thinking that its fine as long as they gather the numbers, they would preferentially send new recruits, who had just been conscripted, and soldiers, who had received only a little bit of training, to the front line. This behavior is nothing that unusual either. Margrave-samas worries can likely be considered correct. (Keith) Though its an understandable behavior. (Renya) Everybody regarding themselves as precious was something Renya could understand as well, but its a sound assumption that itll turn into a very dire situation for the Trident Principality if Renyas territory is overrun. He ends up thinking that it would have been nice if they had taken that fact into consideration, too.As long as time allows for it, it would be a good idea to raise their combat power by training them in the same way as I trained Keith and the others, but in this situation, where its unclear when the enemy might come attacking, theres no way I can have them do as much training as Keiths unit did. If its only Klinge, I have the confidence that we will be able to hold out even if we are rushed by a big enemy army as long as we have 300 soldiers with us, but there are still concerns due to our current equipment. (Keith) The equipment, which Keith and his men are currently using, are items that can be regularly purchased in the stores around here.That doesnt mean that they are bad items, just that they are very ordinary and have no excelling parts worth of mentioning.Its not like they wouldnt be able to somehow deal with the medium-sized monsters using their strength and techniques, but if it comes to facing tough enemies or large-sized monsters, one can predict a considerable loss of equipment. This is something that cannot be ignored in a defensive battle. Also, the goods necessary while defending, and the fact that we are unable to dispatch some soldiers for the sake of the residents evacuation have become a concern that has caused a certain level of anxiety. (Keith) It looks like this is not a situation where we can worry about the dragonoids hero. (Grn) Having been confronted with reality from Grns precise assessment, Renya started to ponder about a solution to deal with these urgent matters while smiling bitterly. Chapter 148 Chapter 148 C It seems to be the Strengthening of Defenses Putting you aside, Frau-san, I dont understand why I would be needed. (Croire) The unusual sight of Frau and Croire walking next to each other through the city of Klinge had that much of an impact that it caused people walking on the streets to instinctively turn around.Frau is in her usual apron dress, but this time Croires attire is a combination of a shirt and a flare skirt in light green color, which could somehow be called elf-like, white gloves reaching up to her elbows, white knee socks and leather boots.At first glance, two transient young girls are walking next to each other, but in reality one of them is a 70 year old half fairy, and the other one is truly quite young, yet she is a fairy that can influence the whole city of Klinge. Its a duo thats hardly ever seen in a human city.One tends to be deceived by their lovely appearances, but under certain conditions, both of them are extraordinary who can offhandedly win against an army corps. According to master, he apparently wants to leave it to professionals since theres a limit to the number of structures that can be built for the citys defense with only human power, even if he somehow managed to provide a large number of soldiers ~no. (Frau) Professionals? (Croire) Taking her eyes off Frau, whos briskly walking next to her with small steps, Croire focuses her eyes on the townscape.For a city where humans live and that follows Renyas policies, Klinge has abnormally many green areas.The plants growing on those areas are not for admiration, but are mostly economic plants that can be used for something.There are plants to obtain fibers to twine ropes, plants that can immediately be used as food, and even plants that can apparently be used as medicine or poison.As one would expect, signboards with warnings have been installed in front of the toxic plants. That has been done out of concern so that the citys residents wouldnt eat them by mistake, but all things considered, the entire scale of the vegetation exceeds that of a normal city by far. Even elven beans are being cultivated. Dont these get stolen? (Croire) Croire touches verdant and thick growing leaves at a flowerbed-like place after stopping.In the first place, elven beans are an elven produce, that is said to grow in forests. They are carrying out selective breeding so that the beans can even be cultivated on slightly barren land with little sunlight, as its blocked by the forests trees.Whats slightly different to Renyas former world is the fact that the elven beans grow into creeping plants.In other words, its the type of plant that grows upwards while twining itself around something. If theres nothing to cling to, it creeps along the ground for eternity. But the beans being cultivated in Klinge behave nicely for some reason and only extend their vines within their flower beds without leaving their boundaries. Even though their development somehow looks very good, I wonder why is that so? (Croire) Its the result of training ~nano. (Frau) What? (Croire) Its nothing ~no. (Frau) Frau replies to Croire, who asked back after having felt like she had heard something that was extremely out-of-place, while hiding her expression by quietly turning her face the other away.For a while Croire intensely starred at Frau, but after confirming that Frau just wouldnt look her way anymore no matter how long she waited, she shifted her gaze back in the flower beds direction and decided to forget about her question.Everyone has one or two things they dont want to talk about. Depending on the circumstances, there are even some people who have a hundred or two hundred of such things, Croire believes.Theres not a single advantage for either of us, if I insist on pursuing this matter.If it doesnt lead to harm, one stays happy by not knowing about the things, which are better left unknown. Croire completely internalized this after associating with Renya. As for the plants cultivated inside the city, the residents are allowed to use them as long as they dont monopolize them or harvest them down to the roots ~no. (Frau) Thats yet another unusual idea, isnt it? (Croire) Its not like Croire knows that many different cities.If its inside the elven country, there are quite a few she knows, but if you limit it to human cities, she had only seen Kukrika apart from Klinge.And yet, if you take her knowledge obtained from rumors and books into account, she possesses a considerable amount of information. Even after trying to search that vast sea of knowledge, theres absolutely no information about cities like Klinge, which cultivate plants inside their boundaries and where its fine to eat said plants as one sees fit. It was masters idea ~nano. (Frau) Frau says while starting to walk again. Croire trails behind her. He said that he at least wanted to make sure that the residents dont need to fear starvation as long as they are in Klinge ~no. (Frau) Thats a pipe dream, isnt it? (Croire) Croires response was immediate.Since Klinge is still a new city, theres no slums, but in cities like Kukrika, such places do exist.Even in the elven country its the same. Croire was aware of people that were worried about not having enough to eat even in the capital where the emperor resides.Theres only very few slums in the elven country, which is supported by the blessing of the forests, but in human cities its not a rare occurrence for people to die due to starvation.No need to fear starvation means the extinction of such people.If a politician had heard that, they would probably have laughed scornfully even before discussing the level of difficulty needed to accomplish such a goal. You could say that. And likewise not say it. (Frau) Frau words along with her way of speaking, which was different from usual, caused Croire to become startled.Due to the effect Fraus words had on Croire, she revealed a somewhat satisfied smile. After sticking out her tongue like a child that succeeded in a prank, she continued in her usual manner of speaking. Either way, the only thing Frau is capable of is making sure that reality reflects masters intentions as much as possible ~nano. (Frau) It would be wonderful if you could turn it into reality. Having said that, lets return to the first topic. (Croire) While attempting to switch topics, Croire notices that they have come to the outer part of Klinge without her realizing it.Going by the citys location, Klinge is forced to bear the responsibility of serving as the shield protecting the Trident Principality from the Miasma Forests threats.The construction of a protective wall to shield the city while at the same time strengthening the citys facilities were advancing at a fast pace, but because of the oracle regarding the demon kings arrival, the walls construction was carried out as top priority.As result, the construction of the wall was nearing its completion at a speed that seemed unbelievable in the eyes of other cities, but as Renya seemed displeased with the workmanship of this wall, he frequently wracked his brain on whether it could be somehow improved. I think its an imposing outer wall though? (Croire) Croire looks up the wall while following behind Frau, who had started to walk along the wall.The walls height easily surpasses 10 meters, and even its thickness is close to 2 meters. Destroying a wall thats only hard isnt all that difficult ~no. (Frau) Coming to a halt sometimes and lowering her eyes towards the ground below her feet, Frau states so while examining something, but Croire doubts those words because she thought, that theres no way for there to be a method to easily tear apart a wall of such magnitude. It will take an instant if its master ~nano. (Frau) I wonder, whats going to happen if you start hypothesizing about something outside the norm? There will be no end to it. (Croire) Certainly even Croire understands that the stone wall in front of her will instantly turn into meaningless rubble with a single slash from Renya or a powerful attack with his vast amount of mana, which makes Croire wonder whether its inexhaustible.However, isnt it complete nonsense to try to work out countermeasures against something like that?She asks herself.In the first place, its not like there are multiple beings that possess abilities on par with Renya. If they did exist for arguments sake, almost all plans would be no more than empty words. Thats true as well ~no. But I will do as much as I can ~no. (Frau) Frau believes that theres a wide difference between not doing anything because its probably in vain, and it having been in vain as a result of it failing despite having tried various things.Also, since its an issue directly affecting the residents lives, isnt it very natural to assume the worst imaginable threat?She wondered. Since the cutting ability of masters katana is outside physical laws, theres no way to deal with it ~no. (Frau) That ones unfair, isnt it? I mean, after all you cant completely defend against it with sorcery or physical force. (Croire) Croire, who had seen Renya wield his katana while being at his side, arrived at that single conclusion.Its a fact that theres no technique to defend against the blade of that katana wielded by someone possessing Renyas skill.At least its very unlikely that Croire could defend against it with the materials she knows and the techniques she has learned.She thought that it was unlikely for the wall to be bisected with a single stroke by making it more massive than the swords blade, but even this will be sooner or later surpassed if Renya patiently continues to cut at the wall while changing his angles.As long as its impossible to slash at something, it cant be cut either, but if Im asked whether Im capable of continuously dodging Renyas attacks, I can only say that its near impossible. With that you have no other option but to give up and accept your fate ~no. (Frau) I guess its inevitable, but (Croire) Rather than that, Croire, I want you to press your hands against that spot over there for a bit ~no. (Frau) The place Frau pointed at was right on the boundary between the outer wall and the ground.On that spot bare ground is exposed. Its a place that has a different color compared to the surrounding ground, as it had apparently been dug up once by someone.In order to do as told by Frau, Croire squatted down then and there, removed her gloves and gently placed her hands on the ground.The softness of the soil that had been dug up recently is transmitted to her palms. Due to the scent of the earth tickling her nose, Croire perceived that the vicinity around Klinge possesses good soil which contains an abundance of nutrients. Id like you to stay like that for a bit ~no. (Frau) Frau places her hands on Croires shoulders which had entered Fraus reach due to Croire crouching down. I dont really mind, but just what are you telling me to dongh!? (Croire) Croires voice jumps up in tone at the end of her sentence.Its because Croire feels something, which she couldnt classify, being poured into her body from Fraus palms.Its not an unpleasant sensation, but while that may be true, I cant call it pleasant either. Frau is originally a house fairy ~nano. Right now it might be slightly different, but by recognizing Klinge as masters home, I became able to exert my power over the entire city ~no. (Frau) Croire doesnt respond.Having her thoughts thrown into disarray by the mysterious something being poured into her through her shoulders, she doesnt have the leeway to give an answer.After circulating through Croires body once, that something penetrates the ground through her palms.Croires thoughts, who is pondering what this something might be, cause the degree of her confusion to accelerate, but without any indication of whether Frau knows about that or not, Frau continues her explanation indifferently. But, since Im a house fairy after all, it looks like there are limitations according to the circumstances and the targets, where Im allowed to exert my powers ~no. (Frau) M-Mea-.ning? (Croire) When I thought of the best method to reinforce the outer wall, there was something I had to do by all means ~no. But, it looked like Fraus powers were insufficient to accomplish that, no matter what she did ~no. Thats why the power of an elf, who is an expert in that area, was indispensable ~no. (Frau) Although it was only faintly, Croire began to feel the vibration of the ground through the soles of her feet.The angry roars of men and screams of women from somewhere far away reach the ears of Croire, who owns an excellent sense of hearing as an elf.Judging by the distance of those voices, Croire guessed that some kind of abnormal event was apparently taking place all over the entire city. As expected, Im no match for an elf when it comes to handling plants ~no. (Frau) P-Plants? (Croire) In front of Croire, who was about to ask Frau what she was talking about, the ground burst open at the exact spot where she had put her palms down.She was about to withdraw her hands instinctively, but her body doesnt move as she wants it to.In a state of being unable to escape albeit wanting to do so, shes even unable to move her eyes. As shes frozen while intently staring at the ground, something with the thickness of a childs wrist grew out from the tear in the ground as if piercing the heavens and lightly grazes Croires nose.Ahead of Fraus gaze which had turned her eyes upwards, who still hasnt removed her hands from the paralyzed Croires shoulders, that which had sprouted out of the ground had grown up to the same height as the wall in one go, clung to the wall and then started to encroach the outer wall by extending its somewhat thick vines with a wriggling motion.As if taking that as a start, thick vines, which burst out in the same way across the whole city at the base of the wall, started to grow in order to cling to the wall. W-W-W-W-W-Wh-Wh-!? (Croire) Just as I thought, its necessary for vines like these to cling to the wall ~no. I have finished the preparations to have the same things cling to the exterior of the outer wall ~nano. (Frau) Only a sound that doesnt form any words escapes Croires mouth, who looked up as she was finally able to move her head somewhat.Croire saw through the true identity of the plant, which suddenly grew up in front of her, in an instant, but shes surprised and panicked as she cant see a link between the plant in her memory, and the plant continuously growing in front of her.It was the elven bean which had previously appeared in the conversation between Frau and Croire.However, theres no way for normal elven bean vines to become this thick while continuing to grow, making creaking sounds. By covering the outer wall with greenery, it will be reinforced on top of allowing for the stones to be pressed tightly together ~no. Moreover, the seeds of the elven beans, which had been soaked in Emil-ane-samas special nutrient cocktail, are perfect against fire attacks because they boast of juicy, thick vines ~nano. (Frau) The beans vines, which grew densely in an instant, penetrated the gaps in the wall, and clung or dug into the stones forming the wall, resulting in the entire wall being supported by those thick vines.The outer wall surrounding the whole city was covered by them. The wall, which had a grey color thanks to the bare stones, transformed into a wall thickly plastered by green leaves in a flash.So to speak, something like a net that caught the whole stone wall.Even if the wall broke down somewhat, it will be able to continue its task as long as the net tightly covers it. If its like this, the vines will be able to maintain the stone wall itself even if it gets broken a bit. And, if its from this many elven bean vines, it should be possible to harvest a considerably large amount of beans ~nano. (Frau) Frau bragged that she had been able to kill two birds with one stone, but no matter what, Croire feels uneasy about the phrase Emils special nutrient cocktail. Those can be eaten? (Croire) Before she noticed, the strange sensation circulating through her body had vanished. Croire stands up while brushing off the dirt clinging to her palms.As if matching that movement of her, Frau removed her hands from Croires shoulders. It has Emil-ane-samas certification ~nano. (Frau) No, I mean the certification of the person who created it doesnt serve as any kind of guarantee though, right? (Croire) Croire sorts out the situation.Apparently Frau was unable to artificially grow elven beans at this scale by herself. Pouring mana into the attribute and body of an elf C namely Croire C using her as catalyst and making the mana penetrate into the ground, she made the beans grow in one go.The seed, which had been planted into the ground where Croire placed her hands, seemingly served as a trigger. That means the other seeds sprouted once that trigger seed did. It was a setup to cause chain growth of the other seeds by infusing power into one seed so that it can spread through the sorcery-like paths connecting all seeds ~no. (Frau) Thats what Renya meant with wanting to leave it to professionals? (Croire) If Renya said such a thing, it might have been a comment after having heard about the scenery thats taking place in front of me right now.Then I have to file a complaint to Renya.Spurring on her body that has still had some numbness lingering, Croire asks Frau with a smile. Thereupon Frau averted her face quietly.From that single motion, Croire grasps that the whole story had been made up by Frau. Lets have a little chat, Frau-chan? (Croire) I-Im against violence ~no. Chats are ultimately limited to words ~no. (Frau) Even Croire will get angry if shes told that she was made to cooperate against her will in a situation, which she doesnt understand quite well, on top of being brought along after being deceived.Due to Croire approaching her with a bright smile while cladding her tightly grasped fists with mana, which seems to have strangely increased recently, Frau began to desperately rack her brain about what she should do to get out of this situation while her face became slightly pale. Chapter 148 C It seems to be the Strengthening of Defenses Putting you aside, Frau-san, I dont understand why I would be needed. (Croire) The unusual sight of Frau and Croire walking next to each other through the city of Klinge had that much of an impact that it caused people walking on the streets to instinctively turn around.Frau is in her usual apron dress, but this time Croires attire is a combination of a shirt and a flare skirt in light green color, which could somehow be called elf-like, white gloves reaching up to her elbows, white knee socks and leather boots.At first glance, two transient young girls are walking next to each other, but in reality one of them is a 70 year old half fairy, and the other one is truly quite young, yet she is a fairy that can influence the whole city of Klinge. Its a duo thats hardly ever seen in a human city.One tends to be deceived by their lovely appearances, but under certain conditions, both of them are extraordinary who can offhandedly win against an army corps. According to master, he apparently wants to leave it to professionals since theres a limit to the number of structures that can be built for the citys defense with only human power, even if he somehow managed to provide a large number of soldiers ~no. (Frau) Professionals? (Croire) Taking her eyes off Frau, whos briskly walking next to her with small steps, Croire focuses her eyes on the townscape.For a city where humans live and that follows Renyas policies, Klinge has abnormally many green areas.The plants growing on those areas are not for admiration, but are mostly economic plants that can be used for something.There are plants to obtain fibers to twine ropes, plants that can immediately be used as food, and even plants that can apparently be used as medicine or poison.As one would expect, signboards with warnings have been installed in front of the toxic plants. That has been done out of concern so that the citys residents wouldnt eat them by mistake, but all things considered, the entire scale of the vegetation exceeds that of a normal city by far. Even elven beans are being cultivated. Dont these get stolen? (Croire) Croire touches verdant and thick growing leaves at a flowerbed-like place after stopping.In the first place, elven beans are an elven produce, that is said to grow in forests. They are carrying out selective breeding so that the beans can even be cultivated on slightly barren land with little sunlight, as its blocked by the forests trees.Whats slightly different to Renyas former world is the fact that the elven beans grow into creeping plants.In other words, its the type of plant that grows upwards while twining itself around something. If theres nothing to cling to, it creeps along the ground for eternity. But the beans being cultivated in Klinge behave nicely for some reason and only extend their vines within their flower beds without leaving their boundaries. Even though their development somehow looks very good, I wonder why is that so? (Croire) Its the result of training ~nano. (Frau) What? (Croire) Its nothing ~no. (Frau) Frau replies to Croire, who asked back after having felt like she had heard something that was extremely out-of-place, while hiding her expression by quietly turning her face the other away.For a while Croire intensely starred at Frau, but after confirming that Frau just wouldnt look her way anymore no matter how long she waited, she shifted her gaze back in the flower beds direction and decided to forget about her question.Everyone has one or two things they dont want to talk about. Depending on the circumstances, there are even some people who have a hundred or two hundred of such things, Croire believes.Theres not a single advantage for either of us, if I insist on pursuing this matter.If it doesnt lead to harm, one stays happy by not knowing about the things, which are better left unknown. Croire completely internalized this after associating with Renya. As for the plants cultivated inside the city, the residents are allowed to use them as long as they dont monopolize them or harvest them down to the roots ~no. (Frau) Thats yet another unusual idea, isnt it? (Croire) Its not like Croire knows that many different cities.If its inside the elven country, there are quite a few she knows, but if you limit it to human cities, she had only seen Kukrika apart from Klinge.And yet, if you take her knowledge obtained from rumors and books into account, she possesses a considerable amount of information. Even after trying to search that vast sea of knowledge, theres absolutely no information about cities like Klinge, which cultivate plants inside their boundaries and where its fine to eat said plants as one sees fit. It was masters idea ~nano. (Frau) Frau says while starting to walk again. Croire trails behind her. He said that he at least wanted to make sure that the residents dont need to fear starvation as long as they are in Klinge ~no. (Frau) Thats a pipe dream, isnt it? (Croire) Croires response was immediate.Since Klinge is still a new city, theres no slums, but in cities like Kukrika, such places do exist.Even in the elven country its the same. Croire was aware of people that were worried about not having enough to eat even in the capital where the emperor resides.Theres only very few slums in the elven country, which is supported by the blessing of the forests, but in human cities its not a rare occurrence for people to die due to starvation.No need to fear starvation means the extinction of such people.If a politician had heard that, they would probably have laughed scornfully even before discussing the level of difficulty needed to accomplish such a goal. You could say that. And likewise not say it. (Frau) Frau words along with her way of speaking, which was different from usual, caused Croire to become startled.Due to the effect Fraus words had on Croire, she revealed a somewhat satisfied smile. After sticking out her tongue like a child that succeeded in a prank, she continued in her usual manner of speaking. Either way, the only thing Frau is capable of is making sure that reality reflects masters intentions as much as possible ~nano. (Frau) It would be wonderful if you could turn it into reality. Having said that, lets return to the first topic. (Croire) While attempting to switch topics, Croire notices that they have come to the outer part of Klinge without her realizing it.Going by the citys location, Klinge is forced to bear the responsibility of serving as the shield protecting the Trident Principality from the Miasma Forests threats.The construction of a protective wall to shield the city while at the same time strengthening the citys facilities were advancing at a fast pace, but because of the oracle regarding the demon kings arrival, the walls construction was carried out as top priority.As result, the construction of the wall was nearing its completion at a speed that seemed unbelievable in the eyes of other cities, but as Renya seemed displeased with the workmanship of this wall, he frequently wracked his brain on whether it could be somehow improved. I think its an imposing outer wall though? (Croire) Croire looks up the wall while following behind Frau, who had started to walk along the wall.The walls height easily surpasses 10 meters, and even its thickness is close to 2 meters. Destroying a wall thats only hard isnt all that difficult ~no. (Frau) Coming to a halt sometimes and lowering her eyes towards the ground below her feet, Frau states so while examining something, but Croire doubts those words because she thought, that theres no way for there to be a method to easily tear apart a wall of such magnitude. It will take an instant if its master ~nano. (Frau) I wonder, whats going to happen if you start hypothesizing about something outside the norm? There will be no end to it. (Croire) Certainly even Croire understands that the stone wall in front of her will instantly turn into meaningless rubble with a single slash from Renya or a powerful attack with his vast amount of mana, which makes Croire wonder whether its inexhaustible.However, isnt it complete nonsense to try to work out countermeasures against something like that?She asks herself.In the first place, its not like there are multiple beings that possess abilities on par with Renya. If they did exist for arguments sake, almost all plans would be no more than empty words. Thats true as well ~no. But I will do as much as I can ~no. (Frau) Frau believes that theres a wide difference between not doing anything because its probably in vain, and it having been in vain as a result of it failing despite having tried various things.Also, since its an issue directly affecting the residents lives, isnt it very natural to assume the worst imaginable threat?She wondered. Since the cutting ability of masters katana is outside physical laws, theres no way to deal with it ~no. (Frau) That ones unfair, isnt it? I mean, after all you cant completely defend against it with sorcery or physical force. (Croire) Croire, who had seen Renya wield his katana while being at his side, arrived at that single conclusion.Its a fact that theres no technique to defend against the blade of that katana wielded by someone possessing Renyas skill.At least its very unlikely that Croire could defend against it with the materials she knows and the techniques she has learned.She thought that it was unlikely for the wall to be bisected with a single stroke by making it more massive than the swords blade, but even this will be sooner or later surpassed if Renya patiently continues to cut at the wall while changing his angles.As long as its impossible to slash at something, it cant be cut either, but if Im asked whether Im capable of continuously dodging Renyas attacks, I can only say that its near impossible. With that you have no other option but to give up and accept your fate ~no. (Frau) I guess its inevitable, but (Croire) Rather than that, Croire, I want you to press your hands against that spot over there for a bit ~no. (Frau) The place Frau pointed at was right on the boundary between the outer wall and the ground.On that spot bare ground is exposed. Its a place that has a different color compared to the surrounding ground, as it had apparently been dug up once by someone.In order to do as told by Frau, Croire squatted down then and there, removed her gloves and gently placed her hands on the ground.The softness of the soil that had been dug up recently is transmitted to her palms. Due to the scent of the earth tickling her nose, Croire perceived that the vicinity around Klinge possesses good soil which contains an abundance of nutrients. Id like you to stay like that for a bit ~no. (Frau) Frau places her hands on Croires shoulders which had entered Fraus reach due to Croire crouching down. I dont really mind, but just what are you telling me to dongh!? (Croire) Croires voice jumps up in tone at the end of her sentence.Its because Croire feels something, which she couldnt classify, being poured into her body from Fraus palms.Its not an unpleasant sensation, but while that may be true, I cant call it pleasant either. Frau is originally a house fairy ~nano. Right now it might be slightly different, but by recognizing Klinge as masters home, I became able to exert my power over the entire city ~no. (Frau) Croire doesnt respond.Having her thoughts thrown into disarray by the mysterious something being poured into her through her shoulders, she doesnt have the leeway to give an answer.After circulating through Croires body once, that something penetrates the ground through her palms.Croires thoughts, who is pondering what this something might be, cause the degree of her confusion to accelerate, but without any indication of whether Frau knows about that or not, Frau continues her explanation indifferently. But, since Im a house fairy after all, it looks like there are limitations according to the circumstances and the targets, where Im allowed to exert my powers ~no. (Frau) M-Mea-.ning? (Croire) When I thought of the best method to reinforce the outer wall, there was something I had to do by all means ~no. But, it looked like Fraus powers were insufficient to accomplish that, no matter what she did ~no. Thats why the power of an elf, who is an expert in that area, was indispensable ~no. (Frau) Although it was only faintly, Croire began to feel the vibration of the ground through the soles of her feet.The angry roars of men and screams of women from somewhere far away reach the ears of Croire, who owns an excellent sense of hearing as an elf.Judging by the distance of those voices, Croire guessed that some kind of abnormal event was apparently taking place all over the entire city. As expected, Im no match for an elf when it comes to handling plants ~no. (Frau) P-Plants? (Croire) In front of Croire, who was about to ask Frau what she was talking about, the ground burst open at the exact spot where she had put her palms down.She was about to withdraw her hands instinctively, but her body doesnt move as she wants it to.In a state of being unable to escape albeit wanting to do so, shes even unable to move her eyes. As shes frozen while intently staring at the ground, something with the thickness of a childs wrist grew out from the tear in the ground as if piercing the heavens and lightly grazes Croires nose.Ahead of Fraus gaze which had turned her eyes upwards, who still hasnt removed her hands from the paralyzed Croires shoulders, that which had sprouted out of the ground had grown up to the same height as the wall in one go, clung to the wall and then started to encroach the outer wall by extending its somewhat thick vines with a wriggling motion.As if taking that as a start, thick vines, which burst out in the same way across the whole city at the base of the wall, started to grow in order to cling to the wall. W-W-W-W-W-Wh-Wh-!? (Croire) Just as I thought, its necessary for vines like these to cling to the wall ~no. I have finished the preparations to have the same things cling to the exterior of the outer wall ~nano. (Frau) Only a sound that doesnt form any words escapes Croires mouth, who looked up as she was finally able to move her head somewhat.Croire saw through the true identity of the plant, which suddenly grew up in front of her, in an instant, but shes surprised and panicked as she cant see a link between the plant in her memory, and the plant continuously growing in front of her.It was the elven bean which had previously appeared in the conversation between Frau and Croire.However, theres no way for normal elven bean vines to become this thick while continuing to grow, making creaking sounds. By covering the outer wall with greenery, it will be reinforced on top of allowing for the stones to be pressed tightly together ~no. Moreover, the seeds of the elven beans, which had been soaked in Emil-ane-samas special nutrient cocktail, are perfect against fire attacks because they boast of juicy, thick vines ~nano. (Frau) The beans vines, which grew densely in an instant, penetrated the gaps in the wall, and clung or dug into the stones forming the wall, resulting in the entire wall being supported by those thick vines.The outer wall surrounding the whole city was covered by them. The wall, which had a grey color thanks to the bare stones, transformed into a wall thickly plastered by green leaves in a flash.So to speak, something like a net that caught the whole stone wall.Even if the wall broke down somewhat, it will be able to continue its task as long as the net tightly covers it. If its like this, the vines will be able to maintain the stone wall itself even if it gets broken a bit. And, if its from this many elven bean vines, it should be possible to harvest a considerably large amount of beans ~nano. (Frau) Frau bragged that she had been able to kill two birds with one stone, but no matter what, Croire feels uneasy about the phrase Emils special nutrient cocktail. Those can be eaten? (Croire) Before she noticed, the strange sensation circulating through her body had vanished. Croire stands up while brushing off the dirt clinging to her palms.As if matching that movement of her, Frau removed her hands from Croires shoulders. It has Emil-ane-samas certification ~nano. (Frau) No, I mean the certification of the person who created it doesnt serve as any kind of guarantee though, right? (Croire) Croire sorts out the situation.Apparently Frau was unable to artificially grow elven beans at this scale by herself. Pouring mana into the attribute and body of an elf C namely Croire C using her as catalyst and making the mana penetrate into the ground, she made the beans grow in one go.The seed, which had been planted into the ground where Croire placed her hands, seemingly served as a trigger. That means the other seeds sprouted once that trigger seed did. It was a setup to cause chain growth of the other seeds by infusing power into one seed so that it can spread through the sorcery-like paths connecting all seeds ~no. (Frau) Thats what Renya meant with wanting to leave it to professionals? (Croire) If Renya said such a thing, it might have been a comment after having heard about the scenery thats taking place in front of me right now.Then I have to file a complaint to Renya.Spurring on her body that has still had some numbness lingering, Croire asks Frau with a smile. Thereupon Frau averted her face quietly.From that single motion, Croire grasps that the whole story had been made up by Frau. Lets have a little chat, Frau-chan? (Croire) I-Im against violence ~no. Chats are ultimately limited to words ~no. (Frau) Even Croire will get angry if shes told that she was made to cooperate against her will in a situation, which she doesnt understand quite well, on top of being brought along after being deceived.Due to Croire approaching her with a bright smile while cladding her tightly grasped fists with mana, which seems to have strangely increased recently, Frau began to desperately rack her brain about what she should do to get out of this situation while her face became slightly pale. Chapter 149 Chapter 149 C It seems to also be Equipment Strengthening Lightning descended, seemingly within the city of Klinge although it could also be said that it was far away.Feeling as if she had heard a noise resembling the scream of a little girl at the same time, Emil looks out the window.The sky has cleared up. And no matter how you look at it, its no weather where lightning would strike.Emil wondered whether someone had used sorcery, but since she felt it didnt have a power output that would kill people, she lost interest after deciding that it had probably been a sorcerer who fired off a spell as a joke.If she had known what actually happened, she would probably have rushed on-site, laying aside everything else.After all she could have seen the very funny spectacle of the burned Frau and Croire, laying on the ground.When she asked Renya about it later on, Croire grabbed Fraus nape, who tried to get away, and released a with a lowered output, but because a spell launched by Frau in desperation hit Croire, both of them ended up tasting the power of the with their bodies.Those, who watched it from close-by, were simply shaken up, unable to judge whether it was fine to save them or whether it was better just to leave them alone.If a similar story had happened in another city, it would have become a situation where they would have probably been carried away by the soldiers, who would have immediately rushed over after being notified by the guards, but the citys residents, who know that Croire and Frau are people related to Renya, ignored it with comments such as Ah, again? That part might be called very Klinge-like.Having no idea of that, Emil, who lost interest in what was happening outside, turns her eyes back inside the room.She felt like the outer wall, which she could see in the distance as she turned her gaze, seemed to be somewhat greener than she remembered, but something at the level of a walls color changing didnt attract Emils interest.Since she had been asked by Frau a little while ago whether there was anything, but not a medicine, that can make a plant grow quickly, Emil did mix some nutrients together, but she certainly didnt expect that to be related to the events going on outside. Anyway, leaving that aside. Are you alright Renya? (Emil) The questioned party looks completely exhausted while sitting on the seat set up in the middle of the room.In front of him, theres a tattered anvil. Next to him are ten-odd, brilliantly shining longswords that have been tossed aside without scabbard.A furnace had been installed inside the room. A rumbling, crimson flame that burns brightly can be seen in there.Owed to the heat released by the furnace, the temperature inside the room has gone beyond being humid and entered the range of being close to boiling point, and yet Emil dons a refreshing expression without a single visible drop of sweat. Yeah, as expected, forging this many swords in one go was impossible after all Putting aside my physical strength, I was an idiot to believe that it would work out just because I have more stamina than before (Renya) Passing next to Renya whos staying still with his whole body having become flaccid because he used up all his stamina and grip strength, Emil picks up one of the longswords scattered on the floor.It has been finished more or less up to the handle part. Emil brought her face close to the swords blade, which could be used right away, and leaked a small breath of admiration.Once she looks very closely, Emil realizes that the blade, which has such smooth finish that it completely reflects her face, casts a faint light.That is proof that the blade itself is tinged with mana.Weapons, which are commonly called magic swords, normally have troublesome magic tampering applied to them while still just being raw materials, then again after shaping them, then once more before polishing them and lastly once again while doing the finishing touch. They are items that require such a troublesome process, take a huge amount of time and moreover are prone to failure.Emil feels slightly dizzy due to the fact that Renya finished several tens of these swords in such a short amount of time and furthermore only using a hammer and an anvil that seem to have been sold by a general store in the city.If Renya had forged the swords by properly going through the required steps while applying the magic tampering, he should have been capable of creating magic swords with a far greater performance than the ones scattered on the floor right now, but Emil decided to pretend to be ignorant of those matters, even if someone asked her.Of course, Emil, who is a researcher, owns quite the detailed information regarding these forging procedures.If she were to make a magic sword, she would have a near 100% success rate.However, even if she, a demon, created a sword while following the proper steps, the most she would be able to create would be swords of the same quality as those lying on the floor right now. Moreover she would likely need 2~3 days to make just one sword.Although it would be understandable if this was the production of katana, the fact that its the work of a human, who suitably hit some metals while griping about how to make a sword or something like that, was unbelievable for Emil. Renya, how many ended up as failures? (Emil) Lets seeI dont really remember the precise number as I melted down the failures and beat them back into shape, but I think it should be around twice the number of those that were finished? (Renya) If thats true, it means that Renya has created dozens of them without stopping.While having the urge to scream,Thats work impossible to accomplish even for a human master smith, Emil places a finger on the blade of the sword thats her hand.The sensation, which is transmitted through the pulp of her finger, is the feeling of a cold, sharp blade.As a demon, Emil was confident that she could crush a sword with her bare hands, even without going out of her way to use defense sorcery, as long as its a dull, mass-produced sword, but she judged that this sword would likely be impossible for her.In short, that impression means that its possible for the sword in Emils hand to injure a demon, who possesses strength comparable to Emils, if its wielded by a capable swordsman with considerable swordsmanship.If seen from the demons standpoint, thats quite the serious situation.Once the information that theres a craftsman who can mass produce swords at such level is leaked to the demons, they will likely rush in great numbers to erase said craftsman, putting everything else aside.Having considered the current situation to such an extent, Emil looks at Renya, who still shows no sign of moving, and ponders further.Then, in the case that Renya is that craftsman, are they going to be able to erase him?She reached an answer unexpectedly quickly.It would be a desperate bet but they could have a chance of killing him, if they make sacrifices worth dozens of times the damage that they will likely receive from now on with the swords scattered on the floor and the one in my hands right now.Theres no way that she can allow her brethren to act while knowing that there would be such a price to pay, unless she had a suicide wish. You are tired, arent you Renya? Shall I help you a bit? (Emil) Emils intentions are to broach the topic as naturally as possible, but due to Renyas suspicious gaze, which was immediately pointed at her, she panics, wondering whether she made a blunder somewhere. But, even Emil is a demon who has lived a considerable number of years.Just because she was flustered, she wont do something as stupid as showing it on her face. Is something wrong? (Emil) No, its kind of odd that youre the one offering your help rather than it being me who requests it. (Renya) Even while agreeing that its certainly strange, Emil keeps on talking while frantically looking for words that wont be considered suspicious. Its just on a whimalthough I might say that, you probably wont understand. But, as a researcher, I want to do many different things, you know? (Emil) Its the first time I hear that a researcher is able to act as a sham blacksmith. (Renya) Emil answers Renya, who doesnt even try to hide his skepticism, while plastering a smile on her face, What are you saying, my dear master? Is there any reason why a researcher cant do a blacksmiths job? (Emil) What are you planning to help me with then? (Renya) While demonstrating a somewhat haughty attitude in front of the glaring Renya, Emil picks up an iron ingot that hasnt been worked on yet.As if checking the weight of the ingot, Emil tossed it up once, high enough to graze the rooms ceiling, and tucked it between her hands the moment it passed in front of her eyes while falling.The tucked iron ingot disappears between Emils palms while making a poofing noise. Instead a shape, which was surrounded by several spheres, manifested around her hands.Emil explains to Renya, who has a surprised expression as he slowly raises his sluggish body, that its something called divine crest. Even a smith is unable to do something like this, Renya. Do you know alchemy? It basically consists of disassembly and construction. (Emil) Emil thrusts the middle finger of her right hand into the divine crest floating in midair, and alters several parts.In Renyas eyes, who has absolutely no knowledge in this area, it looks like an operation, where he doesnt have a clue as to what shes doing, but after fiddling with the divine crest for a while, Emil finally nods once, pulls out her finger and then throws the divine crest towards the ground.Upon impact it produces an instantaneous flash.Renya squinted because of the brightness, but once the light vanished, he saw Emil smiling broadly while holding the blade of a longsword. What happened? (Renya) I disassembled the ingot, converted it into the shape of its divine crest, and formed it into a longsword by rewriting the divine crest. (Emil) Being handed the blade with a Here you go, Renya receives it and stares at it closely.From what Renya can see, its shape and quality isnt inferior in any way to the longswords scattered at his feet.However, after he examined its blade carefully, Renya muttered to Emil, Isnt this one falling behind the ones I made? (Renya) Well, look at it this way, Renya. Isnt that very natural, if you consider the time you spent on making a sword and the time used to make this one? (Emil) That might be true, but (Renya) Renya, dont you think that superior weapons, which will definitely be ready in time, are currently needed more than super, superior weapons that wont be in time? (Emil) In order to persuade Renya, who looks somewhat unhappy, Emil piles up more words, Certainly, its not like I cant understand your wish of wanting to give the soldiers the best items you can come up with. But, Renya, arent you forgetting that we have to go investigate the whereabouts of the dragonoid hero after finishing our work here? (Emil) Y-Yea-ah (Renya) Its not like Im bragging, but I believe that even the sword created by me is of such a high quality that you wont be able to readily find one like it in a human store. Moreover, if its me, I can create enough of these high quality weapons for all of your soldiers in the time you spent on creating the swords lying over there, so long as you replenish my mana, Renya, but what about you? (Emil) Hesitation appears on Renyas face due to Emils words.Properly reinforcing the soldiers with weapons like the ones at his feet was important as well, but theres also the feeling of wanting to finish this bothersome matter as soon as possible. Can you make 500 complete sets of spear heads and longswords in total? (Renya) Emil firmly swallowed the words, Hasnt the number increased? or Thats too many.If I show even the slightest reluctance on my face here, Renya might say that he will somehow do it himself.And, even if its somewhat unreasonable, Renya would end up finishing the sets of swords and spears quite quickly.Once she imagines the sight of 500 finished sets of magic swords and magic spears of the same quality as the swords lying on the floor, Emil shudders.Moreover, the ones who would wield those weapons are Keiths group, who were trained by Renya, and the soldiers who received training from Keith. As long as you can arrange the materials and magic stones, you can leave it to me without any worry. (Emil) Emil answers with a smile while frantically suppressing the unrest in her heart showing on her face. But Renya, didnt you have 300 soldiers under you? (Emil) They increased by 200 due to an emergency recruitment. I will have Keith train them from now on, but I dont expect much. At most 3~4 will be able to handle Keith alone, I guess. (Renya) Wouldnt it be fine to retrain the 1000 soldiers stationed outside? (Emil) The soldiers, who are stationed outside the city, should have a proper foundation. So far as it goes they are military personnel after all.Emil thought that they would take less effort than training those who had been just recruited, but Renya denied that. Thats pointless. I dont know what her Majesty the Archduchess is thinking either, but they are obeying military command. (Renya) Military command literally means the people who bear the duty of controlling the army.In this case the principalitys soldiers were dispatched in order to monitor that Renya doesnt handle things as he pleases, but even though Renya, who is a Margrave, should be higher in rank C if you consider it as a person, whos obsessed with the outdated belief that nobles are the chosen ones C this was no more than a greeting by the newcomer nobles, saying that they wont lower their head towards Renyas title.If you consider it normally, it wouldnt be weird for disrespectful conduct towards a superior noble to be punished, but the military command in this case bears the implication of being the archduchess representation, so Renya is unable to punish them easily, even as a Margrave.Renya decided to completely forget about the soldiers outside the city before it turns into a troublesome matter.Assuming that they are not present to begin with, he tried to succeed in the citys defense with just his own soldiers. My condolences. Now then, Im going to start with my work, but Renya, you are going to help me, right? (Emil) Emil has known from the beginning that it would be impossible to accomplish it by herself.Even if it seemed that the processing of metal through alchemy doesnt take that much time or effort, its actually quite a delicate process. Furthermore, it consumes a large amount of mana too.Appealing with passion here, Emil was quite desperate in her mind not to show on her face that she will die unless she gets help from Renya. Well, that makes sense. Its uncool to leave everything up to you. Also, Im slightly curious about that alchemy of yours. (Renya) Since Im going to produce 500 sets, I will be able to show it to you to your hearts content. (Emil) For the time being Emil had managed to get Renya to say the phrases that she wanted to hear, but once she considers the number of swords and spear heads she has to create from now on, she was unable to completely hide a feeling of boredom, and the corners of her mouth and her cheeks cramped up. Chapter 149 C It seems to also be Equipment Strengthening Lightning descended, seemingly within the city of Klinge although it could also be said that it was far away.Feeling as if she had heard a noise resembling the scream of a little girl at the same time, Emil looks out the window.The sky has cleared up. And no matter how you look at it, its no weather where lightning would strike.Emil wondered whether someone had used sorcery, but since she felt it didnt have a power output that would kill people, she lost interest after deciding that it had probably been a sorcerer who fired off a spell as a joke.If she had known what actually happened, she would probably have rushed on-site, laying aside everything else.After all she could have seen the very funny spectacle of the burned Frau and Croire, laying on the ground.When she asked Renya about it later on, Croire grabbed Fraus nape, who tried to get away, and released a with a lowered output, but because a spell launched by Frau in desperation hit Croire, both of them ended up tasting the power of the with their bodies.Those, who watched it from close-by, were simply shaken up, unable to judge whether it was fine to save them or whether it was better just to leave them alone.If a similar story had happened in another city, it would have become a situation where they would have probably been carried away by the soldiers, who would have immediately rushed over after being notified by the guards, but the citys residents, who know that Croire and Frau are people related to Renya, ignored it with comments such as Ah, again? That part might be called very Klinge-like.Having no idea of that, Emil, who lost interest in what was happening outside, turns her eyes back inside the room.She felt like the outer wall, which she could see in the distance as she turned her gaze, seemed to be somewhat greener than she remembered, but something at the level of a walls color changing didnt attract Emils interest.Since she had been asked by Frau a little while ago whether there was anything, but not a medicine, that can make a plant grow quickly, Emil did mix some nutrients together, but she certainly didnt expect that to be related to the events going on outside. Anyway, leaving that aside. Are you alright Renya? (Emil) The questioned party looks completely exhausted while sitting on the seat set up in the middle of the room.In front of him, theres a tattered anvil. Next to him are ten-odd, brilliantly shining longswords that have been tossed aside without scabbard.A furnace had been installed inside the room. A rumbling, crimson flame that burns brightly can be seen in there.Owed to the heat released by the furnace, the temperature inside the room has gone beyond being humid and entered the range of being close to boiling point, and yet Emil dons a refreshing expression without a single visible drop of sweat. Yeah, as expected, forging this many swords in one go was impossible after all Putting aside my physical strength, I was an idiot to believe that it would work out just because I have more stamina than before (Renya) Passing next to Renya whos staying still with his whole body having become flaccid because he used up all his stamina and grip strength, Emil picks up one of the longswords scattered on the floor.It has been finished more or less up to the handle part. Emil brought her face close to the swords blade, which could be used right away, and leaked a small breath of admiration.Once she looks very closely, Emil realizes that the blade, which has such smooth finish that it completely reflects her face, casts a faint light.That is proof that the blade itself is tinged with mana.Weapons, which are commonly called magic swords, normally have troublesome magic tampering applied to them while still just being raw materials, then again after shaping them, then once more before polishing them and lastly once again while doing the finishing touch. They are items that require such a troublesome process, take a huge amount of time and moreover are prone to failure.Emil feels slightly dizzy due to the fact that Renya finished several tens of these swords in such a short amount of time and furthermore only using a hammer and an anvil that seem to have been sold by a general store in the city.If Renya had forged the swords by properly going through the required steps while applying the magic tampering, he should have been capable of creating magic swords with a far greater performance than the ones scattered on the floor right now, but Emil decided to pretend to be ignorant of those matters, even if someone asked her.Of course, Emil, who is a researcher, owns quite the detailed information regarding these forging procedures.If she were to make a magic sword, she would have a near 100% success rate.However, even if she, a demon, created a sword while following the proper steps, the most she would be able to create would be swords of the same quality as those lying on the floor right now. Moreover she would likely need 2~3 days to make just one sword.Although it would be understandable if this was the production of katana, the fact that its the work of a human, who suitably hit some metals while griping about how to make a sword or something like that, was unbelievable for Emil. Renya, how many ended up as failures? (Emil) Lets seeI dont really remember the precise number as I melted down the failures and beat them back into shape, but I think it should be around twice the number of those that were finished? (Renya) If thats true, it means that Renya has created dozens of them without stopping.While having the urge to scream,Thats work impossible to accomplish even for a human master smith, Emil places a finger on the blade of the sword thats her hand.The sensation, which is transmitted through the pulp of her finger, is the feeling of a cold, sharp blade.As a demon, Emil was confident that she could crush a sword with her bare hands, even without going out of her way to use defense sorcery, as long as its a dull, mass-produced sword, but she judged that this sword would likely be impossible for her.In short, that impression means that its possible for the sword in Emils hand to injure a demon, who possesses strength comparable to Emils, if its wielded by a capable swordsman with considerable swordsmanship.If seen from the demons standpoint, thats quite the serious situation.Once the information that theres a craftsman who can mass produce swords at such level is leaked to the demons, they will likely rush in great numbers to erase said craftsman, putting everything else aside.Having considered the current situation to such an extent, Emil looks at Renya, who still shows no sign of moving, and ponders further.Then, in the case that Renya is that craftsman, are they going to be able to erase him?She reached an answer unexpectedly quickly.It would be a desperate bet but they could have a chance of killing him, if they make sacrifices worth dozens of times the damage that they will likely receive from now on with the swords scattered on the floor and the one in my hands right now.Theres no way that she can allow her brethren to act while knowing that there would be such a price to pay, unless she had a suicide wish. You are tired, arent you Renya? Shall I help you a bit? (Emil) Emils intentions are to broach the topic as naturally as possible, but due to Renyas suspicious gaze, which was immediately pointed at her, she panics, wondering whether she made a blunder somewhere.But, even Emil is a demon who has lived a considerable number of years.Just because she was flustered, she wont do something as stupid as showing it on her face. Is something wrong? (Emil) No, its kind of odd that youre the one offering your help rather than it being me who requests it. (Renya) Even while agreeing that its certainly strange, Emil keeps on talking while frantically looking for words that wont be considered suspicious. Its just on a whimalthough I might say that, you probably wont understand. But, as a researcher, I want to do many different things, you know? (Emil) Its the first time I hear that a researcher is able to act as a sham blacksmith. (Renya) Emil answers Renya, who doesnt even try to hide his skepticism, while plastering a smile on her face, What are you saying, my dear master? Is there any reason why a researcher cant do a blacksmiths job? (Emil) What are you planning to help me with then? (Renya) While demonstrating a somewhat haughty attitude in front of the glaring Renya, Emil picks up an iron ingot that hasnt been worked on yet.As if checking the weight of the ingot, Emil tossed it up once, high enough to graze the rooms ceiling, and tucked it between her hands the moment it passed in front of her eyes while falling.The tucked iron ingot disappears between Emils palms while making a poofing noise. Instead a shape, which was surrounded by several spheres, manifested around her hands.Emil explains to Renya, who has a surprised expression as he slowly raises his sluggish body, that its something called divine crest. Even a smith is unable to do something like this, Renya. Do you know alchemy? It basically consists of disassembly and construction. (Emil) Emil thrusts the middle finger of her right hand into the divine crest floating in midair, and alters several parts.In Renyas eyes, who has absolutely no knowledge in this area, it looks like an operation, where he doesnt have a clue as to what shes doing, but after fiddling with the divine crest for a while, Emil finally nods once, pulls out her finger and then throws the divine crest towards the ground.Upon impact it produces an instantaneous flash.Renya squinted because of the brightness, but once the light vanished, he saw Emil smiling broadly while holding the blade of a longsword. What happened? (Renya) I disassembled the ingot, converted it into the shape of its divine crest, and formed it into a longsword by rewriting the divine crest. (Emil) Being handed the blade with a Here you go, Renya receives it and stares at it closely.From what Renya can see, its shape and quality isnt inferior in any way to the longswords scattered at his feet.However, after he examined its blade carefully, Renya muttered to Emil, Isnt this one falling behind the ones I made? (Renya) Well, look at it this way, Renya. Isnt that very natural, if you consider the time you spent on making a sword and the time used to make this one? (Emil) That might be true, but (Renya) Renya, dont you think that superior weapons, which will definitely be ready in time, are currently needed more than super, superior weapons that wont be in time? (Emil) In order to persuade Renya, who looks somewhat unhappy, Emil piles up more words, Certainly, its not like I cant understand your wish of wanting to give the soldiers the best items you can come up with. But, Renya, arent you forgetting that we have to go investigate the whereabouts of the dragonoid hero after finishing our work here? (Emil) Y-Yea-ah (Renya) Its not like Im bragging, but I believe that even the sword created by me is of such a high quality that you wont be able to readily find one like it in a human store. Moreover, if its me, I can create enough of these high quality weapons for all of your soldiers in the time you spent on creating the swords lying over there, so long as you replenish my mana, Renya, but what about you? (Emil) Hesitation appears on Renyas face due to Emils words.Properly reinforcing the soldiers with weapons like the ones at his feet was important as well, but theres also the feeling of wanting to finish this bothersome matter as soon as possible. Can you make 500 complete sets of spear heads and longswords in total? (Renya) Emil firmly swallowed the words, Hasnt the number increased? or Thats too many.If I show even the slightest reluctance on my face here, Renya might say that he will somehow do it himself.And, even if its somewhat unreasonable, Renya would end up finishing the sets of swords and spears quite quickly.Once she imagines the sight of 500 finished sets of magic swords and magic spears of the same quality as the swords lying on the floor, Emil shudders.Moreover, the ones who would wield those weapons are Keiths group, who were trained by Renya, and the soldiers who received training from Keith. As long as you can arrange the materials and magic stones, you can leave it to me without any worry. (Emil) Emil answers with a smile while frantically suppressing the unrest in her heart showing on her face. But Renya, didnt you have 300 soldiers under you? (Emil) They increased by 200 due to an emergency recruitment. I will have Keith train them from now on, but I dont expect much. At most 3~4 will be able to handle Keith alone, I guess. (Renya) Wouldnt it be fine to retrain the 1000 soldiers stationed outside? (Emil) The soldiers, who are stationed outside the city, should have a proper foundation. So far as it goes they are military personnel after all.Emil thought that they would take less effort than training those who had been just recruited, but Renya denied that. Thats pointless. I dont know what her Majesty the Archduchess is thinking either, but they are obeying military command. (Renya) Military command literally means the people who bear the duty of controlling the army.In this case the principalitys soldiers were dispatched in order to monitor that Renya doesnt handle things as he pleases, but even though Renya, who is a Margrave, should be higher in rank C if you consider it as a person, whos obsessed with the outdated belief that nobles are the chosen ones C this was no more than a greeting by the newcomer nobles, saying that they wont lower their head towards Renyas title.If you consider it normally, it wouldnt be weird for disrespectful conduct towards a superior noble to be punished, but the military command in this case bears the implication of being the archduchess representation, so Renya is unable to punish them easily, even as a Margrave.Renya decided to completely forget about the soldiers outside the city before it turns into a troublesome matter.Assuming that they are not present to begin with, he tried to succeed in the citys defense with just his own soldiers. My condolences. Now then, Im going to start with my work, but Renya, you are going to help me, right? (Emil) Emil has known from the beginning that it would be impossible to accomplish it by herself.Even if it seemed that the processing of metal through alchemy doesnt take that much time or effort, its actually quite a delicate process. Furthermore, it consumes a large amount of mana too.Appealing with passion here, Emil was quite desperate in her mind not to show on her face that she will die unless she gets help from Renya. Well, that makes sense. Its uncool to leave everything up to you. Also, Im slightly curious about that alchemy of yours. (Renya) Since Im going to produce 500 sets, I will be able to show it to you to your hearts content. (Emil) For the time being Emil had managed to get Renya to say the phrases that she wanted to hear, but once she considers the number of swords and spear heads she has to create from now on, she was unable to completely hide a feeling of boredom, and the corners of her mouth and her cheeks cramped up. Chapter 150 One week has passed since Renya and the others began to strengthen Klinges defense.In Renyas eyes, he saw it as being confined indoors for an unexpectedly long period of time, but once he started to upgrade the soldiers equipment and to speed up the emergency recruitment for new soldiers, quite a bit of time passed in a flash.The urgent recruitment of new soldiers finished so fast that he wondered whether there was an excess of people somewhere, even if it were just manpower, but with most of them being adventurer dropouts and greenhorns who have never served in the army, he ended up devoting a lot of time into educating and drilling them.Klinge is at the height of turmoil despite Renya trying to put together a rotation that consisted of having 100 soldiers on break, deploying 100 soldiers to the citys defense and training 100 of the 200 new recruits.The principalitys soldiers, who are stationed outside the city, were left out of the loop, but given that there was no change in the situation, their side didnt show any movements that could be called militaristic over at their military command that had been dispatched by the principality.It resulted in Renya leaving the principalitys army completely outside his considerations. It went so far that he hadnt learned the names of the military commanders even after a week had passed. You know, those people are more or less Her Majesty the Archduchess proxies (Mayria) Mayria, I dont have enough brain power to use it up on completely irrelevant information. (Renya) Mayria retorted in a somewhat timid manner, apparently because of the difference in their statuses, but after she was curtly cut down by Renya, she made sure to avoid that topic with a feeling that there was nothing to do about it anyway.However, there was a problem with this situation. Even if Klinge itself survives, isnt that meaningless in the large picture of the principalitys protection? (Shion) The moment Shion pointed that out was during the rare occurrence when everyone was present for dinner. Certainly, I only caught a glimpse of the military command, but they sure are creepy. However, since the circumstances are as they are, I think we have to ask for their help, even if our side has to give inbut (Shion) Shion was stating her own thoughts while her hands had stopped picking up food, but her voice gradually became weaker.Thats because all the members apart of the heroes, who are surrounding the table, stared at her wide eyed.In front of Shion, who became flustered while wondering whether she had made some terrible mistake, Mayria muttered with her body trembling a little and her face looking a little pale, Ane-sama voicing a decent opinion (Mayria) Mayria!? (Shion) Is this worldgoing to end tomorrow? (Rona) Rona is quietly moved to tears with her hands joined in front of her chest. Master, it looks the time for farewell is near ~no. (Frau) Frau, who has tears gather at the corners of her eyes while carrying a meek expression, informs Renya.Due to the graveness of the tragic emotions expressed on her childish face, those seeing it had no choice but to harbor a feeling of anxiety. Rona!? Even Frau!? (Shion) Hey, why is everyone reacting like this? (Lepard) Not understanding the reason for whats happening, Lepard asks Renya with a whisper. Seemingly having recovered from his initial shock, Renya likewise replied with a whisper in a calm tone, Isnt it common sense that the world will perish if a muscle-brained, disappointing child says something decent by chance? (Renya) No way, such silly common sense doesnt exist. (Lepard) Arent you also saying strange stuff while pretending to be smart, Lepard? How do you intend to take responsibility if this world perishes? (Renya) Shut up. Hey, just whos a muscle-brain here? How awful, dont get me involved in this. (Lepard) Lepard winces due to Renyas discerning eye determining that hes a pitiful person who probably has no awareness of his brain being made out of muscles, despite being aware that he himself is a battle maniac.Lepard reflexively turned his eyes towards Kaede looking for help, but since Kaede had the same expression as Renya, Lepard tragically admits defeat. Come to think of it, he previously said some nonsense due to something apparently infesting his brain, didnt he? Make sure to educate him properly, Kaede. (Renya) Most certainly. I am sorry to have troubled you. (Kaede) Oi, hey Kaede? (Lepard) Due to Kaede apologizing with a meek expression, Lepard raised his voice to protest as one might expect, but he immediately notices Kaede looking at him with a very sad face and she then interrupts his speech. Lepard, Im confident that I will keep loving you even with you being a meathead of the highest order. (Kaede) Ha-Haai-is that so? (Lepard) Lepard unintentionally ends up answering with a weird tone.While hanging her head and gently holding the inner corners of her eyes, Kaede continued, But the confidence to love the vane you, whos unable to accept that you are a meathead, is (Kaede) Hey! (Lepard) Pleaseplease be honest with yourself, Lepard! (Renya) Dont mess around by jumping on the bandwagon! (Lepard) Having said that, lets leave alone the lovey-dovey meathead and black heart. (Renya) You insulted me without any hesitation! (Kaede) Kaede seemingly suffered a shock due Renyas indifferent response. At present theres no merit in getting along with the principalitys army situated outside the city. Even if the 500 turned into 1,500, it cant be said that theyll be able to protect the whole principality. The food expenses will simply grow by 1000. However, if its just the defense of Klinge, I think 500 will be plenty. (Renya) So you are planning on abandoning them? Being asked that by Emil with a laugh, Renya frowned.Based on his position its difficult to answer with Thats right.Although its provisional, Renya is regarded as a member of Trident Principalitys nobility.Affirming the question of whether he will abandon the principalitys soldiers is something he cant do. While that might be true, its also difficult for him to answer with a simple No.This is because Renya has no interest in the principalitys troops or their military command, which clearly show no intention to cooperate, even in the case that Klinge was attacked, if he were to voice his opinion.Although he also doesnt want to say that he wont care for the soldiers just because he doesnt like their commanders.It means, he doesnt have any leeway that would allow him to take care of the common soldiers, despite disliking the military command.Klinge is a new city and the villages, which were established around it, are still new as well.The true state of the Kunugi Margraviate is that the pioneers have to abandon and vacate their villages almost without anything worthy of being called an accomplishment.Speaking of food, materials and funds, theres absolutely no leeway.Distributing plenty of it to his residents and soldiers was Renyas first priority. Its not a situation where he can also take care of the principalitys forces. Its a simple story about them having to take care of themselves. (Renya) Once Renya said so, while paying attention not to reveal his inner thoughts with his voice or expression, Emil started to laugh loudly.As Renya glares at her, apparently having taken slight offense, Emil apologizes after laughing for a short while wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes. No, no, sorry, sorry. It truly is as complicated as you say. (Emil) Can I have you answer one thing as youre already in the apologetic mood anyway? (Renya) Renya begins to ask Emil a question while still glaring at her, causing the smile on her face to disappear. What it is? However, I can only tell you what I know, though. (Emil) I wonder, should we block the exit of the Forest Labyrinth on the human side? (Renya) Upon Renyas words, Shion, Mayria, Rona, the two heroes and the priestess tilt their heads to the side in confusion.Renyas question is too abrupt. They dont understand at all why he brought that topic up.And in contrast, Croires face stiffened, albeit only faintly. And, Frau shifted her eyes towards Renyas face without any change in her expression.The difference in their reactions might be attributed to the difference in intel they each possess.Speaking of Emil, whos the one being asked here, her behavior makes her seem as if she is pondering the question for a bit and then she asks in return, I guess you are asking for my opinion as a researcher? (Emil) Renya doesnt answer as he simply stares at Emil unwaveringly. If you say Forest Labyrinths exit (Rona) Its that forest that was devastated by Renyas sorcery, right? (Shion) Rona and Shion have somewhat nostalgic expressions.While thinking,Its not a story that should be regarded as nostalgic though, Renya nodded. The place where the weird monsters spawned on the human continent is the Forest Labyrinths exit. The place where the troops that attacked the elven country appeared was also the Forest Labyrinth if I remember correctly, wasnt it? Due to the downburst triggered by Renya with sorcery, the Forest Labyrinths exit on the human side was completely locked up in a world of ice once.As expected, thats not going to last forever. The moment the ice melted to a certain extent, the Trident Principality constructed a fortress in order to monitor the exit from close-by. Currently it has soldiers monitoring it at all times. Which reminds me, what happened to the exit on the elven side? (Renya) After Croires group left, a fortress that was far sturdier than the previous one was built where the former one was and the exit is currently under heavy surveillance with the number of permanently stationed soldiers having increased. As Croire, who had crossed over to the human continent, while sticking to Renya, right after the incident, apparently didnt know the current situation, Grn answers in her stead. I see. In other words, that means the disturbances on both continents, the human and elven one, have occurred with the Forest Labyrinth as the epicenter. (Emil) Emils voice, who says so while nodding and then casting down her eyes so as to gather her thoughts, has a tone that made it clear that she had really obtained that information just this moment.However, the way to interpret that vocal sound of hers completely differs depending on those hearing it. In that case a researchers opinion isnt really necessary, is it? If you can block the exit, wouldnt it be most reliable to just do that? (Emil) Why do you think that we are capable of doing something like that? Although its just vaguely, I wonder whether something similar hasnt happened on the dragonoid continent. (Renya) Upon Renyas question, everyone besides Emil looked at Renya with puzzled expressions.Theres no way for them to understand something like that, and even if they do, isnt it already meaningless since we cant go to the dragonoid continent?Renya wondered.In regards to that, only Emil stared at Renya while donning a troubled expression.Emil somehow grasped the meaning as to why Renya asked this question at this time. Can I ask one thing before answering that question? (Emil) Renya nods.Emil exhaled once. After tapping her chest in order to calm herself down, she worded her question. Renya, do you intend to destroythe demons? (Emil) No, I havent the slightest intention of doing something like that? (Renya) His reply was instantaneous. In the first place, I hate troublesome matters. Even the demons are opponents you dont have to pay any attention to if they dont leave the central continent and appear on the other races continents, right? (Renya) No, thats also a bit (Emil) Renyafor the time being the demons are a threat to all races with large territories (Shion) Emil has an expression that looks slightly pitiable.Shion gently retorts at Renyas overly blunt reply.After showing a puzzled expression for a moment due to Shions retort, he asks Emil as if having heard that truth for the very first time, Really? (Renya) Wait Renya, Id like you not to ask me. (Emil) Emil shakes her head in a panic while touching on the topic with a serious expression, but clearing her throat once, she shifts her mood. In short, is it correct to consider your aim to only be the demon king, Renya? (Emil) As long as that demon king doesnt leave his continent either, I have no intention to go out of my way to subjugate them either. (Renya) How very typical of you, Renya. (Emil) Emil says that with a somewhat refreshed expression, probably because she understood or gave up on him, and then crosses her legs while reclining into her seat with her arms folded. The sole thing necessary for a transfer gate is a path. Normally the transfer gates, which are established in cities by humans and such, connect to a branch of a path, which had been set up in the distant past, simply by creating a route by force. Thats why the paths become more congested and smaller the more cities there are. Thanks to that, the number of people capable of passing through a gate at once decreases. Probably all the paths, which are currently in use, have practically reached their limit. (Emil) All present dont think anything beyond that ofHee, thats how it is?, but if there was a specialized magician present, they would have very likely become unable to stand up out of surprise.In the first place, the transportation capacity being predetermined is something that had been decided on in the past after a considerable time had passed and it was accepted as common knowledge. The existence of a huge original path in order to operate the transfer gates, and the capacity of that path being close to its limit is something thats usually unknown.The number of those aware of it is limited to a very small number of magicians who participate in setting up transfer gates. Moreover they have had a contract of confidentiality imposed on them, resulting in them never having disclosed this matter. There are various ways to build such a path. I think the most suitable materials are those of an underground labyrinths exit. However, in that case it becomes necessary to completely travel to the interior by foot. (Emil) Can the path be cut off if one side collapses? That should probably be possible. (Emil) I seewell, Emil, your opinion as a researcher was of big help. I will try getting in touch with Liaris, whos stationed in Kukrika. (Renya) Renya faces Emil and thanks her by bowing his head.Upon Renyas demeanor, Emil completely changes from her cocky behavior in a fluster, unlinks her arms, shifts her posture by pitching forward, and vigorously shakes her head. Can you please stop since its not something that deserves something like that? (Emil) Even Emil-san can become bashful, eh? (Rona) When Rona laughs, seemingly considering Emils panicked reaction funny, Emil looks away as if escaping everyones gazes while awkwardly scratching her cheek with a finger.When Renya lifted his face, Emil was staring into the far distance with her cheeks and ears dyed slightly red. Following all that with somewhat lukewarm looks, it resulted in the Trident Principalitys group witnessing a spectacle they didnt comprehend quite well. One week has passed since Renya and the others began to strengthen Klinges defense.In Renyas eyes, he saw it as being confined indoors for an unexpectedly long period of time, but once he started to upgrade the soldiers equipment and to speed up the emergency recruitment for new soldiers, quite a bit of time passed in a flash.The urgent recruitment of new soldiers finished so fast that he wondered whether there was an excess of people somewhere, even if it were just manpower, but with most of them being adventurer dropouts and greenhorns who have never served in the army, he ended up devoting a lot of time into educating and drilling them.Klinge is at the height of turmoil despite Renya trying to put together a rotation that consisted of having 100 soldiers on break, deploying 100 soldiers to the citys defense and training 100 of the 200 new recruits.The principalitys soldiers, who are stationed outside the city, were left out of the loop, but given that there was no change in the situation, their side didnt show any movements that could be called militaristic over at their military command that had been dispatched by the principality.It resulted in Renya leaving the principalitys army completely outside his considerations. It went so far that he hadnt learned the names of the military commanders even after a week had passed. You know, those people are more or less Her Majesty the Archduchess proxies (Mayria) Mayria, I dont have enough brain power to use it up on completely irrelevant information. (Renya) Mayria retorted in a somewhat timid manner, apparently because of the difference in their statuses, but after she was curtly cut down by Renya, she made sure to avoid that topic with a feeling that there was nothing to do about it anyway.However, there was a problem with this situation. Even if Klinge itself survives, isnt that meaningless in the large picture of the principalitys protection? (Shion) The moment Shion pointed that out was during the rare occurrence when everyone was present for dinner. Certainly, I only caught a glimpse of the military command, but they sure are creepy. However, since the circumstances are as they are, I think we have to ask for their help, even if our side has to give inbut (Shion) Shion was stating her own thoughts while her hands had stopped picking up food, but her voice gradually became weaker.Thats because all the members apart of the heroes, who are surrounding the table, stared at her wide eyed.In front of Shion, who became flustered while wondering whether she had made some terrible mistake, Mayria muttered with her body trembling a little and her face looking a little pale, Ane-sama voicing a decent opinion (Mayria) Mayria!? (Shion) Is this worldgoing to end tomorrow? (Rona) Rona is quietly moved to tears with her hands joined in front of her chest. Master, it looks the time for farewell is near ~no. (Frau) Frau, who has tears gather at the corners of her eyes while carrying a meek expression, informs Renya.Due to the graveness of the tragic emotions expressed on her childish face, those seeing it had no choice but to harbor a feeling of anxiety. Rona!? Even Frau!? (Shion) Hey, why is everyone reacting like this? (Lepard) Not understanding the reason for whats happening, Lepard asks Renya with a whisper. Seemingly having recovered from his initial shock, Renya likewise replied with a whisper in a calm tone, Isnt it common sense that the world will perish if a muscle-brained, disappointing child says something decent by chance? (Renya) No way, such silly common sense doesnt exist. (Lepard) Arent you also saying strange stuff while pretending to be smart, Lepard? How do you intend to take responsibility if this world perishes? (Renya) Shut up. Hey, just whos a muscle-brain here? How awful, dont get me involved in this. (Lepard) Lepard winces due to Renyas discerning eye determining that hes a pitiful person who probably has no awareness of his brain being made out of muscles, despite being aware that he himself is a battle maniac.Lepard reflexively turned his eyes towards Kaede looking for help, but since Kaede had the same expression as Renya, Lepard tragically admits defeat. Come to think of it, he previously said some nonsense due to something apparently infesting his brain, didnt he? Make sure to educate him properly, Kaede. (Renya) Most certainly. I am sorry to have troubled you. (Kaede) Oi, hey Kaede? (Lepard) Due to Kaede apologizing with a meek expression, Lepard raised his voice to protest as one might expect, but he immediately notices Kaede looking at him with a very sad face and she then interrupts his speech. Lepard, Im confident that I will keep loving you even with you being a meathead of the highest order. (Kaede) Ha-Haai-is that so? (Lepard) Lepard unintentionally ends up answering with a weird tone.While hanging her head and gently holding the inner corners of her eyes, Kaede continued, But the confidence to love the vane you, whos unable to accept that you are a meathead, is (Kaede) Hey! (Lepard) Pleaseplease be honest with yourself, Lepard! (Renya) Dont mess around by jumping on the bandwagon! (Lepard) Having said that, lets leave alone the lovey-dovey meathead and black heart. (Renya) You insulted me without any hesitation! (Kaede) Kaede seemingly suffered a shock due Renyas indifferent response. At present theres no merit in getting along with the principalitys army situated outside the city. Even if the 500 turned into 1,500, it cant be said that theyll be able to protect the whole principality. The food expenses will simply grow by 1000. However, if its just the defense of Klinge, I think 500 will be plenty. (Renya) So you are planning on abandoning them? Being asked that by Emil with a laugh, Renya frowned.Based on his position its difficult to answer with Thats right.Although its provisional, Renya is regarded as a member of Trident Principalitys nobility.Affirming the question of whether he will abandon the principalitys soldiers is something he cant do.While that might be true, its also difficult for him to answer with a simple No.This is because Renya has no interest in the principalitys troops or their military command, which clearly show no intention to cooperate, even in the case that Klinge was attacked, if he were to voice his opinion.Although he also doesnt want to say that he wont care for the soldiers just because he doesnt like their commanders.It means, he doesnt have any leeway that would allow him to take care of the common soldiers, despite disliking the military command.Klinge is a new city and the villages, which were established around it, are still new as well.The true state of the Kunugi Margraviate is that the pioneers have to abandon and vacate their villages almost without anything worthy of being called an accomplishment.Speaking of food, materials and funds, theres absolutely no leeway.Distributing plenty of it to his residents and soldiers was Renyas first priority. Its not a situation where he can also take care of the principalitys forces. Its a simple story about them having to take care of themselves. (Renya) Once Renya said so, while paying attention not to reveal his inner thoughts with his voice or expression, Emil started to laugh loudly.As Renya glares at her, apparently having taken slight offense, Emil apologizes after laughing for a short while wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes. No, no, sorry, sorry. It truly is as complicated as you say. (Emil) Can I have you answer one thing as youre already in the apologetic mood anyway? (Renya) Renya begins to ask Emil a question while still glaring at her, causing the smile on her face to disappear. What it is? However, I can only tell you what I know, though. (Emil) I wonder, should we block the exit of the Forest Labyrinth on the human side? (Renya) Upon Renyas words, Shion, Mayria, Rona, the two heroes and the priestess tilt their heads to the side in confusion.Renyas question is too abrupt. They dont understand at all why he brought that topic up.And in contrast, Croires face stiffened, albeit only faintly. And, Frau shifted her eyes towards Renyas face without any change in her expression.The difference in their reactions might be attributed to the difference in intel they each possess.Speaking of Emil, whos the one being asked here, her behavior makes her seem as if she is pondering the question for a bit and then she asks in return, I guess you are asking for my opinion as a researcher? (Emil) Renya doesnt answer as he simply stares at Emil unwaveringly. If you say Forest Labyrinths exit (Rona) Its that forest that was devastated by Renyas sorcery, right? (Shion) Rona and Shion have somewhat nostalgic expressions.While thinking,Its not a story that should be regarded as nostalgic though, Renya nodded. The place where the weird monsters spawned on the human continent is the Forest Labyrinths exit. The place where the troops that attacked the elven country appeared was also the Forest Labyrinth if I remember correctly, wasnt it? Due to the downburst triggered by Renya with sorcery, the Forest Labyrinths exit on the human side was completely locked up in a world of ice once.As expected, thats not going to last forever. The moment the ice melted to a certain extent, the Trident Principality constructed a fortress in order to monitor the exit from close-by. Currently it has soldiers monitoring it at all times. Which reminds me, what happened to the exit on the elven side? (Renya) After Croires group left, a fortress that was far sturdier than the previous one was built where the former one was and the exit is currently under heavy surveillance with the number of permanently stationed soldiers having increased. As Croire, who had crossed over to the human continent, while sticking to Renya, right after the incident, apparently didnt know the current situation, Grn answers in her stead. I see. In other words, that means the disturbances on both continents, the human and elven one, have occurred with the Forest Labyrinth as the epicenter. (Emil) Emils voice, who says so while nodding and then casting down her eyes so as to gather her thoughts, has a tone that made it clear that she had really obtained that information just this moment.However, the way to interpret that vocal sound of hers completely differs depending on those hearing it. In that case a researchers opinion isnt really necessary, is it? If you can block the exit, wouldnt it be most reliable to just do that? (Emil) Why do you think that we are capable of doing something like that? Although its just vaguely, I wonder whether something similar hasnt happened on the dragonoid continent. (Renya) Upon Renyas question, everyone besides Emil looked at Renya with puzzled expressions.Theres no way for them to understand something like that, and even if they do, isnt it already meaningless since we cant go to the dragonoid continent?Renya wondered.In regards to that, only Emil stared at Renya while donning a troubled expression.Emil somehow grasped the meaning as to why Renya asked this question at this time. Can I ask one thing before answering that question? (Emil) Renya nods.Emil exhaled once. After tapping her chest in order to calm herself down, she worded her question. Renya, do you intend to destroythe demons? (Emil) No, I havent the slightest intention of doing something like that? (Renya) His reply was instantaneous. In the first place, I hate troublesome matters. Even the demons are opponents you dont have to pay any attention to if they dont leave the central continent and appear on the other races continents, right? (Renya) No, thats also a bit (Emil) Renyafor the time being the demons are a threat to all races with large territories (Shion) Emil has an expression that looks slightly pitiable.Shion gently retorts at Renyas overly blunt reply.After showing a puzzled expression for a moment due to Shions retort, he asks Emil as if having heard that truth for the very first time, Really? (Renya) Wait Renya, Id like you not to ask me. (Emil) Emil shakes her head in a panic while touching on the topic with a serious expression, but clearing her throat once, she shifts her mood. In short, is it correct to consider your aim to only be the demon king, Renya? (Emil) As long as that demon king doesnt leave his continent either, I have no intention to go out of my way to subjugate them either. (Renya) How very typical of you, Renya. (Emil) Emil says that with a somewhat refreshed expression, probably because she understood or gave up on him, and then crosses her legs while reclining into her seat with her arms folded. The sole thing necessary for a transfer gate is a path. Normally the transfer gates, which are established in cities by humans and such, connect to a branch of a path, which had been set up in the distant past, simply by creating a route by force. Thats why the paths become more congested and smaller the more cities there are. Thanks to that, the number of people capable of passing through a gate at once decreases. Probably all the paths, which are currently in use, have practically reached their limit. (Emil) All present dont think anything beyond that ofHee, thats how it is?, but if there was a specialized magician present, they would have very likely become unable to stand up out of surprise.In the first place, the transportation capacity being predetermined is something that had been decided on in the past after a considerable time had passed and it was accepted as common knowledge. The existence of a huge original path in order to operate the transfer gates, and the capacity of that path being close to its limit is something thats usually unknown.The number of those aware of it is limited to a very small number of magicians who participate in setting up transfer gates. Moreover they have had a contract of confidentiality imposed on them, resulting in them never having disclosed this matter. There are various ways to build such a path. I think the most suitable materials are those of an underground labyrinths exit. However, in that case it becomes necessary to completely travel to the interior by foot. (Emil) Can the path be cut off if one side collapses? That should probably be possible. (Emil) I seewell, Emil, your opinion as a researcher was of big help. I will try getting in touch with Liaris, whos stationed in Kukrika. (Renya) Renya faces Emil and thanks her by bowing his head.Upon Renyas demeanor, Emil completely changes from her cocky behavior in a fluster, unlinks her arms, shifts her posture by pitching forward, and vigorously shakes her head. Can you please stop since its not something that deserves something like that? (Emil) Even Emil-san can become bashful, eh? (Rona) When Rona laughs, seemingly considering Emils panicked reaction funny, Emil looks away as if escaping everyones gazes while awkwardly scratching her cheek with a finger.When Renya lifted his face, Emil was staring into the far distance with her cheeks and ears dyed slightly red. Following all that with somewhat lukewarm looks, it resulted in the Trident Principalitys group witnessing a spectacle they didnt comprehend quite well. Chapter 151 Two days after Renyas group had their meeting in the dining room.Klinges residents passed their days filled with trepidation wondering when the monsters might attack from the Miasma Forest, but for some reason it wasnt from the Miasma Forest, but from the direction of Kukrika, which was towards their rear, that they sensed some weird signs.There are also rumors that the archduchess had the soldiers, who watched the entrance of the Forest Labyrinth, pulled back. Maybe something happened in that area, was whispered among those people, who are to some extent up to date with the news, as if it was true, but those very rumors were about to become reality.Having said that, it came to be true in a sense that was quite different from what those, who are aware of it, expected. I-Is that fine~? Is it really okay~? I received permission, but is it truly alright? Bah, theres no one whos going to answer me anyway. The one who continuously muttered that, with a somewhat hollow and flat voice, since her work started is Liaris who was holding a spear with a dragon design in her hand and had her body clad in a bright red set of armor.Its a set of armor bestowed upon her by the archduchess so that she would at least look like the real deal, but going by the fact that it doesnt have any kind of extra effects other than its flashiness, it makes one understand how much Liaris herself is treated as just the dragons accessory.Usually thats a treatment that would make one feel offended, but since Liaris herself is well aware of this fact, she doesnt harbor any dissatisfaction regarding her treatment.Rather, its at the level where she prays everyday that she wont be treated as anything greater than that. I think I should have brought Az along. Telling me to do the work of a dragoon all by myself, thats cruel, right? Az is really a bit too strict about matters related to work. What do you think, Dra-kun? (Liaris) (Dra) Since the telepathic message, which was received from Dra-kun as he was looking down on the ground and leisurely flying through the air while powerfully flapping his wings, carried a feeling that he didnt really care about such trivial matters at all, Liaris hits Dra-kuns back with the palm of her hand in displeasure. Calling it inconsequential, isnt that too heartless? You dont even have a single word of consolation for your troubled master? (Liaris) (Dra) Dra-kun soars through the sky while thinking that the feeling of continuous impacts on his back wasnt all that bad.In the very beginning Liaris was tense every time they flew, and it was correct to call her way of mounting Dra-kun clinging rather than riding, but getting used to something is really frightening. Recently she stopped kicking up a fuss no matter how much Dra-kun increased his speed or what strange aerial maneuvers he performed.Even if you say that it was mostly against his will, Dra-kun didnt have the slightest intention to throw off the dragoon riding on his back, due to him being, more or less, a mount. Even if he soars freely through the sky while upside down, Dra-kun tightly affixes Liaris body to his back with mana, but Dra-kun also harbors a feeling of slight loneliness now that she has stopped acting all flustered.Even if Liaris usually experiences these kinds of things, shes probably really nervous with the scene in front of her eyes, Dra-kun turns his gaze below.What he sees on the surface is the forest where the entrance to the dungeon thats referred to as the Forest Labyrinth by the humans is located.Or to be more precise, its a place that should have been a forest.While wracking his brain wondering what might have caused such destruction, he looks at the building where the human soldiers were apparently stationed, but right now its deadly quiet with not a single soul in sight.Even while checking with his dragonic sight, he contacts the other dragons through telepathy and has them also validate that there are no people.At a height roughly midway between Dra-kun and the ground, there were two dozen dragons slowly circling around the same spot while exposing their bright red bodies to the sunlight.Its clearly an abnormal situation.The sight of dragons, who one doesnt encounter often under normal circumstances and with each of them being a specimen that carries the power of fire dragons in their bodies, gathering in one place and circling around should be a scene that you cant observe anywhere on the continent. Its a safe bet that if they were to be seen by someone, who didnt know of the present situation, that person would doubt their eyes wondering what kind of natural disaster had taken place.Its a result of Dra-kun calling these dragons together by contacting everyone that was in range of his telepathic message.It would have been fine if they hadnt bothered to come, but Dra-kun sent a businesslike message while also mixing some emotions into his words, Please feel free to stay away. Its fine even if you dont come. Just that if you dont respond to this call and you encounter the human holding a katana in his hand and possessing an absurd amount of mana, then you wont even be given the time to beg for your life. But, if you are fine with that, please go ahead and ignore me. The response towards this call was fairly high.Certainly its true that there were some dragons that didnt care about Dra-kuns words at all, questioning why they kicked up such a fuss over the likes of a human, but the majority of the dragons, who he called out to, flew at full speed from their dens to get to Dra-kuns location.The passage human holding a katana in his hand and so on was something similar to a joke from Dra-kun, but as Emedra-kun, who apparently allowed Renya to ride on their back before, had talked about him everywhere. It looks like Renya enjoyed a fair degree of popularity even among the dragons.Lets secretly spill the whereabouts of the individuals that didnt respond to my call to Renya by telling Liaris later on, Dra-kun plans.Once the situation calms down, Im sure that he would gladly go and obtain some raw materials and food ingredients.Dra-kuns thoughts were interrupted by telepathic messages from the dragons below.Because the dragons hurled their telepathic messages at him all at once in a chaotic, unorganized manner, Dra-kun started to feel confused as he didnt understand what they wanted to tell him at first, but once he picked out one word after the other, they apparently wanted to say that he should start this quickly or were asking him how long he was going to make them wait.Certainly, even by Dra-kuns standards, he believes the time to shift into action after having gathered them is much too long, but the only one who can give the signal is Liaris, whos still grumbling complaints on Dra-kuns back. For Dra-kun, theres nothing he can do about it.After tentatively calming his loudly clamoring brethren by coaxing them, Dra-kun talks to Liaris, (Dra) And? (Liaris) (Dra) No, no, just wait a moment. I mean, I dont know whats going to happen if I give this order, but Im sure it will definitely be something absolutely outrageous, or am I wrong? (Liaris) (Dra) Dra-kun wonders what shes trying to say at this point in time, but as the other party is his master, he gives an emotionless reply so as to not show his true feelings.Liaris, who doesnt realize Dra-kuns feelings at all, folds her arms while riding on Dra-kuns back and continues to mutter even more complaints. Will this possibly result in me leaving my name in history with a bad reputation? (Liaris) (Dra) Although I just wanted to become Az wife (Liaris) While looking into the far distance, Liaris continued to leak mutters which make it hard to determine whether she is complaining or grumbling. I wonder, just where did I go wrong? (Liaris) (Dra) Even in Dra-kuns eyes, who has almost no interest in something like humans, the sorcerer with the name of Az has brusque and inaccessible parts, but hes an integral and honest person.Above all, hes one of the exceedingly few male friends of Renyas.Since he knows Liaris wishes, he will be able to make them come true. The matter of them continuing to go out with each other even afterwards was something even Dra-kun could guarantee. I feel like its somehow different. (Liaris) Swallowing down the reply Thats only natural, Dra-kun says after considering it for a moment, (Dra) After all? No, but I feel grateful towards Renya-san, okay? Im sure that I would have never become Az wife by myself. (Liaris) (Dra) But you know, ummsometimes I wonder whether there wasnt a more peaceful method. (Liaris) Liaris gazed below from Dra-kuns back and sees the loudly squealing dragons who are somehow turned in their direction.Since their telepathic communication doesnt reach Liaris, she didnt know at all what they were saying, but apparently just understanding that they seemed to blame them for something, Liaris stirred on Dra-kuns back while feeling uncomfortable. A normal wife doesnt give orders to a pack of flying dragons, right? (Liaris) (Dra) Liaris glares at the replying Dra-kun with scornful eyes. Are you saying that for real? (Liaris) (Dra) The higher-ups of the Trident Principality received an explanation of the agenda from Liaris.Moreover, she has received the archduchess permission, but as the information has been limited to the higher-ups, its not like its widely-known by the populace.The dragons dont even try to hide themselves. Given that theres no place for them to hide in the first place, Liaris group has been witnessed by quite a number of travelers.In the past there werent that many places outside of Kukrika, where people lived, except for the pioneer villages and the traffic of people was rather small as well, but now there was Klinge in between Kukrika and the Miasma Forest. And the number of people coming and going has also grown remarkably in comparison. (Dra) Thats certainly trueah, jeez, I guess I have no choice but to prepare for the worst! (Liaris) Shouting loudly while looking up into the sky, Liaris immediately returned her eyes below and slapped Dra-kuns nape once. Dra-kun, notify all of them to prepare to attack! (Liaris) (Dra) The order sent by Dra-kun is passed down to each of the dragons. They flap their wings powerfully and ascend while drawing spirals, rising to the same altitude as Dra-kun.Although its not like it had been arranged in advance, they start flying in an orderly formation obviously following Dra-kun, and only waiting for Liariss order. (Dra) Everyone, start the attack! Ah, please keep the damage to the surroundings to a minimum. (Liaris) At the same time as Liaris waves her hand down, Dra-kun suddenly enters into a nosedive.Due to that the other dragons begin their nosedive one after the other in pursuit, and fire-attributed mana, which was amassed to the breaking point in the mouths of the red dragons could be seen shedding a dazzling, red light.The ground approaches very quickly.While sensing Liaris thought,No matter how often I see it, its really something quite unpleasant, Dra-kun opened his muzzle. (Dra) At the same time as Dra-kun releases that telepathic message, he spits out the mana that had swollen up in his mouth as breath.Without even confirming the released flames destination, Dra-kun immediately raises his head and switches over to a level flight from the nosedive.The dragons following behind also spit fire one after the other and shift towards level flight, chasing after Dra-kun.Instead of the dragons, who are devoting their senses towards adjusting their posture after the nosedive, Liaris turns around on Dra-kuns back to check the result of the attack and is stunned after seeing the crimson hell in front of her eyes.The full-power fire breaths spit out by two dozen dragons raised pillars of flame towards the sky at the same time as they pierced the ground.The ground is blown away by the detonations. Things that seem to burn and those that dont are jumbled together and burst into flames by the absurd, scattered, high-temperature flames.Liaris, who is in the sky, received impacts numbing the core of her body with just the explosions, but the state of the ground didnt finish at that. The fortress made out of stone, which was right next to the aftermath of the first attack, collapsed all too quickly. Whats this? The worlds end? (Liaris) (Dra) Eh? You are still going to continue? (Liaris) Liaris thinks that its probably plenty with the attack just now, but for the dragons this was apparently only the beginning.Circling once, the dragons with Dra-kun in the lead go into a low-altitude flight without minding the heat from the brightly burning ground, and start to spit out their fire breaths without interruptions C which might as well be called rapid firing C without amassing the same amount of mana as was done before.If Renya had seen that, he would have considered that attack to be close to carpet bombing.Giving up in the middle, Liaris simply plugs her ears and follows the events with just her eyes.Just about everything in her field of view has vanished after being painted by the color of the crimson flames.After the stone fortress collapsed due to the first impact, the stones gradually became bright red due to the heat of the thoroughly spit-out flames and finally started to melt once a certain temperature was exceeded.At first the ground had an earthy color after being blown up by the explosions, but receiving many bombings in addition, it slowly changed into a vermilion color, and before long it also changes into a bright red, syrupy liquid.Once Liaris came to, the sky was filled with black smoke and the sunlight was gone. Its an eerie scenery thats illuminated by the reflections of the deep red flames released by the ground.The atmosphere is heated up, producing a glimmering heat haze. Liaris swallows with her dry throat, feeling as if shes suffocating.But then again, Liaris body is protected by Dra-kuns mana. There was no sensation of heat or suffocation, but if she had been on-site without any kind of protection, she likely would have died instantly, being burned to ashes by the blazing atmosphere. (Dra) At the point he started to wonder whether they might have gone a bit overkill, Dra-kun suspended the attack.He gives the order to examine what kind of result their attack produced. (Dra) Dra-kun collects the information of the other dragons, who have ascended to his location, and informs Liaris. (Dra) Ah, yeshavent you gone a bit too far there? (Liaris) The world filled with only flames and smoke as far as she can see is a sight that makes Liaris wonder whether Armageddon might feel like this.Liaris doubts that it was necessary to go this far, no matter how you look at it, but the reply from Dra-kun felt detached. (Dra) Really? Certainly, I guess its better than being scolded by Renya-san for holding back? (Liaris) Even Liaris could understand Dra-kuns claim that it was definitely better to carry the plan out perfectly, even if its slightly overkill, instead of it evolving into a situation where they dont know what will be done to them by Renya for having cut corners.Once she reached that conclusion, Liaris wonders whether the sea of fire spreading in front of her eyes is a fairly reasonable outcome. For nowI suppose we can call it all fine since we fulfilled the request. (Liaris) (Dra) In reaction to Dra-kuns telepathic message, the dragons started making noise by squealing loudly.Going by their behavior, thats somewhat unconditional, and it looks like they are reminding him of that. Without bearing time and place in mind, Liaris bursts into laughter.In fact the dragons were reminded of that by Dra-kun though.Just like that, the entrance of the Forest Labyrinth, which existed on the human continent for a long time was completely annihilated under the command of Dragoon Liaris. Two days after Renyas group had their meeting in the dining room.Klinges residents passed their days filled with trepidation wondering when the monsters might attack from the Miasma Forest, but for some reason it wasnt from the Miasma Forest, but from the direction of Kukrika, which was towards their rear, that they sensed some weird signs.There are also rumors that the archduchess had the soldiers, who watched the entrance of the Forest Labyrinth, pulled back. Maybe something happened in that area, was whispered among those people, who are to some extent up to date with the news, as if it was true, but those very rumors were about to become reality.Having said that, it came to be true in a sense that was quite different from what those, who are aware of it, expected. I-Is that fine~? Is it really okay~? I received permission, but is it truly alright? Bah, theres no one whos going to answer me anyway. The one who continuously muttered that, with a somewhat hollow and flat voice, since her work started is Liaris who was holding a spear with a dragon design in her hand and had her body clad in a bright red set of armor.Its a set of armor bestowed upon her by the archduchess so that she would at least look like the real deal, but going by the fact that it doesnt have any kind of extra effects other than its flashiness, it makes one understand how much Liaris herself is treated as just the dragons accessory.Usually thats a treatment that would make one feel offended, but since Liaris herself is well aware of this fact, she doesnt harbor any dissatisfaction regarding her treatment.Rather, its at the level where she prays everyday that she wont be treated as anything greater than that. I think I should have brought Az along. Telling me to do the work of a dragoon all by myself, thats cruel, right? Az is really a bit too strict about matters related to work. What do you think, Dra-kun? (Liaris) (Dra) Since the telepathic message, which was received from Dra-kun as he was looking down on the ground and leisurely flying through the air while powerfully flapping his wings, carried a feeling that he didnt really care about such trivial matters at all, Liaris hits Dra-kuns back with the palm of her hand in displeasure. Calling it inconsequential, isnt that too heartless? You dont even have a single word of consolation for your troubled master? (Liaris) (Dra) Dra-kun soars through the sky while thinking that the feeling of continuous impacts on his back wasnt all that bad.In the very beginning Liaris was tense every time they flew, and it was correct to call her way of mounting Dra-kun clinging rather than riding, but getting used to something is really frightening. Recently she stopped kicking up a fuss no matter how much Dra-kun increased his speed or what strange aerial maneuvers he performed.Even if you say that it was mostly against his will, Dra-kun didnt have the slightest intention to throw off the dragoon riding on his back, due to him being, more or less, a mount. Even if he soars freely through the sky while upside down, Dra-kun tightly affixes Liaris body to his back with mana, but Dra-kun also harbors a feeling of slight loneliness now that she has stopped acting all flustered.Even if Liaris usually experiences these kinds of things, shes probably really nervous with the scene in front of her eyes, Dra-kun turns his gaze below.What he sees on the surface is the forest where the entrance to the dungeon thats referred to as the Forest Labyrinth by the humans is located.Or to be more precise, its a place that should have been a forest.While wracking his brain wondering what might have caused such destruction, he looks at the building where the human soldiers were apparently stationed, but right now its deadly quiet with not a single soul in sight.Even while checking with his dragonic sight, he contacts the other dragons through telepathy and has them also validate that there are no people.At a height roughly midway between Dra-kun and the ground, there were two dozen dragons slowly circling around the same spot while exposing their bright red bodies to the sunlight.Its clearly an abnormal situation.The sight of dragons, who one doesnt encounter often under normal circumstances and with each of them being a specimen that carries the power of fire dragons in their bodies, gathering in one place and circling around should be a scene that you cant observe anywhere on the continent. Its a safe bet that if they were to be seen by someone, who didnt know of the present situation, that person would doubt their eyes wondering what kind of natural disaster had taken place.Its a result of Dra-kun calling these dragons together by contacting everyone that was in range of his telepathic message.It would have been fine if they hadnt bothered to come, but Dra-kun sent a businesslike message while also mixing some emotions into his words, Please feel free to stay away. Its fine even if you dont come. Just that if you dont respond to this call and you encounter the human holding a katana in his hand and possessing an absurd amount of mana, then you wont even be given the time to beg for your life. But, if you are fine with that, please go ahead and ignore me. The response towards this call was fairly high.Certainly its true that there were some dragons that didnt care about Dra-kuns words at all, questioning why they kicked up such a fuss over the likes of a human, but the majority of the dragons, who he called out to, flew at full speed from their dens to get to Dra-kuns location.The passage human holding a katana in his hand and so on was something similar to a joke from Dra-kun, but as Emedra-kun, who apparently allowed Renya to ride on their back before, had talked about him everywhere. It looks like Renya enjoyed a fair degree of popularity even among the dragons.Lets secretly spill the whereabouts of the individuals that didnt respond to my call to Renya by telling Liaris later on, Dra-kun plans.Once the situation calms down, Im sure that he would gladly go and obtain some raw materials and food ingredients.Dra-kuns thoughts were interrupted by telepathic messages from the dragons below.Because the dragons hurled their telepathic messages at him all at once in a chaotic, unorganized manner, Dra-kun started to feel confused as he didnt understand what they wanted to tell him at first, but once he picked out one word after the other, they apparently wanted to say that he should start this quickly or were asking him how long he was going to make them wait.Certainly, even by Dra-kuns standards, he believes the time to shift into action after having gathered them is much too long, but the only one who can give the signal is Liaris, whos still grumbling complaints on Dra-kuns back. For Dra-kun, theres nothing he can do about it.After tentatively calming his loudly clamoring brethren by coaxing them, Dra-kun talks to Liaris, (Dra) And? (Liaris) (Dra) No, no, just wait a moment. I mean, I dont know whats going to happen if I give this order, but Im sure it will definitely be something absolutely outrageous, or am I wrong? (Liaris) (Dra) Dra-kun wonders what shes trying to say at this point in time, but as the other party is his master, he gives an emotionless reply so as to not show his true feelings.Liaris, who doesnt realize Dra-kuns feelings at all, folds her arms while riding on Dra-kuns back and continues to mutter even more complaints. Will this possibly result in me leaving my name in history with a bad reputation? (Liaris) (Dra) Although I just wanted to become Az wife (Liaris) While looking into the far distance, Liaris continued to leak mutters which make it hard to determine whether she is complaining or grumbling. I wonder, just where did I go wrong? (Liaris) (Dra) Even in Dra-kuns eyes, who has almost no interest in something like humans, the sorcerer with the name of Az has brusque and inaccessible parts, but hes an integral and honest person.Above all, hes one of the exceedingly few male friends of Renyas.Since he knows Liaris wishes, he will be able to make them come true. The matter of them continuing to go out with each other even afterwards was something even Dra-kun could guarantee. I feel like its somehow different. (Liaris) Swallowing down the reply Thats only natural, Dra-kun says after considering it for a moment, (Dra) After all? No, but I feel grateful towards Renya-san, okay? Im sure that I would have never become Az wife by myself. (Liaris) (Dra) But you know, ummsometimes I wonder whether there wasnt a more peaceful method. (Liaris) Liaris gazed below from Dra-kuns back and sees the loudly squealing dragons who are somehow turned in their direction.Since their telepathic communication doesnt reach Liaris, she didnt know at all what they were saying, but apparently just understanding that they seemed to blame them for something, Liaris stirred on Dra-kuns back while feeling uncomfortable. A normal wife doesnt give orders to a pack of flying dragons, right? (Liaris) (Dra) Liaris glares at the replying Dra-kun with scornful eyes. Are you saying that for real? (Liaris) (Dra) The higher-ups of the Trident Principality received an explanation of the agenda from Liaris.Moreover, she has received the archduchess permission, but as the information has been limited to the higher-ups, its not like its widely-known by the populace.The dragons dont even try to hide themselves. Given that theres no place for them to hide in the first place, Liaris group has been witnessed by quite a number of travelers.In the past there werent that many places outside of Kukrika, where people lived, except for the pioneer villages and the traffic of people was rather small as well, but now there was Klinge in between Kukrika and the Miasma Forest. And the number of people coming and going has also grown remarkably in comparison. (Dra) Thats certainly trueah, jeez, I guess I have no choice but to prepare for the worst! (Liaris) Shouting loudly while looking up into the sky, Liaris immediately returned her eyes below and slapped Dra-kuns nape once. Dra-kun, notify all of them to prepare to attack! (Liaris) (Dra) The order sent by Dra-kun is passed down to each of the dragons. They flap their wings powerfully and ascend while drawing spirals, rising to the same altitude as Dra-kun.Although its not like it had been arranged in advance, they start flying in an orderly formation obviously following Dra-kun, and only waiting for Liariss order. (Dra) Everyone, start the attack! Ah, please keep the damage to the surroundings to a minimum. (Liaris) At the same time as Liaris waves her hand down, Dra-kun suddenly enters into a nosedive.Due to that the other dragons begin their nosedive one after the other in pursuit, and fire-attributed mana, which was amassed to the breaking point in the mouths of the red dragons could be seen shedding a dazzling, red light.The ground approaches very quickly.While sensing Liaris thought,No matter how often I see it, its really something quite unpleasant, Dra-kun opened his muzzle. (Dra) At the same time as Dra-kun releases that telepathic message, he spits out the mana that had swollen up in his mouth as breath.Without even confirming the released flames destination, Dra-kun immediately raises his head and switches over to a level flight from the nosedive.The dragons following behind also spit fire one after the other and shift towards level flight, chasing after Dra-kun.Instead of the dragons, who are devoting their senses towards adjusting their posture after the nosedive, Liaris turns around on Dra-kuns back to check the result of the attack and is stunned after seeing the crimson hell in front of her eyes.The full-power fire breaths spit out by two dozen dragons raised pillars of flame towards the sky at the same time as they pierced the ground.The ground is blown away by the detonations. Things that seem to burn and those that dont are jumbled together and burst into flames by the absurd, scattered, high-temperature flames.Liaris, who is in the sky, received impacts numbing the core of her body with just the explosions, but the state of the ground didnt finish at that. The fortress made out of stone, which was right next to the aftermath of the first attack, collapsed all too quickly. Whats this? The worlds end? (Liaris) (Dra) Eh? You are still going to continue? (Liaris) Liaris thinks that its probably plenty with the attack just now, but for the dragons this was apparently only the beginning.Circling once, the dragons with Dra-kun in the lead go into a low-altitude flight without minding the heat from the brightly burning ground, and start to spit out their fire breaths without interruptions C which might as well be called rapid firing C without amassing the same amount of mana as was done before.If Renya had seen that, he would have considered that attack to be close to carpet bombing.Giving up in the middle, Liaris simply plugs her ears and follows the events with just her eyes.Just about everything in her field of view has vanished after being painted by the color of the crimson flames.After the stone fortress collapsed due to the first impact, the stones gradually became bright red due to the heat of the thoroughly spit-out flames and finally started to melt once a certain temperature was exceeded.At first the ground had an earthy color after being blown up by the explosions, but receiving many bombings in addition, it slowly changed into a vermilion color, and before long it also changes into a bright red, syrupy liquid.Once Liaris came to, the sky was filled with black smoke and the sunlight was gone. Its an eerie scenery thats illuminated by the reflections of the deep red flames released by the ground.The atmosphere is heated up, producing a glimmering heat haze. Liaris swallows with her dry throat, feeling as if shes suffocating.But then again, Liaris body is protected by Dra-kuns mana. There was no sensation of heat or suffocation, but if she had been on-site without any kind of protection, she likely would have died instantly, being burned to ashes by the blazing atmosphere. (Dra) At the point he started to wonder whether they might have gone a bit overkill, Dra-kun suspended the attack.He gives the order to examine what kind of result their attack produced. (Dra) Dra-kun collects the information of the other dragons, who have ascended to his location, and informs Liaris. (Dra) Ah, yeshavent you gone a bit too far there? (Liaris) The world filled with only flames and smoke as far as she can see is a sight that makes Liaris wonder whether Armageddon might feel like this.Liaris doubts that it was necessary to go this far, no matter how you look at it, but the reply from Dra-kun felt detached. (Dra) Really? Certainly, I guess its better than being scolded by Renya-san for holding back? (Liaris) Even Liaris could understand Dra-kuns claim that it was definitely better to carry the plan out perfectly, even if its slightly overkill, instead of it evolving into a situation where they dont know what will be done to them by Renya for having cut corners.Once she reached that conclusion, Liaris wonders whether the sea of fire spreading in front of her eyes is a fairly reasonable outcome. For nowI suppose we can call it all fine since we fulfilled the request. (Liaris) (Dra) In reaction to Dra-kuns telepathic message, the dragons started making noise by squealing loudly.Going by their behavior, thats somewhat unconditional, and it looks like they are reminding him of that. Without bearing time and place in mind, Liaris bursts into laughter.In fact the dragons were reminded of that by Dra-kun though.Just like that, the entrance of the Forest Labyrinth, which existed on the human continent for a long time was completely annihilated under the command of Dragoon Liaris. Chapter 152 That means our future anxieties have been resolved with this. In his own office Renya suddenly broached a new topic.The ones who were summoned by him were just Shion and Mayria.As for the other members, Croire and Grn werent participating because they told Renya to proceed with the necessary matters as they would ultimately agree with his opinion anyway, and Lepard and Kaede decided not to attend since it seemed like a troublesome matter.Emil has disappeared leaving the message that she would entrust everything to Renya. Kurz is in the middle of taking a nap together with the priestesses in charge of taking care of him.Rona, when asked to attend, spoke over her shoulder with a terrifying expression that she doesnt have that much free time to chat as it would interrupt her document processing. Naturally, going by the rules of elimination, it means these two were the only ones summoned.Only Frau took her usual spot next to Renya without having to be called. Renyayou should use the correct words, right? No matter how you look at it, its the world that had its future anxieties resolved there. (Shion) Shion, who read the document in her hand with a scrutinizing gaze as if questioning everything, lifted her face and expressly corrected Renya, but Renya continued speaking without paying any attention to her words at all. Our future anxieties were resolved. (Renya) Is it something so important that you have to say it twice? (Shion) Immediately perceiving that its pointless to talk to him about it, Shion tilts her head to the side in doubt. Its a relief because it was destroyed to such an extent that one could say,If you can come out from there, just go ahead and try, no? (Renya) It seems so (Shion) The document in Shions hand is something that was written by one of the archduchess subordinates, not Renya, and which was delivered to Shion and Mayria through a route that Renya doesnt know of.Even though its a document, which was expressly sent by the archduchess through such a route and which should be treated as extremely confidential, Mayria and Shion have readily shown it to Renya.Renya felt uneasy, asking whether it was alright to disclose a nations confidential document to a single noble, but after receiving Mayrias freezing retort, You are the perpetrator here to begin with, he agreed while saying Well, thats true as well.The documents contents are something like a report regarding the air-strike performed by the Dragoon Liaris and the few dozen dragons the other day.By the way, through yet another route, a written reprimand stating, Please dont use the dragoon, a valuable asset of our country, as you please, was delivered to Renya, but since there was another document written by the archduchess herself attached to the letter, telling him that, The reprimand has been sent for forms sake to keep face in front of the other nobles, so please keep this matter quiet as there wont be any punishment anyway, Renya accepted the letter without kicking up a fuss while feeling pity as he says, The archduchess sure has it difficult.Putting all that aside, the report can be summed up with the statement The investigation is still ongoing.After the air-strike took place, sorcerers had urgently been recruited in Kukrika and dispatched to investigate the on-site details, but the heat of the dragons breaths, which blew the ground up, was far too fierce, hindering even the sorcerers, who cast defense spells on themselves, from getting close to the site where the Forest Labyrinths entrance had been.On the contrary, quite a few sorcerers, that were harmed by the heat wave still hanging over the area, retired all of a sudden. The sorcerers, who had headed out to investigate, helplessly deployed a barrier at a spot that was far enough for the heat to be bearable, and carried out the investigation from there through the use of divine arts and investigative spells, but they couldnt grasp almost any accurate information. Kukrikas sorcerers are quite incompetent, arent they? (Renya) There was no ill will in Renyas words or in his expression, but both, Mayria and Shion, sighed very deeply and Shion replied, If they heard that, the sorcerers living in Kukrika would cry, you know? (Shion) Shion believes that,In the first place, its unreasonable to tell people to investigate while in an environment where they would die if they were to get too close, but that was apparently a belief that didnt get through to Renya.Not being able to approach the area means that the sorcerers have to do something about the distance first. Even if they investigate through spells, that naturally means an increase in the amount of mana that has to be poured into the spells just to reach the target area.Moreover, the further away the target area is from the caster, the lower the precision of the information gathered. Even at normal distances controlling the art or spell requires a high level of proficiency in delicate techniques.In addition to these two detriments, the sorcerers also have to maintain a barrier so that they can get as close to the target area as possible. Its to the point that Shion wants Renya to seriously consider and comprehend the sorcerers hardships, but to Renya that was just another meaningless matter. Is it that difficult? (Renya) No, if one had the same amount of mana as you, Renya, it might be possible to investigate just by increasing the mana output. Shion emphasizes that he shouldnt compare himself to the sorcerers.The mana Renya owns is endlessly being supplied to Frau. And even though she earnestly keeps on creating magic gems, his mana continues to grow.Since Shion and Mayria are no specialists, they dont know how much mana Renya possesses at this point in time, but when they secretly asked the expert-like Emil about it, she said: Assuming Renyas mana was 100, then the amount of mana a normal sorcerer possesses in comparison is Close to 0, I guess. (Emil) Pardon? (Shion) Upon Shion retort despite the fact that she did in fact hear the comparative value of mana of a normal sorcerer, Emil distinctly told her, As I said, close to 0. Its so minuscule that its within the range of a measurement error. Making a comparison completely pointless. (Emil) That was how their exchange went.If you raise the output by continuously pouring a vast amount of mana, results will appear, even if the accuracy remains somewhat bad. In regards to sorcery, you have the same way of thinking as a muscle-brain, dont you Renya? (Shion) That isI have nothing to say in my defense. (Renya) Shion smiled sweetly at the slightly depressed Renya.Its a story that would make other sorcerers faint if they heard it, but Renya believes that he has no talent in sorcery.Given that he received his aptitude from that little girl, its impossible for him to doubt that he has some, but Renya thinks that he has absolutely no talent in its practical use.The reason is that his immovable thinking process makes him believe that his use of magic will only result in something sketchy with a high mana output, large firepower and an extensive range. Well, leaving that aside, what did this report want to tell us in the end? (Renya) I dont really know, but the conclusion states that the Forest Labyrinth itself is considered to have been completely destroyed. (Shion) Then they should simply write that. Isnt it pointless to mention the other parts? (Renya) Renya, it would be best for you to never encounter a normal sorcerer. You will definitely make them cry. (Shion) Upon Shions remark, Renya thought that Az would likely agree with his own opinion.If you consider Shions words and presuming his assumption is correct, it would mean that Az is not a normal sorcerer. Oh well, whatever. Seeing as our future anxieties have been resolved, we have to consider what path we should take next. (Renya) Path? (Shion) Arent we going to the dragonoid continent ~no? (Frau) Frau, whos standing next to Renya, asks while looking curious.Shion and Mayria shared her point of view.Renyas groups stay in Klinge is just for the sake of preparing the city for the demons attack while Renya and the others are gone to the dragonoid country. The three of them believe it only natural for them to head over there once the preparations are finished. I feel the desire to reduce the Miasma Forest to ashes on a wide range with a kaboom though (Renya) I understand that feeling ~no. But, since that place also serves as a border for the demon territory, meaningless obliteration is problematic ~no. (Frau) What Renya fears is a monster attack from the Miasma Forest.As its not possible to station scouting soldiers inside the Miasma Forest, Renya has limited his reconnaissance to just having his soldiers patrol near the forests boundary.But, Renya believed that the patrolling soldiers will fall behind in battle the moment they are noticed by the attacking monsters.Above all, it can be expected that the enemy army will be standing in front of the city gates by the time the patrols manage to send a report.In order to prevent such a situation, theres the solution of securing a good vantage point by burning down the forest and building several fortresses, but Frau dissuaded Renya from such an act. Its not like the Miasma Forest itself is the humans enemy and the demons ally. Since even monsters will suffer many losses while passing through the forest, its quite possible that it will end up helping the the demons invasion if you open up the area by burning down the forest. (Mayria) Whats living in that place? (Renya) Mayrias explanation had parts he could agree with, but also some he was unable to consent to.Its difficult to imagine that the monsters dwelling in the Miasma Forest would become an obstacle for other monsters. The forestseems to be inhabited by plants that usually eat living creatures, therefore (Mayria) I see. (Renya) For plants it probably doesnt matter what they eat as long as they can eat something.They dont have the hobby of being picky with their food. If that is donetheres one little thing that worries me in regards to Klinge. (Renya) Are you anxious about just leaving Keith and his men behind after all? (Mayria) Renya denies Mayrias question by shaking his head. If its only the citys defense, I think that they will be able to handle it somehow, but (Renya) What is it that troubles you then? (Mayria) I think its possible to repel an attack once or twice, butin case the city was besieged and the demons rely on their numbersthe defenses will run out of power sooner or later. (Renya) Keiths forces are no more than 500 strong.Even Renyas confident statement that they will be able to defend Klinge with those numbers is strange. However, even if one considers Keiths groups abnormal combat power, it only means that theyre somehow capable of defending the city by devoting all their efforts on defense. In case they were besieged, they still wouldnt be able to break through such a situation.Seeing as they cant break through a siege, they will gradually weaken the longer the siege lasts, and once they use up all their power, it will spell the citys end. As long as Im here, we can break through a siege as many times as we like, but (Renya) Well, yeah, thats certainly true. The three people present dont have even the slightest intention to retort Renya, who has said that hes easily capable of something which 500 soldiers cant accomplish.And, since hes actually able to follow up on his words, theres no way for them to refute him either. Not knowing how much time we are going to spend in the dragonoid country is worrisome. (Renya) In that case Frau will stay home this time ~no. (Frau) Frau hit the shoulder of the troubled Renya once.Everyones eyes gather on Frau.While showered by their gazes, Frau pushes her chest out energetically and hits it with her small fist. Master, you can entrust Klinges defense to Frau so that you can go to the dragonoid country without worries ~no. (Frau) Are you sure? (Renya) Renya had also considered the idea of leaving the citys defense to Frau, but since he thought that Frau would likely object if he told her to stay behind by herself, he hadnt proposed it so far.Even if Frau is separated from Renya, as long as she stays in Klinge, Renyas base, she will be able to exhibit all her powers. It cant be helped ~no. Though it will be painful to act separately from you, master. (Frau) Frau, it will be a huge help if I can rely on you. Can I request that of you? (Renya) Even though he feels slightly bad towards Frau, who had a somewhat gloomy expression, it doesnt change the fact that he wont be able to escape the current problem without making some kind of sacrifice. Once Renya asked earnestly, Frau accepted with a nod. Leave Klinges defense to Frau ~no. (Frau) Yeah, if I can have you stay behind, I will feel relieved. (Renya) Frau quietly approaches Renya who shows a somewhat relieved expression. But master, before you go on your trip, I have a request ~no. (Frau) Request (Renya) Renya rummages through his memories feeling a sense of dj vu.At that time she had demanded an armor with mithril coating which ended up in the birth of Kurz, a result from that black thing which couldnt hold back its hunger.Renya felt a chill in his mind, wondering what she might request this time, but as if giving Renya peace of mind, Frau showed a sweet smile. Its alright ~no. This time its a personal request for you, master ~nano. (Frau) Me? (Renya) Yes ~no. You know, actually (Frau) While attracting everyones attention by deliberately inserting a pause in-between her words, Frau dropped a bomb shell. Id like you to let me squeeze you dry for a bit ~no. (Frau) Pardon? (Shion & Mayria) Without minding their feelings, which obviously made it clear that they didnt understand, Frau continues with a smile plastered all over her face. Dont worry, it wont hurt ~no. It will be done by the time you finish counting the stains on the ceiling ~no. Ah, since the ceiling of this castle is always cleaned properly, there are no stains ~no. (Frau) Eh? Hey? Just a moment? (Renya) Well then, Im going to borrow master ~no. (Frau) Grasping Renyas hand, who started to become flustered due to his confusion, Frau, while partly dragging him along, takes him somewhere.While harboring an emotion similar to having given up, thinkingIm sure we are going to lose sight of them somewhere and we wont be able to find them, even if we chase after them, Shion simply saw them off. Ane-sama!? Squeezing Renya dryyou dont say, Frau is going toeh? Eeeeeh!? (Mayria) Calm down Mayriaits probably not what youre imagining. (Shion) Shion, in a calm mood for some reason, chides Mayria while watching her, whose face was flushed bright red from her ears to her nape, placing her hands on her cheeks and becoming completely flustered.Mayrias face after being rebuked became even redder. I-Imagine, you say, ane-sama!? (Mayria) Even if, for example, the thing you are imagining happened, we have no means to stop it. (Shion) However, in that case Renya will likely resist with all his power as long as he doesnt feel like doing it, Shion judges.In case he doesnt resist, it will basically mean that he feels up to it, which would make our meddling nothing more than boorish. If you proceed in that directionI dont think youll be able to join us as comrade (Shion) Ane-sama!? While grasping Mayrias collar, who had raised her voice to an extent that one might as well call it screaming, and shaking her in all directions, Shion pondered somewhat absentmindedly,Now then, the real question is what she intends to squeeze out of Renya. That means our future anxieties have been resolved with this. In his own office Renya suddenly broached a new topic.The ones who were summoned by him were just Shion and Mayria.As for the other members, Croire and Grn werent participating because they told Renya to proceed with the necessary matters as they would ultimately agree with his opinion anyway, and Lepard and Kaede decided not to attend since it seemed like a troublesome matter.Emil has disappeared leaving the message that she would entrust everything to Renya. Kurz is in the middle of taking a nap together with the priestesses in charge of taking care of him.Rona, when asked to attend, spoke over her shoulder with a terrifying expression that she doesnt have that much free time to chat as it would interrupt her document processing. Naturally, going by the rules of elimination, it means these two were the only ones summoned.Only Frau took her usual spot next to Renya without having to be called. Renyayou should use the correct words, right? No matter how you look at it, its the world that had its future anxieties resolved there. (Shion) Shion, who read the document in her hand with a scrutinizing gaze as if questioning everything, lifted her face and expressly corrected Renya, but Renya continued speaking without paying any attention to her words at all. Our future anxieties were resolved. (Renya) Is it something so important that you have to say it twice? (Shion) Immediately perceiving that its pointless to talk to him about it, Shion tilts her head to the side in doubt. Its a relief because it was destroyed to such an extent that one could say,If you can come out from there, just go ahead and try, no? (Renya) It seems so (Shion) The document in Shions hand is something that was written by one of the archduchess subordinates, not Renya, and which was delivered to Shion and Mayria through a route that Renya doesnt know of.Even though its a document, which was expressly sent by the archduchess through such a route and which should be treated as extremely confidential, Mayria and Shion have readily shown it to Renya.Renya felt uneasy, asking whether it was alright to disclose a nations confidential document to a single noble, but after receiving Mayrias freezing retort, You are the perpetrator here to begin with, he agreed while saying Well, thats true as well.The documents contents are something like a report regarding the air-strike performed by the Dragoon Liaris and the few dozen dragons the other day.By the way, through yet another route, a written reprimand stating, Please dont use the dragoon, a valuable asset of our country, as you please, was delivered to Renya, but since there was another document written by the archduchess herself attached to the letter, telling him that, The reprimand has been sent for forms sake to keep face in front of the other nobles, so please keep this matter quiet as there wont be any punishment anyway, Renya accepted the letter without kicking up a fuss while feeling pity as he says, The archduchess sure has it difficult.Putting all that aside, the report can be summed up with the statement The investigation is still ongoing.After the air-strike took place, sorcerers had urgently been recruited in Kukrika and dispatched to investigate the on-site details, but the heat of the dragons breaths, which blew the ground up, was far too fierce, hindering even the sorcerers, who cast defense spells on themselves, from getting close to the site where the Forest Labyrinths entrance had been.On the contrary, quite a few sorcerers, that were harmed by the heat wave still hanging over the area, retired all of a sudden. The sorcerers, who had headed out to investigate, helplessly deployed a barrier at a spot that was far enough for the heat to be bearable, and carried out the investigation from there through the use of divine arts and investigative spells, but they couldnt grasp almost any accurate information. Kukrikas sorcerers are quite incompetent, arent they? (Renya) There was no ill will in Renyas words or in his expression, but both, Mayria and Shion, sighed very deeply and Shion replied, If they heard that, the sorcerers living in Kukrika would cry, you know? (Shion) Shion believes that,In the first place, its unreasonable to tell people to investigate while in an environment where they would die if they were to get too close, but that was apparently a belief that didnt get through to Renya.Not being able to approach the area means that the sorcerers have to do something about the distance first. Even if they investigate through spells, that naturally means an increase in the amount of mana that has to be poured into the spells just to reach the target area.Moreover, the further away the target area is from the caster, the lower the precision of the information gathered. Even at normal distances controlling the art or spell requires a high level of proficiency in delicate techniques.In addition to these two detriments, the sorcerers also have to maintain a barrier so that they can get as close to the target area as possible. Its to the point that Shion wants Renya to seriously consider and comprehend the sorcerers hardships, but to Renya that was just another meaningless matter. Is it that difficult? (Renya) No, if one had the same amount of mana as you, Renya, it might be possible to investigate just by increasing the mana output. Shion emphasizes that he shouldnt compare himself to the sorcerers.The mana Renya owns is endlessly being supplied to Frau. And even though she earnestly keeps on creating magic gems, his mana continues to grow.Since Shion and Mayria are no specialists, they dont know how much mana Renya possesses at this point in time, but when they secretly asked the expert-like Emil about it, she said: Assuming Renyas mana was 100, then the amount of mana a normal sorcerer possesses in comparison is Close to 0, I guess. (Emil) Pardon? (Shion) Upon Shion retort despite the fact that she did in fact hear the comparative value of mana of a normal sorcerer, Emil distinctly told her, As I said, close to 0. Its so minuscule that its within the range of a measurement error. Making a comparison completely pointless. (Emil) That was how their exchange went.If you raise the output by continuously pouring a vast amount of mana, results will appear, even if the accuracy remains somewhat bad. In regards to sorcery, you have the same way of thinking as a muscle-brain, dont you Renya? (Shion) That isI have nothing to say in my defense. (Renya) Shion smiled sweetly at the slightly depressed Renya.Its a story that would make other sorcerers faint if they heard it, but Renya believes that he has no talent in sorcery.Given that he received his aptitude from that little girl, its impossible for him to doubt that he has some, but Renya thinks that he has absolutely no talent in its practical use.The reason is that his immovable thinking process makes him believe that his use of magic will only result in something sketchy with a high mana output, large firepower and an extensive range. Well, leaving that aside, what did this report want to tell us in the end? (Renya) I dont really know, but the conclusion states that the Forest Labyrinth itself is considered to have been completely destroyed. (Shion) Then they should simply write that. Isnt it pointless to mention the other parts? (Renya) Renya, it would be best for you to never encounter a normal sorcerer. You will definitely make them cry. (Shion) Upon Shions remark, Renya thought that Az would likely agree with his own opinion.If you consider Shions words and presuming his assumption is correct, it would mean that Az is not a normal sorcerer. Oh well, whatever. Seeing as our future anxieties have been resolved, we have to consider what path we should take next. (Renya) Path? (Shion) Arent we going to the dragonoid continent ~no? (Frau) Frau, whos standing next to Renya, asks while looking curious.Shion and Mayria shared her point of view.Renyas groups stay in Klinge is just for the sake of preparing the city for the demons attack while Renya and the others are gone to the dragonoid country. The three of them believe it only natural for them to head over there once the preparations are finished. I feel the desire to reduce the Miasma Forest to ashes on a wide range with a kaboom though (Renya) I understand that feeling ~no. But, since that place also serves as a border for the demon territory, meaningless obliteration is problematic ~no. (Frau) What Renya fears is a monster attack from the Miasma Forest.As its not possible to station scouting soldiers inside the Miasma Forest, Renya has limited his reconnaissance to just having his soldiers patrol near the forests boundary.But, Renya believed that the patrolling soldiers will fall behind in battle the moment they are noticed by the attacking monsters.Above all, it can be expected that the enemy army will be standing in front of the city gates by the time the patrols manage to send a report.In order to prevent such a situation, theres the solution of securing a good vantage point by burning down the forest and building several fortresses, but Frau dissuaded Renya from such an act. Its not like the Miasma Forest itself is the humans enemy and the demons ally. Since even monsters will suffer many losses while passing through the forest, its quite possible that it will end up helping the the demons invasion if you open up the area by burning down the forest. (Mayria) Whats living in that place? (Renya) Mayrias explanation had parts he could agree with, but also some he was unable to consent to.Its difficult to imagine that the monsters dwelling in the Miasma Forest would become an obstacle for other monsters. The forestseems to be inhabited by plants that usually eat living creatures, therefore (Mayria) I see. (Renya) For plants it probably doesnt matter what they eat as long as they can eat something.They dont have the hobby of being picky with their food. If that is donetheres one little thing that worries me in regards to Klinge. (Renya) Are you anxious about just leaving Keith and his men behind after all? (Mayria) Renya denies Mayrias question by shaking his head. If its only the citys defense, I think that they will be able to handle it somehow, but (Renya) What is it that troubles you then? (Mayria) I think its possible to repel an attack once or twice, butin case the city was besieged and the demons rely on their numbersthe defenses will run out of power sooner or later. (Renya) Keiths forces are no more than 500 strong.Even Renyas confident statement that they will be able to defend Klinge with those numbers is strange. However, even if one considers Keiths groups abnormal combat power, it only means that theyre somehow capable of defending the city by devoting all their efforts on defense. In case they were besieged, they still wouldnt be able to break through such a situation.Seeing as they cant break through a siege, they will gradually weaken the longer the siege lasts, and once they use up all their power, it will spell the citys end. As long as Im here, we can break through a siege as many times as we like, but (Renya) Well, yeah, thats certainly true. The three people present dont have even the slightest intention to retort Renya, who has said that hes easily capable of something which 500 soldiers cant accomplish.And, since hes actually able to follow up on his words, theres no way for them to refute him either. Not knowing how much time we are going to spend in the dragonoid country is worrisome. (Renya) In that case Frau will stay home this time ~no. (Frau) Frau hit the shoulder of the troubled Renya once.Everyones eyes gather on Frau.While showered by their gazes, Frau pushes her chest out energetically and hits it with her small fist. Master, you can entrust Klinges defense to Frau so that you can go to the dragonoid country without worries ~no. (Frau) Are you sure? (Renya) Renya had also considered the idea of leaving the citys defense to Frau, but since he thought that Frau would likely object if he told her to stay behind by herself, he hadnt proposed it so far.Even if Frau is separated from Renya, as long as she stays in Klinge, Renyas base, she will be able to exhibit all her powers. It cant be helped ~no. Though it will be painful to act separately from you, master. (Frau) Frau, it will be a huge help if I can rely on you. Can I request that of you? (Renya) Even though he feels slightly bad towards Frau, who had a somewhat gloomy expression, it doesnt change the fact that he wont be able to escape the current problem without making some kind of sacrifice. Once Renya asked earnestly, Frau accepted with a nod. Leave Klinges defense to Frau ~no. (Frau) Yeah, if I can have you stay behind, I will feel relieved. (Renya) Frau quietly approaches Renya who shows a somewhat relieved expression. But master, before you go on your trip, I have a request ~no. (Frau) Request (Renya) Renya rummages through his memories feeling a sense of dj vu.At that time she had demanded an armor with mithril coating which ended up in the birth of Kurz, a result from that black thing which couldnt hold back its hunger.Renya felt a chill in his mind, wondering what she might request this time, but as if giving Renya peace of mind, Frau showed a sweet smile. Its alright ~no. This time its a personal request for you, master ~nano. (Frau) Me? (Renya) Yes ~no. You know, actually (Frau) While attracting everyones attention by deliberately inserting a pause in-between her words, Frau dropped a bomb shell. Id like you to let me squeeze you dry for a bit ~no. (Frau) Pardon? (Shion & Mayria) Without minding their feelings, which obviously made it clear that they didnt understand, Frau continues with a smile plastered all over her face. Dont worry, it wont hurt ~no. It will be done by the time you finish counting the stains on the ceiling ~no. Ah, since the ceiling of this castle is always cleaned properly, there are no stains ~no. (Frau) Eh? Hey? Just a moment? (Renya) Well then, Im going to borrow master ~no. (Frau) Grasping Renyas hand, who started to become flustered due to his confusion, Frau, while partly dragging him along, takes him somewhere.While harboring an emotion similar to having given up, thinkingIm sure we are going to lose sight of them somewhere and we wont be able to find them, even if we chase after them, Shion simply saw them off. Ane-sama!? Squeezing Renya dryyou dont say, Frau is going toeh? Eeeeeh!? (Mayria) Calm down Mayriaits probably not what youre imagining. (Shion) Shion, in a calm mood for some reason, chides Mayria while watching her, whose face was flushed bright red from her ears to her nape, placing her hands on her cheeks and becoming completely flustered.Mayrias face after being rebuked became even redder. I-Imagine, you say, ane-sama!? (Mayria) Even if, for example, the thing you are imagining happened, we have no means to stop it. (Shion) However, in that case Renya will likely resist with all his power as long as he doesnt feel like doing it, Shion judges.In case he doesnt resist, it will basically mean that he feels up to it, which would make our meddling nothing more than boorish. If you proceed in that directionI dont think youll be able to join us as comrade (Shion) Ane-sama!? While grasping Mayrias collar, who had raised her voice to an extent that one might as well call it screaming, and shaking her in all directions, Shion pondered somewhat absentmindedly,Now then, the real question is what she intends to squeeze out of Renya. Chapter 153 Chapter 153 C It seems to be after the Squeezing Ive heard that Frau squeezed something out of Renya! In the early hours of the morning, Emil opened the door to Renyas office without knocking and while having a smile plastered all over her face. Immediately after, she was hit in the solar plexus by some transparent object, which came flying at her as a consequence for what she said. The impact caused her to buckle over without so much as a sound and she started cowering on the floor. Frau, with cold and piercing eyes was looking down onto Emil, who had started to twitch uncontrollably while releasing pained groans. However, there was no chance that Emil would throw up, which was surprising given the fact that she was struck with considerable force, as such resistance could be expected from a demon. Emil-ane-samais there something you want to say ~no? (Frau) E-Excuse me. I have reflected, so can you please let me off with this? (Emil) Once Emil lifts her head while still cowering on the floor and gasping painfully, Frau steps up and stands in front of her, holding something the size of a childs head in her hands.If I screw around any more than this Frau will very likely swing that down at my head without any hesitation, Emil immediately comprehended.The object, which struck her solar plexus in the instant she opened the door, is lightly rolling around in front of Emils eyes.It was a transparent, oval ball with the same size as the one in Fraus hands.While still being teary eyed, Emil looks at the sphere on the ground and then shifts her eyes towards Frau while patting the area around her solar plexus. As if having noticed something unbelievable, she looks a second time at the ball on the ground.Its shape looked rough and it wasnt stylish at all, but it had a high degree of transparency.Emil, who picks up the ball with her right hand while holding her stomach with the left, soon uttered with a stunned voice, Dont tell methis is Fraus and Renyas child? (Emil) In no time Frau swung down the ball in her hands at the crown of Emils head.Followed by a dull, wet sound, Emils head slams to the ground.The ball, which was used to hit Emil, ended up breaking due to the impact, but once Frau tidily gathers the fragments, she goes back into Renyas office and places them atop his desk.Countless balls of the same size were scattered on that table.From its appearance, Renyas desk boasted a fairly large size, but its been covered with transparent balls to the extent that one cant see the desks surface. Frauwhats with the noise? The one who asked that with a hoarse voice from atop the bed located in the room is Renya.Although Renyas attire, whos laying on the bed in a state of having all the strength drained from his body, wasnt disheveled, his voice is powerless and his body isnt moving. I exterminated a vermin ~no. (Frau) Vermin? (Renya) It was a big vermin ~no. Its fine, I crushed its head properly ~no. (Frau) Isnt treating me like a vermin far too horrible!? (Emil) Frau quietly clicks her tongue at Emil, who sat up all of a sudden. So the strike was still too shallow ~no. (Frau) Its because you haventmade sure of it, Frau (Renya) Renya!? You are also quite cruel, arentyou? (Emil) Emil was about to raise her voice in protest while lifting her body, but seeing Renya laying completely exhausted on the bed face up and motionless, caused her voice to fall apart.Seemingly having a bump located where she was firmly hit, Emil stroked her head while standing up, and then approached the bed.Renyas complexion is bad.Even though he always had a good complexion that gave one the impression that hes the very picture of health, his face is now drained of blood as if it had been bleached, making it ghastly pale.The color of his lips had changed to violet. He continues to breathe shallowly while looking pained and slightly sweating all over his body.Emil who instinctively sat down on the edge of the bed, gently placed her hand on Renyas forehead, who wasnt showing any response to her actions. It looks likehe doesnt have a fever. (Emil) Icantget sickin the firstplace. (Renya) Its a blessing from a skill which he received from that little girl, but for Renya that part is quite difficult to explain.Its not like there are people who will suddenly believe me, if I tell them something like I have received a skill from god that prevents me from getting sick.And if there are people that believed such a thing, one would doubt either their intelligence or common sense, Renya judges. Then what the hell did you do to be in such a sorry state? (Emil) While asking, Emil secretly gathers mana in her hand and lowers the temperature of her palm by a little bit.No matter how much she says that he doesnt feel feverish, Renya was still drenched in sweat.Emil judged that Renya would be a little bit more comfortable if she cooled him down somewhat, and confirming that her assumption was apparently correct, Renyas breathing calmed down and became a bit deeper. Frau made???a little blunder ~no. (Frau) At squeezing out!? You failed at just that!? If you hold it in your mouth or rub it up and down properlyuh-oh. (Emil) Once again a transparent ball comes flying towards Emils face, who was acting surprised and speaking with a weird intonation.While admiring Frau for being able to throw such a heavy ball with such force so easily, Emil caught the ball with her free hand.Thereupon Emil fixedly stares at the ball.Having babbled something quite childish before, Emil was downed by Frau, but now that she was holding the object in her hands, Emil sighs once after having examined it with her eyes. Dont tell me, Frauis this a magic stone? (Emil) When Emil asked that, hoping that shes wrong, Frau throws her chest out energetically. Thats obvious at a glance ~no! (Emil) Yeah, now that I see it from up-close, its obvious, buta normal researcher or sorcerer probably wont be able to trust their eyes if they see this. (Emil) Emil is also someone who refers to herself as a researcher.Magic stones are materials shes constantly using. Shes so familiar with magic stones that she can tell the price and quality just by looking at them.Thats why she immediately knew that the mountain of balls, which are laying on top of Renyas desk, are all magic stones after examining one of them.The problem is their size.With all of them being the size of a childs head, its a sight that contradicts common sense.In the first place, one wouldnt be able to find magic stones of this size on the market. How much would you have to pay for one of these? To begin with, just how did you get your hands on them? (Emil) Well, of course through the mana I received from master ~nano. (Frau) All of them? (Emil) Once Emil asks that while pointing at the mass of magic stones forming a mountain on top of Renyas desk, Frau shakes her head softly.Frau corrected Emil who wondered whether she had made some kind of mistake. This is only a small part of them ~nano. (Frau) While listening to Fraus response and experiencing a faint attack of dizziness, Emil carefully scrutinizes the ball in her hand.In Emils eyes, the big magic stone was of considerably high quality.Its easily to imagine that the quality and amount of mana contained within the stone is proportional to its appearance and size. This is probably priceless (Emil) Its not impossible to give the stone a price if you force the matter, but Emil couldnt believe that there would be anyone in these lands who would need magic stones of this size.The stones are too large to work as power source for sorcery tools. Even if sorcerers wanted to carry them as spare mana reservoirs, its size would turn into a bottleneck.In other words, it has a high rarity value, but it would be difficult to find a buyer. If you break them down into reasonably sized piecesbut that would be a waste, wont it? (Emil) If you break it, it will likely lead to some loss, but it would be possible to change them into marketable sizes.However, Emil didnt really want to approve of breaking a rare, huge magic stone for the sake of selling it. They arent for sale anyway ~no. (Frau) Arent you going to use them for fundraising? (Emil) I will show you how I will use them ~no. But before that (Frau) After having Emil remove her hand, Frau placed a wet, clean cloth, which she wrung once after taking it out from who-knows-where, on Renyas sweaty forehead.Moreover she wiped Renyas sweat-drenched face clean with another cloth, and put the used cloth away into the pocket of her apron dress. Master, I have a feeling that I went a bit too far ~no. I ended up draining your mana until you were on the verge of running out ~no. (Frau) Frau says apologetically.The cause for Renyas bad physical state was his mana being drained down to rock bottom as Frau said. You did it too much!? (Emil)1 Frau silents Emil, who, as usual, retorts by taking it into a dirty direction, by driving an elbow into her flank once.Renya, who was looking at those two as he somehow managed to turn his head their way, revealed a wry smile. Well, dont worry about itI recover quickly, soit will be fine. (Renya) If you can cum many times because you recover quickly, something like this isgafuu!? (Emil) Frau, who realized that an elbow strike wasnt enough, now punched the same place she had hit before with her fist.With a sound of something obviously being broken, Emil opens her eyes wide with only the whites showing and collapses, falling on top of Renya, though its not clear if that was done on purpose or if it was just a coincidence. Ah, hey! What are you trying to pull during the confusion ~nano! (Frau) He he he, if its now, Renya wont be able to resist. (Emil) Emil immediately recovers from her state of having the whites of her eyes showing and begins to raise strange laughing noises while continuously rubbing her cheek up against Renya who is in a state where he cant tear her off or escape.Behind her, Frau hurriedly took a magic stone from atop the desk, brought it with her and held it high in the air. Get off master ~no! (Frau) Due to the sound of two hard objects clashing against each other, Renya absentmindedly thinks,Im sure its the sound of a skull clashing with a magic stone, while still unable to put up any resistance.Emils body limply collapsed on top of Renyas body again after she lost consciousness. Master, sorry for having caused trouble ~no. (Frau) Forcefully pulling up Emils body, Frau drags her off the bed. Then she bows courteously in Renya direction. Its the usual. Dont mind it. Dont be too hard on Emil, okay? (Renya) I will handle her carefully ~no. (Frau) Even while answering she carelessly tosses Emils body on the ground.The dull sound of Emils head hitting the floor could be heard, but without showing any sign of caring about it, Frau begins to diligently stuff the magic stones on Renyas desk into her pocket.No matter how you look at it, just one of these magic stones should have easily exceeded the capacity of her pocket, but one magic stone after the other vanished into Fraus pocket as if it was some kind of magic trick.After a short amount of time, Frau had finished collecting all the magic stones. She then violently grabbed, for some reason, the back part of the still unconscious Emils tube top bra and started to drag Emil along. Hey, waitlike that itll be rolled up and her bare chest will be in plain sight, right? (Renya) When Frau seized the bra, most of Emils lower breast part, which are proper albeit somewhat moderate according to herself, had already been exposed.It wouldnt take much time for her breasts to become visible if she were to be dragged along like this for a little while longer.Its not clear whether Frau actually realized whats going and as such Renya stops Frau who was about leave the room. You have noticed it, havent you? Itsan act thatsnot very admirable (Renya) It cant be helped if its been exposed ~no. I will switch the place from which Im holding her ~no. (Frau) Ducking her head, Frau separated her hand from Emils bra, circled around to her feet, grabbed her ankle and resumed dragging Emils body like that. Emils right leg, which could be seen as it extended from the hot pants, is long, slender and well-proportioned.While being dragged, the unconscious Emil continuously hit her head against even the smallest of bumps on the floor while also successively bumping into walls, corners or furniture, each time causing a blunt sound. It was unclear whether this was just bad luck or done deliberately but seemingly because Frau had been cautioned by Renya, only Emils clothes arent pulled up.For an instant Renya hesitated on whether he should stop Frau or let her go, but he decided to silently see the two off.Since Frau certainly doesnt wants to hurt Emil to a point past recovery, she will likely be considerate to some extent. Besides, Emil is a demon who is quite powerful.She wont die from something like being dragged across the floor, he concluded. Probably (Renya) In the first place, Renya doesnt know where Fraus is heading to.There are several places in Renyas mansion he doesnt know of.If its a very bad place, even Frau surely wont drag Emils body while holding it like that.Renya, who finished this matter by reaching such a baseless conclusion, quietly shut his eyes on top of the bed in order for the mana to recover as fast as possible. Chapter 153 C It seems to be after the Squeezing Ive heard that Frau squeezed something out of Renya! In the early hours of the morning, Emil opened the door to Renyas office without knocking and while having a smile plastered all over her face. Immediately after, she was hit in the solar plexus by some transparent object, which came flying at her as a consequence for what she said. The impact caused her to buckle over without so much as a sound and she started cowering on the floor. Frau, with cold and piercing eyes was looking down onto Emil, who had started to twitch uncontrollably while releasing pained groans. However, there was no chance that Emil would throw up, which was surprising given the fact that she was struck with considerable force, as such resistance could be expected from a demon. Emil-ane-samais there something you want to say ~no? (Frau) E-Excuse me. I have reflected, so can you please let me off with this? (Emil) Once Emil lifts her head while still cowering on the floor and gasping painfully, Frau steps up and stands in front of her, holding something the size of a childs head in her hands.If I screw around any more than this Frau will very likely swing that down at my head without any hesitation, Emil immediately comprehended.The object, which struck her solar plexus in the instant she opened the door, is lightly rolling around in front of Emils eyes.It was a transparent, oval ball with the same size as the one in Fraus hands.While still being teary eyed, Emil looks at the sphere on the ground and then shifts her eyes towards Frau while patting the area around her solar plexus. As if having noticed something unbelievable, she looks a second time at the ball on the ground.Its shape looked rough and it wasnt stylish at all, but it had a high degree of transparency.Emil, who picks up the ball with her right hand while holding her stomach with the left, soon uttered with a stunned voice, Dont tell methis is Fraus and Renyas child? (Emil) In no time Frau swung down the ball in her hands at the crown of Emils head.Followed by a dull, wet sound, Emils head slams to the ground.The ball, which was used to hit Emil, ended up breaking due to the impact, but once Frau tidily gathers the fragments, she goes back into Renyas office and places them atop his desk.Countless balls of the same size were scattered on that table.From its appearance, Renyas desk boasted a fairly large size, but its been covered with transparent balls to the extent that one cant see the desks surface. Frauwhats with the noise? The one who asked that with a hoarse voice from atop the bed located in the room is Renya.Although Renyas attire, whos laying on the bed in a state of having all the strength drained from his body, wasnt disheveled, his voice is powerless and his body isnt moving. I exterminated a vermin ~no. (Frau) Vermin? (Renya) It was a big vermin ~no. Its fine, I crushed its head properly ~no. (Frau) Isnt treating me like a vermin far too horrible!? (Emil) Frau quietly clicks her tongue at Emil, who sat up all of a sudden. So the strike was still too shallow ~no. (Frau) Its because you haventmade sure of it, Frau (Renya) Renya!? You are also quite cruel, arentyou? (Emil) Emil was about to raise her voice in protest while lifting her body, but seeing Renya laying completely exhausted on the bed face up and motionless, caused her voice to fall apart.Seemingly having a bump located where she was firmly hit, Emil stroked her head while standing up, and then approached the bed.Renyas complexion is bad.Even though he always had a good complexion that gave one the impression that hes the very picture of health, his face is now drained of blood as if it had been bleached, making it ghastly pale.The color of his lips had changed to violet. He continues to breathe shallowly while looking pained and slightly sweating all over his body.Emil who instinctively sat down on the edge of the bed, gently placed her hand on Renyas forehead, who wasnt showing any response to her actions. It looks likehe doesnt have a fever. (Emil) Icantget sickin the firstplace. (Renya) Its a blessing from a skill which he received from that little girl, but for Renya that part is quite difficult to explain.Its not like there are people who will suddenly believe me, if I tell them something like I have received a skill from god that prevents me from getting sick.And if there are people that believed such a thing, one would doubt either their intelligence or common sense, Renya judges. Then what the hell did you do to be in such a sorry state? (Emil) While asking, Emil secretly gathers mana in her hand and lowers the temperature of her palm by a little bit.No matter how much she says that he doesnt feel feverish, Renya was still drenched in sweat.Emil judged that Renya would be a little bit more comfortable if she cooled him down somewhat, and confirming that her assumption was apparently correct, Renyas breathing calmed down and became a bit deeper. Frau made???a little blunder ~no. (Frau) At squeezing out!? You failed at just that!? If you hold it in your mouth or rub it up and down properlyuh-oh. (Emil) Once again a transparent ball comes flying towards Emils face, who was acting surprised and speaking with a weird intonation.While admiring Frau for being able to throw such a heavy ball with such force so easily, Emil caught the ball with her free hand.Thereupon Emil fixedly stares at the ball.Having babbled something quite childish before, Emil was downed by Frau, but now that she was holding the object in her hands, Emil sighs once after having examined it with her eyes. Dont tell me, Frauis this a magic stone? (Emil) When Emil asked that, hoping that shes wrong, Frau throws her chest out energetically. Thats obvious at a glance ~no! (Emil) Yeah, now that I see it from up-close, its obvious, buta normal researcher or sorcerer probably wont be able to trust their eyes if they see this. (Emil) Emil is also someone who refers to herself as a researcher.Magic stones are materials shes constantly using. Shes so familiar with magic stones that she can tell the price and quality just by looking at them.Thats why she immediately knew that the mountain of balls, which are laying on top of Renyas desk, are all magic stones after examining one of them.The problem is their size.With all of them being the size of a childs head, its a sight that contradicts common sense.In the first place, one wouldnt be able to find magic stones of this size on the market. How much would you have to pay for one of these? To begin with, just how did you get your hands on them? (Emil) Well, of course through the mana I received from master ~nano. (Frau) All of them? (Emil) Once Emil asks that while pointing at the mass of magic stones forming a mountain on top of Renyas desk, Frau shakes her head softly.Frau corrected Emil who wondered whether she had made some kind of mistake. This is only a small part of them ~nano. (Frau) While listening to Fraus response and experiencing a faint attack of dizziness, Emil carefully scrutinizes the ball in her hand.In Emils eyes, the big magic stone was of considerably high quality.Its easily to imagine that the quality and amount of mana contained within the stone is proportional to its appearance and size. This is probably priceless (Emil) Its not impossible to give the stone a price if you force the matter, but Emil couldnt believe that there would be anyone in these lands who would need magic stones of this size.The stones are too large to work as power source for sorcery tools. Even if sorcerers wanted to carry them as spare mana reservoirs, its size would turn into a bottleneck.In other words, it has a high rarity value, but it would be difficult to find a buyer. If you break them down into reasonably sized piecesbut that would be a waste, wont it? (Emil) If you break it, it will likely lead to some loss, but it would be possible to change them into marketable sizes.However, Emil didnt really want to approve of breaking a rare, huge magic stone for the sake of selling it. They arent for sale anyway ~no. (Frau) Arent you going to use them for fundraising? (Emil) I will show you how I will use them ~no. But before that (Frau) After having Emil remove her hand, Frau placed a wet, clean cloth, which she wrung once after taking it out from who-knows-where, on Renyas sweaty forehead.Moreover she wiped Renyas sweat-drenched face clean with another cloth, and put the used cloth away into the pocket of her apron dress. Master, I have a feeling that I went a bit too far ~no. I ended up draining your mana until you were on the verge of running out ~no. (Frau) Frau says apologetically.The cause for Renyas bad physical state was his mana being drained down to rock bottom as Frau said. You did it too much!? (Emil)1 Frau silents Emil, who, as usual, retorts by taking it into a dirty direction, by driving an elbow into her flank once.Renya, who was looking at those two as he somehow managed to turn his head their way, revealed a wry smile. Well, dont worry about itI recover quickly, soit will be fine. (Renya) If you can cum many times because you recover quickly, something like this isgafuu!? (Emil) Frau, who realized that an elbow strike wasnt enough, now punched the same place she had hit before with her fist.With a sound of something obviously being broken, Emil opens her eyes wide with only the whites showing and collapses, falling on top of Renya, though its not clear if that was done on purpose or if it was just a coincidence. Ah, hey! What are you trying to pull during the confusion ~nano! (Frau) He he he, if its now, Renya wont be able to resist. (Emil) Emil immediately recovers from her state of having the whites of her eyes showing and begins to raise strange laughing noises while continuously rubbing her cheek up against Renya who is in a state where he cant tear her off or escape.Behind her, Frau hurriedly took a magic stone from atop the desk, brought it with her and held it high in the air. Get off master ~no! (Frau) Due to the sound of two hard objects clashing against each other, Renya absentmindedly thinks,Im sure its the sound of a skull clashing with a magic stone, while still unable to put up any resistance.Emils body limply collapsed on top of Renyas body again after she lost consciousness. Master, sorry for having caused trouble ~no. (Frau) Forcefully pulling up Emils body, Frau drags her off the bed. Then she bows courteously in Renya direction. Its the usual. Dont mind it. Dont be too hard on Emil, okay? (Renya) I will handle her carefully ~no. (Frau) Even while answering she carelessly tosses Emils body on the ground.The dull sound of Emils head hitting the floor could be heard, but without showing any sign of caring about it, Frau begins to diligently stuff the magic stones on Renyas desk into her pocket.No matter how you look at it, just one of these magic stones should have easily exceeded the capacity of her pocket, but one magic stone after the other vanished into Fraus pocket as if it was some kind of magic trick.After a short amount of time, Frau had finished collecting all the magic stones. She then violently grabbed, for some reason, the back part of the still unconscious Emils tube top bra and started to drag Emil along. Hey, waitlike that itll be rolled up and her bare chest will be in plain sight, right? (Renya) When Frau seized the bra, most of Emils lower breast part, which are proper albeit somewhat moderate according to herself, had already been exposed.It wouldnt take much time for her breasts to become visible if she were to be dragged along like this for a little while longer.Its not clear whether Frau actually realized whats going and as such Renya stops Frau who was about leave the room. You have noticed it, havent you? Itsan act thatsnot very admirable (Renya) It cant be helped if its been exposed ~no. I will switch the place from which Im holding her ~no. (Frau) Ducking her head, Frau separated her hand from Emils bra, circled around to her feet, grabbed her ankle and resumed dragging Emils body like that. Emils right leg, which could be seen as it extended from the hot pants, is long, slender and well-proportioned.While being dragged, the unconscious Emil continuously hit her head against even the smallest of bumps on the floor while also successively bumping into walls, corners or furniture, each time causing a blunt sound. It was unclear whether this was just bad luck or done deliberately but seemingly because Frau had been cautioned by Renya, only Emils clothes arent pulled up.For an instant Renya hesitated on whether he should stop Frau or let her go, but he decided to silently see the two off.Since Frau certainly doesnt wants to hurt Emil to a point past recovery, she will likely be considerate to some extent. Besides, Emil is a demon who is quite powerful.She wont die from something like being dragged across the floor, he concluded. Probably (Renya) In the first place, Renya doesnt know where Fraus is heading to.There are several places in Renyas mansion he doesnt know of.If its a very bad place, even Frau surely wont drag Emils body while holding it like that.Renya, who finished this matter by reaching such a baseless conclusion, quietly shut his eyes on top of the bed in order for the mana to recover as fast as possible. Chapter 154 Chapter 154 C It seems to be the Travel to the Northern Continent The humans and the beastmen tentatively possessed a route leading to the dragonoids country.However, said routes were extremely restricted. Even if you could go through them, it was actually limited to the area around the dragonoid continents entrance.It seems to have been set up like this because the dragonoids hate the humans, who are deeply attached to money, and the beastmen, whose heads are filled with nothing but battle. However, both the humans and the beastmen are apparently much weaker than the dragonoids in terms of physical abilities, or so Renya was told by Shion and Lepard.Couldnt they just get rid of them in that case?Renya wonders, but it appears that the dragonoids are a race that doesnt have a large population. In the long run, the dragonoids were made to suffer extremely annoying experiences. However it never went as far as becoming a disadvantageous situation for them despite the humans or beastmens overwhelming advantage in numbers.As a result the dragonoids decided to keep the interaction with these two races to the bare minimum. Only the elves, who dislike combat and dont pay that much attention to money either, were considered an exception and were thus able to continue a fairly deep association with the dragonoids. For that reason the transfer gates in the elven country maintain pathways that reach all over the dragonoid country. Renya nods, somewhat understanding Croires explanation, who spoke while letting a bragging tone resonate in her words.The reason hes pretending that he didnt listen to the story too closely is because the looks of the human female camp starting with Shion, and the beastmen priestesses starting with Kaede are quite scary.This is because Croire completely explained why the dragonoids hate those two races while supplementing her story with actual examples from the past.In Renyas eyes it seemed as if that wasnt really related to the matter at hand, but Croire weaved an unusual amount of spite into all her words. As she talked about how elegant, refined and peaceful the elves are compared to the other two races, Renya sensed how the severity of Shions and the others gazes went up several levels, which made him think that it was in his best interest to act as if it was someone elses problem.Does the elven race possibly have parts which make people see them as an arrogant, intolerable race around here?Renya pondered, but since he felt like Croire would keep on boasting forever, if he didnt put a stop to it, Renya picked a suitable moment and interrupted her speech. I got the gist of it. That much is enough, Croire. (Renya) Really? If its a conversation about this story, even spending a fair number of nights would still cut it short, I guess we will continue another time. (Croire) Croire was dissatisfied as she wasnt able to explain sufficiently, in her opinion, but she apparently understands that the current situation is not one that allows spending that much time talking about this topic.Around them elven soldiers and craftsmen are busily preparing the transfer gate.In the end around two days C counting from the time when Emil visited Renyas room C were necessary for Renyas physical condition to return to normal.Renya should possess resilience that goes beyond that of normal humans thanks to the benefit of his skills, but since Renyas enormous amount of mana, which cant be described as anything but colossal even in the eyes of the demons, was on the verge of running dry, it took that much more time for it to return to its original state.However, in regards to this, it might have gone a little bit faster if he had decided to stop supplying Frau with mana. Is your body alright, Renya? (Emil) Emil, whos the only one that personally saw Renyas state when he was completely drained, asks about Renyas condition at every opportunity, apparently having the image of the weakened Renya deeply carved into her mind.Even Renya knows that shes just worrying about him, but once he had been asked over and over again, he started to wonder whether her questions might be linked to some kind of investigation. However, since Emils expression was making it fully clear that she was asking entirely out of worry, he couldnt be too cruel to her either. No problem. I have already recovered. (Renya) Great, then its fine. Come to think of it, a humans body has the function to try become sturdier than before it was broken, but how about your case, Renya? (Emil) I dont know. Thats all I can tell you. (Renya) The amount of mana one possesses grows larger the more one uses it.If its Renya, who possess a skill to break through the growth limit, then he will grow endlessly, exceeding the peak of what a normal human is capable of by leaps and bounds.Emil doesnt know that Renya has such a cheat-like skill, but because she knows that Renyas massive mana pool has been increasing since the day they first met, she thinks that his upper limit is still far away.Even the words Renya answered her are the truth in her eyes. Its not like it matters, but Croire, how much time is it going to take to open a path to the dragonoid country? Renyas party, which spend another day to prepare for the long-distance trip after Renyas recovery, entrusted Klinge to Mayria, Frau and Keiths group, and entered the elven country through Klinges transfer gate.There were some comments asking whether it wouldnt have be fine to leave everything to Frau, but as Renya regarded doing so as a problem, he decided to have Mayria stay behind as an office worker, too.Renyas opinion that Mayria waiting in Klinge is safer than going to the dragonoid country, where its unknown what might happen, was approved by everyone.Renya went through the transfer gate while hearing Fraus reassuring words, You can leave the rest to me ~no, but on the other side C the elven countrys transfer gate C their further travel was delayed.There was a proper reason to that. I cant tell you anything in particular. However, everyone is giving it their best. Croire says while sitting in one of the chairs which had been carried into the gate room to be used by Renyas party. Normally the path to the dragonoid country is always active, so it must have been cut after all. I fear that its likely due to some problems with the devices at the gates destination. Thus we are now going to use a path that leads to a transfer gate thats located close to the Dragons Den, but that paths not always active from our side, and we normally use it after having someone connect it from the other side. (Croire) Normally we first send a usage request through a path thats always active. If thats accepted, the pathway to the Dragons Den can be used after having the dragonoids connect it to the elven transfer gate, Croire explains.However, since it wasnt possible to go through the proper procedure this time, the elves are trying to open the pathway from their side, which is the reason why its taking so long.Possibly predicting that there might be a situation where the elves have to use the transfer gate while unable to contact them through the usual route, the dragonoids made sure that the pathway could be opened from the elves side, but since it would be a bother if the elves used it arbitrarily, the dragonoids have made the method troublesome by requiring the elves to go through several proper steps in order to activate it. At present the elves are in the midst of going through those steps with all their craftsmen present. By the way, please remember that it would normally turn into a huge problem and a territorial violation, if you were to use the pathway to the dragonoid country without going through the proper procedures, Renya. (Croire) Why are you cautioning me by name? (Renya) Renya replied with that question while looking astonished, but although there was no reply, the thoughts of everyone present aligned to,Youd be the only one to do that. This time I have more or less acquired permission from father, but to the bitter end this is just an irregular exception. (Croire) Ah, he was here, wasnt he, that emperor? (Renya) Immediately after Renyas group went through the transfer gate from the human domain to the elven domain, the one who received them in front of the transfer gate was the emperor.He apparently thought that he could have a reunion with his daughter after a such a long time, but seemingly because Croires impression of him, from the last time they departed, was too bad or because the current situation is too serious, Croire didnt show the emperor any care at all, and even went as far as pressuring him into quickly handing over the license for the pathway to the dragonoid country. In the end the emperor sadly left after being told to go back if his business with Renyas party was finished.Renya was about to interject since her treatment was far too awful, but on top of being held back by Croires gaze, he was even stopped by Grn. Theres nothing to worry about. He has come here while knowing that he would likely receive such treatment. (Grn) Since its father, that makes sense. Something like drawing joy out of being treated cruelly by his daughter, just how much of a pervert is he? (Croire) Grn intended to provide a follow-up in his very own way, but that ended up with him giving Croire a new trigger. You say that, but at least show him a kind face from time to time, okay? (Renya) Since Renya is pretty much receiving some of the emperors grace through the various kinds of food ingredients, although one could call that compensation for taking care of Croire, he decided to go out of his way to back the emperor. I will deal with it appropriately (Croire) Renya taps Croires shoulder who felt somewhat unwilling.There were parts, where even Renya had difficulty in judging just how serious Croire was, but in Renyas eyes the emperor and Croire being on good terms was preferable on an emotional level.Although, thats limited to Renyas uneasiness due to Croires complete disregard for the emperor. Leaving that matter aside, how much longer is it going to take? (Shion) Being asked by Shion, Croire grabs one of the nearby craftsmen and asks him about the progress.Once the captured craftsman comprehended that the other party was Croire, the emperors daughter, he bowed respectfully and then started to explain the situation in a whisper.His voice was extremely quiet, so low that even Renya, whos right next to them, couldnt hear it, but as it was apparently loud enough for elves due to their good hearing, Croire nodded repeatedly.Once the engineer finished briefly explaining the situation to Croire, he bowed once again and returned to his own work. The work seems to be going well. However, the dragonoids arranged the procedures to be thoroughly troublesome. (Croire) It probably cant be helped if its an emergency pathway, but they sure are a very careful race, those dragonoids. (Renya) Well, how do I phrase it bestits a race that has various peculiarities. (Croire) Renya was extremely curious about what she summed up asvarious peculiarities, but just when he was about to ask Croire, another craftsman shouted, All steps have been cleared. Im going to open the pathway. Normally only pitch-black space unfolds between gates, but seemingly because this transfer gate was operating differently than a normal one, it shines in a pale blue light.What makes Renya and the others worry even more than the color is the low humming sound of it operating that resounds within the room. Given that its not the usual process, I think its normal for it to be different from always, but Did he notice the expressions everyone, except for the elves, was currently carrying? The craftsman says that to give them peace of mind, but its not like they can feel relieved from the fact theyll be transferring in a state different from usual. So, their eyes naturally gathered on Renya. No, its troubling if you look at me (Renya) Its fine. I have seen this happening several times. Now, lets go, Renya. (Croire) Having judged that there wont be any progress unless someone passes through the gate, Croire goes around to Renyas back and starts pushing him in the direction of the transfer gate with both hands.Its not like Renya was outmatched in power, but he doesnt even resist, thinking that its best to go along with Croire here. However, Shion decided to cling to his left arm.Due to Shion tightly hugging Renyas arm, he cant help but to think,Well, I guess it cant be helped if shes anxious. At almost the same time Rona and Croire look at Shion from behind, unseen by Renya, with expressions crying Damn it! Whats going on with this? (Lepard) Kaede answered Lepard who doesnt understand the situation, I guess it means that Shion-san took a point there. (Kaede) Hah? (Lepard) If you dont get it, then lets leave it at that. Putting that aside, Im feeling slightly uneasy as well, so please guide me. (Kaede) Okay, got it. (Lepard) Lepard nodded and chased after Renya who has vanished into the transfer gate while being pushed by Croire and Shion clinging to his arm.Behind him, Kaede snuggles up to Lepard closely. Trying to follow them, the other members also pass through the transfer gate. Chapter 154 C It seems to be the Travel to the Northern Continent The humans and the beastmen tentatively possessed a route leading to the dragonoids country.However, said routes were extremely restricted. Even if you could go through them, it was actually limited to the area around the dragonoid continents entrance.It seems to have been set up like this because the dragonoids hate the humans, who are deeply attached to money, and the beastmen, whose heads are filled with nothing but battle. However, both the humans and the beastmen are apparently much weaker than the dragonoids in terms of physical abilities, or so Renya was told by Shion and Lepard.Couldnt they just get rid of them in that case?Renya wonders, but it appears that the dragonoids are a race that doesnt have a large population. In the long run, the dragonoids were made to suffer extremely annoying experiences. However it never went as far as becoming a disadvantageous situation for them despite the humans or beastmens overwhelming advantage in numbers.As a result the dragonoids decided to keep the interaction with these two races to the bare minimum. Only the elves, who dislike combat and dont pay that much attention to money either, were considered an exception and were thus able to continue a fairly deep association with the dragonoids. For that reason the transfer gates in the elven country maintain pathways that reach all over the dragonoid country. Renya nods, somewhat understanding Croires explanation, who spoke while letting a bragging tone resonate in her words.The reason hes pretending that he didnt listen to the story too closely is because the looks of the human female camp starting with Shion, and the beastmen priestesses starting with Kaede are quite scary.This is because Croire completely explained why the dragonoids hate those two races while supplementing her story with actual examples from the past.In Renyas eyes it seemed as if that wasnt really related to the matter at hand, but Croire weaved an unusual amount of spite into all her words. As she talked about how elegant, refined and peaceful the elves are compared to the other two races, Renya sensed how the severity of Shions and the others gazes went up several levels, which made him think that it was in his best interest to act as if it was someone elses problem.Does the elven race possibly have parts which make people see them as an arrogant, intolerable race around here?Renya pondered, but since he felt like Croire would keep on boasting forever, if he didnt put a stop to it, Renya picked a suitable moment and interrupted her speech. I got the gist of it. That much is enough, Croire. (Renya) Really? If its a conversation about this story, even spending a fair number of nights would still cut it short, I guess we will continue another time. (Croire) Croire was dissatisfied as she wasnt able to explain sufficiently, in her opinion, but she apparently understands that the current situation is not one that allows spending that much time talking about this topic.Around them elven soldiers and craftsmen are busily preparing the transfer gate.In the end around two days C counting from the time when Emil visited Renyas room C were necessary for Renyas physical condition to return to normal.Renya should possess resilience that goes beyond that of normal humans thanks to the benefit of his skills, but since Renyas enormous amount of mana, which cant be described as anything but colossal even in the eyes of the demons, was on the verge of running dry, it took that much more time for it to return to its original state.However, in regards to this, it might have gone a little bit faster if he had decided to stop supplying Frau with mana. Is your body alright, Renya? (Emil) Emil, whos the only one that personally saw Renyas state when he was completely drained, asks about Renyas condition at every opportunity, apparently having the image of the weakened Renya deeply carved into her mind.Even Renya knows that shes just worrying about him, but once he had been asked over and over again, he started to wonder whether her questions might be linked to some kind of investigation. However, since Emils expression was making it fully clear that she was asking entirely out of worry, he couldnt be too cruel to her either. No problem. I have already recovered. (Renya) Great, then its fine. Come to think of it, a humans body has the function to try become sturdier than before it was broken, but how about your case, Renya? (Emil) I dont know. Thats all I can tell you. (Renya) The amount of mana one possesses grows larger the more one uses it.If its Renya, who possess a skill to break through the growth limit, then he will grow endlessly, exceeding the peak of what a normal human is capable of by leaps and bounds.Emil doesnt know that Renya has such a cheat-like skill, but because she knows that Renyas massive mana pool has been increasing since the day they first met, she thinks that his upper limit is still far away.Even the words Renya answered her are the truth in her eyes. Its not like it matters, but Croire, how much time is it going to take to open a path to the dragonoid country? Renyas party, which spend another day to prepare for the long-distance trip after Renyas recovery, entrusted Klinge to Mayria, Frau and Keiths group, and entered the elven country through Klinges transfer gate.There were some comments asking whether it wouldnt have be fine to leave everything to Frau, but as Renya regarded doing so as a problem, he decided to have Mayria stay behind as an office worker, too.Renyas opinion that Mayria waiting in Klinge is safer than going to the dragonoid country, where its unknown what might happen, was approved by everyone.Renya went through the transfer gate while hearing Fraus reassuring words, You can leave the rest to me ~no, but on the other side C the elven countrys transfer gate C their further travel was delayed.There was a proper reason to that. I cant tell you anything in particular. However, everyone is giving it their best. Croire says while sitting in one of the chairs which had been carried into the gate room to be used by Renyas party. Normally the path to the dragonoid country is always active, so it must have been cut after all. I fear that its likely due to some problems with the devices at the gates destination. Thus we are now going to use a path that leads to a transfer gate thats located close to the Dragons Den, but that paths not always active from our side, and we normally use it after having someone connect it from the other side. (Croire) Normally we first send a usage request through a path thats always active. If thats accepted, the pathway to the Dragons Den can be used after having the dragonoids connect it to the elven transfer gate, Croire explains.However, since it wasnt possible to go through the proper procedure this time, the elves are trying to open the pathway from their side, which is the reason why its taking so long.Possibly predicting that there might be a situation where the elves have to use the transfer gate while unable to contact them through the usual route, the dragonoids made sure that the pathway could be opened from the elves side, but since it would be a bother if the elves used it arbitrarily, the dragonoids have made the method troublesome by requiring the elves to go through several proper steps in order to activate it. At present the elves are in the midst of going through those steps with all their craftsmen present. By the way, please remember that it would normally turn into a huge problem and a territorial violation, if you were to use the pathway to the dragonoid country without going through the proper procedures, Renya. (Croire) Why are you cautioning me by name? (Renya) Renya replied with that question while looking astonished, but although there was no reply, the thoughts of everyone present aligned to,Youd be the only one to do that. This time I have more or less acquired permission from father, but to the bitter end this is just an irregular exception. (Croire) Ah, he was here, wasnt he, that emperor? (Renya) Immediately after Renyas group went through the transfer gate from the human domain to the elven domain, the one who received them in front of the transfer gate was the emperor.He apparently thought that he could have a reunion with his daughter after a such a long time, but seemingly because Croires impression of him, from the last time they departed, was too bad or because the current situation is too serious, Croire didnt show the emperor any care at all, and even went as far as pressuring him into quickly handing over the license for the pathway to the dragonoid country. In the end the emperor sadly left after being told to go back if his business with Renyas party was finished.Renya was about to interject since her treatment was far too awful, but on top of being held back by Croires gaze, he was even stopped by Grn. Theres nothing to worry about. He has come here while knowing that he would likely receive such treatment. (Grn) Since its father, that makes sense. Something like drawing joy out of being treated cruelly by his daughter, just how much of a pervert is he? (Croire) Grn intended to provide a follow-up in his very own way, but that ended up with him giving Croire a new trigger. You say that, but at least show him a kind face from time to time, okay? (Renya) Since Renya is pretty much receiving some of the emperors grace through the various kinds of food ingredients, although one could call that compensation for taking care of Croire, he decided to go out of his way to back the emperor. I will deal with it appropriately (Croire) Renya taps Croires shoulder who felt somewhat unwilling.There were parts, where even Renya had difficulty in judging just how serious Croire was, but in Renyas eyes the emperor and Croire being on good terms was preferable on an emotional level.Although, thats limited to Renyas uneasiness due to Croires complete disregard for the emperor. Leaving that matter aside, how much longer is it going to take? (Shion) Being asked by Shion, Croire grabs one of the nearby craftsmen and asks him about the progress.Once the captured craftsman comprehended that the other party was Croire, the emperors daughter, he bowed respectfully and then started to explain the situation in a whisper.His voice was extremely quiet, so low that even Renya, whos right next to them, couldnt hear it, but as it was apparently loud enough for elves due to their good hearing, Croire nodded repeatedly.Once the engineer finished briefly explaining the situation to Croire, he bowed once again and returned to his own work. The work seems to be going well. However, the dragonoids arranged the procedures to be thoroughly troublesome. (Croire) It probably cant be helped if its an emergency pathway, but they sure are a very careful race, those dragonoids. (Renya) Well, how do I phrase it bestits a race that has various peculiarities. (Croire) Renya was extremely curious about what she summed up asvarious peculiarities, but just when he was about to ask Croire, another craftsman shouted, All steps have been cleared. Im going to open the pathway. Normally only pitch-black space unfolds between gates, but seemingly because this transfer gate was operating differently than a normal one, it shines in a pale blue light.What makes Renya and the others worry even more than the color is the low humming sound of it operating that resounds within the room. Given that its not the usual process, I think its normal for it to be different from always, but Did he notice the expressions everyone, except for the elves, was currently carrying? The craftsman says that to give them peace of mind, but its not like they can feel relieved from the fact theyll be transferring in a state different from usual. So, their eyes naturally gathered on Renya. No, its troubling if you look at me (Renya) Its fine. I have seen this happening several times. Now, lets go, Renya. (Croire) Having judged that there wont be any progress unless someone passes through the gate, Croire goes around to Renyas back and starts pushing him in the direction of the transfer gate with both hands.Its not like Renya was outmatched in power, but he doesnt even resist, thinking that its best to go along with Croire here. However, Shion decided to cling to his left arm.Due to Shion tightly hugging Renyas arm, he cant help but to think,Well, I guess it cant be helped if shes anxious. At almost the same time Rona and Croire look at Shion from behind, unseen by Renya, with expressions crying Damn it! Whats going on with this? (Lepard) Kaede answered Lepard who doesnt understand the situation, I guess it means that Shion-san took a point there. (Kaede) Hah? (Lepard) If you dont get it, then lets leave it at that. Putting that aside, Im feeling slightly uneasy as well, so please guide me. (Kaede) Okay, got it. (Lepard) Lepard nodded and chased after Renya who has vanished into the transfer gate while being pushed by Croire and Shion clinging to his arm.Behind him, Kaede snuggles up to Lepard closely. Trying to follow them, the other members also pass through the transfer gate. Chapter 155 Chapter 155 C It seems to be the Preparation for the Defensive Battle The Kunugi Margraviate is situated at the westernmost end of the human continent.In the center of Klinge C the biggest city within the territory C lies Renyas castle.As Renya, the feudal lord, couldnt come up with a clever name for it, its simply called Feudal Lords Castle. Frau stood on one of the castles balcony facing the western side.With her standing there calmly while the hem of her apron dress and her flaxen hair fluttered in the somewhat strong gusts of wind, she looked like a normal little girl one could find anywhere, but she boasted of a majestic aura similar to that of some countrys general. Standing behind her, Keith was rapidly blinking after having rubbed his eyes.Even so, the coercion he feels coming from Fraus back remains the same.Fixedly staring in the Miasma Forests direction with her arms folded, she had the appearance that would allow her to be introduced as a princess general from some country and no one would doubt it. However, her age and height didnt make such a story believable.But, no matter how many times he looks at her, Frau is still a little girl.Frau calls out to Keith, who began to believe that he himself is completely losing out in term of aura when compared to Frau, while directly looking into his eyes. Keith-san, what are you thinking about ~no? (Frau) UmmmIm wondering whether they will come attacking, I guess? (Keith) The report from the scouts regarding a change in atmosphere in the Miasma Forest arrived right after Renya and the others departed to the elven country through the transfer gate.Starting with sudden noisiness in the forest, which had been silent until then, the soldiers, who had even gone as far as going inside the forest to investigate, a task that appeared somewhat unreasonable, apparently discovered several monster swarms.Seeing swarms of monsters in the Miasma Forest wasnt that unusual, but as its at most been goblin or kobold packs, it completely changes once those swarms consist of completely armed orcs and trolls.Even though orcs and trolls are already a considerable as threat when theyre just strays with simple weapons, it turns into a major headache when one considers the possible threat level of a conglomerate of orcs and trolls that are wearing proper weapons and donning armors.As the vague topic, which he came up with owed to his inability to bring up something else to answer Fraus question, was more depressing than he thought, Keith started to feel slightly disappointed at his own inability to hold a conversation.However, for Frau that topic apparently wasnt as depressing as Keith thought. Frau calmly responded as if its trifling. Well, its set in stone that they will do so ~no. (Frau) After all. (Keith) Upon Frau saying that with a tone as if she were asking him why hes going on about such a thing at this point in time, Keith placed a hand on his forehead and sighed very deeply.Now that Im told, once again, directly that the enemy will come C even if it had been predicted C I cant stop myself from feeling gloomy about it. What brave children ~nano. (Frau) Pardon? (Keith) Keith asks back as Fraus remark, which completely disregarded Keiths innermost thoughts, felt like it was extremely out-of-place.Even though he implied plenty of doubt in his voice, Frau continues talking without turning around towards Keith while revealing a smile on her lips. Its the brave children that motionlessly waited within the forest for the masters presence to disappear in order to attack Klinge as they didnt see any chance to win while he was here. The fact that they didnt run away, which is a common tendency in monsters as they dont feel any loyalty, is remarkable ~no. (Frau) Shes most likely praising them, but to Keith those words felt somewhat off. You call that brave? (Keith) You dont ~no? (Frau) Being refuted by Keith, Frau finally turns around with a puzzled look.Its probably not wrong to use the word this way, but if you consider that the orcs and trolls have been readying their weapons while holding their breath within the forest for Renyas presence to disappear, its rather impossible to call such an act brave. Pull the line of the forests surveillance back a bit for now. Be careful not to incur any losses ~no. (Frau) Just because they saw monsters in the forest, doesnt mean Klinge is going to be plunged into battle all of a sudden. Its necessary for the monsters to march from the forest to Klinge.Along that route there are several settlements that have already been evacuated. As the monster army will likely raid every settlement in their path in search of humans who were late in escaping as well as any money or food left behind, its expected that these settlements will slow the monster army down to some extent.Frau wanted to set some traps as the settlements were going to be trampled down anyway.To be precise, Frau proposed to Renya to set up devices that will explode, dragging the whole settlement into the blast, but as this was rejected by Renya, she wasnt able to put such a strategy into practice.According to Renya, having their houses destroyed by the attacking monsters compared to having them destroyed by Renya and the others will give the residents a completely different impression, even if they argue that its a strategic decision. I somewhat understand the notion ~no. But its inefficient ~no. (Frau) Frau grumbles, but its impossible to go against her masters will.Its not like we know what the scale of the demon kings army thats going to attack Klinge will be, but the numbers that would have been defeated through the planted traps would very likely only enter the range of a measurement error, Frau renews her thinking. Anyway, theres no other option but to defend Klinge with our current cards. What are we going to do about Tridents army which were left outside the city? (Keith) Leave them alone until they contact us ~nano. But if the enemy army comes into sight, we will ignore them even if they contact us ~nano. (Frau) Since Renya is a noble, he has various ties of obligation, but for Frau something like that doesnt exist.And, its Frau who has been entrusted with Klinges defense. In the current situation the principalitys army outside the wall doesnt register as a protection target for Frau.Given that Frau is a fairy, she can refuse matters she hasnt been informed about with a simple I havent been ordered to do so.In that case the question of responsibility will shift to the one giving her orders, in other words, Renya, but as Renya is personally attending to the heros job of visiting the dragonoid country to check its condition while taking said hero along, he could argue that he forgot as he was very busy.Even Frau didnt know whether Renya entrusted her with the citys defense after thinking this far ahead, but since theres no gain in being concerned about such things, Frau plans to boldly ignore the existence of Tridents army. Id really like to ask Margrave-dono to come back as soon as possible. (Keith) Seemingly judging it to be pointless even if he were to deeply ponder about the principality armys treatment, Keith attempts to change the topic.As Frau also doesnt want to talk about the principalitys army either, she decides to go along with Keiths topic change. It depends on the level of damage the dragonoid country received ~no. In the worst case its possible to come back right away after having secured only the dragonoid hero, but its difficult to imagine master doing so ~no. (Frau) Going by Fraus opinion regarding Renyas personality, Frau considers the possibility of him abandoning everything in order to return after having found the hero as extremely low.If the dragonoid country is at war with the demons, its very likely that he will hurry to help the dragonoids until they can take a breather.Rather, putting the hero aside, in case Renya encounters an inexperienced girl working as a soldier, whos courageously trying to face the demon kings army, the probability of him annihilating the enemy army is abnormally high, Frau assesses. Its troublesome because masters heartstrings are sometimes pulled in strange ways ~no. (Frau) What are you talking about? (Keith) Keith responds at once as he has no way of knowing whats going on inside Fraus head.After answering to Keiths response with Its nothing, Frau stops folding her arms and returns inside the castle while accompanied by Keith.The one who greeted the two once they came back inside was Mayria.Mayria had been told to remain in the castle as the one in charge of office work by Renya, but in addition to the documents related to the soldiers C even though theres only 500 of them C the documents related to the fiefs population, the various formal procedures in regards to the citys defense, etc. plunged her into a situation where she was buried under a mountain of documents from the very beginning.Mayria wondered whether she wouldnt have prefered accompanying Renya on a slightly dangerous trip if it was going to turn out like this, but if she were asked if there were any civil officials, who could handle this amount of paperwork in her absence, Mayria would have no choice but to shake her head in denial.If its Rona, she might barely be able to stand-in for Mayria, but Rona is traveling with Renya as a priestess. Even if Rona had consented to switching with Mayria, Mayria didnt possess any priestess skills.In short, even if Rona is a somewhat suitable substitute for Mayria, Mayria cant serve as a substitute for Rona.If I consider it like that, it might only be natural for me to stay behind in Klinge. Mayria persuaded herself. Mayria-ane-sama, you dont have to ask for Fraus permission for each and every little thing. You can suitably put Masters seal to use ~no. (Frau) Frau says, obviously being somewhat fed up with Mayria who has been coming to ask for the approval of a huge amount of documents the minute she met Frau.Frau was extremely proficient in regards to housework as she is a silky, but as for filing documents, a task which has been carried out by Mayria and Rona, her talent didnt go beyond average.Upon Frau saying, It cant be helped as its outside my field of expertise ~no, Mayria didnt withdraw, stating, I will be troubled if I cant have you, Renyas representative, at least glance at the documents.Its very Frau-like to say that Mayria can suitably make use of the feudal lords seal, but likewise its very Mayria-like to not jump onto that offer which would make any civil official, who is even a little bit sneaky, skip in delight. Isnt that a great chance to take away the majority of masters fortune if you do it skillfully ~nano? (Frau) In terms of materials and food, the Kunugi Margraviate, which is a new territory, has no other choice but to buy it from elsewhere, but if someone stated that because of this it didnt have any assets,, they would be absolutely wrong.Frau has secured proper distribution channels for the normal-sized magic stones she keeps producing from Renyas mana which is constantly provided to her. Accordingly, Frau sells these magic stones on a large scale at appropriate times so as to not cause a price collapse.If its limited to liquid assets, the amount possessed by Margrave Kunugi wont lose to that of other nobles.Once Frau, whos walking through the castles hallways while being followed by Keith and Mayria, says that with a bored tone, Mayria laughs scornfully. For me, whos almost guaranteed to become the next archduchess, the fortune of a margrave is nothing that entices me to do something completely unreasonable just so as to acquire it. (Mayria) Come to think of it, thats true ~no. I forgot ~no. (Frau) I wonder what I should think about the next archduchess being entrusted with office work by a margrave though, Frau thinks, but doesnt voice it out.If Mayria stops handling the documents due to having her feelings hurt, Frau wont be overly troubled, but it would be very troublesome for Keith and other people.Even Frau seems capable of reading the mood to such an extent. Putting that aside, where are you headed, Frau-sama? (Keith) Seemingly reacting to Fraus forgot, Mayrias face has turned sullen.Once Keith asked Frau whos was currently leading them, while trying to change the mood, Frau replied without stopping or looking back, The pivot of this citys defense ~nano. (Frau) The defenses pivot, you say? (Keith) Upon hearing something he has never heard of before, Keith looked at Mayria as if asking her whether she knew anything about it, but Mayria immediately shook her head.Since both of them were behind Frau, Frau herself didnt witness that exchange, but seemingly sensing the question the two were harboring, Frau continues to speak while still not looking back at them. This city was mainly planned by Frau and Emil-ane-sama. Its a city built by using cutting-edge technology even among the cities located on the human continent ~nano. (Frau) While talking, Frau keeps advancing further and further down via several descending stairs.When they passed the first few stairways, there were still maids and soldiers passing them, but after they descended another few sets of stairs, almost all the people and their presences were gone. The window-less stone passages were only illuminated by cold, white sorcery lights. There were such passages? (Keith) As someone managing the soldiers, Keith visited Renyas castle many times.Of course its not like he himself explored every nook and cranny of Renyas castle, but he still believed he had grasped the majority of the pathways.From Keiths standpoint, he has no memory of ever having seen the path, which Frau is currently taking.If it was a hidden passage, it would be natural for him to not be aware of it, but he doesnt remember having passed through any hidden entrances or doors indicating the existence of such passages. Since a spell to keep people away is always active here, its difficult to be aware of it ~no. The reason why you can pass through it right now is because you are with Frau ~no. (Frau) If you told a margrave that there were places inside their castle that couldnt be entered due to a spell that keeps people away being active, it would be unclear what kind of punishment would be handed down.However, thats only limited to common cases. Mayria and Keith feel that it would quickly end with approval in Renyas case. The pivot itself has been made by Frau herself ~nano. Its nothing thats fun to look at, but are you still going to come along ~no? (Frau) I amfor a change of pace. (Mayria) As someone who has been entrusted with the soldiers, I think its necessary to see that pivot with my own eyes. (Keith) Their replies were completely different, but the conclusion apparently matches with them deciding to coming along.While thinking,its really nothing enjoyable though, Frau shows no signs of being particularly against them visiting it either. Frau shrugs her shoulders once and slightly speeds up her walking pace. Chapter 155 C It seems to be the Preparation for the Defensive Battle The Kunugi Margraviate is situated at the westernmost end of the human continent.In the center of Klinge C the biggest city within the territory C lies Renyas castle.As Renya, the feudal lord, couldnt come up with a clever name for it, its simply called Feudal Lords Castle. Frau stood on one of the castles balcony facing the western side.With her standing there calmly while the hem of her apron dress and her flaxen hair fluttered in the somewhat strong gusts of wind, she looked like a normal little girl one could find anywhere, but she boasted of a majestic aura similar to that of some countrys general. Standing behind her, Keith was rapidly blinking after having rubbed his eyes.Even so, the coercion he feels coming from Fraus back remains the same.Fixedly staring in the Miasma Forests direction with her arms folded, she had the appearance that would allow her to be introduced as a princess general from some country and no one would doubt it. However, her age and height didnt make such a story believable.But, no matter how many times he looks at her, Frau is still a little girl.Frau calls out to Keith, who began to believe that he himself is completely losing out in term of aura when compared to Frau, while directly looking into his eyes. Keith-san, what are you thinking about ~no? (Frau) UmmmIm wondering whether they will come attacking, I guess? (Keith) The report from the scouts regarding a change in atmosphere in the Miasma Forest arrived right after Renya and the others departed to the elven country through the transfer gate.Starting with sudden noisiness in the forest, which had been silent until then, the soldiers, who had even gone as far as going inside the forest to investigate, a task that appeared somewhat unreasonable, apparently discovered several monster swarms.Seeing swarms of monsters in the Miasma Forest wasnt that unusual, but as its at most been goblin or kobold packs, it completely changes once those swarms consist of completely armed orcs and trolls.Even though orcs and trolls are already a considerable as threat when theyre just strays with simple weapons, it turns into a major headache when one considers the possible threat level of a conglomerate of orcs and trolls that are wearing proper weapons and donning armors.As the vague topic, which he came up with owed to his inability to bring up something else to answer Fraus question, was more depressing than he thought, Keith started to feel slightly disappointed at his own inability to hold a conversation.However, for Frau that topic apparently wasnt as depressing as Keith thought. Frau calmly responded as if its trifling. Well, its set in stone that they will do so ~no. (Frau) After all. (Keith) Upon Frau saying that with a tone as if she were asking him why hes going on about such a thing at this point in time, Keith placed a hand on his forehead and sighed very deeply.Now that Im told, once again, directly that the enemy will come C even if it had been predicted C I cant stop myself from feeling gloomy about it. What brave children ~nano. (Frau) Pardon? (Keith) Keith asks back as Fraus remark, which completely disregarded Keiths innermost thoughts, felt like it was extremely out-of-place.Even though he implied plenty of doubt in his voice, Frau continues talking without turning around towards Keith while revealing a smile on her lips. Its the brave children that motionlessly waited within the forest for the masters presence to disappear in order to attack Klinge as they didnt see any chance to win while he was here. The fact that they didnt run away, which is a common tendency in monsters as they dont feel any loyalty, is remarkable ~no. (Frau) Shes most likely praising them, but to Keith those words felt somewhat off. You call that brave? (Keith) You dont ~no? (Frau) Being refuted by Keith, Frau finally turns around with a puzzled look.Its probably not wrong to use the word this way, but if you consider that the orcs and trolls have been readying their weapons while holding their breath within the forest for Renyas presence to disappear, its rather impossible to call such an act brave. Pull the line of the forests surveillance back a bit for now. Be careful not to incur any losses ~no. (Frau) Just because they saw monsters in the forest, doesnt mean Klinge is going to be plunged into battle all of a sudden. Its necessary for the monsters to march from the forest to Klinge.Along that route there are several settlements that have already been evacuated. As the monster army will likely raid every settlement in their path in search of humans who were late in escaping as well as any money or food left behind, its expected that these settlements will slow the monster army down to some extent.Frau wanted to set some traps as the settlements were going to be trampled down anyway.To be precise, Frau proposed to Renya to set up devices that will explode, dragging the whole settlement into the blast, but as this was rejected by Renya, she wasnt able to put such a strategy into practice.According to Renya, having their houses destroyed by the attacking monsters compared to having them destroyed by Renya and the others will give the residents a completely different impression, even if they argue that its a strategic decision. I somewhat understand the notion ~no. But its inefficient ~no. (Frau) Frau grumbles, but its impossible to go against her masters will.Its not like we know what the scale of the demon kings army thats going to attack Klinge will be, but the numbers that would have been defeated through the planted traps would very likely only enter the range of a measurement error, Frau renews her thinking.Anyway, theres no other option but to defend Klinge with our current cards. What are we going to do about Tridents army which were left outside the city? (Keith) Leave them alone until they contact us ~nano. But if the enemy army comes into sight, we will ignore them even if they contact us ~nano. (Frau) Since Renya is a noble, he has various ties of obligation, but for Frau something like that doesnt exist.And, its Frau who has been entrusted with Klinges defense. In the current situation the principalitys army outside the wall doesnt register as a protection target for Frau.Given that Frau is a fairy, she can refuse matters she hasnt been informed about with a simple I havent been ordered to do so.In that case the question of responsibility will shift to the one giving her orders, in other words, Renya, but as Renya is personally attending to the heros job of visiting the dragonoid country to check its condition while taking said hero along, he could argue that he forgot as he was very busy.Even Frau didnt know whether Renya entrusted her with the citys defense after thinking this far ahead, but since theres no gain in being concerned about such things, Frau plans to boldly ignore the existence of Tridents army. Id really like to ask Margrave-dono to come back as soon as possible. (Keith) Seemingly judging it to be pointless even if he were to deeply ponder about the principality armys treatment, Keith attempts to change the topic.As Frau also doesnt want to talk about the principalitys army either, she decides to go along with Keiths topic change. It depends on the level of damage the dragonoid country received ~no. In the worst case its possible to come back right away after having secured only the dragonoid hero, but its difficult to imagine master doing so ~no. (Frau) Going by Fraus opinion regarding Renyas personality, Frau considers the possibility of him abandoning everything in order to return after having found the hero as extremely low.If the dragonoid country is at war with the demons, its very likely that he will hurry to help the dragonoids until they can take a breather.Rather, putting the hero aside, in case Renya encounters an inexperienced girl working as a soldier, whos courageously trying to face the demon kings army, the probability of him annihilating the enemy army is abnormally high, Frau assesses. Its troublesome because masters heartstrings are sometimes pulled in strange ways ~no. (Frau) What are you talking about? (Keith) Keith responds at once as he has no way of knowing whats going on inside Fraus head.After answering to Keiths response with Its nothing, Frau stops folding her arms and returns inside the castle while accompanied by Keith.The one who greeted the two once they came back inside was Mayria.Mayria had been told to remain in the castle as the one in charge of office work by Renya, but in addition to the documents related to the soldiers C even though theres only 500 of them C the documents related to the fiefs population, the various formal procedures in regards to the citys defense, etc. plunged her into a situation where she was buried under a mountain of documents from the very beginning.Mayria wondered whether she wouldnt have prefered accompanying Renya on a slightly dangerous trip if it was going to turn out like this, but if she were asked if there were any civil officials, who could handle this amount of paperwork in her absence, Mayria would have no choice but to shake her head in denial.If its Rona, she might barely be able to stand-in for Mayria, but Rona is traveling with Renya as a priestess. Even if Rona had consented to switching with Mayria, Mayria didnt possess any priestess skills.In short, even if Rona is a somewhat suitable substitute for Mayria, Mayria cant serve as a substitute for Rona.If I consider it like that, it might only be natural for me to stay behind in Klinge. Mayria persuaded herself. Mayria-ane-sama, you dont have to ask for Fraus permission for each and every little thing. You can suitably put Masters seal to use ~no. (Frau) Frau says, obviously being somewhat fed up with Mayria who has been coming to ask for the approval of a huge amount of documents the minute she met Frau.Frau was extremely proficient in regards to housework as she is a silky, but as for filing documents, a task which has been carried out by Mayria and Rona, her talent didnt go beyond average.Upon Frau saying, It cant be helped as its outside my field of expertise ~no, Mayria didnt withdraw, stating, I will be troubled if I cant have you, Renyas representative, at least glance at the documents.Its very Frau-like to say that Mayria can suitably make use of the feudal lords seal, but likewise its very Mayria-like to not jump onto that offer which would make any civil official, who is even a little bit sneaky, skip in delight. Isnt that a great chance to take away the majority of masters fortune if you do it skillfully ~nano? (Frau) In terms of materials and food, the Kunugi Margraviate, which is a new territory, has no other choice but to buy it from elsewhere, but if someone stated that because of this it didnt have any assets,, they would be absolutely wrong.Frau has secured proper distribution channels for the normal-sized magic stones she keeps producing from Renyas mana which is constantly provided to her. Accordingly, Frau sells these magic stones on a large scale at appropriate times so as to not cause a price collapse.If its limited to liquid assets, the amount possessed by Margrave Kunugi wont lose to that of other nobles.Once Frau, whos walking through the castles hallways while being followed by Keith and Mayria, says that with a bored tone, Mayria laughs scornfully. For me, whos almost guaranteed to become the next archduchess, the fortune of a margrave is nothing that entices me to do something completely unreasonable just so as to acquire it. (Mayria) Come to think of it, thats true ~no. I forgot ~no. (Frau) I wonder what I should think about the next archduchess being entrusted with office work by a margrave though, Frau thinks, but doesnt voice it out.If Mayria stops handling the documents due to having her feelings hurt, Frau wont be overly troubled, but it would be very troublesome for Keith and other people.Even Frau seems capable of reading the mood to such an extent. Putting that aside, where are you headed, Frau-sama? (Keith) Seemingly reacting to Fraus forgot, Mayrias face has turned sullen.Once Keith asked Frau whos was currently leading them, while trying to change the mood, Frau replied without stopping or looking back, The pivot of this citys defense ~nano. (Frau) The defenses pivot, you say? (Keith) Upon hearing something he has never heard of before, Keith looked at Mayria as if asking her whether she knew anything about it, but Mayria immediately shook her head.Since both of them were behind Frau, Frau herself didnt witness that exchange, but seemingly sensing the question the two were harboring, Frau continues to speak while still not looking back at them. This city was mainly planned by Frau and Emil-ane-sama. Its a city built by using cutting-edge technology even among the cities located on the human continent ~nano. (Frau) While talking, Frau keeps advancing further and further down via several descending stairs.When they passed the first few stairways, there were still maids and soldiers passing them, but after they descended another few sets of stairs, almost all the people and their presences were gone. The window-less stone passages were only illuminated by cold, white sorcery lights. There were such passages? (Keith) As someone managing the soldiers, Keith visited Renyas castle many times.Of course its not like he himself explored every nook and cranny of Renyas castle, but he still believed he had grasped the majority of the pathways.From Keiths standpoint, he has no memory of ever having seen the path, which Frau is currently taking.If it was a hidden passage, it would be natural for him to not be aware of it, but he doesnt remember having passed through any hidden entrances or doors indicating the existence of such passages. Since a spell to keep people away is always active here, its difficult to be aware of it ~no. The reason why you can pass through it right now is because you are with Frau ~no. (Frau) If you told a margrave that there were places inside their castle that couldnt be entered due to a spell that keeps people away being active, it would be unclear what kind of punishment would be handed down.However, thats only limited to common cases. Mayria and Keith feel that it would quickly end with approval in Renyas case. The pivot itself has been made by Frau herself ~nano. Its nothing thats fun to look at, but are you still going to come along ~no? (Frau) I amfor a change of pace. (Mayria) As someone who has been entrusted with the soldiers, I think its necessary to see that pivot with my own eyes. (Keith) Their replies were completely different, but the conclusion apparently matches with them deciding to coming along.While thinking,its really nothing enjoyable though, Frau shows no signs of being particularly against them visiting it either. Frau shrugs her shoulders once and slightly speeds up her walking pace. Chapter 156 Chapter 156 C It seems to be Something located in the Castles Basement That room is located deep within the central basement of Renyas castle.Such a room would never be reached by only passing through the normal hallways.At the beginning sorcery light had been installed in the passages that must not be used, but before long the illumination ceased, and the leading Frau invoked a sorcery light at her finger tip, brightening up the passage for Keiths and Mayrias sake who were following her.That means that Frau would normally be capable of following this route even without light.Keiths complexion, who was moving forward through the dark passage while relying solely on the light created by Frau, is bad, but Mayria has fear clearly showing on her face. She grabbed Fraus shoulder so as to not get separated. Tell me, why are you so scared ~no? (Frau) While apparently being very annoyed that her shoulder was being pulled by Mayria C probably because of the difference in their heights C Frau asks the two behind her.Wouldnt it have been fine if they hadnt asked to come along, if they were going to be so anxious throughout the trip?Frau wonders, but neither Keith nor Mayria relaxed their worried expressions while seemingly being curious about their surroundings, bearing a sense of responsibility or more simply, going for the thrill of the scare, but as a consequence they havent proposed to go back either. Even if you see it, its nothing of interest ~no. (Frau) Muttering that as a complaint, Frau soon arrives in front of a single door.Usually the doors set up in the castle were sturdy as they were made out of wood and metal plates, but the door at which Frau stopped is completely made out of metal. Its sturdiness exceeds that of the other doors by far.Densely packed, character-like symbols were carved onto its surface, but not to mention Keith, even Mayria, who should possess a wide range of knowledge, doesnt know who uses such characters. Just what are these characters? (Mayria) At first Mayria and Keith believed it to be some kind of patterns, but since they immediately realized that each of those patterns is lined up with some kind of regularity, they judged them to most likely be characters. However, even when closely looking at the characters, they are still unable to read them. Those are simple patterns ~nano. (Frau) Frau says, obviously betraying their conclusion downright. Its something similar to a security system hindering people, who ended up arriving here by some kind of mistake, to become alert and touch it just because it seems to be something vaguely suspicious ~nano. (Frau) I see? (Keith) Seemingly believing that theres some truth to that, Keith agreed, but Mayria apparently couldnt come to terms with that explanation. Shes still firmly grasping Fraus shoulder, but her eyes keep tracing the doors surface. Youre too distrustful ~no. (Frau) Once Frau placed her hand on the door while smiling wryly, the door, which should be considerably heavy, slowly opened towards the inside without causing any sounds.Keith and Mayria resolved themselves to the extent that theyd be able to say, No matter what I see on the other side of the door, I wont be surprised, but in the end they still end up surprised by the pure space, which was just like the deep part of a forest, spreading out on the other side of the door.The inside of the temple bell-shaped room, which possessed a considerable size, was overflowing with so much brightness that it made the two, who had advanced through a dark passage, feel slight pain in their eyes.Unclear about what kind of device it is, a brilliant, pure-white light is pouring down from the ceiling.Something like a water well can be seen exactly in the middle of the room. The transparent water that copiously gushes out from the well is divided into several aqueducts that have been built in a radial setup spanning from the rooms center to the walls. Once the water reaches the walls, it falls into a gutter-like channel.Even though theres plenty of water gushing out from the well, the water level in the gutter doesnt change at all. Upon closer inspection, a waterway, where the water seems to stream towards a different location, has been installed under the gutter.Various kinds of plants, which seem to weave their way through the gaps in the simple stone wall, are thickly populated with leaves. Moreover, quite a few plant roots, which are seemingly passing through the gaps in the wall, extend themselves towards the waterways, soaking in the clear water. Since there was a great water vein right below the castle, were drawing its water to this place ~no. (Frau) Keith and Mayria, who imagined something a lot more frightening as Frau had said that it would the core of the defense, survey the rooms interior with disappointed expressions.Going by the visible impression, its a scenery that could even be called an exclusive garden.Speaking of slightly strange parts, youd have to mention that theres not a single indication of soil being present, albeit it being a place overgrown with plants. This place is the core of the defense, you say? (Keith) Keith raises as question, unable to swallow Fraus words, no matter how he looks at it.Frau nods shortly at that. The spring water of this place passes along many magic stones, and the water, which is then abundantly rich with mana, is spread throughout the citys underground ~no. That water greatly contributes to the growth of the plants within the city. And those plants are going to resolve the provision of food during the defense and the strengthening of the outer wall ~no. (Frau) Once they are told by Frau, While we are at it, the fact that there are plenty of plants that contain great amounts of juice also becomes a countermeasure against fire attacks for the city ~no, even Keith begins to think that it might make sense. How to say it? Plain, isnt it? (Keith) Unable to admit directly into Fraus face that he expected it to be an outrageous facility which would be eerie and impossible to understand, Keith states a harmless and inoffensive impression. Keith, just what have you been expecting ~no? (Frau) Once he was glared at by Fraus scornful eyes, Keith scratched the back of his head while raising a powerless laughter. This place is right below masters home ~nano. No matter how you look at it, I couldnt have set up something as strange as youve been expecting, Keith ~no! (Frau) Well, that makes sense. I wouldnt be able to calmly sleep if a dragon opened its mouth right under my bed either. (Keith) If you got it, then return to your post at once ~no. Neither of you should be in a position where you have the time to play around ~nano. (Frau) Keith kowtows towards Frau who bluntly announces that with both her hands pressed against heir hips and a rough nasal breathing.Just as Keith is about to leave the room in order to escape from Frau, he notices that Mayria hasnt moved from her spot. Mayria was squatting close to one of the aqueducts with her eyes closed partly and an expression that seemed as if she was somewhat entranced. Mayria-sama? (Keith) Yeah, I will stay here a bit longer. The air here is nice. It feels really good. (Mayria) UmmI will go back by myself, I guess? (Keith) Once you enter the branch passage, its basically a straight path as long as you dont open any strange doors ~nano. (Frau) Frau stared at Mayria who showed no intention of going back, but once she grasped that Mayria really didnt have any interest in moving, she added a sorcery light to the hilt of the longsword worn by Keith. Keith, youre a good adult, so you will go back by yourself ~no. Mayria-sama will later be escorted by Frau ~no. (Frau) Roger. Well then, excuse me. (Keith) Keith leaves the room after bowing with a short bob of his head.After he was out of sight, Frau closed the rooms door and cast a fleeting glance at Mayria who was still crouching.It was just a split second that Fraus eyes were turned towards Mayria, but seemingly having perceived it, Mayria opens her eyes, and said while looking at Frau with upturned eyes, Now then Frau-chan, wheres the real core? (Mayria) I dont know anything about a real core or whatsoever ~no. (Frau) Fraus voice is the same as usual.But, hearing her, Mayria warped her expression a tiny bit and sighed. So you wont tell me either, huh? Somehow thats quite saddening. (Mayria) This place is truly the core part ~nano. (Frau) Location-wise you mean, right? Putting Keith-san aside, if Im told that a water vein source and aqueducts, which provide the entire city with mana-charged water, are the defense core, then I wouldnt believe something like that, you know? (Mayria) I havent told you any lies ~no. (Frau) Yes, I havent said anything about you lying either, Frau-chan. But, theres something you havent shown us, isnt there? (Mayria) Once Mayria says that while cracking a smile, Frau dropped her shoulders and sighed.Silently Frau looks at Mayria and points towards the entrance door with a finger, urging her to go outside for a moment.Mayria, who judged that Frau felt inclined to show her the real core, stands up obediently and leaves the room along with Frau. In reality I dont really want others to see it ~no. (Frau) Voicing such a thing out with a touch of reluctance, Frau closes the heavy, metallic door and makes her finger trace along the patterns drawn on the doors surface which she previously called simple.There seems to be some underlying principle in the places she traces. In front of the observing Mayria, the parts, which were touched by Fraus finger, started to emit a white light. I wont take any responsibility even if it causes some kind of abnormality in your mental state ~no. Are you still willing to go ahead with it ~no? (Frau) The threatening tone being included in Fraus voice could be said to be reasonable.As a matter of fact, when she showed it to Emil, Emil said that the best outcome that could come from timid people or mentally weak people seeingitwould be them fainting.Frau was given the detailed instruction by Emil to warn people that it will very likely induce a mental disorder if things go the wrong way. You have installed something so dangerous here? (Mayria) Mayria is surprised and shocked by the contents of Fraus warning, but the option of not seeing apparently doesnt exist in her mind.While continuing the process of opening the door, Frau secretly prepares herself in order to use the spell at any time.If Mayria transformed into a bedridden puppet that only laughs foolishly from seeingit, Frau couldnt predict what ordeal she would have to go through once Renya returned.First of all, theres absolutely no way that itll simply end with him saying Oh okay, I guess it cant be helped. Well then, Im going to open it ~no. Hold onto your mind properly ~no. Okay? (Frau) While nodding towards Fraus words, Mayria quietly chanted something.Frau immediately notices that its the spell she was preparing herself just in case.The spell calms down the targets mind if its afflicted by something very disturbing. Its a spell that can suppress mental damage even if the target experiences something that would make them go crazy after some time under normal circumstances.If you take this action into consideration, it can be seen that even Mayria herself apparently understood that the thing, which Frau had decided to deliberately show her, is something uncommon.Having finished the process, Frau opens the door.Just moments ago it should have been a door from which dazzling light and normal air leaked out, but now dark brownish light, a disgusting air blended with a nasty smell, and a heat that makes one want to turn away leaks out.Due to Mayria instinctively covering her mouth, Frau quietly handed her a handkerchief.Once Mayria receives the handkerchief, which was soaked with some herb-like scent C which Mayria didnt recognize C she tries to drown out the bad smells by pressing it against her mouth and nose, and follows after Frau, who had already entered the room first.The room had completely changed compared to the one she had previously entered with Keith.The room had the same temple bell-like shape, but theres absolutely no light pouring down from above, and theres only a wide gaping hole, from which the dark brown light seems to originate, located in the center of the room.Even the walls are riddled with many holes, but as they are filled with darkness, its unknown as to what could be dwelling within.A red, gooey liquid bubbles upwards from within the wide gaping hole in the center, giving one the impression that its the crater of a volcano at first glance.Each time one of the bubbles burst, a hot stench seemed to spread into the vicinity.However, if it were only that, it would have been no more than a smelly, hot hole.Thinking that theres probably nothing that could cause one to lose their mental sanity either, Mayria peered into that hole over Fraus head, and then her expression froze.That red, gooey liquid seemed to have a degree of transparency which was unexpected given its viscosity. The peeking Mayrias eyes directly met with something thats submerged within the liquid.Countless eyes.Furthermore, things that had assumed human shapes.They, which extended their arms as if struggling while slowly swaying within the liquid, were in a state that made their body contours ambiguous, making it difficult to specify their gender or age, but for some reason only their eyes were clearly visible.With the whites of their eyes becoming bloodshot and the pupils widening, they opened their eyes to the very limit, looking at Mayria with gazes that seemed to be beseeching her in some way.The sight of countless such stares being submerged inside the liquid cant be described with only the wordabnormal.Due to nausea reflexively welling up in her stomach, Mayria tightly gritted her molars and endured. Frau-chanthoseare? (Mayria) They are still alive within the water thats full of mana ~no. From the start they were various spies or assassins from somewhere ~no. But, once they are dropped in here, the same fate awaits all of them ~nano. (Frau) Frau says with an emotionless voice. This is the power source for almost all sorcery interception devices located in Klinge. Its the main body of the defenses core. Since they are conscious individuals, their negative emotions are exploited and converted into manaits a device thats referred to as Hell Furnace ~nano. (Frau) The name of the device mentioned by Frau was something Mayria had never heard before. Even Frau isnt aware of the details ~no. Frau didnt design it, it was someone else that designed this furnace ~nano. All that Frau knows is that once you toss magic stones and sacrifices into this place, the furnace operates by consuming a part of the magic stones mana while feeding on the negative emotions of the sacrifices. Amplifying the remaining mana of the magic stones, it produces an even larger amount of mana than the original magic stones. The generated mana is conveyed to all over the city throughcertain thingslocated at the bottom of the furnace. Thats the extent of my knowledge ~nano. (Frau) Certain things? What do you mean by that? (Mayria) Mayria asks driven by her curiosity, but Frau shook her head, expressionlessly. Its better for you to know about it ~no. Its definiteeely the best for you to not know about it ~no. Because the sacrifices are pulled from the surface into the bottom of this furnace, and as its for the sake of making sure that the sacrifices dont escape, huge clusters of tentacles are submerged in there in order to circulate the mana through the entire city. You wont be able to hear from Fraus mouth that something like massive tentacles are stretching out below the city ~no. (Frau) Youve said it (Mayria) Previously Keith said that it would be unbearable for him if a dragon were to open its mouth below his bed.However, if you consider the actual circumstances, those words still described a much better situation than this here, Mayria absentmindedly thought in a corner of her mind while still being paralyzed.After all it wasnt only under his bed, she had been told that these strange things are transporting mana all over Klinges underground and that there have been countless tentacles laid out for the sake of dragging suspicious people into this furnace.I wonder, isnt dealing with Frau and the designer of this furnace an even more urgent problem for humanity than the demon king?While watching the surface of the red liquid that spit out yet another bubble with a blub sound, Mayria strongly decided in her mind to consult Renya about this matter once he gets back. Chapter 156 C It seems to be Something located in the Castles Basement That room is located deep within the central basement of Renyas castle.Such a room would never be reached by only passing through the normal hallways.At the beginning sorcery light had been installed in the passages that must not be used, but before long the illumination ceased, and the leading Frau invoked a sorcery light at her finger tip, brightening up the passage for Keiths and Mayrias sake who were following her.That means that Frau would normally be capable of following this route even without light.Keiths complexion, who was moving forward through the dark passage while relying solely on the light created by Frau, is bad, but Mayria has fear clearly showing on her face. She grabbed Fraus shoulder so as to not get separated. Tell me, why are you so scared ~no? (Frau) While apparently being very annoyed that her shoulder was being pulled by Mayria C probably because of the difference in their heights C Frau asks the two behind her.Wouldnt it have been fine if they hadnt asked to come along, if they were going to be so anxious throughout the trip?Frau wonders, but neither Keith nor Mayria relaxed their worried expressions while seemingly being curious about their surroundings, bearing a sense of responsibility or more simply, going for the thrill of the scare, but as a consequence they havent proposed to go back either. Even if you see it, its nothing of interest ~no. (Frau) Muttering that as a complaint, Frau soon arrives in front of a single door.Usually the doors set up in the castle were sturdy as they were made out of wood and metal plates, but the door at which Frau stopped is completely made out of metal. Its sturdiness exceeds that of the other doors by far.Densely packed, character-like symbols were carved onto its surface, but not to mention Keith, even Mayria, who should possess a wide range of knowledge, doesnt know who uses such characters. Just what are these characters? (Mayria) At first Mayria and Keith believed it to be some kind of patterns, but since they immediately realized that each of those patterns is lined up with some kind of regularity, they judged them to most likely be characters. However, even when closely looking at the characters, they are still unable to read them. Those are simple patterns ~nano. (Frau) Frau says, obviously betraying their conclusion downright. Its something similar to a security system hindering people, who ended up arriving here by some kind of mistake, to become alert and touch it just because it seems to be something vaguely suspicious ~nano. (Frau) I see? (Keith) Seemingly believing that theres some truth to that, Keith agreed, but Mayria apparently couldnt come to terms with that explanation. Shes still firmly grasping Fraus shoulder, but her eyes keep tracing the doors surface. Youre too distrustful ~no. (Frau) Once Frau placed her hand on the door while smiling wryly, the door, which should be considerably heavy, slowly opened towards the inside without causing any sounds.Keith and Mayria resolved themselves to the extent that theyd be able to say, No matter what I see on the other side of the door, I wont be surprised, but in the end they still end up surprised by the pure space, which was just like the deep part of a forest, spreading out on the other side of the door.The inside of the temple bell-shaped room, which possessed a considerable size, was overflowing with so much brightness that it made the two, who had advanced through a dark passage, feel slight pain in their eyes.Unclear about what kind of device it is, a brilliant, pure-white light is pouring down from the ceiling.Something like a water well can be seen exactly in the middle of the room. The transparent water that copiously gushes out from the well is divided into several aqueducts that have been built in a radial setup spanning from the rooms center to the walls. Once the water reaches the walls, it falls into a gutter-like channel.Even though theres plenty of water gushing out from the well, the water level in the gutter doesnt change at all. Upon closer inspection, a waterway, where the water seems to stream towards a different location, has been installed under the gutter.Various kinds of plants, which seem to weave their way through the gaps in the simple stone wall, are thickly populated with leaves. Moreover, quite a few plant roots, which are seemingly passing through the gaps in the wall, extend themselves towards the waterways, soaking in the clear water. Since there was a great water vein right below the castle, were drawing its water to this place ~no. (Frau) Keith and Mayria, who imagined something a lot more frightening as Frau had said that it would the core of the defense, survey the rooms interior with disappointed expressions.Going by the visible impression, its a scenery that could even be called an exclusive garden.Speaking of slightly strange parts, youd have to mention that theres not a single indication of soil being present, albeit it being a place overgrown with plants. This place is the core of the defense, you say? (Keith) Keith raises as question, unable to swallow Fraus words, no matter how he looks at it.Frau nods shortly at that. The spring water of this place passes along many magic stones, and the water, which is then abundantly rich with mana, is spread throughout the citys underground ~no. That water greatly contributes to the growth of the plants within the city. And those plants are going to resolve the provision of food during the defense and the strengthening of the outer wall ~no. (Frau) Once they are told by Frau, While we are at it, the fact that there are plenty of plants that contain great amounts of juice also becomes a countermeasure against fire attacks for the city ~no, even Keith begins to think that it might make sense. How to say it? Plain, isnt it? (Keith) Unable to admit directly into Fraus face that he expected it to be an outrageous facility which would be eerie and impossible to understand, Keith states a harmless and inoffensive impression. Keith, just what have you been expecting ~no? (Frau) Once he was glared at by Fraus scornful eyes, Keith scratched the back of his head while raising a powerless laughter. This place is right below masters home ~nano. No matter how you look at it, I couldnt have set up something as strange as youve been expecting, Keith ~no! (Frau) Well, that makes sense. I wouldnt be able to calmly sleep if a dragon opened its mouth right under my bed either. (Keith) If you got it, then return to your post at once ~no. Neither of you should be in a position where you have the time to play around ~nano. (Frau) Keith kowtows towards Frau who bluntly announces that with both her hands pressed against heir hips and a rough nasal breathing.Just as Keith is about to leave the room in order to escape from Frau, he notices that Mayria hasnt moved from her spot.Mayria was squatting close to one of the aqueducts with her eyes closed partly and an expression that seemed as if she was somewhat entranced. Mayria-sama? (Keith) Yeah, I will stay here a bit longer. The air here is nice. It feels really good. (Mayria) UmmI will go back by myself, I guess? (Keith) Once you enter the branch passage, its basically a straight path as long as you dont open any strange doors ~nano. (Frau) Frau stared at Mayria who showed no intention of going back, but once she grasped that Mayria really didnt have any interest in moving, she added a sorcery light to the hilt of the longsword worn by Keith. Keith, youre a good adult, so you will go back by yourself ~no. Mayria-sama will later be escorted by Frau ~no. (Frau) Roger. Well then, excuse me. (Keith) Keith leaves the room after bowing with a short bob of his head.After he was out of sight, Frau closed the rooms door and cast a fleeting glance at Mayria who was still crouching.It was just a split second that Fraus eyes were turned towards Mayria, but seemingly having perceived it, Mayria opens her eyes, and said while looking at Frau with upturned eyes, Now then Frau-chan, wheres the real core? (Mayria) I dont know anything about a real core or whatsoever ~no. (Frau) Fraus voice is the same as usual.But, hearing her, Mayria warped her expression a tiny bit and sighed. So you wont tell me either, huh? Somehow thats quite saddening. (Mayria) This place is truly the core part ~nano. (Frau) Location-wise you mean, right? Putting Keith-san aside, if Im told that a water vein source and aqueducts, which provide the entire city with mana-charged water, are the defense core, then I wouldnt believe something like that, you know? (Mayria) I havent told you any lies ~no. (Frau) Yes, I havent said anything about you lying either, Frau-chan. But, theres something you havent shown us, isnt there? (Mayria) Once Mayria says that while cracking a smile, Frau dropped her shoulders and sighed.Silently Frau looks at Mayria and points towards the entrance door with a finger, urging her to go outside for a moment.Mayria, who judged that Frau felt inclined to show her the real core, stands up obediently and leaves the room along with Frau. In reality I dont really want others to see it ~no. (Frau) Voicing such a thing out with a touch of reluctance, Frau closes the heavy, metallic door and makes her finger trace along the patterns drawn on the doors surface which she previously called simple.There seems to be some underlying principle in the places she traces. In front of the observing Mayria, the parts, which were touched by Fraus finger, started to emit a white light. I wont take any responsibility even if it causes some kind of abnormality in your mental state ~no. Are you still willing to go ahead with it ~no? (Frau) The threatening tone being included in Fraus voice could be said to be reasonable.As a matter of fact, when she showed it to Emil, Emil said that the best outcome that could come from timid people or mentally weak people seeingitwould be them fainting.Frau was given the detailed instruction by Emil to warn people that it will very likely induce a mental disorder if things go the wrong way. You have installed something so dangerous here? (Mayria) Mayria is surprised and shocked by the contents of Fraus warning, but the option of not seeing apparently doesnt exist in her mind.While continuing the process of opening the door, Frau secretly prepares herself in order to use the spell at any time.If Mayria transformed into a bedridden puppet that only laughs foolishly from seeingit, Frau couldnt predict what ordeal she would have to go through once Renya returned.First of all, theres absolutely no way that itll simply end with him saying Oh okay, I guess it cant be helped. Well then, Im going to open it ~no. Hold onto your mind properly ~no. Okay? (Frau) While nodding towards Fraus words, Mayria quietly chanted something.Frau immediately notices that its the spell she was preparing herself just in case.The spell calms down the targets mind if its afflicted by something very disturbing. Its a spell that can suppress mental damage even if the target experiences something that would make them go crazy after some time under normal circumstances.If you take this action into consideration, it can be seen that even Mayria herself apparently understood that the thing, which Frau had decided to deliberately show her, is something uncommon.Having finished the process, Frau opens the door.Just moments ago it should have been a door from which dazzling light and normal air leaked out, but now dark brownish light, a disgusting air blended with a nasty smell, and a heat that makes one want to turn away leaks out.Due to Mayria instinctively covering her mouth, Frau quietly handed her a handkerchief.Once Mayria receives the handkerchief, which was soaked with some herb-like scent C which Mayria didnt recognize C she tries to drown out the bad smells by pressing it against her mouth and nose, and follows after Frau, who had already entered the room first.The room had completely changed compared to the one she had previously entered with Keith.The room had the same temple bell-like shape, but theres absolutely no light pouring down from above, and theres only a wide gaping hole, from which the dark brown light seems to originate, located in the center of the room.Even the walls are riddled with many holes, but as they are filled with darkness, its unknown as to what could be dwelling within.A red, gooey liquid bubbles upwards from within the wide gaping hole in the center, giving one the impression that its the crater of a volcano at first glance.Each time one of the bubbles burst, a hot stench seemed to spread into the vicinity.However, if it were only that, it would have been no more than a smelly, hot hole.Thinking that theres probably nothing that could cause one to lose their mental sanity either, Mayria peered into that hole over Fraus head, and then her expression froze.That red, gooey liquid seemed to have a degree of transparency which was unexpected given its viscosity. The peeking Mayrias eyes directly met with something thats submerged within the liquid.Countless eyes.Furthermore, things that had assumed human shapes.They, which extended their arms as if struggling while slowly swaying within the liquid, were in a state that made their body contours ambiguous, making it difficult to specify their gender or age, but for some reason only their eyes were clearly visible.With the whites of their eyes becoming bloodshot and the pupils widening, they opened their eyes to the very limit, looking at Mayria with gazes that seemed to be beseeching her in some way.The sight of countless such stares being submerged inside the liquid cant be described with only the wordabnormal.Due to nausea reflexively welling up in her stomach, Mayria tightly gritted her molars and endured. Frau-chanthoseare? (Mayria) They are still alive within the water thats full of mana ~no. From the start they were various spies or assassins from somewhere ~no. But, once they are dropped in here, the same fate awaits all of them ~nano. (Frau) Frau says with an emotionless voice. This is the power source for almost all sorcery interception devices located in Klinge. Its the main body of the defenses core. Since they are conscious individuals, their negative emotions are exploited and converted into manaits a device thats referred to as Hell Furnace ~nano. (Frau) The name of the device mentioned by Frau was something Mayria had never heard before. Even Frau isnt aware of the details ~no. Frau didnt design it, it was someone else that designed this furnace ~nano. All that Frau knows is that once you toss magic stones and sacrifices into this place, the furnace operates by consuming a part of the magic stones mana while feeding on the negative emotions of the sacrifices. Amplifying the remaining mana of the magic stones, it produces an even larger amount of mana than the original magic stones. The generated mana is conveyed to all over the city throughcertain thingslocated at the bottom of the furnace. Thats the extent of my knowledge ~nano. (Frau) Certain things? What do you mean by that? (Mayria) Mayria asks driven by her curiosity, but Frau shook her head, expressionlessly. Its better for you to know about it ~no. Its definiteeely the best for you to not know about it ~no. Because the sacrifices are pulled from the surface into the bottom of this furnace, and as its for the sake of making sure that the sacrifices dont escape, huge clusters of tentacles are submerged in there in order to circulate the mana through the entire city. You wont be able to hear from Fraus mouth that something like massive tentacles are stretching out below the city ~no. (Frau) Youve said it (Mayria) Previously Keith said that it would be unbearable for him if a dragon were to open its mouth below his bed.However, if you consider the actual circumstances, those words still described a much better situation than this here, Mayria absentmindedly thought in a corner of her mind while still being paralyzed.After all it wasnt only under his bed, she had been told that these strange things are transporting mana all over Klinges underground and that there have been countless tentacles laid out for the sake of dragging suspicious people into this furnace.I wonder, isnt dealing with Frau and the designer of this furnace an even more urgent problem for humanity than the demon king?While watching the surface of the red liquid that spit out yet another bubble with a blub sound, Mayria strongly decided in her mind to consult Renya about this matter once he gets back. Chapter 157 Chapter 157 C It seems to be the Dragonoid Country Umm, you know. Its said the minds of living beings which possess emotions or intelligence are extremely good when used as sorcery-like filters or amplifiers. The sorcery creatures at the bottom of this Hell FurnaceI call them Putry-chanon top of allowing them to inhabit this tentacle-covered creature, they form the main body of the furnace. Once you put sacrifices inside the furnace, the Putry-chan seize them, and make them suffer while also pouring mana into them. Due to this, the negative emotions dwelling in the bodies of the living creatures are amplified, magnifying the inserted mana. That strengthened mana is once again collected by the Putry-chan and then used for other purposes. Thats the basic function of the Hell Furnace. (Emil) Youve come up with something nasty once again. But, I dont quite get the underlying principle behind the furnace. (Renya) Look, occasionally a protagonist, who was done in by their friends, will become strangely powerful and shout Uooooh or such, even though youd usually think something like, if you have such power, then friggin use it from the start, right? There are also stories where a protagonist becomes unable to fight due to a single surprise attack that would normally be unable to injure them, no matter how you look at it, correct? It is certainly true that if something like that happens it cant be helped, seeing as its the storys development, but youd be like, why did that attack connect despite their high defense values!? Something like that? I will refrain from commenting on this. In other words, if you take a human for example, you can say their intensity goes up and down depending on the fluctuations of their emotions, cant you? So, look at it like that. Its a system that wrings out the negative emotions through torture-like tormenting as, according to scientific investigations, its easier to extract anger or grief, which are classified as negative emotions, than comfort or joy, which are classified as positive emotions, got it? (Emil) What kind of dangerous conversation do you guys have going there? (Lepard) Hearing Lepards calm voice, both, Renya and Emil, turn towards him.As they were squatting, Emil drew precise diagrams at their feet with a piece of chalk that she had suddenly retrieved out of nowhere.Those diagrams seem to be the blueprints for the device called the Hell Furnace which she mentioned, but for Lepard, whos completely unfamiliar with these kinds of things, they look like scribbles that combine straight and curved lines.Their current location is a cave called the Foreigners Shrine by the dragonoids according to Croire. They stood alone in the deepest part of the fairly shallow cave. It was a simple place with nothing but the transfer gate that looked as if it hadnt been used very much.Location-wise they are at the boundary line of the dragonoids territory, which ends at the Miasma Forests edge, and the Dragons Den which is located at the northern tip.Once they left the cave, they found a reasonably well-maintained road in front of them, but there was absolutely no presence of people around them.In short, they came out at an extremely half-assed place where they could head in the Miasma Forests direction to investigate the reason why the transfer gate paths were cut off, or go to the Dragons Den to learn of the dragonoid countrys current state.Because the elves were usually given a lift by young dragons, who would turn up to help with their travels on a whim, or took wyverns who had been tamed by the dragonoids, they apparently didnt care about the shrines location that much, but right now it was a considerable problem for Renya and the others.Even the distance to the closest city is quite large if traveled by foot. In the first place, theres no way for them to know the state that that particular city is in right now.On top of that, theres not a single person among Renyas party members, who is familiar with the area.The humans and beastmen were out of the question, but even the two elves, Croire and Grn, never actually visited the dragonoid country. They only obtained their knowledge from hearsay and several documents and books that had been left behind.Even so, thats still better than having absolutely nothing to work with. Currently Croire and Grn have gone ahead in order to search the vicinity. The group that stayed behind is waiting at the Foreigners Shrine since theres no other place where they can rest.In other words, it means the standby group has too much time on their hands.The group consisting of Kurz and the two beastmen priestesses assigned to him are peacefully huddled together in a corner of the cave, and readily allowed themselves to drift off into the lands of dreams.Shion and Rona stood guard and checked the situation around them within their abilities, but apparently believing that theres no meaning in remaining vigilant in a place where theres absolutely nothing as far as the eye can see, they settled down close to Kurz and the beastmen priestesses when Renya and those around him took their eyes off of them, and soon started to sleep peacefully next to each other.Renya, Emil, Lepard and Kaede missed their opportunity to go sleep while still having too much time on their hands. They intently waited for Croires and Grns return, but during that time Renya and Emil started a somewhat questionable conversation. There aint no way that you can build such an inhumane device in a human country, right? (Lepard) Thats right, you two. No matter how superior such a device might be, something like that cant (Kaede) Immediately after Lepard, Kaede started to speak, but seeing Renya and Emil, who gazed at the two beastmen with puzzled expressions, she asks in a way that could be considered timid, be builtright? (Kaede) Its not a matter of whether it can or cannot be built, now is it? (Emil) Although its just faintly, Lepards and Kaedes faces turn pale upon hearing Emils words which she said bluntly in a very indifferent manner. Well, as long as you dont put it into use and just build it for fun, its a great story, I guess. (Renya) No, no, Renya. Im pretty sure some country will definitely put it to practical use it if its built, you know? (Emil) For some reason Emil is full of confidence.As if not noticing how the couple of beastmen is gradually becoming paler and paler, Emil throws out her chest and says, Its a fact that there are many humans that are troublesome to get rid of such as criminals and the like in any country. Its a dream device that allows you to clean up those beings in one go and on top of it use them for a long time as a big mana supply, dont you think? Theres absolutely no reason not to introduce such a wonderful system with its low cost and high return, is there? (Emil) Its a dream I cant consider as anything else but a nightmare though (Renya) But listen, if that story was true, wouldnt it also sound good if the reverse of a hell existed as well? (Lepard) Apparently having noticed Kaedes bad complexion, Lepard changed the direction of the conversation, obviously having hit upon an idea.Certainly, since they expressly added the name Hell Furnace to such a device, the idea that a device that has aligned its vectors in the opposite direction might exist isnt all that weird. Ah, as far as it goes, that kind of systemin other words, a furnace that uses positive emotions as a source existed as well. (Emil) While scratching her cheek with her index finger and smiling bitterly, Emil looks somewhat hesitant as she says, Though it was discarded for various reasons in the end. The biggest reason for being discarded is a secret though. (Emil) AahIm sure its for some very wicked reason. At least thats my prediction. (Renya) Lepard realizes that he failed at changing the topic while donning a dejected expression.Renya, who thought,Continuing this topic any further somehow doesnt seem to be overly good for them, takes it upon himself to change the topic. At any rate, they sure had the nerve to build the transfer gate in such an empty place, didnt they? (Renya) Yeah, youre right. I guess the maintenance in such a place is difficult as well. (Emil) Did they hate other races getting close to their cities so much? (Renya) Now that you mention it, it sure seems like it. Even the transfer gates in our country are not connected to places inside the cities, but to ones that are slightly outside, arent they? (Lepard) Upon Lepard saying so, obviously rummaging through his memories, Renya wondered whether it might be the same for the transfer gates in the human countries as well, but even if he wants to confirm it, all humans besides himself are peacefully asleep at the moment. Feeling like it would be evil to expressly wake them up just to ask such a thing, Renya decides to shelve that question for later. Thats because the dragonoids are really troublesome. (Emil) Really? The dragonoid hero Albert whom I met before was an unusually decent hero though? (Renya) Its been quite a while ago already, but Renya says so while remembering the face of the hero who came to greet him once. Wait a moment. Hey Renya, what do you mean by unusually decent hero? (Lepard) Lepard took a part of what Renya said as a challenge and flared up at him.Apparently he thought that Renyas words implied that all the other heroes besides Albert arent very decent.Renya stares at Lepards face, then at Kurzs, who is sleeping soundly, and moreover thinks about Grn, who left to scout. After pondering for a short time, he opened his mouth. Sorry. I suppose the only one, whos not normal, is you. (Renya) Im very normal! (Lepard) Lepard, theres zero persuasive power in those words. (Kaede) Lepard claimed while raising his voice, but once hes bluntly refuted by Kaede, he ends up utterly dispirited as it seems he doesnt have any words to return.Letting his ears and tail hang, Lepard shrinks his big body and turns in the direction of the wall, but it looks like Kaede doesnt feel like comforting him. Occasionally I wonder about it, but do you guys really love each other? (Renya) Renya wonders whether this isnt the moment where she should console Lepard, even if its a lie, but Kaede immediately flapped her hand. He will get conceited if I pamper him too much. The male beastmen are in the perfect state if they are slightly disheartened. (Kaede) Even if I die, I definitely dont want to be reborn as a beastman. (Renya) Due to Renya saying that he would be horrified from continuously being treated in such way, Kaede and Emil burst into laughter at the same time for some reason. Did I say something funny? (Renya) They probably couldnt hear his question through their laughter, but all of a sudden Croire turns up in the caves entrance.When they departed Croire left empty-handed without taking any weapons with her, but in her right hand there now dangle several wild rabbits which had their necks strangled and precisely broken. They are tied together at their ears by something that looks like an ivy.In her other hand shes grasping a bundle of leaves that are very likely different kinds of herbs and wild grasses which she picked somewhere along the way. Croire, tell me again, what was the reason why you went out? (Renya) Once Renya asked her while looking at the things in her hands, Croire immediately replied with a smile plastered all over her face, To investigate and check the situation in the vicinity. (Croire) What are those things youre holding in your hands then? (Renya) Once she was asked by Renya as he repeatedly points at her hands, Croire thrust her loot in front of him while maintaining her smile. Its food. Please be delighted, Renya. This area has a soil that allows herbs to grow en masse, and plenty of wild rabbits and wild mice inhabit the area. (Croire) Youre sure youre an elf, right? (Renya) Renya, who wonders what to think of an elf who happily eats wild rabbits and mice, says sarcastically, but it looks like Croire doesnt understand what hes implying at all. If asked if my eating habits are more like an elfs or a humans, I would say they have gotten closer to those of humans since I started to live with you, Renya. (Croire) Now that you mention it, youre certainly right there. (Renya) Grn-niisama is slightly worried, but since its not like we cant eat meat anyway, its fine. (Croire) What about the report regarding your investigation? (Renya) Theres nothing at all. Absolutely no sign of people or battle. There are no dragons in the sky either. Its very peaceful. Theres nothing you ought to see. (Croire) Renya wasnt sure whether she had forgotten her task, but as far as it goes Croire apparently understood what she had to report. It might be a little bit harsh to travel by foot. The continent with the least amount of cities is the northern one. The distances from one city to another is very large. (Croire) I guess theres also the option of asking Dra-kun and his friends to lend us a dragon. (Renya) When it comes to having the speed of a flying dragon, its possible to travel without wasting too much time, even if its a considerable distance.There not being any dragons in the sky, as reported by Croire, means we have to get them to allow us to use them as transportation by some means once we meet a flying dragon, Renya assessed.In this casesome meansbecomes one centered around physical communication, or to be precise, forceful persuasion by shooting them down. As for me, I believe that it might be better to stay in this shrine today, no matter whether we are going to head towards a nearby city or towards the Dragons Den. Thats truetraveling will probably be less burdensome after taking a good rest. Maybe there is something like a dragonoid patrol that might pass by this place here, too. Seeing as the transfer gate has been installed here, it was difficult to imagine that the cave, where Renya and the others are currently at, had been completely abandoned.In order for the transfer gate to continue functioning as one, regular maintenance is necessary. Thats a task that can only be carried out by the hands of people.If we are lucky, now might be just the time when the transfer gate needs maintenance. And even if thats not the case, it wouldnt be weird if the fact that this transfer gate had been forcibly activated by the elven country has been transmitted to the dragonoids controlling this gate.In that case its also possible that someone will be dispatched to check the situation. Waking up those who are sleeping right now so as to head out seems pitiful as wellI guess we will set up camp here. (Renya) Once they decided on a course of action, things went by quickly.Given that the number of people in Renyas party, which included the heroes, is high, the amount of food brought back by Croire wouldnt be able to feed all of them.Renya has put various ingredients that seem usable inside his inventory, but as they are currently in a situation, where they dont know how long theyll have to stay in the dragonoid country, he judges that it would be better to supply food that can be procured locally rather than touching the ingredients in his inventory.Croire put down the ingredients in her hands and went outside to inform Grn to temporarily return to the cave. Whereas it was decided that Lepard and Kaede would go out to secure some more herbs and meat. Renya, what about us? (Emil) I suppose we will prepare the rabbits while staying here. (Renya) No matter how many rabbits Croire catches, theres no one amongst Renyas party that would eat them with their fur and skin still attached.As such it becomes necessary to process the wild rabbits into raw meat that could be cooked. Leave the dismantling to me. (Emil) As if to say that dissection and dismantling are her specialties, Emil took out several knives out from her coat, and immediately started dismantling the wild rabbits.While watching her abnormally skillful work, Renya began to ponder about what they should do from now on. Chapter 157 C It seems to be the Dragonoid Country Umm, you know. Its said the minds of living beings which possess emotions or intelligence are extremely good when used as sorcery-like filters or amplifiers. The sorcery creatures at the bottom of this Hell FurnaceI call them Putry-chanon top of allowing them to inhabit this tentacle-covered creature, they form the main body of the furnace. Once you put sacrifices inside the furnace, the Putry-chan seize them, and make them suffer while also pouring mana into them. Due to this, the negative emotions dwelling in the bodies of the living creatures are amplified, magnifying the inserted mana. That strengthened mana is once again collected by the Putry-chan and then used for other purposes. Thats the basic function of the Hell Furnace. (Emil) Youve come up with something nasty once again. But, I dont quite get the underlying principle behind the furnace. (Renya) Look, occasionally a protagonist, who was done in by their friends, will become strangely powerful and shout Uooooh or such, even though youd usually think something like, if you have such power, then friggin use it from the start, right? There are also stories where a protagonist becomes unable to fight due to a single surprise attack that would normally be unable to injure them, no matter how you look at it, correct? It is certainly true that if something like that happens it cant be helped, seeing as its the storys development, but youd be like, why did that attack connect despite their high defense values!? Something like that? I will refrain from commenting on this. In other words, if you take a human for example, you can say their intensity goes up and down depending on the fluctuations of their emotions, cant you? So, look at it like that. Its a system that wrings out the negative emotions through torture-like tormenting as, according to scientific investigations, its easier to extract anger or grief, which are classified as negative emotions, than comfort or joy, which are classified as positive emotions, got it? (Emil) What kind of dangerous conversation do you guys have going there? (Lepard) Hearing Lepards calm voice, both, Renya and Emil, turn towards him.As they were squatting, Emil drew precise diagrams at their feet with a piece of chalk that she had suddenly retrieved out of nowhere.Those diagrams seem to be the blueprints for the device called the Hell Furnace which she mentioned, but for Lepard, whos completely unfamiliar with these kinds of things, they look like scribbles that combine straight and curved lines.Their current location is a cave called the Foreigners Shrine by the dragonoids according to Croire. They stood alone in the deepest part of the fairly shallow cave. It was a simple place with nothing but the transfer gate that looked as if it hadnt been used very much.Location-wise they are at the boundary line of the dragonoids territory, which ends at the Miasma Forests edge, and the Dragons Den which is located at the northern tip.Once they left the cave, they found a reasonably well-maintained road in front of them, but there was absolutely no presence of people around them.In short, they came out at an extremely half-assed place where they could head in the Miasma Forests direction to investigate the reason why the transfer gate paths were cut off, or go to the Dragons Den to learn of the dragonoid countrys current state.Because the elves were usually given a lift by young dragons, who would turn up to help with their travels on a whim, or took wyverns who had been tamed by the dragonoids, they apparently didnt care about the shrines location that much, but right now it was a considerable problem for Renya and the others.Even the distance to the closest city is quite large if traveled by foot. In the first place, theres no way for them to know the state that that particular city is in right now.On top of that, theres not a single person among Renyas party members, who is familiar with the area.The humans and beastmen were out of the question, but even the two elves, Croire and Grn, never actually visited the dragonoid country. They only obtained their knowledge from hearsay and several documents and books that had been left behind.Even so, thats still better than having absolutely nothing to work with. Currently Croire and Grn have gone ahead in order to search the vicinity. The group that stayed behind is waiting at the Foreigners Shrine since theres no other place where they can rest.In other words, it means the standby group has too much time on their hands.The group consisting of Kurz and the two beastmen priestesses assigned to him are peacefully huddled together in a corner of the cave, and readily allowed themselves to drift off into the lands of dreams.Shion and Rona stood guard and checked the situation around them within their abilities, but apparently believing that theres no meaning in remaining vigilant in a place where theres absolutely nothing as far as the eye can see, they settled down close to Kurz and the beastmen priestesses when Renya and those around him took their eyes off of them, and soon started to sleep peacefully next to each other.Renya, Emil, Lepard and Kaede missed their opportunity to go sleep while still having too much time on their hands. They intently waited for Croires and Grns return, but during that time Renya and Emil started a somewhat questionable conversation. There aint no way that you can build such an inhumane device in a human country, right? (Lepard) Thats right, you two. No matter how superior such a device might be, something like that cant (Kaede) Immediately after Lepard, Kaede started to speak, but seeing Renya and Emil, who gazed at the two beastmen with puzzled expressions, she asks in a way that could be considered timid, be builtright? (Kaede) Its not a matter of whether it can or cannot be built, now is it? (Emil) Although its just faintly, Lepards and Kaedes faces turn pale upon hearing Emils words which she said bluntly in a very indifferent manner. Well, as long as you dont put it into use and just build it for fun, its a great story, I guess. (Renya) No, no, Renya. Im pretty sure some country will definitely put it to practical use it if its built, you know? (Emil) For some reason Emil is full of confidence.As if not noticing how the couple of beastmen is gradually becoming paler and paler, Emil throws out her chest and says, Its a fact that there are many humans that are troublesome to get rid of such as criminals and the like in any country. Its a dream device that allows you to clean up those beings in one go and on top of it use them for a long time as a big mana supply, dont you think? Theres absolutely no reason not to introduce such a wonderful system with its low cost and high return, is there? (Emil) Its a dream I cant consider as anything else but a nightmare though (Renya) But listen, if that story was true, wouldnt it also sound good if the reverse of a hell existed as well? (Lepard) Apparently having noticed Kaedes bad complexion, Lepard changed the direction of the conversation, obviously having hit upon an idea.Certainly, since they expressly added the name Hell Furnace to such a device, the idea that a device that has aligned its vectors in the opposite direction might exist isnt all that weird. Ah, as far as it goes, that kind of systemin other words, a furnace that uses positive emotions as a source existed as well. (Emil) While scratching her cheek with her index finger and smiling bitterly, Emil looks somewhat hesitant as she says, Though it was discarded for various reasons in the end. The biggest reason for being discarded is a secret though. (Emil) AahIm sure its for some very wicked reason. At least thats my prediction. (Renya) Lepard realizes that he failed at changing the topic while donning a dejected expression.Renya, who thought,Continuing this topic any further somehow doesnt seem to be overly good for them, takes it upon himself to change the topic. At any rate, they sure had the nerve to build the transfer gate in such an empty place, didnt they? (Renya) Yeah, youre right. I guess the maintenance in such a place is difficult as well. (Emil) Did they hate other races getting close to their cities so much? (Renya) Now that you mention it, it sure seems like it. Even the transfer gates in our country are not connected to places inside the cities, but to ones that are slightly outside, arent they? (Lepard) Upon Lepard saying so, obviously rummaging through his memories, Renya wondered whether it might be the same for the transfer gates in the human countries as well, but even if he wants to confirm it, all humans besides himself are peacefully asleep at the moment. Feeling like it would be evil to expressly wake them up just to ask such a thing, Renya decides to shelve that question for later. Thats because the dragonoids are really troublesome. (Emil) Really? The dragonoid hero Albert whom I met before was an unusually decent hero though? (Renya) Its been quite a while ago already, but Renya says so while remembering the face of the hero who came to greet him once. Wait a moment. Hey Renya, what do you mean by unusually decent hero? (Lepard) Lepard took a part of what Renya said as a challenge and flared up at him.Apparently he thought that Renyas words implied that all the other heroes besides Albert arent very decent.Renya stares at Lepards face, then at Kurzs, who is sleeping soundly, and moreover thinks about Grn, who left to scout. After pondering for a short time, he opened his mouth. Sorry. I suppose the only one, whos not normal, is you. (Renya) Im very normal! (Lepard) Lepard, theres zero persuasive power in those words. (Kaede) Lepard claimed while raising his voice, but once hes bluntly refuted by Kaede, he ends up utterly dispirited as it seems he doesnt have any words to return.Letting his ears and tail hang, Lepard shrinks his big body and turns in the direction of the wall, but it looks like Kaede doesnt feel like comforting him. Occasionally I wonder about it, but do you guys really love each other? (Renya) Renya wonders whether this isnt the moment where she should console Lepard, even if its a lie, but Kaede immediately flapped her hand. He will get conceited if I pamper him too much. The male beastmen are in the perfect state if they are slightly disheartened. (Kaede) Even if I die, I definitely dont want to be reborn as a beastman. (Renya) Due to Renya saying that he would be horrified from continuously being treated in such way, Kaede and Emil burst into laughter at the same time for some reason. Did I say something funny? (Renya) They probably couldnt hear his question through their laughter, but all of a sudden Croire turns up in the caves entrance.When they departed Croire left empty-handed without taking any weapons with her, but in her right hand there now dangle several wild rabbits which had their necks strangled and precisely broken. They are tied together at their ears by something that looks like an ivy.In her other hand shes grasping a bundle of leaves that are very likely different kinds of herbs and wild grasses which she picked somewhere along the way. Croire, tell me again, what was the reason why you went out? (Renya) Once Renya asked her while looking at the things in her hands, Croire immediately replied with a smile plastered all over her face, To investigate and check the situation in the vicinity. (Croire) What are those things youre holding in your hands then? (Renya) Once she was asked by Renya as he repeatedly points at her hands, Croire thrust her loot in front of him while maintaining her smile. Its food. Please be delighted, Renya. This area has a soil that allows herbs to grow en masse, and plenty of wild rabbits and wild mice inhabit the area. (Croire) Youre sure youre an elf, right? (Renya) Renya, who wonders what to think of an elf who happily eats wild rabbits and mice, says sarcastically, but it looks like Croire doesnt understand what hes implying at all. If asked if my eating habits are more like an elfs or a humans, I would say they have gotten closer to those of humans since I started to live with you, Renya. (Croire) Now that you mention it, youre certainly right there. (Renya) Grn-niisama is slightly worried, but since its not like we cant eat meat anyway, its fine. (Croire) What about the report regarding your investigation? (Renya) Theres nothing at all. Absolutely no sign of people or battle. There are no dragons in the sky either. Its very peaceful. Theres nothing you ought to see. (Croire) Renya wasnt sure whether she had forgotten her task, but as far as it goes Croire apparently understood what she had to report. It might be a little bit harsh to travel by foot. The continent with the least amount of cities is the northern one. The distances from one city to another is very large. (Croire) I guess theres also the option of asking Dra-kun and his friends to lend us a dragon. (Renya) When it comes to having the speed of a flying dragon, its possible to travel without wasting too much time, even if its a considerable distance.There not being any dragons in the sky, as reported by Croire, means we have to get them to allow us to use them as transportation by some means once we meet a flying dragon, Renya assessed.In this casesome meansbecomes one centered around physical communication, or to be precise, forceful persuasion by shooting them down. As for me, I believe that it might be better to stay in this shrine today, no matter whether we are going to head towards a nearby city or towards the Dragons Den. Thats truetraveling will probably be less burdensome after taking a good rest. Maybe there is something like a dragonoid patrol that might pass by this place here, too. Seeing as the transfer gate has been installed here, it was difficult to imagine that the cave, where Renya and the others are currently at, had been completely abandoned.In order for the transfer gate to continue functioning as one, regular maintenance is necessary. Thats a task that can only be carried out by the hands of people.If we are lucky, now might be just the time when the transfer gate needs maintenance. And even if thats not the case, it wouldnt be weird if the fact that this transfer gate had been forcibly activated by the elven country has been transmitted to the dragonoids controlling this gate.In that case its also possible that someone will be dispatched to check the situation. Waking up those who are sleeping right now so as to head out seems pitiful as wellI guess we will set up camp here. (Renya) Once they decided on a course of action, things went by quickly.Given that the number of people in Renyas party, which included the heroes, is high, the amount of food brought back by Croire wouldnt be able to feed all of them.Renya has put various ingredients that seem usable inside his inventory, but as they are currently in a situation, where they dont know how long theyll have to stay in the dragonoid country, he judges that it would be better to supply food that can be procured locally rather than touching the ingredients in his inventory.Croire put down the ingredients in her hands and went outside to inform Grn to temporarily return to the cave. Whereas it was decided that Lepard and Kaede would go out to secure some more herbs and meat. Renya, what about us? (Emil) I suppose we will prepare the rabbits while staying here. (Renya) No matter how many rabbits Croire catches, theres no one amongst Renyas party that would eat them with their fur and skin still attached.As such it becomes necessary to process the wild rabbits into raw meat that could be cooked. Leave the dismantling to me. (Emil) As if to say that dissection and dismantling are her specialties, Emil took out several knives out from her coat, and immediately started dismantling the wild rabbits.While watching her abnormally skillful work, Renya began to ponder about what they should do from now on. Chapter 158 Chapter 158 C It seems to be a Night spent in a Small Cave Its said that no unnecessary grease will sully a blade and no blood would be allowed to pointlessly scatter in the vicinity, if you leave the handling of game to a skilled cook, but due to the fact that the same could be said about a mad scientist, Renya harbors a feeling that he cant identify as being either awe or shock.Thats how splendid Emils way of processing the wild rabbits was.The wild rabbits, which were caught and then strangled in advance by Croire with such skill that awoke Renyas desire to ask her if she was really an elf, were systematically dismantled and separated into skin, meat, intestines and bones by Emils knife which has an excessive sharpness without no blood spattering around.Since there was the additional share which was caught by Lepard and Kaede, it was a fairly large amount of game, but Emil processed it almost instantly.Emils skill was at such a high level. What about the blood draining? (Renya) This kind of wild rabbits meat has a light taste, so retaining their flavor by not draining their blood is the usual way to cook them. (Emil) Even in my former world there was a duck that allowed for such a cooking method, wasnt there?Renya recalls.Its said that the taste improves by letting the blood circulate inside the meat if you strangle the game in a state of blood congestion without bloodletting, but on the other hand it has the flaw that the meat will become darkish and specks will appear.As for food cultures that regard the smell of blood and the taste of iron as delicious, it didnt agree overly much with Renyas palate, but its also true that theres the expression,When in Rome, do as the Romans. Once told that its normal, Renya thought that it might be better to abide and decided to leave it to Emil.Renya, who thought that he would just have to prepare his own preferred dishes in exchange, is about to make a soup stock out of the bones, but then notices that the mountain of bones, which had been put aside by Emil, is already gone.Once he looks around searching for the bones, he finds Lepard, who had suddenly started a fire outside the cave where the sun has begun to go down, suitably placing the bones he carried in both arms around the open-air fire to grill them.Thanks to Emils superior dismantling technique, theres almost no meat left on the bones. At most one could find a few sinews and cartilages. In front of Renya, who wonders just what Lepard is planning to do with the bones, Lepard started to abruptly bring the bones to his mouth after the bones were grilled properly.You dont say!Renya thought, but Lepard began to crunch those bones, seemingly enjoying their taste. Whoaare those actually delicious? (Renya) Renya harbored the fairly rude impression,Dont tell me that the beastmen are even idiots in regards to their palate?However, once he ponders about it for a bit, he recalls that there are also stories about the marrow inside the bones C even if its different for the bones exterior C being considerably tasty. Its great, you know? I cant recommend it for humans, though. In reality its best with a tiny bit of meat remaining, butthese have been processed too skillfully. (Kaede) Same as Lepard, Kaede bites the grilled bones and munches them next to him.It was a sight that allowed one to actually experience once again the differences between the structures of the beastmens bodies and those of the humans.If a human did the same, they wouldnt be able to chew bones so easily in the first place. Even after crushing them, the bones would block their throat or damage their stomach. To begin with, its difficult to imagine that the stomach is capable of completely digesting bones. Its probably still impossible for the lil ones sticking to Kurz. Please share some meat with them. (Lepard) You two are going to eat the meat as well, arent you? (Renya) Just a bit, okay? Kaede and I will satisfy our hunger with these. (Lepard) The spectacle of a woman with fox ears and a shrine maiden garb holding a wild rabbits skull in both hands and biting into it felt like something related to a horror movie, making Renya quietly avert his eyes from the two.At the same time he gave up on making a soup as it was obvious to him that the bones would end up in the stomachs of these two.The processed meat was further cut into a suitable size, and after sticking it on skewers, it was grilled over a fire in the vicinity of the open-air fire used by Lepard and Kaede to grill the bones.Simply flavoring it with salt is often seen as cutting corners and proof of being a bad cook, but its a cooking that overflows with a wild taste.Renya, who felt slightly cruel for forcing the two elves to sate their hunger with nothing but meat, decided to provide bread, several fruits and fish from his inventory.After watching Croire in the beginning he obtained the information that even elves, who are bad with meat, can eat fish for some reason.The flashback to Croires early days is due to the fact that the current Croire is eating meat, fish and vegetables without being picky.However, even with Croire having gotten used to eating such abundant variety of dishes, a change in her figure isnt visible at all.I wonder whether thats not already on the level of a curse?Renya ponders.Renya has decided to put various ingredients into his inventory.I can use what I have one way or another, but things that I dont have, I naturally cant use.Fortunately it was possible to stack foodstuff, by stuffing it into a barrel and putting it into his inventory after labeling it as a Barrel with Food.Because the items contents apparently have no influence on the inventorys capacity, it has turned into an exceedingly helpful feature.In the same way he carried several types of tableware in barrels called Barrel with Tableware.Its an action owed to Renyas fixation that food should be served on proper crockery, but if you speak from the viewpoint of adventurers, it cant be called anything but extremely pointless.However, it was mostly favorably viewed upon by the other members of Renyas party.It seems they are slowly growing up in this regard.As its not possible for him to bring a table along, no matter how you look at it, Renya properly clears away the hair from the wild rabbits pelts, cuts them up into fitting sizes, and then creates an impromptu sheet by sewing them together with a needle.If one only hears the namepelt sheet, it sounds like being extremely wasteful, but even if the raw materials of wild rabbits are sold, they wont amount to a reasonable sum of money.If one considers it okay to discard the pelts after using them even if they get dirty, one can treat them quite carefreely.The grilled meat and fish and the various types of vegetables, either cooked or left raw, are dished up on plates. Thereupon the napping group C seemingly lured by the scent C begins to wake up with a restless stirring. Ahsorry, Renya. I havent even helped (Shion) Shion was ashamed for having continued to sleep so deeply, but Renya waved his hand, telling her to not mind it. Itll be just fine if you work instead when the others become sleepy. (Renya) Excuse me for not having helped out either. (Kurz) Kurz quickly lowers his head.Renya caressed his head while smiling wryly. Children dont have to worry about such stuff, got it? (Renya) But, if I had helped out, we might caught much bigger game. (Kurz) Feeling somewhat bothered by Kurzs words, whose head Renya is still caressing, Renya asks, What specifically? (Renya) A dragon or such. (Kurz) Okay, even if you find one, lets not hunt it in this place, okay? After all it will be scary in various ways. (Renya) If they did something like hunting and eating dragons in an area ruled by dragonoids who consider dragons as sacred, it wouldnt be clear what might happen.At the very least it wont be anything good. Renya instructed Kurz while keeping his voice as gentle as possible.If I dont warn him properly here, its very likely that hunted dragons are going to be laying outside the cave one morning. You dont have to mind it. So just eat the food. (Renya) But (Kurz) Its fine, just eat it. Even if youre going to hunt something for arguments sake, make sure to stay away from dragons in this area. (Renya) Yeees~. (Kurz) He had an expression that made it obvious that he still couldnt comprehend some parts, but Kurz began to eat the rabbit meat as told. Shion, Rona, make sure to diligently help with tidying up. (Renya) Shion and Rona, who began to secretly grab rabbit meat while hiding in Kurzs shadow, choke after being reminded of that. Well, putting that aside, Id like you to listen while eating. (Renya) Renya, who secured his own share and decided to leave the rest to the others, addresses everyone as he watches the many dishes decreasing at an astounding rate.Upon hearing his words, the other members stopped their hands for a moment and turned their eyes in his direction, but as they had been told by Renya that he will speak during their meal, they immediately focus on their food again. How obedient, heyfor starters, while we kill time in here today I want to talk about our plans from now on. (Renya) Plans? (Rona) Its Rona who asks back while bringing the sake cup, which had been prepared next to the dishes by Renya believing that drinks might be necessary as well, close to her mouth.Because Lepard and Kaede said that they will actually be fine with a little share of the meat, Renya prepared a somewhat strong sake in order to get them to drink it as an appetizer alongside the scarce meat, but Rona seems to fully intend on keeping them company with the drinking.Rona continues to drain sake while keeping a fixed pace, but although her face becomes faintly red, her articulation remains steady. I think the following plans are good options: Wait here until someone comes, head to a nearby city, or head for the Dragons Den. (Renya) If it looks like no one is going to come after waiting for tonight, I think itll be a poor move to wait any longer. (Croire) The one who stated her opinion first was Croire. If its a situation where someone has enough leeway to come here, we should be able to meet them if we wait for that long. As we will spend the night here, the decisions have now been reduced to two. I cast my vote for searching for a city. Thats, ummif we head to the Dragons Den without knowing anything (Croire) It wont give the dragonoids an overly good impression if we are with you is what you mean, right? (Lepard) Lepard says, following after Croire who seems to have slight troubles to voice out such a problem. As for me, I really wanna see that Dragons Den at least once though, you know? (Lepard) Lepards face seems to be very disappointed.Normally theres no one who would try to deliberately approach an area swarming with dragons that cannot be controlled, but as might be expected of a battle maniac, he appears to have a different thought process compared to the normal way of thinking. For our mischievous ancestors to have messed up things so badly after coming herethats a bother for sure. (Kaede) Kaedes cheeks, who said so with a sigh while placing a hand on her cheek, have become quite crimson.Seen from the side, her face is tinged by a mysterious seductiveness as its illuminated by the campfire in the darkness. Coupled with the beast ears and shrine maiden garb, its a sight that would make people, who have such preferences, go all gung-ho if they were to see her right now, but theres almost no doubt that they would be beaten senseless by Lepard whos right next to her the moment they try anything.Kaedes drinking pace was around the same as Ronas, but it looks like shes a lot weaker against alcohol than Rona. I think I will cast my vote towards the city, too. If we go to a place such as the Dragons Den, its not like we will be able to do anything, even if we leave you out of the loop there, Renya. (Shion) Those are Shions words, who innocently chews her rabbit meat.Leaving vegetables and fish for the elves, shes solely focused on continuously eating nothing but meat. Refusing even the sake, she washes down the meat with plain water. I will follow Shion, so I have no personal opinion on this. (Rona) Rona said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Personally Id really like to try going to the Dragons Den. But, well I will obey masters decision. (Emil) Without putting a hand on the meat, Emil only drinks the sake provided by Renya.Shes consuming the alcohol very, very slowly, and as such the symptoms of drinking sake arent visible on her face at all.Should I regard Emil as being able to hold her liquor, or should I see it as demons having strong stomachs?Renya is puzzled by his line of thought, but the only ones here, who know of Emils true identity, are Croire and him. Theres definitely no way that he can bring up that topic right now. It really looks like the opinion to search for a city is predominant, doesnt it? (Renya) That makes sense after all. I mean, even if we wont be welcomed with this line-up, the ones who will still be able to enter without being exposed to danger are the two elves, Grn and Croire. (Emil) At normal times, it might even be possible to be guided to the Dragons Den as long as we have a proper talk beforehand, butright now we wont be of much help in that regard. (Croire) Well then, today we will spend the night here, and then, once dawn breaks, search for a city while heading south. Any objections? (Renya) Upon Renya summarizing their discussion like that, no one raises any objections. In that case we will decide on the order for sentry duty. We will have two people guard and watch the fire on each shift. Kurz, you and the two small priestesses will go to bed early. (Renya) I can stand watch as well, you know? (Kurz) Kurz unhappily complains while being assisted with the meal by the two priestesses by his side.While thinking,Come to think of it, I didnt hear the names of the two priestesses until now, Renya tells Kurz, No. Kurz and those two next to youumm? (Renya) Tsubaki and Botan, Margrave-sama. (Kaede) Kaede quietly throws a lifeline.Renya is thankful for her timely assistance, but as Kaede is Kaede, her innermost thoughts were terrifying. (That hagerr, queen completely forgot to introduce the priestesses that were attached to Kurz)(Kaede) If one is at the age of Kurz, Tsubaki and Botan, their job is to sleep at this time. Theres no need for you to unreasonably stay up at night. I wont allow any objections. (Renya) Kurz looked dissatisfied upon hearing Renyas clear and assertive words, but the priestesses on his sides start to smooth it over. Kurz-sama, you have to gratefully accept Margrave-samas concern. Lets regard them as words taking your health into consideration, Kurz-sama. Uuhgot it. I will properly work during the day, okay? (Kurz) Yeah, of course. (Renya) Renya agreed, but what he thought inside his mind was something else.The two priestesses, who attend Kurz, resemble each other so much that its easy to guess that they are twins.That leaves the question, which of them is Tsubaki and which is Botan, Renya wonders.Being taken along by the priestesses, they form one clump deep inside the cave, and choose when to start sleeping at their own discretion. Kaede draws close to Renya and whispers, I will teach you how to tell them apart later. (Kaede) Please. Though I feel very awkward for this to happen after being together so long. (Renya) No, our side forgot about it as well. (Kaede) Not knowing the names of the ones taking care of Kurz was extremely impolite in Renyas eyes.Even if there were various other things he had to consider, that is.Once things calm down a bit, I should probably apologize for that impoliteness properly, and thank them for taking care of Kurz, Renya decided.For that reason as well, we have to swiftly deal with the troubles taking place in this dragonoid country, he judged. Chapter 158 C It seems to be a Night spent in a Small Cave Its said that no unnecessary grease will sully a blade and no blood would be allowed to pointlessly scatter in the vicinity, if you leave the handling of game to a skilled cook, but due to the fact that the same could be said about a mad scientist, Renya harbors a feeling that he cant identify as being either awe or shock.Thats how splendid Emils way of processing the wild rabbits was.The wild rabbits, which were caught and then strangled in advance by Croire with such skill that awoke Renyas desire to ask her if she was really an elf, were systematically dismantled and separated into skin, meat, intestines and bones by Emils knife which has an excessive sharpness without no blood spattering around.Since there was the additional share which was caught by Lepard and Kaede, it was a fairly large amount of game, but Emil processed it almost instantly.Emils skill was at such a high level. What about the blood draining? (Renya) This kind of wild rabbits meat has a light taste, so retaining their flavor by not draining their blood is the usual way to cook them. (Emil) Even in my former world there was a duck that allowed for such a cooking method, wasnt there?Renya recalls.Its said that the taste improves by letting the blood circulate inside the meat if you strangle the game in a state of blood congestion without bloodletting, but on the other hand it has the flaw that the meat will become darkish and specks will appear.As for food cultures that regard the smell of blood and the taste of iron as delicious, it didnt agree overly much with Renyas palate, but its also true that theres the expression,When in Rome, do as the Romans. Once told that its normal, Renya thought that it might be better to abide and decided to leave it to Emil.Renya, who thought that he would just have to prepare his own preferred dishes in exchange, is about to make a soup stock out of the bones, but then notices that the mountain of bones, which had been put aside by Emil, is already gone.Once he looks around searching for the bones, he finds Lepard, who had suddenly started a fire outside the cave where the sun has begun to go down, suitably placing the bones he carried in both arms around the open-air fire to grill them.Thanks to Emils superior dismantling technique, theres almost no meat left on the bones. At most one could find a few sinews and cartilages. In front of Renya, who wonders just what Lepard is planning to do with the bones, Lepard started to abruptly bring the bones to his mouth after the bones were grilled properly.You dont say!Renya thought, but Lepard began to crunch those bones, seemingly enjoying their taste. Whoaare those actually delicious? (Renya) Renya harbored the fairly rude impression,Dont tell me that the beastmen are even idiots in regards to their palate?However, once he ponders about it for a bit, he recalls that there are also stories about the marrow inside the bones C even if its different for the bones exterior C being considerably tasty. Its great, you know? I cant recommend it for humans, though. In reality its best with a tiny bit of meat remaining, butthese have been processed too skillfully. (Kaede) Same as Lepard, Kaede bites the grilled bones and munches them next to him.It was a sight that allowed one to actually experience once again the differences between the structures of the beastmens bodies and those of the humans.If a human did the same, they wouldnt be able to chew bones so easily in the first place. Even after crushing them, the bones would block their throat or damage their stomach. To begin with, its difficult to imagine that the stomach is capable of completely digesting bones. Its probably still impossible for the lil ones sticking to Kurz. Please share some meat with them. (Lepard) You two are going to eat the meat as well, arent you? (Renya) Just a bit, okay? Kaede and I will satisfy our hunger with these. (Lepard) The spectacle of a woman with fox ears and a shrine maiden garb holding a wild rabbits skull in both hands and biting into it felt like something related to a horror movie, making Renya quietly avert his eyes from the two.At the same time he gave up on making a soup as it was obvious to him that the bones would end up in the stomachs of these two.The processed meat was further cut into a suitable size, and after sticking it on skewers, it was grilled over a fire in the vicinity of the open-air fire used by Lepard and Kaede to grill the bones.Simply flavoring it with salt is often seen as cutting corners and proof of being a bad cook, but its a cooking that overflows with a wild taste.Renya, who felt slightly cruel for forcing the two elves to sate their hunger with nothing but meat, decided to provide bread, several fruits and fish from his inventory.After watching Croire in the beginning he obtained the information that even elves, who are bad with meat, can eat fish for some reason.The flashback to Croires early days is due to the fact that the current Croire is eating meat, fish and vegetables without being picky.However, even with Croire having gotten used to eating such abundant variety of dishes, a change in her figure isnt visible at all.I wonder whether thats not already on the level of a curse?Renya ponders.Renya has decided to put various ingredients into his inventory.I can use what I have one way or another, but things that I dont have, I naturally cant use.Fortunately it was possible to stack foodstuff, by stuffing it into a barrel and putting it into his inventory after labeling it as a Barrel with Food.Because the items contents apparently have no influence on the inventorys capacity, it has turned into an exceedingly helpful feature.In the same way he carried several types of tableware in barrels called Barrel with Tableware.Its an action owed to Renyas fixation that food should be served on proper crockery, but if you speak from the viewpoint of adventurers, it cant be called anything but extremely pointless.However, it was mostly favorably viewed upon by the other members of Renyas party.It seems they are slowly growing up in this regard.As its not possible for him to bring a table along, no matter how you look at it, Renya properly clears away the hair from the wild rabbits pelts, cuts them up into fitting sizes, and then creates an impromptu sheet by sewing them together with a needle.If one only hears the namepelt sheet, it sounds like being extremely wasteful, but even if the raw materials of wild rabbits are sold, they wont amount to a reasonable sum of money.If one considers it okay to discard the pelts after using them even if they get dirty, one can treat them quite carefreely.The grilled meat and fish and the various types of vegetables, either cooked or left raw, are dished up on plates. Thereupon the napping group C seemingly lured by the scent C begins to wake up with a restless stirring. Ahsorry, Renya. I havent even helped (Shion) Shion was ashamed for having continued to sleep so deeply, but Renya waved his hand, telling her to not mind it. Itll be just fine if you work instead when the others become sleepy. (Renya) Excuse me for not having helped out either. (Kurz) Kurz quickly lowers his head.Renya caressed his head while smiling wryly. Children dont have to worry about such stuff, got it? (Renya) But, if I had helped out, we might caught much bigger game. (Kurz) Feeling somewhat bothered by Kurzs words, whose head Renya is still caressing, Renya asks, What specifically? (Renya) A dragon or such. (Kurz) Okay, even if you find one, lets not hunt it in this place, okay? After all it will be scary in various ways. (Renya) If they did something like hunting and eating dragons in an area ruled by dragonoids who consider dragons as sacred, it wouldnt be clear what might happen.At the very least it wont be anything good. Renya instructed Kurz while keeping his voice as gentle as possible.If I dont warn him properly here, its very likely that hunted dragons are going to be laying outside the cave one morning. You dont have to mind it. So just eat the food. (Renya) But (Kurz) Its fine, just eat it. Even if youre going to hunt something for arguments sake, make sure to stay away from dragons in this area. (Renya) Yeees~. (Kurz) He had an expression that made it obvious that he still couldnt comprehend some parts, but Kurz began to eat the rabbit meat as told. Shion, Rona, make sure to diligently help with tidying up. (Renya) Shion and Rona, who began to secretly grab rabbit meat while hiding in Kurzs shadow, choke after being reminded of that. Well, putting that aside, Id like you to listen while eating. (Renya) Renya, who secured his own share and decided to leave the rest to the others, addresses everyone as he watches the many dishes decreasing at an astounding rate.Upon hearing his words, the other members stopped their hands for a moment and turned their eyes in his direction, but as they had been told by Renya that he will speak during their meal, they immediately focus on their food again. How obedient, heyfor starters, while we kill time in here today I want to talk about our plans from now on. (Renya) Plans? (Rona) Its Rona who asks back while bringing the sake cup, which had been prepared next to the dishes by Renya believing that drinks might be necessary as well, close to her mouth.Because Lepard and Kaede said that they will actually be fine with a little share of the meat, Renya prepared a somewhat strong sake in order to get them to drink it as an appetizer alongside the scarce meat, but Rona seems to fully intend on keeping them company with the drinking.Rona continues to drain sake while keeping a fixed pace, but although her face becomes faintly red, her articulation remains steady. I think the following plans are good options: Wait here until someone comes, head to a nearby city, or head for the Dragons Den. (Renya) If it looks like no one is going to come after waiting for tonight, I think itll be a poor move to wait any longer. (Croire) The one who stated her opinion first was Croire. If its a situation where someone has enough leeway to come here, we should be able to meet them if we wait for that long. As we will spend the night here, the decisions have now been reduced to two. I cast my vote for searching for a city. Thats, ummif we head to the Dragons Den without knowing anything (Croire) It wont give the dragonoids an overly good impression if we are with you is what you mean, right? (Lepard) Lepard says, following after Croire who seems to have slight troubles to voice out such a problem. As for me, I really wanna see that Dragons Den at least once though, you know? (Lepard) Lepards face seems to be very disappointed.Normally theres no one who would try to deliberately approach an area swarming with dragons that cannot be controlled, but as might be expected of a battle maniac, he appears to have a different thought process compared to the normal way of thinking. For our mischievous ancestors to have messed up things so badly after coming herethats a bother for sure. (Kaede) Kaedes cheeks, who said so with a sigh while placing a hand on her cheek, have become quite crimson.Seen from the side, her face is tinged by a mysterious seductiveness as its illuminated by the campfire in the darkness. Coupled with the beast ears and shrine maiden garb, its a sight that would make people, who have such preferences, go all gung-ho if they were to see her right now, but theres almost no doubt that they would be beaten senseless by Lepard whos right next to her the moment they try anything.Kaedes drinking pace was around the same as Ronas, but it looks like shes a lot weaker against alcohol than Rona. I think I will cast my vote towards the city, too. If we go to a place such as the Dragons Den, its not like we will be able to do anything, even if we leave you out of the loop there, Renya. (Shion) Those are Shions words, who innocently chews her rabbit meat.Leaving vegetables and fish for the elves, shes solely focused on continuously eating nothing but meat. Refusing even the sake, she washes down the meat with plain water. I will follow Shion, so I have no personal opinion on this. (Rona) Rona said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Personally Id really like to try going to the Dragons Den. But, well I will obey masters decision. (Emil) Without putting a hand on the meat, Emil only drinks the sake provided by Renya.Shes consuming the alcohol very, very slowly, and as such the symptoms of drinking sake arent visible on her face at all.Should I regard Emil as being able to hold her liquor, or should I see it as demons having strong stomachs?Renya is puzzled by his line of thought, but the only ones here, who know of Emils true identity, are Croire and him. Theres definitely no way that he can bring up that topic right now. It really looks like the opinion to search for a city is predominant, doesnt it? (Renya) That makes sense after all. I mean, even if we wont be welcomed with this line-up, the ones who will still be able to enter without being exposed to danger are the two elves, Grn and Croire. (Emil) At normal times, it might even be possible to be guided to the Dragons Den as long as we have a proper talk beforehand, butright now we wont be of much help in that regard. (Croire) Well then, today we will spend the night here, and then, once dawn breaks, search for a city while heading south. Any objections? (Renya) Upon Renya summarizing their discussion like that, no one raises any objections. In that case we will decide on the order for sentry duty. We will have two people guard and watch the fire on each shift. Kurz, you and the two small priestesses will go to bed early. (Renya) I can stand watch as well, you know? (Kurz) Kurz unhappily complains while being assisted with the meal by the two priestesses by his side.While thinking,Come to think of it, I didnt hear the names of the two priestesses until now, Renya tells Kurz, No. Kurz and those two next to youumm? (Renya) Tsubaki and Botan, Margrave-sama. (Kaede) Kaede quietly throws a lifeline.Renya is thankful for her timely assistance, but as Kaede is Kaede, her innermost thoughts were terrifying. (That hagerr, queen completely forgot to introduce the priestesses that were attached to Kurz)(Kaede) If one is at the age of Kurz, Tsubaki and Botan, their job is to sleep at this time. Theres no need for you to unreasonably stay up at night. I wont allow any objections. (Renya) Kurz looked dissatisfied upon hearing Renyas clear and assertive words, but the priestesses on his sides start to smooth it over. Kurz-sama, you have to gratefully accept Margrave-samas concern. Lets regard them as words taking your health into consideration, Kurz-sama. Uuhgot it. I will properly work during the day, okay? (Kurz) Yeah, of course. (Renya) Renya agreed, but what he thought inside his mind was something else.The two priestesses, who attend Kurz, resemble each other so much that its easy to guess that they are twins.That leaves the question, which of them is Tsubaki and which is Botan, Renya wonders.Being taken along by the priestesses, they form one clump deep inside the cave, and choose when to start sleeping at their own discretion. Kaede draws close to Renya and whispers, I will teach you how to tell them apart later. (Kaede) Please. Though I feel very awkward for this to happen after being together so long. (Renya) No, our side forgot about it as well. (Kaede) Not knowing the names of the ones taking care of Kurz was extremely impolite in Renyas eyes.Even if there were various other things he had to consider, that is.Once things calm down a bit, I should probably apologize for that impoliteness properly, and thank them for taking care of Kurz, Renya decided.For that reason as well, we have to swiftly deal with the troubles taking place in this dragonoid country, he judged. Chapter 159 Chapter 159 C It seems to be a Reunion Past midnight, when everyone had fallen asleep, Renya, who stood guard, averted his eyes from the fire, feeling as if he had heard something.There seem to be a couple clouds in the sky, and the stars shining is mysteriously conspicuous.Although Renyas sight is somewhat effective in the dark, he cant see anything in the night sky that might be the origin of the sound he thought he heard. Whats wrong? (Shion) Shion, who was likewise on nightwatch and was currently sitting right next to Renya, notices Renya suddenly raising his face and thus asks.As if I know that myself. After pondering for a little while, Renya decided to give a neutral reply. I felt as if I heard something, but I guess it was just my imagination. (Renya) Renya turns his eyes back towards the campfire and throws some more firewood into the flames.The place with the small cave, where Renya and the others are currently resting, is located in an environment with no forest in sight and only small trees that grow sparsely in the vicinity, making it difficult to secure firewood.They had brought some with them, but certainly not an amount that allowed them to keep a fire lit throughout the night.If they were to burn the trees growing around them just because theres no firewood to be found, smoke would rise and there is also the fact that live trees dont catch on fire very well.If smoke were to flow into the cave, it would definitely not allow anyone to sleep.As a last resort Renya had to maintain the fire using the firewood they brought along while also drying the wood from the trees nearby with that same fire, but because smoke still rose as its not possible for him to completely dry the wood in such a short time, Renya was forced to carry out two tasks in parallel: first, keeping the fire going and second, using wind sorcery in order to make sure that the smoke doesnt flow into the cave.Missing the timing to change guard duty thanks to that, Renya expected to continue standing watch until midnight, but Shion, who was told to keep him company, watched Renyas work while smiling without raising any objections.Though it would be fine if she were to voice out her complaints, Renya believes.However, in Shions mind doing her best so as to allow the others to have a quiet sleep is a great deed. At the same time she hasnt realized at all that as long as the shifts dont change itll just be the two of them. Just for reference, what kind of sound did you hear? (Shion) I think you could call it the sound of wind being cut. Like a shrill, echoing sound (Renya) I didnt hear anything, though (Shion) Being told that, Shion looks up into the sky, but her eyes, which are only average for a human, can only see the stars twinkling. Theres no way that she could see something that cuts through the wind like Renya mentioned. I think its just my imagination. Even if something was there for arguments sake, I dont think that we would be able to see anything now seeing as saidthingwas moving at a speed that could cut the wind. (Renya) That makes sense (Shion) After nodding once, Shion rests her gaze on Renya again as hes watching the fire.Seeing her smiling face, Renya tilts his head in confusion, wondering just what was so amusing, but thinking that it might be something that he wouldnt be able to guess anyway, he decided to stay silent about it. Given that this place is what it is, its not all that strange for outrageous things to be flying around either though. (Renya) Well, its the dragonoids country after allI guess it wouldnt be a surprise for dragons to soar through the sky. (Shion) It wouldnt be strange, but it would sure be easier for us if they would descend here. (Renya) Renya says while throwing another piece of wood into the fire.Considering it normally, there arent any idiots that would want to encounter a dragon while camping outdoors.After all that would usually lead to ones death.However, in the eyes of the members currently present, an encounter with a dragon wouldnt mean death, but only a future chance for a competition over foodstuff and materials, Shion smiles bitterly. Im not going to hunt it, okay? (Renya) Renya says, apparently having seen through Shions thoughts.As if hearing something unexpected, Shions expression changes into one full of surprise. You wont? (Shion) Renya nods at Shion who asks back, wondering whether she had misheard. I wont hunt it. I will capture it. (Renya) I mean, it will serve as a means of transportation and a source of information, so whats the point of hunting it? Renya asks.Dragon C a being thats referred to as the strongest monster as far as it goes; it makes me wonder whether Renya and the allies around him are not crazy, Shion let a sigh escape her lips.I dont think that hes bad, but at the same time he has many aspects that wouldnt let me to honestly nod if asked whether he is a good person.Though Shion herself is aware that recently her own thinking has been strongly influenced by Renya. Cant you shoot it down? (Shion) It might be possible if I see it, but in the night sky In the first place, isnt shooting it down, ordering it to hand over its information and forcing it to let us ride it not exactly the type of stuff a villain would do? (Renya) Hmm, youre certainly right there. But somehow I feel like, why care about that now of all times. (Shion) Based on that Ive seen from the way he handles Dra-kun, arent those kinds of threats and coercions a daily occurrence?Shion wonders. Since I have never meddled with the dragons over here, you cant really call itnow of all times. (Renya) It looks like hes well aware of his cruel treatment of the dragons over there, or in other words the dragons in the outskirts of Kukrika and those related to them.Renyas face, who stated such a thing flatly, doesnt show a single sign of a guilty conscience. Wellthats all fine, but (Shion) Renya interrupts Shion, who started to speak in an astounded manner, with his eyes.And this time Shion, who hurriedly held her tongue, could clearly hear a noise.Its a somewhat high-pitched, scream-like sound.Guessing from the sounds weakness, Shion felt that whatever made that sound was in a far away place from where they are now.In front of Shions eyes, who was about to ask Renya just what might have caused that sound, Renya suddenly holds up a palm towards the sky.In the next instant, several small fireballs, drawing countless crimson trails in the night sky, were launched from his palm. ? (Shion) I dont know anything beyond it being a small-scaled spell that is visible in the dark and thus usable at night. (Renya) Jeez, what a waste, Shion thinks.Renyas mana should be enormous, and yet he cant use anything besides really basic spells, if you exclude the void and wind attributes.Even though he should be able to become a world-leading sorcerer going far beyond the abilities of humans, if only he properly learned sorcery from a reliable sorcery teacher, Renya wastes most of his mana pointlessly or provides it to Frau.Given that he should be disconnected from the supply line to Frau right now because of the distance, Renyas huge mana pools seems to just be accumulating. The sight of the continuously fired spells as if now was the time to go all out, which consequently colored the night sky crimson, is fairly beautiful, yet a magnificently pointless act. R-Renya? Just what are you doing? (Shion) There was something in the sky. I have no intention to hit it, but it might come down to see whats going on, right? (Renya) Its a spell that will explode if it hits something, but if theres nothing to hit, it will merely scatter in the sky fruitlessly.Even so, as hes launching a number of spells thats gradually going beyond common sense, the situation in the sky became visible for Shion, albeit only vaguely. Certainly, its quite far away, butsomethings flying over there? (Shion) It seems to be circling around, but it isnt actually coming down. I guess its being cautious? (Renya) Wouldnt it be better to stop with the fireballs and switch over to ? (Shion) Even if its called a weak spell, fireball is still categorized as offensive sorcery.Shion could see a shadow, as small as the tip of her pinky finger nail, flying high up in the sky, but whatever it is, it only makes sense to be cautious if attack sorcery is launched up into the sky.Thats why Shion tried to propose the usage of which has no offensive ability, but this ends up being rejected by Renya. Divine arts look like they can be fired, but you cant make the spell fly. (Renya) Oh, I guess its Ronas turn then? (Shion) Rona is sleeping inside the cave.Renya grabbed Shions shoulder, who was just about to go wake her up. Renya? (Shion) There was a response over there. (Renya) Ahead of Renyas gaze, the distant, small shadow cast a light strong enough to be seen even from their location.Seeing that light, Renya stops releasing spells from his palm.Watching the small shadow, which had been circling around in the sky, it abruptly started descending in a straight line, Shions face became stiff.Obviously its speed is too abnormal.The shadow, which had began with the size of her fingernail at first, quickly changed into a huge shadow with spread wings causing Shion to consider its speed as dangerous, even before asking what the true identity of the shadow might actually be. Renya! (Shion) It doesnt seem that its going to cause us any harm, you know? (Renya) Even without that being the case, I feel like the result will be the same anyway!? If it comes down with such a speed, just the shock-wave and the wind pressure will (Shion) A huge mass moves with a corresponding speed, and if it crashes into the ground, the generated shock-wave will be fairly devastating.Also, the wind pressure needed in order to allow such a large mass to fly in the air shouldnt be anything to scoff at either.Shion called out to Renya while feeling uneasy about those topics, but Renya doesnt seem to consider such things as dangerous at all. Those guys flying in the sky has no relation to physical laws. (Renya) Eh? (Shion) Being told as such, Shion stares at the descending shadow.The large build, which was landing at a fairly high speed while casting a light, was something even Shion had witnessed many times in Kukrika. A dragon!? (Shion) The large build, which lowered its speed and calmly stayed in the air after getting close enough, was certainly a dragon.Moreover, Renya feels as if he had seen that dragon somewhere before. We met somewhere before, didnt we? (Renya) Ooh, Emedra-kun, eh? Its been a while. You healthy? (Renya) Renya casually raises a hand in greeting.The dragon with the name Emedra started to hover at a fixed altitude, but although it was vaguely, its astonishment was obvious from its behavior. (Emedra) It doesnt feel like that applies to Dra-kun though? (Renya) (Emedra) Renya and Emedra are having a light chat, but seeing that, Shion is on tenterhooks.After all the dragon flapping its wings above their heads is far bigger than Dra-kun.The intimidation triggered by its large build isnt a joke either. Shion? Whats up? (Renya) Seemingly having noticed Shions nervousness, Renya calls out to her.Shion gave him an answer while making sure her voice wouldnt tremble. NahI just thought that you sure are calm about this. (Shion) Calm, you sayyouve met this one before, havent you? (Renya) Being told so, Shion looks at the dragon flying above her once more, but no matter how closely she looks, theres no way for her to tell apart the individual differences of a dragons face. After scrutinizing the dragon for a while, Shion obviously gave up and shook her head. That dragon is unknown to me. (Shion) Its the Emedra dragon who helped us during the war against the Holy Kingdom. (Renya) (Emedra) For some reason a hint of apprehension could be sensed in that telepathic message.After perceiving the reality that she, whos no more than a human that might as well be equal to trash in the eyes of a dragon, is apparently causing feelings of apprehension to surface in a dragon, Shion feels shocked.Seemingly reading the stirrings in Shions heart from her expression, Emedra said with a clearly apprehensive atmosphere, (Emedra) Ah, no, its nothing of that levelwai-! You can hear my voice as well!? (Shion) (Emedra) Emedra honestly answers the surprised Shion, and gently lands on the ground.It was a soft touchdown that didnt produce any wind pressure or shock-wave as had been worrying Shion. (Emedra) Emedra said while looking in the direction of the cave behind Renya and Shion, and Renya nodded. The transfer gates from the human and beastmen countries have become unusable. In order to investigate what happened, we came here together with the hero. (Renya) (Emedra) Thanks for your concern. Right now Id rather have some information than such concern, though. Please tell us if you know anything. (Renya) Upon Renyas request, Emedra didnt use telepathic communication, but instead spit out its breath as if squeezing it out from its mouth, which contained an array of sharp fangs, and slowly laid its body down in front of Renya and Shion. (Emedra) Somehow a pronounced weariness clung to Emedras telepathic message. Chapter 159 C It seems to be a Reunion Past midnight, when everyone had fallen asleep, Renya, who stood guard, averted his eyes from the fire, feeling as if he had heard something.There seem to be a couple clouds in the sky, and the stars shining is mysteriously conspicuous.Although Renyas sight is somewhat effective in the dark, he cant see anything in the night sky that might be the origin of the sound he thought he heard. Whats wrong? (Shion) Shion, who was likewise on nightwatch and was currently sitting right next to Renya, notices Renya suddenly raising his face and thus asks.As if I know that myself. After pondering for a little while, Renya decided to give a neutral reply. I felt as if I heard something, but I guess it was just my imagination. (Renya) Renya turns his eyes back towards the campfire and throws some more firewood into the flames.The place with the small cave, where Renya and the others are currently resting, is located in an environment with no forest in sight and only small trees that grow sparsely in the vicinity, making it difficult to secure firewood.They had brought some with them, but certainly not an amount that allowed them to keep a fire lit throughout the night.If they were to burn the trees growing around them just because theres no firewood to be found, smoke would rise and there is also the fact that live trees dont catch on fire very well.If smoke were to flow into the cave, it would definitely not allow anyone to sleep.As a last resort Renya had to maintain the fire using the firewood they brought along while also drying the wood from the trees nearby with that same fire, but because smoke still rose as its not possible for him to completely dry the wood in such a short time, Renya was forced to carry out two tasks in parallel: first, keeping the fire going and second, using wind sorcery in order to make sure that the smoke doesnt flow into the cave.Missing the timing to change guard duty thanks to that, Renya expected to continue standing watch until midnight, but Shion, who was told to keep him company, watched Renyas work while smiling without raising any objections.Though it would be fine if she were to voice out her complaints, Renya believes.However, in Shions mind doing her best so as to allow the others to have a quiet sleep is a great deed. At the same time she hasnt realized at all that as long as the shifts dont change itll just be the two of them. Just for reference, what kind of sound did you hear? (Shion) I think you could call it the sound of wind being cut. Like a shrill, echoing sound (Renya) I didnt hear anything, though (Shion) Being told that, Shion looks up into the sky, but her eyes, which are only average for a human, can only see the stars twinkling. Theres no way that she could see something that cuts through the wind like Renya mentioned. I think its just my imagination. Even if something was there for arguments sake, I dont think that we would be able to see anything now seeing as saidthingwas moving at a speed that could cut the wind. (Renya) That makes sense (Shion) After nodding once, Shion rests her gaze on Renya again as hes watching the fire.Seeing her smiling face, Renya tilts his head in confusion, wondering just what was so amusing, but thinking that it might be something that he wouldnt be able to guess anyway, he decided to stay silent about it. Given that this place is what it is, its not all that strange for outrageous things to be flying around either though. (Renya) Well, its the dragonoids country after allI guess it wouldnt be a surprise for dragons to soar through the sky. (Shion) It wouldnt be strange, but it would sure be easier for us if they would descend here. (Renya) Renya says while throwing another piece of wood into the fire.Considering it normally, there arent any idiots that would want to encounter a dragon while camping outdoors.After all that would usually lead to ones death.However, in the eyes of the members currently present, an encounter with a dragon wouldnt mean death, but only a future chance for a competition over foodstuff and materials, Shion smiles bitterly. Im not going to hunt it, okay? (Renya) Renya says, apparently having seen through Shions thoughts.As if hearing something unexpected, Shions expression changes into one full of surprise. You wont? (Shion) Renya nods at Shion who asks back, wondering whether she had misheard. I wont hunt it. I will capture it. (Renya) I mean, it will serve as a means of transportation and a source of information, so whats the point of hunting it? Renya asks.Dragon C a being thats referred to as the strongest monster as far as it goes; it makes me wonder whether Renya and the allies around him are not crazy, Shion let a sigh escape her lips.I dont think that hes bad, but at the same time he has many aspects that wouldnt let me to honestly nod if asked whether he is a good person.Though Shion herself is aware that recently her own thinking has been strongly influenced by Renya. Cant you shoot it down? (Shion) It might be possible if I see it, but in the night sky In the first place, isnt shooting it down, ordering it to hand over its information and forcing it to let us ride it not exactly the type of stuff a villain would do? (Renya) Hmm, youre certainly right there. But somehow I feel like, why care about that now of all times. (Shion) Based on that Ive seen from the way he handles Dra-kun, arent those kinds of threats and coercions a daily occurrence?Shion wonders. Since I have never meddled with the dragons over here, you cant really call itnow of all times. (Renya) It looks like hes well aware of his cruel treatment of the dragons over there, or in other words the dragons in the outskirts of Kukrika and those related to them.Renyas face, who stated such a thing flatly, doesnt show a single sign of a guilty conscience. Wellthats all fine, but (Shion) Renya interrupts Shion, who started to speak in an astounded manner, with his eyes.And this time Shion, who hurriedly held her tongue, could clearly hear a noise.Its a somewhat high-pitched, scream-like sound.Guessing from the sounds weakness, Shion felt that whatever made that sound was in a far away place from where they are now.In front of Shions eyes, who was about to ask Renya just what might have caused that sound, Renya suddenly holds up a palm towards the sky.In the next instant, several small fireballs, drawing countless crimson trails in the night sky, were launched from his palm. ? (Shion) I dont know anything beyond it being a small-scaled spell that is visible in the dark and thus usable at night. (Renya) Jeez, what a waste, Shion thinks.Renyas mana should be enormous, and yet he cant use anything besides really basic spells, if you exclude the void and wind attributes.Even though he should be able to become a world-leading sorcerer going far beyond the abilities of humans, if only he properly learned sorcery from a reliable sorcery teacher, Renya wastes most of his mana pointlessly or provides it to Frau.Given that he should be disconnected from the supply line to Frau right now because of the distance, Renyas huge mana pools seems to just be accumulating. The sight of the continuously fired spells as if now was the time to go all out, which consequently colored the night sky crimson, is fairly beautiful, yet a magnificently pointless act. R-Renya? Just what are you doing? (Shion) There was something in the sky. I have no intention to hit it, but it might come down to see whats going on, right? (Renya) Its a spell that will explode if it hits something, but if theres nothing to hit, it will merely scatter in the sky fruitlessly.Even so, as hes launching a number of spells thats gradually going beyond common sense, the situation in the sky became visible for Shion, albeit only vaguely. Certainly, its quite far away, butsomethings flying over there? (Shion) It seems to be circling around, but it isnt actually coming down. I guess its being cautious? (Renya) Wouldnt it be better to stop with the fireballs and switch over to ? (Shion) Even if its called a weak spell, fireball is still categorized as offensive sorcery.Shion could see a shadow, as small as the tip of her pinky finger nail, flying high up in the sky, but whatever it is, it only makes sense to be cautious if attack sorcery is launched up into the sky.Thats why Shion tried to propose the usage of which has no offensive ability, but this ends up being rejected by Renya. Divine arts look like they can be fired, but you cant make the spell fly. (Renya) Oh, I guess its Ronas turn then? (Shion) Rona is sleeping inside the cave.Renya grabbed Shions shoulder, who was just about to go wake her up. Renya? (Shion) There was a response over there. (Renya) Ahead of Renyas gaze, the distant, small shadow cast a light strong enough to be seen even from their location.Seeing that light, Renya stops releasing spells from his palm.Watching the small shadow, which had been circling around in the sky, it abruptly started descending in a straight line, Shions face became stiff.Obviously its speed is too abnormal.The shadow, which had began with the size of her fingernail at first, quickly changed into a huge shadow with spread wings causing Shion to consider its speed as dangerous, even before asking what the true identity of the shadow might actually be. Renya! (Shion) It doesnt seem that its going to cause us any harm, you know? (Renya) Even without that being the case, I feel like the result will be the same anyway!? If it comes down with such a speed, just the shock-wave and the wind pressure will (Shion) A huge mass moves with a corresponding speed, and if it crashes into the ground, the generated shock-wave will be fairly devastating.Also, the wind pressure needed in order to allow such a large mass to fly in the air shouldnt be anything to scoff at either.Shion called out to Renya while feeling uneasy about those topics, but Renya doesnt seem to consider such things as dangerous at all. Those guys flying in the sky has no relation to physical laws. (Renya) Eh? (Shion) Being told as such, Shion stares at the descending shadow.The large build, which was landing at a fairly high speed while casting a light, was something even Shion had witnessed many times in Kukrika. A dragon!? (Shion) The large build, which lowered its speed and calmly stayed in the air after getting close enough, was certainly a dragon.Moreover, Renya feels as if he had seen that dragon somewhere before. We met somewhere before, didnt we? (Renya) Ooh, Emedra-kun, eh? Its been a while. You healthy? (Renya) Renya casually raises a hand in greeting.The dragon with the name Emedra started to hover at a fixed altitude, but although it was vaguely, its astonishment was obvious from its behavior. (Emedra) It doesnt feel like that applies to Dra-kun though? (Renya) (Emedra) Renya and Emedra are having a light chat, but seeing that, Shion is on tenterhooks.After all the dragon flapping its wings above their heads is far bigger than Dra-kun.The intimidation triggered by its large build isnt a joke either. Shion? Whats up? (Renya) Seemingly having noticed Shions nervousness, Renya calls out to her.Shion gave him an answer while making sure her voice wouldnt tremble. NahI just thought that you sure are calm about this. (Shion) Calm, you sayyouve met this one before, havent you? (Renya) Being told so, Shion looks at the dragon flying above her once more, but no matter how closely she looks, theres no way for her to tell apart the individual differences of a dragons face. After scrutinizing the dragon for a while, Shion obviously gave up and shook her head. That dragon is unknown to me. (Shion) Its the Emedra dragon who helped us during the war against the Holy Kingdom. (Renya) (Emedra) For some reason a hint of apprehension could be sensed in that telepathic message.After perceiving the reality that she, whos no more than a human that might as well be equal to trash in the eyes of a dragon, is apparently causing feelings of apprehension to surface in a dragon, Shion feels shocked.Seemingly reading the stirrings in Shions heart from her expression, Emedra said with a clearly apprehensive atmosphere, (Emedra) Ah, no, its nothing of that levelwai-! You can hear my voice as well!? (Shion) (Emedra) Emedra honestly answers the surprised Shion, and gently lands on the ground.It was a soft touchdown that didnt produce any wind pressure or shock-wave as had been worrying Shion. (Emedra) Emedra said while looking in the direction of the cave behind Renya and Shion, and Renya nodded. The transfer gates from the human and beastmen countries have become unusable. In order to investigate what happened, we came here together with the hero. (Renya) (Emedra) Thanks for your concern. Right now Id rather have some information than such concern, though. Please tell us if you know anything. (Renya) Upon Renyas request, Emedra didnt use telepathic communication, but instead spit out its breath as if squeezing it out from its mouth, which contained an array of sharp fangs, and slowly laid its body down in front of Renya and Shion. (Emedra) Somehow a pronounced weariness clung to Emedras telepathic message. Chapter 160 What looked to have been spit out by the Miasma Forest were the few survivors of the first wave of attacks.The dragonoids abilities are extremely high compared to humans, elves and beastmen. It should be possible to say the same about their ability to sense presences, but apparently no one noticed the approach of the military forces until they were visible by the naked eye.Even so, the city closest to the Miasma Forest had adopted a policy of always being prepared for emergencies. The counterattack was swift, but being put into an disadvantageous position due to the scale of the enemy troops, which went beyond their assumptions, and because of the staggeringly high number of casualties in the first battle, the dragonoids wanted to retreated. However, they had already been surrounded. The dragonoids somehow managed to break through the siege but they still had to pay a heavy toll.The information regarding an attack by a monster army was spread to the other cities, but the monsters advanced at an abnormally high speed. The dragonoids were forced into battle without having been able to prepare interception tactics or coordinate between the cities.Falling into the dilemma of being crushed one-by-one, close to half of their territory was easily occupied by the monsters. (Emedra) Emedra deeply exhales while resting her huge body in front of the cave.It was probably meant to be a sigh, but the breath released by Emedras huge body has too much power, and Im pretty sure its somewhat difficult to describe it as a sigh. The invasion speed was too fast, you say? (Lepard) The members that were still asleep had been woken up by Renya. Among them, Lepard expresses his doubt.Normally, if you were to speak of a monster army, their main forces would consist of orcs and goblins. Those only travel by foot.Each of the continents on this world is considerably vast. You could say that anyone would harbor doubts if they were told that half of that land was invaded so quickly. (Emedra) Emedras adjusted her telepathic communication so that everyone could hear her reply.That fine adjustment was apparently something that made Emedra feel proud as it didnt suit her huge build. Some weird term popped up once again, huh? What are evil dragons? (Renya) Renya asks about the word he was hearing for the first time.He didnt know whether this might be common knowledge in this world, but theres no way for Renya to know something like that. (Emedra) Its a story at the level of being a fairy-tale among us humans (Shion) Shion supplements the polite explanation of Emedra. Are they black-colored or something? (Renya) Emedra slowly shook her head at Renya who asked that based on the prejudice that the color black is associated with bad guys. (Emedra) Youre saying that they are participating in the invasion? (Renya) (Emedra) If its a war between fellow dragon tribes, such an event has taken place several times, but dragons actively attacking other races has never happened as far Im aware, Emedra says.That was a reality stemming from the knowledge that the beings called dragons are completely different from the other races, regardless of whether theyre normal dragons or evil dragons. (Emedra) The example is bad, but I get it. If it wasnt you, I would have turned you into sashimi by cutting you into three pieces. (Renya) Even when they were compared to insects by the dragon, Shion and the others didnt really think anything of it.Everyone understood that dragons are beings standing on a different level in the food chain, but only Renya alone glared at Emedra, obviously feeling slightly offended. Emedras face cramped up and she averted her eyes. (Emedra) I do, so continue with the story. (Renya) (Emedra) A monster army invading with a speed equal to a dragons, huh? What a pain. But, evil dragons, eh? Hey, Shion. (Renya) Yes? (Shion) Suddenly being brought up in the conversation, Shion replies with a high-pitched voice as if squeaking. Are there no evil humans that escaped to the demon territory to oppose humanity? (Renya) There arent. Someone like that (Shion) would definitely turn into prey or a playtoy at the moment they entered the demons territory, right? (Rona) Shion shakes her head, and Rona interjects while placing a hand on her chin.I guess that makes sense, Renya turns his eyes in Lepards direction next, but he provides a reply before Renya even opens his mouth. There aint any such beastmen. I mean, something like evil beastmen wouldnt be funny at all! (Lepard) Renya-san, if we limit it to the beastmen, theres are none among them who would consider running away to the demons territory just because they lost a battle. They would probably fight until they win or give up. (Kaede) Kaede provided a very beastmen-like way of thinking as an answer.So far as it goes those replies aligned with what Renya had expected, but while wracking his brain as to why these race have never been destroyed at least once, Renya turns his eyes towards Croire. Eh? Dont tell me that youre really going to ask whether there are evil elves or such? (Croire) No, in the case of elves, they would be called dark elves, I think? (Renya) Once Renya mentioned a word that had somehow managed to stay in a corner of his memory, Croire stared at Renya with a slightly surprised expression, and then spoke after a short pause. That surprised me a bit. For you to know about the elves minority groups. (Croire) Ah, so they do exist. (Renya) They are different from what youre expecting, Renya, but a tribe referred to as the dark elves does exist. Their main traits are a skin color that can range from dark brown to black, hair color ranging from silver to platinum, and red eyes. But, its not like they are actually an evil tribe. You can perceive them as elves with different colors. And their most prominent trait is (Croire) At this point Croire clears her throat once and continues while straining herself to keep a calm voice. Many of their men have small builds, the women haveummlarge builds, and their b-b-breasts are (Croire) Ah, they are huge, you mean. (Renya) Once Renya, who guessed what Croire was trying to say from her expression as she struggled to voice it out, said the words without any hesitation, Croires eyes became glazed, as if a switch had been flipped over.Hanging her head in shame with such stiff movements that one could almost hear creaking sounds coming from her neck, Croire replies with a subdued voice while making sure not to let her emotions tinge her words. Those are alreadyso big that it makes one wonder whether a persons head could be crammed in-between them. (Croire) Its a tribe with low numbers which was once persecuted due to an unfortunate misunderstanding. There are some wildly enthusiastic people among us elves. Nowadays that tribe is kindly sheltered because of their work. Their temperament is gentle, but they excel in covert actions like me. They are also called natural assassins. (Grn) Grn explains while speaking quickly as if to state only the facts before Croires words are taken as the whole truth.What are those reformist doing?Renya ends up thinking, but as their hobby of admiring big boobs and the benefit of sheltering a rare tribe match in this case, he believes that it might be fine to let them be.As for the problems that might originate from that; Renya doesnt care. (Emedra) Even though there are evil dragons? (Renya) Renya unhappily responds to Emedra who said so as if it was her turn anyway. (Emedra) Ah, I see. Then I will change the topic. (Renya) Renya looks up at Emedras face and asks, Why were you flying around here? (Renya) (Emedra) Emedra casts down her eyes.A pronounced fatigue is clinging to her telepathic messages after all, everyone including Renya focused their gazes on Emedras face reflexively. (Emedra) In addition to the unfamiliar combat, they had also suffered heavy losses among their brethren.The battle against fellow dragons seems to be the reason for Emedras strong feeling of exhaustion.However, this was apparently a story that wouldnt earn any sympathy from Renyas group. Its only natural for there to be victims in a war, isnt it? Lepard nods and Renya tilts his head to the side in confusion, wondering what the problem might be. War without victims aint possible, yknow? (Lepard) Its sad, but thats how reality works. (Shion) Thats reality for you. (Rona) Shion and Rona say as if rubbing salt into the wound. (Emedra) If you lose heart with only that much, wouldnt it have been better to have stayed in the Dragons Den without participating in something like a war in the first place? (Renya) Or rather, the Four Greater Dragons are outside the norm anyway, so wouldnt it be best to have them do something about it? (Lepard) Lepards words are more than reasonable.When Renya asked what she thought of this idea with his gaze, Emedra dropped her shoulders in a skillfully although crestfallen manner. (Emedra) Ah, so they cant leave even if they want to because of their excessive destructive power, you say? (Renya) (Emedra) Each of the Four Greater Dragons pack a ridiculous punch. The geographical features would change with just a single breath attack coming from them.Just how much damage would they cause if all of them departed to attack to their hearts content is something thats difficult to imagine, but all members present somehow understood that nothing remotely decent would come out of it. Putting that aside, what do you plan to do from now on?> (Emedra) Being asked that, Renya ponders.It seems like the situation doesnt differ much from what I predicted before coming here.Shion repeatedly and reservedly nudged the side of Renyas abdomen as he thought,As long as I know that, it doesnt matter whether I know the rest or not since its the dragonoids problem. You said that we will confirm the whereabouts of the dragonoids hero-san for the time being. Did you forget that? (Shion) Now that you mention it, we talked about something like that, didnt we? (Renya) If asked whether he had forgotten it or not, Renya has clearly forgotten about it. (Emedra) As can be expected of a hero, even Emedra apparently knew his name. Front line? Wheres that? (Renya) (Emedra) Monsters vs. dragonoids, and evil dragons vs. dragons, both battles at the same place, huh? Then its a free-for-all-fight, I guess. (Renya) Renya doesnt want to head in the direction of an overly chaotic battlefield.Thats because battlefields, where many different sides are fighting each other, always tend to have something unexpected occur.That would be his sentiment if it were just himself, but in the present situation of his comrades accompanying him, that wont work. I wonder what we should do? (Renya) What we should do, ya askwe dont really have the option of not goin, do we? (Lepard) Lepards eyes, who said so, are sparkling with anticipation for some reason.No matter how you look at it, a part of his battle mania, his bad habit, is peeking through on his face. Im not all that eager, but as thats the only lead we have, turning our back on it is no option, isnt it? (Shion) Those are Shions words, who looked sullen.Next to her Rona nods, obviously assenting.Next to Rona, Kurz, who held the fox-eared priestesses in his arms on both sides, calmly slept with a happy face, apparently having lost out to his drowsiness again, despite looking awake for a while. If us elves can lend our help in some way, since we honor the dragons quite a bit (Croire) Once Croire said so, it was similar to the opinion being approved of by the majority. In that case I suppose we will try going to the front line city. (Renya) (Emedra) Due to the sudden offer by Emedra, the elves looked surprised and the human team dumbfounded. The beastmen dont even try to hide their joyful looks.While thinking,The thoughts are indeed different for each race, Renya asks Emedra, Is that fine? To carry us so readily. (Renya) (Emedra) Closing one eye really skillfully, Emedra winked at Renya. What looked to have been spit out by the Miasma Forest were the few survivors of the first wave of attacks.The dragonoids abilities are extremely high compared to humans, elves and beastmen. It should be possible to say the same about their ability to sense presences, but apparently no one noticed the approach of the military forces until they were visible by the naked eye.Even so, the city closest to the Miasma Forest had adopted a policy of always being prepared for emergencies. The counterattack was swift, but being put into an disadvantageous position due to the scale of the enemy troops, which went beyond their assumptions, and because of the staggeringly high number of casualties in the first battle, the dragonoids wanted to retreated. However, they had already been surrounded. The dragonoids somehow managed to break through the siege but they still had to pay a heavy toll.The information regarding an attack by a monster army was spread to the other cities, but the monsters advanced at an abnormally high speed. The dragonoids were forced into battle without having been able to prepare interception tactics or coordinate between the cities.Falling into the dilemma of being crushed one-by-one, close to half of their territory was easily occupied by the monsters. (Emedra) Emedra deeply exhales while resting her huge body in front of the cave.It was probably meant to be a sigh, but the breath released by Emedras huge body has too much power, and Im pretty sure its somewhat difficult to describe it as a sigh. The invasion speed was too fast, you say? (Lepard) The members that were still asleep had been woken up by Renya. Among them, Lepard expresses his doubt.Normally, if you were to speak of a monster army, their main forces would consist of orcs and goblins. Those only travel by foot.Each of the continents on this world is considerably vast. You could say that anyone would harbor doubts if they were told that half of that land was invaded so quickly. (Emedra) Emedras adjusted her telepathic communication so that everyone could hear her reply.That fine adjustment was apparently something that made Emedra feel proud as it didnt suit her huge build. Some weird term popped up once again, huh? What are evil dragons? (Renya) Renya asks about the word he was hearing for the first time.He didnt know whether this might be common knowledge in this world, but theres no way for Renya to know something like that. (Emedra) Its a story at the level of being a fairy-tale among us humans (Shion) Shion supplements the polite explanation of Emedra. Are they black-colored or something? (Renya) Emedra slowly shook her head at Renya who asked that based on the prejudice that the color black is associated with bad guys. (Emedra) Youre saying that they are participating in the invasion? (Renya) (Emedra) If its a war between fellow dragon tribes, such an event has taken place several times, but dragons actively attacking other races has never happened as far Im aware, Emedra says.That was a reality stemming from the knowledge that the beings called dragons are completely different from the other races, regardless of whether theyre normal dragons or evil dragons. (Emedra) The example is bad, but I get it. If it wasnt you, I would have turned you into sashimi by cutting you into three pieces. (Renya) Even when they were compared to insects by the dragon, Shion and the others didnt really think anything of it.Everyone understood that dragons are beings standing on a different level in the food chain, but only Renya alone glared at Emedra, obviously feeling slightly offended. Emedras face cramped up and she averted her eyes. (Emedra) I do, so continue with the story. (Renya) (Emedra) A monster army invading with a speed equal to a dragons, huh? What a pain. But, evil dragons, eh? Hey, Shion. (Renya) Yes? (Shion) Suddenly being brought up in the conversation, Shion replies with a high-pitched voice as if squeaking. Are there no evil humans that escaped to the demon territory to oppose humanity? (Renya) There arent. Someone like that (Shion) would definitely turn into prey or a playtoy at the moment they entered the demons territory, right? (Rona) Shion shakes her head, and Rona interjects while placing a hand on her chin.I guess that makes sense, Renya turns his eyes in Lepards direction next, but he provides a reply before Renya even opens his mouth. There aint any such beastmen. I mean, something like evil beastmen wouldnt be funny at all! (Lepard) Renya-san, if we limit it to the beastmen, theres are none among them who would consider running away to the demons territory just because they lost a battle. They would probably fight until they win or give up. (Kaede) Kaede provided a very beastmen-like way of thinking as an answer.So far as it goes those replies aligned with what Renya had expected, but while wracking his brain as to why these race have never been destroyed at least once, Renya turns his eyes towards Croire. Eh? Dont tell me that youre really going to ask whether there are evil elves or such? (Croire) No, in the case of elves, they would be called dark elves, I think? (Renya) Once Renya mentioned a word that had somehow managed to stay in a corner of his memory, Croire stared at Renya with a slightly surprised expression, and then spoke after a short pause. That surprised me a bit. For you to know about the elves minority groups. (Croire) Ah, so they do exist. (Renya) They are different from what youre expecting, Renya, but a tribe referred to as the dark elves does exist. Their main traits are a skin color that can range from dark brown to black, hair color ranging from silver to platinum, and red eyes. But, its not like they are actually an evil tribe. You can perceive them as elves with different colors. And their most prominent trait is (Croire) At this point Croire clears her throat once and continues while straining herself to keep a calm voice. Many of their men have small builds, the women haveummlarge builds, and their b-b-breasts are (Croire) Ah, they are huge, you mean. (Renya) Once Renya, who guessed what Croire was trying to say from her expression as she struggled to voice it out, said the words without any hesitation, Croires eyes became glazed, as if a switch had been flipped over.Hanging her head in shame with such stiff movements that one could almost hear creaking sounds coming from her neck, Croire replies with a subdued voice while making sure not to let her emotions tinge her words. Those are alreadyso big that it makes one wonder whether a persons head could be crammed in-between them. (Croire) Its a tribe with low numbers which was once persecuted due to an unfortunate misunderstanding. There are some wildly enthusiastic people among us elves. Nowadays that tribe is kindly sheltered because of their work. Their temperament is gentle, but they excel in covert actions like me. They are also called natural assassins. (Grn) Grn explains while speaking quickly as if to state only the facts before Croires words are taken as the whole truth.What are those reformist doing?Renya ends up thinking, but as their hobby of admiring big boobs and the benefit of sheltering a rare tribe match in this case, he believes that it might be fine to let them be.As for the problems that might originate from that; Renya doesnt care. (Emedra) Even though there are evil dragons? (Renya) Renya unhappily responds to Emedra who said so as if it was her turn anyway. (Emedra) Ah, I see. Then I will change the topic. (Renya) Renya looks up at Emedras face and asks, Why were you flying around here? (Renya) (Emedra) Emedra casts down her eyes.A pronounced fatigue is clinging to her telepathic messages after all, everyone including Renya focused their gazes on Emedras face reflexively. (Emedra) In addition to the unfamiliar combat, they had also suffered heavy losses among their brethren.The battle against fellow dragons seems to be the reason for Emedras strong feeling of exhaustion.However, this was apparently a story that wouldnt earn any sympathy from Renyas group. Its only natural for there to be victims in a war, isnt it? Lepard nods and Renya tilts his head to the side in confusion, wondering what the problem might be. War without victims aint possible, yknow? (Lepard) Its sad, but thats how reality works. (Shion) Thats reality for you. (Rona) Shion and Rona say as if rubbing salt into the wound. (Emedra) If you lose heart with only that much, wouldnt it have been better to have stayed in the Dragons Den without participating in something like a war in the first place? (Renya) Or rather, the Four Greater Dragons are outside the norm anyway, so wouldnt it be best to have them do something about it? (Lepard) Lepards words are more than reasonable.When Renya asked what she thought of this idea with his gaze, Emedra dropped her shoulders in a skillfully although crestfallen manner. (Emedra) Ah, so they cant leave even if they want to because of their excessive destructive power, you say? (Renya) (Emedra) Each of the Four Greater Dragons pack a ridiculous punch. The geographical features would change with just a single breath attack coming from them.Just how much damage would they cause if all of them departed to attack to their hearts content is something thats difficult to imagine, but all members present somehow understood that nothing remotely decent would come out of it. Putting that aside, what do you plan to do from now on?> (Emedra) Being asked that, Renya ponders.It seems like the situation doesnt differ much from what I predicted before coming here.Shion repeatedly and reservedly nudged the side of Renyas abdomen as he thought,As long as I know that, it doesnt matter whether I know the rest or not since its the dragonoids problem. You said that we will confirm the whereabouts of the dragonoids hero-san for the time being. Did you forget that? (Shion) Now that you mention it, we talked about something like that, didnt we? (Renya) If asked whether he had forgotten it or not, Renya has clearly forgotten about it. (Emedra) As can be expected of a hero, even Emedra apparently knew his name. Front line? Wheres that? (Renya) (Emedra) Monsters vs. dragonoids, and evil dragons vs. dragons, both battles at the same place, huh? Then its a free-for-all-fight, I guess. (Renya) Renya doesnt want to head in the direction of an overly chaotic battlefield.Thats because battlefields, where many different sides are fighting each other, always tend to have something unexpected occur.That would be his sentiment if it were just himself, but in the present situation of his comrades accompanying him, that wont work. I wonder what we should do? (Renya) What we should do, ya askwe dont really have the option of not goin, do we? (Lepard) Lepards eyes, who said so, are sparkling with anticipation for some reason.No matter how you look at it, a part of his battle mania, his bad habit, is peeking through on his face. Im not all that eager, but as thats the only lead we have, turning our back on it is no option, isnt it? (Shion) Those are Shions words, who looked sullen.Next to her Rona nods, obviously assenting.Next to Rona, Kurz, who held the fox-eared priestesses in his arms on both sides, calmly slept with a happy face, apparently having lost out to his drowsiness again, despite looking awake for a while. If us elves can lend our help in some way, since we honor the dragons quite a bit (Croire) Once Croire said so, it was similar to the opinion being approved of by the majority. In that case I suppose we will try going to the front line city. (Renya) (Emedra) Due to the sudden offer by Emedra, the elves looked surprised and the human team dumbfounded. The beastmen dont even try to hide their joyful looks.While thinking,The thoughts are indeed different for each race, Renya asks Emedra, Is that fine? To carry us so readily. (Renya) (Emedra) Closing one eye really skillfully, Emedra winked at Renya. Chapter 161 Chapter 161 C It seems to be before traveling Due to Emedras opinion that it would be dangerous to fly with people on her back while the suns still not up, Renyas party decided to spend the night at the cave as was initially planned.The other members felt slightly worried about Renya as they hadnt taken proper shifts in the guard duty, but as Renya provided the excuse that he had forgotten to alternate as he was busy with the adjustment of the scarce firewood, they calmed down by accepting it as being inevitable.However, for some reason Shion took Croire and Rona to the side as there seemed to be some kind of dispute going on between them, but Renya didnt find out the reason for their dispute nor the conclusion.Although he didnt understand, he lowered a fist on Emils head who was grinning broadly next to him. Isnt that far too unreasonable!? (Emil) Once Renya grabbed Emils shoulders, who was stroking her head with teary eyes, and draws her to himself, he checks the vicinity.Lepard and Kaede said that they would return back into the cave to go sleep, and since Kurz and the two priestesses couldnt be woken up, both likewise carried the young ones into the cave.Grn is talking with Emedra about something and doesnt look in Renyas direction. What do you think about Emedras story? (Renya) Once he asks that in a whisper, Emil touches Renyas left ear with her right hand after pondering about it for a short moment. (Emil) Seemingly perceiving that it would be best that no one to heard their conversation, she replied to his question through telepathic communication. (Emil) Emils words held Renya back, who was about to speak up as he thought that he had to voice out his thoughts.While keeping his mouth shut, which he had almost opened, again, Renya asked Emil anew, (Renya) (Emil) Emils thoughts were entwined with a somewhat bored feeling.Probably because this telepathic communication is an exchange of thoughts, the speakers emotions seem to be directly transmitted to the other party. (Emil) (Renya) Going by the image that Renya possesses, the beings called demon kings are overbearing and arrogant, pressing forward with any kind of method possible.Once he informs Emil of that, she sighed once while playing around with Renyas ear. (Emil) (Renya) Once Renya asks that while peeking into Emils face which is right next to him, she stares back at Renyas face after acting as if she were being somewhat hesitant while saying, (Emil) (Renya) (Emil) Renya mercilessly drives his right hands thumb into Emils left flank, who was looking at him with upturned eyes after quietly leaning in closer as if snuggling up to him a little bit.Emil, who jumped up with a start out of shock, reflexively removes her hand from Renyas ear, and next crouches down while holding her side due to the pain assailing her. Its a conversation about catching a demon alive or something like that, right? Even without acting like this, I will comply with your request as we share a reasonably good friendship. (Renya) Y-Yeah. Its a great help that you catch on quickly, but isnt this treatment way too mean? (Emil) Renya looks down at Emil, whos looking up at him with teary eyes while still squatting, with his arms folded across his chest.Renya, who had become desperate to suppress his slightly risen pulsation, didnt notice Shion, who had apparently knocked out Croire and Rona, intently watching them from the shadows while biting a handkerchief. And then dawn breaks.When Renya said, Lets depart then?, and after everyone had gathered their luggage and extinguished the fire, he was driven by a somewhat uneasy feelings while looking up at Emedras huge body.With Renya in the lead, his party consists of 11 people: Shion, Rona, Kurz, Tsubaki, Botan, Lepard, Kaede, Croire, Grn and lastly Emil.Once Renya asked, No matter how big your body might be, wont you be overloaded like this, Emedra?, Emedra lifted her long neck, gazed at the own back for a while, and then carefreely said, (Emedra) Hey, youre one of those dragons that seem to give others a bad riding experience, arent you? (Renya) Although Renya said so, its not like theres a huge cage like the one used before to carry the soldiers.Even if it comes to making one, theres no material, and they dont have the time for look for some either. I guess theres no other option but to resign ourselves to it (Renya) (Emedra) As if having suddenly realized something, Emedra lifted her head towards the sky and released a single, long, shrill roar.Everyone was surprised by Emedras abrupt roaring, but they immediately grasp the reason as to why she did it.Its because they discovered the dot-like shadow that appeared in a section of the sky. Your friend? (Renya) (Emedra) Emedra says such a thing as if it were a trivial matter, but hearing that another dragon was going to visit this place, everyones faces, apart from Emedras and Renyas, cramped up.Emedra is more or less friendly, but that doesnt necessarily mean that other dragons will be friendly towards humans and beastmen.Theres also the possibility that they will start acting violently while saying something like, As if I could work together with such diminutive races.Having thought as far, everyones eyes focused on Renya.Renya tilts his head to the side in confusion upon noticing that, not understanding why they are looking at him like this. Whats wrong? (Renya) HmmI guess it just means that they will be separated into food and raw materials, if they are stupid enough to go on a rampage (Lepard) When Lepard silently mutters that, which represented everyones feelings on the matter, its Emedras turn to have her expression freeze.Without paying any attention to such an exchange, the shadow, which had been no more than a dot in the sky, quickly grew in size, and turns into a dragon before long.Contrary to Emedra, this new dragons body was deep crimson. I guess this one will be Rubydra then. (Renya) (Emedra) Renya looked sullen after being reprimanded head-on, completely having his naming sense denied, but although none of those present said anything, all of them agreed with Emedras opinion.Without throwing a single glance at Renya and his party, the deep crimson dragon starts to hover above their heads and fixedly stares at Emedra.Emedra returned that stare by looking back at the crimson dragon in the same way. Whats this? Two dragons that were staring at each other.One is mannerly sitting on the ground.The other is floating in the air while flapping its wings powerfully.Renyas group, which had been completely left out of the loop, has absolutely no idea just what was going on with that staring contest. (Emedra) Emedra says after a while as if having finally remembered about their existence. For some reason the hovering dragon averted its face suddenly in a huff. You were talking amongst each other, werent you? So, whats the outcome? (Renya) Renya asks Emedra while looking up at crimson dragon who was still looking away, but from the new dragons attitude, its easy to imagine that the result wasnt positive. (Emedra) As Emedra said that, the crimson dragon raised the flapping speed of its wings and started trying to flying away.However, no matter how strongly she tried to flap her wings, her body wasnt ascending at all.After looking above with nothing but an Oh?, Emedra slowly lowers her gaze towards the ground.Within her line of sight she found Renya wiggling his fingers while having a smile plastered all over his face. (Emedra) Renya replies to the questioning Emedra while keeping his smile, Nah, I mean, I just thought that theres no way that Rubydra would really do something so mean. (Renya) (Emedra) Emedra urges him to continue as she once again looks at the crimson dragon who hasnt stopped trying to flap its wings even after having partially succumbed to panic as she still doesnt understand what was done to her. In the end skinship is necessary to get along with each other, right? (Renya) (Emedra) Thats the spell. (Renya) Renya says, but Emedra immediately denied those words inside her head.The spell can only manipulate inanimate objects.Even the occasional armor throwing performed by Renya only consists of throwing a part of the armor through sorcery while letting the other parts fly while attached to said armor. The atmosphere is an inanimate object, right? (Renya) Although its unclear whether Renya knows of Emedras thoughts or not, he explains so.Certainly the atmosphere itself is an inanimate object, and its not like you cant move it with the spell.However, the amount of mana needed to restrain a flying dragon by just manipulating the atmosphere is not something a normal sorcerer could realize, even if they exhausted all of their mana. (Emedra) How rude. Im applying the proper usage method of , am I not? (Renya) Renya looked offended, as if being upset, but Emedra has no other options left anymore but to give up.With the phenomenon taking place in front of my eyes, Im pretty sure that all sorcerers around the world would deny that this is a proper use of .As Emedra ponders about such things, the movements of the crimson dragon, who continued to flap its wings, changed.As if being tightly held by a huge, invisible hand, the dragon stopped flapping its wings and started to writhe in midair,still maintaining the same posture as before.Averting her eyes from the crimson dragon that struggled fervently while raising a cry that sounded like screaming, Emedra is careful not to let her emotions leak into her thoughts and asks Renya, (Emedra) In order to become good friends through skinship, I do thistickle, tickle-tickle, tickle-tickleI suppose? (Renya) While still wiggling the fingers of his hand to manipulate the atmosphere, he adds motions as if kneading something.Seeing that, Emedra somehow managed to grasp whats happening. (Emedra) If my knowledge is correct, its the official way of forming physical bonds with animals. (Renya) The daredevilry of treating dragons the same as animals shouldnt exist in this world, but even Emedra, who might have set everything on fire in a fit of rage if a normal human had talked to her like that, only feebly laughs at those words coming out of Renyas mouth.What hes doing is awfully worthless in Emedras eyes, but the power spent on it not only hindered a dragons ability to fly away, but also crumpled its entire body. Its something so colossal that it completely rendered the power of a rampaging dragon useless.Moreover, even though he is using such outlandish power, Renya is still smiling and completely looks as if hes casually doing some odd job.For just an instant Emedra considered whether she should save her brethren.But, it was really just for an instant. Emedra decided to leave the dragon, whos in a spiral of agony, alone as is.Is it because dragons are beings situated close to the top of the food chain in this world? At any rate, they have the tendency to look down on everything other than themselves without even investigating properly.If the crimson dragon had been careful, it should have realized Renyas existence, whos far beyond common sense even if limited to the aspect of mana, on top of the three heroes among Renyas party.Its current situation, a consequence of him not doing that, cant be called anything but reaping what you sow according to Emedra. (Emedra) Emedra secretly shrugged her shoulders while looking at the state of the crimson dragon who had started to spasm in somewhat strange ways. Chapter 161 C It seems to be before traveling Due to Emedras opinion that it would be dangerous to fly with people on her back while the suns still not up, Renyas party decided to spend the night at the cave as was initially planned.The other members felt slightly worried about Renya as they hadnt taken proper shifts in the guard duty, but as Renya provided the excuse that he had forgotten to alternate as he was busy with the adjustment of the scarce firewood, they calmed down by accepting it as being inevitable.However, for some reason Shion took Croire and Rona to the side as there seemed to be some kind of dispute going on between them, but Renya didnt find out the reason for their dispute nor the conclusion.Although he didnt understand, he lowered a fist on Emils head who was grinning broadly next to him. Isnt that far too unreasonable!? (Emil) Once Renya grabbed Emils shoulders, who was stroking her head with teary eyes, and draws her to himself, he checks the vicinity.Lepard and Kaede said that they would return back into the cave to go sleep, and since Kurz and the two priestesses couldnt be woken up, both likewise carried the young ones into the cave.Grn is talking with Emedra about something and doesnt look in Renyas direction. What do you think about Emedras story? (Renya) Once he asks that in a whisper, Emil touches Renyas left ear with her right hand after pondering about it for a short moment. (Emil) Seemingly perceiving that it would be best that no one to heard their conversation, she replied to his question through telepathic communication. (Emil) Emils words held Renya back, who was about to speak up as he thought that he had to voice out his thoughts.While keeping his mouth shut, which he had almost opened, again, Renya asked Emil anew, (Renya) (Emil) Emils thoughts were entwined with a somewhat bored feeling.Probably because this telepathic communication is an exchange of thoughts, the speakers emotions seem to be directly transmitted to the other party. (Emil) (Renya) Going by the image that Renya possesses, the beings called demon kings are overbearing and arrogant, pressing forward with any kind of method possible.Once he informs Emil of that, she sighed once while playing around with Renyas ear. (Emil) (Renya) Once Renya asks that while peeking into Emils face which is right next to him, she stares back at Renyas face after acting as if she were being somewhat hesitant while saying, (Emil) (Renya) (Emil) Renya mercilessly drives his right hands thumb into Emils left flank, who was looking at him with upturned eyes after quietly leaning in closer as if snuggling up to him a little bit.Emil, who jumped up with a start out of shock, reflexively removes her hand from Renyas ear, and next crouches down while holding her side due to the pain assailing her. Its a conversation about catching a demon alive or something like that, right? Even without acting like this, I will comply with your request as we share a reasonably good friendship. (Renya) Y-Yeah. Its a great help that you catch on quickly, but isnt this treatment way too mean? (Emil) Renya looks down at Emil, whos looking up at him with teary eyes while still squatting, with his arms folded across his chest.Renya, who had become desperate to suppress his slightly risen pulsation, didnt notice Shion, who had apparently knocked out Croire and Rona, intently watching them from the shadows while biting a handkerchief. And then dawn breaks.When Renya said, Lets depart then?, and after everyone had gathered their luggage and extinguished the fire, he was driven by a somewhat uneasy feelings while looking up at Emedras huge body.With Renya in the lead, his party consists of 11 people: Shion, Rona, Kurz, Tsubaki, Botan, Lepard, Kaede, Croire, Grn and lastly Emil.Once Renya asked, No matter how big your body might be, wont you be overloaded like this, Emedra?, Emedra lifted her long neck, gazed at the own back for a while, and then carefreely said, (Emedra) Hey, youre one of those dragons that seem to give others a bad riding experience, arent you? (Renya) Although Renya said so, its not like theres a huge cage like the one used before to carry the soldiers.Even if it comes to making one, theres no material, and they dont have the time for look for some either. I guess theres no other option but to resign ourselves to it (Renya) (Emedra) As if having suddenly realized something, Emedra lifted her head towards the sky and released a single, long, shrill roar.Everyone was surprised by Emedras abrupt roaring, but they immediately grasp the reason as to why she did it.Its because they discovered the dot-like shadow that appeared in a section of the sky. Your friend? (Renya) (Emedra) Emedra says such a thing as if it were a trivial matter, but hearing that another dragon was going to visit this place, everyones faces, apart from Emedras and Renyas, cramped up.Emedra is more or less friendly, but that doesnt necessarily mean that other dragons will be friendly towards humans and beastmen.Theres also the possibility that they will start acting violently while saying something like, As if I could work together with such diminutive races.Having thought as far, everyones eyes focused on Renya.Renya tilts his head to the side in confusion upon noticing that, not understanding why they are looking at him like this. Whats wrong? (Renya) HmmI guess it just means that they will be separated into food and raw materials, if they are stupid enough to go on a rampage (Lepard) When Lepard silently mutters that, which represented everyones feelings on the matter, its Emedras turn to have her expression freeze.Without paying any attention to such an exchange, the shadow, which had been no more than a dot in the sky, quickly grew in size, and turns into a dragon before long.Contrary to Emedra, this new dragons body was deep crimson. I guess this one will be Rubydra then. (Renya) (Emedra) Renya looked sullen after being reprimanded head-on, completely having his naming sense denied, but although none of those present said anything, all of them agreed with Emedras opinion.Without throwing a single glance at Renya and his party, the deep crimson dragon starts to hover above their heads and fixedly stares at Emedra.Emedra returned that stare by looking back at the crimson dragon in the same way. Whats this? Two dragons that were staring at each other.One is mannerly sitting on the ground.The other is floating in the air while flapping its wings powerfully.Renyas group, which had been completely left out of the loop, has absolutely no idea just what was going on with that staring contest. (Emedra) Emedra says after a while as if having finally remembered about their existence. For some reason the hovering dragon averted its face suddenly in a huff. You were talking amongst each other, werent you? So, whats the outcome? (Renya) Renya asks Emedra while looking up at crimson dragon who was still looking away, but from the new dragons attitude, its easy to imagine that the result wasnt positive. (Emedra) As Emedra said that, the crimson dragon raised the flapping speed of its wings and started trying to flying away.However, no matter how strongly she tried to flap her wings, her body wasnt ascending at all.After looking above with nothing but an Oh?, Emedra slowly lowers her gaze towards the ground.Within her line of sight she found Renya wiggling his fingers while having a smile plastered all over his face. (Emedra) Renya replies to the questioning Emedra while keeping his smile, Nah, I mean, I just thought that theres no way that Rubydra would really do something so mean. (Renya) (Emedra) Emedra urges him to continue as she once again looks at the crimson dragon who hasnt stopped trying to flap its wings even after having partially succumbed to panic as she still doesnt understand what was done to her. In the end skinship is necessary to get along with each other, right? (Renya) (Emedra) Thats the spell. (Renya) Renya says, but Emedra immediately denied those words inside her head.The spell can only manipulate inanimate objects.Even the occasional armor throwing performed by Renya only consists of throwing a part of the armor through sorcery while letting the other parts fly while attached to said armor. The atmosphere is an inanimate object, right? (Renya) Although its unclear whether Renya knows of Emedras thoughts or not, he explains so.Certainly the atmosphere itself is an inanimate object, and its not like you cant move it with the spell.However, the amount of mana needed to restrain a flying dragon by just manipulating the atmosphere is not something a normal sorcerer could realize, even if they exhausted all of their mana. (Emedra) How rude. Im applying the proper usage method of , am I not? (Renya) Renya looked offended, as if being upset, but Emedra has no other options left anymore but to give up.With the phenomenon taking place in front of my eyes, Im pretty sure that all sorcerers around the world would deny that this is a proper use of .As Emedra ponders about such things, the movements of the crimson dragon, who continued to flap its wings, changed.As if being tightly held by a huge, invisible hand, the dragon stopped flapping its wings and started to writhe in midair,still maintaining the same posture as before.Averting her eyes from the crimson dragon that struggled fervently while raising a cry that sounded like screaming, Emedra is careful not to let her emotions leak into her thoughts and asks Renya, (Emedra) In order to become good friends through skinship, I do thistickle, tickle-tickle, tickle-tickleI suppose? (Renya) While still wiggling the fingers of his hand to manipulate the atmosphere, he adds motions as if kneading something.Seeing that, Emedra somehow managed to grasp whats happening. (Emedra) If my knowledge is correct, its the official way of forming physical bonds with animals. (Renya) The daredevilry of treating dragons the same as animals shouldnt exist in this world, but even Emedra, who might have set everything on fire in a fit of rage if a normal human had talked to her like that, only feebly laughs at those words coming out of Renyas mouth.What hes doing is awfully worthless in Emedras eyes, but the power spent on it not only hindered a dragons ability to fly away, but also crumpled its entire body. Its something so colossal that it completely rendered the power of a rampaging dragon useless.Moreover, even though he is using such outlandish power, Renya is still smiling and completely looks as if hes casually doing some odd job.For just an instant Emedra considered whether she should save her brethren.But, it was really just for an instant. Emedra decided to leave the dragon, whos in a spiral of agony, alone as is.Is it because dragons are beings situated close to the top of the food chain in this world? At any rate, they have the tendency to look down on everything other than themselves without even investigating properly.If the crimson dragon had been careful, it should have realized Renyas existence, whos far beyond common sense even if limited to the aspect of mana, on top of the three heroes among Renyas party.Its current situation, a consequence of him not doing that, cant be called anything but reaping what you sow according to Emedra. (Emedra) Emedra secretly shrugged her shoulders while looking at the state of the crimson dragon who had started to spasm in somewhat strange ways. Chapter 162 In the end they departed after the sun had already risen fairly high into the sky.This wasnt owed to a delay of the preparations or such, but because Rubydra had fallen into a state of stupefaction with its entire boding doing nothing more than twitching and its mouth being partly open after it had its entire body got crushed by Renyas sorcery. The time for it to revive and recover to the extent of being able to fly was considerably long.So far as it goes one might as well evaluate it highly since the whole matter finished without anyone getting injured, but the appearance of Rubydra as it unconsciously laid stretched out with the whites of its eyes showing and breathing roughly while drool was dripping out of its mouth apparently caused the other members to feel pity with it. It turned into a situation where they looked at Renya, who averted his eyes from what he had done, with cold eyes.Emedra threw in a bomb that aggravated the situation even further. (Emedra) (Renya) Renya glared at Emedra, but he can feel the even colder looks stabbing into his back. (Emedra) The additional information causes an increase in the chilliness of the looks stabbing Renyas back.As if in proportion to that, Renyas look became even grimmer.The head of Emedra, who wondered whether she has stepped in too deeply with this, was tightly grabbed by an invisible hand. You have made your resolve, right? (Renya) (Emedra) Renyas spell possesses power, enabling it to counter the strength owned by a dragon and to apply it to the dragons entire big frame.What would happen if that power was to be focused only on a head was something so obvious that anyone could predict it.Even Renya doesnt seem to have the intention to crush her all of a sudden. While the pressure rises slowly, Emedra sends a very composed telepathic message. (Emedra) This is unexpectedly tiring. If the consumed power becomes big, its troublesome to control it. Rather than using such a technique, its easier and quicker to cut them down normally. (Renya) (Emedra) What a calm bugger (Renya) If Emedra were a normal creature, she would have difficulty to form the words or suffocate thanks to the atmosphere being forcibly manipulated, but probably because dragons speak telepathically, their words wont become disturbed as long as they dont lose control over their emotions.Not losing her composure despite her head being crushed might be an aspect that makes it worth to say As expected of a dragon.Renya cancelled the spell while thinking that. (Emedra) If you understood as much (Renya) After glaring at Emedra once more, Renya shifted his attention to the sources of the cold gazes piercing him from behind. Resolve yourselves and speak up? (Renya) Just as he said so, the cold looks dispersed, and the other members all at once turned their eyes away, looking anywhere but not at him.Among the members, who seemed to expect something unknown and outrageous happening to them, if they matched their eyes with Renya, only Shion alone took Renyas gaze head-on for some reason. Renya, something like messing around with an innocent girl (Shion) Just how have you perceived the current conversation and situation? (Renya) Renya asks as he looks at Shion, who states her opinion while bending forward, with half-opened eyes.The area around Renyas cheeks is twitching as hes obviously subduing his emotions, but Shion doesnt notice that. If you have such desires, I will accept them with this body of minewai-, sorry, cancel that just nowh!? (Shion) Very likely Shion wanted to imitate Emedra and make fun of Renya, but if she had correctly understood the circumstances, that would have been an action she should have avoided by all means.With slightly glazed eyes Renya activates his sorcery, without giving Shion or anyone a chance to say anything.Having both her flanks attacked instantly by a sensation as if several hundred long, thin fingers are groping her, Shion frantically covers her mouth. With her legs, which lost all strength, having become unable to carry her weight, she falls down to the ground.Seemingly because of her good upbringing, Shion neither releases a coquettish voice nor does she roll about with laughter. With her face being bright red, she covers her mouth with all her might. Her whole body is twitching occasionally while shes still laying on the spot. Renya planned to bring Shion down, who poked fun at him in this situation even if it actually was a thoughtless deed, by fondling her until shes in the same state as Rubydra so that she never feels like doing something like this ever again, but Shions appearance as she desperately endures while being in agony is a sight that gives him an odd feeling. Sensing that things will develop into a very dangerous direction if he keeps this up, he quickly cancels the spell.Shion, who was released from the spell, blushes and breathes roughly while remaining on the ground due to having all her strength drained from her body.Seemingly because she frantically tried not to move or make a noise, she looks up at Renya with slightly moist eyes, making Renya understand, I see. Its one thing if the other party is a dragon, but if done normally, this turns into an extremely bad situation.Rubydra, who seemed to have finally regained consciousness at this point in time, only lifted her head with her body still laying down, and looked with frightened eyes in Renyas direction, but Renya turned in her direction and bowed very deeply. Sorry, it was my bad. (Renya) Renyawhat about me? (Shion) You got your just dessert. (Renya) Once she sees that it has come to an end, Rubydra becomes cooperative albeit still being very cautious of Renya. It was decided that Renyas party would mount the two dragons for travel.Separating the people between the dragons was handled one way or another, resulting in the human group and the two fox-eared beastmen riding on Rubydras back, and the rest on Emedras.Once the two dragons flap their wings after confirming that everyone was on their backs, the ground became distant within a blink, and Renyas party quickly became unable to see the cave where they had spent the night.In Renyas eyes, who has already experienced riding on Emedras back, the flight was something that vaguely reminded him of his previous experience, but for the other members, who experienced this for the first time, the flight speed was apparently so high that it froze their spines. Shion, who rode together with Renya, didnt even move while clinging to his back. Kurz, who held the scared priestesses in his arms on both sides, was enjoying the flight with an expression that hid what he was thinking.Only Rona felt bored while being all by herself. As its not like she can push her master, Shion, aside to cling to Renyas back, she looks up to the sky from the edge of Rubydras back while indulging in a melancholic nostalgia by herself.The one experiencing something similar to Rona is Emil, who was riding on Emedras back. Being together with the two huddling beastmen, who are lovers, and the two elves, who are older brother and younger sister, she tries not to move while sitting near the tail and staring in the opposite direction of the flight, seemingly in order to make sure that she doesnt look at either of the pairs as much as possible.Renya believes that there are quite a few things that dont work out as one would expect, but as he has no more than one back, he cannot help that Shion is occupying it.I cant really tell them to use my back in turns as I can sense Shions will to cling to my back at all costs. I might need to follow up with Rona and Emil later.Renya, who started to think that, smiles bitterly while wondering,isnt this situation like Im a main character from some story? Hey, Renya. Upon hearing Shion whispering into his ear, his heart rate jumped up by a beat, but while maintaining his superficial calmness, he curtly answers, What is it? (Renya) Can I put my hands around your waist? Im slightly scared. (Shion) Renya felt like asking, Was your personality always like this?, but even compared to Dra-kun, Rubydra and Emedra are flying at an exceptionally high speed.It seems they have also chosen a safe altitude considering the possibility that we could get attacked from the ground, hence we are flying quite high up in the sky. So it might be inevitable for her to feel scared.Renya thought, and then replied while nodding. Do as you like. You can read the mood, right? If you touch any strange places, I will kick you off. (Renya) Renya felt slightly worried that she might get her revenge for what he did to her before the departure, but Shions answer had a gentle and somewhat relieved tone. Mmh, got it. (Shion) Upon Shion placing her face on his back and softly hugging him by wrapping her hands around his waist, Renya judges, I shouldnt be a character that could obtain such a situation, and Shion shouldnt be a character that acts like a heroine from somewhere either. Suddenly he notices Rubydra looking in their direction.Her look somehow seems like an envious stare, saying, How nice, Im so jealous~. In a hurry Renya turned his eyes towards their flight path.Emedra and Rubydra, both fly very quickly.Its very likely that one could call this the fastest travel method on this world, if you exclude transfer gates.But then again, it still leaves the question open as to just how many beings would use dragons as a means for travel. I really wonder, how long is it going to take for us to arrive? (Renya) Air travel isnt overly interesting in regards to the scenery unless you look below.This was knowledge he obtained from flying on airplanes in his previous life.The other party members were somewhat excited by the sky view which they can hardly ever see, but despite being interested in a different worlds sky at the beginning, Renya got bored of it in no time.As for the destination, Emedra said that it would just be a little flight, but Renya doesnt know how much a little time for a dragon is in human terms.In the worst case I have to consider the possibility of a little being several hours with the dragons attitude being as carefree as the elves. (Rubydra) Oh? (Renya) Due to the suddenly audible telepathic message, Renya turns towards Rubydra.Since shes in the middle of flying, her face is facing the front, but only her eyes were still turned in Renyas direction. (Rubydra) Yeah, while youre at it, it would be a big help if you could tell me your flight speed. (Renya) (Rubydra) In order for a dragon rider not to get injured by the dragons flight speed, the dragon will protect its rider with sorcery.Of course it has the condition that the protection is limited to those who received permission to mount the dragon, but because of this protection, a the rider, for the most part, wont feel any wind pressure or coldness.Renyas body couldnt sense that they were moving that quickly, because of that protection ability and there being almost no change in the scenery as Emedra and Rubydra were flying at a fairly high altitude.However, since its the dragon herself saying so, theres probably no mistake in that estimation,Renya concludes.Once he accepted that, there was no intolerable difference in the flight duration being described as a little, but if one just consider the distance, it means that Renyas party traveling to a place thats more than 1.200 km away.Renya is forced to actually experience the size of this world all over again. I see, thanks. But, why a sudden telepathic message? (Renya) In case the other party is a dragon, Renya cant create a telepathic connection from his side.He cant use telepathy unless its triggered by the dragon.Renya, who believed that his first impression was really bad, mostly gave up on holding a conversation through telepathy with Rubydra, but he most certainly didnt expect that it would be Rubydra who would open the telepathic channel from her side. (Rubydra) Rubydra replied while turning her eyes back to the front.Telepathic communication transmits the emotions of the participants quite directly.Rubydras feelings, which Renya sensed, seem to be curiosity, bashfulness or maybe embarrassment.All of these feelings were jumbled together, so he cant identify them exactly.I think, somehow her curiosity is winning over the psychological damage inflicted by my previous actions,Renya believes.Isnt that maybe the reason why she talked to me while acting as if the events at the beginning were really trifling?Only Rubydra herself could answer that, but its certainly not like I can go ahead and ask her.After all I will be troubled if she closes down the telepathic channel because I hurt her feelings, despite her having gone out of her way to expressly talk to me. Thats true. Not being able to talk is inconvenient. Its a really big help. Thanks. (Renya) Once Renya frankly stated his appreciation, an indication of her feeling somewhat shaken was transmitted from Rubydra.Renya wonders whether he said something wrong right now. As he does Emedra turns up above his head, casting a shadow on him.She apparently got closer while Renya wasnt paying any attention to his surroundings, but even he cannot help feeling somewhat scared with Emedra approaching up to a distance that could be reported as a near-miss in the news of his former world while flying faster than the speed of sound. Whats wrong, Emedra? (Renya) She shouldnt be able to hear him even if he called out to her, but with Emedra still keeping the telepathic channel to Renya open, his words are transmitted as thoughts. (Emedra) (Rubydra) Rubydra sends a thought of protest, but Emedra continues talking without responding to her. (Emedra) (Emedra) Going by a rough calculation, theres approximately 300 km left until the destination.While wondering what to think about Emedras senses which allow her to perceive the situation somewhere so far away, Renya hoped that things wouldnt get troublesome and prayed that Emedra was wrong with her prediction. In the end they departed after the sun had already risen fairly high into the sky.This wasnt owed to a delay of the preparations or such, but because Rubydra had fallen into a state of stupefaction with its entire boding doing nothing more than twitching and its mouth being partly open after it had its entire body got crushed by Renyas sorcery. The time for it to revive and recover to the extent of being able to fly was considerably long.So far as it goes one might as well evaluate it highly since the whole matter finished without anyone getting injured, but the appearance of Rubydra as it unconsciously laid stretched out with the whites of its eyes showing and breathing roughly while drool was dripping out of its mouth apparently caused the other members to feel pity with it. It turned into a situation where they looked at Renya, who averted his eyes from what he had done, with cold eyes.Emedra threw in a bomb that aggravated the situation even further. (Emedra) (Renya) Renya glared at Emedra, but he can feel the even colder looks stabbing into his back. (Emedra) The additional information causes an increase in the chilliness of the looks stabbing Renyas back.As if in proportion to that, Renyas look became even grimmer.The head of Emedra, who wondered whether she has stepped in too deeply with this, was tightly grabbed by an invisible hand. You have made your resolve, right? (Renya) (Emedra) Renyas spell possesses power, enabling it to counter the strength owned by a dragon and to apply it to the dragons entire big frame.What would happen if that power was to be focused only on a head was something so obvious that anyone could predict it.Even Renya doesnt seem to have the intention to crush her all of a sudden. While the pressure rises slowly, Emedra sends a very composed telepathic message. (Emedra) This is unexpectedly tiring. If the consumed power becomes big, its troublesome to control it. Rather than using such a technique, its easier and quicker to cut them down normally. (Renya) (Emedra) What a calm bugger (Renya) If Emedra were a normal creature, she would have difficulty to form the words or suffocate thanks to the atmosphere being forcibly manipulated, but probably because dragons speak telepathically, their words wont become disturbed as long as they dont lose control over their emotions.Not losing her composure despite her head being crushed might be an aspect that makes it worth to say As expected of a dragon.Renya cancelled the spell while thinking that. (Emedra) If you understood as much (Renya) After glaring at Emedra once more, Renya shifted his attention to the sources of the cold gazes piercing him from behind. Resolve yourselves and speak up? (Renya) Just as he said so, the cold looks dispersed, and the other members all at once turned their eyes away, looking anywhere but not at him.Among the members, who seemed to expect something unknown and outrageous happening to them, if they matched their eyes with Renya, only Shion alone took Renyas gaze head-on for some reason. Renya, something like messing around with an innocent girl (Shion) Just how have you perceived the current conversation and situation? (Renya) Renya asks as he looks at Shion, who states her opinion while bending forward, with half-opened eyes.The area around Renyas cheeks is twitching as hes obviously subduing his emotions, but Shion doesnt notice that. If you have such desires, I will accept them with this body of minewai-, sorry, cancel that just nowh!? (Shion) Very likely Shion wanted to imitate Emedra and make fun of Renya, but if she had correctly understood the circumstances, that would have been an action she should have avoided by all means.With slightly glazed eyes Renya activates his sorcery, without giving Shion or anyone a chance to say anything.Having both her flanks attacked instantly by a sensation as if several hundred long, thin fingers are groping her, Shion frantically covers her mouth. With her legs, which lost all strength, having become unable to carry her weight, she falls down to the ground.Seemingly because of her good upbringing, Shion neither releases a coquettish voice nor does she roll about with laughter. With her face being bright red, she covers her mouth with all her might. Her whole body is twitching occasionally while shes still laying on the spot. Renya planned to bring Shion down, who poked fun at him in this situation even if it actually was a thoughtless deed, by fondling her until shes in the same state as Rubydra so that she never feels like doing something like this ever again, but Shions appearance as she desperately endures while being in agony is a sight that gives him an odd feeling. Sensing that things will develop into a very dangerous direction if he keeps this up, he quickly cancels the spell.Shion, who was released from the spell, blushes and breathes roughly while remaining on the ground due to having all her strength drained from her body.Seemingly because she frantically tried not to move or make a noise, she looks up at Renya with slightly moist eyes, making Renya understand, I see. Its one thing if the other party is a dragon, but if done normally, this turns into an extremely bad situation.Rubydra, who seemed to have finally regained consciousness at this point in time, only lifted her head with her body still laying down, and looked with frightened eyes in Renyas direction, but Renya turned in her direction and bowed very deeply. Sorry, it was my bad. (Renya) Renyawhat about me? (Shion) You got your just dessert. (Renya) Once she sees that it has come to an end, Rubydra becomes cooperative albeit still being very cautious of Renya. It was decided that Renyas party would mount the two dragons for travel.Separating the people between the dragons was handled one way or another, resulting in the human group and the two fox-eared beastmen riding on Rubydras back, and the rest on Emedras.Once the two dragons flap their wings after confirming that everyone was on their backs, the ground became distant within a blink, and Renyas party quickly became unable to see the cave where they had spent the night.In Renyas eyes, who has already experienced riding on Emedras back, the flight was something that vaguely reminded him of his previous experience, but for the other members, who experienced this for the first time, the flight speed was apparently so high that it froze their spines. Shion, who rode together with Renya, didnt even move while clinging to his back. Kurz, who held the scared priestesses in his arms on both sides, was enjoying the flight with an expression that hid what he was thinking.Only Rona felt bored while being all by herself. As its not like she can push her master, Shion, aside to cling to Renyas back, she looks up to the sky from the edge of Rubydras back while indulging in a melancholic nostalgia by herself.The one experiencing something similar to Rona is Emil, who was riding on Emedras back. Being together with the two huddling beastmen, who are lovers, and the two elves, who are older brother and younger sister, she tries not to move while sitting near the tail and staring in the opposite direction of the flight, seemingly in order to make sure that she doesnt look at either of the pairs as much as possible.Renya believes that there are quite a few things that dont work out as one would expect, but as he has no more than one back, he cannot help that Shion is occupying it.I cant really tell them to use my back in turns as I can sense Shions will to cling to my back at all costs. I might need to follow up with Rona and Emil later.Renya, who started to think that, smiles bitterly while wondering,isnt this situation like Im a main character from some story? Hey, Renya. Upon hearing Shion whispering into his ear, his heart rate jumped up by a beat, but while maintaining his superficial calmness, he curtly answers, What is it? (Renya) Can I put my hands around your waist? Im slightly scared. (Shion) Renya felt like asking, Was your personality always like this?, but even compared to Dra-kun, Rubydra and Emedra are flying at an exceptionally high speed.It seems they have also chosen a safe altitude considering the possibility that we could get attacked from the ground, hence we are flying quite high up in the sky. So it might be inevitable for her to feel scared.Renya thought, and then replied while nodding. Do as you like. You can read the mood, right? If you touch any strange places, I will kick you off. (Renya) Renya felt slightly worried that she might get her revenge for what he did to her before the departure, but Shions answer had a gentle and somewhat relieved tone. Mmh, got it. (Shion) Upon Shion placing her face on his back and softly hugging him by wrapping her hands around his waist, Renya judges, I shouldnt be a character that could obtain such a situation, and Shion shouldnt be a character that acts like a heroine from somewhere either. Suddenly he notices Rubydra looking in their direction.Her look somehow seems like an envious stare, saying, How nice, Im so jealous~. In a hurry Renya turned his eyes towards their flight path.Emedra and Rubydra, both fly very quickly.Its very likely that one could call this the fastest travel method on this world, if you exclude transfer gates.But then again, it still leaves the question open as to just how many beings would use dragons as a means for travel. I really wonder, how long is it going to take for us to arrive? (Renya) Air travel isnt overly interesting in regards to the scenery unless you look below.This was knowledge he obtained from flying on airplanes in his previous life.The other party members were somewhat excited by the sky view which they can hardly ever see, but despite being interested in a different worlds sky at the beginning, Renya got bored of it in no time.As for the destination, Emedra said that it would just be a little flight, but Renya doesnt know how much a little time for a dragon is in human terms.In the worst case I have to consider the possibility of a little being several hours with the dragons attitude being as carefree as the elves. (Rubydra) Oh? (Renya) Due to the suddenly audible telepathic message, Renya turns towards Rubydra.Since shes in the middle of flying, her face is facing the front, but only her eyes were still turned in Renyas direction. (Rubydra) Yeah, while youre at it, it would be a big help if you could tell me your flight speed. (Renya) (Rubydra) In order for a dragon rider not to get injured by the dragons flight speed, the dragon will protect its rider with sorcery.Of course it has the condition that the protection is limited to those who received permission to mount the dragon, but because of this protection, a the rider, for the most part, wont feel any wind pressure or coldness.Renyas body couldnt sense that they were moving that quickly, because of that protection ability and there being almost no change in the scenery as Emedra and Rubydra were flying at a fairly high altitude.However, since its the dragon herself saying so, theres probably no mistake in that estimation,Renya concludes.Once he accepted that, there was no intolerable difference in the flight duration being described as a little, but if one just consider the distance, it means that Renyas party traveling to a place thats more than 1.200 km away.Renya is forced to actually experience the size of this world all over again. I see, thanks. But, why a sudden telepathic message? (Renya) In case the other party is a dragon, Renya cant create a telepathic connection from his side.He cant use telepathy unless its triggered by the dragon.Renya, who believed that his first impression was really bad, mostly gave up on holding a conversation through telepathy with Rubydra, but he most certainly didnt expect that it would be Rubydra who would open the telepathic channel from her side. (Rubydra) Rubydra replied while turning her eyes back to the front.Telepathic communication transmits the emotions of the participants quite directly.Rubydras feelings, which Renya sensed, seem to be curiosity, bashfulness or maybe embarrassment.All of these feelings were jumbled together, so he cant identify them exactly.I think, somehow her curiosity is winning over the psychological damage inflicted by my previous actions,Renya believes.Isnt that maybe the reason why she talked to me while acting as if the events at the beginning were really trifling?Only Rubydra herself could answer that, but its certainly not like I can go ahead and ask her.After all I will be troubled if she closes down the telepathic channel because I hurt her feelings, despite her having gone out of her way to expressly talk to me. Thats true. Not being able to talk is inconvenient. Its a really big help. Thanks. (Renya) Once Renya frankly stated his appreciation, an indication of her feeling somewhat shaken was transmitted from Rubydra.Renya wonders whether he said something wrong right now. As he does Emedra turns up above his head, casting a shadow on him.She apparently got closer while Renya wasnt paying any attention to his surroundings, but even he cannot help feeling somewhat scared with Emedra approaching up to a distance that could be reported as a near-miss in the news of his former world while flying faster than the speed of sound. Whats wrong, Emedra? (Renya) She shouldnt be able to hear him even if he called out to her, but with Emedra still keeping the telepathic channel to Renya open, his words are transmitted as thoughts. (Emedra) (Rubydra) Rubydra sends a thought of protest, but Emedra continues talking without responding to her. (Emedra) (Emedra) Going by a rough calculation, theres approximately 300 km left until the destination.While wondering what to think about Emedras senses which allow her to perceive the situation somewhere so far away, Renya hoped that things wouldnt get troublesome and prayed that Emedra was wrong with her prediction. Chapter 163 Around 10 minutes after Emedras warning.A second warning came in from Emedra who flew while making sure to stay close to Rubydra. (Emedra) Your bad premonition coming true, isnt that because you somehow jinxed it?! (Renya) Renya spits out such words while clicking his tongue, but that doesnt serve any purpose in regards to whats happening.Theres no way that they can go back at this point. And, even if they could do so, they wouldnt get anywhere. I will ask just for cautions sake, but will your intervention dramatically change the situation, Rubydra, Emedra? (Renya) Having the naive hope that they could charge in with two dragons and slaughter the enemies easily crushed, Renya calls out to Emedra, Emedra, give me a ride on your back. In exchange, the members over there will swap to Rubydras back. We will go ahead together! (Renya) (Rubydra) Being called to a halt with a strangely stabbing thought, Renya falters and Emedra looks somewhat surprised.While Renya indulges in the completely out-of-place thought that even dragons have a surprised expression, Rubydra rebukes him. (Rubydra) (Emedra) While harboring the really rude thought,at least it doesnt look like shes lacking insensitivity,Renya looks at Kurz whos behind him.Kurz, who caressed the two priestesses to calm them down as they seemed somewhat scared, matched his gaze with Renyas once he noticed that Renya was looking his way. Kurz! Can you carry those two priestesses, Rona and Shion onto Emedras back? (Renya) No problem, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Renya warns Kurz, who had suddenly raised his middle finger while keeping his voice low. Kurz, thats the wrong finger (Renya) Renya realizes after cautioning him.That the middle finger might be the correct one since hes in a different world. Huh? Was it the pinky finger then? (Kurz) Its the thumb. The thumb, Kurz! (Shion) In a hurry Shion corrects Kurz who tensely raised his pinky finger.Although it might be called a different world, I guess gestures like this are still the same, huh?Renya feels relieved. By the way, I have no intention to swap, Renya! (Shion) Honestly said, youll be a nuisance, okay? (Renya) Even then! (Shion) Renya quickly gives up on persuading Shion who stubbornly insists on not pulling back.Somehow he felt like he heard a sound similar to tongue clicking in the corner of his mind, but he ignored it, thinking it was his imagination, and gave Kurz his instructions. Kurz! Take the other members along on Emedras back! Once you get there, tell Lepard and Grn to follow from behind since Im going ahead. (Renya) As you wish, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Two strings of black mist gushed out from Kurz back as he carried the two priestesses under his arms.One of those obviously ominous strings instantly coils itself around Ronas waist, who was taken aback, and lifts her body up with a sudden jerk. The other one smoothly stretches out and coils itself around Emedras foot.Without minding Emedra putting on a very reluctant face, Kurz waves at Renya while grinning, jumps into the air while manipulating the black mist, and easily lands on Emedras back.One second later Rona lands, or rather, drops on Emedras back. Those are really handy. I wonder whether Ill ever be able to use them as well, if I train it? (Renya) Renya, I think it would be better if you dont make such careless remarks (Shion) Shion didnt know the true identity of the mist, but she somehow intuitively perceived that its nothing too good.That statement stemmed from her not wanting to touch something like that, if possible, but apparently Renya didnt grasp that part. Those are no good? (Renya) No, well, if you talk about convenience, they sure are, but not wanting to use them much is (Shion) (Rubydra) (Emedra) A dragon asking a human to follow up on a dragon is normally an abnormal thought.Renya, who has difficulty telling Emedra to leave it to him, limits his response to an ambiguous smile. Rubydra threatens Emedra by baring her fangs. (Rubydra) You heard her, butwell, I will at least do my best so that she doesnt get injured. (Renya) (Emedra) Being told that by Emedra, Renya and Rubydra look at each other for an instant. Going ahead means exterminating everything in the path, right? (Renya) (Rubydra) Got it. Do whatever you want as long as you dont die.> (Emedra) Without even noticing that Emedras words were completely filled with the feeling of giving up as it would be probably be pointless even if she did say anything more, Renya fixes his sitting posture on Rubydras back, and Shion clings to Renyas back. (Rubydra) Oi, the riders protection (Renya) In order for no accidents to occur regardless of how fast the dragon is going, they protect their riders so that they dont get thrown off.Renya was about to mention that to Rubydra, who gave such a warning despite all this, but Rubydras next words easily denied that. (Rubydra) Is that fine? Something like thatwhaa!? (Renya) Renyas voice turned high-pitched and unstrung due to an impact as if being kicked in the back.While hurriedly propping up Shion who clings to him, Renya realizes that its thanks to Rubydras sudden acceleration, and lightly hits her nape. (Rubydra) You really let go of the protection, didnt you!? (Renya) (Rubydra) Idiot, were going to die! (Renya) Since it likely wouldnt end nicely for Renya and Shion, if Rubydra had really distributed her power in such way, it was likely a Rubydra-styled joke, but it didnt seem like a mistake that the current state was fairly close to that power distribution.Otherwise there would be no way for a rider to suffer an impact due to the dragons acceleration.At least Renya never felt such an impact when he was riding on Emedras back. (Rubydra) The upper limit of mana a dragon can save is fixed.They raise their defense power or their speed by dividing it, but its only natural that one component will weaken if they invest a lot of power in the other.It might be an understandable reason, but for Renya and Shion, who are actually riding on her back, its unendurable. Natural you say (Renya) Once Renya looks back over his shoulder while complaining, he saw for just an instant Emedras figure, which had become extremely small, through the gaps of Shions hair, which was teasing him due to the wind although only a bit, as she stuck to his back with her eyes tightly closed to endure the wind pressure.It was obvious that Emedras speed had lost a bit of momentum because of the increased number of passengers, but her figure became as small as an ant in the blink of an eye and completely vanished from his line of sight. Just how fast are you? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya feels like he had somewhere heard that expression before, but he cant remember at all where. (Rubydra) Haa, is that so? Thats all I can say, you know? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya tries to turn his eyes in the flight direction after being told so by Rubydra, but immediately averts them due to the wind pressure assailing him.Although Rubydra said that they are protected somewhat, considerable wind pressure assails Renya and Shion. Shion has already completely given up on looking at the surroundings. She only kept desperately clinging to Renya with her eyes shut. Ease up on the speed a bit! Or strengthen the protection! At this rate I cant look forward. (Renya) (Rubydra) By no means did I expect to be confronted with an appeal to use my guts by a dragon, butcan you send some mana to the protection if you have plenty of it? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya slapped the neck of Rubydra, who talked as if telling him Are you an idiot?, and yelled, Then connect a path to me so that I can supply you with mana! (Renya) (Rubydra) Be quiet and do it! If you dont hurry upI will lop off your head and manage your corpse through . Wait, doing that would actually make the flight safe, wouldnt it? (Renya) Since a corpse has no life, its treated as an item and thus enters the range of the Manipulation spell.Given that a dragons body has a shape catered towards flying to begin with, it would be possible to have it fly quite stably if a driving force is added to it through the Manipulation spell.Underneath Renya, who suddenly muttered such a thing as if having hit upon an ingenious idea, Rubydras body trembled with a start while skillfully keeping up its flight speed.She timidly looks back at Renya with a gaze thats colored with fear. Its not like I said Im actually going to do it. If you dont want me to resort to this, then connect to me with a pathway. (Renya) (Rubydra) On the surface she acted as if being reluctant, saying she had no other choice.In reality Rubydra excitedly wondered whether she could endure having her head lopped off as she connected a path to Renya.It felt similar to the times when Renya kept up a path to supply Frau with.Currently Renya isnt providing Frau any mana due to the distance problem.As if taking advantage of it, Renya begins to pour the mana, which just kept accumulating ever since, into the path connected by Rubydra. (Rubydra) Stop asking questions. If you have the time for that, then reinforce the protection! (Renya) In response to Renyas request, the wind pressure that didnt allow him to open his eyes stopped at once.The noisy whistling and wailing of the wind close to his ears ceased.The abrupt change caused a break in Renyas thinking, but due to the scenery in the direction of their flight path, which he finally became able to see, he quickly pulled his consciousness back into reality.He saw slightly open plains and a fortress city erected at the border of some rocky mountains.In the sky above the city that was surrounded by high walls, quite a number of dragon-like figures can be seen flying. Countless lines of smokes are rising from the city itself.Renya didnt know about the state of the wall as they were still too far away, but he could see countless small figures clinging and sticking to it, and some of them have already finished climbing over it.And, the citys vicinity is completely surrounded by a pitch black cluster. Theyre under attack Moreover, it looks like they are at a serious disadvantage (Rubydra) Rubydra quickly surveyed the situation in the surroundings while slowing down slightly, probably because she got close to the city.It appears that the dragonoids are in an overwhelmingly inferior position in regards to the ground war.In addition to the exceeding difference in combat forces on the ground, the evil dragons also have complete control over the air.The reason why they gained the air superiority immediately plopped into Rubydras eyes. (Rubydra) Although you might say that they were still young in regards to their age, they should have been fairly vigorous and enthusiastic dragons with skill.However, those dragons had been cruelly torn apart, and tragically died on the plains or in sections of the burned city.With a slight delay Renya noticed it as well, but he didnt voice out what came to his mind.He considered those words to be too lacking in consideration of the situation.As if in exchange for that, Shion whispers into Renya ear, Thats mea- (Shion) Shion, I thought so too, but right now is not a good time to speak about that. (Renya) (Rubydra) Nows not the time to discuss this. (Renya) Renya states clearly, but him not denying it makes it obvious that she actually hit the nail on the head.Even Shion realizes anew that what shes currently riding is a dragon and pretends to not know anything by burying her face in Renyas back in a hurry . (Rubydra) Rubydra gave them a warning, but somehow she couldnt suppress the premonition that one or two bodies will have gone missing before she has even realized it. Around 10 minutes after Emedras warning.A second warning came in from Emedra who flew while making sure to stay close to Rubydra. (Emedra) Your bad premonition coming true, isnt that because you somehow jinxed it?! (Renya) Renya spits out such words while clicking his tongue, but that doesnt serve any purpose in regards to whats happening.Theres no way that they can go back at this point. And, even if they could do so, they wouldnt get anywhere. I will ask just for cautions sake, but will your intervention dramatically change the situation, Rubydra, Emedra? (Renya) Having the naive hope that they could charge in with two dragons and slaughter the enemies easily crushed, Renya calls out to Emedra, Emedra, give me a ride on your back. In exchange, the members over there will swap to Rubydras back. We will go ahead together! (Renya) (Rubydra) Being called to a halt with a strangely stabbing thought, Renya falters and Emedra looks somewhat surprised.While Renya indulges in the completely out-of-place thought that even dragons have a surprised expression, Rubydra rebukes him. (Rubydra) (Emedra) While harboring the really rude thought,at least it doesnt look like shes lacking insensitivity,Renya looks at Kurz whos behind him.Kurz, who caressed the two priestesses to calm them down as they seemed somewhat scared, matched his gaze with Renyas once he noticed that Renya was looking his way. Kurz! Can you carry those two priestesses, Rona and Shion onto Emedras back? (Renya) No problem, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Renya warns Kurz, who had suddenly raised his middle finger while keeping his voice low. Kurz, thats the wrong finger (Renya) Renya realizes after cautioning him.That the middle finger might be the correct one since hes in a different world. Huh? Was it the pinky finger then? (Kurz) Its the thumb. The thumb, Kurz! (Shion) In a hurry Shion corrects Kurz who tensely raised his pinky finger.Although it might be called a different world, I guess gestures like this are still the same, huh?Renya feels relieved. By the way, I have no intention to swap, Renya! (Shion) Honestly said, youll be a nuisance, okay? (Renya) Even then! (Shion) Renya quickly gives up on persuading Shion who stubbornly insists on not pulling back.Somehow he felt like he heard a sound similar to tongue clicking in the corner of his mind, but he ignored it, thinking it was his imagination, and gave Kurz his instructions. Kurz! Take the other members along on Emedras back! Once you get there, tell Lepard and Grn to follow from behind since Im going ahead. (Renya) As you wish, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Two strings of black mist gushed out from Kurz back as he carried the two priestesses under his arms.One of those obviously ominous strings instantly coils itself around Ronas waist, who was taken aback, and lifts her body up with a sudden jerk. The other one smoothly stretches out and coils itself around Emedras foot.Without minding Emedra putting on a very reluctant face, Kurz waves at Renya while grinning, jumps into the air while manipulating the black mist, and easily lands on Emedras back.One second later Rona lands, or rather, drops on Emedras back. Those are really handy. I wonder whether Ill ever be able to use them as well, if I train it? (Renya) Renya, I think it would be better if you dont make such careless remarks (Shion) Shion didnt know the true identity of the mist, but she somehow intuitively perceived that its nothing too good.That statement stemmed from her not wanting to touch something like that, if possible, but apparently Renya didnt grasp that part. Those are no good? (Renya) No, well, if you talk about convenience, they sure are, but not wanting to use them much is (Shion) (Rubydra) (Emedra) A dragon asking a human to follow up on a dragon is normally an abnormal thought.Renya, who has difficulty telling Emedra to leave it to him, limits his response to an ambiguous smile. Rubydra threatens Emedra by baring her fangs. (Rubydra) You heard her, butwell, I will at least do my best so that she doesnt get injured. (Renya) (Emedra) Being told that by Emedra, Renya and Rubydra look at each other for an instant. Going ahead means exterminating everything in the path, right? (Renya) (Rubydra) Got it. Do whatever you want as long as you dont die.> (Emedra) Without even noticing that Emedras words were completely filled with the feeling of giving up as it would be probably be pointless even if she did say anything more, Renya fixes his sitting posture on Rubydras back, and Shion clings to Renyas back. (Rubydra) Oi, the riders protection (Renya) In order for no accidents to occur regardless of how fast the dragon is going, they protect their riders so that they dont get thrown off.Renya was about to mention that to Rubydra, who gave such a warning despite all this, but Rubydras next words easily denied that. (Rubydra) Is that fine? Something like thatwhaa!? (Renya) Renyas voice turned high-pitched and unstrung due to an impact as if being kicked in the back.While hurriedly propping up Shion who clings to him, Renya realizes that its thanks to Rubydras sudden acceleration, and lightly hits her nape. (Rubydra) You really let go of the protection, didnt you!? (Renya) (Rubydra) Idiot, were going to die! (Renya) Since it likely wouldnt end nicely for Renya and Shion, if Rubydra had really distributed her power in such way, it was likely a Rubydra-styled joke, but it didnt seem like a mistake that the current state was fairly close to that power distribution.Otherwise there would be no way for a rider to suffer an impact due to the dragons acceleration.At least Renya never felt such an impact when he was riding on Emedras back. (Rubydra) The upper limit of mana a dragon can save is fixed.They raise their defense power or their speed by dividing it, but its only natural that one component will weaken if they invest a lot of power in the other.It might be an understandable reason, but for Renya and Shion, who are actually riding on her back, its unendurable. Natural you say (Renya) Once Renya looks back over his shoulder while complaining, he saw for just an instant Emedras figure, which had become extremely small, through the gaps of Shions hair, which was teasing him due to the wind although only a bit, as she stuck to his back with her eyes tightly closed to endure the wind pressure.It was obvious that Emedras speed had lost a bit of momentum because of the increased number of passengers, but her figure became as small as an ant in the blink of an eye and completely vanished from his line of sight. Just how fast are you? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya feels like he had somewhere heard that expression before, but he cant remember at all where. (Rubydra) Haa, is that so? Thats all I can say, you know? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya tries to turn his eyes in the flight direction after being told so by Rubydra, but immediately averts them due to the wind pressure assailing him.Although Rubydra said that they are protected somewhat, considerable wind pressure assails Renya and Shion. Shion has already completely given up on looking at the surroundings. She only kept desperately clinging to Renya with her eyes shut. Ease up on the speed a bit! Or strengthen the protection! At this rate I cant look forward. (Renya) (Rubydra) By no means did I expect to be confronted with an appeal to use my guts by a dragon, butcan you send some mana to the protection if you have plenty of it? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya slapped the neck of Rubydra, who talked as if telling him Are you an idiot?, and yelled, Then connect a path to me so that I can supply you with mana! (Renya) (Rubydra) Be quiet and do it! If you dont hurry upI will lop off your head and manage your corpse through . Wait, doing that would actually make the flight safe, wouldnt it? (Renya) Since a corpse has no life, its treated as an item and thus enters the range of the Manipulation spell.Given that a dragons body has a shape catered towards flying to begin with, it would be possible to have it fly quite stably if a driving force is added to it through the Manipulation spell.Underneath Renya, who suddenly muttered such a thing as if having hit upon an ingenious idea, Rubydras body trembled with a start while skillfully keeping up its flight speed.She timidly looks back at Renya with a gaze thats colored with fear. Its not like I said Im actually going to do it. If you dont want me to resort to this, then connect to me with a pathway. (Renya) (Rubydra) On the surface she acted as if being reluctant, saying she had no other choice.In reality Rubydra excitedly wondered whether she could endure having her head lopped off as she connected a path to Renya.It felt similar to the times when Renya kept up a path to supply Frau with.Currently Renya isnt providing Frau any mana due to the distance problem.As if taking advantage of it, Renya begins to pour the mana, which just kept accumulating ever since, into the path connected by Rubydra. (Rubydra) Stop asking questions. If you have the time for that, then reinforce the protection! (Renya) In response to Renyas request, the wind pressure that didnt allow him to open his eyes stopped at once.The noisy whistling and wailing of the wind close to his ears ceased.The abrupt change caused a break in Renyas thinking, but due to the scenery in the direction of their flight path, which he finally became able to see, he quickly pulled his consciousness back into reality.He saw slightly open plains and a fortress city erected at the border of some rocky mountains.In the sky above the city that was surrounded by high walls, quite a number of dragon-like figures can be seen flying. Countless lines of smokes are rising from the city itself.Renya didnt know about the state of the wall as they were still too far away, but he could see countless small figures clinging and sticking to it, and some of them have already finished climbing over it.And, the citys vicinity is completely surrounded by a pitch black cluster. Theyre under attack Moreover, it looks like they are at a serious disadvantage (Rubydra) Rubydra quickly surveyed the situation in the surroundings while slowing down slightly, probably because she got close to the city.It appears that the dragonoids are in an overwhelmingly inferior position in regards to the ground war.In addition to the exceeding difference in combat forces on the ground, the evil dragons also have complete control over the air.The reason why they gained the air superiority immediately plopped into Rubydras eyes. (Rubydra) Although you might say that they were still young in regards to their age, they should have been fairly vigorous and enthusiastic dragons with skill.However, those dragons had been cruelly torn apart, and tragically died on the plains or in sections of the burned city.With a slight delay Renya noticed it as well, but he didnt voice out what came to his mind.He considered those words to be too lacking in consideration of the situation.As if in exchange for that, Shion whispers into Renya ear, Thats mea- (Shion) Shion, I thought so too, but right now is not a good time to speak about that. (Renya) (Rubydra) Nows not the time to discuss this. (Renya) Renya states clearly, but him not denying it makes it obvious that she actually hit the nail on the head.Even Shion realizes anew that what shes currently riding is a dragon and pretends to not know anything by burying her face in Renyas back in a hurry . (Rubydra) Rubydra gave them a warning, but somehow she couldnt suppress the premonition that one or two bodies will have gone missing before she has even realized it. Chapter 164 (Rubydra) Being urged on by Rubydra, Renya matches his gaze with hers.Rubydra took a large detour the moment she saw the city, that was their destination, already in the midst of battle, and on top of that in a disadvantageous situation, which effectively postponed any approach for the moment. What am I going to do, you ask? (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra herself doesnt expect for the overall battle progress to change drastically with her, Renya and Shion joining the battle.Thats because shes aware that shes not an overpowered existence, no matter how high-ranking of a dragon species she might be. But, having said that, it doesnt mean that she had as much farsightedness so as to choose an obedient retreat after seeing the scene of her brethren fighting in front of her eyes.Hence she tried to leave the decision to the humans riding on her back, but Renya readily replied. There was an option of turning back? (Renya) (Rubydra) Even her astonished telepathic transmission caused no change in Renyas expression. Since its an enemy Im encountering for the first time, its important to give it a try first. (Renya) RenyaI feel like your thinking resembles that of the beastmen. (Shion) Theres a fed-up voice coming from behind him, but Renya decisively ignores it.Anyway, since were lacking information about the enemy, its necessary to gather some while fighting them for the first time, Renya judged.As for escaping, we can probably do that at anytime. (Rubydra) Rubydra asked while altering her flight course towards the airspace above the city. Thanks to that, Renya suddenly realized that he doesnt have any effective means of launching an attack.The katana is too short, making it unsuitable for slashing at flying dragons.If he could freely launch a sword flash like Yuuki, whom he had fought before, it might have been fine to use that, but although Renya used it once, its not like he can command it at will. Now that you mention it, I dont have many projectile weapons on me. (Renya) Isnt the sword flash you used in the battle against the hero good enough? (Shion) I cant really control it. If its okay to disregard any damage to the surroundings, I will use it, but (Renya) The biggest problem lies in his inability to adjust the slashs strength.If he unleashes one slash after the other at full strength, the aftermath and stray slashes will not only deal devastating damage to his targets, but also to the surrounding environment. , cant you?> (Rubydra) Rubydras flight path had already changed towards the city. The evil dragons, which noticed the new dragon, cautioned each other by screeching and getting ready to intercept.While feeling disappointed that a surprise attack was now impossible, Renya answered Rubydras question. I can only use from the fire-based spell repertoire. (Renya) (Rubydra) Isnt it enough with just use or ?Renya wonders, but faster than he can ask, he was sent a single image through the path he was using to supply Rubydra with mana.After transforming into some kind of picture in Renyas head, the image promptly vanished. , take care of the cover fire please!> (Rubydra) As they steadily approach the city, the silhouettes of dragons flying around in the sky can be seen more clearly.They were violet dragons boasting huge builds which were not inferior in the least when compared to Rubydra and Emedra.Mixed in among the flock of dragons there are some that have even bigger builds than Emedra. (Rubydra) There was an indication that mana was being gathered in Rubydras mouth.The clump of mana, which shone white at first, transforms into a red flame that emitted heat after having Rubydras attribute added to it.While cutting through the evil dragons that were flying around above the city, Rubydra spat out the her fire breath at the dragons as she passes them by.Rather than a flame, its a crimson beam attack that resembled a laser in Renyas eyes.One dragon that was slightly late in dodging among the evil dragons, who were taking evasive maneuvers, was pierced by that crimson flash, blowing up into a blaze in no time.While tightly clinging to Renyas back due to the vibrations and thunderous roar that immediately assailed the vicinity, Shion takes a look over her shoulder at the evil dragon that received the beam attack, and is assaulted by a sense of disbelief.Even though it was hit by flames that produced a shock strong enough to make the atmosphere tremble, the part of the evil dragon, which was directly hit, was only injured to the extent of having been gouged out a bit.Even so, the evil dragon was falling, unable to remain airborne as the wound was apparently too deep.While following its fall with her eyes, Shion mutters in a daze, Arent they way too sturdy? (Shion) (Rubydra) The moment Rubydra said, They will suffer some damage due to the crash, and we will be able to deal with them later on one way or another since they wont be able fly again, a white, glittering light penetrates the falling evil dragon.Ahead of Rubydras and Shions eyes, who looked around wondering just what had happened, the evil dragon, whose entire body trembled with a start at the moment it was pierced by the light, burst into flames as if exploding from within.Its flesh, bones, skin, and scales are jumbled together and turn into pitch-black charcoal. Its process of turning into pieces after breaking apart due to the wind pressure caused by the fall apparently shocked the other evil dragons, too. They merely chased the plummeting lumps of charcoal with their eyes, having completely forgotten to attack Rubydra who was cutting past them in the meantime. (Rubydra) That just now (Shion) While Rubydra and Shion were still unable to understand what exactly happened, Renya closely stares at his right palm, and then said as if complaining, A failure (Renya) Eh? Renya? Whats a failure!? (Shion) Renya answers Shion, who grabbed his shoulders from behind and was lightly shaking them, in a mood that could be considered asnot amused, I blundered with the power output. This thing is unexpectedly difficult.> (Renya) That just now was sorcery!? (Shion) While fully harboring a feeling of disbelief, Shion raises her voice into something close to a scream, but Renya is doubtful, wondering just why shes so surprised.Although she doesnt express it in telepathic thoughts, even Rubydra was frantically suppressing the urge to scream out like Shion.The evil dragons are opponents she has to do her best to reasonably injure them with her dragon breath, even if she says that she didnt put all her power into it.A heat, which pierces through an evil dragon in one blow and furthermore burns its entire body down to nothing in an instant, is originally impossible for the spell.To generate a heat that should otherwise be impossible would mean increasing the output by consuming a lot more mana than usual for the spell, but as far as Rubydra knows, the original is a spell that releases a crimson burning flame in the shape of a lance. She never heard about it shining white.To begin with, its not like there are many spells that can exceed the power contained in a dragons breath attack. As Rubydras breath delivered some damage, I tried unleashing the spell while using her breath as a reference (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra, who passed through the evil dragons once while retorting calmly, turns around, preparing to plunge into the enemies once more.Several breaths are hurled at Rubydra by the evil dragons, who apparently recovered from the shock at last, but those scatter and vanish in front of her as she takes evasive maneuvers as if they were being blocked by something in the sky.The evil dragons were forced to watch something unbelievable, but Rubydra realizes that Renya had stopped the enemy attacks with the spell in an instant. But then again she didnt want to believe that dragon breath attacks could be stopped by such a spell.Diving through the remains of the scattered breaths, Rubydra opens her jaw.This time Rubydra spits out such a strong breath from within that it tears off the wing of an evil dragon that was passing by.The evil dragon that was spinning while falling after having lost one of its wings is pierced by yet another white lance.This time the lance transformed into a pure white flame that caused a heat wave that made it seem as if the lance had pierced the sky. The power output is still too high (Renya) Renya groans.He repeatedly cocks his head in contemplation, but no matter how much he ponders about it, he was apparently unable to adjust the power output. This time half of its body was blown off (Shion) Shion says as she follows the evil dragon with her eyes as it crashes,exposing a hideously burned, pitch-black section of its body.The other half that had been blown off had been smashed up and turned into charcoal like the first evil dragon. I dont understand how to adjust this! (Renya) Even if you tell me that, I will be troubled, however theres one thing I can tell you: its probably not sorcery thats causing the spells power output to be so high, you know? (Shion) Shion calmly retorts Renyas statement, who keeps grumbling, seemingly having composed herself after the initial surprise. This spell is unusable! (Renya) (Rubydra) Even while complaining, Renya continues to defend against the evil dragons attacks after sensing them.The dragon breaths, which normally could never be blocked by a human, are intercepted by an invisible wall, and scatter once again. Just how am I supposed to reach the level of being able to roast them well with this spell? (Renya) (Rubydra) A somewhat convenient, strange technique. (Renya) Rubydra hangs her head in a crestfallen manner upon hearing that immediate reply.Around them the pointlessly released dragon breaths are easily blocked and scattered.Understanding that the enemys breaths will never penetrate the sorcery shield deployed by Renya, Rubydra has already stopped evading for the most part. She chases evil dragons with her claws and fangs, and uses her fire breath as her main attack, but it doesnt bear much fruit.Both sides should originally be struggling for supremacy due to their similar combat abilities, but as if wrecking that balance, Renyas hands release fire lances, causing the targeted evil dragons to slowly drop towards the ground while having parts of their bodies turned into charcoal. Renya, its a waste to aim at the head. Theres a big magic stone inside a dragons head. (Shion) Youre mentioning something like magic stones now after all this time? For real Shion? If we get back to Klinge, Frau has so many of them that it makes me want to puke. Rather than that, I wont be able to obtain the meat if I blow up their bodies (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra felt that the attitude of the surrounding evil dragons had become somewhat indecisive, but she cannot help the feeling of wanting to retort, so she cuts into the conversation between Renya and Shion. (Rubydra) However, that doesnt change the fact that they are dragons, right? (Renya) Unless you say that the meat has been contaminated by something, its normal to eat them, no? (Shion) Due to Renya and Shion declaring that with such serious expressions, Rubydra thought for the first time in her life since having been born that humans were a very scary race.Rubydra believed humans to be a diminutive, powerless, short lived, irrelevant race, but she was forced to revise that thinking at this point in time.But then again, even if you leave out Shion, taking Renya as representative for the average human will very likely make humanity raise an objection to spare them from that once they hear about it. Hey, youve become negligent with your evasion! (Renya) Once Renya raised his voice in order to caution her as he scatters a breath attack, which was on direct hit trajectory, with a wave of his hand as if swatting a fly, Rubydra returns from her reverie in a hurry, and raises her flight speed.Several breath attacks vanished in empty space while grazing her tail.As if returning the favor, the two fire lances released by Renya precisely pierce the foreheads of the two evil dragons, which had spit out breath attacks, ending their lives by making their heads along with their brains evaporate. (Rubydra) Rubydra protests while enduring the pain coming from her tail that comes in waves. Renya snorts at that. Its because youre letting your mind wander since youre being protected by me. (Renya) Rubydra wanted to object with Whose fault do you think this is?, but as its a fact that she had lost focus, she grits her teeth, unable to rebut Renya.Feeling uneasy about something noisy in her perception, Rubydra retreated while taking an unreasonable flight path at a quite unreasonable speed.At the same time a dragon breath, which was remarkably more powerful from the ones so far, pierced the space where Rubydra had been just now and swallowed up several of the evil dragons present nearby. What was that just now!? Theres a really big one. Its just one dragon, though. After Renya pointed it out, Rubydra turned her eyes towards the breaths origin, and immediately let a small gasp leak.The one that calmly flew over was a violet dragon with a body that was more than twice as big as Rubydras.Renya wondered whether an opponent equal to the Four Great Dragons had appeared from the evil dragons side, but Rubydras next thought, which was close to a mutter denies such a premonition. (Rubydra) Is it a dangerous opponent? (Renya) Renya asks, seemingly perceiving Rubydras nervousness from the places where they are in contact.While paying attention to other evil dragons movements, Rubydra cannot take her eyes off that huge dragon. (Rubydra) I see, in other words, hes the boss. (Renya) In contrast to Rubydra, whose voice is tinged with panic, Renyas voice sounded somewhat happy. Since hes a formidable opponent, its inevitable even if the surroundings get a bit damaged, right? (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra, who cant imagine a future where shes able to stop Renya even if she tells him that this whole situation is avoidable, answers Renyas question with a voice full of resignation. (Rubydra) Being urged on by Rubydra, Renya matches his gaze with hers.Rubydra took a large detour the moment she saw the city, that was their destination, already in the midst of battle, and on top of that in a disadvantageous situation, which effectively postponed any approach for the moment. What am I going to do, you ask? (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra herself doesnt expect for the overall battle progress to change drastically with her, Renya and Shion joining the battle.Thats because shes aware that shes not an overpowered existence, no matter how high-ranking of a dragon species she might be. But, having said that, it doesnt mean that she had as much farsightedness so as to choose an obedient retreat after seeing the scene of her brethren fighting in front of her eyes.Hence she tried to leave the decision to the humans riding on her back, but Renya readily replied. There was an option of turning back? (Renya) (Rubydra) Even her astonished telepathic transmission caused no change in Renyas expression. Since its an enemy Im encountering for the first time, its important to give it a try first. (Renya) RenyaI feel like your thinking resembles that of the beastmen. (Shion) Theres a fed-up voice coming from behind him, but Renya decisively ignores it.Anyway, since were lacking information about the enemy, its necessary to gather some while fighting them for the first time, Renya judged.As for escaping, we can probably do that at anytime. (Rubydra) Rubydra asked while altering her flight course towards the airspace above the city. Thanks to that, Renya suddenly realized that he doesnt have any effective means of launching an attack.The katana is too short, making it unsuitable for slashing at flying dragons.If he could freely launch a sword flash like Yuuki, whom he had fought before, it might have been fine to use that, but although Renya used it once, its not like he can command it at will. Now that you mention it, I dont have many projectile weapons on me. (Renya) Isnt the sword flash you used in the battle against the hero good enough? (Shion) I cant really control it. If its okay to disregard any damage to the surroundings, I will use it, but (Renya) The biggest problem lies in his inability to adjust the slashs strength.If he unleashes one slash after the other at full strength, the aftermath and stray slashes will not only deal devastating damage to his targets, but also to the surrounding environment. , cant you?> (Rubydra) Rubydras flight path had already changed towards the city. The evil dragons, which noticed the new dragon, cautioned each other by screeching and getting ready to intercept.While feeling disappointed that a surprise attack was now impossible, Renya answered Rubydras question. I can only use from the fire-based spell repertoire. (Renya) (Rubydra) Isnt it enough with just use or ?Renya wonders, but faster than he can ask, he was sent a single image through the path he was using to supply Rubydra with mana.After transforming into some kind of picture in Renyas head, the image promptly vanished. , take care of the cover fire please!> (Rubydra) As they steadily approach the city, the silhouettes of dragons flying around in the sky can be seen more clearly.They were violet dragons boasting huge builds which were not inferior in the least when compared to Rubydra and Emedra.Mixed in among the flock of dragons there are some that have even bigger builds than Emedra. (Rubydra) There was an indication that mana was being gathered in Rubydras mouth.The clump of mana, which shone white at first, transforms into a red flame that emitted heat after having Rubydras attribute added to it.While cutting through the evil dragons that were flying around above the city, Rubydra spat out the her fire breath at the dragons as she passes them by.Rather than a flame, its a crimson beam attack that resembled a laser in Renyas eyes.One dragon that was slightly late in dodging among the evil dragons, who were taking evasive maneuvers, was pierced by that crimson flash, blowing up into a blaze in no time.While tightly clinging to Renyas back due to the vibrations and thunderous roar that immediately assailed the vicinity, Shion takes a look over her shoulder at the evil dragon that received the beam attack, and is assaulted by a sense of disbelief.Even though it was hit by flames that produced a shock strong enough to make the atmosphere tremble, the part of the evil dragon, which was directly hit, was only injured to the extent of having been gouged out a bit.Even so, the evil dragon was falling, unable to remain airborne as the wound was apparently too deep.While following its fall with her eyes, Shion mutters in a daze, Arent they way too sturdy? (Shion) (Rubydra) The moment Rubydra said, They will suffer some damage due to the crash, and we will be able to deal with them later on one way or another since they wont be able fly again, a white, glittering light penetrates the falling evil dragon.Ahead of Rubydras and Shions eyes, who looked around wondering just what had happened, the evil dragon, whose entire body trembled with a start at the moment it was pierced by the light, burst into flames as if exploding from within.Its flesh, bones, skin, and scales are jumbled together and turn into pitch-black charcoal. Its process of turning into pieces after breaking apart due to the wind pressure caused by the fall apparently shocked the other evil dragons, too. They merely chased the plummeting lumps of charcoal with their eyes, having completely forgotten to attack Rubydra who was cutting past them in the meantime. (Rubydra) That just now (Shion) While Rubydra and Shion were still unable to understand what exactly happened, Renya closely stares at his right palm, and then said as if complaining, A failure (Renya) Eh? Renya? Whats a failure!? (Shion) Renya answers Shion, who grabbed his shoulders from behind and was lightly shaking them, in a mood that could be considered asnot amused, I blundered with the power output. This thing is unexpectedly difficult.> (Renya) That just now was sorcery!? (Shion) While fully harboring a feeling of disbelief, Shion raises her voice into something close to a scream, but Renya is doubtful, wondering just why shes so surprised.Although she doesnt express it in telepathic thoughts, even Rubydra was frantically suppressing the urge to scream out like Shion.The evil dragons are opponents she has to do her best to reasonably injure them with her dragon breath, even if she says that she didnt put all her power into it.A heat, which pierces through an evil dragon in one blow and furthermore burns its entire body down to nothing in an instant, is originally impossible for the spell.To generate a heat that should otherwise be impossible would mean increasing the output by consuming a lot more mana than usual for the spell, but as far as Rubydra knows, the original is a spell that releases a crimson burning flame in the shape of a lance. She never heard about it shining white.To begin with, its not like there are many spells that can exceed the power contained in a dragons breath attack. As Rubydras breath delivered some damage, I tried unleashing the spell while using her breath as a reference (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra, who passed through the evil dragons once while retorting calmly, turns around, preparing to plunge into the enemies once more.Several breaths are hurled at Rubydra by the evil dragons, who apparently recovered from the shock at last, but those scatter and vanish in front of her as she takes evasive maneuvers as if they were being blocked by something in the sky.The evil dragons were forced to watch something unbelievable, but Rubydra realizes that Renya had stopped the enemy attacks with the spell in an instant. But then again she didnt want to believe that dragon breath attacks could be stopped by such a spell.Diving through the remains of the scattered breaths, Rubydra opens her jaw.This time Rubydra spits out such a strong breath from within that it tears off the wing of an evil dragon that was passing by.The evil dragon that was spinning while falling after having lost one of its wings is pierced by yet another white lance.This time the lance transformed into a pure white flame that caused a heat wave that made it seem as if the lance had pierced the sky. The power output is still too high (Renya) Renya groans.He repeatedly cocks his head in contemplation, but no matter how much he ponders about it, he was apparently unable to adjust the power output. This time half of its body was blown off (Shion) Shion says as she follows the evil dragon with her eyes as it crashes,exposing a hideously burned, pitch-black section of its body.The other half that had been blown off had been smashed up and turned into charcoal like the first evil dragon. I dont understand how to adjust this! (Renya) Even if you tell me that, I will be troubled, however theres one thing I can tell you: its probably not sorcery thats causing the spells power output to be so high, you know? (Shion) Shion calmly retorts Renyas statement, who keeps grumbling, seemingly having composed herself after the initial surprise. This spell is unusable! (Renya) (Rubydra) Even while complaining, Renya continues to defend against the evil dragons attacks after sensing them.The dragon breaths, which normally could never be blocked by a human, are intercepted by an invisible wall, and scatter once again. Just how am I supposed to reach the level of being able to roast them well with this spell? (Renya) (Rubydra) A somewhat convenient, strange technique. (Renya) Rubydra hangs her head in a crestfallen manner upon hearing that immediate reply.Around them the pointlessly released dragon breaths are easily blocked and scattered.Understanding that the enemys breaths will never penetrate the sorcery shield deployed by Renya, Rubydra has already stopped evading for the most part. She chases evil dragons with her claws and fangs, and uses her fire breath as her main attack, but it doesnt bear much fruit.Both sides should originally be struggling for supremacy due to their similar combat abilities, but as if wrecking that balance, Renyas hands release fire lances, causing the targeted evil dragons to slowly drop towards the ground while having parts of their bodies turned into charcoal. Renya, its a waste to aim at the head. Theres a big magic stone inside a dragons head. (Shion) Youre mentioning something like magic stones now after all this time? For real Shion? If we get back to Klinge, Frau has so many of them that it makes me want to puke. Rather than that, I wont be able to obtain the meat if I blow up their bodies (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra felt that the attitude of the surrounding evil dragons had become somewhat indecisive, but she cannot help the feeling of wanting to retort, so she cuts into the conversation between Renya and Shion. (Rubydra) However, that doesnt change the fact that they are dragons, right? (Renya) Unless you say that the meat has been contaminated by something, its normal to eat them, no? (Shion) Due to Renya and Shion declaring that with such serious expressions, Rubydra thought for the first time in her life since having been born that humans were a very scary race.Rubydra believed humans to be a diminutive, powerless, short lived, irrelevant race, but she was forced to revise that thinking at this point in time.But then again, even if you leave out Shion, taking Renya as representative for the average human will very likely make humanity raise an objection to spare them from that once they hear about it. Hey, youve become negligent with your evasion! (Renya) Once Renya raised his voice in order to caution her as he scatters a breath attack, which was on direct hit trajectory, with a wave of his hand as if swatting a fly, Rubydra returns from her reverie in a hurry, and raises her flight speed.Several breath attacks vanished in empty space while grazing her tail.As if returning the favor, the two fire lances released by Renya precisely pierce the foreheads of the two evil dragons, which had spit out breath attacks, ending their lives by making their heads along with their brains evaporate. (Rubydra) Rubydra protests while enduring the pain coming from her tail that comes in waves. Renya snorts at that. Its because youre letting your mind wander since youre being protected by me. (Renya) Rubydra wanted to object with Whose fault do you think this is?, but as its a fact that she had lost focus, she grits her teeth, unable to rebut Renya.Feeling uneasy about something noisy in her perception, Rubydra retreated while taking an unreasonable flight path at a quite unreasonable speed.At the same time a dragon breath, which was remarkably more powerful from the ones so far, pierced the space where Rubydra had been just now and swallowed up several of the evil dragons present nearby. What was that just now!? Theres a really big one. Its just one dragon, though. After Renya pointed it out, Rubydra turned her eyes towards the breaths origin, and immediately let a small gasp leak.The one that calmly flew over was a violet dragon with a body that was more than twice as big as Rubydras.Renya wondered whether an opponent equal to the Four Great Dragons had appeared from the evil dragons side, but Rubydras next thought, which was close to a mutter denies such a premonition. (Rubydra) Is it a dangerous opponent? (Renya) Renya asks, seemingly perceiving Rubydras nervousness from the places where they are in contact.While paying attention to other evil dragons movements, Rubydra cannot take her eyes off that huge dragon. (Rubydra) I see, in other words, hes the boss. (Renya) In contrast to Rubydra, whose voice is tinged with panic, Renyas voice sounded somewhat happy. Since hes a formidable opponent, its inevitable even if the surroundings get a bit damaged, right? (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra, who cant imagine a future where shes able to stop Renya even if she tells him that this whole situation is avoidable, answers Renyas question with a voice full of resignation. Chapter 165 Time to have it eat a full blow with some spunk behind it! (Renya) Renya lifted his arm and sixteen white flame lances surged out of his palm.Those outlandish fire lances, which were filled with mana, to the point that any more would destroy the spells structure, forcibly made the surrounding atmosphere expand while also producing sounds similar to explosions as they assailed the huge evil dragon.However, the lances crash into something that looks like a blue shield, which was produced by the evil dragon raising a single roar, and disappear all too quickly. Even the few fire lances, which reached the evil dragon as it apparently wasnt able to block them all, disappear after colliding, leaving nothing more than few faint burn marks on the evil dragons scales. They were blocked!? (Shion) Due to Renyas spell, which had turned its targets into ashes with just one blow so far C moreover 16 of those spells C not delivering any significant damage despite hitting it directly, Shion raises her voice in shock.Although Rubydra wasnt overly surprised as she had apparently expected something like that, she replies to Shion with an annoyed voice, (Rubydra) Renya wanted to protest that he didnt know about such common knowledge, but suddenly understanding a single fact from Rubydras word, he frowns.Considering the breath unleashed by Rubydra, her bodys color, and the spell she taught Renya, theres no doubt that shes a fire dragon.In other words, Rubydras compatibility should be extremely bad in relation to the attribute possessed by the evil dragons.The reason why she still plunged into them must be owed to her prediction that she will very likely manage to power her way through as shes a much higher-ranking dragon than the evil dragons flying around here.However, that completely changes if it comes to opposing a dragon of the same rank or higher rank like the ancient dragon thats calmly preparing in front of them.The advantages and disadvantages caused by the compatibilities between attributes completely influences the power relation in battle. So that means its an opponent suited for Emedra, huh? (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra apparently wanted to say that it wouldnt have mattered even if Emedra had come as she would have been at a disadvantage with her lower rank, but as she herself is not only losing out in rank but also in attribute, the current situation is worse in comparison to the alternative of Emedra being here. Despite admitting to this indirectly, she doesnt even notice that she said it herself.Renya smiles wryly in his heart while thinking,this is youth, but even if you add up the years of Renyas former life and the time he has spent in this world, the sum will be miles away from Rubydras age.The ancient dragon with its mouth gaping open jumps into Renyas field of view, whos in a somewhat fluffy mood. (Rubydra) Renya, who had started to deploy the just as with the time when he blocked the breath attacks of the other evil dragons, adds another seven layers of in response to Rubydras warning.The violet breath that struck them penetrates the shields of mana without being scattered, unlike the breaths of the other evil dragons.Renya slaps Rubydras nape, who tries to evade in panic, to make her calm down.The last shield layer in front of their eyes breaks while being hit by the ancient dragons breath and disappears, but at the same time the breath attack loses momentum as if having used up all its strength, and vanishes as well. Just barely after piling up 8 layers, eh? (Renya) The breath spit out by Rubydra like a return gift was a white, shining breath and not a red flash as it had been until now.It seems she produced a normal breath, fearing that its power would deteriorate if she added her attribute to it, but that one shot disappeared after being fruitlessly repelled by the scales.Rubydra grinds her fangs in vexation as the ancient dragon didnt even bother to defend itself from her attack.As if ridiculing Rubydra, the ancient dragon curves its muzzle up and then opens it once again.Due to the mana gathered within its muzzle, Rubydras movements accelerate in response. (Rubydra) The breath attack unleashed went far beyond the first shot in terms of strength.Rubydra reflexively stiffens due to the breath which was large enough to engulf her whole body.The ancient dragons breath was approaching and filling Shions field of view, who unconsciously comprehended that she will likely be engulfed by it.Renyas right arm crossed in front of Shion, who was about to give up due to the scale of the breath that made her think that even Renyas wouldnt be able to defend against it, in a flash.Once cut with a cross slash in midair by the katana, which Renya was grasping in his hands before anyone noticed, the breath with its overwhelming size disperses and vanishes as if it all had just been a bad joke. Then he stabbed a white, burning into the ancient dragons mouth, which had become frozen in mute amazement with its mouth wide open due to the spectacle that greatly deviated from its expectations.Immediately after, there was an explosion bursting forth and a scream.While several fangs that broke due to the impact fall out of its mouth, the ancient dragon struggles and writhes in pain. Several of the evil dragons that got hit by its movements are flicked away by the huge body and fall to the ground while scattering bodily fluids. Toug-!? Even that bastards mouth is friggin hard. (Renya) Renya, who looks like he wants to say that hes flabbergasted, shakes his head while pressing his left hand against his forehead, but neither Shion nor Rubydra have the composure to concern themselves with Renya.Both of them are unable to break out of the shock caused by the fact that it all ended with them being completely unhurt just after they had resolved themselves to suffer damage that would almost definitely put their lives at risk. What was that just now? (Shion) Renya smoothly answers Shion, who finally managed to squeeze out those words, I wondered whether I couldnt offset the breath attack by making a sword flash fly, but it didnt fly at all. What a failure, a big failure. But, well, since I succeeded in cutting it down, alls fine. (Renya) (Rubydra) Dont useidiotat all three stagesit hurts my feelings, you know? (Renya) Renya looks sullen, but neither Shion nor Rubydra pay him any attention.Just who the hell would consider cutting a breath attack of a size that could swallow up a whole dragon with a single katana?And just how big of an idiot would one have to be to not only think about it, but to actually put it into practice, too?In the end neither Shion nor Rubydra could or wanted to believe that theres anyone other than Renya on this world that could successfully implement such an idea. (Rubydra) I stillsomehowknow the convenient expression that its Renya were talking about here. (Shion) (Rubydra) Dont talk about someone like a cluster of irrationality. (Renya) Renya feels discouraged, but the voices of both, Rubydra and Shion, apparently wanted to say:Notlike acluster, right?Without even guessing their emotions, Renya turns the katanas point towards the ancient dragon, and shouts, not knowing whether its listening, Hey big one over there! I cannot afford to spend much time on you! After all I also have to finish the disturbance below! Thats why I will promptly cookerr, defeat you! (Renya) Just now you saidcookyou are completely treating it as a food ingredient, arent you? (Shion) (Rubydra) Ignoring the two, who mutter words filled with tiredness and resignation, for now, Renya shouts, I guess I will start with a practice run! Launching 16 ! (Renya) The white fire lances rush towards the ancient dragon while drawing white lines, however the ancient dragon blocks these with a blue shield just like the first time.Even the several lances that got barely past it have lost a lot of their power, and ceased after causing faint explosions on the ancient dragons body.The ancient dragon twists its muzzle as if to say that Renya is doing something pointless despite knowing that it wont work, but in the next instant it stops moving as if having observed something unbelievable.The fire lances, which set out from around Rubydra who hovers in the air as if facing off against the ancient dragon, had increased drastically in number and were already waiting for launch. Next! Launching 32 ! (Renya) The fire lances that had doubled in number in comparison to the first attack fly towards the ancient dragon while leaving white trails in the sky.The ancient dragon releases a roar in a hurry, making a blue shield appear, but theres no way for a defense, which allowed several lances to pass even when it had been 16 , to completely block twice the number of fire lances.This time a two digit number of fire lances gets past the blue shield and pierces the ancient dragons body, but these also disappear without delivering a decisive blow due to the ancient dragons attribute in addition to the dampening caused by the shield.The breath attack, which it released as a counterattack as if to declare that it still has some leeway, was cut down by Renyas katana. Furthermore, a great number of fire lances appeared around Renya.While smiling happily, Renya watches how even the ancient dragons expression starts to be dyed with the color of panic. Now then, how about trying to do your best? Launching 64 ! (Renya) For the first time in a long time did the ancient dragon feel danger approaching its body due to the fire lances hurled at it, which were making the surrounding atmosphere warp due to their heat.The blue shield, which it manifested while putting all its might into the roar, is several times thicker than the ones from the previous two times.The fire lances successively explode on the surface of that shield.The shield, which had been constructed with the ancient dragon putting all of its power into it, continues to block the increased number of lances. The ancient dragon, who was about to ridicule the attack as just being the action of a measly human whos not even worthy of being taken serious, sees an unbelievable scene taking place on the other side of its shield. Launching 128 . (Renya) The fire lances that continuously struck the shield bloom into large and beautiful fire flowers in the sky.In the eyes of Shion and Rubydra, who watch that spectacle from safety, its no more than something along the line of What a beautiful scene as long as they endure the impacts, which make their intestines tremble, and the roaring sounds, which split their ears, but theres no way for the ancient dragon, whos on the opposite side of all this, to not be scared to death.The shield, which has been constructed by the power of a dragon, breaks apart as its unable to bear the power of the fire lances. Several lances, which slip through while a new shield has to be set up, reach the ancient dragons body.Their power is lowered due to the difference in compatibility, but its not like they dont cause any damage at all. The ancient dragon has lost the ability to ignore the accumulated damage, once its pierced by many lances all at once.Before long the roar turns into something like a scream. And then, for some reason, Renyas voice reaches the ears of the ancient dragon, who frantically continues deploying shields, throughout all the explosions. Shall I increase the numbers? Launching 256 . (Renya) The frequency of impacts and explosions accelerates even further.The number of destroyed shields begins to remarkably increase, and so does the number of lances that get through in proportion.Even though the ancient dragon considered running away, it immediately understood from the flood of fire lances, which rushed at it at full power as soon as it came out from behind its own shield, that it wouldnt be able to get away.Even when it tries to launch a counterattack, its defense is overtaken in an instant as the power, which is used for the breath attack, is taken away from the new shields.As for what the ancient dragon, which could neither advance not retreat, could actually do: It had no other choice but to merely pray that the humans mana would run out sooner or later.No matter how much training he might have piled up, its impossible for the mana of a human to be infinite.If only the downpour of fire lances stops for a single moment, it probably wont be all that difficult to run away, the ancient dragon believes.As if smashing such a hope, Renya quietly declares: Launching 512 . (Renya) At last the fire lances, which should lose out in regards to attribute compatibility, broke the defense level of the shields produced by the ancient dragon into smithereens.The lances reach the defenseless ancient dragons body without experiencing any dampening of their power, and stab into it.Since its not like the attribute superiority of the ancient dragon itself has vanished, the lances lose power when they hit its body, but if its hit by several dozen lances all at once, it will be unbearable for the ancient dragon, even if its body is fairly sturdy.Even though it tries to remake new shields, the damage caused by the impacts, shocks and heat of the fire lances snatch away the ancient dragons composure to wield its own power.Having its whole body jostled by the impacts, and being grilled all over by the flames heat, the ancient dragon heard its death sentence while having its sight completely filled by fire. I guess this is the last one. Launching 1024 . (Renya) Even though it wants to lose consciousness, its consciousness is forcibly pulled back from the edge by the spells impacts.Having already lost the power to set up a defense, the ancient dragon doesnt even know whether its still flying or already falling due to the overwhelming heat and the countless impacts assailing its entire body. I wonder, how do you feel about being finished off by attacks with an attribute that ought to be inferior to yours? (Renya) In the space that should be dominated by explosions, only the words of that human were clearly audible for some strange reason. The experience of being violated by an overwhelming power is unpleasant, isnt it? (Renya) Indeed, the ancient dragon thought, but until just now that was something the dragon itself did to others as well.In that case, I wonder, does this conclusion mean that I reap what I sowed?The ancient dragon asks itself. I expressly stepped up the number of attacks to the next level for the sake of you being chewable after all. Its fine for you to perish after I can fully savor your taste. (Renya) The ancient dragon wanted to spit out curses such as Youre malicious, You have a nasty character, and Isnt your heart pitch dark? However, its body doesnt listen to it anymore, and even if it could open its mouth, nothing more than a coarse groan would leak out. Well, if you have learned your lesson with this, I think you will live a more honest and modest life in your next reincarnation. (Renya) The ancient dragon wonders whether theres something like a reincarnation, but the voice mentioned the termreincarnationwith an awfully strong conviction.Maybe his words are based on some kind of knowledge. Yet the ancient dragon already lacks the means to make sure of that. I will be happy if you choose correctly and dont escape to another world if possible, butI guess I went a bit too far. (Renya) Renya mutters while watching the huge, violet body fall while drawing a trail of smoke with its whole body having become flaccid.After a short time the ancient dragons body grazes the citys defense wall situated below Renyas group and crashes into the ground outside the city.It felt like it decelerated somewhat thanks to its continuously opened wings, but if a huge body that exceeds that of Rubydra falls from a fairly high altitude, its impact is unfathomable.A considerable amount of the landbound monster forces that surrounded the city should have been squashed. Ahwe have to recover and completely wash it afterwards (Renya) Even if a dragon loses its life, the sturdiness of its scales and skin is an established fact.No matter how many monsters might have been buried beneath it, I dont think that the dragons main body has been damaged, Renya decided to think optimistically. (Rubydra) Well, its Renya after all. (Shion) (Rubydra) Having seen the ancient dragon fall, theres no way for the other dragons to consider fighting against Renya.The evil dragons literally tucked their tails between their legs and started to escape.And then, while slowly circling in the empty sky, Shion and Rubydra couldnt help but to pray for the fallen ancient dragons happiness in the next life despite it having been an enemy due to their feelings of pity towards it after having seen how the dragon was thoroughly trashed by an overwhelming power. Time to have it eat a full blow with some spunk behind it! (Renya) Renya lifted his arm and sixteen white flame lances surged out of his palm.Those outlandish fire lances, which were filled with mana, to the point that any more would destroy the spells structure, forcibly made the surrounding atmosphere expand while also producing sounds similar to explosions as they assailed the huge evil dragon.However, the lances crash into something that looks like a blue shield, which was produced by the evil dragon raising a single roar, and disappear all too quickly. Even the few fire lances, which reached the evil dragon as it apparently wasnt able to block them all, disappear after colliding, leaving nothing more than few faint burn marks on the evil dragons scales. They were blocked!? (Shion) Due to Renyas spell, which had turned its targets into ashes with just one blow so far C moreover 16 of those spells C not delivering any significant damage despite hitting it directly, Shion raises her voice in shock.Although Rubydra wasnt overly surprised as she had apparently expected something like that, she replies to Shion with an annoyed voice, (Rubydra) Renya wanted to protest that he didnt know about such common knowledge, but suddenly understanding a single fact from Rubydras word, he frowns.Considering the breath unleashed by Rubydra, her bodys color, and the spell she taught Renya, theres no doubt that shes a fire dragon.In other words, Rubydras compatibility should be extremely bad in relation to the attribute possessed by the evil dragons.The reason why she still plunged into them must be owed to her prediction that she will very likely manage to power her way through as shes a much higher-ranking dragon than the evil dragons flying around here.However, that completely changes if it comes to opposing a dragon of the same rank or higher rank like the ancient dragon thats calmly preparing in front of them.The advantages and disadvantages caused by the compatibilities between attributes completely influences the power relation in battle. So that means its an opponent suited for Emedra, huh? (Renya) (Rubydra) Rubydra apparently wanted to say that it wouldnt have mattered even if Emedra had come as she would have been at a disadvantage with her lower rank, but as she herself is not only losing out in rank but also in attribute, the current situation is worse in comparison to the alternative of Emedra being here. Despite admitting to this indirectly, she doesnt even notice that she said it herself.Renya smiles wryly in his heart while thinking,this is youth, but even if you add up the years of Renyas former life and the time he has spent in this world, the sum will be miles away from Rubydras age.The ancient dragon with its mouth gaping open jumps into Renyas field of view, whos in a somewhat fluffy mood. (Rubydra) Renya, who had started to deploy the just as with the time when he blocked the breath attacks of the other evil dragons, adds another seven layers of in response to Rubydras warning.The violet breath that struck them penetrates the shields of mana without being scattered, unlike the breaths of the other evil dragons.Renya slaps Rubydras nape, who tries to evade in panic, to make her calm down.The last shield layer in front of their eyes breaks while being hit by the ancient dragons breath and disappears, but at the same time the breath attack loses momentum as if having used up all its strength, and vanishes as well. Just barely after piling up 8 layers, eh? (Renya) The breath spit out by Rubydra like a return gift was a white, shining breath and not a red flash as it had been until now.It seems she produced a normal breath, fearing that its power would deteriorate if she added her attribute to it, but that one shot disappeared after being fruitlessly repelled by the scales.Rubydra grinds her fangs in vexation as the ancient dragon didnt even bother to defend itself from her attack.As if ridiculing Rubydra, the ancient dragon curves its muzzle up and then opens it once again.Due to the mana gathered within its muzzle, Rubydras movements accelerate in response. (Rubydra) The breath attack unleashed went far beyond the first shot in terms of strength.Rubydra reflexively stiffens due to the breath which was large enough to engulf her whole body.The ancient dragons breath was approaching and filling Shions field of view, who unconsciously comprehended that she will likely be engulfed by it.Renyas right arm crossed in front of Shion, who was about to give up due to the scale of the breath that made her think that even Renyas wouldnt be able to defend against it, in a flash.Once cut with a cross slash in midair by the katana, which Renya was grasping in his hands before anyone noticed, the breath with its overwhelming size disperses and vanishes as if it all had just been a bad joke. Then he stabbed a white, burning into the ancient dragons mouth, which had become frozen in mute amazement with its mouth wide open due to the spectacle that greatly deviated from its expectations.Immediately after, there was an explosion bursting forth and a scream.While several fangs that broke due to the impact fall out of its mouth, the ancient dragon struggles and writhes in pain. Several of the evil dragons that got hit by its movements are flicked away by the huge body and fall to the ground while scattering bodily fluids. Toug-!? Even that bastards mouth is friggin hard. (Renya) Renya, who looks like he wants to say that hes flabbergasted, shakes his head while pressing his left hand against his forehead, but neither Shion nor Rubydra have the composure to concern themselves with Renya.Both of them are unable to break out of the shock caused by the fact that it all ended with them being completely unhurt just after they had resolved themselves to suffer damage that would almost definitely put their lives at risk. What was that just now? (Shion) Renya smoothly answers Shion, who finally managed to squeeze out those words, I wondered whether I couldnt offset the breath attack by making a sword flash fly, but it didnt fly at all. What a failure, a big failure. But, well, since I succeeded in cutting it down, alls fine. (Renya) (Rubydra) Dont useidiotat all three stagesit hurts my feelings, you know? (Renya) Renya looks sullen, but neither Shion nor Rubydra pay him any attention.Just who the hell would consider cutting a breath attack of a size that could swallow up a whole dragon with a single katana?And just how big of an idiot would one have to be to not only think about it, but to actually put it into practice, too?In the end neither Shion nor Rubydra could or wanted to believe that theres anyone other than Renya on this world that could successfully implement such an idea. (Rubydra) I stillsomehowknow the convenient expression that its Renya were talking about here. (Shion) (Rubydra) Dont talk about someone like a cluster of irrationality. (Renya) Renya feels discouraged, but the voices of both, Rubydra and Shion, apparently wanted to say:Notlike acluster, right?Without even guessing their emotions, Renya turns the katanas point towards the ancient dragon, and shouts, not knowing whether its listening, Hey big one over there! I cannot afford to spend much time on you! After all I also have to finish the disturbance below! Thats why I will promptly cookerr, defeat you! (Renya) Just now you saidcookyou are completely treating it as a food ingredient, arent you? (Shion) (Rubydra) Ignoring the two, who mutter words filled with tiredness and resignation, for now, Renya shouts, I guess I will start with a practice run! Launching 16 ! (Renya) The white fire lances rush towards the ancient dragon while drawing white lines, however the ancient dragon blocks these with a blue shield just like the first time.Even the several lances that got barely past it have lost a lot of their power, and ceased after causing faint explosions on the ancient dragons body.The ancient dragon twists its muzzle as if to say that Renya is doing something pointless despite knowing that it wont work, but in the next instant it stops moving as if having observed something unbelievable.The fire lances, which set out from around Rubydra who hovers in the air as if facing off against the ancient dragon, had increased drastically in number and were already waiting for launch. Next! Launching 32 ! (Renya) The fire lances that had doubled in number in comparison to the first attack fly towards the ancient dragon while leaving white trails in the sky.The ancient dragon releases a roar in a hurry, making a blue shield appear, but theres no way for a defense, which allowed several lances to pass even when it had been 16 , to completely block twice the number of fire lances.This time a two digit number of fire lances gets past the blue shield and pierces the ancient dragons body, but these also disappear without delivering a decisive blow due to the ancient dragons attribute in addition to the dampening caused by the shield.The breath attack, which it released as a counterattack as if to declare that it still has some leeway, was cut down by Renyas katana. Furthermore, a great number of fire lances appeared around Renya.While smiling happily, Renya watches how even the ancient dragons expression starts to be dyed with the color of panic. Now then, how about trying to do your best? Launching 64 ! (Renya) For the first time in a long time did the ancient dragon feel danger approaching its body due to the fire lances hurled at it, which were making the surrounding atmosphere warp due to their heat.The blue shield, which it manifested while putting all its might into the roar, is several times thicker than the ones from the previous two times.The fire lances successively explode on the surface of that shield.The shield, which had been constructed with the ancient dragon putting all of its power into it, continues to block the increased number of lances. The ancient dragon, who was about to ridicule the attack as just being the action of a measly human whos not even worthy of being taken serious, sees an unbelievable scene taking place on the other side of its shield. Launching 128 . (Renya) The fire lances that continuously struck the shield bloom into large and beautiful fire flowers in the sky.In the eyes of Shion and Rubydra, who watch that spectacle from safety, its no more than something along the line of What a beautiful scene as long as they endure the impacts, which make their intestines tremble, and the roaring sounds, which split their ears, but theres no way for the ancient dragon, whos on the opposite side of all this, to not be scared to death.The shield, which has been constructed by the power of a dragon, breaks apart as its unable to bear the power of the fire lances. Several lances, which slip through while a new shield has to be set up, reach the ancient dragons body.Their power is lowered due to the difference in compatibility, but its not like they dont cause any damage at all. The ancient dragon has lost the ability to ignore the accumulated damage, once its pierced by many lances all at once.Before long the roar turns into something like a scream. And then, for some reason, Renyas voice reaches the ears of the ancient dragon, who frantically continues deploying shields, throughout all the explosions. Shall I increase the numbers? Launching 256 . (Renya) The frequency of impacts and explosions accelerates even further.The number of destroyed shields begins to remarkably increase, and so does the number of lances that get through in proportion.Even though the ancient dragon considered running away, it immediately understood from the flood of fire lances, which rushed at it at full power as soon as it came out from behind its own shield, that it wouldnt be able to get away.Even when it tries to launch a counterattack, its defense is overtaken in an instant as the power, which is used for the breath attack, is taken away from the new shields.As for what the ancient dragon, which could neither advance not retreat, could actually do: It had no other choice but to merely pray that the humans mana would run out sooner or later.No matter how much training he might have piled up, its impossible for the mana of a human to be infinite.If only the downpour of fire lances stops for a single moment, it probably wont be all that difficult to run away, the ancient dragon believes.As if smashing such a hope, Renya quietly declares: Launching 512 . (Renya) At last the fire lances, which should lose out in regards to attribute compatibility, broke the defense level of the shields produced by the ancient dragon into smithereens.The lances reach the defenseless ancient dragons body without experiencing any dampening of their power, and stab into it.Since its not like the attribute superiority of the ancient dragon itself has vanished, the lances lose power when they hit its body, but if its hit by several dozen lances all at once, it will be unbearable for the ancient dragon, even if its body is fairly sturdy.Even though it tries to remake new shields, the damage caused by the impacts, shocks and heat of the fire lances snatch away the ancient dragons composure to wield its own power.Having its whole body jostled by the impacts, and being grilled all over by the flames heat, the ancient dragon heard its death sentence while having its sight completely filled by fire. I guess this is the last one. Launching 1024 . (Renya) Even though it wants to lose consciousness, its consciousness is forcibly pulled back from the edge by the spells impacts.Having already lost the power to set up a defense, the ancient dragon doesnt even know whether its still flying or already falling due to the overwhelming heat and the countless impacts assailing its entire body. I wonder, how do you feel about being finished off by attacks with an attribute that ought to be inferior to yours? (Renya) In the space that should be dominated by explosions, only the words of that human were clearly audible for some strange reason. The experience of being violated by an overwhelming power is unpleasant, isnt it? (Renya) Indeed, the ancient dragon thought, but until just now that was something the dragon itself did to others as well.In that case, I wonder, does this conclusion mean that I reap what I sowed?The ancient dragon asks itself. I expressly stepped up the number of attacks to the next level for the sake of you being chewable after all. Its fine for you to perish after I can fully savor your taste. (Renya) The ancient dragon wanted to spit out curses such as Youre malicious, You have a nasty character, and Isnt your heart pitch dark? However, its body doesnt listen to it anymore, and even if it could open its mouth, nothing more than a coarse groan would leak out. Well, if you have learned your lesson with this, I think you will live a more honest and modest life in your next reincarnation. (Renya) The ancient dragon wonders whether theres something like a reincarnation, but the voice mentioned the termreincarnationwith an awfully strong conviction.Maybe his words are based on some kind of knowledge. Yet the ancient dragon already lacks the means to make sure of that. I will be happy if you choose correctly and dont escape to another world if possible, butI guess I went a bit too far. (Renya) Renya mutters while watching the huge, violet body fall while drawing a trail of smoke with its whole body having become flaccid.After a short time the ancient dragons body grazes the citys defense wall situated below Renyas group and crashes into the ground outside the city.It felt like it decelerated somewhat thanks to its continuously opened wings, but if a huge body that exceeds that of Rubydra falls from a fairly high altitude, its impact is unfathomable.A considerable amount of the landbound monster forces that surrounded the city should have been squashed. Ahwe have to recover and completely wash it afterwards (Renya) Even if a dragon loses its life, the sturdiness of its scales and skin is an established fact.No matter how many monsters might have been buried beneath it, I dont think that the dragons main body has been damaged, Renya decided to think optimistically. (Rubydra) Well, its Renya after all. (Shion) (Rubydra) Having seen the ancient dragon fall, theres no way for the other dragons to consider fighting against Renya.The evil dragons literally tucked their tails between their legs and started to escape.And then, while slowly circling in the empty sky, Shion and Rubydra couldnt help but to pray for the fallen ancient dragons happiness in the next life despite it having been an enemy due to their feelings of pity towards it after having seen how the dragon was thoroughly trashed by an overwhelming power. Chapter 166 No, no, you two, sorry for bothering you just as you had calmed down, but do you have a moment? (Renya) Renya turned around and looked into Shions eyes while tapping Rubydras back. Even as she grumbles in complaint saying that she hasnt actually calmed down yet, Rubydra asks, (Rubydra) The battle still hasnt come to an end, you know? Those below are still at the same disadvantage as before, no? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya smiles wryly at Rubydras irresponsible response, albeit short and precise.Certainly, its a situation where I should probably do something if Im capable of it, but the part that actually explains what I should do has been completely omitted.That is the most important part, though. While thinking that, Renya looked down towards the ground.Although they gained total control of the air space, the situation on the surface is still unfavorable.The wall that should protect the city has already been breached at several spots. The battlefield has spread into the citys inner parts and fires are blazing up all over the city.As far as looking from above, the citys center, where the military installations have been concentrated, is somehow safe, but the other areas have mostly surrendered, Renya judged.And even for the sole remaining, safe-looking central part its probably just a matter of time before it falls. It looks likethe situation below has developed in a terrible direction. (Shion) Shion mutters bitterly.Its more than a safe bet that the fate of the residents, who were defeated in battle, was fairly tragic.Not to mention that the opponents are monsters who dont have a shred of compassion.No matter what fate awaited them, it was clear that their final moments werent easy. Rubydra, how much longer until Emedra arrives? (Renya) (Rubydra) Hurry up and tell her that we gained air control. She is to release Kurz below right away once she arrives. As for the other heroes, I leave the decision up to them. (Renya) The only one Renya can order around is the human hero who is under his patronage.Given that he has no choice but to treat the elven and beastman hero as visitors, he can only appeal to them, but not give them any orders.Renya intends to ignore their visitor status if it becomes necessary, but based on the official stance, thats how it works. (Rubydra) Rubydra starts getting in touch with Emedra after responding to Renya.Meanwhile Rubydra continues to circle above the dragonoid city while paying attention to her altitude.In Renya and Shions eyes, they wanted her to lower the altitude a bit to allow them to examine the situation on the ground, but if she descends to a height where arrows and spells could reach, its very likely that they will be exposed to a rain of anti-air attacks.As expected, the probability of Rubydra crashing due to arrows was exceedingly low, but her maintaining the altitude wasnt limited to protecting Renya and Shion from stray arrows. Theres also the possibility that Rubydra will crash if shes attacked by spells, given that demons are mixed in among the army.As a result Rubydra remains at a height where those attacks cant reach or will very likely be blocked by her defense due to losing power over the distance even if they reach her, but theres no way to see whats happening on the ground from such a height. This is unexpectedly boring, isnt it? (Renya) No, wait Renya, those below are in the middle of battle (Shion) We cant make a move from our side, and they cant make a move on us either. We have free time without having anything to do, right? (Renya) Yeah, youre not wrong there. Its a correct opinion, butI wonder what it is, this feeling of not being fully satisfied with such an explanation. (Shion) Shion groans while having an expression full of mixed feelings.While thinking that she likely wont reach an answer even if she ponders about it, Renya suddenly looks above and discovers a shadow overhead. Mar~gra~ve-sa~ma~ Due to the voice thats audible from very far away and which is likely Kurzs, Renya knits his brows.At the same time as that voice reaches him, something leapt into the sky without any hesitation from the shadow flying overhead. Renya, thats (Shion) Someone jumped off, huh? (Renya) (Rubydra) After Shion and Renya looked at each other upon Rubydras calm voice, they both look up again in a hurry.Rubydra said that Kurz jumped off Emedra whos flying higher up than Renyas group whos already flying at a considerably high altitude.Dont tell me he wants us to catch him, Renya panics.No matter how much Kurzs body is similar to that of a small child, the momentum such a body possesses during free fall is nothing to scoff at.Although you might say that Renya is quite strong, his body will most likely break if he tries to catch an object with such a momentum.Ahead of Renyas gaze, who ponders whether it would work to cushion the fall by manipulating the air with , black wings spread from Kurzs back.Renya and Shion can only watch as Kurzs descent speed decreased before their eyes. Thats a really handy ability, isnt it? (Renya) The true identity of the black wings was the black mist contained in large quantities within Kurz.The pair of wings, which were created by solidifying that mist, isnt an ability that allows him to soar freely through the sky, but if it comes to decreasing the falling speed or gliding, its certainly capable of doing so.As he draws an elegant spiral trajectory, Kurz shouts loudly while waving his hands with a smile as he approaches Renyas group. Margrave-sama! Im off! (Kurz) Ayebe careful, okay? (Renya) Yeees~! (Kurz) Kurz leaves a lively reply behind and continues to descend.Emedra, who tries to chase after him, lowers her altitude, passing Renyas group in the process. (Emedra) Upon Emedras telepathic message, sent while passing by, Renya ponders.No matter how big the monster army might be, the charging combat forces are three heroes.They are endowed with extraordinary combat abilities for the sake of fighting the demon king at some point in time.Actually even Renya couldnt imagine the maximum output of their powers, but deciding to consider it under the assumption that there were three of himself, whos just a swordsman, Renya mutters after a short time, Doesnt that feel like overkill? (Renya) If the heroes had been able to listen into Renyas thoughts, they would have simultaneously told him to stop bullshiting while shaking their heads.Its a story where the surroundings would be suspicious whether hes messing around if they heard of it, but Renya is very serious. The situation might change if the demons come out. I guess we will wait and watch how things unfold. (Renya) Since its not a game, theres absolutely no problem in going for an overkill.Rather, annihilating the enemies promptly with excess firepower should lower the losses amongst our allies.However, its not like Renya wants to particularly annihilate the monsters and demons.The more obedient they are in staying in their own territory, the less necessary it becomes to hunt them down.In other words, Renya is harboring the faint hope that theyll escape by themselves in front of a huge combat force like the three heroes.Of course thats not owed to a benevolent heart.Its an action stemming from the truly calculating thought that having the enemies run away will put an end to this ordeal with the least amount of troubles. They probably wont escape, though. (Renya) While quietly muttering that, Renya and the others look down towards the ground, just barely being able to make out a pitch-black flower unfolding. I~t~is~w~o~rk~ (Kurz) Kurz, who was surrounded by monsters as soon as he landed on the ground, shouts with a loud voice alongside a broad smile while hardening his clenched fists without the least sign of agitation. f~ro~m~Ma~r~gr~a~ve~sa~ma~ (Kurz) The black wings on his back lose their shape, and at the same time as they turn into mist, more black mist vigorously gushes out from Kurzs entire body.Seen from above, it looks like a black flower suddenly unfolding in the middle of the battlefield. At the same time as the mist touches the monsters crowding around Kurz, it bares its fangs and attacks them.Among the bellows and screams that arise all at once, the black mist separated and a huge silver armor appears from within.While all fired arrows and spells are easily repelled by its surface, the mist gradually transforms into countless thick and long snakes squirming around the silver armor that begins to step forward. Does it mean he has to manifest it each time he uses it? I feel like he really got skilled at it. (Renya) Renya casually shares his impression. In my opinion, hes not hero-like at all (Shion) Its only natural for Shion to have such an impression.Arrows are repelled by the surface, and spells dont achieve anything even if they hit.Even attempts to slash at it fail as the blades are unable to penetrate the thick armor. The sight of countless snakes immediately swarming their pitiful victims and devouring them once they stop moving wasnt a spectacle that would make anyone believe that hes a hero, even if hes introduced as one.Even those, who try to run away, are not spared.The black snakes, which attack them from behind, tear their torsos apart with one lunge. The upper and lower bodies, which were snapped apart, are swallowed down by other snakes before they even hit the ground, and disappear.Those trying to escape while crawling C seemingly unable to stand up out of fear C have their limbs bitten and torn apart. And once they turned into caterpillars, they were gulped down whole. The ones begging for their lives are swallowed down from the front without any consideration towards their pleas. There sure is a lively show going on over there, aint there? As expected, its the human hero, eh? (Lepard) Clanging Fang King, the exclusive hero equipment of the beastman hero, equipped on both his arms, Lepard laughs.Dark red objects, which were broken and crushed to the extent that it was impossible to distinguish what exactly they were before, are scattered at his feet as if fully covering the ground. The stench of iron rust hangs in the air.His entiretekkouare stained with crimson, slippery fluids. Lepard laughs while looking really happy, but the monsters surrounding him already had fear dwelling in their eyes.He suddenly fell down from above, or so they thought, but gradually beating monsters to death at random without even giving them the chance to counterattack, the largely-built beastman hero had already created an extensive carpet of minced meat by thoroughly smashing up even the corpses.Due to his appearance of laughing while ferociously baring his fangs, the fighting spirit of the surrounding monsters was broken all too quickly. Ah? What are you people? Its a war, right? Im your enemy, no? Come on, hurry up! Even though Lepard knocks his fists together, theres not a single monster that tries to make a move, even after being provoked.After waiting for a short while, Lepard looks at the monsters, who C far from charging at him C are even trying to run away with an indecisive attitude, and snorts in a bored manner. What, how boring. Aint there anyone with some guts among you? No helping it then. Serve me as a distraction. (Lepard) Knocking his fist together with a noticeably loud sound, he creates a space with his palms facing each other in front of his chest, as if holding something.The air in the surrounding is quickly sucked into the space between his palms.The absorbed air causes a shrill sound, forming into a transparent sphere that continues to rotate.The monsters, who witnessed that, understand.That the sphere must be something absolutely dangerous.However, by the time they were able to comprehend that, there was already no time to escape. Lets go with a big one! Feel the roar of Fang King, you little shits! (Lepard) The instant he pushed out his palms as if thrusting them forward, the compressed sphere is liberated.The air drill that cant be referred to as wind any longer ran through the swarm of monsters with a thunderous roar.Sand, earth, flesh are all broken at the same time and stirred up. Nothing remains in the path it took. He possessed a Mass Amplitude Preemptive-strike (MAP) Weapon? (Renya) Eh? What? What happened? Or rather, Renya, whats a m-a-p weapon? (Shion) Ignoring Shion, whos shaken up due to the surprising scene of carnage that took place below her and the unfamiliar term used by Renya, for the time being, Renya looks at yet another place.If you compare that location to the previous two, it was extremely calm, but the phenomenon taking place there was just as gruesome.A shadow is slipping and squirming through the gaps between the army of frenzied monsters.Even though something is definitely passing right next to the monsters, no ones eyes can catch the shadow.Although thats all that happens, one monster suddenly grasps its throat and collapses.A quantity of blood, which is life-threatening no matter how you look at it, spews out from in-between its fingers. It notified the surroundings that the monster had already suffered a fatal wound.As a commotion rises up, wondering just what happened, even though theres no sign of the one that launched the attack, another monster holds down the inner part of its thighs next.The spot, where a thick blood vein passes through, has been roughly and very deeply gouged out. The bleeding, which is too strong to be held back, trickled down to the ground. Simple. Another monster shows the whites of its eyes and falls down.The wound on its back is a puncture wound that reached its heart from behind. Most likely the monster died without even the time to comprehend what had happened.Once it reaches the point were such scenes can be seen throughout the monster army, the monsters succumb to panic.After all, even though there are so many victims, the perpetrator, whos causing all these casualties, is nowhere to be found.Quickly slipping his body from blind spot to blind spot, he moves without making a single sound.While repeatedly moving in a way that cant be perceived by anyones eyes, Grn mutters, Their movements are slow and boring. Theres no big difference to cutting a scarecrow. (Grn) That mutter reached the ears of several monsters that were nearby, but when they looked towards the source in a hurry, they didnt find anyone.Instead those monsters end up seeing how their own wrists spout out blood after being pried open.Its such a large monster army that Renya doesnt know how many tens of thousands troops there are in total, even after looking at them from the sky.That army was little-by-little driven towards annihilation by the hands of only three heroes. No, no, you two, sorry for bothering you just as you had calmed down, but do you have a moment? (Renya) Renya turned around and looked into Shions eyes while tapping Rubydras back. Even as she grumbles in complaint saying that she hasnt actually calmed down yet, Rubydra asks, (Rubydra) The battle still hasnt come to an end, you know? Those below are still at the same disadvantage as before, no? (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya smiles wryly at Rubydras irresponsible response, albeit short and precise.Certainly, its a situation where I should probably do something if Im capable of it, but the part that actually explains what I should do has been completely omitted.That is the most important part, though. While thinking that, Renya looked down towards the ground.Although they gained total control of the air space, the situation on the surface is still unfavorable.The wall that should protect the city has already been breached at several spots. The battlefield has spread into the citys inner parts and fires are blazing up all over the city.As far as looking from above, the citys center, where the military installations have been concentrated, is somehow safe, but the other areas have mostly surrendered, Renya judged.And even for the sole remaining, safe-looking central part its probably just a matter of time before it falls. It looks likethe situation below has developed in a terrible direction. (Shion) Shion mutters bitterly.Its more than a safe bet that the fate of the residents, who were defeated in battle, was fairly tragic.Not to mention that the opponents are monsters who dont have a shred of compassion.No matter what fate awaited them, it was clear that their final moments werent easy. Rubydra, how much longer until Emedra arrives? (Renya) (Rubydra) Hurry up and tell her that we gained air control. She is to release Kurz below right away once she arrives. As for the other heroes, I leave the decision up to them. (Renya) The only one Renya can order around is the human hero who is under his patronage.Given that he has no choice but to treat the elven and beastman hero as visitors, he can only appeal to them, but not give them any orders.Renya intends to ignore their visitor status if it becomes necessary, but based on the official stance, thats how it works. (Rubydra) Rubydra starts getting in touch with Emedra after responding to Renya.Meanwhile Rubydra continues to circle above the dragonoid city while paying attention to her altitude.In Renya and Shions eyes, they wanted her to lower the altitude a bit to allow them to examine the situation on the ground, but if she descends to a height where arrows and spells could reach, its very likely that they will be exposed to a rain of anti-air attacks.As expected, the probability of Rubydra crashing due to arrows was exceedingly low, but her maintaining the altitude wasnt limited to protecting Renya and Shion from stray arrows. Theres also the possibility that Rubydra will crash if shes attacked by spells, given that demons are mixed in among the army.As a result Rubydra remains at a height where those attacks cant reach or will very likely be blocked by her defense due to losing power over the distance even if they reach her, but theres no way to see whats happening on the ground from such a height. This is unexpectedly boring, isnt it? (Renya) No, wait Renya, those below are in the middle of battle (Shion) We cant make a move from our side, and they cant make a move on us either. We have free time without having anything to do, right? (Renya) Yeah, youre not wrong there. Its a correct opinion, butI wonder what it is, this feeling of not being fully satisfied with such an explanation. (Shion) Shion groans while having an expression full of mixed feelings.While thinking that she likely wont reach an answer even if she ponders about it, Renya suddenly looks above and discovers a shadow overhead. Mar~gra~ve-sa~ma~ Due to the voice thats audible from very far away and which is likely Kurzs, Renya knits his brows.At the same time as that voice reaches him, something leapt into the sky without any hesitation from the shadow flying overhead. Renya, thats (Shion) Someone jumped off, huh? (Renya) (Rubydra) After Shion and Renya looked at each other upon Rubydras calm voice, they both look up again in a hurry.Rubydra said that Kurz jumped off Emedra whos flying higher up than Renyas group whos already flying at a considerably high altitude.Dont tell me he wants us to catch him, Renya panics.No matter how much Kurzs body is similar to that of a small child, the momentum such a body possesses during free fall is nothing to scoff at.Although you might say that Renya is quite strong, his body will most likely break if he tries to catch an object with such a momentum.Ahead of Renyas gaze, who ponders whether it would work to cushion the fall by manipulating the air with , black wings spread from Kurzs back.Renya and Shion can only watch as Kurzs descent speed decreased before their eyes. Thats a really handy ability, isnt it? (Renya) The true identity of the black wings was the black mist contained in large quantities within Kurz.The pair of wings, which were created by solidifying that mist, isnt an ability that allows him to soar freely through the sky, but if it comes to decreasing the falling speed or gliding, its certainly capable of doing so.As he draws an elegant spiral trajectory, Kurz shouts loudly while waving his hands with a smile as he approaches Renyas group. Margrave-sama! Im off! (Kurz) Ayebe careful, okay? (Renya) Yeees~! (Kurz) Kurz leaves a lively reply behind and continues to descend.Emedra, who tries to chase after him, lowers her altitude, passing Renyas group in the process. (Emedra) Upon Emedras telepathic message, sent while passing by, Renya ponders.No matter how big the monster army might be, the charging combat forces are three heroes.They are endowed with extraordinary combat abilities for the sake of fighting the demon king at some point in time.Actually even Renya couldnt imagine the maximum output of their powers, but deciding to consider it under the assumption that there were three of himself, whos just a swordsman, Renya mutters after a short time, Doesnt that feel like overkill? (Renya) If the heroes had been able to listen into Renyas thoughts, they would have simultaneously told him to stop bullshiting while shaking their heads.Its a story where the surroundings would be suspicious whether hes messing around if they heard of it, but Renya is very serious. The situation might change if the demons come out. I guess we will wait and watch how things unfold. (Renya) Since its not a game, theres absolutely no problem in going for an overkill.Rather, annihilating the enemies promptly with excess firepower should lower the losses amongst our allies.However, its not like Renya wants to particularly annihilate the monsters and demons.The more obedient they are in staying in their own territory, the less necessary it becomes to hunt them down.In other words, Renya is harboring the faint hope that theyll escape by themselves in front of a huge combat force like the three heroes.Of course thats not owed to a benevolent heart.Its an action stemming from the truly calculating thought that having the enemies run away will put an end to this ordeal with the least amount of troubles. They probably wont escape, though. (Renya) While quietly muttering that, Renya and the others look down towards the ground, just barely being able to make out a pitch-black flower unfolding. I~t~is~w~o~rk~ (Kurz) Kurz, who was surrounded by monsters as soon as he landed on the ground, shouts with a loud voice alongside a broad smile while hardening his clenched fists without the least sign of agitation. f~ro~m~Ma~r~gr~a~ve~sa~ma~ (Kurz) The black wings on his back lose their shape, and at the same time as they turn into mist, more black mist vigorously gushes out from Kurzs entire body.Seen from above, it looks like a black flower suddenly unfolding in the middle of the battlefield. At the same time as the mist touches the monsters crowding around Kurz, it bares its fangs and attacks them.Among the bellows and screams that arise all at once, the black mist separated and a huge silver armor appears from within.While all fired arrows and spells are easily repelled by its surface, the mist gradually transforms into countless thick and long snakes squirming around the silver armor that begins to step forward. Does it mean he has to manifest it each time he uses it? I feel like he really got skilled at it. (Renya) Renya casually shares his impression. In my opinion, hes not hero-like at all (Shion) Its only natural for Shion to have such an impression.Arrows are repelled by the surface, and spells dont achieve anything even if they hit.Even attempts to slash at it fail as the blades are unable to penetrate the thick armor. The sight of countless snakes immediately swarming their pitiful victims and devouring them once they stop moving wasnt a spectacle that would make anyone believe that hes a hero, even if hes introduced as one.Even those, who try to run away, are not spared.The black snakes, which attack them from behind, tear their torsos apart with one lunge. The upper and lower bodies, which were snapped apart, are swallowed down by other snakes before they even hit the ground, and disappear.Those trying to escape while crawling C seemingly unable to stand up out of fear C have their limbs bitten and torn apart. And once they turned into caterpillars, they were gulped down whole. The ones begging for their lives are swallowed down from the front without any consideration towards their pleas. There sure is a lively show going on over there, aint there? As expected, its the human hero, eh? (Lepard) Clanging Fang King, the exclusive hero equipment of the beastman hero, equipped on both his arms, Lepard laughs.Dark red objects, which were broken and crushed to the extent that it was impossible to distinguish what exactly they were before, are scattered at his feet as if fully covering the ground. The stench of iron rust hangs in the air.His entiretekkouare stained with crimson, slippery fluids. Lepard laughs while looking really happy, but the monsters surrounding him already had fear dwelling in their eyes.He suddenly fell down from above, or so they thought, but gradually beating monsters to death at random without even giving them the chance to counterattack, the largely-built beastman hero had already created an extensive carpet of minced meat by thoroughly smashing up even the corpses.Due to his appearance of laughing while ferociously baring his fangs, the fighting spirit of the surrounding monsters was broken all too quickly. Ah? What are you people? Its a war, right? Im your enemy, no? Come on, hurry up! Even though Lepard knocks his fists together, theres not a single monster that tries to make a move, even after being provoked.After waiting for a short while, Lepard looks at the monsters, who C far from charging at him C are even trying to run away with an indecisive attitude, and snorts in a bored manner. What, how boring. Aint there anyone with some guts among you? No helping it then. Serve me as a distraction. (Lepard) Knocking his fist together with a noticeably loud sound, he creates a space with his palms facing each other in front of his chest, as if holding something.The air in the surrounding is quickly sucked into the space between his palms.The absorbed air causes a shrill sound, forming into a transparent sphere that continues to rotate.The monsters, who witnessed that, understand.That the sphere must be something absolutely dangerous.However, by the time they were able to comprehend that, there was already no time to escape. Lets go with a big one! Feel the roar of Fang King, you little shits! (Lepard) The instant he pushed out his palms as if thrusting them forward, the compressed sphere is liberated.The air drill that cant be referred to as wind any longer ran through the swarm of monsters with a thunderous roar.Sand, earth, flesh are all broken at the same time and stirred up. Nothing remains in the path it took. He possessed a Mass Amplitude Preemptive-strike (MAP) Weapon? (Renya) Eh? What? What happened? Or rather, Renya, whats a m-a-p weapon? (Shion) Ignoring Shion, whos shaken up due to the surprising scene of carnage that took place below her and the unfamiliar term used by Renya, for the time being, Renya looks at yet another place.If you compare that location to the previous two, it was extremely calm, but the phenomenon taking place there was just as gruesome.A shadow is slipping and squirming through the gaps between the army of frenzied monsters.Even though something is definitely passing right next to the monsters, no ones eyes can catch the shadow.Although thats all that happens, one monster suddenly grasps its throat and collapses.A quantity of blood, which is life-threatening no matter how you look at it, spews out from in-between its fingers. It notified the surroundings that the monster had already suffered a fatal wound.As a commotion rises up, wondering just what happened, even though theres no sign of the one that launched the attack, another monster holds down the inner part of its thighs next.The spot, where a thick blood vein passes through, has been roughly and very deeply gouged out. The bleeding, which is too strong to be held back, trickled down to the ground. Simple. Another monster shows the whites of its eyes and falls down.The wound on its back is a puncture wound that reached its heart from behind. Most likely the monster died without even the time to comprehend what had happened.Once it reaches the point were such scenes can be seen throughout the monster army, the monsters succumb to panic.After all, even though there are so many victims, the perpetrator, whos causing all these casualties, is nowhere to be found.Quickly slipping his body from blind spot to blind spot, he moves without making a single sound.While repeatedly moving in a way that cant be perceived by anyones eyes, Grn mutters, Their movements are slow and boring. Theres no big difference to cutting a scarecrow. (Grn) That mutter reached the ears of several monsters that were nearby, but when they looked towards the source in a hurry, they didnt find anyone.Instead those monsters end up seeing how their own wrists spout out blood after being pried open.Its such a large monster army that Renya doesnt know how many tens of thousands troops there are in total, even after looking at them from the sky.That army was little-by-little driven towards annihilation by the hands of only three heroes. Chapter 167 This battle seems to be heading towards an unexpectedly easy conclusion, isnt it? (Shion) Shion, whos looking down onto the battlefield from Rubydras back, says to Renya, but he doesnt answer.Shion believed that to be odd, but since Renyas back, which she was clinging to, remains stiff, she realizes that Renya is watching the situation below while still keeping up his vigilance and tension. Renya? (Shion) The enemy army is too brittle. Besides, even though the three heroes expressly made a flashy entrance, the bigwigs havent come out. (Renya) Renyadont tell me (Shion) Renya looks over his shoulder with partly closed eyes due to Shions trembling voice.He sees how Shion stares back at him, tightly gripping his shoulders, with an expression as if she had seen something unbelievable. Did you possibly perceive what I said as me using the heroes in order to bait out the bigwigs? (Renya) You probably intend to attack the heroes along with the bigwigs, while at it, dont you? (Shion) Being told as such with a serious expression, Renyas face twitches.Shion, who saw that, quickly glued herself to Renyas back for some reason.Renya guessed that she did that to avoid a light spanking from him, but even if he tore her off, there would be no way to attack Shion whos right behind him. Just who do you think I am? (Renya) Isnt that a sound and simple method? (Shion) Im not that much of a villain that I would use my friends as bait. (Renya) Shion reveals a relieved expression towards Renya who looks slightly hurt.As for Shion, her still having a tinge of worry left despite knowing he wouldnt do such a thing is something that cant be helped even though she understands that its bad to think that Renya would do such a thing.Precisely because that would be just the usual with him, she cant discard the possibility in her mind completely.As for Renya, he does understands those circumstances one way or another, but its not like he wont feel somewhat hurt if hes treated like this. The heroes entered the stage from the start because the battle progress was too disadvantageous for the dragonoids. I judged it necessary to use excessive fire power, even if its overkill, to promptly overturn the situation. (Renya) And while at it you probably thought that it would be nice if the bigwigs showed up because of the war situation seemingly being reversed, eh? Sorry, that was a bit mean. (Shion) Shion smiles wryly due to Renyas tone which sounded like he was trying to make excuses.She made that suggestion with the intent of teasing Renya a bit, but now she regretted it as she had accidentally stabbed deeply into one of Renyas soft spots. Dont worry about it. Youre probably harboring such impressions because its me after all. (Renya) No, ummRenya, are you sulking!? Cant you cheer up!? I just wanted to tease you a bit, really! (Shion) Shion visibly started to panic due to Renyas remark that was mumbled softly as he turned back to the front while dropping his shoulders.Ignoring Shion, whos shaking his shoulders from behind, Renya watches the surface with a serious gaze, which contrasts with his woeful tone.Speaking honestly, even Renya, as a human, possesses a heart that can be hurt.The fact that Renya was doubted on whether he used his friends as bait could be considered him getting his just deserts, but in the end it was still painful.Nevertheless, its not like Renya, who has exceeded an age of 90 years, if you only take his mental age into account, has such a weak mind that it would break from just that much. Him acting slightly depressed and sulky was like an appeal towards Shion.That doesnt mean that hes asking her to comfort him since his feelings got hurt, but it was an appeal that tried to stop her from reproaching him since it was painful. (Rubydra) Seemingly believing that things wont progress no matter how long she waits if she leaves the panicking Shion and Renya, whos pretending to be depressed, alone, Rubydra sends a telepathic message to both of them while feeling fed-up.Shion completely changes her attitude from her previous flustered state, and becomes meek, seemingly feeling ashamed.Renya, who wasnt depressed to begin with, asks Rubydra while tapping her body, Cant you sense something? (Renya) (Rubydra) No matter how powerful the demons might be, theres no way for them to be strong enough to face the three heroes who are the combat forces for the final battle against the demon kings army.The demons have chosen to hide in order to deal with the sudden appearance of the heroes.Theyre most likely holding back while analyzing the combat power and the fighting style of the current heroes to repel them if possible, and if not, to retreat, Rubydra guesses. Are they going to run away? I suppose that cant be helped either though? (Renya) The current objective is to confirm the dragonoids situation to begin with. As far as Renya could say, the subjugation of the demons is no more than taking the opportunity if it presents itself.Since you could say that their goal will be achieved if they make the demons retreat after causing some damage to the monster army, Renya thought that there might not be a need to unreasonably search for the demons, but Rubydra denies Renyas thinking. (Rubydra) Why? (Renya) (Rubydra) The monsters slaughtered by the heroes on the battlefield have high breeding rates due to their brimming reproduction urge, and moreover, rapid growth rates.Even if their numbers were to be decreased by hundreds or thousands, they are capable of making up their numbers, or even get more than what they lost, Rubydra says. (Rubydra) So youre saying we wont deal a serious blow even if we decrease their numbers here, huh? (Renya) (Rubydra) Clearly being told as such by Rubydra, Renya pondered for a bit and then, Rubydra, can you tell the heroes to fall back? (Renya) (Rubydra) Responding to Renyas request, Rubydra sends a telepathic message to the heroes fighting on the ground.After the three heroes looked up for an instant, they immediately fall back close to the citys wall as instructed.While watching how the monsters close in on the city once again in response to the heros retreat, Renya hurled an instruction at Rubydra. Rubydra, prepare your breath! (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya starts pouring his own mana into Rubydra through the mana supply path that was still active as she began amassing mana in her mouth. (Rubydra) Without answering Rubydras questioning tone, Renya continues to pour mana into her.Even when he threw more than a thousand fire lances at the ancient dragon Renya remained calm as if he didnt feel any significant burden, but this time his forehead started to sweat faintly, and even his palms, which are pressed against Rubydras back, began to become damp.Shion, who was clinging to his back, seemingly believed that something absolutely no-good was going to happen, judging from Renyas state, and thus wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him with all her power. Emedra, who sensed something was about to start, hurriedly left the area by increasing her altitude.The three heroes, who looked up from the ground, exchanged some words and quickly evacuated into the city by climbing over the wall behind them. (Rubydra) Rubydra complains, but Renya remains silent.While feeling sweat starting to run down along his chin line, he continues to inject mana.Even Rubydra might have spit out the mana inside her mouth once she sensed an unusual phenomenon, but she was confused by the vast amount of mana compared to the mana she usually uses. By the time she realized what was going on, she had already fallen into a situation where she couldnt spit out her breath as she was completely focused on just controlling and compressing the mana inside her mouth so that it wouldnt go out of control. (Rubydra) How noisy. Focus on controlling it if you dont want to be blown apart. (Renya) (Rubydra) Since its pointless to close it at this point in time, give up and open it up. Around half has already entered. Theres only the other half left, so be obedient and accept it. (Renya) (Rubydra) Somehowif one just listens to your conversation, it sounds as if youre doing something terribly obscene. How mysterious. (Shion) Shion listens to Renyas and Rubydras exchange while laughing feebly.Its at the level where I would call the guards if I came across such an exchange inside a city.Whats actually being described as oversized or not fitting is Renyas mana. The matter of closing and opening up refers to the mana supply line.If they used proper nouns, it would be a totally harmless conversation, but by just omitting them, it turns into a criminal-like interaction. Thats the mystery of words. (Rubydra) Hey, dont push since it will spill out. Just relax your body and accept it. (Renya) (Rubydra) The cluster of mana inside Rubydras mouth, whos kicking up a fuss, is beginning to emit such intense brightness that it could burn someones eyes, if they looked straight at it, and reflected its image on the retina even with ones eyes shut.When the white radiance began to gradually be tinged crimson with a burning glittering, even Shion, who doesnt have any profound knowledge regarding sorcery, started to have a bad premonition. Umm, Renya? How much power is this going to have? (Shion) Let me see. I dont know unless we try firing it, right? (Renya) Renya identifies himself as a swordsman.A swordsman who can use sorcery, although its probably wrong to sayonly a bit.However, because he perceives himself as a swordsman, he hasnt obtained any knowledge about sorcery, not to mention practical skill.He can merely say with confidence that he has enough skill that hes capable of using sorcery without chanting.However, as to what might happen if he uses an X amount of mana with Ys spell formula is something Renya cant predict at all since hes somehow controlling it with nothing more than his own intuition.Shion is no different as shes just a swordswoman too, but although shes a complete novice in regards to sorcery as a technique, she was at least taught the basics about it due to her position as a princess.Once she tried to evaluate the current situation with that knowledge, she could immediately tell that Renyas action was extremely dangerous.After all hes trying to use sorcery while unable to predict its outcome. Renya! Cant you stop this!? I feel like it will cause unimaginable damage, if you release a dragons power boosted by your own mana. (Shion) Stoplike how? (Renya) It was apparently too late by now.Shion wracks her brain, brooding over a method to somehow minimize the damage. How much mana do you have left? (Shion) I think I have poured in the same amount as I have left. (Renya) So it contains 50% of your mana, Renya? Use the remaining mana for protecting the city. You can at least use some kind of defense wall spell, cant you? (Shion) Like this? (Renya) Renya turns his eyes towards the dragonoids city.A wind wall is slowly but steadily formed, surrounding the broken city wall. Before long it changed into a huge tornado wrapping up the whole city.Theres no damage at all to the city thats right in the center of the whirlwind which is blowing with a thunderous roar, but the monsters, which were crowding outside the city, were enveloped by it in the blink of an eye, and hurled into the air. What about us? (Shion) Once fired, we just have to escape at full speed, dont we? (Renya) (Rubydra) Shion quickly tells the whining Rubydra, Ruby-chan, once you fire it, you have to escape as fast as you can. To be precise, if you fly and graze a part of the tornado, you should gain speed due to the winds power. Id like you to pay attention and only fly in the same direction as the wind. A flash breath like before is no good. We wont have any time to get away. Ummgently ptooie it out while keeping its cluster shape. (Shion) (Rubydra) Without any forewarning, Rubydra spat out the lump of mana in her mouth.Its a breath that was compressed and controlled by force, on top of Renyas mana, which was poured into it to a crazy degree while blending with Rubydras mana, which gave it the draconic attribute.The instant she saw the crimson cluster, Shion became pale.Without doubt Shion felt a fear of death from that cluster, which flies while distorting the surrounding air just like a heat haze. Ruby-chan, fly! (Shion) (Rubydra) Without making sure of the impact, Rubydra turned around and flew while grazing the wind barrier protecting the city as she had been told by Shion. With the power of the wind filling her wings, she sharply accelerated . This was called a swing-by, wasnt it? (Renya)1 As if Id know, but Renya, restrain yourself a bit~! (Shion) The instant Shion raised a desperate scream on Rubydras back, whos steadily getting farther away from the city, the world turned pure white and was dominated by a sound that couldnt be perceived as anything but a long silence. This battle seems to be heading towards an unexpectedly easy conclusion, isnt it? (Shion) Shion, whos looking down onto the battlefield from Rubydras back, says to Renya, but he doesnt answer.Shion believed that to be odd, but since Renyas back, which she was clinging to, remains stiff, she realizes that Renya is watching the situation below while still keeping up his vigilance and tension. Renya? (Shion) The enemy army is too brittle. Besides, even though the three heroes expressly made a flashy entrance, the bigwigs havent come out. (Renya) Renyadont tell me (Shion) Renya looks over his shoulder with partly closed eyes due to Shions trembling voice.He sees how Shion stares back at him, tightly gripping his shoulders, with an expression as if she had seen something unbelievable. Did you possibly perceive what I said as me using the heroes in order to bait out the bigwigs? (Renya) You probably intend to attack the heroes along with the bigwigs, while at it, dont you? (Shion) Being told as such with a serious expression, Renyas face twitches.Shion, who saw that, quickly glued herself to Renyas back for some reason.Renya guessed that she did that to avoid a light spanking from him, but even if he tore her off, there would be no way to attack Shion whos right behind him. Just who do you think I am? (Renya) Isnt that a sound and simple method? (Shion) Im not that much of a villain that I would use my friends as bait. (Renya) Shion reveals a relieved expression towards Renya who looks slightly hurt.As for Shion, her still having a tinge of worry left despite knowing he wouldnt do such a thing is something that cant be helped even though she understands that its bad to think that Renya would do such a thing.Precisely because that would be just the usual with him, she cant discard the possibility in her mind completely.As for Renya, he does understands those circumstances one way or another, but its not like he wont feel somewhat hurt if hes treated like this. The heroes entered the stage from the start because the battle progress was too disadvantageous for the dragonoids. I judged it necessary to use excessive fire power, even if its overkill, to promptly overturn the situation. (Renya) And while at it you probably thought that it would be nice if the bigwigs showed up because of the war situation seemingly being reversed, eh? Sorry, that was a bit mean. (Shion) Shion smiles wryly due to Renyas tone which sounded like he was trying to make excuses.She made that suggestion with the intent of teasing Renya a bit, but now she regretted it as she had accidentally stabbed deeply into one of Renyas soft spots. Dont worry about it. Youre probably harboring such impressions because its me after all. (Renya) No, ummRenya, are you sulking!? Cant you cheer up!? I just wanted to tease you a bit, really! (Shion) Shion visibly started to panic due to Renyas remark that was mumbled softly as he turned back to the front while dropping his shoulders.Ignoring Shion, whos shaking his shoulders from behind, Renya watches the surface with a serious gaze, which contrasts with his woeful tone.Speaking honestly, even Renya, as a human, possesses a heart that can be hurt.The fact that Renya was doubted on whether he used his friends as bait could be considered him getting his just deserts, but in the end it was still painful.Nevertheless, its not like Renya, who has exceeded an age of 90 years, if you only take his mental age into account, has such a weak mind that it would break from just that much. Him acting slightly depressed and sulky was like an appeal towards Shion.That doesnt mean that hes asking her to comfort him since his feelings got hurt, but it was an appeal that tried to stop her from reproaching him since it was painful. (Rubydra) Seemingly believing that things wont progress no matter how long she waits if she leaves the panicking Shion and Renya, whos pretending to be depressed, alone, Rubydra sends a telepathic message to both of them while feeling fed-up.Shion completely changes her attitude from her previous flustered state, and becomes meek, seemingly feeling ashamed.Renya, who wasnt depressed to begin with, asks Rubydra while tapping her body, Cant you sense something? (Renya) (Rubydra) No matter how powerful the demons might be, theres no way for them to be strong enough to face the three heroes who are the combat forces for the final battle against the demon kings army.The demons have chosen to hide in order to deal with the sudden appearance of the heroes.Theyre most likely holding back while analyzing the combat power and the fighting style of the current heroes to repel them if possible, and if not, to retreat, Rubydra guesses. Are they going to run away? I suppose that cant be helped either though? (Renya) The current objective is to confirm the dragonoids situation to begin with. As far as Renya could say, the subjugation of the demons is no more than taking the opportunity if it presents itself.Since you could say that their goal will be achieved if they make the demons retreat after causing some damage to the monster army, Renya thought that there might not be a need to unreasonably search for the demons, but Rubydra denies Renyas thinking. (Rubydra) Why? (Renya) (Rubydra) The monsters slaughtered by the heroes on the battlefield have high breeding rates due to their brimming reproduction urge, and moreover, rapid growth rates.Even if their numbers were to be decreased by hundreds or thousands, they are capable of making up their numbers, or even get more than what they lost, Rubydra says. (Rubydra) So youre saying we wont deal a serious blow even if we decrease their numbers here, huh? (Renya) (Rubydra) Clearly being told as such by Rubydra, Renya pondered for a bit and then, Rubydra, can you tell the heroes to fall back? (Renya) (Rubydra) Responding to Renyas request, Rubydra sends a telepathic message to the heroes fighting on the ground.After the three heroes looked up for an instant, they immediately fall back close to the citys wall as instructed.While watching how the monsters close in on the city once again in response to the heros retreat, Renya hurled an instruction at Rubydra. Rubydra, prepare your breath! (Renya) (Rubydra) Renya starts pouring his own mana into Rubydra through the mana supply path that was still active as she began amassing mana in her mouth. (Rubydra) Without answering Rubydras questioning tone, Renya continues to pour mana into her.Even when he threw more than a thousand fire lances at the ancient dragon Renya remained calm as if he didnt feel any significant burden, but this time his forehead started to sweat faintly, and even his palms, which are pressed against Rubydras back, began to become damp.Shion, who was clinging to his back, seemingly believed that something absolutely no-good was going to happen, judging from Renyas state, and thus wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him with all her power. Emedra, who sensed something was about to start, hurriedly left the area by increasing her altitude.The three heroes, who looked up from the ground, exchanged some words and quickly evacuated into the city by climbing over the wall behind them. (Rubydra) Rubydra complains, but Renya remains silent.While feeling sweat starting to run down along his chin line, he continues to inject mana.Even Rubydra might have spit out the mana inside her mouth once she sensed an unusual phenomenon, but she was confused by the vast amount of mana compared to the mana she usually uses. By the time she realized what was going on, she had already fallen into a situation where she couldnt spit out her breath as she was completely focused on just controlling and compressing the mana inside her mouth so that it wouldnt go out of control. (Rubydra) How noisy. Focus on controlling it if you dont want to be blown apart. (Renya) (Rubydra) Since its pointless to close it at this point in time, give up and open it up. Around half has already entered. Theres only the other half left, so be obedient and accept it. (Renya) (Rubydra) Somehowif one just listens to your conversation, it sounds as if youre doing something terribly obscene. How mysterious. (Shion) Shion listens to Renyas and Rubydras exchange while laughing feebly.Its at the level where I would call the guards if I came across such an exchange inside a city.Whats actually being described as oversized or not fitting is Renyas mana. The matter of closing and opening up refers to the mana supply line.If they used proper nouns, it would be a totally harmless conversation, but by just omitting them, it turns into a criminal-like interaction. Thats the mystery of words. (Rubydra) Hey, dont push since it will spill out. Just relax your body and accept it. (Renya) (Rubydra) The cluster of mana inside Rubydras mouth, whos kicking up a fuss, is beginning to emit such intense brightness that it could burn someones eyes, if they looked straight at it, and reflected its image on the retina even with ones eyes shut.When the white radiance began to gradually be tinged crimson with a burning glittering, even Shion, who doesnt have any profound knowledge regarding sorcery, started to have a bad premonition. Umm, Renya? How much power is this going to have? (Shion) Let me see. I dont know unless we try firing it, right? (Renya) Renya identifies himself as a swordsman.A swordsman who can use sorcery, although its probably wrong to sayonly a bit.However, because he perceives himself as a swordsman, he hasnt obtained any knowledge about sorcery, not to mention practical skill.He can merely say with confidence that he has enough skill that hes capable of using sorcery without chanting.However, as to what might happen if he uses an X amount of mana with Ys spell formula is something Renya cant predict at all since hes somehow controlling it with nothing more than his own intuition.Shion is no different as shes just a swordswoman too, but although shes a complete novice in regards to sorcery as a technique, she was at least taught the basics about it due to her position as a princess.Once she tried to evaluate the current situation with that knowledge, she could immediately tell that Renyas action was extremely dangerous.After all hes trying to use sorcery while unable to predict its outcome. Renya! Cant you stop this!? I feel like it will cause unimaginable damage, if you release a dragons power boosted by your own mana. (Shion) Stoplike how? (Renya) It was apparently too late by now.Shion wracks her brain, brooding over a method to somehow minimize the damage. How much mana do you have left? (Shion) I think I have poured in the same amount as I have left. (Renya) So it contains 50% of your mana, Renya? Use the remaining mana for protecting the city. You can at least use some kind of defense wall spell, cant you? (Shion) Like this? (Renya) Renya turns his eyes towards the dragonoids city.A wind wall is slowly but steadily formed, surrounding the broken city wall. Before long it changed into a huge tornado wrapping up the whole city.Theres no damage at all to the city thats right in the center of the whirlwind which is blowing with a thunderous roar, but the monsters, which were crowding outside the city, were enveloped by it in the blink of an eye, and hurled into the air. What about us? (Shion) Once fired, we just have to escape at full speed, dont we? (Renya) (Rubydra) Shion quickly tells the whining Rubydra, Ruby-chan, once you fire it, you have to escape as fast as you can. To be precise, if you fly and graze a part of the tornado, you should gain speed due to the winds power. Id like you to pay attention and only fly in the same direction as the wind. A flash breath like before is no good. We wont have any time to get away. Ummgently ptooie it out while keeping its cluster shape. (Shion) (Rubydra) Without any forewarning, Rubydra spat out the lump of mana in her mouth.Its a breath that was compressed and controlled by force, on top of Renyas mana, which was poured into it to a crazy degree while blending with Rubydras mana, which gave it the draconic attribute.The instant she saw the crimson cluster, Shion became pale.Without doubt Shion felt a fear of death from that cluster, which flies while distorting the surrounding air just like a heat haze. Ruby-chan, fly! (Shion) (Rubydra) Without making sure of the impact, Rubydra turned around and flew while grazing the wind barrier protecting the city as she had been told by Shion. With the power of the wind filling her wings, she sharply accelerated . This was called a swing-by, wasnt it? (Renya)1 As if Id know, but Renya, restrain yourself a bit~! (Shion) The instant Shion raised a desperate scream on Rubydras back, whos steadily getting farther away from the city, the world turned pure white and was dominated by a sound that couldnt be perceived as anything but a long silence. Chapter 168 Chapter 168 C It seems to be the Dismantling of the Ancient Dragon In a very distant place one can see blue dragons frantically releasing breaths and spells towards the ground.The instant the blue breaths and water-attributed spells impact on the ground, they transform into vapor which quickly rises into the sky.Even so, the grounds heat doesnt abate at all.The blue dragons flying in the sky also seemed somewhat unsteady and dispirited due to that heat being released by the ground.Although theres nothing left that can combust anymore, the ground isnt about to cool down.Renya looks to the side.The hill-like, large object lying over there is the ancient dragon, which was the strongest and biggest among the evil dragons which fell after being beaten down by Renya.Since it crashed just outside the dragonoid citys wall, he was worried that the corpse might have been hurled somewhere by the wind barrier he deployed himself, but thanks to him having made the barrier quite big leaving enough room between it and the wall, the huge body was left behind.Renya cast the spell on the corpse and moves it over to a spot thats slightly further away from the city.Even where they went there was nothing left in the vicinity other than faintly warm and blackened soil.At the location, Renya takes out a knife from his inventory and slowly reinforces the knife by having his mana circulate through it. (Emedra) After anything and everything had literally ended, Emedra, who had taken refuge considerably far away, said after seizing Renya as soon as she returned.Renya silently surveyed the state of his surroundings from above Rubydras back.Even though anything that was flammable should have burned up, bright red flames were flickering across the ground.The dragonoids city, the only structure left standing on the ground, which had become barren as far as the eye could see, somehow managed to keep its shape despite one of its walls being partly destroyed while being illuminated by the red flames.The sky was entirely covered in soot, which had been blown up by the explosion and the blazing fires, causing even the sunlight to vanish before reaching the ground. (Rubydra) Rubydra was shocked while hovering in the sky.The monster army that attacked the city had vanished without a trace.All that was left was a ground that had transformed into crimson lava.Besides that, nothing else was to be found.It was in such a state that it would be too optimistic to describe it as just a burnt area. (Emedra) Emedra says telepathically, adding plenty of sighs to the conversation. (Emedra) I assert that at the time it was the very best move possible. (Renya) Renya declared flatly and clearly, but Shion and Rubydra didnt overlook how his gaze was shifting around.Rubydra, who might be the worlds greatest authority in regards to fire aptitude, thoroughly burned everything within her range to ash with her fire breath that was released after using the huge amounts of mana supplied by Renya.By Emedras calculation, who had seen what happened albeit not all of it, the breath released by Rubydra might have been strong enough to change the terrain just like those released by the Four Greater Dragons if her mind had been a little bit stronger, which would have allowed her to accept an even greater amount of mana from Renya.There were no mistakes in Emedraa calculation.Given that it hadnt been a calculated act in the first place, theres no way that it could have been miscalculated.The attack, which was carried out under the extremely lackadaisical thought that the demons probably wouldnt get burned along with the monster forces unless the whole area was reduced to ashes with maximum firepower, certainly attained that very result.If there existed demons that could survive such a situation, Emedra definitely wouldnt be able to come up with a way how to defeat them.On the other hand, the damage, which the dragonoids suffered, is quite significant as well.The reason why the city somehow kept its shape was thanks to the heroes, including the dragonoid Albert, being inside the city.Those four created a defense barrier across the whole city, centered on the wall, which looked like a tassel. Together with the wind barrier deployed by Renya, the defenses somehow managed to completely withstand the blast .It didnt feel as if wed be able survive, was Lepards impression of the event.Because Emedra focused all her power towards escaping the moment she guessed what was going to happen, she didnt sustain any damage, but the explosion of Rubydras breath, which she watched from far away, looked like the end of the world.Everyone on Emedras back stared with their mouth gaping wide open, except for Emil who was apparently roaring in laughter.Normally a dragon would never give such knowledge to a human, but Emedra judged that leaving Renya alone, especially after having watched such a spectacle, was more dangerous, coming even before the issue of defeating or not defeating the demon king. Thus she decided to transcribe a part of the sorcery knowledge she possesses into Renyas head. Do I have a right to veto? (Renya) (Emedra) Im a swordsman, though? (Renya) (Emedra) Since there exists an upper limit in terms of brain capacity for humans, theres no need for such knowledge,Renya thought, but once he was tearfully begged to accept it, he couldnt decline it just like that either, resulting in him accepting the knowledge as he was asked to by Emedra.Once he tried putting what he had received into practice, Renya realized that this knowledge was extremely useful.Self-enhancement techniques that used mana, not to mention all the knowledge about sorcery.Emedra furthermore handed over techniques on how to strengthen items through mana. Renya wondered whether that might not simply raise his own danger level, but Emedra apparently judged that he would be less dangerous if he properly understands the principles behind using his power when compared to him using his power ignorantly. (Emedra) Renya, who acquired a dragons sorcery knowledge for that reason, completely delegated settling the aftermath to others, and went to recover the evil dragons he beat down during the battle.The corpses of their allied dragons were retrieved by Emedra and Rubydra.Because they crashed into the city and not onto the battlefield, they were left behind without getting reduced to cinder or being hurled away. Emil wanted to get her hands on those, but Renya strictly prohibited her from doing so.As there appears to be a burial rite for dragons, he thought that it might be sacrilege to put ones hands on their corpses.In exchange they were told by Emedra to do as they like with the corpses of the evil dragons. Emil readily went with Renyas opinion on this.Leaving aside the corpses of their brethren, Emedra and Rubydra apparently dont care what happens with the dead evil dragons.Emil merrily dismantled the small evil dragons, dividing their raw materials and meat, however Renya insisted on his ownership of the ancient dragon, and thus it was left to him. As it had been showered with fire spells, the scales and skin had mostly lost their value as raw materials.Renya skillfully tears off the scales and skin, which have been burned and grilled all over, with his mana-enhanced knife.Even the meat below that is burned on the surface, but high quality meat remains below the charred surface of the dragons body, and Renya cut that meat into suitably small chunks.The flesh of an animal with a big body is red was the knowledge Renya possessed, but the ancient dragons meat didnt have that much of a red tinge. If pushed to say, it had a pinkish color and softly coiled itself around Renyas fingers.Starting a fire with the firewood he retrieved from his inventory, Renya skewers the meat with metal rods, and begins grilling them by thrusting the skewers into the ground next to the fire.As it might become too dry if its grilled for too long, he extinguished the fire as soon as the slightly warmed oil began to melt, sprinkled salt on the meat, and carelessly sank his teeth into it, causing him to raise a low moan.He had wondered how the meat would turn out since there had been no bloodletting in advance nor had the meat been cured, but the instant it entered his mouth, fragrant oil streamed into his throat, and mellow meat juice poured out each time he bit into it while he felt a the firm texture of the meat with his teeth.The slightly perceptible blood taste and smell didnt decrease the meats flavor, but instead stimulated his nose and mouth with its wild smell and taste. That impressive quality excited Renyas sensation all the more with a feeling of satisfaction after it reached his stomach. Delicious (Renya) Once Renya, who ended up eating a whole skewer in a flash, muttered that in ecstasy, he immediately came to his senses, and resumed dismantling the ancient dragon.If its an ingredient that becomes so delicious by just grilling it in a fairly non committal manner, Im sure it will become a lot more tasty if its cooked properly.Moreover, if the meats already so delicious, the intestines might be even tastier.On top of that, I think Ill be able to make a great soup stock out of the bones, and if I open its head, I will find the magic stone and its brain.I will turn the magic stone into money, and I believe the brain will be edible and fairly delicious depending on the way its cooked.This is a corpse where I mustnt waste even the smallest part,Renya devoted himself to his dismantling with all his energy.This was the moment when the beings referred to as evil dragons, which are avoided as its rumored that they play a part in every calamity on this world, were registered as a first-rate food ingredient in Renyas mind.(T/N: RIP Ebil dragons) (Rubydra) Shion smiles bitterly next to Rubydra, who transmitted this very worn-out telepathic message.In front of those two, the huge body of the ancient dragon was dismantled at an absurd rate.Evil dragons dont matter to Rubydra. It was to the point where she didnt care whether Renya turned them into food or raw materials as he pleases, but seeing as shes also a dragon, she was scared that Renya would start asking, Arent you guys actually delicious as well?In that case she would have no choice but to escape at full speed, but Rubydra has a hunch that she wouldnt be able to get away anyway. I think youll be alright. You might not think so, but Renya is a gentle person to those who he has recognized as his comrades. (Shion) Shion gently strokes Rubydras nape, whos limply laying on the ground, as if to give her a peace of mind.Seemingly comforted by that sensation, Rubydra purred quietly. (Rubydra) Its fine, probably. (Shion) (Rubydra) The reason for Rubydras exhaustion is Emedras sermon.She was scolded that even though the main reason might be Renya, there might have been various methods to go about it, such as splitting and scattering the breath at the time of its release, or severing the path and thus stopping the mana supply before it got so big.From Rubydras standpoint, as the one who got dragged into it, it was an argumentation that felt extremely unreasonable, but certainly, since she was well aware that she might have been able to decrease the damage dealt, had she not been confused by the amount of mana provided, she obediently received the sermon, albeit getting mentally worn out by it quite a bit. (Rubydra) Lets see (Shion) Currently the eldest of the dragonoids, who evacuated earlier, people of each race, such as Kaede, Rona and Croire who hold certain positions of power, and the four heroes are holding a conference to talk about that matter.Shion quickly ran away saying that such talks were too difficult for her.As for Rubydra, who heard about that, she wondered what to think of escaping from the conference with such an excuse, but Renyas reason for escaping the conference was even more unreasonable.Please decide whatever you think is right because I dont care. Those were the words he left behind when running away from the conference.This indifference, or rather, way of talking apparently made the dragonoids, especially the elderly ones, furious, but Renya doesnt look like he cares at all.In the first place, Renyas position is that of the human heros guardian or patron. In the present situation where all four heroes are assembled, theres no reason for him to be present at the conference.And yet, since he didnt know what Kurz would start to talk about if left alone, Rona had to stay behind as a watchdog.Though Rona ended up sighing while saying, I really drew the short end of the stick here. I dont know whether Im correct, but I guess there are two options. (Shion) (Rubydra) First, aim for the recovery of the dragonoid territory. Second, put aside the dragonoids matters for the time being and defeat the demon king with the four heroes. (Shion) (Rubydra) Probably the recovery of the dragonoids territory. (Shion) (Rubydra) Shion sinks into silence for a while after that question.It seems shes sorting out what she should say inside her mind, Rubydra waited for Shion to open her mouth while still having her nape caressed. Certainly, if the demon king is defeated, the demons will likely withdraw to their own territory. But we have no means with which to allow the four heroes to reach the demon king castle, which is said to be located in the center of the demons domain, in the first place. Until now the four continents started a general offensive into the demons territory, penetrating the territory as far as possible. That was the usual practice, butI think that will be difficult this time. (Shion) Rubydra stays silent and ponders about Shions opinion.Certainly, so far they had adopted the strategy of approaching the demon king castle, forcibly breaking through with the heroes power and fighting against the demon king, as Shion said.However, considering the current situation, the dragonoids had a fairly large part of their territory easily stolen by the demons first, making it very unlikely that they still have the strength to carry out a reverse invasion.Despite the combat forces in the Trident Principality being in good health, the human territory has the weakness that the Holy Kingdom, which was its strongest country, had almost been destroyed.The human losses didnt amount to such large numbers, but the physical and monetary damage was too big.In addition, the Holy Kingdoms relations with the surrounding countries has deteriorated a lot due to the matter of the hero preceding Kurz. The atmosphere of cooperating to invade the demon country is definitely gone.Even if the Trident Principality is capable of defending itself, it lacks the power to turn to the offense all by itself.Rubydra doesnt know much about the elves.If its at the level of gossip, she heard that the nobles around the emperor have become cowardly due to having been attacked beforehand, and are now loudly advocating that defense should be given priority.If thats the truth, even the emperor probably wont be able to overcome the resistance towards an offensive unless he ignores the nobles view,Rubydra assesses.Expecting Rubydra to say anything regarding the beastmen was out of the question.In the first place, theres no precedence where the beastmen had succeeded when things were entrusted to them.Even if they might be able to win local battles after solely focusing on the fight in front of them, there are many wars where they had been defeated in the big picture since they are battle maniacs, is Rubydras impression of the beastmen.Moreover, there are presently four kings among the beastmen. There are rumors that they oppose each other. As long as they dont resolve that issue, they wont be able to move against the demon country. (Rubydra) After all we dont have the strength that lets us directly go to war. (Shion) (Rubydra) Ill leave it to the important people to think about that part. (Shion) Using a phrase that would be retorted by Rona with, You are also in an important position as the first princess of a country which is one of the major powers of the humans, if she were present, Shion gazes at Renya who has started to organize the parts, which had been efficiently cut apart, according to their purpose in front of the ancient dragons corpse which had mostly lost its shape. Though I believe that various problems would be solved rather quickly if Renya would address them seriously. (Shion) Even while knowing that Renya didnt have any intention of something like that, Shion muttered this under her breath, seemingly unable to let it go unsaid. Rubydra raised a groan different from the one she made when her nape was caressed, as if agreeing with Shions words. Chapter 168 C It seems to be the Dismantling of the Ancient Dragon In a very distant place one can see blue dragons frantically releasing breaths and spells towards the ground.The instant the blue breaths and water-attributed spells impact on the ground, they transform into vapor which quickly rises into the sky.Even so, the grounds heat doesnt abate at all.The blue dragons flying in the sky also seemed somewhat unsteady and dispirited due to that heat being released by the ground.Although theres nothing left that can combust anymore, the ground isnt about to cool down.Renya looks to the side.The hill-like, large object lying over there is the ancient dragon, which was the strongest and biggest among the evil dragons which fell after being beaten down by Renya.Since it crashed just outside the dragonoid citys wall, he was worried that the corpse might have been hurled somewhere by the wind barrier he deployed himself, but thanks to him having made the barrier quite big leaving enough room between it and the wall, the huge body was left behind.Renya cast the spell on the corpse and moves it over to a spot thats slightly further away from the city.Even where they went there was nothing left in the vicinity other than faintly warm and blackened soil.At the location, Renya takes out a knife from his inventory and slowly reinforces the knife by having his mana circulate through it. (Emedra) After anything and everything had literally ended, Emedra, who had taken refuge considerably far away, said after seizing Renya as soon as she returned.Renya silently surveyed the state of his surroundings from above Rubydras back.Even though anything that was flammable should have burned up, bright red flames were flickering across the ground.The dragonoids city, the only structure left standing on the ground, which had become barren as far as the eye could see, somehow managed to keep its shape despite one of its walls being partly destroyed while being illuminated by the red flames.The sky was entirely covered in soot, which had been blown up by the explosion and the blazing fires, causing even the sunlight to vanish before reaching the ground. (Rubydra) Rubydra was shocked while hovering in the sky.The monster army that attacked the city had vanished without a trace.All that was left was a ground that had transformed into crimson lava.Besides that, nothing else was to be found.It was in such a state that it would be too optimistic to describe it as just a burnt area. (Emedra) Emedra says telepathically, adding plenty of sighs to the conversation. (Emedra) I assert that at the time it was the very best move possible. (Renya) Renya declared flatly and clearly, but Shion and Rubydra didnt overlook how his gaze was shifting around.Rubydra, who might be the worlds greatest authority in regards to fire aptitude, thoroughly burned everything within her range to ash with her fire breath that was released after using the huge amounts of mana supplied by Renya.By Emedras calculation, who had seen what happened albeit not all of it, the breath released by Rubydra might have been strong enough to change the terrain just like those released by the Four Greater Dragons if her mind had been a little bit stronger, which would have allowed her to accept an even greater amount of mana from Renya.There were no mistakes in Emedraa calculation.Given that it hadnt been a calculated act in the first place, theres no way that it could have been miscalculated.The attack, which was carried out under the extremely lackadaisical thought that the demons probably wouldnt get burned along with the monster forces unless the whole area was reduced to ashes with maximum firepower, certainly attained that very result.If there existed demons that could survive such a situation, Emedra definitely wouldnt be able to come up with a way how to defeat them.On the other hand, the damage, which the dragonoids suffered, is quite significant as well.The reason why the city somehow kept its shape was thanks to the heroes, including the dragonoid Albert, being inside the city.Those four created a defense barrier across the whole city, centered on the wall, which looked like a tassel. Together with the wind barrier deployed by Renya, the defenses somehow managed to completely withstand the blast .It didnt feel as if wed be able survive, was Lepards impression of the event.Because Emedra focused all her power towards escaping the moment she guessed what was going to happen, she didnt sustain any damage, but the explosion of Rubydras breath, which she watched from far away, looked like the end of the world.Everyone on Emedras back stared with their mouth gaping wide open, except for Emil who was apparently roaring in laughter.Normally a dragon would never give such knowledge to a human, but Emedra judged that leaving Renya alone, especially after having watched such a spectacle, was more dangerous, coming even before the issue of defeating or not defeating the demon king. Thus she decided to transcribe a part of the sorcery knowledge she possesses into Renyas head. Do I have a right to veto? (Renya) (Emedra) Im a swordsman, though? (Renya) (Emedra) Since there exists an upper limit in terms of brain capacity for humans, theres no need for such knowledge,Renya thought, but once he was tearfully begged to accept it, he couldnt decline it just like that either, resulting in him accepting the knowledge as he was asked to by Emedra.Once he tried putting what he had received into practice, Renya realized that this knowledge was extremely useful.Self-enhancement techniques that used mana, not to mention all the knowledge about sorcery.Emedra furthermore handed over techniques on how to strengthen items through mana.Renya wondered whether that might not simply raise his own danger level, but Emedra apparently judged that he would be less dangerous if he properly understands the principles behind using his power when compared to him using his power ignorantly. (Emedra) Renya, who acquired a dragons sorcery knowledge for that reason, completely delegated settling the aftermath to others, and went to recover the evil dragons he beat down during the battle.The corpses of their allied dragons were retrieved by Emedra and Rubydra.Because they crashed into the city and not onto the battlefield, they were left behind without getting reduced to cinder or being hurled away. Emil wanted to get her hands on those, but Renya strictly prohibited her from doing so.As there appears to be a burial rite for dragons, he thought that it might be sacrilege to put ones hands on their corpses.In exchange they were told by Emedra to do as they like with the corpses of the evil dragons. Emil readily went with Renyas opinion on this.Leaving aside the corpses of their brethren, Emedra and Rubydra apparently dont care what happens with the dead evil dragons.Emil merrily dismantled the small evil dragons, dividing their raw materials and meat, however Renya insisted on his ownership of the ancient dragon, and thus it was left to him. As it had been showered with fire spells, the scales and skin had mostly lost their value as raw materials.Renya skillfully tears off the scales and skin, which have been burned and grilled all over, with his mana-enhanced knife.Even the meat below that is burned on the surface, but high quality meat remains below the charred surface of the dragons body, and Renya cut that meat into suitably small chunks.The flesh of an animal with a big body is red was the knowledge Renya possessed, but the ancient dragons meat didnt have that much of a red tinge. If pushed to say, it had a pinkish color and softly coiled itself around Renyas fingers.Starting a fire with the firewood he retrieved from his inventory, Renya skewers the meat with metal rods, and begins grilling them by thrusting the skewers into the ground next to the fire.As it might become too dry if its grilled for too long, he extinguished the fire as soon as the slightly warmed oil began to melt, sprinkled salt on the meat, and carelessly sank his teeth into it, causing him to raise a low moan.He had wondered how the meat would turn out since there had been no bloodletting in advance nor had the meat been cured, but the instant it entered his mouth, fragrant oil streamed into his throat, and mellow meat juice poured out each time he bit into it while he felt a the firm texture of the meat with his teeth.The slightly perceptible blood taste and smell didnt decrease the meats flavor, but instead stimulated his nose and mouth with its wild smell and taste. That impressive quality excited Renyas sensation all the more with a feeling of satisfaction after it reached his stomach. Delicious (Renya) Once Renya, who ended up eating a whole skewer in a flash, muttered that in ecstasy, he immediately came to his senses, and resumed dismantling the ancient dragon.If its an ingredient that becomes so delicious by just grilling it in a fairly non committal manner, Im sure it will become a lot more tasty if its cooked properly.Moreover, if the meats already so delicious, the intestines might be even tastier.On top of that, I think Ill be able to make a great soup stock out of the bones, and if I open its head, I will find the magic stone and its brain.I will turn the magic stone into money, and I believe the brain will be edible and fairly delicious depending on the way its cooked.This is a corpse where I mustnt waste even the smallest part,Renya devoted himself to his dismantling with all his energy.This was the moment when the beings referred to as evil dragons, which are avoided as its rumored that they play a part in every calamity on this world, were registered as a first-rate food ingredient in Renyas mind.(T/N: RIP Ebil dragons) (Rubydra) Shion smiles bitterly next to Rubydra, who transmitted this very worn-out telepathic message.In front of those two, the huge body of the ancient dragon was dismantled at an absurd rate.Evil dragons dont matter to Rubydra. It was to the point where she didnt care whether Renya turned them into food or raw materials as he pleases, but seeing as shes also a dragon, she was scared that Renya would start asking, Arent you guys actually delicious as well?In that case she would have no choice but to escape at full speed, but Rubydra has a hunch that she wouldnt be able to get away anyway. I think youll be alright. You might not think so, but Renya is a gentle person to those who he has recognized as his comrades. (Shion) Shion gently strokes Rubydras nape, whos limply laying on the ground, as if to give her a peace of mind.Seemingly comforted by that sensation, Rubydra purred quietly. (Rubydra) Its fine, probably. (Shion) (Rubydra) The reason for Rubydras exhaustion is Emedras sermon.She was scolded that even though the main reason might be Renya, there might have been various methods to go about it, such as splitting and scattering the breath at the time of its release, or severing the path and thus stopping the mana supply before it got so big.From Rubydras standpoint, as the one who got dragged into it, it was an argumentation that felt extremely unreasonable, but certainly, since she was well aware that she might have been able to decrease the damage dealt, had she not been confused by the amount of mana provided, she obediently received the sermon, albeit getting mentally worn out by it quite a bit. (Rubydra) Lets see (Shion) Currently the eldest of the dragonoids, who evacuated earlier, people of each race, such as Kaede, Rona and Croire who hold certain positions of power, and the four heroes are holding a conference to talk about that matter.Shion quickly ran away saying that such talks were too difficult for her.As for Rubydra, who heard about that, she wondered what to think of escaping from the conference with such an excuse, but Renyas reason for escaping the conference was even more unreasonable.Please decide whatever you think is right because I dont care. Those were the words he left behind when running away from the conference.This indifference, or rather, way of talking apparently made the dragonoids, especially the elderly ones, furious, but Renya doesnt look like he cares at all.In the first place, Renyas position is that of the human heros guardian or patron. In the present situation where all four heroes are assembled, theres no reason for him to be present at the conference.And yet, since he didnt know what Kurz would start to talk about if left alone, Rona had to stay behind as a watchdog.Though Rona ended up sighing while saying, I really drew the short end of the stick here. I dont know whether Im correct, but I guess there are two options. (Shion) (Rubydra) First, aim for the recovery of the dragonoid territory. Second, put aside the dragonoids matters for the time being and defeat the demon king with the four heroes. (Shion) (Rubydra) Probably the recovery of the dragonoids territory. (Shion) (Rubydra) Shion sinks into silence for a while after that question.It seems shes sorting out what she should say inside her mind, Rubydra waited for Shion to open her mouth while still having her nape caressed. Certainly, if the demon king is defeated, the demons will likely withdraw to their own territory. But we have no means with which to allow the four heroes to reach the demon king castle, which is said to be located in the center of the demons domain, in the first place. Until now the four continents started a general offensive into the demons territory, penetrating the territory as far as possible. That was the usual practice, butI think that will be difficult this time. (Shion) Rubydra stays silent and ponders about Shions opinion.Certainly, so far they had adopted the strategy of approaching the demon king castle, forcibly breaking through with the heroes power and fighting against the demon king, as Shion said.However, considering the current situation, the dragonoids had a fairly large part of their territory easily stolen by the demons first, making it very unlikely that they still have the strength to carry out a reverse invasion.Despite the combat forces in the Trident Principality being in good health, the human territory has the weakness that the Holy Kingdom, which was its strongest country, had almost been destroyed.The human losses didnt amount to such large numbers, but the physical and monetary damage was too big.In addition, the Holy Kingdoms relations with the surrounding countries has deteriorated a lot due to the matter of the hero preceding Kurz. The atmosphere of cooperating to invade the demon country is definitely gone.Even if the Trident Principality is capable of defending itself, it lacks the power to turn to the offense all by itself.Rubydra doesnt know much about the elves.If its at the level of gossip, she heard that the nobles around the emperor have become cowardly due to having been attacked beforehand, and are now loudly advocating that defense should be given priority.If thats the truth, even the emperor probably wont be able to overcome the resistance towards an offensive unless he ignores the nobles view,Rubydra assesses.Expecting Rubydra to say anything regarding the beastmen was out of the question.In the first place, theres no precedence where the beastmen had succeeded when things were entrusted to them.Even if they might be able to win local battles after solely focusing on the fight in front of them, there are many wars where they had been defeated in the big picture since they are battle maniacs, is Rubydras impression of the beastmen.Moreover, there are presently four kings among the beastmen. There are rumors that they oppose each other. As long as they dont resolve that issue, they wont be able to move against the demon country. (Rubydra) After all we dont have the strength that lets us directly go to war. (Shion) (Rubydra) Ill leave it to the important people to think about that part. (Shion) Using a phrase that would be retorted by Rona with, You are also in an important position as the first princess of a country which is one of the major powers of the humans, if she were present, Shion gazes at Renya who has started to organize the parts, which had been efficiently cut apart, according to their purpose in front of the ancient dragons corpse which had mostly lost its shape. Though I believe that various problems would be solved rather quickly if Renya would address them seriously. (Shion) Even while knowing that Renya didnt have any intention of something like that, Shion muttered this under her breath, seemingly unable to let it go unsaid. Rubydra raised a groan different from the one she made when her nape was caressed, as if agreeing with Shions words. Chapter 169 Renya finished dismantling the ancient dragon, gathering all the usable material and burying all the unusable parts in a hole. Then he returned to the dragonoids city while taking Shion along.Because of Rubydras huge body, it was impossible for her to enter the city, and thus she had to wait outside the city walls all by herself.Albeit only one, the city possessed a facility that could be called an inn for travelers, but probably because it isnt used much, its quality wasnt all that great.However, even if theres only one facility that could be referred to as an inn, Renya has no other option but to lodge there. While feeling rather reluctant, Renya had the inn almost entirely to himself.The dragonoid city has many stone buildings, just like the human and beastmen cities. However, for some reason one could catch a glimpse here and there of Japanese influence but all slightly erroneous, causing Renya to, for some reason, be unable to settle down.Renya has no dragonoid currency in his possession.On top of that, theres almost no currency exchange between the different races, as the dragonoids dont like interacting with the humans and beastmen anyway. Because of that the currency used by the dragonoids doesnt circulate to the human continent almost at all, but the value of magic stones seems to be the same everywhere. Instead of coins, Renya hands over magic stones to the inn owner as payment.If possible Renya wanted to get his hands on dragonoid coins by selling what could be sold, but the situation doesnt allow for that.After all there were no dragonoids who would try to do business with a human, coupled with the fact that its war time. Man, Im on the verge of wanting to return to Klinge as soon as possible once we take custody of Albert. (Renya) Having received a key from the unsociable inn owner, Renya went to what has now become his room, and spit that complaint out along with a sigh as soon as he closed the door.Shion, who had followed him while feeling that things would work out one way or another, smiles bitterly.Of course Shion had been properly assigned a private room as well, but she apparently thought that it would be too boring to return to her room while almost everyone from Renyas party was still out.Hero Albert basically falling under Kurzs command in his position as the human hero was logical.Going by the fact that Lepard and Grn are already acting together with Kurz, theres no reason for Albert to be forced to participate in the dragonoids battle.However, Renya expected some resistance on the dragonoids side on the matter of handing over their hero Albert.There are two reasons for that.First, the humans currently dont have the power to invade the demons territory.Same can be said about the elves and beastmen, who do have the combat forces but cannot shift towards offense thanks to certain circumstances. Under such conditions the dragonoids can argue that there is no reason for the heroes to gather in one place.Second, the dragonoids themselves are currently being invaded.Letting go of a hero, whos a tremendous combat asset, is just asking for the balance of war to tilt even further in favor of the demons than it already has. We were able to confirm the heros safety, so its also possible to go back home for the moment (Renya) Makes sense. We also defeated quite a few of those evil dragons. If Emedra and Rubydra cooperate with the dragonoids, I think theyll somehow be able to at least force the enemy out of the occupied areas. (Shion) Renya thinks that hell even go talk directly with the Four Great Dragons, if he feels like the situation is one that doesnt concern them anymore.He would likely be stopped by Emedra and those around her, but theres no reason for Renya to hesitate, if that were the best way to get rid of the current stalemate. In the first place it should be a disadvantageous situation for the demons, seeing as they are fighting on four fronts, and yet why are we being pushed back? (Renya) I think its because of the demons power that allows them to command monsters is capable of overturning the difference in military might. Thats an ability they only get after the demon king appears, though. (Shion) Monsters usually dont pick out the prey theyre going to attack, they attack indiscriminately.Although they might be demons, they would also be repeatedly attacked. This has become the reason why the Miasma Forest is regarded as a natural bulwark between the races, but as a consequence of the demon kings appearance, the circumstances change.The monsters end up following the demons orders.Due to this the demons obtain a huge military force, and even if it develops into a full out war against the four races, they wouldnt lose out in terms of numbers.The reason for that is considered unknown, but Renya, who is aware of the background circumstances, immediately comprehended the reason.Normally, if it develops into a conflict between all five races, exhaustion would inevitably occur within each of the powers.Therefore the Miasma Forest plays the role of dividing the different powers in normal times. When the supervisors game was started, the forest changed into a troop supply for the demons, who have the most enemies to begin with.The game has been regulated to the bitter end so that all powers can fight at full power only when the demon king appears. They came up with a detestable system. (Renya) Renya feels a slight killing intent towards the system that doesnt spare even a single thought towards the residents of this world.Seemingly because those feelings showed on his face, Shion cowered with a start. Ah, sorry. I just remembered something slightly unpleasant. (Renya) I seejust now you thought something likeI will definitely kill you, didnt you? (Shion) Theres no way that I would think something so dangerous. I just recalled some guys whose necks and bodies should be ripped apart. (Renya) Whos next!? Who are you planning to finish off, Renya!? (Shion) Renya shrugged his shoulders and said, Even if I say that Ill rip them to shreds, they arent in range of my katana, you know? to the panicking Shion, but then shifts his attention to the footsteps approaching from outside the room.The owner of the footsteps seem to be very panicked, something that can be inferred from them drawing nearer in a jog. In response, Renya holds Shion back, who was trying to get closer to him, and turns his gaze in the doors direction. Renya, are you in there!? The one who opened the door without even knocking, was Rona in her priestess garb. Great, youre here, Renya. Postpone the secret affair with Shion for a bit. I need you to come with me. (Rona) We have no secret affair though (Renya) Rona, nows not the time. If I dont interrogate him closely here, someones life will be in danger! (Shion) After comparing Renyas expression that shows his annoyance, and Shions expression thats clad in seriousness, Rona clearly informs both, Please postpone either. Right now Id like you to come with me for a while. (Rona) Without allowing for refusal, Rona grasps Renyas wrist and Shions hand, and takes them along, almost dragging them across the floor.Renya, who didnt put up any resistance, couldnt help but being pulled along. Shion, who resisted lightly at first and thus ended up having her balance thrown off, was literally dragged along. The destination was a large building located in the center part of the city.Watching the buildings that had collapsed all over along the way, Renya thought,They had been done in quite badly until we came, but Shion and Rona harbored completely different impressions.At that point Shion had a bad premonition, but unable to ask Rona right now, she was taken along into what appeared to be a big conference room. The ones waiting there were a white-haired old man in a gray robe, and behind him, a group that included dragonoids from young to middle-aged men.Only one table has been set up in the center of the room. The old man is sitting next to the seat of honor while the group is standing behind him.Off to the side of the entrance, in a place slightly separated from the group camping the rooms inner area, the four heroes, Croire and Kaede are standing stock still, having also huddled up into a group.With all of them wearing clouded expressions, it wasnt a good atmosphere, but Renya lightly greeted Albert, the one he spotted first among them. We have been awaiting you, Margrave Kunugi-dono. Being called out by the elderly dragonoid while having the seat opposite of him offered, Renya sat down as suggested, and Shion and Rona lined up behind him. I am the chairman of the Dragonoids Witenagemot, Veylio Greybunarl. Pleased to make your acquaintance. (Veylio) Only the manner of his speech is polite. The elderly dragonoids bows his head slightly.However Renya perceives something like discomfort, albeit only faintly, mixed into the old mans words.Once he shifts his eyes towards the group standing in the back for some reason or another, Renya realizes that the gazes turned upon him by the dragonoids arent very welcoming.Thats a bad omen, Renya thinks to himself without changing his outward expression in any way, and continues to ponder, whether this is a situation he should bring to a close quietly or not, and about the question of just what that Witenagemot is supposed to be. I cannot fully express my deep feelings of gratitude for your timely assistance in our time of need. (Veylio) It was convenient for our side as well. Dont mind it. (Renya) Renya generously replies to Veylios courtesy.The gazes turned towards Renya by the group behind the old man become even more severe.I guess they cant stomach my attitude, Renya thinks for a moment, but he has no intention to correct it. Thats very appreciated. But (Veylio) Veylio squinted a bit. dont you think that the damage to the surroundings has been a little bit too drastic? (Veylio) Its better than having it turn into a massacre, right? (Renya) Theres no hesitation to be found in Renyas response.In order to make the other party fully understand that he believes so from the bottom of his heart, he doesnt avert his eyes from Veylio and theres no fluctuation in his voice either.Due to that exceedingly upfront way of talking, the group in the back faltered a bit, but Veylio laughs deeply without any change in his expression. This is certainly so. Its a truly severe view. (Veylio) Its a fact. If you didnt want for things to develop this far, you should have done something about it with your own strength. (Renya) Thats a harsh opinion. However, say what you like, even I, as someone who leads the dragonoids, am in a position that forces me to ask you whether this immense damage was truly necessary. (Veylio) It seems that the Witenagemot is an organization that corresponds to a government or congress, Renya estimates according to his own knowledge. Chairman-dono. (Albert) The one who cut into the conversation while looking as though he couldnt bear it any longer is the dragonoid hero, Albert. I cannot let this pass after all. Thats not how you should talk to His Excellency the Margrave who provided us his help. (Albert) Be silent, Albert. To begin with, if the monster army hadnt pushed us back up to here while you were present, this situation wouldnt have come to pass either. (Veylio) Thats because of my own lack of ability. If youre going to blame someone, it would be best if you blame me. (Albert) Even if I blamed you, there would be no benefit at all. Step back! (Veylio) Albert chews on his lips as hes threatened.Renya, who watched this situation unfold with a totally disconnected expression, somehow manages to guess the reason why he had been dragged here. Ah, I get it. Youre saying that you want to demand compensation and an apology from me? (Renya) I guess you can sum it up as us wanting to demand compensation for the damage caused due to a situation caused by you, a human noble. (Veylio) Hmm? Okay, time out for a little strategy meeting. (Renya) Wha-? (Veylio) Renya turns around to Rona and Shion while still sitting on his chair and beckons his other friends.After waiting for everyone to gather around him, Renya speaks up. Well then, what are we going to do? (Renya) Are we going to do it here? (Lepard) Renya looks slightly doubtful at Lepard, who is smiling wryly, and then turns his eyes towards Veylios group that still cannot keep up with the situation. I dont really mind even if they hear us. (Renya) Their argument is that they would have put up with the damage if it had been caused by the heroes, since its the heroes duty to fight the monster army. However, Renya, youre just a human noble. They postulate that there was no need for you to wield your power at that point in time. In their eyes you probably have the duty to compensate for damage you inflicted. (Rona) It wouldnt be such an unreasonable argument, if you dont take manners towards the person that helped you into consideration. (Shion) Shion states her thoughts of Ronas explanation.Of course, since they dont lower their voices, the dragonoids can hear everything. Even in regards to the part of being helped, saying something likeWe hadnt requested help with that situationis kind of difficult. (Croire) Croire declares bluntly while turning a scornful look in Veylios direction. But Renya, please hold back on using that breath in the elven country. The forests would disappear. Ah, ok. I will take that into account. (Renya) Being overpowered by Croires ghastly face, which she brought close to his after she removed her eyes from the old dragonoid, forces Renya to nod.It seems she believes that hes quite capable of releasing such an attack in a forest if she doesnt give him a proper warning in advance, but as expected, even Renya hasnt considered hurling fire into an area surrounded by trees.Its because he doesnt know how much the destruction would spread due to the fire and the wind. Well, even if Renya forgot and did the same in the elven country, it wouldnt turn out like it has here. I agree with that as well. Grn nodded while whispering. The beastmen wouldnt say such shameless things either. (Lepard) Albert shrinks away next to Lepard who powerfully throws out his chest. Since almost everything is decided by strength for the beastmen, we are a race that considers it disgraceful to say this and that after the fact, if we were shown such overwhelming power. (Kaede) Kaede says with her hand covering her mouth while glancing in the direction of the dragonoid group. Margrave-sama, are those people a nuisance? (Kurz) Kurz asks innocently. Eliminate? Eat? Can I eat them? (Kurz) Stop it, Kurz. They will give you a stomach ache. Those will definitely lead to food poisoning. (Renya) Once Renya says so while caressing Kurzs head, who had drawn close, Kurz dons a slightly disappointed expression whereas the expressions of the Witenagemot folks, who dont understand the situation, became grim.They might be thinking that they are being looked down upon, but they dont realize that their lives had just been saved at the last moment by Renya. Your ExcellencyI shall swallow my pride. (Albert) Apparently having finally recovered, Albert, who had hung his head in shame next to Lepard, lifts his head. No matter how things develop, its a fact that there has been large damage to the citys buildings and that the fertile soil around the city has been burned, causing any farming to be obsolete. I have been blind to my own lack of power that couldnt bring the situation to a close before things turned out like this. Im well aware that its shameful to say such things out loud, but Id like to be granted your support by all means, Your Excellency. (Albert) So you say, but unless the cocky geezer over there isnt the one saying such a line, things wont end, will they? (Renya) After glancing at Albert, who entreats Renya while desperately weaving his words together, placing his knees on the floor and moreover prostrating himself by putting his hands and forehead on the floor as well, Renya points at the group around Veylio who are glaring in their direction. Renya, thats probably impossible. (Shion) Shion says. They are calling themselves Witenagemot, arent they. Even though they arent all that wise. They are a bunch that cant lower their heads in order to request something from others. Now that you mention it, its quite an embarrassing name, Witenagemot, isnt it? Something like being unable to ask for help if it requires them to lower their heads once, even though they can give themselves such an embarrassing namethe dragonoids are fairly stupid, arent they? As expected, its a name even we would hesitate to use quite a bit. After Shion, Rona, Croire, and Kaede said whatever they wanted in turns, they all burst out laughing. Albert, who was prostrating himself on the ground, lifts his head, which currently bears an indescribable expression. The atmosphere around Veylios group freezes. Are you intending to mock us? (Veylio) Once Veylio asks that with a calm voice, in order to exclude any emotions from his reply, Shion and the others look at each other, and begin to whisper amongst each other. Im surprised. He realized that were making fun of them. I see, so thats why wise men Being only good at guessing insults is a really useless ability, though. For everyone to get upset by this muchIm sure they had never been treated like this until today. They should have been brought up like little princesses. Their fragile hearts might break like thin twigs due to all this backbiting. I cannot hold back my laughter hereah, no, its nothing. (Kaede) You bitches, I will give you Seeming unable to bear the malicious gossip which Shion and the others spread so that it could be heard, several dragonoids that waited behind Veylio stepped forward, but then immediately stopped moving.In front of their frightened eyes, Lepard is grinning broadly, Grn has gently placed his hands on the hilts of the two katana hanging at his waist, and Kurz is glaring at them with somewhat glazed eyes.While watching the dragonoids drawing back in low spirits after being completely overwhelmed by the pressure, Renya leaned back on his chair, and pondered about what should be done. Renya finished dismantling the ancient dragon, gathering all the usable material and burying all the unusable parts in a hole. Then he returned to the dragonoids city while taking Shion along.Because of Rubydras huge body, it was impossible for her to enter the city, and thus she had to wait outside the city walls all by herself.Albeit only one, the city possessed a facility that could be called an inn for travelers, but probably because it isnt used much, its quality wasnt all that great.However, even if theres only one facility that could be referred to as an inn, Renya has no other option but to lodge there. While feeling rather reluctant, Renya had the inn almost entirely to himself.The dragonoid city has many stone buildings, just like the human and beastmen cities. However, for some reason one could catch a glimpse here and there of Japanese influence but all slightly erroneous, causing Renya to, for some reason, be unable to settle down.Renya has no dragonoid currency in his possession.On top of that, theres almost no currency exchange between the different races, as the dragonoids dont like interacting with the humans and beastmen anyway. Because of that the currency used by the dragonoids doesnt circulate to the human continent almost at all, but the value of magic stones seems to be the same everywhere. Instead of coins, Renya hands over magic stones to the inn owner as payment.If possible Renya wanted to get his hands on dragonoid coins by selling what could be sold, but the situation doesnt allow for that.After all there were no dragonoids who would try to do business with a human, coupled with the fact that its war time. Man, Im on the verge of wanting to return to Klinge as soon as possible once we take custody of Albert. (Renya) Having received a key from the unsociable inn owner, Renya went to what has now become his room, and spit that complaint out along with a sigh as soon as he closed the door.Shion, who had followed him while feeling that things would work out one way or another, smiles bitterly.Of course Shion had been properly assigned a private room as well, but she apparently thought that it would be too boring to return to her room while almost everyone from Renyas party was still out.Hero Albert basically falling under Kurzs command in his position as the human hero was logical.Going by the fact that Lepard and Grn are already acting together with Kurz, theres no reason for Albert to be forced to participate in the dragonoids battle.However, Renya expected some resistance on the dragonoids side on the matter of handing over their hero Albert.There are two reasons for that.First, the humans currently dont have the power to invade the demons territory.Same can be said about the elves and beastmen, who do have the combat forces but cannot shift towards offense thanks to certain circumstances. Under such conditions the dragonoids can argue that there is no reason for the heroes to gather in one place.Second, the dragonoids themselves are currently being invaded.Letting go of a hero, whos a tremendous combat asset, is just asking for the balance of war to tilt even further in favor of the demons than it already has. We were able to confirm the heros safety, so its also possible to go back home for the moment (Renya) Makes sense. We also defeated quite a few of those evil dragons. If Emedra and Rubydra cooperate with the dragonoids, I think theyll somehow be able to at least force the enemy out of the occupied areas. (Shion) Renya thinks that hell even go talk directly with the Four Great Dragons, if he feels like the situation is one that doesnt concern them anymore.He would likely be stopped by Emedra and those around her, but theres no reason for Renya to hesitate, if that were the best way to get rid of the current stalemate. In the first place it should be a disadvantageous situation for the demons, seeing as they are fighting on four fronts, and yet why are we being pushed back? (Renya) I think its because of the demons power that allows them to command monsters is capable of overturning the difference in military might. Thats an ability they only get after the demon king appears, though. (Shion) Monsters usually dont pick out the prey theyre going to attack, they attack indiscriminately.Although they might be demons, they would also be repeatedly attacked. This has become the reason why the Miasma Forest is regarded as a natural bulwark between the races, but as a consequence of the demon kings appearance, the circumstances change.The monsters end up following the demons orders.Due to this the demons obtain a huge military force, and even if it develops into a full out war against the four races, they wouldnt lose out in terms of numbers.The reason for that is considered unknown, but Renya, who is aware of the background circumstances, immediately comprehended the reason.Normally, if it develops into a conflict between all five races, exhaustion would inevitably occur within each of the powers.Therefore the Miasma Forest plays the role of dividing the different powers in normal times. When the supervisors game was started, the forest changed into a troop supply for the demons, who have the most enemies to begin with.The game has been regulated to the bitter end so that all powers can fight at full power only when the demon king appears. They came up with a detestable system. (Renya) Renya feels a slight killing intent towards the system that doesnt spare even a single thought towards the residents of this world.Seemingly because those feelings showed on his face, Shion cowered with a start. Ah, sorry. I just remembered something slightly unpleasant. (Renya) I seejust now you thought something likeI will definitely kill you, didnt you? (Shion) Theres no way that I would think something so dangerous. I just recalled some guys whose necks and bodies should be ripped apart. (Renya) Whos next!? Who are you planning to finish off, Renya!? (Shion) Renya shrugged his shoulders and said, Even if I say that Ill rip them to shreds, they arent in range of my katana, you know? to the panicking Shion, but then shifts his attention to the footsteps approaching from outside the room.The owner of the footsteps seem to be very panicked, something that can be inferred from them drawing nearer in a jog. In response, Renya holds Shion back, who was trying to get closer to him, and turns his gaze in the doors direction. Renya, are you in there!? The one who opened the door without even knocking, was Rona in her priestess garb. Great, youre here, Renya. Postpone the secret affair with Shion for a bit. I need you to come with me. (Rona) We have no secret affair though (Renya) Rona, nows not the time. If I dont interrogate him closely here, someones life will be in danger! (Shion) After comparing Renyas expression that shows his annoyance, and Shions expression thats clad in seriousness, Rona clearly informs both, Please postpone either. Right now Id like you to come with me for a while. (Rona) Without allowing for refusal, Rona grasps Renyas wrist and Shions hand, and takes them along, almost dragging them across the floor.Renya, who didnt put up any resistance, couldnt help but being pulled along. Shion, who resisted lightly at first and thus ended up having her balance thrown off, was literally dragged along. The destination was a large building located in the center part of the city.Watching the buildings that had collapsed all over along the way, Renya thought,They had been done in quite badly until we came, but Shion and Rona harbored completely different impressions.At that point Shion had a bad premonition, but unable to ask Rona right now, she was taken along into what appeared to be a big conference room. The ones waiting there were a white-haired old man in a gray robe, and behind him, a group that included dragonoids from young to middle-aged men.Only one table has been set up in the center of the room. The old man is sitting next to the seat of honor while the group is standing behind him.Off to the side of the entrance, in a place slightly separated from the group camping the rooms inner area, the four heroes, Croire and Kaede are standing stock still, having also huddled up into a group.With all of them wearing clouded expressions, it wasnt a good atmosphere, but Renya lightly greeted Albert, the one he spotted first among them. We have been awaiting you, Margrave Kunugi-dono. Being called out by the elderly dragonoid while having the seat opposite of him offered, Renya sat down as suggested, and Shion and Rona lined up behind him. I am the chairman of the Dragonoids Witenagemot, Veylio Greybunarl. Pleased to make your acquaintance. (Veylio) Only the manner of his speech is polite. The elderly dragonoids bows his head slightly.However Renya perceives something like discomfort, albeit only faintly, mixed into the old mans words.Once he shifts his eyes towards the group standing in the back for some reason or another, Renya realizes that the gazes turned upon him by the dragonoids arent very welcoming.Thats a bad omen, Renya thinks to himself without changing his outward expression in any way, and continues to ponder, whether this is a situation he should bring to a close quietly or not, and about the question of just what that Witenagemot is supposed to be. I cannot fully express my deep feelings of gratitude for your timely assistance in our time of need. (Veylio) It was convenient for our side as well. Dont mind it. (Renya) Renya generously replies to Veylios courtesy.The gazes turned towards Renya by the group behind the old man become even more severe.I guess they cant stomach my attitude, Renya thinks for a moment, but he has no intention to correct it. Thats very appreciated. But (Veylio) Veylio squinted a bit. dont you think that the damage to the surroundings has been a little bit too drastic? (Veylio) Its better than having it turn into a massacre, right? (Renya) Theres no hesitation to be found in Renyas response.In order to make the other party fully understand that he believes so from the bottom of his heart, he doesnt avert his eyes from Veylio and theres no fluctuation in his voice either.Due to that exceedingly upfront way of talking, the group in the back faltered a bit, but Veylio laughs deeply without any change in his expression. This is certainly so. Its a truly severe view. (Veylio) Its a fact. If you didnt want for things to develop this far, you should have done something about it with your own strength. (Renya) Thats a harsh opinion. However, say what you like, even I, as someone who leads the dragonoids, am in a position that forces me to ask you whether this immense damage was truly necessary. (Veylio) It seems that the Witenagemot is an organization that corresponds to a government or congress, Renya estimates according to his own knowledge. Chairman-dono. (Albert) The one who cut into the conversation while looking as though he couldnt bear it any longer is the dragonoid hero, Albert. I cannot let this pass after all. Thats not how you should talk to His Excellency the Margrave who provided us his help. (Albert) Be silent, Albert. To begin with, if the monster army hadnt pushed us back up to here while you were present, this situation wouldnt have come to pass either. (Veylio) Thats because of my own lack of ability. If youre going to blame someone, it would be best if you blame me. (Albert) Even if I blamed you, there would be no benefit at all. Step back! (Veylio) Albert chews on his lips as hes threatened.Renya, who watched this situation unfold with a totally disconnected expression, somehow manages to guess the reason why he had been dragged here. Ah, I get it. Youre saying that you want to demand compensation and an apology from me? (Renya) I guess you can sum it up as us wanting to demand compensation for the damage caused due to a situation caused by you, a human noble. (Veylio) Hmm? Okay, time out for a little strategy meeting. (Renya) Wha-? (Veylio) Renya turns around to Rona and Shion while still sitting on his chair and beckons his other friends.After waiting for everyone to gather around him, Renya speaks up. Well then, what are we going to do? (Renya) Are we going to do it here? (Lepard) Renya looks slightly doubtful at Lepard, who is smiling wryly, and then turns his eyes towards Veylios group that still cannot keep up with the situation. I dont really mind even if they hear us. (Renya) Their argument is that they would have put up with the damage if it had been caused by the heroes, since its the heroes duty to fight the monster army. However, Renya, youre just a human noble. They postulate that there was no need for you to wield your power at that point in time. In their eyes you probably have the duty to compensate for damage you inflicted. (Rona) It wouldnt be such an unreasonable argument, if you dont take manners towards the person that helped you into consideration. (Shion) Shion states her thoughts of Ronas explanation.Of course, since they dont lower their voices, the dragonoids can hear everything. Even in regards to the part of being helped, saying something likeWe hadnt requested help with that situationis kind of difficult. (Croire) Croire declares bluntly while turning a scornful look in Veylios direction. But Renya, please hold back on using that breath in the elven country. The forests would disappear. Ah, ok. I will take that into account. (Renya) Being overpowered by Croires ghastly face, which she brought close to his after she removed her eyes from the old dragonoid, forces Renya to nod.It seems she believes that hes quite capable of releasing such an attack in a forest if she doesnt give him a proper warning in advance, but as expected, even Renya hasnt considered hurling fire into an area surrounded by trees.Its because he doesnt know how much the destruction would spread due to the fire and the wind. Well, even if Renya forgot and did the same in the elven country, it wouldnt turn out like it has here. I agree with that as well. Grn nodded while whispering. The beastmen wouldnt say such shameless things either. (Lepard) Albert shrinks away next to Lepard who powerfully throws out his chest. Since almost everything is decided by strength for the beastmen, we are a race that considers it disgraceful to say this and that after the fact, if we were shown such overwhelming power. (Kaede) Kaede says with her hand covering her mouth while glancing in the direction of the dragonoid group. Margrave-sama, are those people a nuisance? (Kurz) Kurz asks innocently. Eliminate? Eat? Can I eat them? (Kurz) Stop it, Kurz. They will give you a stomach ache. Those will definitely lead to food poisoning. (Renya) Once Renya says so while caressing Kurzs head, who had drawn close, Kurz dons a slightly disappointed expression whereas the expressions of the Witenagemot folks, who dont understand the situation, became grim.They might be thinking that they are being looked down upon, but they dont realize that their lives had just been saved at the last moment by Renya. Your ExcellencyI shall swallow my pride. (Albert) Apparently having finally recovered, Albert, who had hung his head in shame next to Lepard, lifts his head. No matter how things develop, its a fact that there has been large damage to the citys buildings and that the fertile soil around the city has been burned, causing any farming to be obsolete. I have been blind to my own lack of power that couldnt bring the situation to a close before things turned out like this. Im well aware that its shameful to say such things out loud, but Id like to be granted your support by all means, Your Excellency. (Albert) So you say, but unless the cocky geezer over there isnt the one saying such a line, things wont end, will they? (Renya) After glancing at Albert, who entreats Renya while desperately weaving his words together, placing his knees on the floor and moreover prostrating himself by putting his hands and forehead on the floor as well, Renya points at the group around Veylio who are glaring in their direction. Renya, thats probably impossible. (Shion) Shion says. They are calling themselves Witenagemot, arent they. Even though they arent all that wise. They are a bunch that cant lower their heads in order to request something from others. Now that you mention it, its quite an embarrassing name, Witenagemot, isnt it? Something like being unable to ask for help if it requires them to lower their heads once, even though they can give themselves such an embarrassing namethe dragonoids are fairly stupid, arent they? As expected, its a name even we would hesitate to use quite a bit. After Shion, Rona, Croire, and Kaede said whatever they wanted in turns, they all burst out laughing. Albert, who was prostrating himself on the ground, lifts his head, which currently bears an indescribable expression. The atmosphere around Veylios group freezes. Are you intending to mock us? (Veylio) Once Veylio asks that with a calm voice, in order to exclude any emotions from his reply, Shion and the others look at each other, and begin to whisper amongst each other. Im surprised. He realized that were making fun of them. I see, so thats why wise men Being only good at guessing insults is a really useless ability, though. For everyone to get upset by this muchIm sure they had never been treated like this until today. They should have been brought up like little princesses. Their fragile hearts might break like thin twigs due to all this backbiting. I cannot hold back my laughter hereah, no, its nothing. (Kaede) You bitches, I will give you Seeming unable to bear the malicious gossip which Shion and the others spread so that it could be heard, several dragonoids that waited behind Veylio stepped forward, but then immediately stopped moving.In front of their frightened eyes, Lepard is grinning broadly, Grn has gently placed his hands on the hilts of the two katana hanging at his waist, and Kurz is glaring at them with somewhat glazed eyes.While watching the dragonoids drawing back in low spirits after being completely overwhelmed by the pressure, Renya leaned back on his chair, and pondered about what should be done. Chapter 170 The temptation of abandoning them was truly difficult to resist.On top of it being extremely simple to do, there wouldnt be any future problems coming from it either.Putting aside whether the members of the Witenagemot understand that, the race called dragonoids would very likely lose a large share of its influence on this world in the near future, or its almost certain that the races name itself would become something of the past, if Renya washed his hands clean of the matter right now.However, although its an extremely easy decision, it doesnt mean that its also a simple choice to make.After all it will definitely spell the end of a race, if he decides to leave.Its not like Renya wants to hold the fate of a race in his hand because he likes it.In that case it would mean I have to help them while at the same time ignoring the behavior of the old man and his group. But, in Renyas eyes even that felt somewhat wrong.While satisfying Alberts request and outwitting the Witenagemot, who is still glaring at them, Renya cannot avoid proposing a deal which is agreeable to both parties.Renya looks to the side.Albert was still looking up at him while kneeling on the floor.In this situation the power of a hero doesnt bear any meaning.Even if hes strong enough to kill a few enemies, its not like he has the power to save the dragonoids which are likely troubled by the current situation.A hero only bears any reasonable significance when an enemy exists. As for problems that have no defined enemy, heroes become surprisingly powerless.With his thoughts reaching this point, Renya comes up with a plan.It was a plan that might not work out well, but the only requirement it needs to work is Renyas acceptance on an emotional level. In regards to the result, if it fails he could simply say it was worth a try. I will be troubled if you keep kneeling over there forever. Cant I get you to stand up, Albert? (Renya) Your ExcellencyI am (Albert) For heavens sake, just stand up, will you? Its difficult to talk like this. (Renya) Although he hadnt intended it at all, irritation faintly dyed his voice. Once told to do so by Renya, Albert stands up unwillingly.He very likely planned to keep doing this until he drew the answer he desired out of Renya, but in Renyas eyes, Albert, who wasnt following any plan in particular, imploring him forever has no benefit for anyone and is just depressing. I understand what you want to say, chairman of the Witenagemot. (Renya) Renya says in a calm tone as he lets his eyes slowly wander towards the face of the member he talked to first, Veylio, while letting a threatening aura emanate from himself. Our answer to your request is short. Its no. I dont have a single drop of water or a single grain of wheat to give you. (Renya) What! Youre saying that you dont think anything about having invited yourself over and inflicted upon us such grievous damage!? (Veylio) Nothing. No, wait, theres something. Your incompetence which troubled me with your problems. Coming to some kind of agreement before things go west like this is the duty of those standing at the top, right? Do you really believe that a single hero will be able to change the progress of the war? Wake up, moron. Have all these years of experience been in vain? If its just about piling up years, even trees and stones can do as much. Rather, the trees and stones are more useful than you guys, arent they? (Renya) The members of the Witenagemot freeze, unable to even shout at Renya, who unleashed a flood of insults at them with a scornful smile.While seeing how Albert was chewing on his lips and hanging his head down in shame, Renya continues his speech. However, its not possible to remain unsympathetic with the heartache of the hero Albert, who attempted to protect the people to no avail. Therefore Renya Kunugi shall provide goods and financial support to hero Albert. (Renya) Hey Rona, what does that mean? (Shion) Shion asked Rona in a whisper after visually comparing Albert, who lifted his face in surprise, and the Witenagemot, who had sullen faces. I guess it means that Renya will compensate the dragonoids in the end? (Rona) Wrong. Seeing as he has refused the Witenagemots demand for reparations, the Margrave is providing personal support towards the distressed hero Albert. (Croire) I dont know to what scale it will be, but Albert will distribute the goods he received from Renya to the people, right? Isnt that basically the same then? (Rona) Its slightly different. (Croire) Croire cuts into their conversation while giggling. With this the fact that the Witenagemot failed to negotiate with Renya still stands. Moreover, the news that they displeased Renya will easily spread as well. The fact that they made stupid demands of the human noble, who came running to save the dragons and dragonoids, will likely be exposed in no time. Well, since its an offense for them to honestly bow their heads, they probably tried to extort aid by poking at Renyas feelings of guilt, but they couldnt have chosen a worse target for that. Its not that I cant understand it as one survival technique, though. (Croire) As for Albert, the fact that his accomplishments have been praised by the Margrave, and that he procured aid albeit on a personal level still remains. Furthermore, if he distributes that aid among the people, his fame will rise sharply. The Margraves idea to play the situation like this is quite malicious. (Grn) Once Grn took over the explanation from Croire, continuing to whisper, Shion nodded, apparently having understood it at last. I see, such an idea suits Renya quite well. (Shion) I guess its necessary to have a proper conversation about what kind of being you think I am, dont you think? (Renya) Renya glared at Shion, but without any hesitation, she bluntly declares, Truly black-hearted. A perfect fit for a husband of a young princess. (Shion) Why are you trying to earn points while taking advantage of the situation? (Croire) Croire immediately drove her elbow into the back of Shions neck, who threw her chest out with pride.While everyone was silently retorting in their minds,Isnt it normal to use the palm for that?, Shion silently collapses with the whites of her eyes showing. Wai-!? Shion!? (Rona) It was beautifully decided by her carelessness. A truly splendid display of skill, Croire. (Kaede) Rona shakes Shion, who stopped moving after having fallen to the ground, in panic. Meanwhile Kaede expresses her admiration.Renya, who watched that scene while sighing, sneers once more and turns around to the Witenagemot who are looking at them with expressions that are close to burst with rage. While were at it anyway, I guess I will demand permission to fight in the dragonoids territory. If Im told the same stuff as a result of another battle, I will get pissed off. If you dont hand it over, I will withdraw from here, got it? (Renya) Once Renya says that it will be troublesome if hes told to pay compensation each time he causes damage during battles, Veylio laughs scornfully at that. Even without you here, opposing the demons as long as all four heroes are gathered here will be (Veylio) All four heroes? I think its only natural, but our Kurz will go back together with me, you know? (Renya) Being mentioned by Renya, Kurz happily raises both hands and answers, I will return home with Margrave-sama~! (Kurz) Brother, are you going to act together with the dragonoids? (Croire) Once Croire asks Grn, whos standing next to her, with a very curious look, Grn shakes his head while smiling bitterly. No way. If the Margrave goes back, I wont have any reason to stay here either, right? (Grn) Lepard are you going to stay with the dragonoids in your desire for battle? (Kaede) Although its just a bit, Lepard became flustered due to Kaedes tone that seemed to be somewhat fed-up, and thus answered, Eh? We are those beastmen who aint very welcome here, you forgot? (Lepard) All three heroes except for Albert have made their opinion clear. If you summarize it, they all said that they have no reason to stay on the dragonoid continent if Renya goes home. Y-You guys are heroes, right!? You have the duty to fight against the demons, dont you!? Dooont care~ (Kurz) If you call it a duty, you might be right about that, butits not a duty that we actually have to carry out here, is it? (Grn) Im a hot-blooded, battle maniac beastman, so it will probably be troublesome if I fight here. (Lepard) Kurz turns away, Grn calmly looks back, and Lepard answers with an insincere smile. Well, in other words, you dont have any chance of winning the battle against the demons by yourself, if I go back home. (Renya) Once Renya says so as if delivering the final blow, no reply comes back from the Witenagemot.Renya observed the amusing face of Veylio, which became red and then pale in alternation, for a while, but before long he softly breathed out, and folded his arms in front of his chest. Anyway, I just tried threatening you in order to give you scare. How about it, old man? Dont you feel like bowing your head here once to obediently ask for my help? (Renya) Renya says carelessly without any hesitation, completely changing his aura up until now. Whatwas that? (Veylio) Unlike before, Renya faces Veylio, who replies with a question as he doesnt understand the intention behind Renyas words, with a serious expression now. Its not like I dont understand how you feel. If I were a normal adventurer, you could have ignored the losses and lifted me up as a figurehead without any scruples, but in the end its damage caused by a human noble acting violently in anothers territory as he pleased. Moreover, even the matter of receiving help; its not like youll wholeheartedly welcome it if its done by a noble of another country, right? A human accomplishing what you were unable to do yourselves is after all something like proof of your incompetence. (Renya) Theres no reply from Veylio.As if he hadnt expected a reply from the very start, Renya continues talking unperturbed. Even if you ignore the fact that your honor took a big hit, asking for help from a person of another country is unacceptable. After all you dont know what kind of demands they will make, they could even use that fact as material to use against you in the distant future. Much less to say that the other party is a human, a race you guys dont like very much. Thats a difficult snare you can be caught in for simply making a request. (Renya) Veylio still doesnt answer. I will continue while taking your silence as confirmation, okay? I will leave it to you as to how youre going to announce it officially. If you want to crush my reputation, then just do it. I dont particularly mind. I dont even care about the compensation for having gone ballistic like an idiot. But, if youre going to request something from someone, lower your head for starters. If you doI cant say that my place is affluent as we are in a war, but we will send the surplus goods to the Witenagemot or whoever. I will ignore the talk you hurled at me when I arrived as nonsense you spewed due to your mental state being abnormal as a result of being defeated. I dont know about the heroes, but I will even join your battles to recover the land that was stolen from you. But then again, thats the part where I want a few lines written on a document permitting me to cause a little bit of damage. Well then, what are you going to do? (Renya) The members of the Witenagemot look at each other due to Renyas proposal.In their midst, Veylio fixedly stared at Renyas face without saying anything or moving. The question is whether you will lower that white-haired head of yours or not. Do as you please. I wont be troubled with either choice. (Renya) Veylio-dono (Albert) Although only faintly, Veylios expression came apart upon Alberts quiet muttering.While being watched by the hero and the other Witenagemot members, he slowly pulls back the chair, stands up, bows his head to the extent that his forehead touches the table, and says to Renya, Margrave Kunugias you see, pleaseId like to request your help. (Veylio) The people around Veylio, who goes at it with a feeling that could very well be called kowtowing, stir, but as hes not doing anything extraordinary in Renyas eyes, Renya cant consider them kicking up a fuss as anything but weird. If you had done that without all the strange negotiating and bargaining from the beginning, things would have proceeded a lot faster without anyone having to come up with threatening wordssince old people think too much about unnecessary stuff, everything takes forever. (Renya) After saying that, Renya is suddenly reminded that he might be older than the old dragonoid still bowing his head in front of him, if only limited to his inner self.Somehow feeling like those words would sooner or later come back at him like a boomerang if he keeps talking like that any longer, Renya decides to stop any further sarcastic comments about Veylios age. If you try lowering your head, its simple, right? And I think that you should do so if it helps advance matters, you know? The heads of important people have no other use anyway. (Renya) Even we have a position to (Veylio) If you can fill stomachs with that position, do as you see fit. Otherwise forget about it, at least during urgent times. (Renya) Cleanly cutting down Veylios reply, Renya loosens his folded arms, and places his elbows on the table. Well then, for starters I will have you do your job, I guess. Maps of the area, the state of the demons army, going by all you know about it. Also, the supply routes, and the damage caused by the battles against the demons army. I wont accuse you of being responsible for this, so hand over the information right away. (Renya) Once Renya says that while glaring, the members of the Witenagemot run away in all direction with the speed of little baby spiders.While watching the wrinkled face of Veylio who was the only one left in a crestfallen state, Renya sighed for show while saying that Veylio made him take quite the troublesome detour. The temptation of abandoning them was truly difficult to resist.On top of it being extremely simple to do, there wouldnt be any future problems coming from it either.Putting aside whether the members of the Witenagemot understand that, the race called dragonoids would very likely lose a large share of its influence on this world in the near future, or its almost certain that the races name itself would become something of the past, if Renya washed his hands clean of the matter right now.However, although its an extremely easy decision, it doesnt mean that its also a simple choice to make.After all it will definitely spell the end of a race, if he decides to leave.Its not like Renya wants to hold the fate of a race in his hand because he likes it.In that case it would mean I have to help them while at the same time ignoring the behavior of the old man and his group. But, in Renyas eyes even that felt somewhat wrong.While satisfying Alberts request and outwitting the Witenagemot, who is still glaring at them, Renya cannot avoid proposing a deal which is agreeable to both parties.Renya looks to the side.Albert was still looking up at him while kneeling on the floor.In this situation the power of a hero doesnt bear any meaning.Even if hes strong enough to kill a few enemies, its not like he has the power to save the dragonoids which are likely troubled by the current situation.A hero only bears any reasonable significance when an enemy exists. As for problems that have no defined enemy, heroes become surprisingly powerless.With his thoughts reaching this point, Renya comes up with a plan.It was a plan that might not work out well, but the only requirement it needs to work is Renyas acceptance on an emotional level. In regards to the result, if it fails he could simply say it was worth a try. I will be troubled if you keep kneeling over there forever. Cant I get you to stand up, Albert? (Renya) Your ExcellencyI am (Albert) For heavens sake, just stand up, will you? Its difficult to talk like this. (Renya) Although he hadnt intended it at all, irritation faintly dyed his voice. Once told to do so by Renya, Albert stands up unwillingly.He very likely planned to keep doing this until he drew the answer he desired out of Renya, but in Renyas eyes, Albert, who wasnt following any plan in particular, imploring him forever has no benefit for anyone and is just depressing. I understand what you want to say, chairman of the Witenagemot. (Renya) Renya says in a calm tone as he lets his eyes slowly wander towards the face of the member he talked to first, Veylio, while letting a threatening aura emanate from himself. Our answer to your request is short. Its no. I dont have a single drop of water or a single grain of wheat to give you. (Renya) What! Youre saying that you dont think anything about having invited yourself over and inflicted upon us such grievous damage!? (Veylio) Nothing. No, wait, theres something. Your incompetence which troubled me with your problems. Coming to some kind of agreement before things go west like this is the duty of those standing at the top, right? Do you really believe that a single hero will be able to change the progress of the war? Wake up, moron. Have all these years of experience been in vain? If its just about piling up years, even trees and stones can do as much. Rather, the trees and stones are more useful than you guys, arent they? (Renya) The members of the Witenagemot freeze, unable to even shout at Renya, who unleashed a flood of insults at them with a scornful smile.While seeing how Albert was chewing on his lips and hanging his head down in shame, Renya continues his speech. However, its not possible to remain unsympathetic with the heartache of the hero Albert, who attempted to protect the people to no avail. Therefore Renya Kunugi shall provide goods and financial support to hero Albert. (Renya) Hey Rona, what does that mean? (Shion) Shion asked Rona in a whisper after visually comparing Albert, who lifted his face in surprise, and the Witenagemot, who had sullen faces. I guess it means that Renya will compensate the dragonoids in the end? (Rona) Wrong. Seeing as he has refused the Witenagemots demand for reparations, the Margrave is providing personal support towards the distressed hero Albert. (Croire) I dont know to what scale it will be, but Albert will distribute the goods he received from Renya to the people, right? Isnt that basically the same then? (Rona) Its slightly different. (Croire) Croire cuts into their conversation while giggling. With this the fact that the Witenagemot failed to negotiate with Renya still stands. Moreover, the news that they displeased Renya will easily spread as well. The fact that they made stupid demands of the human noble, who came running to save the dragons and dragonoids, will likely be exposed in no time. Well, since its an offense for them to honestly bow their heads, they probably tried to extort aid by poking at Renyas feelings of guilt, but they couldnt have chosen a worse target for that. Its not that I cant understand it as one survival technique, though. (Croire) As for Albert, the fact that his accomplishments have been praised by the Margrave, and that he procured aid albeit on a personal level still remains. Furthermore, if he distributes that aid among the people, his fame will rise sharply. The Margraves idea to play the situation like this is quite malicious. (Grn) Once Grn took over the explanation from Croire, continuing to whisper, Shion nodded, apparently having understood it at last. I see, such an idea suits Renya quite well. (Shion) I guess its necessary to have a proper conversation about what kind of being you think I am, dont you think? (Renya) Renya glared at Shion, but without any hesitation, she bluntly declares, Truly black-hearted. A perfect fit for a husband of a young princess. (Shion) Why are you trying to earn points while taking advantage of the situation? (Croire) Croire immediately drove her elbow into the back of Shions neck, who threw her chest out with pride.While everyone was silently retorting in their minds,Isnt it normal to use the palm for that?, Shion silently collapses with the whites of her eyes showing. Wai-!? Shion!? (Rona) It was beautifully decided by her carelessness. A truly splendid display of skill, Croire. (Kaede) Rona shakes Shion, who stopped moving after having fallen to the ground, in panic. Meanwhile Kaede expresses her admiration.Renya, who watched that scene while sighing, sneers once more and turns around to the Witenagemot who are looking at them with expressions that are close to burst with rage. While were at it anyway, I guess I will demand permission to fight in the dragonoids territory. If Im told the same stuff as a result of another battle, I will get pissed off. If you dont hand it over, I will withdraw from here, got it? (Renya) Once Renya says that it will be troublesome if hes told to pay compensation each time he causes damage during battles, Veylio laughs scornfully at that. Even without you here, opposing the demons as long as all four heroes are gathered here will be (Veylio) All four heroes? I think its only natural, but our Kurz will go back together with me, you know? (Renya) Being mentioned by Renya, Kurz happily raises both hands and answers, I will return home with Margrave-sama~! (Kurz) Brother, are you going to act together with the dragonoids? (Croire) Once Croire asks Grn, whos standing next to her, with a very curious look, Grn shakes his head while smiling bitterly. No way. If the Margrave goes back, I wont have any reason to stay here either, right? (Grn) Lepard are you going to stay with the dragonoids in your desire for battle? (Kaede) Although its just a bit, Lepard became flustered due to Kaedes tone that seemed to be somewhat fed-up, and thus answered, Eh? We are those beastmen who aint very welcome here, you forgot? (Lepard) All three heroes except for Albert have made their opinion clear. If you summarize it, they all said that they have no reason to stay on the dragonoid continent if Renya goes home. Y-You guys are heroes, right!? You have the duty to fight against the demons, dont you!? Dooont care~ (Kurz) If you call it a duty, you might be right about that, butits not a duty that we actually have to carry out here, is it? (Grn) Im a hot-blooded, battle maniac beastman, so it will probably be troublesome if I fight here. (Lepard) Kurz turns away, Grn calmly looks back, and Lepard answers with an insincere smile. Well, in other words, you dont have any chance of winning the battle against the demons by yourself, if I go back home. (Renya) Once Renya says so as if delivering the final blow, no reply comes back from the Witenagemot.Renya observed the amusing face of Veylio, which became red and then pale in alternation, for a while, but before long he softly breathed out, and folded his arms in front of his chest. Anyway, I just tried threatening you in order to give you scare. How about it, old man? Dont you feel like bowing your head here once to obediently ask for my help? (Renya) Renya says carelessly without any hesitation, completely changing his aura up until now. Whatwas that? (Veylio) Unlike before, Renya faces Veylio, who replies with a question as he doesnt understand the intention behind Renyas words, with a serious expression now. Its not like I dont understand how you feel. If I were a normal adventurer, you could have ignored the losses and lifted me up as a figurehead without any scruples, but in the end its damage caused by a human noble acting violently in anothers territory as he pleased. Moreover, even the matter of receiving help; its not like youll wholeheartedly welcome it if its done by a noble of another country, right? A human accomplishing what you were unable to do yourselves is after all something like proof of your incompetence. (Renya) Theres no reply from Veylio.As if he hadnt expected a reply from the very start, Renya continues talking unperturbed. Even if you ignore the fact that your honor took a big hit, asking for help from a person of another country is unacceptable. After all you dont know what kind of demands they will make, they could even use that fact as material to use against you in the distant future. Much less to say that the other party is a human, a race you guys dont like very much. Thats a difficult snare you can be caught in for simply making a request. (Renya) Veylio still doesnt answer. I will continue while taking your silence as confirmation, okay? I will leave it to you as to how youre going to announce it officially. If you want to crush my reputation, then just do it. I dont particularly mind. I dont even care about the compensation for having gone ballistic like an idiot. But, if youre going to request something from someone, lower your head for starters. If you doI cant say that my place is affluent as we are in a war, but we will send the surplus goods to the Witenagemot or whoever. I will ignore the talk you hurled at me when I arrived as nonsense you spewed due to your mental state being abnormal as a result of being defeated. I dont know about the heroes, but I will even join your battles to recover the land that was stolen from you. But then again, thats the part where I want a few lines written on a document permitting me to cause a little bit of damage. Well then, what are you going to do? (Renya) The members of the Witenagemot look at each other due to Renyas proposal.In their midst, Veylio fixedly stared at Renyas face without saying anything or moving. The question is whether you will lower that white-haired head of yours or not. Do as you please. I wont be troubled with either choice. (Renya) Veylio-dono (Albert) Although only faintly, Veylios expression came apart upon Alberts quiet muttering.While being watched by the hero and the other Witenagemot members, he slowly pulls back the chair, stands up, bows his head to the extent that his forehead touches the table, and says to Renya, Margrave Kunugias you see, pleaseId like to request your help. (Veylio) The people around Veylio, who goes at it with a feeling that could very well be called kowtowing, stir, but as hes not doing anything extraordinary in Renyas eyes, Renya cant consider them kicking up a fuss as anything but weird. If you had done that without all the strange negotiating and bargaining from the beginning, things would have proceeded a lot faster without anyone having to come up with threatening wordssince old people think too much about unnecessary stuff, everything takes forever. (Renya) After saying that, Renya is suddenly reminded that he might be older than the old dragonoid still bowing his head in front of him, if only limited to his inner self.Somehow feeling like those words would sooner or later come back at him like a boomerang if he keeps talking like that any longer, Renya decides to stop any further sarcastic comments about Veylios age. If you try lowering your head, its simple, right? And I think that you should do so if it helps advance matters, you know? The heads of important people have no other use anyway. (Renya) Even we have a position to (Veylio) If you can fill stomachs with that position, do as you see fit. Otherwise forget about it, at least during urgent times. (Renya) Cleanly cutting down Veylios reply, Renya loosens his folded arms, and places his elbows on the table. Well then, for starters I will have you do your job, I guess. Maps of the area, the state of the demons army, going by all you know about it. Also, the supply routes, and the damage caused by the battles against the demons army. I wont accuse you of being responsible for this, so hand over the information right away. (Renya) Once Renya says that while glaring, the members of the Witenagemot run away in all direction with the speed of little baby spiders.While watching the wrinkled face of Veylio who was the only one left in a crestfallen state, Renya sighed for show while saying that Veylio made him take quite the troublesome detour. Chapter 171 The information about a monster army appearing from the Demon Forest was immediately passed on to Frau through Keith after he received a report from the soldiers he had sent out on reconnaissance patrols.When shes told that the monster army is advancing at an abnormal speed, Frau clicks her tongue without even trying to hide her bitter smile. The armys composition has been revised ~no (Frau) Until now the demons army focused on monsters that were easy to gather in large numbers but were weak such as goblins and orcs, which can be mainly categorized as infantry, for its main combat force. However, according to the scouts reports, this time the demons army is advancing at a yet unseen rate with its composition focused around fast monsters such as wyverns, and sub-dragons which can run at a fairly high pace and at the same time carry monsters on their back, albeit being unable to fly in the sky. On top of that they seem to be heading straight for Klinge without even sparing a single glance at the abandoned settlements along the way.Frau hadnt expected for dragons to take part in this war.After all she didnt know about the evil dragons joining the demon kings cause. At this rateit wont be ready in time ~no. (Frau) Surprise dyes Keiths face due to Fraus fretful voice which he hears for the first time.It appears the information sent over by the scouts was too unexpected for Frau.If I assume that her obvious panicking is owed to some kind of preparation not being in time, itll very likely turn into a major issue in regards to Klinges defense, Keith assesses.Keith supposed that he should prepare himself for the worst.The 500 soldiers, who are going to take part in the defense, had struggled through Renyas training and then gone through another training regimen at the same level. In Keiths opinion you wouldnt find any soldiers on the human continent that would be able to match them. Or rather, they had been endowed with so much power that they would win against any other human soldier by leaps and bounds, but with the opponents being dragons, their prospects of victory were low, as one might expect.I wonder how many losses we will suffer, and whether we will be able to hold Klinge in the first place? No, we have to hold the city, Keith prepares himself mentally. Meanwhile Frau mutters with a trembling voice, The preparation of the ball-shaped scent bags and crackers will (Frau) Pardon? (Keith) While thinking that he might have misunderstood her or that his ears were not working properly as he couldnt believe the words that reached his ears, Keith asked Frau, What did you say just now? (Keith) As I said, the preparation of the surprise ball and crackers wont be in time ~no! (Frau) As Frau repeats her words quite mortified while stomping her feet, Keith dumbfoundedly realizes that he hadnt misheard her. For what the heck do you plan to use those? (Keith) I wanted to toss them at the demon army while shouting Come close, and welcome to Klinge! ~no! I wanted to turn the heads of the demon army into a bloody pulp without them understanding whats going in a shower of crackers stuffed with lead shrapnel ~no! (Frau) You know, you cant really call those crackers anymore then. (Keith) Once Keith retorts like that as he cant help it even though he knows that the part he should be retorting is a completely different one, Frau blankly stares at Keith and tilts her head, which she had roughly scratched until then, to the side in confusion. You cant ~no? (Frau) No, you cant. In the first place, from where do you plan to hang down that surprise ball of yours? (Keith) Liaris-san and Dra-kun will be dispatched as (Frau) You can stop right there. Just what do you want to make a precious dragoon do? (Keith) the ones in charge of carrying the ball-shaped scent bags. (Frau) AhI see, I really cant stop you from finishing your sentence, can I? (Keith) Keith drops his shoulders, depressed due to Frau finishing her sentence without any hesitation.At the same time he thanked god, who might be somewhere, that the preparation of that surprise ball and crackers wouldnt be completed in time.If those had be done in time, the dragoons dignity would have likely plummeted to the ground on the very day she had been forced to carry that ball with her dragon, even if they managed to successfully repel the demon armys invasion. Ah, jeez, I have no choice but to give up on using what I dont have at hand ~no. Keith, have the soldiers assume their designated stations ~no. (Frau) Just as you have ordered before, I deployed 100 soldiers at various places in the castle, and assigned the rest to guide and guard the residents evacuation in the city. (Keith) Thats perfect, Keith ~nano. Youve become a good butler ~no. (Frau) Butler, you say? (Keith) Keith asked back, wondering why a butler. But without answering him, Frau heads towards a room within the castle.Following after her, Keith notices on the way that Fraus destination seems to be the audience room which had been created so that Renya could use it for official events and similar things.By the way, that room has almost never been used by Renya after he became a Margrave. Within the mansion its regarded as an useless, big room.That was only natural, but after following Frau inside the room, Keith has his breath taken away upon seeing its interior.Currently countless objects similar to transparent boards floated inside the wide room, which hadnt even been decorated (probably owed to Renyas character).At the same time as Frau enters the room, each of those objects start to project completely different scenes. The circumstances inside the city? Several spots on the wallthats the situation inside the residents shelter? (Keith) Ignoring Keith who mutters whats shown on the boards while comparing the scenes with his own memory, Frau heads into the deepest part of the audience room and jumps on the chair there, which Renya uses when meeting visitors. Deploy large screen. Display operating ratio of the defense devices. (Frau) Once Frau quickly waves a hand, a huge, transparent board appears in the center of the room.Keith, who hurried over to Fraus side, realizes that a rough sketch of Klinge, including Renyas castle, is shown on the board.At a corner of that sketch a small red 75 is visible. Deploy screen. Boot up Far-View Function. (Frau) Keith groans deeply as soon as he sees the new screen.What was displayed on that screen were countless airborne wyverns, and sub-dragons, which were kicking up a cloud of dust while running across the ground. Distance 20,000. Engagement in around 30 minutes ~nano. (Frau) Theyve come so far already (Keith) No matter how nimble the scouts might be, they wont be able gain much distance on such an army ~no. That means we wouldnt have any spare time once the information reached us anyway ~nano. (Frau) In the first place, Klinge is a city thats located around half a day by carriage from the Miasma Forest.Its a distance which can be barely traversed in a day by someone with healthy legs if they keep walking during the day without any breaks. If it had only been wyverns, they might have arrived much earlier, but probably because they are matching the sub-dragons speed, they are somewhat slow, Frau would estimate if she were allowed to comment on the matter. Are you going to inform the principalitys army? (Keith) Too late. Their times up ~nano. Since they havent shown any intention of cooperating with us up until now, we will have them exit the stage flashily here ~no. (Frau) Keith felt a slight shiver run down his spine due to Fraus indifferent manner of speech.The decision to readily discard the lives of around 1,000 soldiers makes him realize that Frau is no human to begin with, unlike her appearance that suggests otherwise.Around this time the principalitys soldiers located outside the city were about to fall into chaos.The enemys ground forces still hadnt entered their field of view, but they could confirm countless wyverns flying in the sky.Them gathering the commanding soldiers and the armys high-ranking officials to hold a meeting was in plain view through the screen at Fraus place. Frau and Keith watched their situation in a disinterested manner. What do you think they are going to do? (Keith) Its already too late for them to make an escape by themselves ~nano. They will be annihilated ~no. Even if they were to take refuge in Klingethat has become impossible now ~no. (Frau) Frau says as she glanced at another screen.Its a small screen thats floating in the air. It displayed a brief message that all the city walls entrances have been sealed off.Its not just limited to locking the gates.The entrances have been tightly fortified by the plant vines covering the wall.If someone plans to open the gates without Fraus permission, their only option will be to destroy them along the wall. I guess the very best they can do is to run away while praying that the enemy will devote all their resources towards Klinge ~no. (Frau) How about surrendering? (Keith) To monsters? You can prattle such nonsense when sleeping in your bed ~no. (Frau) While all these things are going on, the monster army is shortening the distance.They are advancing at such a speed and force that it makes one wonder whether they have gone completely berserk.Its an army that doesnt seem to be properly commanded and led by demons at all.And then the principalitys army makes its decision. They have started to form up ranks of some kind. (Keith) They judged that they wont be able to escapeI dont want to believe it, but it looks like they intend to attack the monster army ~no. (Frau) For real? By the way, whats the difference in combat forces? (Keith) Just going by the numbers, there are 20 times more monsters. I dont even want to consider the disparity in quality ~no. (Frau) For the principalitys army the marching speed of the monster army was apparently outside their expectations.They likely thought that they would at least be able to run away after catching sight of the enemy, but they now have to confront the reality in front of their eyes.Annihilation is inevitable, if they advance.And even if they withdraw, theres no way that the monsters will silently see off humans as they defenselessly turn their backs on them.They apparently planned to at least retaliate then, but in Fraus eyes thats nothing more than a useless sacrifice.If they had thrown their honor and shame to the winds and requested help now that the situation had become hopeless, even Frau could have considered it, but it seems that the principalitys armys executives didnt feel like doing that.They would rather fight and die like soldiers than disgracefully and tearfully beg Frau, who looks like a child. However, thats a stupid plan that will spell the death of almost 1,000 soldiers. Frau had a little bit of time left, but she hesitated on whether she should open up a part of the wall and advise them to escape inside the city.But, she immediately changes her mind, recalling that the protection of the city and its residents is her main duty and that the principalitys soldiers, who didnt try to get inside the city until the the last moment, are outside the range of her duty. For the time being I wont think about this matter any longer ~no. Its a waste of time to do so ~no. (Frau) The screen that displayed the principalitys armys situation vanishes.After staring at the space where it had disappeared for a little while, Frau shifts her eyes towards the biggest screen.The number in the corner of that screen, which is showing a sketch of the whole city, had changed to 83. 80% activated. The boot-up is a bit slow ~no. Stationing of personnel complete. Starting activation of City-Class Sorcery Array. (Frau) Klinges roads, which had been built up from scratch, had been designed by Emil and Frau.A part of the stone pavings of those roads begin to cast strong, white lights.If someone with knowledge of sorcery were to look at Klinge from above, they might have guessed what those lights meant.Light traces, which are running in straight and curved lines through the urban area of Klinge that had been designed as a beautiful circle, began to draw a sorcery array which engulfed the entire city in a single circle.The actual event didnt reach Fraus and Keiths eyes directly as they were indoors, but as Keith watched a part of the pathways on the sketch in front of their eyes start to shine with a white radiance, he asked Frau, Frau-sama, this is? (Keith) This is the crystallization of Emil-ane-samas and Fraus teamwork ~nano. The entire city can be regarded as one huge array with sorcery circuits drawn into it. Right now Im in the process of getting it ready for use by passing mana through those circuits ~nano. (Frau) Being no sorcerer, Keith doesnt understand the meaning behind the shape drawn on the screen.Even so, once he considers the citys size, he can somehow guess just how much mana is needed to cause the event thats happening in front of his eyes. Where are you getting this much mana? (Keith) Savings and squeezing ~nano. The squeezing part has been mostly covered by master ~nano. (Frau) Combining the magic stones mana, which had been squeezed out of Renya, with the mana procured through the hell furnace, which Keith hadnt seen, all of it is being spread throughout the entire city through the things referred to as Putry-chan by Emil.Its a sorcery array which is drawn while using that mana.No one besides the designers Emil and Frau knows just how much of a punch it packs.As the circuits connect, the entire city starts to subtlety vibrate.Keith began to look around restlessly, feeling slightly worried.Without minding him, Frau makes a rectangle screen appear below her knees.Frau nimbly runs her fingers across that screen, which might be considered a device similar to a keyboard from Renyas former world, while lifting the corners of her mouth into a smile. Well then, youll now witness first hand Klinges defensive capabilities ~no. (Frau) The battle against the monster army was about to start in the Kunugi Margraviate, the territory of a rising noble of the Trident Principality. The information about a monster army appearing from the Demon Forest was immediately passed on to Frau through Keith after he received a report from the soldiers he had sent out on reconnaissance patrols.When shes told that the monster army is advancing at an abnormal speed, Frau clicks her tongue without even trying to hide her bitter smile. The armys composition has been revised ~no (Frau) Until now the demons army focused on monsters that were easy to gather in large numbers but were weak such as goblins and orcs, which can be mainly categorized as infantry, for its main combat force. However, according to the scouts reports, this time the demons army is advancing at a yet unseen rate with its composition focused around fast monsters such as wyverns, and sub-dragons which can run at a fairly high pace and at the same time carry monsters on their back, albeit being unable to fly in the sky. On top of that they seem to be heading straight for Klinge without even sparing a single glance at the abandoned settlements along the way.Frau hadnt expected for dragons to take part in this war.After all she didnt know about the evil dragons joining the demon kings cause. At this rateit wont be ready in time ~no. (Frau) Surprise dyes Keiths face due to Fraus fretful voice which he hears for the first time.It appears the information sent over by the scouts was too unexpected for Frau.If I assume that her obvious panicking is owed to some kind of preparation not being in time, itll very likely turn into a major issue in regards to Klinges defense, Keith assesses.Keith supposed that he should prepare himself for the worst.The 500 soldiers, who are going to take part in the defense, had struggled through Renyas training and then gone through another training regimen at the same level. In Keiths opinion you wouldnt find any soldiers on the human continent that would be able to match them. Or rather, they had been endowed with so much power that they would win against any other human soldier by leaps and bounds, but with the opponents being dragons, their prospects of victory were low, as one might expect.I wonder how many losses we will suffer, and whether we will be able to hold Klinge in the first place? No, we have to hold the city, Keith prepares himself mentally. Meanwhile Frau mutters with a trembling voice, The preparation of the ball-shaped scent bags and crackers will (Frau) Pardon? (Keith) While thinking that he might have misunderstood her or that his ears were not working properly as he couldnt believe the words that reached his ears, Keith asked Frau, What did you say just now? (Keith) As I said, the preparation of the surprise ball and crackers wont be in time ~no! (Frau) As Frau repeats her words quite mortified while stomping her feet, Keith dumbfoundedly realizes that he hadnt misheard her. For what the heck do you plan to use those? (Keith) I wanted to toss them at the demon army while shouting Come close, and welcome to Klinge! ~no! I wanted to turn the heads of the demon army into a bloody pulp without them understanding whats going in a shower of crackers stuffed with lead shrapnel ~no! (Frau) You know, you cant really call those crackers anymore then. (Keith) Once Keith retorts like that as he cant help it even though he knows that the part he should be retorting is a completely different one, Frau blankly stares at Keith and tilts her head, which she had roughly scratched until then, to the side in confusion. You cant ~no? (Frau) No, you cant. In the first place, from where do you plan to hang down that surprise ball of yours? (Keith) Liaris-san and Dra-kun will be dispatched as (Frau) You can stop right there. Just what do you want to make a precious dragoon do? (Keith) the ones in charge of carrying the ball-shaped scent bags. (Frau) AhI see, I really cant stop you from finishing your sentence, can I? (Keith) Keith drops his shoulders, depressed due to Frau finishing her sentence without any hesitation.At the same time he thanked god, who might be somewhere, that the preparation of that surprise ball and crackers wouldnt be completed in time.If those had be done in time, the dragoons dignity would have likely plummeted to the ground on the very day she had been forced to carry that ball with her dragon, even if they managed to successfully repel the demon armys invasion. Ah, jeez, I have no choice but to give up on using what I dont have at hand ~no. Keith, have the soldiers assume their designated stations ~no. (Frau) Just as you have ordered before, I deployed 100 soldiers at various places in the castle, and assigned the rest to guide and guard the residents evacuation in the city. (Keith) Thats perfect, Keith ~nano. Youve become a good butler ~no. (Frau) Butler, you say? (Keith) Keith asked back, wondering why a butler. But without answering him, Frau heads towards a room within the castle.Following after her, Keith notices on the way that Fraus destination seems to be the audience room which had been created so that Renya could use it for official events and similar things.By the way, that room has almost never been used by Renya after he became a Margrave. Within the mansion its regarded as an useless, big room.That was only natural, but after following Frau inside the room, Keith has his breath taken away upon seeing its interior.Currently countless objects similar to transparent boards floated inside the wide room, which hadnt even been decorated (probably owed to Renyas character).At the same time as Frau enters the room, each of those objects start to project completely different scenes. The circumstances inside the city? Several spots on the wallthats the situation inside the residents shelter? (Keith) Ignoring Keith who mutters whats shown on the boards while comparing the scenes with his own memory, Frau heads into the deepest part of the audience room and jumps on the chair there, which Renya uses when meeting visitors. Deploy large screen. Display operating ratio of the defense devices. (Frau) Once Frau quickly waves a hand, a huge, transparent board appears in the center of the room.Keith, who hurried over to Fraus side, realizes that a rough sketch of Klinge, including Renyas castle, is shown on the board.At a corner of that sketch a small red 75 is visible. Deploy screen. Boot up Far-View Function. (Frau) Keith groans deeply as soon as he sees the new screen.What was displayed on that screen were countless airborne wyverns, and sub-dragons, which were kicking up a cloud of dust while running across the ground. Distance 20,000. Engagement in around 30 minutes ~nano. (Frau) Theyve come so far already (Keith) No matter how nimble the scouts might be, they wont be able gain much distance on such an army ~no. That means we wouldnt have any spare time once the information reached us anyway ~nano. (Frau) In the first place, Klinge is a city thats located around half a day by carriage from the Miasma Forest.Its a distance which can be barely traversed in a day by someone with healthy legs if they keep walking during the day without any breaks. If it had only been wyverns, they might have arrived much earlier, but probably because they are matching the sub-dragons speed, they are somewhat slow, Frau would estimate if she were allowed to comment on the matter. Are you going to inform the principalitys army? (Keith) Too late. Their times up ~nano. Since they havent shown any intention of cooperating with us up until now, we will have them exit the stage flashily here ~no. (Frau) Keith felt a slight shiver run down his spine due to Fraus indifferent manner of speech.The decision to readily discard the lives of around 1,000 soldiers makes him realize that Frau is no human to begin with, unlike her appearance that suggests otherwise.Around this time the principalitys soldiers located outside the city were about to fall into chaos.The enemys ground forces still hadnt entered their field of view, but they could confirm countless wyverns flying in the sky.Them gathering the commanding soldiers and the armys high-ranking officials to hold a meeting was in plain view through the screen at Fraus place. Frau and Keith watched their situation in a disinterested manner. What do you think they are going to do? (Keith) Its already too late for them to make an escape by themselves ~nano. They will be annihilated ~no. Even if they were to take refuge in Klingethat has become impossible now ~no. (Frau) Frau says as she glanced at another screen.Its a small screen thats floating in the air. It displayed a brief message that all the city walls entrances have been sealed off.Its not just limited to locking the gates.The entrances have been tightly fortified by the plant vines covering the wall.If someone plans to open the gates without Fraus permission, their only option will be to destroy them along the wall. I guess the very best they can do is to run away while praying that the enemy will devote all their resources towards Klinge ~no. (Frau) How about surrendering? (Keith) To monsters? You can prattle such nonsense when sleeping in your bed ~no. (Frau) While all these things are going on, the monster army is shortening the distance.They are advancing at such a speed and force that it makes one wonder whether they have gone completely berserk.Its an army that doesnt seem to be properly commanded and led by demons at all.And then the principalitys army makes its decision. They have started to form up ranks of some kind. (Keith) They judged that they wont be able to escapeI dont want to believe it, but it looks like they intend to attack the monster army ~no. (Frau) For real? By the way, whats the difference in combat forces? (Keith) Just going by the numbers, there are 20 times more monsters. I dont even want to consider the disparity in quality ~no. (Frau) For the principalitys army the marching speed of the monster army was apparently outside their expectations.They likely thought that they would at least be able to run away after catching sight of the enemy, but they now have to confront the reality in front of their eyes.Annihilation is inevitable, if they advance.And even if they withdraw, theres no way that the monsters will silently see off humans as they defenselessly turn their backs on them.They apparently planned to at least retaliate then, but in Fraus eyes thats nothing more than a useless sacrifice.If they had thrown their honor and shame to the winds and requested help now that the situation had become hopeless, even Frau could have considered it, but it seems that the principalitys armys executives didnt feel like doing that.They would rather fight and die like soldiers than disgracefully and tearfully beg Frau, who looks like a child. However, thats a stupid plan that will spell the death of almost 1,000 soldiers. Frau had a little bit of time left, but she hesitated on whether she should open up a part of the wall and advise them to escape inside the city.But, she immediately changes her mind, recalling that the protection of the city and its residents is her main duty and that the principalitys soldiers, who didnt try to get inside the city until the the last moment, are outside the range of her duty. For the time being I wont think about this matter any longer ~no. Its a waste of time to do so ~no. (Frau) The screen that displayed the principalitys armys situation vanishes.After staring at the space where it had disappeared for a little while, Frau shifts her eyes towards the biggest screen.The number in the corner of that screen, which is showing a sketch of the whole city, had changed to 83. 80% activated. The boot-up is a bit slow ~no. Stationing of personnel complete. Starting activation of City-Class Sorcery Array. (Frau) Klinges roads, which had been built up from scratch, had been designed by Emil and Frau.A part of the stone pavings of those roads begin to cast strong, white lights.If someone with knowledge of sorcery were to look at Klinge from above, they might have guessed what those lights meant.Light traces, which are running in straight and curved lines through the urban area of Klinge that had been designed as a beautiful circle, began to draw a sorcery array which engulfed the entire city in a single circle.The actual event didnt reach Fraus and Keiths eyes directly as they were indoors, but as Keith watched a part of the pathways on the sketch in front of their eyes start to shine with a white radiance, he asked Frau, Frau-sama, this is? (Keith) This is the crystallization of Emil-ane-samas and Fraus teamwork ~nano. The entire city can be regarded as one huge array with sorcery circuits drawn into it. Right now Im in the process of getting it ready for use by passing mana through those circuits ~nano. (Frau) Being no sorcerer, Keith doesnt understand the meaning behind the shape drawn on the screen.Even so, once he considers the citys size, he can somehow guess just how much mana is needed to cause the event thats happening in front of his eyes. Where are you getting this much mana? (Keith) Savings and squeezing ~nano. The squeezing part has been mostly covered by master ~nano. (Frau) Combining the magic stones mana, which had been squeezed out of Renya, with the mana procured through the hell furnace, which Keith hadnt seen, all of it is being spread throughout the entire city through the things referred to as Putry-chan by Emil.Its a sorcery array which is drawn while using that mana.No one besides the designers Emil and Frau knows just how much of a punch it packs.As the circuits connect, the entire city starts to subtlety vibrate.Keith began to look around restlessly, feeling slightly worried.Without minding him, Frau makes a rectangle screen appear below her knees.Frau nimbly runs her fingers across that screen, which might be considered a device similar to a keyboard from Renyas former world, while lifting the corners of her mouth into a smile. Well then, youll now witness first hand Klinges defensive capabilities ~no. (Frau) The battle against the monster army was about to start in the Kunugi Margraviate, the territory of a rising noble of the Trident Principality. Chapter 172 The demon army that attacked Klinge on that day used orcs as its main fighting force.Orcs, which are more powerful and burlier than goblins, also eat even more repulsive things,have a stronger reproductive ability and are somewhat smarter than goblins.Such uncontrollable monsters came rushing while riding on the backs of wyverns and sub-dragons.Moreover, as the demons had apparently put some effort into this battle, four of them had joined the monster army.With just one demon being present, a human army would have been put in a tough spot. However, once several demons get involved, it becomes impossible to know just how much combat prowess they would add to the overall strength of the monster army.The ones who recklessly plunged into such an army with immeasurable combat power from the front were the soldiers of Tridents national army.In addition, the superiority of numbers on the demon armys side was around 20 to 1, according to Fraus investigation.But that doesnt mean that they were completely helpless.There were some soldiers who inflicted some casualties by thrusting their swords at the enemy in order to show their pride as military men, but those people were in the minority, and the losses they caused couldnt even be called a scratch when compared to the whole enemy army.Although almost all soldiers had readied their weapons, most were kicked down by sub-dragons, stabbed to death by orcs holding spears, ripped apart by the swords of orcs and the claws of wyverns, and turned into a bloody mess of minced meat in the blink of an eye.Those chunks of meat were furthermore crunched by the strong jaws of the wyverns, sub-dragons and orcs as food.All that remained from the soldiers were broken swords and bloodstained, crushed armor parts.You could call it a gruesome scene of carnage that didnt give the victims any time to raise anything close to screams or angry roars. What the hell were those guys? A male demon riding on the back of a sub-dragon asked quite mystified. Another male demon laughed while having the sub-dragon hes riding kick an iron helmet lying on the ground. Who knows. Werent those suicide candidates? Pointlessly wasting their already few soldiersisnt that citys commander an idiot? Upon the words of another male demon, a female demon, who followed at the end of the line, frowned while chiding him, Pay attention. After all its possible that it was some kind of strategy. A strategy that turned such a large number of soldiers into fodder? That would be a fairly extravagant plan. It would be somewhat profane to regard the person, who came up with it, as human. Theres no mistake in that. If its a plan that can give us even the slightest pain, I dare say that their way of thinking is similar to ours. The female demon doesnt even try to hide her displeasure towards the male demons who were laughing together.The monsters, who literally devoured Tridents army in front of their eyes, immediately tried to rush towards their next prey, the city, but then stopped.Due to not just the orcs, but even the wyverns and sub-dragons having halted, the demons turn a quizzical gaze towards Klinge.The wall protecting the city in front of their eyes was covered with green vines to the point where the stone beneath couldnt be seen, but as soon as they wondered whether a part of it had squirmed like an animals tentacle, a single, cocoon-like cluster formed on a vine.That cocoon, which stood out for some reason, slowly opened while gathering countless eyes on itself.What stood up from within that vines cocoon was a young woman boasting a tall, slender and well-proportioned body.Her flaxen hair naturally spills down to her waist. A black apron dress covers her balanced body.That woman, who bowed so gracefully that it even charmed the orcs, who shouldnt know anything about etiquette, began to speak with a voice that carried itself across the whole battlefield albeit not being very loud. Let me warn you. This place is Klinge, the city where Margrave Kunugi, who was permitted to rule this land by the Trident Principality, resides. This city doesnt allow the existence of anyone who possesses even a shred of malicious intent. If you heed this warning and pull back, we wont chase you, but please resolve yourself if you dont. Upon hearing the womans calm words, the demons dumbfoundedly gazed at her for a while, but before long they pointed their fingers at the woman and started slandering her while revealing crooked smiles. Youre an idiot! I hate idiots! You will overlook us if we pull back? Cant you see reality? Resolve ourselves, eh? Ooh, how scary, how scary! Going by your appearance, youre the pet dog of this citys lord, arent you? The female demon snatches a spear held by a nearby orc.Being too late in letting go, the orc was lifted up alongside the spear and then blown away while screaming once the female demon wielded the spear. Go and redo your studies from the basics of how to speak in the netherworld! The female demon, who fixed her hold on the spear after making it revolve in the air once, immediately throws it.The orc spears werent originally meant for throwing.Its a weapon that wont have much penetrative force and range if thrown without taking its length, weight and center of gravity into account. However, once that spear left the female demons hand, it flew in a straight line towards the apron dress-wearing woman leaving a whistling sound behind as it cut through the air.The spear had such momentum that it would doubtlessly drive itself into the womans body up to its shaft if she didnt defend herself.Anyone, who saw that spectacle, imagined the woman drenched in blood with the spear handle sprouting from her chest.Anyone besides a few humans, that is. Thats a truly tasteful reply. On top of being easy to understand, its quick. The spears pointy end suddenly stopped in front of the womans chest as if it had stabbed into something.The spear handle shook intensely as if to display its stabbing force, but the spearhead didnt advance even a millimeter from where it was.While the faces of the demons were dyed in surprise, the woman presses her index finger against the pointed end of the frozen spear. With just that, the spear crumbles away as if several hundred years had passed all at once, and vanishes. Id love to give you a return gift, but I dont have anything besides this. What the woman retrieved from her aprons pocket was a butter knife that doesnt even have a sharpened edge.Its not even considered a weapon.The woman lightly swings the butter knife, which isnt a threat even if thrust at someone, and brandishes it like a throwing knife.The butter knife that left her hand just like that turned into a single flash that flew with a speed that surpassed the demons imagination.Even the demons could understand that it had been thrown at them, but theres quite a large distance between the woman and the demons.Its a distance the heavy spear managed to traverse precisely because it had been thrown with the physical strength of a demon.There should be no way that a light butter knife would reach after being thrown with the strength of a human, but the butter knife that had transformed into a flash stabbed into the forehead of a single man among the demons, who had been careless as he believed that it wouldnt get this far. The knifes end protruded out from the back of his head after passing through his skull. Eh? The male demon, whose eyeballs flew out of his head apparently due to the knifes impact at the time, which also left a hole going from his forehead to the back of his head, raised an awfully stupid sound. With that apparently being his last word, he feebly fell backwards onto the ground.With a slight delay, blood and some kind of fluid thats not blood gushed out from the gaping hole on his forehead.The remaining three demons needed several seconds to comprehend that he had just lost his life.Moreover, they needed another ten-odd seconds to accept the reality that it was caused by a meager, metallic tool like a butter knife which normally shouldnt be capable of piercing them. No way Now that we have literally crossed swords, I guess its time to start the battle, everyone. The woman in an apron dress puts her hands on her chest and performs a courteous bow. Please reflect upon having ignored my warning. Please regret having turned this Klinge into your enemy. And, its very likely His Majesty the Demon King the one who ordered you to make a move on the city of my master Renya Kunugi, so please curse His Majesty for your doom. Even while forming a smile with her mouth, a feeling of indignation that makes everyone that looks into her eyes freeze is oozing out of her.The woman in an apron dress smoothly informs them, Todays battle will likely result in you guys realizing how deeply compassionate an instant death in itself can be. How gentle death could be. And you will probably learn to understand how wonderful it is to be granted death even without asking for it. What are you saying The womans words sounded like a resonant song.The female demon, who started to open her mouth to ask as she didnt understand the meaning behind her words, notices how the fingers of the previously stabbed male demon move with a twitch, and turn pale. Y-You d-dont say In front of the female demon, who strongly tries to deny the words which have popped up into her head, the man, who should be dead, raised a scream. Ouwwwwwwch!? W-Why!? Why am I not dead!? Even though the knife is still stuck in my head!? Even though it hurrrts so much! Why havent I died!? Something like thatit should have been a fatal wound K-Kill meplease kill meeeee! I cant bear this paaaaain! The other three demons stare with widened eyes at the man whos rolling around while blocking the gaping hole on his forehead with his hands.Each time the man turns over, blood and something muddy spill out of the hole in his head, but theres not the slightest indication of the man dying.The male demon writhes in agony while blood streams out of botheyesthat are now just dark brown cavities.Without understanding whats happening in front of their eyes, the demons shift their attention towards the woman in the apron dress. At that point they notice the faint, red light stretching across Klinges city wall.If anyone from the demon army flew right above Klinge, they would witness various repeatedly blinking diagrams being drawn across the streets of Klinge which is encircled by crimson phosphorescence. There are three composed spells that make use of Klinges City-Class Sorcery Array. The woman says while raising three fingers. The first, a barrier. On top of possessing a strength that allows to cover the whole battlefield and doesnt allow anyone get away, its a barrier with the purpose of not letting any of the internal circumstances leak to the outside. The woman lowers one finger. The second, maintenance. The spells name is . One cannot welcome death within this barrier. No matter what might happen, the soul will stay shackled to its body. She lowers yet another finger. The third, alignment. Its a spell for the sake of preparing the same environment inside the barrier as the one I have created in the basement of masters castle. She lowers her last finger and tightly grasps her fist. Now then, you probably wonder just what Ive done, right? The woman opened her clenched fists, clapped her hands in front of her chest once, spreads them apart suddenly, and asks while tilting her head to the side, but theres no one in this place that can answer her question.For a short while the woman waited for someone to reply while maintaining that posture, but once she realizes that there wont be any answers, she returns to her formerly upright posture while sighing. Times up. Lets hand out a punishment. Suddenly several sorcery arrays appear on the surface of the city wall emitting a red phosphorescence. A sorcery attack, huh!? The demons deploy defense magic at once.Once the woman in the apron swung a finger without minding the demons reaction, the manifested sorcery arrays spit out countless light spheres.Seemingly not possessing any considerable power, they were repelled or disappeared after touching the defense magic deployed by the demons, but the orcs, who dont own any decent measures against sorcery, have no means to defend themselves.Orc bodies, which were directly hit, are torn to pieces. As flesh and blood continue to fly around, bewildered voices start to spread among the orcs.The orcs, who were injured to the point they should be dead, continue screaming while exposing their wounds unable to die. Pain, suffering, sadness and resentment. Its possible to easily use such negative emotions as mana. With faintly blushing cheeks and an entranced look, the woman watches how some orcs roll over while scattering their intestines, how others wriggle like worms after having their limbs plucked off by light spheres, and how still-unhurt orcs let their eyes wander around looking for a way to escape while twisting their faces in terror. As it appears that the alignment of the environment went well, Putry-chan below will be full of joy. What the heck Its fine even if you dont understand the situation in particular. Now then, I guess I should welcome you all properly? The woman pinches the skirt of her apron dress and bows while depicting an elegant drape with the hem.Her conduct is perfect and beautiful. Welcome, everybody. To my feeding grounds. Welcome to the simple hell furnace, one of Klinges defense mechanisms. Come on, please dance, everyone. You will be alright until your soul dries up completely. We have plenty of time. After all you wont be able to die, even if you want to. You wont be able to die, even if you try to! Her smile changed into laughter.Right now, right here a predation that reversed the role of attackers and defenders was about to begin. The demon army that attacked Klinge on that day used orcs as its main fighting force.Orcs, which are more powerful and burlier than goblins, also eat even more repulsive things,have a stronger reproductive ability and are somewhat smarter than goblins.Such uncontrollable monsters came rushing while riding on the backs of wyverns and sub-dragons.Moreover, as the demons had apparently put some effort into this battle, four of them had joined the monster army.With just one demon being present, a human army would have been put in a tough spot. However, once several demons get involved, it becomes impossible to know just how much combat prowess they would add to the overall strength of the monster army.The ones who recklessly plunged into such an army with immeasurable combat power from the front were the soldiers of Tridents national army.In addition, the superiority of numbers on the demon armys side was around 20 to 1, according to Fraus investigation.But that doesnt mean that they were completely helpless.There were some soldiers who inflicted some casualties by thrusting their swords at the enemy in order to show their pride as military men, but those people were in the minority, and the losses they caused couldnt even be called a scratch when compared to the whole enemy army.Although almost all soldiers had readied their weapons, most were kicked down by sub-dragons, stabbed to death by orcs holding spears, ripped apart by the swords of orcs and the claws of wyverns, and turned into a bloody mess of minced meat in the blink of an eye.Those chunks of meat were furthermore crunched by the strong jaws of the wyverns, sub-dragons and orcs as food.All that remained from the soldiers were broken swords and bloodstained, crushed armor parts.You could call it a gruesome scene of carnage that didnt give the victims any time to raise anything close to screams or angry roars. What the hell were those guys? A male demon riding on the back of a sub-dragon asked quite mystified. Another male demon laughed while having the sub-dragon hes riding kick an iron helmet lying on the ground. Who knows. Werent those suicide candidates? Pointlessly wasting their already few soldiersisnt that citys commander an idiot? Upon the words of another male demon, a female demon, who followed at the end of the line, frowned while chiding him, Pay attention. After all its possible that it was some kind of strategy. A strategy that turned such a large number of soldiers into fodder? That would be a fairly extravagant plan. It would be somewhat profane to regard the person, who came up with it, as human. Theres no mistake in that. If its a plan that can give us even the slightest pain, I dare say that their way of thinking is similar to ours. The female demon doesnt even try to hide her displeasure towards the male demons who were laughing together.The monsters, who literally devoured Tridents army in front of their eyes, immediately tried to rush towards their next prey, the city, but then stopped.Due to not just the orcs, but even the wyverns and sub-dragons having halted, the demons turn a quizzical gaze towards Klinge.The wall protecting the city in front of their eyes was covered with green vines to the point where the stone beneath couldnt be seen, but as soon as they wondered whether a part of it had squirmed like an animals tentacle, a single, cocoon-like cluster formed on a vine.That cocoon, which stood out for some reason, slowly opened while gathering countless eyes on itself.What stood up from within that vines cocoon was a young woman boasting a tall, slender and well-proportioned body.Her flaxen hair naturally spills down to her waist. A black apron dress covers her balanced body.That woman, who bowed so gracefully that it even charmed the orcs, who shouldnt know anything about etiquette, began to speak with a voice that carried itself across the whole battlefield albeit not being very loud. Let me warn you. This place is Klinge, the city where Margrave Kunugi, who was permitted to rule this land by the Trident Principality, resides. This city doesnt allow the existence of anyone who possesses even a shred of malicious intent. If you heed this warning and pull back, we wont chase you, but please resolve yourself if you dont. Upon hearing the womans calm words, the demons dumbfoundedly gazed at her for a while, but before long they pointed their fingers at the woman and started slandering her while revealing crooked smiles. Youre an idiot! I hate idiots! You will overlook us if we pull back? Cant you see reality? Resolve ourselves, eh? Ooh, how scary, how scary! Going by your appearance, youre the pet dog of this citys lord, arent you? The female demon snatches a spear held by a nearby orc.Being too late in letting go, the orc was lifted up alongside the spear and then blown away while screaming once the female demon wielded the spear. Go and redo your studies from the basics of how to speak in the netherworld! The female demon, who fixed her hold on the spear after making it revolve in the air once, immediately throws it.The orc spears werent originally meant for throwing.Its a weapon that wont have much penetrative force and range if thrown without taking its length, weight and center of gravity into account. However, once that spear left the female demons hand, it flew in a straight line towards the apron dress-wearing woman leaving a whistling sound behind as it cut through the air.The spear had such momentum that it would doubtlessly drive itself into the womans body up to its shaft if she didnt defend herself.Anyone, who saw that spectacle, imagined the woman drenched in blood with the spear handle sprouting from her chest.Anyone besides a few humans, that is. Thats a truly tasteful reply. On top of being easy to understand, its quick. The spears pointy end suddenly stopped in front of the womans chest as if it had stabbed into something.The spear handle shook intensely as if to display its stabbing force, but the spearhead didnt advance even a millimeter from where it was.While the faces of the demons were dyed in surprise, the woman presses her index finger against the pointed end of the frozen spear.With just that, the spear crumbles away as if several hundred years had passed all at once, and vanishes. Id love to give you a return gift, but I dont have anything besides this. What the woman retrieved from her aprons pocket was a butter knife that doesnt even have a sharpened edge.Its not even considered a weapon.The woman lightly swings the butter knife, which isnt a threat even if thrust at someone, and brandishes it like a throwing knife.The butter knife that left her hand just like that turned into a single flash that flew with a speed that surpassed the demons imagination.Even the demons could understand that it had been thrown at them, but theres quite a large distance between the woman and the demons.Its a distance the heavy spear managed to traverse precisely because it had been thrown with the physical strength of a demon.There should be no way that a light butter knife would reach after being thrown with the strength of a human, but the butter knife that had transformed into a flash stabbed into the forehead of a single man among the demons, who had been careless as he believed that it wouldnt get this far. The knifes end protruded out from the back of his head after passing through his skull. Eh? The male demon, whose eyeballs flew out of his head apparently due to the knifes impact at the time, which also left a hole going from his forehead to the back of his head, raised an awfully stupid sound. With that apparently being his last word, he feebly fell backwards onto the ground.With a slight delay, blood and some kind of fluid thats not blood gushed out from the gaping hole on his forehead.The remaining three demons needed several seconds to comprehend that he had just lost his life.Moreover, they needed another ten-odd seconds to accept the reality that it was caused by a meager, metallic tool like a butter knife which normally shouldnt be capable of piercing them. No way Now that we have literally crossed swords, I guess its time to start the battle, everyone. The woman in an apron dress puts her hands on her chest and performs a courteous bow. Please reflect upon having ignored my warning. Please regret having turned this Klinge into your enemy. And, its very likely His Majesty the Demon King the one who ordered you to make a move on the city of my master Renya Kunugi, so please curse His Majesty for your doom. Even while forming a smile with her mouth, a feeling of indignation that makes everyone that looks into her eyes freeze is oozing out of her.The woman in an apron dress smoothly informs them, Todays battle will likely result in you guys realizing how deeply compassionate an instant death in itself can be. How gentle death could be. And you will probably learn to understand how wonderful it is to be granted death even without asking for it. What are you saying The womans words sounded like a resonant song.The female demon, who started to open her mouth to ask as she didnt understand the meaning behind her words, notices how the fingers of the previously stabbed male demon move with a twitch, and turn pale. Y-You d-dont say In front of the female demon, who strongly tries to deny the words which have popped up into her head, the man, who should be dead, raised a scream. Ouwwwwwwch!? W-Why!? Why am I not dead!? Even though the knife is still stuck in my head!? Even though it hurrrts so much! Why havent I died!? Something like thatit should have been a fatal wound K-Kill meplease kill meeeee! I cant bear this paaaaain! The other three demons stare with widened eyes at the man whos rolling around while blocking the gaping hole on his forehead with his hands.Each time the man turns over, blood and something muddy spill out of the hole in his head, but theres not the slightest indication of the man dying.The male demon writhes in agony while blood streams out of botheyesthat are now just dark brown cavities.Without understanding whats happening in front of their eyes, the demons shift their attention towards the woman in the apron dress. At that point they notice the faint, red light stretching across Klinges city wall.If anyone from the demon army flew right above Klinge, they would witness various repeatedly blinking diagrams being drawn across the streets of Klinge which is encircled by crimson phosphorescence. There are three composed spells that make use of Klinges City-Class Sorcery Array. The woman says while raising three fingers. The first, a barrier. On top of possessing a strength that allows to cover the whole battlefield and doesnt allow anyone get away, its a barrier with the purpose of not letting any of the internal circumstances leak to the outside. The woman lowers one finger. The second, maintenance. The spells name is . One cannot welcome death within this barrier. No matter what might happen, the soul will stay shackled to its body. She lowers yet another finger. The third, alignment. Its a spell for the sake of preparing the same environment inside the barrier as the one I have created in the basement of masters castle. She lowers her last finger and tightly grasps her fist. Now then, you probably wonder just what Ive done, right? The woman opened her clenched fists, clapped her hands in front of her chest once, spreads them apart suddenly, and asks while tilting her head to the side, but theres no one in this place that can answer her question.For a short while the woman waited for someone to reply while maintaining that posture, but once she realizes that there wont be any answers, she returns to her formerly upright posture while sighing. Times up. Lets hand out a punishment. Suddenly several sorcery arrays appear on the surface of the city wall emitting a red phosphorescence. A sorcery attack, huh!? The demons deploy defense magic at once.Once the woman in the apron swung a finger without minding the demons reaction, the manifested sorcery arrays spit out countless light spheres.Seemingly not possessing any considerable power, they were repelled or disappeared after touching the defense magic deployed by the demons, but the orcs, who dont own any decent measures against sorcery, have no means to defend themselves.Orc bodies, which were directly hit, are torn to pieces. As flesh and blood continue to fly around, bewildered voices start to spread among the orcs.The orcs, who were injured to the point they should be dead, continue screaming while exposing their wounds unable to die. Pain, suffering, sadness and resentment. Its possible to easily use such negative emotions as mana. With faintly blushing cheeks and an entranced look, the woman watches how some orcs roll over while scattering their intestines, how others wriggle like worms after having their limbs plucked off by light spheres, and how still-unhurt orcs let their eyes wander around looking for a way to escape while twisting their faces in terror. As it appears that the alignment of the environment went well, Putry-chan below will be full of joy. What the heck Its fine even if you dont understand the situation in particular. Now then, I guess I should welcome you all properly? The woman pinches the skirt of her apron dress and bows while depicting an elegant drape with the hem.Her conduct is perfect and beautiful. Welcome, everybody. To my feeding grounds. Welcome to the simple hell furnace, one of Klinges defense mechanisms. Come on, please dance, everyone. You will be alright until your soul dries up completely. We have plenty of time. After all you wont be able to die, even if you want to. You wont be able to die, even if you try to! Her smile changed into laughter.Right now, right here a predation that reversed the role of attackers and defenders was about to begin. Chapter 173 Kill her! Kill that woman!! A yell, which is too heartbroken to be called an order, echoes across the battlefield.As if pulled by that voice, the army of monsters begins its advance.However, its not the advance of predators marching towards their prey as it had been until now, but its a reaction triggered by the fear that they will be preyed upon if they dont kill that woman in the apron dress right now.Without seeming perturbed, the woman muttered with a calm voice at the monsters who came charging with bloodshot eyes and foaming mouths, Begin the attack. Countless light spheres set out from within the city towards the other side of the wall.Once the light spheres hit the flying wyverns, they penetrated through their hard scales as if they didnt exist at all, causing flowers of blood to bloom in the sky.The wyverns, who stop their advance while raising agonizing screams, have their bodies pierced by more light sphere attacks. Riddled with holes all over, they become unable to stay airborne and crash towards the ground.The sub-dragons and orcs frantically avoid the areas where the free falling wyvern bodies are going to impact so as to not get buried under their huge builds. They strike the ground together with the monsters riding on their backs, but the wyverns and monsters, who should have died at this point, remain alive while suffering in anguish due to their broken bodies and their weirdly bent limbs.If it were orcs and goblins tossing around in pain, there likely wouldnt be any problem, but if it comes to a wyvern, they will definitely get their surroundings dragged into it.Shells that came flying in curves impact on the locations where the wyverns are mowing down monster soldiers by chaotically swinging their tails and flapping their wings around, and explode into carpets of fire.The wyverns, whose holey bodies are now on fire, start to rampage even more intensely while raising screams as if they have gone mad. Monsters, who turned into living torches, roll around on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames covering their bodies.Even though its such hellish scene, not a single person or body is visited by death. It was a simultaneous attack by the flak and the sorcery howitzer battery of masters castle, butyou guys, you are unexpectedly fragile, arent you? What should be called emplacements, which had been built all over Renyas castle by Frau and Emil, are now manned by a hundred of Keiths subordinates, who had waited for orders.And, at the same time as they received those orders, they started to ceaselessly fire the ordnance installed at the emplacements, just as they had been instructed in advance.By nature the soldiers of this world arent familiar with guns and similar, and thus theres no way for them to be accustomed to handling them. As such Frau and Emil decided to disregard efficient usage and accuracy from the very start.They were installations with the underlying idea that its fine as long as those weapons can stall an invading army by laying a barrage on the ground and in the sky, but as a result of the fortunate combination of the enemy armys density and the barrages density, they caused substantial losses. I have problems deciding whether this is owed to our soldiers performing better than expected or the enemy being a let-down. The monsters, who had tried to extinguish the fire by rolling around, finally put out the flames and raise their bodies unsteadily.Depending on their movements, body fragments, which had transformed into crumbly charcoal, broke off across their whole bodies and fell to the ground.White bones are peeking out from the places where the charcoal had fallen down from. The parts that had been burned down to the bones, expose red flesh.The monsters dont understand why they are not dying even after having turned into such a mangled state.They only raise incomprehensible groans and wailings after seeing their now exposed bones and flesh.The woman in the apron dress, who soundlessly descended to the ground from the foothold created by the vines, suddenly spreads both arms without caring about the disastrous scenery around her. Spell Name . In response, a pitch black cube appears in front of the woman chest, between her extended arms.Without hesitation the woman grabbed the newly manifested box with her left hand, thrust her right hand inside and moved her arm around as if rummaging for something while humming. Now then, I wonder what will come out? What she pulled out of the box as soon as she finished speaking was a rabbit plush toy that looked extremely cheap but exceedingly well-made. Oh my, how cute. She rubs her cheeks against it and then starts to walk across the gruesome battlefield.Mysteriously the black box matches her pace and follows the woman while floating in midair.Wont we be able to break out of this hell if we kill that woman?As if clinging to that last hope, the monsters, who are still capable of fighting, rushed towards the woman with their weapons drawn. Spell Name .1 The woman quietly tosses the rabbit plush toy high into the sky.The bunny disappeared as if dissolving, and in the next instant something passed through the monsters that were just about to attack the woman.Although the monsters wondered for a moment just what was going on, they didnt have the leeway to concern themselves with something like that. Without checking any further, the monsters try to dash towards the woman, but then each of them noticed that their own field of vision had become upside down or tilted to the side. Gii? Just as one of the monsters leaked a voice, deep crimson rain pours down in the vicinity.What fell to the ground with rumbling sounds were their heads.And then blood sprayed towards the sky with a force similar to that of a fountain from their severed necks.Normally it should have ended at that point. But, thanks to the temporary immortality bestowed upon them, they cant die.Thus their lopped-off heads scream as they suffer in pain, and their bodies move about in confusion, searching for their heads while feeling the same.Even those that luckily found their heads have no means to stick it and body back together at this point in time.There are even very cruel cases where bodies frantically try to stick heads, which were not their own, onto their necks. I wonder, what will come out next? Once she quietly holds her left hand up, the following black box lands on her palm.The woman in apron dress, who thrust her right hand into the box and pulled out something in one go, looked at what shes holding in her hand, and revealed a blatantly disappointed expression. This one is a miss. Its a charm.Some characters are written in red on the surface of the tattered charm. However, since its a rare opportunity, I will give it a try. Once she mutters so to no one in particular, she slapped the charm on the back of a headless monster loitering around right next to her. Spell Name . The body with the charm on its back trembles with a start.It immediate extends its hands to its back, trying to tear off the charm, but apparently because of its missing head, it cant really get the charm off.Meanwhile the charms red characters start to blink. This gives mean unexpectedly good vibe While the woman watches with keen interest, the body with the charm grasps at its chest all of a sudden.It seemed as if its putting up with something, but the reason became apparent right away.Alongside the sound of something being torn, the orcs chest opens to both sides.While something like a disembodied soul possessing only a mouth with transparent fangs laughs shrilly, three souls appear from within the scattering blood and flesh, and each of them sinks its fangs into another, nearby monster.While devouring the flesh, the souls slip inside the bodies. After a short time of struggling in pain, the bodies open the chests in the same way as the first victim, and another three souls are spit out. Zombie Bomb is a chain technique. Devouring the enemy, it grows in power thanks to the devoured enemy, and then attacks other enemies, however She grumbles to herself while folding her arms and tilting her head to the side. I thought that it might be impossible since the temporary immortality is in effect, but this looks like its going to work. She caresses the head of a soul that got close with a there, there. While making its fangs clatter in delight, the soul then looks for a new victim and flies away.Various fluids and solid objects that are difficult to describe have fallen to the ground or are flying around in the vicinity, but theres not the slightest indication of the womans apron dress having been dirtied.The filth doesnt touch her body, as if avoiding her.She, who wanders across a battlefield that would make any normal person hesitate to traverse it in such a leisurely manner, raises her eyes, seemingly having suddenly noticed something, and draws her body back slightly.A slashing attack that tears the atmosphere apart assails her, chasing after her body. Oh? Oh my, oh my? She dodges by turning round and round while raising a listless voice.One slash after the other is unleashed at her in an attempt to somehow seize her body, but not one of them even grazes her. You fuckin bitch! Im a lady, you know? What terrible way to address me. Using a headless monster body as a shield to avoid the attacks for the umpteenth time, she leaps back widely in order to open a distance while blocking her opponents sight by spraying the blood of the body she had just used.The one who was fixing his hold on the large sword while breathing roughly on the other side of the blood spray was one of the male demons. To assault an unarmed woman with such a boorish weapon, how very inelegant, demon man. Whos unarmed, you damned monster!? I believe theres no mistake in me being unarmed, though? While warily shifting her attention to the demons sword, she validates that theres no error in what she said. What the fuck are you!? Ah, I didnt introduce myself, now did I? Pressing her right hand against her chest, and pinching her skirt with the left, she introduces herself while performing a refined bow. I am working as the Head Maid at Margrave Kunugi-samas place. Frau is my name. Head Maid!? Well, this body is a dummy, however. (Frau 2) Dummy, you say!? Indeed, my real body is in the middle of checking and controlling the sorcery formulae inside the city. (Frau 2) Declaring so nonchalantly, Fraus dummy suddenly inclines her head to the side while raising her body.What grazed her head from behind was a spearhead. A surprise attack from behind in a two vs. one, dont you consider that to be unfair? (Frau 2) Frau lightly leaps to the side, seemingly cautions of an attack from her flank and a follow-up attack from behind. However, I feel like there were two more male demons left. (Frau 2) The one who pulled back the spear and got back in her stance was the female demon. Have they passed away somewhere? (Frau 2) Theres no reply to Fraus question.Frau pondered while staring back without any emotions in particular at the two pairs of eyes that were glaring at her. Then, as if having abruptly realized something, she clapped her hands together. Oh, they got involved with the head-hunting rabbit from the beginning, and are now headless. (Frau 2) Although she heard teeth gritting without knowing which of the demons it might be, Frau doesnt care at all. Or did they get dragged into the range attacks as they were about to launch a surprise attack? That would be the height of stupidity, though? (Frau 2) Shut up, monster! Moreover during the first attack? (Frau 2) Ive told you to keep your mouth shut! While smoothly evading the large sword, which was swung down alongside that yell, and keeping the spear-holding demon in check with her eyes, Frau thrusts her hand into the black box.Without groping around this time, she speedily pulled out her hand without delay. Oh my, this one, eh? (Frau 2) While seemingly astonished, she held a pair of huge scissors in her hand.Frau, who got ready by shouldering those scissors with blades that have a length of around one meter, quietly mumbles their name. Spell Name . Thats something relatively tame, you know? (Frau 2) Youre spouting bullshit! Once again smoothly dodging the large sword which was swung upwards this time, she repels the spearhead that had been thrust in the direction of her evasion with the scissors.Although the female demon checks the repelled spearhead with a glance, there are no traces of it having been cut or fractured. This has yet another quirky spell. (Frau 2) Once she whirls around the surrounding bodies, Frau rotates the scissors blades and returns to her stance of shouldering them.The monster bodies that stood around in the vicinity split apart after being completely cut and then fall to the ground in pieces. It doesnt have much attack power against objects. However, it can easily sever flesh like this. (Frau 2) Your taste is really bad Frau smiles sweetly at the female demon who spilled that unintentionally. As such words are coming from a demon, I shall take them as compliment. (Frau 2) While shouldering the huge scissors with her right hand and pinching her skirt with the left, Frau displays a little bow. The two demons twist their faces in response. Kill her! Kill that woman!! A yell, which is too heartbroken to be called an order, echoes across the battlefield.As if pulled by that voice, the army of monsters begins its advance.However, its not the advance of predators marching towards their prey as it had been until now, but its a reaction triggered by the fear that they will be preyed upon if they dont kill that woman in the apron dress right now.Without seeming perturbed, the woman muttered with a calm voice at the monsters who came charging with bloodshot eyes and foaming mouths, Begin the attack. Countless light spheres set out from within the city towards the other side of the wall.Once the light spheres hit the flying wyverns, they penetrated through their hard scales as if they didnt exist at all, causing flowers of blood to bloom in the sky.The wyverns, who stop their advance while raising agonizing screams, have their bodies pierced by more light sphere attacks. Riddled with holes all over, they become unable to stay airborne and crash towards the ground.The sub-dragons and orcs frantically avoid the areas where the free falling wyvern bodies are going to impact so as to not get buried under their huge builds. They strike the ground together with the monsters riding on their backs, but the wyverns and monsters, who should have died at this point, remain alive while suffering in anguish due to their broken bodies and their weirdly bent limbs.If it were orcs and goblins tossing around in pain, there likely wouldnt be any problem, but if it comes to a wyvern, they will definitely get their surroundings dragged into it.Shells that came flying in curves impact on the locations where the wyverns are mowing down monster soldiers by chaotically swinging their tails and flapping their wings around, and explode into carpets of fire.The wyverns, whose holey bodies are now on fire, start to rampage even more intensely while raising screams as if they have gone mad. Monsters, who turned into living torches, roll around on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames covering their bodies.Even though its such hellish scene, not a single person or body is visited by death. It was a simultaneous attack by the flak and the sorcery howitzer battery of masters castle, butyou guys, you are unexpectedly fragile, arent you? What should be called emplacements, which had been built all over Renyas castle by Frau and Emil, are now manned by a hundred of Keiths subordinates, who had waited for orders.And, at the same time as they received those orders, they started to ceaselessly fire the ordnance installed at the emplacements, just as they had been instructed in advance.By nature the soldiers of this world arent familiar with guns and similar, and thus theres no way for them to be accustomed to handling them. As such Frau and Emil decided to disregard efficient usage and accuracy from the very start.They were installations with the underlying idea that its fine as long as those weapons can stall an invading army by laying a barrage on the ground and in the sky, but as a result of the fortunate combination of the enemy armys density and the barrages density, they caused substantial losses. I have problems deciding whether this is owed to our soldiers performing better than expected or the enemy being a let-down. The monsters, who had tried to extinguish the fire by rolling around, finally put out the flames and raise their bodies unsteadily.Depending on their movements, body fragments, which had transformed into crumbly charcoal, broke off across their whole bodies and fell to the ground.White bones are peeking out from the places where the charcoal had fallen down from. The parts that had been burned down to the bones, expose red flesh.The monsters dont understand why they are not dying even after having turned into such a mangled state.They only raise incomprehensible groans and wailings after seeing their now exposed bones and flesh.The woman in the apron dress, who soundlessly descended to the ground from the foothold created by the vines, suddenly spreads both arms without caring about the disastrous scenery around her. Spell Name . In response, a pitch black cube appears in front of the woman chest, between her extended arms.Without hesitation the woman grabbed the newly manifested box with her left hand, thrust her right hand inside and moved her arm around as if rummaging for something while humming. Now then, I wonder what will come out? What she pulled out of the box as soon as she finished speaking was a rabbit plush toy that looked extremely cheap but exceedingly well-made. Oh my, how cute. She rubs her cheeks against it and then starts to walk across the gruesome battlefield.Mysteriously the black box matches her pace and follows the woman while floating in midair.Wont we be able to break out of this hell if we kill that woman?As if clinging to that last hope, the monsters, who are still capable of fighting, rushed towards the woman with their weapons drawn. Spell Name .1 The woman quietly tosses the rabbit plush toy high into the sky.The bunny disappeared as if dissolving, and in the next instant something passed through the monsters that were just about to attack the woman.Although the monsters wondered for a moment just what was going on, they didnt have the leeway to concern themselves with something like that. Without checking any further, the monsters try to dash towards the woman, but then each of them noticed that their own field of vision had become upside down or tilted to the side. Gii? Just as one of the monsters leaked a voice, deep crimson rain pours down in the vicinity.What fell to the ground with rumbling sounds were their heads.And then blood sprayed towards the sky with a force similar to that of a fountain from their severed necks.Normally it should have ended at that point. But, thanks to the temporary immortality bestowed upon them, they cant die.Thus their lopped-off heads scream as they suffer in pain, and their bodies move about in confusion, searching for their heads while feeling the same.Even those that luckily found their heads have no means to stick it and body back together at this point in time.There are even very cruel cases where bodies frantically try to stick heads, which were not their own, onto their necks. I wonder, what will come out next? Once she quietly holds her left hand up, the following black box lands on her palm.The woman in apron dress, who thrust her right hand into the box and pulled out something in one go, looked at what shes holding in her hand, and revealed a blatantly disappointed expression. This one is a miss. Its a charm.Some characters are written in red on the surface of the tattered charm. However, since its a rare opportunity, I will give it a try. Once she mutters so to no one in particular, she slapped the charm on the back of a headless monster loitering around right next to her. Spell Name . The body with the charm on its back trembles with a start.It immediate extends its hands to its back, trying to tear off the charm, but apparently because of its missing head, it cant really get the charm off.Meanwhile the charms red characters start to blink. This gives mean unexpectedly good vibe While the woman watches with keen interest, the body with the charm grasps at its chest all of a sudden.It seemed as if its putting up with something, but the reason became apparent right away.Alongside the sound of something being torn, the orcs chest opens to both sides.While something like a disembodied soul possessing only a mouth with transparent fangs laughs shrilly, three souls appear from within the scattering blood and flesh, and each of them sinks its fangs into another, nearby monster.While devouring the flesh, the souls slip inside the bodies. After a short time of struggling in pain, the bodies open the chests in the same way as the first victim, and another three souls are spit out. Zombie Bomb is a chain technique. Devouring the enemy, it grows in power thanks to the devoured enemy, and then attacks other enemies, however She grumbles to herself while folding her arms and tilting her head to the side. I thought that it might be impossible since the temporary immortality is in effect, but this looks like its going to work. She caresses the head of a soul that got close with a there, there. While making its fangs clatter in delight, the soul then looks for a new victim and flies away.Various fluids and solid objects that are difficult to describe have fallen to the ground or are flying around in the vicinity, but theres not the slightest indication of the womans apron dress having been dirtied.The filth doesnt touch her body, as if avoiding her.She, who wanders across a battlefield that would make any normal person hesitate to traverse it in such a leisurely manner, raises her eyes, seemingly having suddenly noticed something, and draws her body back slightly.A slashing attack that tears the atmosphere apart assails her, chasing after her body. Oh? Oh my, oh my? She dodges by turning round and round while raising a listless voice.One slash after the other is unleashed at her in an attempt to somehow seize her body, but not one of them even grazes her. You fuckin bitch! Im a lady, you know? What terrible way to address me. Using a headless monster body as a shield to avoid the attacks for the umpteenth time, she leaps back widely in order to open a distance while blocking her opponents sight by spraying the blood of the body she had just used.The one who was fixing his hold on the large sword while breathing roughly on the other side of the blood spray was one of the male demons. To assault an unarmed woman with such a boorish weapon, how very inelegant, demon man. Whos unarmed, you damned monster!? I believe theres no mistake in me being unarmed, though? While warily shifting her attention to the demons sword, she validates that theres no error in what she said. What the fuck are you!? Ah, I didnt introduce myself, now did I? Pressing her right hand against her chest, and pinching her skirt with the left, she introduces herself while performing a refined bow. I am working as the Head Maid at Margrave Kunugi-samas place. Frau is my name. Head Maid!? Well, this body is a dummy, however. (Frau 2) Dummy, you say!? Indeed, my real body is in the middle of checking and controlling the sorcery formulae inside the city. (Frau 2) Declaring so nonchalantly, Fraus dummy suddenly inclines her head to the side while raising her body.What grazed her head from behind was a spearhead. A surprise attack from behind in a two vs. one, dont you consider that to be unfair? (Frau 2) Frau lightly leaps to the side, seemingly cautions of an attack from her flank and a follow-up attack from behind. However, I feel like there were two more male demons left. (Frau 2) The one who pulled back the spear and got back in her stance was the female demon. Have they passed away somewhere? (Frau 2) Theres no reply to Fraus question.Frau pondered while staring back without any emotions in particular at the two pairs of eyes that were glaring at her. Then, as if having abruptly realized something, she clapped her hands together. Oh, they got involved with the head-hunting rabbit from the beginning, and are now headless. (Frau 2) Although she heard teeth gritting without knowing which of the demons it might be, Frau doesnt care at all. Or did they get dragged into the range attacks as they were about to launch a surprise attack? That would be the height of stupidity, though? (Frau 2) Shut up, monster! Moreover during the first attack? (Frau 2) Ive told you to keep your mouth shut! While smoothly evading the large sword, which was swung down alongside that yell, and keeping the spear-holding demon in check with her eyes, Frau thrusts her hand into the black box.Without groping around this time, she speedily pulled out her hand without delay. Oh my, this one, eh? (Frau 2) While seemingly astonished, she held a pair of huge scissors in her hand.Frau, who got ready by shouldering those scissors with blades that have a length of around one meter, quietly mumbles their name. Spell Name . Thats something relatively tame, you know? (Frau 2) Youre spouting bullshit! Once again smoothly dodging the large sword which was swung upwards this time, she repels the spearhead that had been thrust in the direction of her evasion with the scissors.Although the female demon checks the repelled spearhead with a glance, there are no traces of it having been cut or fractured. This has yet another quirky spell. (Frau 2) Once she whirls around the surrounding bodies, Frau rotates the scissors blades and returns to her stance of shouldering them.The monster bodies that stood around in the vicinity split apart after being completely cut and then fall to the ground in pieces. It doesnt have much attack power against objects. However, it can easily sever flesh like this. (Frau 2) Your taste is really bad Frau smiles sweetly at the female demon who spilled that unintentionally. As such words are coming from a demon, I shall take them as compliment. (Frau 2) While shouldering the huge scissors with her right hand and pinching her skirt with the left, Frau displays a little bow. The two demons twist their faces in response. Chapter 174 The two demons frowned at Fraus overly abstruse actions, but its not like they lessened their follow-up-attacks because of that.While dragging the surrounding monsters into the fight, Frau walks around and at times dodges and at other times wards off the great sword with her scissors blades.In regards to weight, the great sword should be overwhelmingly heavier, but as long as Frau doesnt receive its attack, the weight remains irrelevant, no matter how heavy it might be.His slashes unleashed at full power only cutting monsters or air just manages to irritate the male demon even more, but as soon as he launches a careless attack, the scissors blades immediately cut his flesh in return.Frau doesnt treat the scissors as a tool to merely cut whats in between its blades.If she wields it while only grasping the ring on one side, the blade itself turns into a very long sword, and the back of the blade into a sturdy, blunt weapon.Moreover, because its range is twice as long if wielded while open compared to when its closed, and since Frau repeatedly opens and closes the scissors as she sees fit, its difficult to grasp its range.After a long exchange of blows, the male demons posture was thrown off balance.In response, Frau thrusts the end of her scissors against the inner part of the great sword which he had swung vertically downward.Frau, who was about to strike the male demons body with the scissors blade in the same motion, once again takes a distance while clicking her tongue. The female demon had intervened with a spear thrust. As expected, 2 vs. 1 is quite unfair. (Frau 2) Frau grumbles while repelling the further spear thrusts with her scissors, but theres no reply from the female demon.Thats because she was desperate in her own way.The heavy pressure she feels from the fact that her neck or torso will be cut apart if she relaxes her attention for even a second drains all composure from the female demon.Even if the demons might be superior ability-wise, its not like they possess stamina allowing them to fight forever.The speed of her frantic spear thrusts is gradually decreasing, but just as Frau is about to shift towards a counterattack, the male demon, who fixed his stance and breathing, cuts in-between with his great sword. This is never going to end. (Frau 2) Waving the hem of her skirt while sighing, Frau dodges the great sword while looking unperturbed.Theres no fatigue visible on her face, nor is her breathing disturbed.That only makes sense when viewing it as a dummy body, but even so, one could say that its performance is oddly high.Seemingly because that doubt could be seen on the faces of the two demons, Frau once again shoulders her scissors, and smiles while facing the two. You look bewildered, but theres nothing mysterious about it, you know? (Frau) What do youmean? The male demon readjusts his great sword while breathing roughly.Frau answers without loosing her smile. I mean, this here is inside the furnace, and you guys are no more than fodder. And Im on the side of the predators. (Frau 2) Smoothly dodging a slash that had lost much of its initial force, Frau delivers a kick against the swords blade.The male demon, who almost dropped his sword due to the impact, frantically grasps the hilt tightly, but his body stumbles as a consequence of the force behind the kick.The female demon, who tried to back him up at this point, is surprised by the heaviness of her feet as she steps in, causing the speed of her thrust to weaken significantly.Theres no way for Frau to miss that chance.Once she brandishes the scissors blade to slice the female demons right wrist, who had thrust out her spear albeit slowly, while grazing the right flank of the stumbling male demon, crimson blood splashed out of the wounds that had opened up widely. Given that power continues to be supplied to me, I will never get tired. (Frau 2) Once Frau says so as if disclosing the secret behind a sleight of hand while removing the gore clinging to the scissors blade with a sharp swing, the two demons collapse to the ground while pressing their hands against their bleeding wounds.With his flank gouged out, the male demon is unable to hold and brandish the great sword any longer. And the female demon, who had her wrist ripped open, cant ready her spear either.Frau, who had sealed any counterattacks by precisely wounding her opponents in a way thats adjusted to their respective weapons, thrust her scissors into the black cube accompanying her.The scissors, whose tip stabbed the black cube, sank into the box. Is that the end of your resistance? If it is, thanks for your hard work. (Frau 2) The demons lack the words to respond to Frau who truly thanks them.They merely glare at Frau while holding down their injured parts in order to lessen the blood loss as much as possible.Frau waited for a response from them for a short while, but guessing that there wouldnt be any, she sighs. Since I heard in rumors that demons possess outrageous strength, I thought that you might give me a bit of a hard time, but it didnt look like it. (Frau 2) Even her provocative words triggered no response from them.Frau thought that they would react if she used such provocation, seeing as demons are a much more belligerent race, but in the end she was disappointed. You run way. Due to the subdued words of the male demon, Frau squints slightly.The male demon removed his hand from the wound at his flank that kept shedding blood and clenched his fists in front of Frau. Bring back the information. Thats the least you must do. Dont speak such nonsense Your injury is lighter than mine. I will buy you some time. Go! Without waiting for the female demons answer, the male demon starts throwing punches at Frau while screaming out his fighting spirit.Certainly it doesnt look like he has enough strength to wield his great sword anymore.Just because he tries hitting me with his bare hands, Id like him to put himself in my shoes as the one who has to keep him company in that, Frau sighs. Dont look down on the powers of demons! The demon delivers a right straight with all his power, but Frau nimbly evades it as if having predicted its trajectory.However, seemingly having taken her evasion into consideration, he swings his right fist with a backhand blow in order to strike at Fraus head from the side.Yet, that doesnt reach Frau either. ! A fire lance appears in his free left hand.That lance was released towards Fraus chest who evaded that backhand blow with a back sway of her upper body, but Fraus casual left hand chop transformed the lance all too quickly into countless sparks. Hah The male demon readies himself once more with his breathing disarranged as his flank is still bleeding.He looks at the female demon running away while repeatedly looking back over her shoulder and holding her continuously bleeding wrist.Frau gazes at the two with a nameless feeling, places her right index finger on her chin, and mutters, Somehow it seems as if I have become the villainess and you the protagonist who tries to let the heroine escape while risking his life, doesnt it? (Frau 2) What are you talking about? No, dont mind it. I just felt like it was fine if I was slightly unreasonable, too. (Frau 2) Once she considers it very carefully, the conversation between the male and female demon from before may sound like the conversation between a heroine, who tries to return to the protagonist, and a slightly popular support character, who are both in front of a powerful enemy they cannot defeat.Either way, Fraus position is that of villainess 1 who ruthlessly defeats them. Umm. It was your side that invaded this land, wasnt it? Somehow youre making me lose confidence. (Frau 2) What are you talking about? I wonder, what was I talking about anyway? I guess for starters I will get rid of you and chase after the woman. (Frau 2) Do you think Ill let you!? After dashing forward, he pretends to aim his fist at her face, but goes for a right body blow.He attacked after judging that he might not be able to stop Frau from chasing the female demon unless he lands at least one hit, but as a result sharp pain assails him from his wrist instead of his fist.Not evading his attack this time, Frau had attacked his wrist with her left knee from below and her left elbow from above.The demons wrist was smashed with a blunt, wet sound.As he falls to his knees while holding his painful wrist with his other hand, Frau delivers a right roundhouse kick to the demons temporal region.Consequently the temporal region caves in with a very prominent cracking sound, and the demons head bends into an angle thats normally impossible.Just as Frau lowered her feet to the ground and brushed off the hem of her skirt with a tapping, the man slowly thrust his face into the ground with the whites of his eyes showing.When it comes to broken neck bones and a depressed skull, such damage would usually result in death, but death doesnt reap the male demon.Frau picked up the great sword he had dropped and stabbed it carelessly into his back which was still twitching.Without even confirming how the swords point pierced through the center of the mans chest alongside sounds of flesh being ripped apart and bones being broken, Frau picked up the spear, which the female demon had left behind, and chased after the escaping woman with a light pace.Limiting it to the outcome: The game of tag between Frau and the female demon ended in a flash.Catching up with the female demon, who was staggering from the heavy blood loss and yet tried to somehow get out of Fraus barrier, was no trouble for Frau at all. Dont come! Stay away! The female demon, who noticed Frau approaching while partially skipping, shouts while trying to somehow get away from Frau, but unable to hold on because of her injury and the bleeding, she falls on her backside. Yes, what bad luck. Even if you managed to escape from me, how did you plan to break through the barrier with that body of yours? (Frau 2) Frau approached the demon, who was still trying to get away even while lying on the ground, with a smile while whirling around the spear in her hand as if to show off. The barrier has been set up to prevent demons escaping, you know? To say nothing of your wounded body. Theres no way that you will be able to get away, is there? (Frau 2) What about him? Him? That demon-san who displayed a spirit of self-sacrifice? Since he has gone sleep as he seemed exhausted, he might have become prey of the corpse bomb around now. That chain is still running after all. (Frau) Its the combination of corpse bomb after head-hunting bunny that Frau had used.Its a heinous combination leading to a chain because the corpses are used for the instant death technique, but the more enemies, the further the chain spreads and the longer it lasts.The only worrying aspect was whether the corpse bomb would activate at the first blow as it requires corpses, seeing as a temporary immortality has been activated, but now that it has successfully activated once, the chain continues at a good pace.The frightening part of the corpse bomb is its thorough continuity as long as the chain isnt cut at some point. Setting that aside, I will have you accept your end here. (Frau 2) Frau abruptly stops the rotating spear and aims the spearhead at the female demons chest.The female demon has no strength left to block or to evade the next attack.The instant the female demon shut her eyes tightly in anticipation of the pain that would assail her due to the next blow after having resolved herself for the worst, she heard a splashing sound. Eh? (Frau 2) Ah? Why? Unable to believe the view in front of her eyes, Frau stares while forgetting to even throw the spear.Even the female demon in front of her stares at her own abdomen as if seeing something unbelievable.Its the place where the looks of both women cross.Something like a tentacle of a mollusk-like creature with the thickness of an adult mans arm pushed out from her abdomen and broke through her clothes.Its something that seems to be originating from the demons body. The torn clothes become dyed in a darkish red color in an instant. This is? (Frau 2) In front of Frau, who alertly puts herself on guard by fixing her two-handed grip on the spear, a new tentacle pushes out of the demons belly.The sound of flesh being ripped apart mixes with the female demons screaming.At first Frau suspected this to be some kind of countermeasure in response to being cornered, but watching the female demon writhe in pain as she holds down her abdomen thats being penetrated by squirming tentacles, she realizes that her assumption was wrong.And at the instant when the third tentacle pierced through the demons belly, the female demon raised a shout. Your Majestyyy! While maintaining a distance allowing her to deal with whatever might happen, Frau frowns at the content of the demons scream.As far as Frau knows, theres only one being that demons would address as His Majesty.However, she didnt understand at all how that person is connected to the scene taking place in front of her.Without concern for Fraus deliberations, the female demon continued to scream towards the sky while writhing on the ground due to the incessant pain. Why, Your Majesty!? Why!? In accordance with your orders, we The screamed appeal suddenly stopped.Its not like the female demon died due to the pain.The temporary immortality continues to be in effect.What stopped her screaming was the next tentacle which was vomited out of her mouth as it pierced her throat while blowing off the demons lower chin.Having become unable to breathe, not to mention scream, the light vanishes from the female demons eyes turning them into hollow pupils.The throat, which raises a groan instead of the interrupted screaming, stops producing any further sounds before long. After turning into such a state, the female demon stands up and faces Frau. Just what the heckdoes that mean? (Frau) The female demon with blank eyes, a tentacle sprouting out of her mouth, and several more tentacles growing out of her belly has the appearance of some kind of fused being which is a person and yet again not.She limps while blood drips to the ground as the clothes that were absorbing it are gone. While watching the demon, who tried to escape until now, slowly approach, Frau felt her hands get slightly sweaty as they grasped the spear. The two demons frowned at Fraus overly abstruse actions, but its not like they lessened their follow-up-attacks because of that.While dragging the surrounding monsters into the fight, Frau walks around and at times dodges and at other times wards off the great sword with her scissors blades.In regards to weight, the great sword should be overwhelmingly heavier, but as long as Frau doesnt receive its attack, the weight remains irrelevant, no matter how heavy it might be.His slashes unleashed at full power only cutting monsters or air just manages to irritate the male demon even more, but as soon as he launches a careless attack, the scissors blades immediately cut his flesh in return.Frau doesnt treat the scissors as a tool to merely cut whats in between its blades.If she wields it while only grasping the ring on one side, the blade itself turns into a very long sword, and the back of the blade into a sturdy, blunt weapon.Moreover, because its range is twice as long if wielded while open compared to when its closed, and since Frau repeatedly opens and closes the scissors as she sees fit, its difficult to grasp its range.After a long exchange of blows, the male demons posture was thrown off balance.In response, Frau thrusts the end of her scissors against the inner part of the great sword which he had swung vertically downward.Frau, who was about to strike the male demons body with the scissors blade in the same motion, once again takes a distance while clicking her tongue. The female demon had intervened with a spear thrust. As expected, 2 vs. 1 is quite unfair. (Frau 2) Frau grumbles while repelling the further spear thrusts with her scissors, but theres no reply from the female demon.Thats because she was desperate in her own way.The heavy pressure she feels from the fact that her neck or torso will be cut apart if she relaxes her attention for even a second drains all composure from the female demon.Even if the demons might be superior ability-wise, its not like they possess stamina allowing them to fight forever.The speed of her frantic spear thrusts is gradually decreasing, but just as Frau is about to shift towards a counterattack, the male demon, who fixed his stance and breathing, cuts in-between with his great sword. This is never going to end. (Frau 2) Waving the hem of her skirt while sighing, Frau dodges the great sword while looking unperturbed.Theres no fatigue visible on her face, nor is her breathing disturbed.That only makes sense when viewing it as a dummy body, but even so, one could say that its performance is oddly high.Seemingly because that doubt could be seen on the faces of the two demons, Frau once again shoulders her scissors, and smiles while facing the two. You look bewildered, but theres nothing mysterious about it, you know? (Frau) What do youmean? The male demon readjusts his great sword while breathing roughly.Frau answers without loosing her smile. I mean, this here is inside the furnace, and you guys are no more than fodder. And Im on the side of the predators. (Frau 2) Smoothly dodging a slash that had lost much of its initial force, Frau delivers a kick against the swords blade.The male demon, who almost dropped his sword due to the impact, frantically grasps the hilt tightly, but his body stumbles as a consequence of the force behind the kick.The female demon, who tried to back him up at this point, is surprised by the heaviness of her feet as she steps in, causing the speed of her thrust to weaken significantly.Theres no way for Frau to miss that chance.Once she brandishes the scissors blade to slice the female demons right wrist, who had thrust out her spear albeit slowly, while grazing the right flank of the stumbling male demon, crimson blood splashed out of the wounds that had opened up widely. Given that power continues to be supplied to me, I will never get tired. (Frau 2) Once Frau says so as if disclosing the secret behind a sleight of hand while removing the gore clinging to the scissors blade with a sharp swing, the two demons collapse to the ground while pressing their hands against their bleeding wounds.With his flank gouged out, the male demon is unable to hold and brandish the great sword any longer. And the female demon, who had her wrist ripped open, cant ready her spear either.Frau, who had sealed any counterattacks by precisely wounding her opponents in a way thats adjusted to their respective weapons, thrust her scissors into the black cube accompanying her.The scissors, whose tip stabbed the black cube, sank into the box. Is that the end of your resistance? If it is, thanks for your hard work. (Frau 2) The demons lack the words to respond to Frau who truly thanks them.They merely glare at Frau while holding down their injured parts in order to lessen the blood loss as much as possible.Frau waited for a response from them for a short while, but guessing that there wouldnt be any, she sighs. Since I heard in rumors that demons possess outrageous strength, I thought that you might give me a bit of a hard time, but it didnt look like it. (Frau 2) Even her provocative words triggered no response from them.Frau thought that they would react if she used such provocation, seeing as demons are a much more belligerent race, but in the end she was disappointed. You run way. Due to the subdued words of the male demon, Frau squints slightly.The male demon removed his hand from the wound at his flank that kept shedding blood and clenched his fists in front of Frau. Bring back the information. Thats the least you must do. Dont speak such nonsense Your injury is lighter than mine. I will buy you some time. Go! Without waiting for the female demons answer, the male demon starts throwing punches at Frau while screaming out his fighting spirit.Certainly it doesnt look like he has enough strength to wield his great sword anymore.Just because he tries hitting me with his bare hands, Id like him to put himself in my shoes as the one who has to keep him company in that, Frau sighs. Dont look down on the powers of demons! The demon delivers a right straight with all his power, but Frau nimbly evades it as if having predicted its trajectory.However, seemingly having taken her evasion into consideration, he swings his right fist with a backhand blow in order to strike at Fraus head from the side.Yet, that doesnt reach Frau either. ! A fire lance appears in his free left hand.That lance was released towards Fraus chest who evaded that backhand blow with a back sway of her upper body, but Fraus casual left hand chop transformed the lance all too quickly into countless sparks. Hah The male demon readies himself once more with his breathing disarranged as his flank is still bleeding.He looks at the female demon running away while repeatedly looking back over her shoulder and holding her continuously bleeding wrist.Frau gazes at the two with a nameless feeling, places her right index finger on her chin, and mutters, Somehow it seems as if I have become the villainess and you the protagonist who tries to let the heroine escape while risking his life, doesnt it? (Frau 2) What are you talking about? No, dont mind it. I just felt like it was fine if I was slightly unreasonable, too. (Frau 2) Once she considers it very carefully, the conversation between the male and female demon from before may sound like the conversation between a heroine, who tries to return to the protagonist, and a slightly popular support character, who are both in front of a powerful enemy they cannot defeat.Either way, Fraus position is that of villainess 1 who ruthlessly defeats them. Umm. It was your side that invaded this land, wasnt it? Somehow youre making me lose confidence. (Frau 2) What are you talking about? I wonder, what was I talking about anyway? I guess for starters I will get rid of you and chase after the woman. (Frau 2) Do you think Ill let you!? After dashing forward, he pretends to aim his fist at her face, but goes for a right body blow.He attacked after judging that he might not be able to stop Frau from chasing the female demon unless he lands at least one hit, but as a result sharp pain assails him from his wrist instead of his fist.Not evading his attack this time, Frau had attacked his wrist with her left knee from below and her left elbow from above.The demons wrist was smashed with a blunt, wet sound.As he falls to his knees while holding his painful wrist with his other hand, Frau delivers a right roundhouse kick to the demons temporal region.Consequently the temporal region caves in with a very prominent cracking sound, and the demons head bends into an angle thats normally impossible.Just as Frau lowered her feet to the ground and brushed off the hem of her skirt with a tapping, the man slowly thrust his face into the ground with the whites of his eyes showing.When it comes to broken neck bones and a depressed skull, such damage would usually result in death, but death doesnt reap the male demon.Frau picked up the great sword he had dropped and stabbed it carelessly into his back which was still twitching.Without even confirming how the swords point pierced through the center of the mans chest alongside sounds of flesh being ripped apart and bones being broken, Frau picked up the spear, which the female demon had left behind, and chased after the escaping woman with a light pace.Limiting it to the outcome: The game of tag between Frau and the female demon ended in a flash.Catching up with the female demon, who was staggering from the heavy blood loss and yet tried to somehow get out of Fraus barrier, was no trouble for Frau at all. Dont come! Stay away! The female demon, who noticed Frau approaching while partially skipping, shouts while trying to somehow get away from Frau, but unable to hold on because of her injury and the bleeding, she falls on her backside. Yes, what bad luck. Even if you managed to escape from me, how did you plan to break through the barrier with that body of yours? (Frau 2) Frau approached the demon, who was still trying to get away even while lying on the ground, with a smile while whirling around the spear in her hand as if to show off. The barrier has been set up to prevent demons escaping, you know? To say nothing of your wounded body. Theres no way that you will be able to get away, is there? (Frau 2) What about him? Him? That demon-san who displayed a spirit of self-sacrifice? Since he has gone sleep as he seemed exhausted, he might have become prey of the corpse bomb around now. That chain is still running after all. (Frau) Its the combination of corpse bomb after head-hunting bunny that Frau had used.Its a heinous combination leading to a chain because the corpses are used for the instant death technique, but the more enemies, the further the chain spreads and the longer it lasts.The only worrying aspect was whether the corpse bomb would activate at the first blow as it requires corpses, seeing as a temporary immortality has been activated, but now that it has successfully activated once, the chain continues at a good pace.The frightening part of the corpse bomb is its thorough continuity as long as the chain isnt cut at some point. Setting that aside, I will have you accept your end here. (Frau 2) Frau abruptly stops the rotating spear and aims the spearhead at the female demons chest.The female demon has no strength left to block or to evade the next attack.The instant the female demon shut her eyes tightly in anticipation of the pain that would assail her due to the next blow after having resolved herself for the worst, she heard a splashing sound. Eh? (Frau 2) Ah? Why? Unable to believe the view in front of her eyes, Frau stares while forgetting to even throw the spear.Even the female demon in front of her stares at her own abdomen as if seeing something unbelievable.Its the place where the looks of both women cross.Something like a tentacle of a mollusk-like creature with the thickness of an adult mans arm pushed out from her abdomen and broke through her clothes.Its something that seems to be originating from the demons body. The torn clothes become dyed in a darkish red color in an instant. This is? (Frau 2) In front of Frau, who alertly puts herself on guard by fixing her two-handed grip on the spear, a new tentacle pushes out of the demons belly.The sound of flesh being ripped apart mixes with the female demons screaming.At first Frau suspected this to be some kind of countermeasure in response to being cornered, but watching the female demon writhe in pain as she holds down her abdomen thats being penetrated by squirming tentacles, she realizes that her assumption was wrong.And at the instant when the third tentacle pierced through the demons belly, the female demon raised a shout. Your Majestyyy! While maintaining a distance allowing her to deal with whatever might happen, Frau frowns at the content of the demons scream.As far as Frau knows, theres only one being that demons would address as His Majesty.However, she didnt understand at all how that person is connected to the scene taking place in front of her.Without concern for Fraus deliberations, the female demon continued to scream towards the sky while writhing on the ground due to the incessant pain. Why, Your Majesty!? Why!? In accordance with your orders, we The screamed appeal suddenly stopped.Its not like the female demon died due to the pain.The temporary immortality continues to be in effect.What stopped her screaming was the next tentacle which was vomited out of her mouth as it pierced her throat while blowing off the demons lower chin.Having become unable to breathe, not to mention scream, the light vanishes from the female demons eyes turning them into hollow pupils.The throat, which raises a groan instead of the interrupted screaming, stops producing any further sounds before long. After turning into such a state, the female demon stands up and faces Frau. Just what the heckdoes that mean? (Frau) The female demon with blank eyes, a tentacle sprouting out of her mouth, and several more tentacles growing out of her belly has the appearance of some kind of fused being which is a person and yet again not.She limps while blood drips to the ground as the clothes that were absorbing it are gone. While watching the demon, who tried to escape until now, slowly approach, Frau felt her hands get slightly sweaty as they grasped the spear. Chapter 175 Asking for an enemys identity while in front of them is something that happens frequently, but that doesnt apply to Frau.Because Frau believes that she should attack before greeting someone, as soon as she knows that shes dealing with a hostile entity.Since its a situation where it doesnt seem like she would receive an answer even if she were to ask in the first place, she immediately decided it was pointless to ask.Frau, who charged forth with such a power that she gouged out the ground, unleashes a thrust with the readied spear tightly grasped in her right hand with a force that made it seem like she was going to throw it.Once the attack penetrated the female demons chest as she was trying to draw closer to Frau with unsteady steps, the spear is buried up to the spear handle while blowing the demons body backwards.Originally this was an attack capable of inflicting a fatal wound, but as long as the temporary immortality effect cast by Frau remains active, the female demon wont die. Pu-chan! Drag them down! (Frau 2) While shouting, Frau cancels the barrier and the temporary immortality which continued in the back of her consciousness.The fact that the monsters, who were lucky enough to still be alive in a perfectly good health, guessed that the barrier cutting off their retreat apparently vanished and thus scrambled to get away was trifling for Frau at this point in time.Even the circumstance of the corpse bomb, which had continued its chain, stopping and vanishing due to its targets running away was of no consequence to her.In the next instant a ghastly spectacle took place with all beings present disappearing from the surface.If there was someone unlucky enough to watch such a spectacle, they might have seen how countless pure white tentacles covering a vast area around Frau appeared from underground and dragged each and every thing in the vicinity into the ground in little to no time.That person would very likely fallen into a state of craziness due to their mind being broken within moments.Thats because the confusing scenery possessed such a sinisterism that it would affect the mind of any life-form that even just glanced at the spectacle while still being completely lost on what was whats going on.The only thing remaining on the ground, which was completely devoid of anything as if the scenes until now had been a lie, besides Frau, was the female demons corpse which had tentacles of various thicknesses hang down from it while being torn apart all over.Completely different from before, Fraus eyes narrow in wariness. In contrast to her vigilantly putting herself on guard, the female demon staggers left and right with her body being full of openings which could be seen at a simple glance.But, Frau saw how the tentacles dangling from the demons body repelled the pure white tentacles that tried to drag her underground.Moreover, not only did she repel several of them, she even tore them off.The being waiting for orders below Fraus feet possesses considerable strength as it had been created by Emil and endlessly raised by Frau.The fact that the demon avoided capture through a feat of strength boosted Fraus wariness all the more.However, it seems like the being below Fraus feet hadnt only been repelled. Its tentacles were entangled with several of the tentacles growing out of the female demons body, trying to pull it underground.It was a competition of strength with the demons tentacles, which in return pull the underground tentacles upwards in order to resist, but the demons body seems to be fastened to the spot. Youacting quitemercilessly, arent you? A cracked voice thats difficult to understand could be heard.It was the female demon whos staggering around in front of Frau. Shes in no state to produce a voice as her throat had been crushed by a tentacle.While the tug of war between the tentacles that seem to be causing creaking sounds continues in front of Frau who wonders where the voice came from, the voice speaks up again, To suddenlyaim for the heartimpolite woman. Unfortunately Im only interested in being regarded as a woman by a limited number of people. (Frau 2) A laughter resounds through the throat upon Fraus reply.Although Frau believes it to be absurd seeing as it should have been crushed, it cant be helped since shes actually hearing the laughter.Each time it laughed, the demons shoulders trembled and the spear handle growing out of the center of her chest shook lightly. Oh my, oh my, so you were afemale dogbitchthat shakes her ass to entice men, eh? To not name yourself even though that female dog introduced herself also means that youre lower than a dog, doesnt it? (Frau 2) Once she pointedly retorts the provocation, the voice laughs with the demons body trembling even more violently as if it had heard something very amusing.Matching those movements, new tears appear all over her body, and new tentacles grow out while scattering blood. A dog thats never at a loss for words, eh? But, I guess I shall first praise you for taking such an attitude in front of me. Making sure to drag along the legs,that, which had already changed into a cluster of tentacles adopting a human shape, takes one step forward.Just that move caused several of the white tentacles that were restraining it to be torn apart.While soothing the hints of trembling perceptible from below her feet with a thought, Frau retreats as much asitadvanced. I dont feel anything from being praised by someone whose name I dont even know. (Frau 2) While saying so, Frau considers various options in her head.The owner of the torn tentacles, Putrid-chan, as its called by Frau and Emil was given powers that wouldnt allow any wounds being inflicted to its body with superficial strength.Much less now that it had devoured three demons and an army of monsters.That, which easily succeeded in tearing off Putrid-chan in its reasonably filled state, could be called such a dangerous being that it couldnt be compared to the demons which had until recently invaded.If she were caught by just one ofitstentacles, Fraus personal strength wouldnt be enough to slip out. I guess the maids tentacle attacks will be meaninglessno, isnt the performance of this body being closely watched by Keith-san and those around him? (Frau 2) The cluster of tentacles apparently didnt hear Fraus muttered words. You desire mine name? I shall tell you if you can endure this. As soon as one of the tentacles released a violet phosphorescence, its brandished towards Frau.The blow was outside the combat distance, but the violet phosphorescence, which clad the tentacle, transformed into a blade, still tracing the tentacle, and swooped down on Frau.Without panicking, Frau is about to cast the spell, but then immediately changes her mind. ! (Frau) The lightning, which flashed down in a straight line from the sky, clashed with the violet blade. is a rare high-ranking spell that someone used to drive a section of a city into annihilation, and continued to block the heros attacks, but the instant it clashed with the violet blade, Fraus expression warped.Its because Frau became aware that her own spell loses out to the blades power, albeit only slightly.And that is despite the fact she chose and used something with a high power output among the spells used by Renya.However, the effective time of is short.Due to being outpushed, the blade assails Frau while maintaining its power. Yaaa! (Frau 2) For the first time Frau raises a yell full of fighting spirit.Fraw thwarted the violet blade that struck down trying to bisect her by catching it between her bare palms, which were charged with so much mana that they shone white.The clashing violet and white mana cause a violent wind to form round Frau. Frau stands stock still while pressing her hands together in front of her chest with her hair and skirt fluttering in the wind. Hoh, you endured it? I suppose thats quite the feat. While the tentacle said so with a smile hinted in its tone, the right shoulder and left flank parts of Fraus apron dress tore open.Its proof that the power, which she couldnt kill completely, reached Fraus body.Her white skin peeks out beneath the black fabric, and bright red blood appeared on that white skin. Without holding down those wounds, Frau says with a subdued voice, You said you would tell me your name, didnt you? (Frau 2) Very well. You shall have the honor to hear mine name. Veins appear on Fraus forehead due to the voice released by the tentacle cluster putting on airs, but the tentacles dont notice that. I am the demon king. Demon King Stolas Vasargo. Etch this name into your soul. (Stolas) Haah, as you wish. By the way, is this your real body? (Frau 2) Are you stupid? Theres no way that something like this could be mine real body, is there? (Stolas) Stolas answers Fraus question, obviously laughing scornfully.Deciding to ignore the matter of being ridiculed for the time being, Frau ponders.In other words, the cluster of tentacles in front of me is an offshoot or terminal of the demon king.Either way, that means its not their real body but something thats operated by the real body.Hence its the same thing as the dummy body currently being used by Frau, but the one big difference is the distance between the terminal and the operator.Fraus real body is resting in the audience hall of Renyas castle. The distance to the dummy isnt all that big.However, if you assume that the demon king offshoot-like creature is operated from somewhere in the demon territory or likely inside the demon king castle located in the demon countrys center, it would mean that its manipulated over an unknown distance that might be several ten thousand times further away than Frau. Just what kind of abilities does your main body possess (Frau 2) Exactly because its something shes doing herself as well, Frau understands. In this kind of work, the grade of difficulty goes up in proportion to the distance between main body and manipulated body.At least Frau doesnt believe that she would be able to operate her adult version body as she is now from the same distance as the demon king. You might call it a splendid waste, though. (Frau) You bitch, what are you mumbling there (Stolas) Lightning pours down on the offshoot.It safely blocks the spell with defense magic, but noticing that Frau approached from the front at the same time as the lightning stopped causes the tentacles to stir.On the other hand, Frau unleashes a right front kick towards the core of the tentacle cluster as she draws close. After the thick sound of her boot drilling into the flesh could be heard, one tentacle coils itself around her right ankle. Using that tentacle as foothold, she performs a flying kick with her left leg.A small, dry sound could be heard from her right ankle at this moment, but Fraus expression didnt change.The offshoot, which ended up releasing Fraus ankle due to the second kick, is sent flying quite a distance, using the momentum to escape the restraint of the white tentacles binding its body. Right ankle bone fracturecutting off sense of pain. (Frau 2) In defiance of her ankle that seems to be broken, Frau firmly steps down on the ground with both feet. This body is more or less set up for combat, but above that, its something that was created to attend master. (Frau 2) Frau, whose voice was full of anger, glares at the demon kings offshoot. Thanks to you, Ive been put on the spot. I have to dispose of this now. (Frau 2) As soon as Frau mentioned dispose, the apron dress fabric from both sleeves up to her shoulders is blown away in one go.The pure white arms that became visible below are clad in a mana radiance as if burning brightly, making her flaxen hair and the remaining clothes flutter. Does your master like playing around with dolls? (Stolas) The offshoot mostly didnt feel the damage from being kicked away.Countless tentacles attack Frau, who once again charged while being provoked.Frau repels those with her arms while charging, but compared to Frau who only has two arms, the offshoot has countless tentacles.The difference in numbers leads to her being unable to repel all of them, resulting in Fraus body repeatedly being injured.However, Frau doesnt stop her advance.One blow, which she didnt manage to handle, pierced deep into her abdomen. Frau proceeds without minding the wound widening as she moved forward, and then stabbed her mana-clad arms into the core of the tentacle cluster. Even though its a dummy, thats a drastic way of using it. Im sure creating something of that extent took time and labor, no? (Stolas) Theres no way I can show master a body that had been injured by the smelly hands of a demon king. (Frau 2) What a nasty mouth you have. (Stolas) The offshoot retracts the tentacles that had been shot out and twines them around Fraus whole body as both her arms are stabbed into the core.Fraus body, which got restrained without any means of evasion, was constricted by the tentacles, and the sounds of bones breaking could be heard all over in no time.But, theres no change in Fraus expression as she has had cut off her sense of pain. I dont know what youre planning to do, but I will twist and crush you before that! (Stolas) The sounds of bones breaking become even louder. Bones pierced through flesh and blood splattered out from Fraus entire body.Joints bent in direction they mustnt. She looked exactly like a doll that had been broken after experiencing the temper of a child. Its too late. I have already finished executing what I set out to do. (Frau 2) Even while her entire body is tattered, Fraus face, which remained unchanged, grins broadly within the tentacles.The demon king, who cant understand the meaning behind that smile, becomes speechless due to the torrent of mana they perceived welling up within Fraus body in the next instant. A blow with the mana I received from master. Thats nothing the likes of a demon king offshoot can block. (Frau 2) This isthe mana of a human, you say? Oh my, that makes me look forward to meeting the person himself, you know? (Stolas) Indeed, look forward to it. (Frau 2) Her body, which keeps getting smashed, sinks even further into the cluster of tentacles. While blood runs down the edges of her lips, Frau whispers, If you happen to run into master, that moment will become your time of death. (Frau 2) Using those words as a trigger, anything and everything was filled by a white light. Asking for an enemys identity while in front of them is something that happens frequently, but that doesnt apply to Frau.Because Frau believes that she should attack before greeting someone, as soon as she knows that shes dealing with a hostile entity.Since its a situation where it doesnt seem like she would receive an answer even if she were to ask in the first place, she immediately decided it was pointless to ask.Frau, who charged forth with such a power that she gouged out the ground, unleashes a thrust with the readied spear tightly grasped in her right hand with a force that made it seem like she was going to throw it.Once the attack penetrated the female demons chest as she was trying to draw closer to Frau with unsteady steps, the spear is buried up to the spear handle while blowing the demons body backwards.Originally this was an attack capable of inflicting a fatal wound, but as long as the temporary immortality effect cast by Frau remains active, the female demon wont die. Pu-chan! Drag them down! (Frau 2) While shouting, Frau cancels the barrier and the temporary immortality which continued in the back of her consciousness.The fact that the monsters, who were lucky enough to still be alive in a perfectly good health, guessed that the barrier cutting off their retreat apparently vanished and thus scrambled to get away was trifling for Frau at this point in time.Even the circumstance of the corpse bomb, which had continued its chain, stopping and vanishing due to its targets running away was of no consequence to her.In the next instant a ghastly spectacle took place with all beings present disappearing from the surface.If there was someone unlucky enough to watch such a spectacle, they might have seen how countless pure white tentacles covering a vast area around Frau appeared from underground and dragged each and every thing in the vicinity into the ground in little to no time.That person would very likely fallen into a state of craziness due to their mind being broken within moments.Thats because the confusing scenery possessed such a sinisterism that it would affect the mind of any life-form that even just glanced at the spectacle while still being completely lost on what was whats going on.The only thing remaining on the ground, which was completely devoid of anything as if the scenes until now had been a lie, besides Frau, was the female demons corpse which had tentacles of various thicknesses hang down from it while being torn apart all over.Completely different from before, Fraus eyes narrow in wariness. In contrast to her vigilantly putting herself on guard, the female demon staggers left and right with her body being full of openings which could be seen at a simple glance.But, Frau saw how the tentacles dangling from the demons body repelled the pure white tentacles that tried to drag her underground.Moreover, not only did she repel several of them, she even tore them off.The being waiting for orders below Fraus feet possesses considerable strength as it had been created by Emil and endlessly raised by Frau.The fact that the demon avoided capture through a feat of strength boosted Fraus wariness all the more.However, it seems like the being below Fraus feet hadnt only been repelled. Its tentacles were entangled with several of the tentacles growing out of the female demons body, trying to pull it underground.It was a competition of strength with the demons tentacles, which in return pull the underground tentacles upwards in order to resist, but the demons body seems to be fastened to the spot. Youacting quitemercilessly, arent you? A cracked voice thats difficult to understand could be heard.It was the female demon whos staggering around in front of Frau. Shes in no state to produce a voice as her throat had been crushed by a tentacle.While the tug of war between the tentacles that seem to be causing creaking sounds continues in front of Frau who wonders where the voice came from, the voice speaks up again, To suddenlyaim for the heartimpolite woman. Unfortunately Im only interested in being regarded as a woman by a limited number of people. (Frau 2) A laughter resounds through the throat upon Fraus reply.Although Frau believes it to be absurd seeing as it should have been crushed, it cant be helped since shes actually hearing the laughter.Each time it laughed, the demons shoulders trembled and the spear handle growing out of the center of her chest shook lightly. Oh my, oh my, so you were afemale dogbitchthat shakes her ass to entice men, eh? To not name yourself even though that female dog introduced herself also means that youre lower than a dog, doesnt it? (Frau 2) Once she pointedly retorts the provocation, the voice laughs with the demons body trembling even more violently as if it had heard something very amusing.Matching those movements, new tears appear all over her body, and new tentacles grow out while scattering blood. A dog thats never at a loss for words, eh? But, I guess I shall first praise you for taking such an attitude in front of me. Making sure to drag along the legs,that, which had already changed into a cluster of tentacles adopting a human shape, takes one step forward.Just that move caused several of the white tentacles that were restraining it to be torn apart.While soothing the hints of trembling perceptible from below her feet with a thought, Frau retreats as much asitadvanced. I dont feel anything from being praised by someone whose name I dont even know. (Frau 2) While saying so, Frau considers various options in her head.The owner of the torn tentacles, Putrid-chan, as its called by Frau and Emil was given powers that wouldnt allow any wounds being inflicted to its body with superficial strength.Much less now that it had devoured three demons and an army of monsters.That, which easily succeeded in tearing off Putrid-chan in its reasonably filled state, could be called such a dangerous being that it couldnt be compared to the demons which had until recently invaded.If she were caught by just one ofitstentacles, Fraus personal strength wouldnt be enough to slip out. I guess the maids tentacle attacks will be meaninglessno, isnt the performance of this body being closely watched by Keith-san and those around him? (Frau 2) The cluster of tentacles apparently didnt hear Fraus muttered words. You desire mine name? I shall tell you if you can endure this. As soon as one of the tentacles released a violet phosphorescence, its brandished towards Frau.The blow was outside the combat distance, but the violet phosphorescence, which clad the tentacle, transformed into a blade, still tracing the tentacle, and swooped down on Frau.Without panicking, Frau is about to cast the spell, but then immediately changes her mind. ! (Frau) The lightning, which flashed down in a straight line from the sky, clashed with the violet blade. is a rare high-ranking spell that someone used to drive a section of a city into annihilation, and continued to block the heros attacks, but the instant it clashed with the violet blade, Fraus expression warped.Its because Frau became aware that her own spell loses out to the blades power, albeit only slightly.And that is despite the fact she chose and used something with a high power output among the spells used by Renya.However, the effective time of is short.Due to being outpushed, the blade assails Frau while maintaining its power. Yaaa! (Frau 2) For the first time Frau raises a yell full of fighting spirit.Fraw thwarted the violet blade that struck down trying to bisect her by catching it between her bare palms, which were charged with so much mana that they shone white.The clashing violet and white mana cause a violent wind to form round Frau. Frau stands stock still while pressing her hands together in front of her chest with her hair and skirt fluttering in the wind. Hoh, you endured it? I suppose thats quite the feat. While the tentacle said so with a smile hinted in its tone, the right shoulder and left flank parts of Fraus apron dress tore open.Its proof that the power, which she couldnt kill completely, reached Fraus body.Her white skin peeks out beneath the black fabric, and bright red blood appeared on that white skin. Without holding down those wounds, Frau says with a subdued voice, You said you would tell me your name, didnt you? (Frau 2) Very well. You shall have the honor to hear mine name. Veins appear on Fraus forehead due to the voice released by the tentacle cluster putting on airs, but the tentacles dont notice that. I am the demon king. Demon King Stolas Vasargo. Etch this name into your soul. (Stolas) Haah, as you wish. By the way, is this your real body? (Frau 2) Are you stupid? Theres no way that something like this could be mine real body, is there? (Stolas) Stolas answers Fraus question, obviously laughing scornfully.Deciding to ignore the matter of being ridiculed for the time being, Frau ponders.In other words, the cluster of tentacles in front of me is an offshoot or terminal of the demon king.Either way, that means its not their real body but something thats operated by the real body.Hence its the same thing as the dummy body currently being used by Frau, but the one big difference is the distance between the terminal and the operator.Fraus real body is resting in the audience hall of Renyas castle. The distance to the dummy isnt all that big.However, if you assume that the demon king offshoot-like creature is operated from somewhere in the demon territory or likely inside the demon king castle located in the demon countrys center, it would mean that its manipulated over an unknown distance that might be several ten thousand times further away than Frau. Just what kind of abilities does your main body possess (Frau 2) Exactly because its something shes doing herself as well, Frau understands. In this kind of work, the grade of difficulty goes up in proportion to the distance between main body and manipulated body.At least Frau doesnt believe that she would be able to operate her adult version body as she is now from the same distance as the demon king. You might call it a splendid waste, though. (Frau) You bitch, what are you mumbling there (Stolas) Lightning pours down on the offshoot.It safely blocks the spell with defense magic, but noticing that Frau approached from the front at the same time as the lightning stopped causes the tentacles to stir.On the other hand, Frau unleashes a right front kick towards the core of the tentacle cluster as she draws close. After the thick sound of her boot drilling into the flesh could be heard, one tentacle coils itself around her right ankle. Using that tentacle as foothold, she performs a flying kick with her left leg.A small, dry sound could be heard from her right ankle at this moment, but Fraus expression didnt change.The offshoot, which ended up releasing Fraus ankle due to the second kick, is sent flying quite a distance, using the momentum to escape the restraint of the white tentacles binding its body. Right ankle bone fracturecutting off sense of pain. (Frau 2) In defiance of her ankle that seems to be broken, Frau firmly steps down on the ground with both feet. This body is more or less set up for combat, but above that, its something that was created to attend master. (Frau 2) Frau, whose voice was full of anger, glares at the demon kings offshoot. Thanks to you, Ive been put on the spot. I have to dispose of this now. (Frau 2) As soon as Frau mentioned dispose, the apron dress fabric from both sleeves up to her shoulders is blown away in one go.The pure white arms that became visible below are clad in a mana radiance as if burning brightly, making her flaxen hair and the remaining clothes flutter. Does your master like playing around with dolls? (Stolas) The offshoot mostly didnt feel the damage from being kicked away.Countless tentacles attack Frau, who once again charged while being provoked.Frau repels those with her arms while charging, but compared to Frau who only has two arms, the offshoot has countless tentacles.The difference in numbers leads to her being unable to repel all of them, resulting in Fraus body repeatedly being injured.However, Frau doesnt stop her advance.One blow, which she didnt manage to handle, pierced deep into her abdomen. Frau proceeds without minding the wound widening as she moved forward, and then stabbed her mana-clad arms into the core of the tentacle cluster. Even though its a dummy, thats a drastic way of using it. Im sure creating something of that extent took time and labor, no? (Stolas) Theres no way I can show master a body that had been injured by the smelly hands of a demon king. (Frau 2) What a nasty mouth you have. (Stolas) The offshoot retracts the tentacles that had been shot out and twines them around Fraus whole body as both her arms are stabbed into the core.Fraus body, which got restrained without any means of evasion, was constricted by the tentacles, and the sounds of bones breaking could be heard all over in no time.But, theres no change in Fraus expression as she has had cut off her sense of pain. I dont know what youre planning to do, but I will twist and crush you before that! (Stolas) The sounds of bones breaking become even louder. Bones pierced through flesh and blood splattered out from Fraus entire body.Joints bent in direction they mustnt. She looked exactly like a doll that had been broken after experiencing the temper of a child. Its too late. I have already finished executing what I set out to do. (Frau 2) Even while her entire body is tattered, Fraus face, which remained unchanged, grins broadly within the tentacles.The demon king, who cant understand the meaning behind that smile, becomes speechless due to the torrent of mana they perceived welling up within Fraus body in the next instant. A blow with the mana I received from master. Thats nothing the likes of a demon king offshoot can block. (Frau 2) This isthe mana of a human, you say? Oh my, that makes me look forward to meeting the person himself, you know? (Stolas) Indeed, look forward to it. (Frau 2) Her body, which keeps getting smashed, sinks even further into the cluster of tentacles. While blood runs down the edges of her lips, Frau whispers, If you happen to run into master, that moment will become your time of death. (Frau 2) Using those words as a trigger, anything and everything was filled by a white light. Chapter 176 A supply of food and goods for the dragonoids? Umm, well, its not impossible ~no. But, how are you going to bring it to them ~no? (Frau) We will continuously use the transfer gate. The expenses will be covered by their side. It looks like they will be paying with the dragonoid currency. Even if we cant carry it all over at the same time, I think itll somehow work out if we diligently transport it in smaller amountsumm, Frau? (Renya) Considering the expended mana and the cool-down time, its a very inefficient mode of transportation ~nano. But, if he says it cant be helped, then it must be so ~no. I feel that the only way to achieve a similar efficiency would be to have all the supplies carried by large dragons, but using dragons would overwhelmingly lose out to the transfer gate method in terms of speed, butoh, you called, master ~no? (Frau) Frau had lowered her eyes towards the document written by the chairman of the Dragonoids Witenagemot, an organization Frau doesnt care about at all, and was reading its contents. Upon hearing Renyas somewhat reserved voice, she raised her eyes.She had checked every nook and cranny of the document for traps or holes in regards to the various transportation agreements and payment methods, but due to the contents being so faultless, clear and simple that she felt let-down, she instead became more worried and read the document many times over.Because her name was called in the middle of that, her reflexive response felt a bit flat. However, even though she was mentally flustered from suddenly being called, she kept a calm expression and faced Renya. I feel sorry for burdening you with troubles once again, butit looks like youre unhappy about something? (Renya) Gunuuh (Frau) When she tried to swallow the words she was about to voice out unintentionally, they turned into something like a weird groan. Frau blushes and slightly averts her eyes from Renyas face.If shes asked whether shes displeased, she cannot help but to confirm. Thats Fraus current state of mind.Because the dummy puppet, which she had created by investing a lot of time and money, had been completely destroyed, Frau believes that her sullen mood is completely normal, but showing that displeasure to Renya, who doesnt know the circumstances, can be considered a failure as a maid.As for the defensive battle of Klinge, Frau only told Renyas group that they repelled the enemy army by using a sorcery array covering the whole city which used the mana Frau had squeezed out of Renya.Since she would also be troubled if they were to investigate it, she included two pieces of dummy information about the city-class sorcery array: a barrier covering the whole city, and a function to reduce everything that approaches the city to ash.She pretended that they somehow managed to repel the monsters by charging lots of Renyas mana into those two functions.In reality Frau thinks that it actually might have been possible to repel the enemy army with just those two functions.The fact she didnt use them is merely a matter of her own preferences.Regardless of that, as she couldnt falsify the part about one of the demon kings offshoots having slipped into the enemy ranks and its battle with Fraus dummy, she mostly reported the truth to Renya.The reason she couldnt deceive him about those parts is due to Fraus suicide bomb technique at the very end.That one blow contained almost half the mana she had exploited from Renya.Since she used the other half to initially start up the sorcery array and maintain the hell furnace, Frau threw her biggest and fastest attack into the mix when she was fighting the offshoot, which resulted in her successfully killing it.As Frau felt that it would be bad if even the slightest part of the offshoot were to be left behind, she unleashed an attack using an amount of mana capable of completely eradicating it, but in exchange, Fraus dummy also got destroyed, and a huge hole several meters wide and an unknown depth was created at the place where Fraus dummy exploded.If Frau had let the dummy explode normally, considerable damage would have likely been inflicted onto Klinge as it was really close to the area of detonation.However, as Frau had apparently considered such a possibility during the battle, she focused all its explosive power into a cylinder, which resulted in the formation of a very deep hole. Despite examining the hole using the spell, no one knew how deep it actually was and as such a fence and a notice board stating Danger! Dont approach! have been set up so as to avoid anyone from approaching the hole and carelessly falling in.Her inability to omit the attack by the demon kings offshoot from her report to Renya is owed to the existence of this hole, and because Frau couldnt come up with another likely reason for such a hole to appear.Frau expected that she would be scolded by Renya for releasing magic that would very likely cause large damage to the city if not controlled properly, but after listening to her story, Renya revealed a slightly troubled smile, and limited it to only brushing Fraus head.Speaking of Renya, the reason he could come back to Klinge is of course because a direct transfer gate from the dragonoid city to Klinge had been opened.The Dragonoids Witenagemot, which had been ordered to secure a path in order to bring in the relief supplies, agreed to the establishment of a direct transfer gate without complaining or hesitating this late in the game. The gate itself was established through a hastened construction, driving the engineers to use all the stamina and abilities they could muster, regardless of day and night.Due to this, Renya now possesses the closest transfer gate to the Dragon Den among the humans, but Renya doesnt care about that at all, and only perceives it as trivial information. Anyway, the priority is for them to be able to eat something. It seems like the dragonoids lost a considerable amount of food in the several battles so far. I dont care about the soldiers or the Witenagemot, but the townspeople starving is something I really dont want to see. (Renya) According to Renya, the Witenagemot, which was allowed to retreat from the front line without having done anything useful themselves, and the soldiers, who apparently werent able to carry out a defensive war, are not worthy to receive favors at the same time as the citizens.As for the soldiers, he believes theres some room left as he pities them a bit seeing as their current situation might be related to the incompetence of their superiors, but as for the Witenagemot, he feels that if they dont want to starve they should demonstrate their usefulness by coming up with one or two ingenious ideas on how to reverse the situation.But, because the citizens bear no responsibility for this war, and are merely victims, Renya felt sympathy for them.Renya considered starvation to be terrifying.Given that he doesnt know why he feels this way about starvation, he thinks that it might be remnants of the memories, which were apparently completely erased when he came to this world, or that it might be related to his strong desire for delicious food, but either way, Renya feels scared of starvation.Thats why he believes that he has to at least send the food quickly as part of the relief goods. The food stuff we can send immediately are, , , and ~nano. (Frau) Oy? (Renya) Its a joke ~nano. Your face is scary, master ~no. (Frau) Due to Renya bringing his serious looking face close to hers while speaking with a low, subdued voice, Frau hurriedly apologizes and waves both hands.Of course she said those words with the intention of making a joke, but apparently having pierced a soft spot of Renyas more than she had expected, Frau panics. Putting the joking aside, we have plenty of elven beans in stock ~no. (Frau) So youre saying theres only beans? (Renya) I think theyll be happy about being able to eat anything ~no. Ah, no, master your face is really scary ~no. Id like you to not pressure me since we will also send other goods ~no. (Frau) Frau, who sensed that Renyas expression had become grim, immediately takes out a piece of paper from a pocket of her apron dress, and quickly scans it.Its a list of the goods in Klinges warehouses which she had investigated in advance.Renya thinks that she should have taken it out and talked about it from the beginning if she had something like that, but seeing as Frau is more or less categorized as a fairy, she apparently had a preference towards pulling pranks or derailing a conversation. Grain would be slightly difficult after all ~no. Even Klinge mostly depends on buying it. As for meat, quite a considerable amount has been swapped from your inventory to the warehouses, so we can earn a good sum of money with this and beans, butwe are also running short on seasoning ~no. Theres nothing left over there ~no? (Frau) Salt at the most. To begin with, seasonings are fairly expensive, so its not something one would store in great quantities either. (Renya) Since it has reached the point where all kinds of seasonings can be obtained in Klinge without much hassle, one wouldnt notice it unless told, but if you talk about typical seasonings in this world, they would be centered around salt or vinegar. Other seasonings arent used very much.Renyas favorite seasonings,misoand soy sauce, are products of the elven country, which rarely appear on the markets in the human countries. Even the blackish lumps, which are unprocessed sugar, are treated as a high-class seasoning, and nothing that commoners would get to taste. Klinges emergency stores are abnormal ~no. Yet, if you consider the circumstances, its not an amount that would allow us to send many goods to other cities ~no. (Frau) Master doesnt want them to starve, but his thinking that he might as well give them delicious food if hes giving them food anyway doesnt really seem all that realistic ~no, Frau thinks in her mind.Considering that their territory has been invaded quite deeply after they repeatedly lost and that the war still hasnt ended yet, it shouldnt be difficult to fill their bellies so that they wont starve as long as its a reasonable quantity, even if Klinge cant provide anything besides salt, beans and meat.It would be troublesome if they were to request taste, quality and variety. It sure fits your character, master ~no. Thats why its hard for you to bluntly refuse ~no. (Frau) What? (Renya) I was just talking to myself ~nano. I plan to provide seasonings only to the point where the food quality wont drop for the residents of Klinge ~no. (Frau) Sorry. I keep asking you unreasonable things. (Renya) Renya looks apologetic.If youre aware of it, Id like you to at least compromise a bit ~nano, Frau thinks. We will send over the meat and beans first ~no. Putting aside the quality, our first priority will be to avoid starvation ~no. The rest will follow little-by-little while keeping an eye on the situation ~no. Id like you to compromise on that much, master ~no. (Frau) Understood. Thats inevitable. (Renya) If I ask for too much, it will become limitless. If Frau says that this is the limit, she must be right, Renya yields. We have so much money that we could buy food.but people are starting to become reluctant about selling their goods, as expected. (Frau) The fact that the war against the demons has begun is a piece of information roughly known on all continents of this world.Once such news spread, merchants handling food-related goods began hesitating to sell their inventory, causing a declining amount of food on the market. We will somehow raise the productive capability of Klingebut that will still require time ~nano. (Frau) Eh? Such a large variety of produce was cultivated here? (Renya) As far as Renya knows, only elven beans were cultivated inside Klinge.Since this is something he ordered to be planted in all available open spaces, its only natural for him to be aware of it, but it was the first time he hears about Klinge producing crops besides beans. Its experimental ~nano. There are facilities in Klinge which raise various out-of-season crops such as the rice you mentioned, master, with water containing mana ~no. (Frau) Renya ends up wondering whether mana is really all that almighty, but whats actually happening isnt the same as what Renya is imagining.Plants are just growing faster by boosting their own growth rate through precisely compiled spell formulae. If you ask whether plants will grow faster by pouring mana onto them, the answer is no.If one did such a thing it would only change the plants and produce strange, incomprehensible things polluted with mana.The techniques used in this area are Emils specialty. Its not like Frau knows the concrete details either. Im hearing about all this for the first time. When did you build something like that? (Renya) It was included in the initial design of Klinge ~no. In order to effectively use the space, we have guided the sunlight into the underground. Its the underground facilities that produce the crops. Once they are fully operational, Klinge will become a city capable of lasting through 10 years of siege using its own supplies ~no! (Frau) The ones who participated the most in the planning of Klinge were Frau and Emil.Renya wanted to ask them under what kind of battle assumptions they had built such facilities, but right now hes thankful for those pointless, meticulous facilities. You said youre raising crops out-of-season with mana, right? Whats necessary to get them to grow? Quantity of mana or the quality? (Renya) Mostly quantity ~nano. But, since I have already assigned a reasonable amount of mana to those facilities, masters mana will be an oversupply ~no. (Frau) A part of the water flowing from the spring installation, which had been built in the basement of Renyas castle as camouflage for the hell furnace, is used for this, but Frau doesnt intend to explain or even mention its existence to Renya. But (Renya) Master, its not good to rush things ~no. Since Im having it operate at full speed, Id like you to give me some time ~no. (Frau) In the first place, if Renyas excessive mana were to be poured on the plants in its raw form, its unknown what they would grow into.Frau racked her brain as to how she should persuade the somewhat unhappy-looking Renya so that he wouldnt do something crazy, like pouring his mana into a vine of the elven beans growing around here. A supply of food and goods for the dragonoids? Umm, well, its not impossible ~no. But, how are you going to bring it to them ~no? (Frau) We will continuously use the transfer gate. The expenses will be covered by their side. It looks like they will be paying with the dragonoid currency. Even if we cant carry it all over at the same time, I think itll somehow work out if we diligently transport it in smaller amountsumm, Frau? (Renya) Considering the expended mana and the cool-down time, its a very inefficient mode of transportation ~nano. But, if he says it cant be helped, then it must be so ~no. I feel that the only way to achieve a similar efficiency would be to have all the supplies carried by large dragons, but using dragons would overwhelmingly lose out to the transfer gate method in terms of speed, butoh, you called, master ~no? (Frau) Frau had lowered her eyes towards the document written by the chairman of the Dragonoids Witenagemot, an organization Frau doesnt care about at all, and was reading its contents. Upon hearing Renyas somewhat reserved voice, she raised her eyes.She had checked every nook and cranny of the document for traps or holes in regards to the various transportation agreements and payment methods, but due to the contents being so faultless, clear and simple that she felt let-down, she instead became more worried and read the document many times over.Because her name was called in the middle of that, her reflexive response felt a bit flat. However, even though she was mentally flustered from suddenly being called, she kept a calm expression and faced Renya. I feel sorry for burdening you with troubles once again, butit looks like youre unhappy about something? (Renya) Gunuuh (Frau) When she tried to swallow the words she was about to voice out unintentionally, they turned into something like a weird groan. Frau blushes and slightly averts her eyes from Renyas face.If shes asked whether shes displeased, she cannot help but to confirm. Thats Fraus current state of mind.Because the dummy puppet, which she had created by investing a lot of time and money, had been completely destroyed, Frau believes that her sullen mood is completely normal, but showing that displeasure to Renya, who doesnt know the circumstances, can be considered a failure as a maid.As for the defensive battle of Klinge, Frau only told Renyas group that they repelled the enemy army by using a sorcery array covering the whole city which used the mana Frau had squeezed out of Renya.Since she would also be troubled if they were to investigate it, she included two pieces of dummy information about the city-class sorcery array: a barrier covering the whole city, and a function to reduce everything that approaches the city to ash.She pretended that they somehow managed to repel the monsters by charging lots of Renyas mana into those two functions.In reality Frau thinks that it actually might have been possible to repel the enemy army with just those two functions.The fact she didnt use them is merely a matter of her own preferences.Regardless of that, as she couldnt falsify the part about one of the demon kings offshoots having slipped into the enemy ranks and its battle with Fraus dummy, she mostly reported the truth to Renya.The reason she couldnt deceive him about those parts is due to Fraus suicide bomb technique at the very end.That one blow contained almost half the mana she had exploited from Renya.Since she used the other half to initially start up the sorcery array and maintain the hell furnace, Frau threw her biggest and fastest attack into the mix when she was fighting the offshoot, which resulted in her successfully killing it.As Frau felt that it would be bad if even the slightest part of the offshoot were to be left behind, she unleashed an attack using an amount of mana capable of completely eradicating it, but in exchange, Fraus dummy also got destroyed, and a huge hole several meters wide and an unknown depth was created at the place where Fraus dummy exploded.If Frau had let the dummy explode normally, considerable damage would have likely been inflicted onto Klinge as it was really close to the area of detonation.However, as Frau had apparently considered such a possibility during the battle, she focused all its explosive power into a cylinder, which resulted in the formation of a very deep hole. Despite examining the hole using the spell, no one knew how deep it actually was and as such a fence and a notice board stating Danger! Dont approach! have been set up so as to avoid anyone from approaching the hole and carelessly falling in.Her inability to omit the attack by the demon kings offshoot from her report to Renya is owed to the existence of this hole, and because Frau couldnt come up with another likely reason for such a hole to appear.Frau expected that she would be scolded by Renya for releasing magic that would very likely cause large damage to the city if not controlled properly, but after listening to her story, Renya revealed a slightly troubled smile, and limited it to only brushing Fraus head.Speaking of Renya, the reason he could come back to Klinge is of course because a direct transfer gate from the dragonoid city to Klinge had been opened.The Dragonoids Witenagemot, which had been ordered to secure a path in order to bring in the relief supplies, agreed to the establishment of a direct transfer gate without complaining or hesitating this late in the game. The gate itself was established through a hastened construction, driving the engineers to use all the stamina and abilities they could muster, regardless of day and night.Due to this, Renya now possesses the closest transfer gate to the Dragon Den among the humans, but Renya doesnt care about that at all, and only perceives it as trivial information. Anyway, the priority is for them to be able to eat something. It seems like the dragonoids lost a considerable amount of food in the several battles so far. I dont care about the soldiers or the Witenagemot, but the townspeople starving is something I really dont want to see. (Renya) According to Renya, the Witenagemot, which was allowed to retreat from the front line without having done anything useful themselves, and the soldiers, who apparently werent able to carry out a defensive war, are not worthy to receive favors at the same time as the citizens.As for the soldiers, he believes theres some room left as he pities them a bit seeing as their current situation might be related to the incompetence of their superiors, but as for the Witenagemot, he feels that if they dont want to starve they should demonstrate their usefulness by coming up with one or two ingenious ideas on how to reverse the situation.But, because the citizens bear no responsibility for this war, and are merely victims, Renya felt sympathy for them.Renya considered starvation to be terrifying.Given that he doesnt know why he feels this way about starvation, he thinks that it might be remnants of the memories, which were apparently completely erased when he came to this world, or that it might be related to his strong desire for delicious food, but either way, Renya feels scared of starvation.Thats why he believes that he has to at least send the food quickly as part of the relief goods. The food stuff we can send immediately are, , , and ~nano. (Frau) Oy? (Renya) Its a joke ~nano. Your face is scary, master ~no. (Frau) Due to Renya bringing his serious looking face close to hers while speaking with a low, subdued voice, Frau hurriedly apologizes and waves both hands.Of course she said those words with the intention of making a joke, but apparently having pierced a soft spot of Renyas more than she had expected, Frau panics. Putting the joking aside, we have plenty of elven beans in stock ~no. (Frau) So youre saying theres only beans? (Renya) I think theyll be happy about being able to eat anything ~no. Ah, no, master your face is really scary ~no. Id like you to not pressure me since we will also send other goods ~no. (Frau) Frau, who sensed that Renyas expression had become grim, immediately takes out a piece of paper from a pocket of her apron dress, and quickly scans it.Its a list of the goods in Klinges warehouses which she had investigated in advance.Renya thinks that she should have taken it out and talked about it from the beginning if she had something like that, but seeing as Frau is more or less categorized as a fairy, she apparently had a preference towards pulling pranks or derailing a conversation. Grain would be slightly difficult after all ~no. Even Klinge mostly depends on buying it. As for meat, quite a considerable amount has been swapped from your inventory to the warehouses, so we can earn a good sum of money with this and beans, butwe are also running short on seasoning ~no. Theres nothing left over there ~no? (Frau) Salt at the most. To begin with, seasonings are fairly expensive, so its not something one would store in great quantities either. (Renya) Since it has reached the point where all kinds of seasonings can be obtained in Klinge without much hassle, one wouldnt notice it unless told, but if you talk about typical seasonings in this world, they would be centered around salt or vinegar. Other seasonings arent used very much.Renyas favorite seasonings,misoand soy sauce, are products of the elven country, which rarely appear on the markets in the human countries. Even the blackish lumps, which are unprocessed sugar, are treated as a high-class seasoning, and nothing that commoners would get to taste. Klinges emergency stores are abnormal ~no. Yet, if you consider the circumstances, its not an amount that would allow us to send many goods to other cities ~no. (Frau) Master doesnt want them to starve, but his thinking that he might as well give them delicious food if hes giving them food anyway doesnt really seem all that realistic ~no, Frau thinks in her mind.Considering that their territory has been invaded quite deeply after they repeatedly lost and that the war still hasnt ended yet, it shouldnt be difficult to fill their bellies so that they wont starve as long as its a reasonable quantity, even if Klinge cant provide anything besides salt, beans and meat.It would be troublesome if they were to request taste, quality and variety. It sure fits your character, master ~no. Thats why its hard for you to bluntly refuse ~no. (Frau) What? (Renya) I was just talking to myself ~nano. I plan to provide seasonings only to the point where the food quality wont drop for the residents of Klinge ~no. (Frau) Sorry. I keep asking you unreasonable things. (Renya) Renya looks apologetic.If youre aware of it, Id like you to at least compromise a bit ~nano, Frau thinks. We will send over the meat and beans first ~no. Putting aside the quality, our first priority will be to avoid starvation ~no. The rest will follow little-by-little while keeping an eye on the situation ~no. Id like you to compromise on that much, master ~no. (Frau) Understood. Thats inevitable. (Renya) If I ask for too much, it will become limitless. If Frau says that this is the limit, she must be right, Renya yields. We have so much money that we could buy food.but people are starting to become reluctant about selling their goods, as expected. (Frau) The fact that the war against the demons has begun is a piece of information roughly known on all continents of this world.Once such news spread, merchants handling food-related goods began hesitating to sell their inventory, causing a declining amount of food on the market. We will somehow raise the productive capability of Klingebut that will still require time ~nano. (Frau) Eh? Such a large variety of produce was cultivated here? (Renya) As far as Renya knows, only elven beans were cultivated inside Klinge.Since this is something he ordered to be planted in all available open spaces, its only natural for him to be aware of it, but it was the first time he hears about Klinge producing crops besides beans. Its experimental ~nano. There are facilities in Klinge which raise various out-of-season crops such as the rice you mentioned, master, with water containing mana ~no. (Frau) Renya ends up wondering whether mana is really all that almighty, but whats actually happening isnt the same as what Renya is imagining.Plants are just growing faster by boosting their own growth rate through precisely compiled spell formulae. If you ask whether plants will grow faster by pouring mana onto them, the answer is no.If one did such a thing it would only change the plants and produce strange, incomprehensible things polluted with mana.The techniques used in this area are Emils specialty. Its not like Frau knows the concrete details either. Im hearing about all this for the first time. When did you build something like that? (Renya) It was included in the initial design of Klinge ~no. In order to effectively use the space, we have guided the sunlight into the underground. Its the underground facilities that produce the crops. Once they are fully operational, Klinge will become a city capable of lasting through 10 years of siege using its own supplies ~no! (Frau) The ones who participated the most in the planning of Klinge were Frau and Emil.Renya wanted to ask them under what kind of battle assumptions they had built such facilities, but right now hes thankful for those pointless, meticulous facilities. You said youre raising crops out-of-season with mana, right? Whats necessary to get them to grow? Quantity of mana or the quality? (Renya) Mostly quantity ~nano. But, since I have already assigned a reasonable amount of mana to those facilities, masters mana will be an oversupply ~no. (Frau) A part of the water flowing from the spring installation, which had been built in the basement of Renyas castle as camouflage for the hell furnace, is used for this, but Frau doesnt intend to explain or even mention its existence to Renya. But (Renya) Master, its not good to rush things ~no. Since Im having it operate at full speed, Id like you to give me some time ~no. (Frau) In the first place, if Renyas excessive mana were to be poured on the plants in its raw form, its unknown what they would grow into.Frau racked her brain as to how she should persuade the somewhat unhappy-looking Renya so that he wouldnt do something crazy, like pouring his mana into a vine of the elven beans growing around here. Chapter 177 The dragonoids army was advancing through the dragonoid continent. The army had loaded materials and food along a dozen soldiers on something similar to troop transport wagons referred to as chariots by the dragonoids. Those chariots were pulled by sub-dragons and flanked by cavalry, allowing the dragonoids military forces to move fairly fast. Their numbers amounted to several hundreds. Since the ration between support cavalry and soldiers riding the chariots was about 1 to 2, the entire military force totaled to approximately 10,000. Such an army of 10,000 soldiers was the biggest military force the dragonoids could muster which the Witenagemot had barely managed to scrape together after desperate efforts. There were still a lot more soldiers in the dragonoid country, but as they were scattered over different military bases after the chain of defeats, they couldnt assemble all of them. Those were the words of the Witenagemot. Renya believed that statement to be somewhat of a lie. They were using the excuse that they couldnt send out all of their military forces since it was necessary to leave some behind in order to defend the cities and bases spread all over the continent that hadnt yet been taken over by the enemy army. However, its not like there were that many bases located across the dragonoids continent. Moreover, the place they would attack soon, in other words the capital, was the dragonoids biggest military base to begin with, and also the place where the main force of the demon kings army, which had invaded the dragonoids continent, had been stationed.If that place wasnt recaptured, it would be impossible to liberate the continent. At the same time, if they could recapture the capital, it would likely turn into an important position that could cause the downfall of the demon kings military units that were active in other places. The excuse that they couldnt concentrate their military forces despite launching an attack on such a critical location was unacceptable. One of the reason why the Witenagemot was stingy on their military forces while being well aware of the importance of this attack was their reliance on Renyas extraordinary combat abilities. It was even possible that they thought Renya would go recover the capital all by himself, if things went west. He might be overthinking things, but from the start Renya felt something like that from the Witenagemots words regardless of how they explained the current circumstances or made up excuses. According to them, the number of enemies stationed in the dragonoids capital seemed to be around a couple tens of thousands. Moreover, it was a considerably powerful battle formation centered around intermediate-level monsters such as orcs and ogres. If one considered things logically, recapturing the capital was a dream within a dream. No matter how much the formation might rely on Renya and the four heroes, it was a situation that was very easy to grasp. Renya ended up wondering whether he should indiscriminately lock everything and anything up in a world of ice through the activation of several downbursts from outside the attack range of both sides by depending on his incredible amount of mana if things were to become far too weird, but its not like he could declare his intentions to do such a thing. Also, what made him give up on that idea was the fact that the ones who would be most troubled by the annihilation of the capital would be the residents who had been driven out of the city. Due to the considerable physical strength and stamina of sub-dragons, they could run for longer periods of time without breaks and move at higher speeds than carriages. Their movement range without breaks was slightly more than twice that of a carriage. If they were set on it, they could run as fast as a fast horse, but if they did something like that, the accompanying cavalry would have to throw in the towel. Having said that, despite their convenience, there were not enough sub-dragons or chariots to transport the whole army at the same time. Not to mention that it would likely turn out badly and put them at a disadvantage if an army consisting only of infantry participated in the battle. As result it had been arranged that the sub-dragons and the cavalry would advance at roughly the same speed. It would result in taking longer to arrive to their destination, but the fact that their traveling a distance that would take a carriage ten days in six days could be called super fast as a marching speed in this world, according to Ronas explanation. I would really like to know the method with which the demon kings army invaded so quickly. (Rona) Based on Ronas knowledge, the demon king armys marching speed on the dragonoids continent was abnormal. Rona said it was as if the entire army had been transferred, but even after scanning through the dragons sorcery knowledge that Renya had received from Emedra, he couldnt find any method that would allow such a thing. For the sake of caution Renya chose a good time with no one around and tried asking Emil whether the demons possess such a technique, but her reply was a simple no. Well, though I guess youre not so stupid that youd leak the demons internal affairs (Renya) Renya assumed that Emil might have her position as a demon to take into consideration, but Emil shook her head while laughing in a silly manner, and denied those words. No, not at all. To put things bluntly, I have spilled all the beans to you. If there was such a device allowing to create a path between two fixed points of departure and destination, quite the large-scaled transfers would be possible, okay? Just like that Forest Labyrinth. If you properly travel through the labyrinth, take up positions at the entrance and exit, and form a path through the dungeon itself, its actually feasible. (Emil) The transfer gates use the same theory, Emil says. However, there exists exclusive, ceremonial sorcery that doesnt require devices to traverse a path. Its techniques that are hidden by the other races so that the demons wouldnt learn of them. I guess it would be correct to destroy such methods in advance. (Renya) Certainly. His Majesty Demon King Stolas Vasalgo, was it? I think hes in quite the hurry. I believe the first attack of His Majestys military forces against the dragonoid continent was a surprise attack by transferring through the Forest Labyrinth, but that cant explain the marching speed of the occupation army afterwards. Affixing a point of departure and arrival is impossible, and theres no device allowing to form a path between these two points to begin with. (Emil) Renya had heard the demon kings name from Frau and he circulated it to all the powers.There was no point in hiding it anyway. Renya partly expected some kind of bickering to be thrown his way due to spreading the information, but so far there hasnt been any such reaction. He tried asking Emil as well, but her response was completely outside Renyas prediction. If its Stolas Vasalgo, its not that I dont know him. Hes the son of an influential demon noble. If Im not mistaken, hes a man. (Emil) In Renyas eyes the demon kings gender didnt really matter either way, but for some reason Emil informs Renya while oddly stressing the part about him being a man. Renya felt slightly disappointed that he was considered to be a human that would take the other party into consideration only if she were a woman, but as the current situation didnt allow him to worry about something like that, he switched over his thinking. You knowing his name means that hes quite powerful, doesnt it Emil? (Renya) Nah, not really. As far as I know, Stolas is far from being a powerful demon. If I had to choose either, Id label him as a dropout. If he had fought against me, I would have been able to dissect him from the top of his head to the tip of his big toe within five minutes. (Emil) As if recalling old memories, Emil continued while gazing into the sky, Hes a person who wouldnt have ever popped up as possible candidate in my mind. All I know is that his family is influential and that his reputation pictures him as being a dunce who doesnt measure up to his lineage at all. (Emil) Even someone like that can become the demon king? (Renya) No, theres no way for that to be possible, is there? (Emil) Emil was astonished by Renyas surprise.Due to Renya mumbling complaints that it was unfair for her to be surprised here since he didnt know the internal affairs of the demons, Emil said as if preaching to him, Its obviously the same with the heroes, but even the demon king will be chosen from among the best among the demons. (Emil) Sorry, but I cant agree with that, no matter how you look at it. I will agree with you in regards to our Kurz, the elven Grn and the dragonoids Albert, butthe beastmen havethat. (Renya) No.well, yeah, ummisnt he superior as a beastman? Even if thats not the case for arguments sake, its a failure rate of 25% if you regard the total number. (Emil) This conversation was heard in full account by Lepard himself as he was passing by due to his characteristic, excellent sense of hearing as a beastman. Later on Lepard was seen being consoled by Kaede, but Renya and Emil believed that their words hadnt been heard by the person in question, and also had no way of knowing about it since the victim didnt mention a single word about it. Anyway, as far as I know, Stolas Vasalgo is so incompetent that he wouldnt have become a candidate, but the fact that he was named the demon king is a big problem. I mean, theres no way for the other candidates to accept it silently, is there? Therefore, Renya, its better for you to be careful. I dont know how he became the demon king, but its clear that he possesses a way to name himself demon king while silencing the influential demons. (Emil) Emils expression was dyed with honest anxiety.She was currently riding diagonally behind Renya, but he regarded her expression as something extremely interesting. Pondering about the reason for that, Renya was driven by shameful feelings. How unexpected. There are things you cant do either, Renya. The one saying so was Shion who was grasping the reins of the horse. As for handling a carriage, Renya had become able to somehow make it move after learning the basics from Shion before, but he was completely useless in horseback riding.If it was just sitting on the horse, even Renya could handle as much with his movements that could be called nimble, but any further than that was beyond him. When he held the reins, the horse didnt even try to move, standing stock still.Due to the horse not moving at all remaining still like a sculpture even when Renya pulled or lashed the reins, he gave up easily and tried to ride Emedra or Rubydra, but Emedra put a stop to this. According to the investigation by the dragons, there were no evil dragons with the main force of the demon kings army. Seeing as there were no evil dragons, the dragons stated that they couldnt get involved in the battle.Rubydra was fully willing to allow Renya to ride her, but gave up reluctantly after being persuaded by Emedra, the two dragons returned to the Dragon Den, saying that they would stay back this time. Apparently there had been an entreaty towards Emedra by the Witenagemot asking whether she couldnt somehow convince the dragons to participate in the battle, but Emedra rejected the request firmly. It might be something like a line they cannot cross, but right now is not the time to say such things either, Renya thought, but since it certainly served no purpose to take someone, who states that they definitely wouldnt go, to the battlefield, he left them alone. The combat forces, which they prepared to fight the enemy forces, are lacking anyway, therefore it probably wont change much even if we leave the dragons out of the equation at this point, Renya said, but there wasnt a single person supporting that way of thinking. Putting that aside, Shion proposed to Renya, who started to think that he might as well run alongside the army since he couldnt do anything else, that he could ride on the back of her horse. Croire made a face that said Damn it! when Shion suggested this to the somewhat bothered-looking Renya, but although he felt that he wouldnt fall behind even while running, Renya decided to accept Shions proposal while thinking that it might not be bad to ride behind Shion if it meant not running in-between horses and sub-dragons who would most certainly be very noisy with their heavy footsteps. Renya, make sure you tightly hold on to my waist so that you dont fall off. (Shion) Even without me holding your waist, I wont really fall off, though? (Renya) In Renyas eyes it was just about him being unable to make a horse move. The riding itself wasnt a problem in any way.Keeping his balance atop a horse was a trivial matter even without any support, but Shions intentions were slightly different from what Renya was thinking. If you like, you can also place your arms a little bit higher, you know? (Shion) What are you expecting me to do here? (Renya) If you insist, I guess I expect you to grab the upper area energeticallyafter all its just the right place to properly hold onto. (Shion) Im going to throw some cold water at you, you horny cat. (Renya) Shion started blurting out weird things while blushing, triggering Renya to reconsider whether he had accepted her proposal too hastily, but feeling like it would turn into a similar situation if he were to accept Croires request who apparently wanted to tell Renya that he should come over to her, he resigned himself, believing that he had to endure here. If its Croire, it doesnt look like theres any place to hold onto. If its her flat stone board. (Emil) Emilgo and get yourself killed by Croire once. While lowering his fist on the head of the smirking Emil, Renya finally became a horse rider after accepting the ride behind Shion. It was Renyas miscalculation to take this matter lightly. For the dragonoids someone not being able to ride a horse seemed to be extremely rare. Furthermore, the act of accepting to ride behind a woman was not regarded as very admirable by them.Being showered with plenty of gazes, which saw him as a fool for not being able to ride a horse, in the surroundings, Renyas remaining positive perception towards the dragonoids was in the middle of taking a nosedive inside his head. Renyas displeasure was somehow transmitted to the entire armys atmosphere. Those not understanding the situation felt suspicious as to what might be causing these chills. Those, who have associated with Renya for a long time and understood the situation, accepted it as funny story, but people like Albert, who havent associated with him much yet, couldnt help feeling like Renya might explode at any time, resulting in him hesitantly running behind Renya with a pale face. Thus the dragonoid army was marching straight towards the dragonoids capital while having an atmosphere of unrest spread among their ranks. The dragonoids army was advancing through the dragonoid continent. The army had loaded materials and food along a dozen soldiers on something similar to troop transport wagons referred to as chariots by the dragonoids. Those chariots were pulled by sub-dragons and flanked by cavalry, allowing the dragonoids military forces to move fairly fast. Their numbers amounted to several hundreds. Since the ration between support cavalry and soldiers riding the chariots was about 1 to 2, the entire military force totaled to approximately 10,000. Such an army of 10,000 soldiers was the biggest military force the dragonoids could muster which the Witenagemot had barely managed to scrape together after desperate efforts. There were still a lot more soldiers in the dragonoid country, but as they were scattered over different military bases after the chain of defeats, they couldnt assemble all of them. Those were the words of the Witenagemot. Renya believed that statement to be somewhat of a lie. They were using the excuse that they couldnt send out all of their military forces since it was necessary to leave some behind in order to defend the cities and bases spread all over the continent that hadnt yet been taken over by the enemy army. However, its not like there were that many bases located across the dragonoids continent. Moreover, the place they would attack soon, in other words the capital, was the dragonoids biggest military base to begin with, and also the place where the main force of the demon kings army, which had invaded the dragonoids continent, had been stationed.If that place wasnt recaptured, it would be impossible to liberate the continent. At the same time, if they could recapture the capital, it would likely turn into an important position that could cause the downfall of the demon kings military units that were active in other places. The excuse that they couldnt concentrate their military forces despite launching an attack on such a critical location was unacceptable. One of the reason why the Witenagemot was stingy on their military forces while being well aware of the importance of this attack was their reliance on Renyas extraordinary combat abilities. It was even possible that they thought Renya would go recover the capital all by himself, if things went west. He might be overthinking things, but from the start Renya felt something like that from the Witenagemots words regardless of how they explained the current circumstances or made up excuses. According to them, the number of enemies stationed in the dragonoids capital seemed to be around a couple tens of thousands. Moreover, it was a considerably powerful battle formation centered around intermediate-level monsters such as orcs and ogres. If one considered things logically, recapturing the capital was a dream within a dream. No matter how much the formation might rely on Renya and the four heroes, it was a situation that was very easy to grasp. Renya ended up wondering whether he should indiscriminately lock everything and anything up in a world of ice through the activation of several downbursts from outside the attack range of both sides by depending on his incredible amount of mana if things were to become far too weird, but its not like he could declare his intentions to do such a thing. Also, what made him give up on that idea was the fact that the ones who would be most troubled by the annihilation of the capital would be the residents who had been driven out of the city. Due to the considerable physical strength and stamina of sub-dragons, they could run for longer periods of time without breaks and move at higher speeds than carriages. Their movement range without breaks was slightly more than twice that of a carriage. If they were set on it, they could run as fast as a fast horse, but if they did something like that, the accompanying cavalry would have to throw in the towel. Having said that, despite their convenience, there were not enough sub-dragons or chariots to transport the whole army at the same time. Not to mention that it would likely turn out badly and put them at a disadvantage if an army consisting only of infantry participated in the battle. As result it had been arranged that the sub-dragons and the cavalry would advance at roughly the same speed. It would result in taking longer to arrive to their destination, but the fact that their traveling a distance that would take a carriage ten days in six days could be called super fast as a marching speed in this world, according to Ronas explanation. I would really like to know the method with which the demon kings army invaded so quickly. (Rona) Based on Ronas knowledge, the demon king armys marching speed on the dragonoids continent was abnormal. Rona said it was as if the entire army had been transferred, but even after scanning through the dragons sorcery knowledge that Renya had received from Emedra, he couldnt find any method that would allow such a thing. For the sake of caution Renya chose a good time with no one around and tried asking Emil whether the demons possess such a technique, but her reply was a simple no. Well, though I guess youre not so stupid that youd leak the demons internal affairs (Renya) Renya assumed that Emil might have her position as a demon to take into consideration, but Emil shook her head while laughing in a silly manner, and denied those words. No, not at all. To put things bluntly, I have spilled all the beans to you. If there was such a device allowing to create a path between two fixed points of departure and destination, quite the large-scaled transfers would be possible, okay? Just like that Forest Labyrinth. If you properly travel through the labyrinth, take up positions at the entrance and exit, and form a path through the dungeon itself, its actually feasible. (Emil) The transfer gates use the same theory, Emil says. However, there exists exclusive, ceremonial sorcery that doesnt require devices to traverse a path. Its techniques that are hidden by the other races so that the demons wouldnt learn of them. I guess it would be correct to destroy such methods in advance. (Renya) Certainly. His Majesty Demon King Stolas Vasalgo, was it? I think hes in quite the hurry. I believe the first attack of His Majestys military forces against the dragonoid continent was a surprise attack by transferring through the Forest Labyrinth, but that cant explain the marching speed of the occupation army afterwards. Affixing a point of departure and arrival is impossible, and theres no device allowing to form a path between these two points to begin with. (Emil) Renya had heard the demon kings name from Frau and he circulated it to all the powers.There was no point in hiding it anyway. Renya partly expected some kind of bickering to be thrown his way due to spreading the information, but so far there hasnt been any such reaction. He tried asking Emil as well, but her response was completely outside Renyas prediction. If its Stolas Vasalgo, its not that I dont know him. Hes the son of an influential demon noble. If Im not mistaken, hes a man. (Emil) In Renyas eyes the demon kings gender didnt really matter either way, but for some reason Emil informs Renya while oddly stressing the part about him being a man. Renya felt slightly disappointed that he was considered to be a human that would take the other party into consideration only if she were a woman, but as the current situation didnt allow him to worry about something like that, he switched over his thinking. You knowing his name means that hes quite powerful, doesnt it Emil? (Renya) Nah, not really. As far as I know, Stolas is far from being a powerful demon. If I had to choose either, Id label him as a dropout. If he had fought against me, I would have been able to dissect him from the top of his head to the tip of his big toe within five minutes. (Emil) As if recalling old memories, Emil continued while gazing into the sky, Hes a person who wouldnt have ever popped up as possible candidate in my mind. All I know is that his family is influential and that his reputation pictures him as being a dunce who doesnt measure up to his lineage at all. (Emil) Even someone like that can become the demon king? (Renya) No, theres no way for that to be possible, is there? (Emil) Emil was astonished by Renyas surprise.Due to Renya mumbling complaints that it was unfair for her to be surprised here since he didnt know the internal affairs of the demons, Emil said as if preaching to him, Its obviously the same with the heroes, but even the demon king will be chosen from among the best among the demons. (Emil) Sorry, but I cant agree with that, no matter how you look at it. I will agree with you in regards to our Kurz, the elven Grn and the dragonoids Albert, butthe beastmen havethat. (Renya) No.well, yeah, ummisnt he superior as a beastman? Even if thats not the case for arguments sake, its a failure rate of 25% if you regard the total number. (Emil) This conversation was heard in full account by Lepard himself as he was passing by due to his characteristic, excellent sense of hearing as a beastman. Later on Lepard was seen being consoled by Kaede, but Renya and Emil believed that their words hadnt been heard by the person in question, and also had no way of knowing about it since the victim didnt mention a single word about it. Anyway, as far as I know, Stolas Vasalgo is so incompetent that he wouldnt have become a candidate, but the fact that he was named the demon king is a big problem. I mean, theres no way for the other candidates to accept it silently, is there? Therefore, Renya, its better for you to be careful. I dont know how he became the demon king, but its clear that he possesses a way to name himself demon king while silencing the influential demons. (Emil) Emils expression was dyed with honest anxiety.She was currently riding diagonally behind Renya, but he regarded her expression as something extremely interesting. Pondering about the reason for that, Renya was driven by shameful feelings. How unexpected. There are things you cant do either, Renya. The one saying so was Shion who was grasping the reins of the horse. As for handling a carriage, Renya had become able to somehow make it move after learning the basics from Shion before, but he was completely useless in horseback riding.If it was just sitting on the horse, even Renya could handle as much with his movements that could be called nimble, but any further than that was beyond him. When he held the reins, the horse didnt even try to move, standing stock still.Due to the horse not moving at all remaining still like a sculpture even when Renya pulled or lashed the reins, he gave up easily and tried to ride Emedra or Rubydra, but Emedra put a stop to this. According to the investigation by the dragons, there were no evil dragons with the main force of the demon kings army. Seeing as there were no evil dragons, the dragons stated that they couldnt get involved in the battle.Rubydra was fully willing to allow Renya to ride her, but gave up reluctantly after being persuaded by Emedra, the two dragons returned to the Dragon Den, saying that they would stay back this time. Apparently there had been an entreaty towards Emedra by the Witenagemot asking whether she couldnt somehow convince the dragons to participate in the battle, but Emedra rejected the request firmly. It might be something like a line they cannot cross, but right now is not the time to say such things either, Renya thought, but since it certainly served no purpose to take someone, who states that they definitely wouldnt go, to the battlefield, he left them alone. The combat forces, which they prepared to fight the enemy forces, are lacking anyway, therefore it probably wont change much even if we leave the dragons out of the equation at this point, Renya said, but there wasnt a single person supporting that way of thinking. Putting that aside, Shion proposed to Renya, who started to think that he might as well run alongside the army since he couldnt do anything else, that he could ride on the back of her horse. Croire made a face that said Damn it! when Shion suggested this to the somewhat bothered-looking Renya, but although he felt that he wouldnt fall behind even while running, Renya decided to accept Shions proposal while thinking that it might not be bad to ride behind Shion if it meant not running in-between horses and sub-dragons who would most certainly be very noisy with their heavy footsteps. Renya, make sure you tightly hold on to my waist so that you dont fall off. (Shion) Even without me holding your waist, I wont really fall off, though? (Renya) In Renyas eyes it was just about him being unable to make a horse move. The riding itself wasnt a problem in any way.Keeping his balance atop a horse was a trivial matter even without any support, but Shions intentions were slightly different from what Renya was thinking. If you like, you can also place your arms a little bit higher, you know? (Shion) What are you expecting me to do here? (Renya) If you insist, I guess I expect you to grab the upper area energeticallyafter all its just the right place to properly hold onto. (Shion) Im going to throw some cold water at you, you horny cat. (Renya) Shion started blurting out weird things while blushing, triggering Renya to reconsider whether he had accepted her proposal too hastily, but feeling like it would turn into a similar situation if he were to accept Croires request who apparently wanted to tell Renya that he should come over to her, he resigned himself, believing that he had to endure here. If its Croire, it doesnt look like theres any place to hold onto. If its her flat stone board. (Emil) Emilgo and get yourself killed by Croire once. While lowering his fist on the head of the smirking Emil, Renya finally became a horse rider after accepting the ride behind Shion. It was Renyas miscalculation to take this matter lightly. For the dragonoids someone not being able to ride a horse seemed to be extremely rare. Furthermore, the act of accepting to ride behind a woman was not regarded as very admirable by them.Being showered with plenty of gazes, which saw him as a fool for not being able to ride a horse, in the surroundings, Renyas remaining positive perception towards the dragonoids was in the middle of taking a nosedive inside his head. Renyas displeasure was somehow transmitted to the entire armys atmosphere. Those not understanding the situation felt suspicious as to what might be causing these chills. Those, who have associated with Renya for a long time and understood the situation, accepted it as funny story, but people like Albert, who havent associated with him much yet, couldnt help feeling like Renya might explode at any time, resulting in him hesitantly running behind Renya with a pale face. Thus the dragonoid army was marching straight towards the dragonoids capital while having an atmosphere of unrest spread among their ranks. Chapter 178 As they got closer to the dragonoids capital, the surrounding scenery gradually changed.It was a sight that made even the courageous Lepard and the calm Grn look gloomy.All dragonoid soldiers became pale. It was to the extent that the really severe cases repeatedly jumped off the chariots carrying them, and vomited violently on the spot.It was likely the deed of the demon kings army that investigated the vicinity or something like that after the capital had been attacked, but there were still traces left proving that the thoroughly burned, small settlements had remained the ones better off.Corpses that looked as if they were kneaded by some powerful force.Something human-shaped that had its entire skin peeled off and was impaled on a stake, which had been thrust into the ground, while upside down.A road where heads, which had the despair at the time of their death carved into their faces, were endlessly lining up on the ground.Women whose bellies had been ripped open, and children that were crammed into those tears as if it werent already enough.Such scenes could be seen only at times, but the entire area was dotted with them. What a nasty taste. (Emil) These scenes were so tragic that even Emil, who was usually not perturbed by most things, let her feelings show. Only Renya turned his eyes towards those scenes with a mystified expression lacking any indication that he felt bad about what happened to these people as if he were simply examining them while patting Shions back, who felt uncomfortable while putting up with her nausea. Yourealright, Renya? (Shion) Shion asked while feeling saved a bit by the warm sensation of his hand slowly and gently stroking her back.There was no sign of agitation in Renyas reply. Well, theres certainly a difference in the level of cruelty, but they are still mere corpses. (Renya) Shion thought that he might be pretending to be tough with his calm voice, but after turning around, she couldnt find any trace of him acting. How tough. I guess I can sum it up withas expected of you. (Shion) Since I feel the evil intention, its a bad sensation. But, theres something that seems somewhat odd. (Renya) The dragonoid army was currently moving through the middle of a plain not far away from the capital.In proportion to the lack of obstacles, objects of bad taste were visible C even if one didnt wish to see them C spreading across the whole area. Something odd? What is it? (Shion) Its so many corpses that they had scattered them over this vast area. A considerable number of people has already been killed, I think. In the worst case, isnt it possible that there are no surviving residents in the capital? (Renya) Now that he mentions it, hes certainly right, Shion assessed.To scatter this many corpses all over the plains would require many more people than just a couple hundreds or even thousands.Its not that Shion knew the population of the dragonoids capital, but if they had been slaughtered by the tens of thousands, it was possible that there were no survivors left in the capital anymore. Besides, dont monsters such as goblins, orcs or ogres eat people? (Renya) Thatsyoure correct there. (Shion) Especially ogres, they are nicknamed Man-Eaters as they actively try to eat human-shaped creatures.In front of their appetite racial differences only hold trivial nuances. Why did they create this scenery then? Arent these just fodder in their eyes? (Renya) Even if she set aside Renyas way of thinking, seeing as he declared the corpses of people to be fodder without any hesitation, the points he brought up were on Shions mind as well.At the very least Shion had never heard that goblins, who usually eat anything edible to the extent that they would even devour the corpses of their own kind, mutilated people in such a nasty manner.What was more worrying was the fact that a great number of female dragonoids was included among those mutilated corpses.Monsters such as goblins and orcs normally use the women they captured to increase their numbers without eating or killing them, or any distinction whether the captured women are humans, beastmen, or dragonoids.However, for some reason only elves arent reserved for breeding purposes. They mostly get eaten or messed around with until the monsters get tired of them, but you could call this an exception. Incidentally, no matter how low their intelligence might be, they will at least station lookouts, right? The fact that our numbers are no more than a fragment of theirs should have been exposed one way or another, dont you think? (Renya) Renya believed that to be a rather annoying fact.As these feelings were apparently visible on his face and could be perceived from his aura, Albert, who noticed this while being slightly further away, began to get all squirrelly again. Maybe. In that case Renya concentrated his eyes ahead of the dragonoid forces march.Over there a city with high walls started to come in view. Why cant I see any signs of the enemy army around that city? (Renya) As Renya said, the dragonoid capital, which started to show up, calmly towered without any movements contrasting the terrible scenery in the vicinity.There were no monsters around, or signs of anything flying in the air.Furthermore no smoke was rising from the city, and no presence of living beings or sounds associated with life could be detected.In front of that city, which seemed like an abandoned ruin, unrest started to spread between the soldiers. Werent there supposed to be tens of thousands of monsters stationed here? (Renya) That should be the case, butmaybe they retreated or something like that? (Shion) Shion tried to voice out a possibility that came to her mind, but she immediately denied her own words.After all there was no reason for the demon kings army to retreat.Certainly, they suffered a crushing defeat on one battleground thanks to Renya and lost quite a few troops, but in the end that was just one of many battlegrounds. Its not like its going to influence the general progress of the war.Speaking of the state of affairs, the demon kings army was still occupying large sections of the dragonoids continent. Their remaining forces should drastically exceed those of the dragonoids, too. The army pulled back after hearing about the four heroes gathering here? (Shion) Are the heroes so terrifying? (Renya) Look at the heroes we have, Renya pointed at Lepard and the others, who were advancing in a line next to each other, with his eyes.Lepard, who noticed Renyas gaze being turned their way as he apparently overheard the conversation between Renya and Shion, revealed an openly displeased expression. Grn smiled bitterly, and Kurz smiled innocently.Only Albert didnt understand what was going on. He nervously moved his eyes back and forth between Renya and the heroes. Come to think of it, where did those two priestesses attached to Kurz go? (Renya) Although he confirmed that Kaede was next to Lepard, Renya realized that the two childish priestesses werent around.Given that they were still very young, Renya didnt feel like bringing them along to a battlefield at all, but Renya also knew that little-by-little they had somehow gotten close to Kurz . It looks like Kurz stowed them away inside the mist all of a sudden, saying that the battlefield was nearby. (Shion) Is that actually fine? No, I think he wouldnt have done so unless its fine, but is it really alright? (Renya) Renya didnt really understand the true identity of Kurzs black mist.He somehow guessed what it might be, but if his thoughts were to be correct, the mist shouldnt be anything decent, no matter the viewpoint. He worried whether the priestesses, who had been stored away while enveloped by that mist, were okay.Seemingly sensing Renyas concern, Kurz waved his hand atop his mount.In Renyas opinion, it should be almost impossible for Kurz to be any better at horse riding than himself, but Kurz safely handled his horse with one hand.Having absorbed the skill and knowledge of everyone he had captured with his black mist, Kurz displayed a fairly proficient level of horsemanship.Renya felt a little bit depressed over the fact that he couldnt do something even a little child could, but Shion had the impression that the eyes of the horse, which Kurz was riding, were somehow empty, or rather, lifeless.She thought that he must have done something bad to it, but since she would lose the opportunity to ride together with Renya if he became able to ride a horse with some kind of secret method just because she mentioned her concern, she remained silent.Once Kurz swung his arm, a pitch black line was drawn in empty space along its path.Renya furrowed his eyebrows after seeing the two beastman priestesses peacefully sleeping within the black mist that oozed out of the pitch black line. I wonder just what kind of theory is at work here? (Renya) Sorry, Renya. I have absolutely no clue (Shion) That Kurz, hes going to eat the enemies with that black mist, isnt he? (Renya) Are you worried that they will be mixed up with the enemies captured during battle, Renya? I think even Kurz is well aware of that issue (Shion) Shion said, but Renya couldnt deny the possibility that Kurz might have completely forgotten to take that into account.He only prayed that those two priestesses wouldnt run into a situation that would injure their minds.If it came to a situation where those two priestesses appeared from within the mist with blood stains all over while having lost all light in their eyes once the battle finished, such a case would be impossible to handle in various meanings. I guess it cant be helped even if I worry about it Anyway, its not like the demon kings army drew back just because the four heroes assembled, right? Hes still the demon king. The demon king, I tell you. (Renya) Renyas impression after seeing all the heroes together was that the demon king wasnt that much of a threat if he could be defeated by those four. Assuming he considered Kurz as a special case since Frau tampered with him somewhat, he couldnt believe that the demon king would become such a dreadful threat, even if he added Yuuki, whom he fought before, to the other three heroes besides Kurz.But, currently Renya was reassessing those thoughts.After all, the demon king did not only attack Klinge with his offshoot instead of his main body, but also achieved a draw against Frau.It wasnt just any draw either.They fought under extremely advantageous conditions for Frau as they did so next to Klinge, Fraus base and source of power, on top of the fact that the demon kings main body and the offshoot were separated by a very large distance. And yet it resulted mostly in a draw that was achieved by Frau making her copy blow itself up by using Renyas mana, after being outmatched in both mana and strength. An opponent that somehow or other achieved a draw against Frau who can pressure a hero quite a bit if they were to go one-on-one? Theres no way they would pull their army just because they heard that the four heroes have gathered. (Renya) Yeahthe more I hear about Klinge, the more nonsensical that city becomes in my mind (Shion) It was common sense in this world that even if all the forces of a nation were to be mobilized, they wouldnt be enough to kill the demon king.A single city repelling him, even though it was his offshoot, by itself went far beyond the term outlandish.Shion feebly murmured that while looking as if she had utterly given up, but Renya continued without minding her. Even though its an army dispatched by such a demon kingand albeit it would seem fine even if they came out to annihilate us in high spirits after learning about our few numbers There not being signs of a single living being in the city; just what does that mean? (Renya) No, even if you ask me, I dont know. I dont know, but (Shion) While pondering how to answer his question, Shion manages to come up with an answer. how about asking the opinion of the other members if it bothers you so much? (Shion) Hmm? (Renya) I cant provide an answer that will be of much help to you, but if its Rona and Emil, they might at least come up with some kind of educated guess. (Shion) I see, that makes sense. Alright, everyone gather for a moment! (Renya) The four heroes, Rona, Croire, Emil, and Kaede approached Renya while wondering what was going on.While the dragonoid soldiers watched them, pondering what they intended to do at this point in time right in front of the enemy, Renya and the others formed a circle with their horses while ignoring the looks focusing on them, and began a meeting then and there. As they got closer to the dragonoids capital, the surrounding scenery gradually changed.It was a sight that made even the courageous Lepard and the calm Grn look gloomy.All dragonoid soldiers became pale. It was to the extent that the really severe cases repeatedly jumped off the chariots carrying them, and vomited violently on the spot.It was likely the deed of the demon kings army that investigated the vicinity or something like that after the capital had been attacked, but there were still traces left proving that the thoroughly burned, small settlements had remained the ones better off.Corpses that looked as if they were kneaded by some powerful force.Something human-shaped that had its entire skin peeled off and was impaled on a stake, which had been thrust into the ground, while upside down.A road where heads, which had the despair at the time of their death carved into their faces, were endlessly lining up on the ground.Women whose bellies had been ripped open, and children that were crammed into those tears as if it werent already enough.Such scenes could be seen only at times, but the entire area was dotted with them. What a nasty taste. (Emil) These scenes were so tragic that even Emil, who was usually not perturbed by most things, let her feelings show. Only Renya turned his eyes towards those scenes with a mystified expression lacking any indication that he felt bad about what happened to these people as if he were simply examining them while patting Shions back, who felt uncomfortable while putting up with her nausea. Yourealright, Renya? (Shion) Shion asked while feeling saved a bit by the warm sensation of his hand slowly and gently stroking her back.There was no sign of agitation in Renyas reply. Well, theres certainly a difference in the level of cruelty, but they are still mere corpses. (Renya) Shion thought that he might be pretending to be tough with his calm voice, but after turning around, she couldnt find any trace of him acting. How tough. I guess I can sum it up withas expected of you. (Shion) Since I feel the evil intention, its a bad sensation. But, theres something that seems somewhat odd. (Renya) The dragonoid army was currently moving through the middle of a plain not far away from the capital.In proportion to the lack of obstacles, objects of bad taste were visible C even if one didnt wish to see them C spreading across the whole area. Something odd? What is it? (Shion) Its so many corpses that they had scattered them over this vast area. A considerable number of people has already been killed, I think. In the worst case, isnt it possible that there are no surviving residents in the capital? (Renya) Now that he mentions it, hes certainly right, Shion assessed.To scatter this many corpses all over the plains would require many more people than just a couple hundreds or even thousands.Its not that Shion knew the population of the dragonoids capital, but if they had been slaughtered by the tens of thousands, it was possible that there were no survivors left in the capital anymore. Besides, dont monsters such as goblins, orcs or ogres eat people? (Renya) Thatsyoure correct there. (Shion) Especially ogres, they are nicknamed Man-Eaters as they actively try to eat human-shaped creatures.In front of their appetite racial differences only hold trivial nuances. Why did they create this scenery then? Arent these just fodder in their eyes? (Renya) Even if she set aside Renyas way of thinking, seeing as he declared the corpses of people to be fodder without any hesitation, the points he brought up were on Shions mind as well.At the very least Shion had never heard that goblins, who usually eat anything edible to the extent that they would even devour the corpses of their own kind, mutilated people in such a nasty manner.What was more worrying was the fact that a great number of female dragonoids was included among those mutilated corpses.Monsters such as goblins and orcs normally use the women they captured to increase their numbers without eating or killing them, or any distinction whether the captured women are humans, beastmen, or dragonoids.However, for some reason only elves arent reserved for breeding purposes. They mostly get eaten or messed around with until the monsters get tired of them, but you could call this an exception. Incidentally, no matter how low their intelligence might be, they will at least station lookouts, right? The fact that our numbers are no more than a fragment of theirs should have been exposed one way or another, dont you think? (Renya) Renya believed that to be a rather annoying fact.As these feelings were apparently visible on his face and could be perceived from his aura, Albert, who noticed this while being slightly further away, began to get all squirrelly again. Maybe. In that case Renya concentrated his eyes ahead of the dragonoid forces march.Over there a city with high walls started to come in view. Why cant I see any signs of the enemy army around that city? (Renya) As Renya said, the dragonoid capital, which started to show up, calmly towered without any movements contrasting the terrible scenery in the vicinity.There were no monsters around, or signs of anything flying in the air.Furthermore no smoke was rising from the city, and no presence of living beings or sounds associated with life could be detected.In front of that city, which seemed like an abandoned ruin, unrest started to spread between the soldiers. Werent there supposed to be tens of thousands of monsters stationed here? (Renya) That should be the case, butmaybe they retreated or something like that? (Shion) Shion tried to voice out a possibility that came to her mind, but she immediately denied her own words.After all there was no reason for the demon kings army to retreat.Certainly, they suffered a crushing defeat on one battleground thanks to Renya and lost quite a few troops, but in the end that was just one of many battlegrounds. Its not like its going to influence the general progress of the war.Speaking of the state of affairs, the demon kings army was still occupying large sections of the dragonoids continent. Their remaining forces should drastically exceed those of the dragonoids, too. The army pulled back after hearing about the four heroes gathering here? (Shion) Are the heroes so terrifying? (Renya) Look at the heroes we have, Renya pointed at Lepard and the others, who were advancing in a line next to each other, with his eyes.Lepard, who noticed Renyas gaze being turned their way as he apparently overheard the conversation between Renya and Shion, revealed an openly displeased expression. Grn smiled bitterly, and Kurz smiled innocently.Only Albert didnt understand what was going on. He nervously moved his eyes back and forth between Renya and the heroes. Come to think of it, where did those two priestesses attached to Kurz go? (Renya) Although he confirmed that Kaede was next to Lepard, Renya realized that the two childish priestesses werent around.Given that they were still very young, Renya didnt feel like bringing them along to a battlefield at all, but Renya also knew that little-by-little they had somehow gotten close to Kurz . It looks like Kurz stowed them away inside the mist all of a sudden, saying that the battlefield was nearby. (Shion) Is that actually fine? No, I think he wouldnt have done so unless its fine, but is it really alright? (Renya) Renya didnt really understand the true identity of Kurzs black mist.He somehow guessed what it might be, but if his thoughts were to be correct, the mist shouldnt be anything decent, no matter the viewpoint. He worried whether the priestesses, who had been stored away while enveloped by that mist, were okay.Seemingly sensing Renyas concern, Kurz waved his hand atop his mount.In Renyas opinion, it should be almost impossible for Kurz to be any better at horse riding than himself, but Kurz safely handled his horse with one hand.Having absorbed the skill and knowledge of everyone he had captured with his black mist, Kurz displayed a fairly proficient level of horsemanship.Renya felt a little bit depressed over the fact that he couldnt do something even a little child could, but Shion had the impression that the eyes of the horse, which Kurz was riding, were somehow empty, or rather, lifeless.She thought that he must have done something bad to it, but since she would lose the opportunity to ride together with Renya if he became able to ride a horse with some kind of secret method just because she mentioned her concern, she remained silent.Once Kurz swung his arm, a pitch black line was drawn in empty space along its path.Renya furrowed his eyebrows after seeing the two beastman priestesses peacefully sleeping within the black mist that oozed out of the pitch black line. I wonder just what kind of theory is at work here? (Renya) Sorry, Renya. I have absolutely no clue (Shion) That Kurz, hes going to eat the enemies with that black mist, isnt he? (Renya) Are you worried that they will be mixed up with the enemies captured during battle, Renya? I think even Kurz is well aware of that issue (Shion) Shion said, but Renya couldnt deny the possibility that Kurz might have completely forgotten to take that into account.He only prayed that those two priestesses wouldnt run into a situation that would injure their minds.If it came to a situation where those two priestesses appeared from within the mist with blood stains all over while having lost all light in their eyes once the battle finished, such a case would be impossible to handle in various meanings. I guess it cant be helped even if I worry about it Anyway, its not like the demon kings army drew back just because the four heroes assembled, right? Hes still the demon king. The demon king, I tell you. (Renya) Renyas impression after seeing all the heroes together was that the demon king wasnt that much of a threat if he could be defeated by those four. Assuming he considered Kurz as a special case since Frau tampered with him somewhat, he couldnt believe that the demon king would become such a dreadful threat, even if he added Yuuki, whom he fought before, to the other three heroes besides Kurz.But, currently Renya was reassessing those thoughts.After all, the demon king did not only attack Klinge with his offshoot instead of his main body, but also achieved a draw against Frau.It wasnt just any draw either.They fought under extremely advantageous conditions for Frau as they did so next to Klinge, Fraus base and source of power, on top of the fact that the demon kings main body and the offshoot were separated by a very large distance. And yet it resulted mostly in a draw that was achieved by Frau making her copy blow itself up by using Renyas mana, after being outmatched in both mana and strength. An opponent that somehow or other achieved a draw against Frau who can pressure a hero quite a bit if they were to go one-on-one? Theres no way they would pull their army just because they heard that the four heroes have gathered. (Renya) Yeahthe more I hear about Klinge, the more nonsensical that city becomes in my mind (Shion) It was common sense in this world that even if all the forces of a nation were to be mobilized, they wouldnt be enough to kill the demon king.A single city repelling him, even though it was his offshoot, by itself went far beyond the term outlandish.Shion feebly murmured that while looking as if she had utterly given up, but Renya continued without minding her. Even though its an army dispatched by such a demon kingand albeit it would seem fine even if they came out to annihilate us in high spirits after learning about our few numbers There not being signs of a single living being in the city; just what does that mean? (Renya) No, even if you ask me, I dont know. I dont know, but (Shion) While pondering how to answer his question, Shion manages to come up with an answer. how about asking the opinion of the other members if it bothers you so much? (Shion) Hmm? (Renya) I cant provide an answer that will be of much help to you, but if its Rona and Emil, they might at least come up with some kind of educated guess. (Shion) I see, that makes sense. Alright, everyone gather for a moment! (Renya) The four heroes, Rona, Croire, Emil, and Kaede approached Renya while wondering what was going on.While the dragonoid soldiers watched them, pondering what they intended to do at this point in time right in front of the enemy, Renya and the others formed a circle with their horses while ignoring the looks focusing on them, and began a meeting then and there. Chapter 179 I certainly dont sense the presence of any living beings coming from that city. If theres supposed to be ten thousands of souls present, its definitely weird that I cant detect any of them, though. (Emil) Once Emil speaks up after hearing Renyas worries, Lepard agrees with her while nodding his head in confirmation. Yeah, I surely had such a hunch, too. I thought that it was odd. But, I believed it was fine to not to give a damn since no one said anythin. (Lepard) Worry about it, at least a bit. Thats why its said that even your soul is stuffed with muscles. (Kaede) Lepard turns a terribly hurt expression at Kaede, who nonchalantly spit out words that everyone considered too harsh, but there was no follow-up from Kaedes side.Renya ends up wondering whether those two really have a good relationship, but since it somehow works out smoothly between them, he puts it off as the subtleties between men and women being difficult to understand. Its hard to imagine that they retreated. At least I dont see any advantages they could get from making such a decision. (Rona) When Rona stated her opinion calmly, Kurz raised his hand cheerfully and declared, Margrave-sama, the presence of food is definitely missing~ (Kurz) Umm, Kurz-san? Just what do you mean with food? No, forget it. I can somewhat guess what you mean, but (Croire) Croire tries to timidly retort, probably thinking that it might be a good place to do so.While smiling bitterly at his sisters state, Grn composedly states his own opinion. I intend to follow your decision, Margrave-dono. (Grn) Anyway, we dont have any other option but to march on and hit them once, or do we? (Albert) Wondering whether he should say anything here as he finds it difficult to judge whether its fine for him to state his opinion, Albert decided to do so, apparently believing that it also affects the safety of his comrades.That opinion was very likely one that could be accepted in any army as a typical model answer to some extent, but Renya shakes his head. Considering that a safer and more reliable plan exists for the time being, I cant agree with your proposal. (Renya) Just for reference, is it alright for me to hear about that reliable plan of yours? (Albert) Renya confidently replies to Alberts question, who asked with a cramped and pale face, seemingly having a very bad premonition, We will blow them away along with the city from here. (Renya) What about the residents livelihood and peace? (Albert) Well, I suppose its a solution we cant take if there are still survivors in there. (Renya) After glancing in the direction of the city, Renya says, If there are no survivors left in the city, or if theres no one besides the demon kings army, its the most uncomplicated method with the least sacrifices. Then you will just have to rebuild the city. (Renya) Something like thatits not just a couple people who escaped from the capital. For the residents its their beloved hometown. If you destroy it (Albert) Alberts attitude, who says that as if imploring Renya, doesnt suit a hero very much.There were some among the dragonoid soldiers watching from the sides that openly frowned, but Albert himself hadnt the leeway to concern himself with something like that.After all Renyas words about blowing everything up alongside the city isnt a figure of speech, a joke or anything like that, but words he could easily and moreover immediately put into action if they were to be approved. My way of phrasing might be bad, but I think that you will have to rebuild it anyway even if we recapture it, dont you think? There will likely be very few residents who will immediately feel like using a city that had been occupied by monsters. After all we dont know what the monsters might have set up in there. In the worst case it wouldnt be strange for them to have installed some kind of device that sucks out the mana or vitality of the citys residents and supplies them to the demon king. If it were me, I would do just that. (Renya) Anyone would come up with the idea to set some kind of trap if its a facility they are going to give up anyway, Renya says.As long as its not exposed, it will be a big gain. And even if its exposed, the only losses would be the material costs and labor used to set up the trap.In order to hide a trap that would use the entirety of the city, its probably better to plant many small traps that are easy to find, Renya believed, but when he gave a single example, he noticed that Emils expression slightly froze, interrupted his words, and looked at Emil. Whats wrong, Emil? (Renya) No, I just thought that youre reliably considering really nasty stuff. Arent you more like a demon king than the demon king himself? (Emil) Renya sent a somewhat grim stare at Emil, who revealed a malicious smile, while snorting sullenly, and then immediately locked back at Albert, admonishing him. Narrowing down your options due to emotions cant be called wise. If it can be left behind, there would be nothing better than to do so, but I cant imagine or believe that there are surviving residents inside the city at present. (Renya) No way! A shout reached them before Albert could even open his mouth in response.Once everyone turned in the direction of the voice, a cavalryman glaring at Renya with an enraged look was approaching Renya.Renya, who appraised the equipment he was wearing, judges that its a fairly pricey set of gear.Since hes wearing something like that, the owner of the voice must hold a reasonably high position, Renya guesses. Who is he? (Renya) Hes Linus Greybunarl-dono, the one appointed as the general of this subjugation force. Albert tells Renya, who asks for his identity, in a whisper.Renya cant grasp the details of his figure and countenance very well since Linus is covered from head to toe in such an inflexible plate armor that Renya feels like pitying the horse, but the eyes glaring at Renya from within the helmet are grim and stabbing. There was a great number of inhabitants in that city. Theres no way that they have been all killed in such a short time! (Linus) Dont shout. It will affect morale, you know? (Renya) After indifferently answering the cavalryman, who approaches with a force as if hes going to bite, as though having heard something bothersome, Renya asks Albert, apparently having realized it just now, Did you say Greybunarl? (Renya) Just as youve guessed, hes the son of the Dragonoids Witenagemots chairman. (Albert) The son of that person, huh? (Renya) This will be annoying, Renya sighs once while recalling the face of the elderly chairman of the Dragonoids Witenagemot that isnt very wise.Renya didnt know how he took his sigh, but Linus, who had gotten very close, became even louder while glaring at only Renya. Can I have you stop speaking about irresponsible conjectures? (Linus) Minus ten points. (Renya) What!? (Linus) No, dont worry about it. (Renya) Renya has absolutely no intention of providing an explanation.Shion, whos in a position of naturally being exposed to Linus shouting since Renya is sitting behind her, grasped the reins with her right hand and tried throwing a question at Renya while testing whether she could reduce Linus loud voice by blocking her ear with one of her left fingers. Why a minus rating all of a sudden? (Shion) The one who said that there are no presences of people in the city is the beastman Lepard, no? The sharpness of his senses is far beyond that of humans. (Renya) Its different when inside a forest, but in a place like this, even elves have to yield a bit to beastmen. If pushed to say, I think that dragonoids are peerless in regards to strength and mana, but if it comes to sensing, I believe the beastmen hero to be superior. Once Croire and Albert guarantee for the sharpness of the beastmens sense one after the other, Lepard threw out his chest in triumph for some reason.He couldnt mention it in this place, but besides Lepards opinion, Renya was also largely affected by Emils opinion as backing for his decision.Its without doubt that the beastmens senses are better than those of other races, but Emil is actually a demon. The sharpness of her senses should surpass that of all the other four races.Renya thinks that he somehow might have to wallop Lepard a good one due to the triumphant look on his face and him slightly pointing his nose upwards in pride.Renya believes that Lepard would definitely end up shriveling away in low spirits with just hearing about it, but its not that Renya particularly wants to tease him or get angry at his self-satisfied look. Renya saying that acting conceited doesnt result in anything decent was an expression of his very own kindness. Its just as you heard. Isnt it a problem if someone like you indulges in wishful thinking while ignoring information that has this much credibility? (Renya) Renya hasnt the slightest intention to meddle in the movements of the dragonoids military forces.If it was an unbelievable story, it would be fine if they ignored Renya and the others, and moved accordingly, but Linus apparently has no intention of releasing Renya right away, and snaps at him even further. Its no definite information! (Linus) I guess youre the type that doesnt believe unless they see with their own eyes. Depending on the situation, thats a troublesome type. (Renya) Ah, so thats the reason for the minus evaluation, I suppose. I cant say whether thats good or bad, or acceptable or unacceptable as a commanding officer. Youre saying that hes just a troublesome person? Thats not something I can answer, seeing as we are in front of the person himself. Its the same as if having said so, but due to Renya playing dumb, Linus shoulders start to tremble.How pitiful, Shion thinks.Its because she believes that he has no chance at winning an argument with Renya when it comes to making fun of someone.Usually people in positions like the Witenagemot or Linus have most likely never been made fun of. Even if it happens, they should be capable of crushing the other party with their authority or such without having to directly go along with it.However, if the other party is Renya, they have to purely gain victory with their words. If they were to choose another method, they would immediately be crushed physically. I guess for the time being we will let your side decide your plan of action? Our side has its own plan. Since Im not saying that youve got to obey our words, youre free to do as you like, okay? (Renya) You think such reasoning will pass while campaigning with our army? (Linus) Being told so by Linus with a low, subdued voice, Renya dons a puzzled expression, and faces Albert next.If he could, Albert would like to avert his eyes and feign ignorance, but seemingly understanding that he cant do that, he directly faces Renyas look, and murmurs a reply. For the time beingseeing as your position is a formal one, Margrave-dono, it has taken the form of a campaign of the dragonoid army to protect the four heroes. (Albert) Whats with that? I havent heard anything about something like that? So its fine even if I go home? (Renya) Margrave-dono, cant you somehow (Albert) Albert tries to calm Renya whose mood had immediately become worse because he wasnt informed about the nature of the campaign.Linus snorts in displeasure and turns his horse around. Im the commander of this army. Can I have you refrain from arbitrary words and actions!? (Linus) Alright, you are my enemy then, right? Stay on standby near that city since I will blow you away together with the demon kings army. (Renya) So youre going to depend on your strength after all, huh? You damned, savage human! (Linus) A creaking sound could be heard from Renyas right hand.Shion, who quietly looked in the sounds direction, sees some kind of swaying heat haze rise from Renyas right hand, and senses that its something very dangerous. Renya, lets draw back for the moment here. Certainly, if its you, you can completely erase the army over here alongside the city, but if you did that, you would definitely be called a demon king. (Shion) Thats right, Renya. Isnt it better to have him show what hes got, if he says hes the armys commander? (Croire) As if covering for Shion who restrains Renya in a slight panic, Croire brings her horse close to Renya while smiling full of composure. Im sure hell recapture the city stolen by the demon kings army with some exceptional strategy. (Croire) Youre quite a poisonous woman for an elf. (Linus) Its my principle to counter hate with poison, and deep affection with honey. (Croire) Croire wards off Linus words, which are said as if spitting them out while glaring at her, as something that doesnt concern her at all, and laughs. Im certain that the dragonoids army protecting the four heroes will put forth amazing efforts. Kuuh But, well While hiding her mouth with her hand and with a dangerous light dwelling in her eyes, Croire says, I wonder just how many heroes will follow your orders? (Croire) Say what you want! (Linus) If its not just lip-service, then please show us your ability through your actions, Sir dragonoid. (Croire) Seemingly perceiving that he cant match her with words, Linus leaves Renyas group without saying anything further after hatefully glaring at Croire. Hes someone who will make you feel like an idiot for simply dealing with him, Renya. Nuu For starters, lets go with a compromise between Lepard-sans and Emil-sans arguments, and Albert-sans opinion? Croire whispers while seeing off the retreating back of Linus as if watching something worthless. That man will likely deliver the first blow by himself without relying on us. (Croire) Croire estimates that Linus, who got all agitated, certainly wont draw back from here and ask for Renyas or the others help.In that case, they will carry out the first attack with their own strength, even if its somewhat reckless, Croire predicted. Did you aim for that? Now, I wonder about that? Croire returns Renyas question with a smile. Didnt the dragonoids and elves entertain a fairly good relationship? Thats an old story. Its unrelated to me, Renya. (Croire) Due to Croire saying so with an unconcerned look, Renya felt his innards cool down just a little bit, and harbored a small amount of pity for Linus, who had been manipulated, despite his annoying character. I certainly dont sense the presence of any living beings coming from that city. If theres supposed to be ten thousands of souls present, its definitely weird that I cant detect any of them, though. (Emil) Once Emil speaks up after hearing Renyas worries, Lepard agrees with her while nodding his head in confirmation. Yeah, I surely had such a hunch, too. I thought that it was odd. But, I believed it was fine to not to give a damn since no one said anythin. (Lepard) Worry about it, at least a bit. Thats why its said that even your soul is stuffed with muscles. (Kaede) Lepard turns a terribly hurt expression at Kaede, who nonchalantly spit out words that everyone considered too harsh, but there was no follow-up from Kaedes side.Renya ends up wondering whether those two really have a good relationship, but since it somehow works out smoothly between them, he puts it off as the subtleties between men and women being difficult to understand. Its hard to imagine that they retreated. At least I dont see any advantages they could get from making such a decision. (Rona) When Rona stated her opinion calmly, Kurz raised his hand cheerfully and declared, Margrave-sama, the presence of food is definitely missing~ (Kurz) Umm, Kurz-san? Just what do you mean with food? No, forget it. I can somewhat guess what you mean, but (Croire) Croire tries to timidly retort, probably thinking that it might be a good place to do so.While smiling bitterly at his sisters state, Grn composedly states his own opinion. I intend to follow your decision, Margrave-dono. (Grn) Anyway, we dont have any other option but to march on and hit them once, or do we? (Albert) Wondering whether he should say anything here as he finds it difficult to judge whether its fine for him to state his opinion, Albert decided to do so, apparently believing that it also affects the safety of his comrades.That opinion was very likely one that could be accepted in any army as a typical model answer to some extent, but Renya shakes his head. Considering that a safer and more reliable plan exists for the time being, I cant agree with your proposal. (Renya) Just for reference, is it alright for me to hear about that reliable plan of yours? (Albert) Renya confidently replies to Alberts question, who asked with a cramped and pale face, seemingly having a very bad premonition, We will blow them away along with the city from here. (Renya) What about the residents livelihood and peace? (Albert) Well, I suppose its a solution we cant take if there are still survivors in there. (Renya) After glancing in the direction of the city, Renya says, If there are no survivors left in the city, or if theres no one besides the demon kings army, its the most uncomplicated method with the least sacrifices. Then you will just have to rebuild the city. (Renya) Something like thatits not just a couple people who escaped from the capital. For the residents its their beloved hometown. If you destroy it (Albert) Alberts attitude, who says that as if imploring Renya, doesnt suit a hero very much.There were some among the dragonoid soldiers watching from the sides that openly frowned, but Albert himself hadnt the leeway to concern himself with something like that.After all Renyas words about blowing everything up alongside the city isnt a figure of speech, a joke or anything like that, but words he could easily and moreover immediately put into action if they were to be approved. My way of phrasing might be bad, but I think that you will have to rebuild it anyway even if we recapture it, dont you think? There will likely be very few residents who will immediately feel like using a city that had been occupied by monsters. After all we dont know what the monsters might have set up in there. In the worst case it wouldnt be strange for them to have installed some kind of device that sucks out the mana or vitality of the citys residents and supplies them to the demon king. If it were me, I would do just that. (Renya) Anyone would come up with the idea to set some kind of trap if its a facility they are going to give up anyway, Renya says.As long as its not exposed, it will be a big gain. And even if its exposed, the only losses would be the material costs and labor used to set up the trap.In order to hide a trap that would use the entirety of the city, its probably better to plant many small traps that are easy to find, Renya believed, but when he gave a single example, he noticed that Emils expression slightly froze, interrupted his words, and looked at Emil. Whats wrong, Emil? (Renya) No, I just thought that youre reliably considering really nasty stuff. Arent you more like a demon king than the demon king himself? (Emil) Renya sent a somewhat grim stare at Emil, who revealed a malicious smile, while snorting sullenly, and then immediately locked back at Albert, admonishing him. Narrowing down your options due to emotions cant be called wise. If it can be left behind, there would be nothing better than to do so, but I cant imagine or believe that there are surviving residents inside the city at present. (Renya) No way! A shout reached them before Albert could even open his mouth in response.Once everyone turned in the direction of the voice, a cavalryman glaring at Renya with an enraged look was approaching Renya.Renya, who appraised the equipment he was wearing, judges that its a fairly pricey set of gear.Since hes wearing something like that, the owner of the voice must hold a reasonably high position, Renya guesses. Who is he? (Renya) Hes Linus Greybunarl-dono, the one appointed as the general of this subjugation force. Albert tells Renya, who asks for his identity, in a whisper.Renya cant grasp the details of his figure and countenance very well since Linus is covered from head to toe in such an inflexible plate armor that Renya feels like pitying the horse, but the eyes glaring at Renya from within the helmet are grim and stabbing. There was a great number of inhabitants in that city. Theres no way that they have been all killed in such a short time! (Linus) Dont shout. It will affect morale, you know? (Renya) After indifferently answering the cavalryman, who approaches with a force as if hes going to bite, as though having heard something bothersome, Renya asks Albert, apparently having realized it just now, Did you say Greybunarl? (Renya) Just as youve guessed, hes the son of the Dragonoids Witenagemots chairman. (Albert) The son of that person, huh? (Renya) This will be annoying, Renya sighs once while recalling the face of the elderly chairman of the Dragonoids Witenagemot that isnt very wise.Renya didnt know how he took his sigh, but Linus, who had gotten very close, became even louder while glaring at only Renya. Can I have you stop speaking about irresponsible conjectures? (Linus) Minus ten points. (Renya) What!? (Linus) No, dont worry about it. (Renya) Renya has absolutely no intention of providing an explanation.Shion, whos in a position of naturally being exposed to Linus shouting since Renya is sitting behind her, grasped the reins with her right hand and tried throwing a question at Renya while testing whether she could reduce Linus loud voice by blocking her ear with one of her left fingers. Why a minus rating all of a sudden? (Shion) The one who said that there are no presences of people in the city is the beastman Lepard, no? The sharpness of his senses is far beyond that of humans. (Renya) Its different when inside a forest, but in a place like this, even elves have to yield a bit to beastmen. If pushed to say, I think that dragonoids are peerless in regards to strength and mana, but if it comes to sensing, I believe the beastmen hero to be superior. Once Croire and Albert guarantee for the sharpness of the beastmens sense one after the other, Lepard threw out his chest in triumph for some reason.He couldnt mention it in this place, but besides Lepards opinion, Renya was also largely affected by Emils opinion as backing for his decision.Its without doubt that the beastmens senses are better than those of other races, but Emil is actually a demon. The sharpness of her senses should surpass that of all the other four races.Renya thinks that he somehow might have to wallop Lepard a good one due to the triumphant look on his face and him slightly pointing his nose upwards in pride.Renya believes that Lepard would definitely end up shriveling away in low spirits with just hearing about it, but its not that Renya particularly wants to tease him or get angry at his self-satisfied look. Renya saying that acting conceited doesnt result in anything decent was an expression of his very own kindness. Its just as you heard. Isnt it a problem if someone like you indulges in wishful thinking while ignoring information that has this much credibility? (Renya) Renya hasnt the slightest intention to meddle in the movements of the dragonoids military forces.If it was an unbelievable story, it would be fine if they ignored Renya and the others, and moved accordingly, but Linus apparently has no intention of releasing Renya right away, and snaps at him even further. Its no definite information! (Linus) I guess youre the type that doesnt believe unless they see with their own eyes. Depending on the situation, thats a troublesome type. (Renya) Ah, so thats the reason for the minus evaluation, I suppose. I cant say whether thats good or bad, or acceptable or unacceptable as a commanding officer. Youre saying that hes just a troublesome person? Thats not something I can answer, seeing as we are in front of the person himself. Its the same as if having said so, but due to Renya playing dumb, Linus shoulders start to tremble.How pitiful, Shion thinks.Its because she believes that he has no chance at winning an argument with Renya when it comes to making fun of someone.Usually people in positions like the Witenagemot or Linus have most likely never been made fun of. Even if it happens, they should be capable of crushing the other party with their authority or such without having to directly go along with it.However, if the other party is Renya, they have to purely gain victory with their words. If they were to choose another method, they would immediately be crushed physically. I guess for the time being we will let your side decide your plan of action? Our side has its own plan. Since Im not saying that youve got to obey our words, youre free to do as you like, okay? (Renya) You think such reasoning will pass while campaigning with our army? (Linus) Being told so by Linus with a low, subdued voice, Renya dons a puzzled expression, and faces Albert next.If he could, Albert would like to avert his eyes and feign ignorance, but seemingly understanding that he cant do that, he directly faces Renyas look, and murmurs a reply. For the time beingseeing as your position is a formal one, Margrave-dono, it has taken the form of a campaign of the dragonoid army to protect the four heroes. (Albert) Whats with that? I havent heard anything about something like that? So its fine even if I go home? (Renya) Margrave-dono, cant you somehow (Albert) Albert tries to calm Renya whose mood had immediately become worse because he wasnt informed about the nature of the campaign.Linus snorts in displeasure and turns his horse around. Im the commander of this army. Can I have you refrain from arbitrary words and actions!? (Linus) Alright, you are my enemy then, right? Stay on standby near that city since I will blow you away together with the demon kings army. (Renya) So youre going to depend on your strength after all, huh? You damned, savage human! (Linus) A creaking sound could be heard from Renyas right hand.Shion, who quietly looked in the sounds direction, sees some kind of swaying heat haze rise from Renyas right hand, and senses that its something very dangerous. Renya, lets draw back for the moment here. Certainly, if its you, you can completely erase the army over here alongside the city, but if you did that, you would definitely be called a demon king. (Shion) Thats right, Renya. Isnt it better to have him show what hes got, if he says hes the armys commander? (Croire) As if covering for Shion who restrains Renya in a slight panic, Croire brings her horse close to Renya while smiling full of composure. Im sure hell recapture the city stolen by the demon kings army with some exceptional strategy. (Croire) Youre quite a poisonous woman for an elf. (Linus) Its my principle to counter hate with poison, and deep affection with honey. (Croire) Croire wards off Linus words, which are said as if spitting them out while glaring at her, as something that doesnt concern her at all, and laughs. Im certain that the dragonoids army protecting the four heroes will put forth amazing efforts. Kuuh But, well While hiding her mouth with her hand and with a dangerous light dwelling in her eyes, Croire says, I wonder just how many heroes will follow your orders? (Croire) Say what you want! (Linus) If its not just lip-service, then please show us your ability through your actions, Sir dragonoid. (Croire) Seemingly perceiving that he cant match her with words, Linus leaves Renyas group without saying anything further after hatefully glaring at Croire. Hes someone who will make you feel like an idiot for simply dealing with him, Renya. Nuu For starters, lets go with a compromise between Lepard-sans and Emil-sans arguments, and Albert-sans opinion? Croire whispers while seeing off the retreating back of Linus as if watching something worthless. That man will likely deliver the first blow by himself without relying on us. (Croire) Croire estimates that Linus, who got all agitated, certainly wont draw back from here and ask for Renyas or the others help.In that case, they will carry out the first attack with their own strength, even if its somewhat reckless, Croire predicted. Did you aim for that? Now, I wonder about that? Croire returns Renyas question with a smile. Didnt the dragonoids and elves entertain a fairly good relationship? Thats an old story. Its unrelated to me, Renya. (Croire) Due to Croire saying so with an unconcerned look, Renya felt his innards cool down just a little bit, and harbored a small amount of pity for Linus, who had been manipulated, despite his annoying character. Chapter 180 The infantrymen, who got off the chariots, started to form ranks in a hurry.The horses, which were mounted by the cavalrymen up until this point, were gathered around the chariots which were parked in one place, and a part of the riders changed into light equipment after dismounting and joined the infantrymens ranks. I guess they wont use their horses. (Shion) Shion, who had stopped her horse somewhere slightly apart from the dragonoids, mutters while watching the state of affairs.Except for a small part of the cavalrymen, who had marched together with the chariots so far, the majority dismounted their horses and were treated as infantry. Its probably because cavalry is useless when assaulting a city wall. (Renya) Whats demanded of cavalry is charging force and mobility. In both siege battle and urban combat infantry plays the most important part.Linus seems to be well aware of that, too. He has divided the cavalry for the wall assault and in case the situation turns into an open field battle. He doesnt plan to make use of the cavalry in a situation where the enemy is completely secluding themselves inside the city as its happening now. Hes an unexpectedly mediocre general? (Croire) Renya smiled wryly at Croires impression. Thats no praise, you know? (Renya) No, seeing as it wouldnt be odd for him to be a foolish general going by his appearance, treating him as an average person is a compliment. (Croire) Croires point is that she might give him a zero as her evaluation rather than a negative one, but Renya doesnt think that Linus would be delighted if he heard this. What worries me more than that is the question of how they are going to surpass that wall with nothing but infantry? (Rona) Rona questions while tilting her head to the side in confusion. What about cutting through it? (Renya) Only you are capable of doing something like that. (Rona) Rona scornfully glares at Renya who makes such a careless remark. Even the heroes should be capable of that much, no? (Renya) I cant do it. After all this is my specialized weapon. (Grn) Grn draws his two katana, and drops them back into their scabbards, which are hanging at the left and right of his waist, after turning the hilts around on his palms. I cant do it either. You cant cut a wall with a katana, can you? Turning in the direction of the owners voice, Renya reveals a questioning look.At the end of Renyas line of sight was Albert who was wondering whether he said something weird while grasping the reins atop his horse. Why are you over there? (Renya) Eh? For better or worse Im a hero. (Albert) The dragonoids hero, right? You were skillfully recruited, werent you? Although Albert is a hero, he belongs to the dragonoids. Because of that Renya thought he would be taken along by Linus and forced to join the battle of the army that was forming ranks in front of their eyes. As a result Renya ended up being surprised by Albert remaining behind. The heroes are a set of four, all of us, thus I gave him a warning not to recruit Albert without listening to our opinion. (Lepard) Lepard explains to the curious Renya.Grn, who was smiling brightly next to Lepard, whispered something outrageous. The moment I asked him,We will turn into your enemies if you take him without our approval, you know?, he became so pale that it was actually funny. (Grn) You lot, what are you intimidating an ordinary person for? (Renya) What are you saying, Margrave-dono? The commander of an army is no ordinary person. Grn protests with an expression which makes it obvious that he considers Renyas words to be unthinkable.If seen through the eyes of a hero, there might be no real difference between an ordinary person, an ordinary soldier, or a general, Renya believes, but that apparently doesnt apply to Grn. Titles are important. Even if they are useless. (Grn) Both of you, sister and brother, sure have nice personalities. (Renya) That person is our parent after all. (Grn) Grn showed a smile that would make anyone of the opposite gender immediately fall for him, but unfortunately the target of his smile is the sour looking Renya.Renya, who was reminded of the elven emperors face thanks to the lineThat person is our parent, shook his head as if trying to shake off the mental image. Dont make me rememberthatit urges the desire in me to reconsider my association with you guys. (Renya) Thats no good. (Grn) I guess its necessary to get rid ofthatas soon as possible (Croire) Croire plainly voiced out a cruel line that would have likely gotten her arrested instantly on the elven continent if she had muttered it publicly, and to top it off, she said such a line with a serious face.Renya had the feeling that she had been a little bit more like an elvish girl when he met her, but once he realized that she had been tainted by various things without him even noticing, he actually began to feel the cruelty of the stream of time. Youre better not be thinking that you dont have any responsibility in this. (Shion) Seemingly having noticed what Renya was thinking about intuitively, Shion retorts, but Renya takes no notice of her statement by pretending to be absorbed in his own thoughts.Croire looked at Renya, with a completely different expression compared to her serious face, and laughed. Lets get back to the main topic. (Rona) With a light cough, Rona begins to speak after drawing everyones attention once again. The infantrymen are all present, but they dont have any siege weapons. Theres no sign of them having brought along battering rams or ladders either. Just what the heck are they planning to do? (Rona) If it was me, I would jump over the wall (Grn) While massaging her eyebrows with her fingers due to Grns reply, I think they want to tear the wall down with sorcery. (Albert) Seemingly believing that theres no point for the conversation to continuously get derailed, Albert stated his conclusion. If you exclude the demons, we are the strongest in regards to power and mana in this world. If we rely on numbers, its possible to destroy the wall with the current amount of soldiers, even if it is the capitals wall. (Albert) Is that something to be praised about withAs expected of dragonoids? (Renya) Once asked by Renya, Albert immediately denied that. Its a wall that can be taken down all by you yourself, right Margrave-dono? (Albert) Well, yeah (Renya) Renya searches the knowledge inside his head while replying.The sorcery knowledge he received from Emedra covers a fairly wide range. Renya himself hadnt been able to fully grasp all of it yet, but even so he understood that lots of water sorcery, earth sorcery which he hadnt touched at all so far, and fire sorcery, where he had only been able to use elementary spells until now, had been crammed into his head.If you add Renyas huge mana supply to those spells, its obvious that he can erase something like a city wall.Even if I didnt use those spells, I could probably handle the wall with a shot of , Renya judges.You can say thats the very reason he doesnt harbor any doubts as opposed to Rona.Even if it doesnt work out with 10,000 troops, something like a wall will likely collapse if its hit by some kind of sorcery cast by around 1,000 people, he believed.But, Renya is immediately shown that his way of thinking is wrong. It has started. (Rona) Once he turns his eyes towards the battlefield due to Ronas comment, he can see how the dragonoid army, which has formed up in neat ranks, started to cast multiple kinds of spells while advancing towards the wall.Since there was quite a bit of distance between the army and the place where Renya and the others were waiting, Renya didnt grasp what kind of spells they were chanting, but once the casting time had passed, countless spells were released towards the citys wall from within the army that continued to advance.Although they ranged in size, all of them were fire-based spells.Renya, who thought it might have been ridiculous if they mixed in spells of opposing attributes and thus offset each other, closely watched the uniform, crimson attacks, and clicked his tongue slightly. Margrave-donoI dont know what you expected, but please stay peaceful (Albert) I wont do anything. (Renya) Then its fine. (Albert) While watching Albert leave, Renya thought,If I did something like secretly adding water-based sorcery into that magic attack, even Albert would get angry.Something like casting sorcery without chanting, with a parallel activation and moreover from a distant place was a piece of cake for Renya now that he had been given the dragons sorcery knowledge.If he felt like it, he could offset all the sorcery attacks of the dragonoids army with sorcery of the opposing attribute, but no matter how irritating the commander might be, hes restraining himself as sabotaging ones allies is nothing praiseworthy, even if he were to succeed without his involvement being exposed.Albert somewhat guessed Renyas thoughts and called out to him. Rather than that, its a fairly flashy attack, and yetit looks like its not working? (Renya) The countless spells fired by the army crash into the citys wall, spreading shock waves and explosions, and bloom into bright red flowers.It was so fierce that it caused the ground at Renyas groups feet, whos standing in the back of the army, to shake, but there was no sign of the wall itself being destroyed by those attacks.Certainly, it seems like the attacks are hitting, and the impacts and heat is transmitted to the wall as well, but as far as Renya can see from his position, theres no indication of the wall collapsing, breaking, or melting at all. Renya, you dont really think that the walls protecting important cities such as the capital city C even if its human or beastmen cities C are simple stone walls, do you? (Emil) Emil says while bringing her horse close to Shions which Renya is also riding. Since the country will perish if the capital falls, its only natural to apply various countermeasures to the wall protecting it, no? (Emil) That means it has been given some kind of resistance towards sorcery attacks? (Renya) Obviously. Not to mention that this is the dragonoid country, but theres no way that they, who brag about their superiority, havent applied defense and reinforcement spells to the wall of their capital, is there? (Emil) Thats something that commander called Linus knows, right? (Renya) Probably. Isnt he thinking that he can somehow overcome this wall with a brute force approach? (Emil) The soldiers of the dragonoid army attack the wall by firing one spell after the other, keeping a rotation system going.To Renya it looks like they are casting quite leisurely, but even without looking at their faces, it was obvious that they were taking this very seriously. To begin with, since a wall protects a city from something like an army, its expected that itll be exposed to a great number of attacks, or am I wrong? (Renya) On top of that, I think the demons would normally reinforce the wall a lot more if they occupied the city. I mean, the ones possessing sorcery abilities greater than that of the dragonoids are the demons, after all. (Emil) If I havent heard this incorrectly, it sounds as though the wall wont be destroyed at this rate, right? (Shion) Shion forces herself into Emils and Renyas conversation.Renya and Emil look at each other, and say the same line after remaining silent for a moment. Shion, you were able to understand the conversation just now? Yeah, since I understand from your expressions, I wont comment (Shion) That means (Croire) Croire abruptly raises her voice, obviously having hit upon something.Even while believing that its definitely not something worthwhile, Shion turns her attention to Croire for the time being. That commander hasnt realized something that even Shion has noticed (Croire) I wonder, could you stop using me as a standard here? For starters, the reason why I noticed it is due to Emils and Renyas conversation. Doesnt he have any confidants that can give him such advice? (Shion) Upon hearing Shions remark, all present thought the same thing at almost the same time. If its someone with a bit of a brain, they would likely hate to be assigned as an aide to such a commander. Once Kaede says so as if representing everyones thoughts, all of them except for Albert nod.Only Albert himself dons an extremely troubled expression, and stoically resists his urge to shake his head by tensing his shoulders. So, it looks pointless at a glance, and is actually futile? (Emil) Emil asked Renya. Should we just let them go on then? Or should we tell them to think of other methods? Those guys probably have no intention of believing whatever I say. Wont they give up once they run out of mana? (Renya) Although the flames scatter and vanish after hitting the wall successively, the heat is still transmitted to the vicinity.That heat gradually raises the temperature on the battlefield. Even from a distance it was visible that fatigue was starting to appear on the faces of the dragonoid soldiers. I think it will take quite a bit of time, though. As there are also casters who take a break after firing spells in a rapid succession in a three-staged casting rotation, its unclear when theyll run out of mana. (Emil) They are being particularly attentive to a weird place, Emil laughs.The dragonoids army split its infantry into three groups, with each of them being assigned to the three stages of attacking, resting and preparing.Although the instant fire power drops due to this, it allows for the individual casters to recover their strength by inserting phases of rest and preparation. As a result they are able to continue hitting the wall with a fixed fire power over a long period of time. In short, they planned to destroy the wall by wearing down its defense spells through a drawn-out battle in the first place, huh? (Renya) Thats what Im thinking. (Emil) Thats way too careless, isnt it? What are they going to do if they are attacked from within the city? (Renya) They probably intend to cope with that by focusing the fire power in that direction, or by assigning the surplus forces, which are preparing or resting, to that side. At any rate, being able to come up with such a strategy and execute it is all thanks to the high specs of the dragonoids, I think. (Emil) If its humans or beastmen, they cant prepare such a large number of sorcerers.In case of the elves, they might be able to prepare such numbers, but they wouldnt be able to cope with incoming attacks.Its no exaggeration to say that the dragonoids defensive capabilities are similar to gods when compared to elves. The elves have to assign guards to the casters no matter what, otherwise it could turn out terribly in case of an emergency.The situation unfolding before Renya where the army can both function as a sorcery fire power and be ready to counter an attack by using their individual defensive prowess is a way of fighting only possible for the dragonoids due to their high capabilities, regardless of whether they are a sorcerer or a warrior. In that case it looks like they will destroy the wall sooner or later. But it feels like the heat is being transmitted all the way over here where we are watching. The hot air should originally get scattered by the wind without having such a lasting effect on the surrounding temperature, but as the fire spells, which continuously strike the wall, endlessly create new hot air, that air is spread into the vicinity, and increases the atmospheric temperature, which drastically overshadows the drop in temperature produced by the wind.Such changes in the temperature not only started to affect the battlefield, but also the distant place where Renya and the others are. I guess we should move further away? (Renya) Youre rightits extremely unlikely that the wall will be broken anytime soon. (Shion) Renya didnt expect that Shions words would become some kind of trigger.By now its a frequently occurring phenomenon that things dont turn out as they are expected to and Shions statement about the wall being fine for a while longer was no exception.When Renya and the others tried to move their horses further away to avoid the hot air, the city wall, which the dragonoid army frantically continued to attack in an attempt to destroy it, was blown away from the inside. The infantrymen, who got off the chariots, started to form ranks in a hurry.The horses, which were mounted by the cavalrymen up until this point, were gathered around the chariots which were parked in one place, and a part of the riders changed into light equipment after dismounting and joined the infantrymens ranks. I guess they wont use their horses. (Shion) Shion, who had stopped her horse somewhere slightly apart from the dragonoids, mutters while watching the state of affairs.Except for a small part of the cavalrymen, who had marched together with the chariots so far, the majority dismounted their horses and were treated as infantry. Its probably because cavalry is useless when assaulting a city wall. (Renya) Whats demanded of cavalry is charging force and mobility. In both siege battle and urban combat infantry plays the most important part.Linus seems to be well aware of that, too. He has divided the cavalry for the wall assault and in case the situation turns into an open field battle. He doesnt plan to make use of the cavalry in a situation where the enemy is completely secluding themselves inside the city as its happening now. Hes an unexpectedly mediocre general? (Croire) Renya smiled wryly at Croires impression. Thats no praise, you know? (Renya) No, seeing as it wouldnt be odd for him to be a foolish general going by his appearance, treating him as an average person is a compliment. (Croire) Croires point is that she might give him a zero as her evaluation rather than a negative one, but Renya doesnt think that Linus would be delighted if he heard this. What worries me more than that is the question of how they are going to surpass that wall with nothing but infantry? (Rona) Rona questions while tilting her head to the side in confusion. What about cutting through it? (Renya) Only you are capable of doing something like that. (Rona) Rona scornfully glares at Renya who makes such a careless remark. Even the heroes should be capable of that much, no? (Renya) I cant do it. After all this is my specialized weapon. (Grn) Grn draws his two katana, and drops them back into their scabbards, which are hanging at the left and right of his waist, after turning the hilts around on his palms. I cant do it either. You cant cut a wall with a katana, can you? Turning in the direction of the owners voice, Renya reveals a questioning look.At the end of Renyas line of sight was Albert who was wondering whether he said something weird while grasping the reins atop his horse. Why are you over there? (Renya) Eh? For better or worse Im a hero. (Albert) The dragonoids hero, right? You were skillfully recruited, werent you? Although Albert is a hero, he belongs to the dragonoids. Because of that Renya thought he would be taken along by Linus and forced to join the battle of the army that was forming ranks in front of their eyes. As a result Renya ended up being surprised by Albert remaining behind. The heroes are a set of four, all of us, thus I gave him a warning not to recruit Albert without listening to our opinion. (Lepard) Lepard explains to the curious Renya.Grn, who was smiling brightly next to Lepard, whispered something outrageous. The moment I asked him,We will turn into your enemies if you take him without our approval, you know?, he became so pale that it was actually funny. (Grn) You lot, what are you intimidating an ordinary person for? (Renya) What are you saying, Margrave-dono? The commander of an army is no ordinary person. Grn protests with an expression which makes it obvious that he considers Renyas words to be unthinkable.If seen through the eyes of a hero, there might be no real difference between an ordinary person, an ordinary soldier, or a general, Renya believes, but that apparently doesnt apply to Grn. Titles are important. Even if they are useless. (Grn) Both of you, sister and brother, sure have nice personalities. (Renya) That person is our parent after all. (Grn) Grn showed a smile that would make anyone of the opposite gender immediately fall for him, but unfortunately the target of his smile is the sour looking Renya.Renya, who was reminded of the elven emperors face thanks to the lineThat person is our parent, shook his head as if trying to shake off the mental image. Dont make me rememberthatit urges the desire in me to reconsider my association with you guys. (Renya) Thats no good. (Grn) I guess its necessary to get rid ofthatas soon as possible (Croire) Croire plainly voiced out a cruel line that would have likely gotten her arrested instantly on the elven continent if she had muttered it publicly, and to top it off, she said such a line with a serious face.Renya had the feeling that she had been a little bit more like an elvish girl when he met her, but once he realized that she had been tainted by various things without him even noticing, he actually began to feel the cruelty of the stream of time. Youre better not be thinking that you dont have any responsibility in this. (Shion) Seemingly having noticed what Renya was thinking about intuitively, Shion retorts, but Renya takes no notice of her statement by pretending to be absorbed in his own thoughts.Croire looked at Renya, with a completely different expression compared to her serious face, and laughed. Lets get back to the main topic. (Rona) With a light cough, Rona begins to speak after drawing everyones attention once again. The infantrymen are all present, but they dont have any siege weapons. Theres no sign of them having brought along battering rams or ladders either. Just what the heck are they planning to do? (Rona) If it was me, I would jump over the wall (Grn) While massaging her eyebrows with her fingers due to Grns reply, I think they want to tear the wall down with sorcery. (Albert) Seemingly believing that theres no point for the conversation to continuously get derailed, Albert stated his conclusion. If you exclude the demons, we are the strongest in regards to power and mana in this world. If we rely on numbers, its possible to destroy the wall with the current amount of soldiers, even if it is the capitals wall. (Albert) Is that something to be praised about withAs expected of dragonoids? (Renya) Once asked by Renya, Albert immediately denied that. Its a wall that can be taken down all by you yourself, right Margrave-dono? (Albert) Well, yeah (Renya) Renya searches the knowledge inside his head while replying.The sorcery knowledge he received from Emedra covers a fairly wide range. Renya himself hadnt been able to fully grasp all of it yet, but even so he understood that lots of water sorcery, earth sorcery which he hadnt touched at all so far, and fire sorcery, where he had only been able to use elementary spells until now, had been crammed into his head.If you add Renyas huge mana supply to those spells, its obvious that he can erase something like a city wall.Even if I didnt use those spells, I could probably handle the wall with a shot of , Renya judges.You can say thats the very reason he doesnt harbor any doubts as opposed to Rona.Even if it doesnt work out with 10,000 troops, something like a wall will likely collapse if its hit by some kind of sorcery cast by around 1,000 people, he believed.But, Renya is immediately shown that his way of thinking is wrong. It has started. (Rona) Once he turns his eyes towards the battlefield due to Ronas comment, he can see how the dragonoid army, which has formed up in neat ranks, started to cast multiple kinds of spells while advancing towards the wall.Since there was quite a bit of distance between the army and the place where Renya and the others were waiting, Renya didnt grasp what kind of spells they were chanting, but once the casting time had passed, countless spells were released towards the citys wall from within the army that continued to advance.Although they ranged in size, all of them were fire-based spells.Renya, who thought it might have been ridiculous if they mixed in spells of opposing attributes and thus offset each other, closely watched the uniform, crimson attacks, and clicked his tongue slightly. Margrave-donoI dont know what you expected, but please stay peaceful (Albert) I wont do anything. (Renya) Then its fine. (Albert) While watching Albert leave, Renya thought,If I did something like secretly adding water-based sorcery into that magic attack, even Albert would get angry.Something like casting sorcery without chanting, with a parallel activation and moreover from a distant place was a piece of cake for Renya now that he had been given the dragons sorcery knowledge.If he felt like it, he could offset all the sorcery attacks of the dragonoids army with sorcery of the opposing attribute, but no matter how irritating the commander might be, hes restraining himself as sabotaging ones allies is nothing praiseworthy, even if he were to succeed without his involvement being exposed.Albert somewhat guessed Renyas thoughts and called out to him. Rather than that, its a fairly flashy attack, and yetit looks like its not working? (Renya) The countless spells fired by the army crash into the citys wall, spreading shock waves and explosions, and bloom into bright red flowers.It was so fierce that it caused the ground at Renyas groups feet, whos standing in the back of the army, to shake, but there was no sign of the wall itself being destroyed by those attacks.Certainly, it seems like the attacks are hitting, and the impacts and heat is transmitted to the wall as well, but as far as Renya can see from his position, theres no indication of the wall collapsing, breaking, or melting at all. Renya, you dont really think that the walls protecting important cities such as the capital city C even if its human or beastmen cities C are simple stone walls, do you? (Emil) Emil says while bringing her horse close to Shions which Renya is also riding. Since the country will perish if the capital falls, its only natural to apply various countermeasures to the wall protecting it, no? (Emil) That means it has been given some kind of resistance towards sorcery attacks? (Renya) Obviously. Not to mention that this is the dragonoid country, but theres no way that they, who brag about their superiority, havent applied defense and reinforcement spells to the wall of their capital, is there? (Emil) Thats something that commander called Linus knows, right? (Renya) Probably. Isnt he thinking that he can somehow overcome this wall with a brute force approach? (Emil) The soldiers of the dragonoid army attack the wall by firing one spell after the other, keeping a rotation system going.To Renya it looks like they are casting quite leisurely, but even without looking at their faces, it was obvious that they were taking this very seriously. To begin with, since a wall protects a city from something like an army, its expected that itll be exposed to a great number of attacks, or am I wrong? (Renya) On top of that, I think the demons would normally reinforce the wall a lot more if they occupied the city. I mean, the ones possessing sorcery abilities greater than that of the dragonoids are the demons, after all. (Emil) If I havent heard this incorrectly, it sounds as though the wall wont be destroyed at this rate, right? (Shion) Shion forces herself into Emils and Renyas conversation.Renya and Emil look at each other, and say the same line after remaining silent for a moment. Shion, you were able to understand the conversation just now? Yeah, since I understand from your expressions, I wont comment (Shion) That means (Croire) Croire abruptly raises her voice, obviously having hit upon something.Even while believing that its definitely not something worthwhile, Shion turns her attention to Croire for the time being. That commander hasnt realized something that even Shion has noticed (Croire) I wonder, could you stop using me as a standard here? For starters, the reason why I noticed it is due to Emils and Renyas conversation. Doesnt he have any confidants that can give him such advice? (Shion) Upon hearing Shions remark, all present thought the same thing at almost the same time. If its someone with a bit of a brain, they would likely hate to be assigned as an aide to such a commander. Once Kaede says so as if representing everyones thoughts, all of them except for Albert nod.Only Albert himself dons an extremely troubled expression, and stoically resists his urge to shake his head by tensing his shoulders. So, it looks pointless at a glance, and is actually futile? (Emil) Emil asked Renya. Should we just let them go on then? Or should we tell them to think of other methods? Those guys probably have no intention of believing whatever I say. Wont they give up once they run out of mana? (Renya) Although the flames scatter and vanish after hitting the wall successively, the heat is still transmitted to the vicinity.That heat gradually raises the temperature on the battlefield. Even from a distance it was visible that fatigue was starting to appear on the faces of the dragonoid soldiers. I think it will take quite a bit of time, though. As there are also casters who take a break after firing spells in a rapid succession in a three-staged casting rotation, its unclear when theyll run out of mana. (Emil) They are being particularly attentive to a weird place, Emil laughs.The dragonoids army split its infantry into three groups, with each of them being assigned to the three stages of attacking, resting and preparing.Although the instant fire power drops due to this, it allows for the individual casters to recover their strength by inserting phases of rest and preparation. As a result they are able to continue hitting the wall with a fixed fire power over a long period of time. In short, they planned to destroy the wall by wearing down its defense spells through a drawn-out battle in the first place, huh? (Renya) Thats what Im thinking. (Emil) Thats way too careless, isnt it? What are they going to do if they are attacked from within the city? (Renya) They probably intend to cope with that by focusing the fire power in that direction, or by assigning the surplus forces, which are preparing or resting, to that side. At any rate, being able to come up with such a strategy and execute it is all thanks to the high specs of the dragonoids, I think. (Emil) If its humans or beastmen, they cant prepare such a large number of sorcerers.In case of the elves, they might be able to prepare such numbers, but they wouldnt be able to cope with incoming attacks.Its no exaggeration to say that the dragonoids defensive capabilities are similar to gods when compared to elves. The elves have to assign guards to the casters no matter what, otherwise it could turn out terribly in case of an emergency.The situation unfolding before Renya where the army can both function as a sorcery fire power and be ready to counter an attack by using their individual defensive prowess is a way of fighting only possible for the dragonoids due to their high capabilities, regardless of whether they are a sorcerer or a warrior. In that case it looks like they will destroy the wall sooner or later. But it feels like the heat is being transmitted all the way over here where we are watching. The hot air should originally get scattered by the wind without having such a lasting effect on the surrounding temperature, but as the fire spells, which continuously strike the wall, endlessly create new hot air, that air is spread into the vicinity, and increases the atmospheric temperature, which drastically overshadows the drop in temperature produced by the wind.Such changes in the temperature not only started to affect the battlefield, but also the distant place where Renya and the others are. I guess we should move further away? (Renya) Youre rightits extremely unlikely that the wall will be broken anytime soon. (Shion) Renya didnt expect that Shions words would become some kind of trigger.By now its a frequently occurring phenomenon that things dont turn out as they are expected to and Shions statement about the wall being fine for a while longer was no exception.When Renya and the others tried to move their horses further away to avoid the hot air, the city wall, which the dragonoid army frantically continued to attack in an attempt to destroy it, was blown away from the inside. Chapter 181 The stones shaping the city wall are divided into several parts, but in the end theres a simple rule: the larger the size of the building material, the larger the wall itself.Since such a wall was blown away from the inside by some sort of power, stone pieces of various sizes poured down like rain on the battlefield.If it were on the level of pebbles falling upon them, the light armor worn by the dragonoids would be plenty enough to block them.But, its unclear what would happen if a fragment the size of a persons head or even one several meters in size were to fall upon them.The answer to the question immediately became clear by the reality taking place in front of Renyas eyes. I guess it was the right decision to get away. (Renya) At the end of Renyas line of sight stones, or maybe it would be better to call them rocks, rained down atop the dragonoid soldiers that had formed up into a tightly packed formation in order to focus their firepower for the walls destruction.The soldiers, who were capable of putting up defensive sorcery, still had a chance to escape harm, but the soldiers, who couldnt cast the next spell in time since they had just finished launching the last one, had no way to avoid the falling rocks.On top of that there were many soldiers that didnt even have any room to escape as they were in the middle of the crowded formation.The rocks mercilessly swooped down on them. Dont give up! The voice of the hero Albert pierced the ears of the soldiers who had already closed their eyes, resigning themselves to their fate due to the dense sheet of rocks approaching them.Once they opened their eyes, they could see how the approaching rocks were cut into small pieces, turning into harmless pebbles. Theres no time to dream! Cast defense sorcery! If its a rock of a considerable size, cut and hit it apart! Support your fellow comrades! (Albert) Huh? Just when? (Renya) Albert, who had readied his katana, motivates the soldiers in a rough, loud voice.Not leaving it just to words, Albert cuts up a rock, which was about to squash soldiers somewhere else, into countless fragments with a flash of the katana in his hands.The defense sorcery the soldiers, who were now able to prioritize defending their comrades with the time bought by Albert, put together, diverted the rocks plunging towards places Albert couldnt reach. He suddenly rushed in when the wall was blown up from within. (Shion) Shion whispered into Renyas ear as he was looking in marvel at the horse that had lost its rider.Albert was mounting it until just a moment ago, but he had apparently jumped off during a gap in Renyas awareness.That skill was something you could say truly befitted a hero, but Renya was secretly surprised by one more thing.It was the fact that Shion had noticed Albert rushing off the instant his attention was drawn towards the noise of the wall being broken.Renya missed it probably because Albert made full use of his hero abilities in addition to him moving away from Renya and not towards him, but due to the fact that only Shion realized this C whether its coincidence or precise perception on her part C Emil and Rona appeared to be somewhat surprised, and looked at Shion with slightly widened eyes. Eh? What? Did I do something again? (Shion) No, yeah, well if you ask whether you did something, you actually did? (Renya) Why do you phrase it as a question? (Shion) Without answering Shion, who spoke with a sullen expression, Renya turned his attention back towards the battlefield.The wall, which had been blown away scattering over a fairly large area, had a considerable amount of debris rain down on the dragonoids because of its height and thickness, but thanks to Alberts participation, the losses were reduced quite a bit.However, that doesnt mean that losses were thwarted completely. A large number of soldiers had either been smashed or injured by the incoming rocks. Withdraw the wounded! Pull back the front line! (Albert) You bastard! You might be the hero, but that doesnt give you permission to do whatever you want! (Linus) Albert was loudly hurling instructions at his allies, but his face became stiff after being interrupted.Linus, the perpetrator of said interruption, drew close to Albert atop his horse and shouted at him from above. Whats with thepull back!? Now with the wall destroyed, its the perfect time to advance! (Linus) For an instant Alberts eyes flashed with a hint of bloodthirst directed towards Linus, who was shouting at him with an angry gaze, but seemingly recalling the other partys standing at once, the bloodthirst dispersed, and Albert made an appeal. We didnt destroy it, it was destroyed! (Albert) The result is the same! Whats the point in pulling back now that a perfect hole to storm the city has opened up!? (Linus) Its not the same! The enemy destroyed the wall, which we couldnt break, as if they didnt need it anymore! Something is bound to happen! (Albert) Albert argued frantically, but Linus snorted at that. Hero or whatever you might be, did you get infected with cowardice!? There should be some of our brethren looking for help inside that city. And youre telling us to pull back in fear of something that might or might not exist!? (Linus) Linus-dono! (Albert) Shut up! Dragonoid soldiers! Advance! Take back our city and our brethren! (Linus) Normally youd think that theres something waiting for you, wouldnt you? Even though he should be quite far away, Renyas ears picked up the full exchange between Albert and Linus.Its part of the mana based body enhancement which was included in the knowledge he received from Emedra.This time he also used the spell , which picks up sounds through wind sorcery and delivers them to the casters ears to complement his enhanced hearing ability. He did what others would call eavesdropping.However, since one would also pick up unwanted noises when enhancing ones hearing ability, he used it along a spell to give his hearing a sense of directionality. Whats the situation? (Shion) Shion, whos moving in order to create some more distance between them and the battlefield as she doesnt feel like being dragged into it, asked Renya from behind. It appears the sensible hero and the foolish commander are arguing with each other. (Renya) And the outcome? (Shion) The idiot is winning. (Renya) What a pickle. (Shion) Shion sighed, but Renya shared her opinion.Theres no reason to blow away the wall, which had been built to protect the city, from the inside.Since something unreasonable happened there, there should be some kind of motive. To advance without knowing that motive isnt something praiseworthy, even if you express it diplomatically. I wont say that I dont understand how he feels, but (Renya) The city that had been stolen once is in front of his eyes. And, if theres the chance that citizens are waiting in there for help, he cant leisurely get ready. Its not that Renya cant understand that feeling.However, thats exactly the reason why one must be careful, Renya believes.Wouldnt it become almost impossible rather than fairly difficult to recapture the capital city if the punitive force, which is currently present, were to be annihilated?Renya wonders.Assuming this train of thought isnt wrong, it should have originally been necessary to move while minimizing casualties.Even if they failed to recapture the city on their first try, they could try again as long as they kept the military forces in good shape. Its an aspect thats difficult for me, as an outsider, to talk about. (Renya) No, normally youd temporarily pull back here, I think (Shion) In Renyas eyes, whos no more than an outsider, its an emotional aspect where he cant say whether he understands it or not. Although he was evasive about it, Shion easily denied such a thought.Renya looks at Shion with a pitiful expression unable to say anything, but Shion doesnt understand at all just how her words lead Renya to make such a face, and tilts her head to the side in bewilderment. Pull backno? (Shion) Probably (Renya) Not knowing whether he should say something else, Renya only spoke as much and then focused on the battlefield again.Over there the quarrel between Albert and Linus had apparently reached a conclusion. A part of the soldiers had begun to retreat while taking their injured comrades along, but the remaining soldiers, who were in good health, had started their advance towards the hole that had opened up in the wall.Albert didnt get his opinion approved, but just because of that he couldnt withdraw either. Renya sighed while watching Albert march at the head of the advancing soldiers. It looks like they ended up marching onwards. Rona says while bringing her horse close to Shions. Seeing as they are sending their wounded to the rear, should I head over there? Rona, a priestess who can use healing arts, is very effective in times like these.Some dragonoids that can use healing arts should be accompanying the army as well, but its undoubtedly best to have as many healers at hand as possible.Even the wounded can avoid complications further down the road by being treated right away.Ronas proposal was based on such thoughts, but Renya held her back. Why? Youre surely not trying to harass them, are you? (Rona) No way. Thats not what Im thinking (Renya) As Renya, who was about to explain his reasons, was watching, several black, thin things flew out from the hole in the wall, targeting the dragonoid army which was about to reach the hole.Once those things plunged in-between the soldiers, they coiled themselves around the heads of soldiers that failed to dodge. W-What are thesehaa!? They were black, thin chains.The chains, which coiled themselves around the soldiers that failed to escape or evade, tightened as if that was their sole purpose, and instantly pulled the soldiers out of the army with a force unimaginable for their thinness, dragging them to the other side of the hole.Once the chains released the soldiers somewhere on the other side, they set out to pull in the next set of victims.Watching the soldiers being dragged along the ground or tossed into air, falling inside the city, Renya muttered, Somehow I feel like Ive experienced that kind of hauling before (Renya) Is this a situation to say such things!? At this rate something really dangerous is going to appear. Lepard screamed as the number of black chains grew and the intervals between them dragging soldiers through the hole and setting out to find new ones was gradually getting shorter.The dragonoid soldiers, who saw directly into the hole in contrast to Renya and the others who were watching from a distance, are shouting while pointing their fingers at something they saw or immediately turn their backs towards the hole as they try to escape from the chains in panic. Meanwhile, what appeared from the other side of the hole was a jet-black armor that was around three meters tall.The instant they saw that, Renyas party turned their eyes towards Kurz all at once.While Kurz restlessly looked around him due to suddenly becoming the center of attention for no apparent reason, a feeling of relief somewhat spread among Renyas group. Ah, it startled me I definitely thought that Kurz-san might have gone ahead and entered the city first. Due to Croire looking slightly pale and Rona touching her chest in relief, Kurzs cheeks puff up and he protests, I havent done anything bad! (Kurz) Youre right. They were just a bit surprised by the slight resemblance with your chains and armor. Please dont be angry since they didnt mean any harm. (Renya) Come to think of it, Kurzs armor is silver. What has come out of the city is something like a black mist or a snake that has transformed into a black armor.Its not just the armors color thats different. The chains are completely different as well, but for some reason everyone immediately associated it with Kurz the moment they saw it emerging from the other side of the hole. Very likely its something similar. (Emil) Emil whispers.Her deliberately muttering that in a voice that couldnt be heard by almost anyone while not bringing her horse closer was apparently done under the assumption that only Renya, who has strengthened his hearing, could hear it. I think you know that Kurz-kun is a gathering of countless souls carrying the factorhero,that black armor is something that had been created while imitating that, I believe. (Emil) Renya was about to ask what she meant by that, but decided to remain silent instead.Although its great that Emil muttered all of this quiet enough so that the others wouldnt hear her from their slightly separate locations, Renya was riding behind Shion. No matter how quietly he tried to whisper a response, it would still be audible to Shion.Renya, who had apparently planned to ask something that Shion ought not to hear, decided to mouth his question towards Emil.Emil, who stared at Renyas lips for a short while, once again whispers, Going by the situation, the citys residents are probably serving as the raw material. Since a considerable density is necessary, isnt it fine to consider that all citizens had been killed? And, in regards to the factorthe demons side doesnt possess something like a hero factor. But, isnt there a factor that resembles the hero one? (Emil) The demon king, eh? (Renya) He didnt need much time to reach that conclusion.If you assume that heroes are something the other races possess but the demons do not, then its the demon king which only the demons possess while the other races do not.That existence might be called equal to a hero. Thats because there was nothing a demon king couldnt do that a hero could. Probably. In short, thats a gathering of countless souls which were attached to some kind of metallic armor and moreover had the demon king factor added to them; a counterfeit of Kurz-kun. (Emil) Without even hiding her deep curiosity, Emil gazes at the black armor thats slowly coming out of the citys wall with the eyes of a researcher, and says with a voice tinged with a smile. In other words, that has been created as a countermeasure for the hero, Kurz-kun. I think we should name it an anti-hero. (Emil) On the other side of the hand covering Renyas forehead as hes feeling fed up by yet another annoying thing showing up, the black armor slowly begins to ready its huge, long halberd thats even taller than the armor itself, which it brought out from behind itself. The stones shaping the city wall are divided into several parts, but in the end theres a simple rule: the larger the size of the building material, the larger the wall itself.Since such a wall was blown away from the inside by some sort of power, stone pieces of various sizes poured down like rain on the battlefield.If it were on the level of pebbles falling upon them, the light armor worn by the dragonoids would be plenty enough to block them.But, its unclear what would happen if a fragment the size of a persons head or even one several meters in size were to fall upon them.The answer to the question immediately became clear by the reality taking place in front of Renyas eyes. I guess it was the right decision to get away. (Renya) At the end of Renyas line of sight stones, or maybe it would be better to call them rocks, rained down atop the dragonoid soldiers that had formed up into a tightly packed formation in order to focus their firepower for the walls destruction.The soldiers, who were capable of putting up defensive sorcery, still had a chance to escape harm, but the soldiers, who couldnt cast the next spell in time since they had just finished launching the last one, had no way to avoid the falling rocks.On top of that there were many soldiers that didnt even have any room to escape as they were in the middle of the crowded formation.The rocks mercilessly swooped down on them. Dont give up! The voice of the hero Albert pierced the ears of the soldiers who had already closed their eyes, resigning themselves to their fate due to the dense sheet of rocks approaching them.Once they opened their eyes, they could see how the approaching rocks were cut into small pieces, turning into harmless pebbles. Theres no time to dream! Cast defense sorcery! If its a rock of a considerable size, cut and hit it apart! Support your fellow comrades! (Albert) Huh? Just when? (Renya) Albert, who had readied his katana, motivates the soldiers in a rough, loud voice.Not leaving it just to words, Albert cuts up a rock, which was about to squash soldiers somewhere else, into countless fragments with a flash of the katana in his hands.The defense sorcery the soldiers, who were now able to prioritize defending their comrades with the time bought by Albert, put together, diverted the rocks plunging towards places Albert couldnt reach. He suddenly rushed in when the wall was blown up from within. (Shion) Shion whispered into Renyas ear as he was looking in marvel at the horse that had lost its rider.Albert was mounting it until just a moment ago, but he had apparently jumped off during a gap in Renyas awareness.That skill was something you could say truly befitted a hero, but Renya was secretly surprised by one more thing.It was the fact that Shion had noticed Albert rushing off the instant his attention was drawn towards the noise of the wall being broken.Renya missed it probably because Albert made full use of his hero abilities in addition to him moving away from Renya and not towards him, but due to the fact that only Shion realized this C whether its coincidence or precise perception on her part C Emil and Rona appeared to be somewhat surprised, and looked at Shion with slightly widened eyes. Eh? What? Did I do something again? (Shion) No, yeah, well if you ask whether you did something, you actually did? (Renya) Why do you phrase it as a question? (Shion) Without answering Shion, who spoke with a sullen expression, Renya turned his attention back towards the battlefield.The wall, which had been blown away scattering over a fairly large area, had a considerable amount of debris rain down on the dragonoids because of its height and thickness, but thanks to Alberts participation, the losses were reduced quite a bit.However, that doesnt mean that losses were thwarted completely. A large number of soldiers had either been smashed or injured by the incoming rocks. Withdraw the wounded! Pull back the front line! (Albert) You bastard! You might be the hero, but that doesnt give you permission to do whatever you want! (Linus) Albert was loudly hurling instructions at his allies, but his face became stiff after being interrupted.Linus, the perpetrator of said interruption, drew close to Albert atop his horse and shouted at him from above. Whats with thepull back!? Now with the wall destroyed, its the perfect time to advance! (Linus) For an instant Alberts eyes flashed with a hint of bloodthirst directed towards Linus, who was shouting at him with an angry gaze, but seemingly recalling the other partys standing at once, the bloodthirst dispersed, and Albert made an appeal. We didnt destroy it, it was destroyed! (Albert) The result is the same! Whats the point in pulling back now that a perfect hole to storm the city has opened up!? (Linus) Its not the same! The enemy destroyed the wall, which we couldnt break, as if they didnt need it anymore! Something is bound to happen! (Albert) Albert argued frantically, but Linus snorted at that. Hero or whatever you might be, did you get infected with cowardice!? There should be some of our brethren looking for help inside that city. And youre telling us to pull back in fear of something that might or might not exist!? (Linus) Linus-dono! (Albert) Shut up! Dragonoid soldiers! Advance! Take back our city and our brethren! (Linus) Normally youd think that theres something waiting for you, wouldnt you? Even though he should be quite far away, Renyas ears picked up the full exchange between Albert and Linus.Its part of the mana based body enhancement which was included in the knowledge he received from Emedra.This time he also used the spell , which picks up sounds through wind sorcery and delivers them to the casters ears to complement his enhanced hearing ability. He did what others would call eavesdropping.However, since one would also pick up unwanted noises when enhancing ones hearing ability, he used it along a spell to give his hearing a sense of directionality. Whats the situation? (Shion) Shion, whos moving in order to create some more distance between them and the battlefield as she doesnt feel like being dragged into it, asked Renya from behind. It appears the sensible hero and the foolish commander are arguing with each other. (Renya) And the outcome? (Shion) The idiot is winning. (Renya) What a pickle. (Shion) Shion sighed, but Renya shared her opinion.Theres no reason to blow away the wall, which had been built to protect the city, from the inside.Since something unreasonable happened there, there should be some kind of motive. To advance without knowing that motive isnt something praiseworthy, even if you express it diplomatically. I wont say that I dont understand how he feels, but (Renya) The city that had been stolen once is in front of his eyes. And, if theres the chance that citizens are waiting in there for help, he cant leisurely get ready. Its not that Renya cant understand that feeling.However, thats exactly the reason why one must be careful, Renya believes.Wouldnt it become almost impossible rather than fairly difficult to recapture the capital city if the punitive force, which is currently present, were to be annihilated?Renya wonders.Assuming this train of thought isnt wrong, it should have originally been necessary to move while minimizing casualties.Even if they failed to recapture the city on their first try, they could try again as long as they kept the military forces in good shape. Its an aspect thats difficult for me, as an outsider, to talk about. (Renya) No, normally youd temporarily pull back here, I think (Shion) In Renyas eyes, whos no more than an outsider, its an emotional aspect where he cant say whether he understands it or not. Although he was evasive about it, Shion easily denied such a thought.Renya looks at Shion with a pitiful expression unable to say anything, but Shion doesnt understand at all just how her words lead Renya to make such a face, and tilts her head to the side in bewilderment. Pull backno? (Shion) Probably (Renya) Not knowing whether he should say something else, Renya only spoke as much and then focused on the battlefield again.Over there the quarrel between Albert and Linus had apparently reached a conclusion. A part of the soldiers had begun to retreat while taking their injured comrades along, but the remaining soldiers, who were in good health, had started their advance towards the hole that had opened up in the wall.Albert didnt get his opinion approved, but just because of that he couldnt withdraw either. Renya sighed while watching Albert march at the head of the advancing soldiers. It looks like they ended up marching onwards. Rona says while bringing her horse close to Shions. Seeing as they are sending their wounded to the rear, should I head over there? Rona, a priestess who can use healing arts, is very effective in times like these.Some dragonoids that can use healing arts should be accompanying the army as well, but its undoubtedly best to have as many healers at hand as possible.Even the wounded can avoid complications further down the road by being treated right away.Ronas proposal was based on such thoughts, but Renya held her back. Why? Youre surely not trying to harass them, are you? (Rona) No way. Thats not what Im thinking (Renya) As Renya, who was about to explain his reasons, was watching, several black, thin things flew out from the hole in the wall, targeting the dragonoid army which was about to reach the hole.Once those things plunged in-between the soldiers, they coiled themselves around the heads of soldiers that failed to dodge. W-What are thesehaa!? They were black, thin chains.The chains, which coiled themselves around the soldiers that failed to escape or evade, tightened as if that was their sole purpose, and instantly pulled the soldiers out of the army with a force unimaginable for their thinness, dragging them to the other side of the hole.Once the chains released the soldiers somewhere on the other side, they set out to pull in the next set of victims.Watching the soldiers being dragged along the ground or tossed into air, falling inside the city, Renya muttered, Somehow I feel like Ive experienced that kind of hauling before (Renya) Is this a situation to say such things!? At this rate something really dangerous is going to appear. Lepard screamed as the number of black chains grew and the intervals between them dragging soldiers through the hole and setting out to find new ones was gradually getting shorter.The dragonoid soldiers, who saw directly into the hole in contrast to Renya and the others who were watching from a distance, are shouting while pointing their fingers at something they saw or immediately turn their backs towards the hole as they try to escape from the chains in panic. Meanwhile, what appeared from the other side of the hole was a jet-black armor that was around three meters tall.The instant they saw that, Renyas party turned their eyes towards Kurz all at once.While Kurz restlessly looked around him due to suddenly becoming the center of attention for no apparent reason, a feeling of relief somewhat spread among Renyas group. Ah, it startled me I definitely thought that Kurz-san might have gone ahead and entered the city first. Due to Croire looking slightly pale and Rona touching her chest in relief, Kurzs cheeks puff up and he protests, I havent done anything bad! (Kurz) Youre right. They were just a bit surprised by the slight resemblance with your chains and armor. Please dont be angry since they didnt mean any harm. (Renya) Come to think of it, Kurzs armor is silver. What has come out of the city is something like a black mist or a snake that has transformed into a black armor.Its not just the armors color thats different. The chains are completely different as well, but for some reason everyone immediately associated it with Kurz the moment they saw it emerging from the other side of the hole. Very likely its something similar. (Emil) Emil whispers.Her deliberately muttering that in a voice that couldnt be heard by almost anyone while not bringing her horse closer was apparently done under the assumption that only Renya, who has strengthened his hearing, could hear it. I think you know that Kurz-kun is a gathering of countless souls carrying the factorhero,that black armor is something that had been created while imitating that, I believe. (Emil) Renya was about to ask what she meant by that, but decided to remain silent instead.Although its great that Emil muttered all of this quiet enough so that the others wouldnt hear her from their slightly separate locations, Renya was riding behind Shion. No matter how quietly he tried to whisper a response, it would still be audible to Shion.Renya, who had apparently planned to ask something that Shion ought not to hear, decided to mouth his question towards Emil.Emil, who stared at Renyas lips for a short while, once again whispers, Going by the situation, the citys residents are probably serving as the raw material. Since a considerable density is necessary, isnt it fine to consider that all citizens had been killed? And, in regards to the factorthe demons side doesnt possess something like a hero factor. But, isnt there a factor that resembles the hero one? (Emil) The demon king, eh? (Renya) He didnt need much time to reach that conclusion.If you assume that heroes are something the other races possess but the demons do not, then its the demon king which only the demons possess while the other races do not.That existence might be called equal to a hero. Thats because there was nothing a demon king couldnt do that a hero could. Probably. In short, thats a gathering of countless souls which were attached to some kind of metallic armor and moreover had the demon king factor added to them; a counterfeit of Kurz-kun. (Emil) Without even hiding her deep curiosity, Emil gazes at the black armor thats slowly coming out of the citys wall with the eyes of a researcher, and says with a voice tinged with a smile. In other words, that has been created as a countermeasure for the hero, Kurz-kun. I think we should name it an anti-hero. (Emil) On the other side of the hand covering Renyas forehead as hes feeling fed up by yet another annoying thing showing up, the black armor slowly begins to ready its huge, long halberd thats even taller than the armor itself, which it brought out from behind itself. Chapter 182 The black armor, which had several thin, black chains hanging down from the area around its waist which would often create clinking noises as they brushed past each other, readied a halberd displaying a competent warriors masterly stance with no gaps whatsoever.A halberd is somewhat heavy, and looks like an ax and a spear glued together.Naturally it requires quite a bit of physical strength to handle. In human armies its almost never used. At times you could catch sight of ornamented halberds during ceremonies and such.However, the black armors halberd doesnt have any useless ornaments added to it. Even Renyas group could grasp from their distant location that it was a mass of metal completely catered towards practical use. Its the enemy! Attack! The dragonoid soldiers were puzzled on how to deal with the sudden appearance of the enemy, but once ordered, they reacted quickly.They swiftly drew their swords and started to deploy so as to surround the black armor.The black armors chains, who was watching or more like glaring at them, swiftly crawled across the ground like snakes targeting their prey, and twined themselves around the legs of the soldiers trying to encircle the armor.Those, who noticed the chains, were able to leap back or repel them with their swords, but several soldiers, who didnt notice them, had their legs caught and were pulled towards the black armor.Those dragonoid soldiers tried to escape from their restraints by struggling.The black armor slowly lifted its foot above those squirming soldiers, and trampled down on their bodies using its full strength.The weight of a three meter tall armor is not something a human or dragonoid can handle, but its not like it weighs several tons either.However, the soldiers bodies that were stepped on by the armor were easily crushed not showing any resistance.Once the armors foot firmly stepped on the ground, a faint earthquake and an explosion-like impact were transmitted to the surroundings.The blood, scattered from the trampled and crushed bodies, clung to the armors surface, but immediately vanished as if it had been sucked up by the armor itself. The crushed bodies completely dried up as if they had been completely absorbed by the foot that trampled on them, piercing all the way through their bodies. They turned into dust within seconds, and disappeared.The soldiers, who were entangled but not stepped on, were drawn towards the black armor and when they touched its surface they transformed into a mummy-like state, and disappeared after crumbling away. Pay attention to the chains! This guyeats people! (Albert) Albert cautioned them, but the armors attacks werent limited to just the chains.The armor lightly raises the halberd, which was longer than the armor was tall, over its head.Once the armor swung the halberd down, which might weigh several hundred kilograms, one of the soldiers, who wasnt given a chance to evade, was cut right in half starting with the crown of his head. The blade sank deeply into the ground where the soldier had been standing while raising a cloud of dust.In front of its speed and weight, armor bore absolutely no meaning.One sweeping attack of the overturned blade bisected several soldiers at their waist, causing fountains of blood to gush out.Their corpses shed blood immediately after being cut, but just like the soldiers, who were entwined by the chains and stepped on, they immediately changed into a mummy-like state, and transformed into dust. What are you doing!? Isnt there just one enemy!? Surround it thoroughly and bring it down! (Linus) Linus shouts angrily, but as expected, the dragonoid soldiers cant do anything due to the slashing speed and power they were shown moments ago. What are you doing, Albert!? You bastard! You should take the vanguard as the hero! (Linus) Being ordered, Albert faintly grits his teeth, but in the end he has no way to disobey that order, and thus charges at the black armor after readying his katana.Albert barely evaded another sweeping attack from the halberd that was supposed to intercept him by managing to jump just high enough, and immediately accelerated even further by using the halberds blade as a scaffold.Aiming at Albert, whos doing a frontal assault with his katana, countless chains assail him, trying to twine themselves around his body, but Albert keeps running while weaving his way through the openings, evading some of the chains, repelling others with his katana, and changing his direction in midair by using the chains as footing.Even as the chain attacks are evaded, the black armor doesnt stop moving.Turning over the halberds blade after its sideways sweep, the armor attacks Albert from the opposite direction aiming at his neck. Albert dodges this as well by lowering his stance. The instant the blade passes over his head, he steps in, draws close, and slashes at the armors defenseless torso.Albert, who heard the shrill sound of metal clashing against metal, kicked the armors torso before it could adjust its posture, and used the recoil to leap backwards as far as possible. Sorcery, fire! Seeing how Albert widened the distance, the dragonoid soldiers released the prepared spells as ordered.Bright red flames bloomed across the armors entire body producing explosion sounds. Fire without any breaks! Were going to kill that guy by grilling him to death! (Linus) Linus vigorously gives his order due to the golden opportunity of the previous spells having apparently hit the armor directly.Due to the continuous barrage of fire spells, it looked as if the black armors advance had come to a halt. But, only Albert, who had actually slashed the armor, guessed that there was no way for such spells to hinder the black armors advance.Alberts katana is one of the hero items also used by Lepard and Grn.This katana, which had the inscription Roaring Dragon carved into it, possesses a performance that outstrips common weapons by far, just like the other hero items.To be precise, this katana has an ability specialized towards slashing attacks. Among the dragonoids its dubbed as a blade that can cut anything, but such a blade glided off the black armors surface while creating a metallic sound.In other words, it wasnt able to sever the armor plates and cut into it.Albert is a powerful man to the extent that he was chosen as the hero from among the dragonoids. He had the confidence that he wouldnt lose to anyone in terms of katana techniques. The fact that he couldnt inflict a single cut onto the armors surface even after slashing it with the hero weapon, hero power and his katana techniques makes Albert shiver.Without guessing Alberts inner thoughts, the dragonoid soldiers are firing one spell after the other at the armor that stopped moving.Just when an optimistic mood had started to spread among the soldiers, who thought that they might be able to overcome the armor and defeat it if they kept going like this, as the armor had continuously eaten all of their attacks without moving, the armor began advancing again.In defiance of the spells exploding on the armors surface, it brandishes its halberd in one big carefree motion from right to left as if swatting annoying flies away.With that one motion the spells, which were continuously fired by the soldiers, were easily scattered in all directions. Haa? (Linus) Shit! Linus-dono! Evade! (Albert) Due to the reality that all spells were erased with just one swing which caused a thunderous roar, all soldiers including Linus were taken aback and stopped moving for an instant.As if thrusting itself into that instant, the black armor, which fixed its hold on the halberd to a two-handed grip, started to charge with such force that a cloud of dust rose at its feet.That huge mass vigorously charging into the enemy turned into a black spearhead piercing into the dragonoids army.Without being able to evade, the soldiers standing in the way of the armors charge were sent flying, squashed, trampled, and turned into lumps of meat. Those, who were unluckily touched by the halberds blade first, had their flesh and armor penetrated all together, and blew up into a crimson splatter.Linus realized that he was being targeted by the black armors blade, which plunged forward as if there wasnt anything that could block it, when the blades point had already been thrust out, aiming at his chest. As if Id let you do that! (Albert) Even Albert never understood whether it was the difference in physical strength or the weight of the slash released by himself in order to somehow make the halberds point trail off-track, but unable to shake its trajectory even a bit, the halberd instantly pierced through the composed defense spells cast by Linus, turning Alberts action meaningless.Without losing its force at all, the black armors blow, which collided with Linus chest, scattered his upper body with enough force that it seemed as if it had exploded, extinguishing his life.The horse Linus was riding toppled over after receiving the attacks aftermath, and several soldiers, who were behind Linus, got involved as well. The halberds blade, which was swung as if to shake off the small amounts of blood and flesh clinging to it, bisected several more soldiers in one go, scattering additional blood and flesh.In addition to the soldiers attacks not connecting at all, no matter how many they unleashed, they had lost their commander all too quickly.Due to the armors appearance, which ignored their heros attack as if it was of no significance, it didnt take that much time for fear to spread among the dragonoid soldiers.Once a single soldier turned his back on the armor, it caused a chain reaction.There was a considerable number of soldiers who continued to confront the armor while keeping their morale high, but quite a few soldiers discarded their weapons. Once they switched towards escaping while screaming and exposing their backs to the black armor, the place stopped being a battlefield and turned into nothing more than a hunting ground. If its a hunting groundyou have to create a fence, right? (Renya) On the edge of Renyas line of sight, the black armor released a violet radiance.The radiance started moving along the armors surface like a liquid, crossed over to the ground from its feet, and rapidly extended from there while drawing some kind of complicated figure. Kurz! Aim there! (Renya) Jumping down from his horse, Kurz covers his body in a black mist.The two eyes faintly shining through the visor of Kurz helmet, who had changed into his silver armor in an instant, targeted the place Renya was looking at.The violet light, which had continued to encroach along the ground, has widely spread, drawing some kind of figure.Its expansion progressed at a considerable rate while covering the entire battlefield. As expected, huh? Kurz, pull him in! (Renya) Roger, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Countless black snakes released from behind Kurz traveled across the battlefield.Those black snakes, which traveled towards the area Renya indicated, touched the lines of violet light that had started to cover the battlefields ground, and suddenly returned to their original misty state.That, which had returned to being mist, melted into the atmosphere and vanished.At the same time Kurz, who was manipulating the snakes, raised a small, painful voice. Kurz, pull them back! (Renya) Its fineits fine, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Even while looking slightly pained, Kurz manipulated the remaining snakes so that they wouldnt touch the violet, shining lines. Even though he lost several more snakes, the last set of snakes arrived at the target, and succeeded in twining themselves around it. I caught him, Margrave-sama! (Kurz) Good, reel him in! (Renya) Raising a spirited voice, the silver armor grasped the torsos of several snakes, which were extending from its body, all at once, and pulled them in with all its might.Renya didnt know whether those snakes had a consciousness or a sense of pain, but what they had managed to retrieve as if reeling it in with a fishing pole with such carelessness that it made Renya worry that it must pain the snakes to be treated in such a way, was Albert.The snakes made sure to partly force Albert along, who looked as if he was shouting or something like that, by sealing his limbs, as they delivered his body to Renyas group.And, just when Alberts body had been dragged at the feet of Renyas and Shions horse, the violet light finished covering the entire battlefield.The battlefield was surrounded by a wall of violet light, rising in that instant, blocking the soldiers escape path.At the same time needles of various sizes with metallic luster protruded from the ground.The big ones stabbed the soldiers bodies all over, and the small ones wounded their soles by penetrating the soldiers boots from below.The ones who died from those attacks were still the luckier fellows.Those, who didnt lose their lives as they had only been injured, staggered due to the pain or fell to the ground while grabbing their feet.Naturally countless needles awaited them at their staggering or falling destinations.Anyone could imagine what would happen if they were to fall down in such places.Even those who got through this without falling down, immediately realized that they would eventually suffer the same fate as their comrades.Thats because they couldnt leave through the wall of violet light which was covering the whole battlefield.Those who bumped into the wall, were flicked off and thrown on top of the countless needles. Even those, who didnt bump into the wall, had their bodies injured all over the place by the successively appearing needles, and eventually ran out of strength, going down on their hands and knees.The blood, which flowed out each time they were wounded, trickled down onto the ground and was continuously absorbed by the shining lines. Before long it was sucked up by the black armor, the source of the lines. In addition to a barrier to prevent escape, the absorption of mana and vitality with blood as the mediumit sure is doing something nasty there. (Emil) Emil mutters in admiration.If Renya were to possess detailed knowledge about the defense mechanism in Klinge, it would have been an opportunity for him to retort with Youre doing something similar, arent you?, but unfortunately he didnt know about the defense details drawn up by Emil and Frau, albeit him being the one ruling the city.Incidentally, if Renya were to blame Emil in such a way, Emil would plainly respond like this: Those are two different stories.As a matter of fact, if Emil had a say in this, she would claim that the act being carried out in front of her eyes right now was completely different to what had been set up in Klinge.The item referred to as Simple Hell Furnace in Klinge is basically a system to collect mana and amplify it through the bodies of the living beings inside the furnace by passing the mana throughout the furnaces interior.On the other hand, this trap, which perfectly caught the dragonoids army, is something that only continues to extract the strength of the creatures within.In other words, Klinges system is something that can be used for a long time if used properly, but the trap prepared by the demon army loses its usefulness as soon as it has sucked up everything that could be absorbed, leaving only dust behind. That means, the design idea behind this trap was something completely different in Emils eyes.Of course, from the standpoint of the living creatures caught within, there was no doubt that either system would result in a horrible destiny, though. I wonder, where did that black armor get such an idea? (Emil) Somehow I have a hunch that the main culprits are basically you and Frau Its just your imagination, Renya. Even Frau and I wouldnt readily build something so awful. (Emil) There are situations where a white lie sounds more pleasant to the ears than the harsh truth.Even Emil knew that they couldnt keep hiding the furnaces mechanism indefinitely despite it being indispensable for Klinges defense.But Renya might order its removal if he should ever find out about it.In that case delaying the moment Renya learns of its existence as much as possible is the only thing I can do here, Emil decided in her mind, confronting Renyas suspicious gaze with a very natural smile. The black armor, which had several thin, black chains hanging down from the area around its waist which would often create clinking noises as they brushed past each other, readied a halberd displaying a competent warriors masterly stance with no gaps whatsoever.A halberd is somewhat heavy, and looks like an ax and a spear glued together.Naturally it requires quite a bit of physical strength to handle. In human armies its almost never used. At times you could catch sight of ornamented halberds during ceremonies and such.However, the black armors halberd doesnt have any useless ornaments added to it. Even Renyas group could grasp from their distant location that it was a mass of metal completely catered towards practical use. Its the enemy! Attack! The dragonoid soldiers were puzzled on how to deal with the sudden appearance of the enemy, but once ordered, they reacted quickly.They swiftly drew their swords and started to deploy so as to surround the black armor.The black armors chains, who was watching or more like glaring at them, swiftly crawled across the ground like snakes targeting their prey, and twined themselves around the legs of the soldiers trying to encircle the armor.Those, who noticed the chains, were able to leap back or repel them with their swords, but several soldiers, who didnt notice them, had their legs caught and were pulled towards the black armor.Those dragonoid soldiers tried to escape from their restraints by struggling.The black armor slowly lifted its foot above those squirming soldiers, and trampled down on their bodies using its full strength.The weight of a three meter tall armor is not something a human or dragonoid can handle, but its not like it weighs several tons either.However, the soldiers bodies that were stepped on by the armor were easily crushed not showing any resistance.Once the armors foot firmly stepped on the ground, a faint earthquake and an explosion-like impact were transmitted to the surroundings.The blood, scattered from the trampled and crushed bodies, clung to the armors surface, but immediately vanished as if it had been sucked up by the armor itself. The crushed bodies completely dried up as if they had been completely absorbed by the foot that trampled on them, piercing all the way through their bodies. They turned into dust within seconds, and disappeared.The soldiers, who were entangled but not stepped on, were drawn towards the black armor and when they touched its surface they transformed into a mummy-like state, and disappeared after crumbling away. Pay attention to the chains! This guyeats people! (Albert) Albert cautioned them, but the armors attacks werent limited to just the chains.The armor lightly raises the halberd, which was longer than the armor was tall, over its head.Once the armor swung the halberd down, which might weigh several hundred kilograms, one of the soldiers, who wasnt given a chance to evade, was cut right in half starting with the crown of his head. The blade sank deeply into the ground where the soldier had been standing while raising a cloud of dust.In front of its speed and weight, armor bore absolutely no meaning.One sweeping attack of the overturned blade bisected several soldiers at their waist, causing fountains of blood to gush out.Their corpses shed blood immediately after being cut, but just like the soldiers, who were entwined by the chains and stepped on, they immediately changed into a mummy-like state, and transformed into dust. What are you doing!? Isnt there just one enemy!? Surround it thoroughly and bring it down! (Linus) Linus shouts angrily, but as expected, the dragonoid soldiers cant do anything due to the slashing speed and power they were shown moments ago. What are you doing, Albert!? You bastard! You should take the vanguard as the hero! (Linus) Being ordered, Albert faintly grits his teeth, but in the end he has no way to disobey that order, and thus charges at the black armor after readying his katana.Albert barely evaded another sweeping attack from the halberd that was supposed to intercept him by managing to jump just high enough, and immediately accelerated even further by using the halberds blade as a scaffold.Aiming at Albert, whos doing a frontal assault with his katana, countless chains assail him, trying to twine themselves around his body, but Albert keeps running while weaving his way through the openings, evading some of the chains, repelling others with his katana, and changing his direction in midair by using the chains as footing.Even as the chain attacks are evaded, the black armor doesnt stop moving.Turning over the halberds blade after its sideways sweep, the armor attacks Albert from the opposite direction aiming at his neck. Albert dodges this as well by lowering his stance. The instant the blade passes over his head, he steps in, draws close, and slashes at the armors defenseless torso.Albert, who heard the shrill sound of metal clashing against metal, kicked the armors torso before it could adjust its posture, and used the recoil to leap backwards as far as possible. Sorcery, fire! Seeing how Albert widened the distance, the dragonoid soldiers released the prepared spells as ordered.Bright red flames bloomed across the armors entire body producing explosion sounds. Fire without any breaks! Were going to kill that guy by grilling him to death! (Linus) Linus vigorously gives his order due to the golden opportunity of the previous spells having apparently hit the armor directly.Due to the continuous barrage of fire spells, it looked as if the black armors advance had come to a halt. But, only Albert, who had actually slashed the armor, guessed that there was no way for such spells to hinder the black armors advance.Alberts katana is one of the hero items also used by Lepard and Grn.This katana, which had the inscription Roaring Dragon carved into it, possesses a performance that outstrips common weapons by far, just like the other hero items.To be precise, this katana has an ability specialized towards slashing attacks. Among the dragonoids its dubbed as a blade that can cut anything, but such a blade glided off the black armors surface while creating a metallic sound.In other words, it wasnt able to sever the armor plates and cut into it.Albert is a powerful man to the extent that he was chosen as the hero from among the dragonoids. He had the confidence that he wouldnt lose to anyone in terms of katana techniques.The fact that he couldnt inflict a single cut onto the armors surface even after slashing it with the hero weapon, hero power and his katana techniques makes Albert shiver.Without guessing Alberts inner thoughts, the dragonoid soldiers are firing one spell after the other at the armor that stopped moving.Just when an optimistic mood had started to spread among the soldiers, who thought that they might be able to overcome the armor and defeat it if they kept going like this, as the armor had continuously eaten all of their attacks without moving, the armor began advancing again.In defiance of the spells exploding on the armors surface, it brandishes its halberd in one big carefree motion from right to left as if swatting annoying flies away.With that one motion the spells, which were continuously fired by the soldiers, were easily scattered in all directions. Haa? (Linus) Shit! Linus-dono! Evade! (Albert) Due to the reality that all spells were erased with just one swing which caused a thunderous roar, all soldiers including Linus were taken aback and stopped moving for an instant.As if thrusting itself into that instant, the black armor, which fixed its hold on the halberd to a two-handed grip, started to charge with such force that a cloud of dust rose at its feet.That huge mass vigorously charging into the enemy turned into a black spearhead piercing into the dragonoids army.Without being able to evade, the soldiers standing in the way of the armors charge were sent flying, squashed, trampled, and turned into lumps of meat. Those, who were unluckily touched by the halberds blade first, had their flesh and armor penetrated all together, and blew up into a crimson splatter.Linus realized that he was being targeted by the black armors blade, which plunged forward as if there wasnt anything that could block it, when the blades point had already been thrust out, aiming at his chest. As if Id let you do that! (Albert) Even Albert never understood whether it was the difference in physical strength or the weight of the slash released by himself in order to somehow make the halberds point trail off-track, but unable to shake its trajectory even a bit, the halberd instantly pierced through the composed defense spells cast by Linus, turning Alberts action meaningless.Without losing its force at all, the black armors blow, which collided with Linus chest, scattered his upper body with enough force that it seemed as if it had exploded, extinguishing his life.The horse Linus was riding toppled over after receiving the attacks aftermath, and several soldiers, who were behind Linus, got involved as well. The halberds blade, which was swung as if to shake off the small amounts of blood and flesh clinging to it, bisected several more soldiers in one go, scattering additional blood and flesh.In addition to the soldiers attacks not connecting at all, no matter how many they unleashed, they had lost their commander all too quickly.Due to the armors appearance, which ignored their heros attack as if it was of no significance, it didnt take that much time for fear to spread among the dragonoid soldiers.Once a single soldier turned his back on the armor, it caused a chain reaction.There was a considerable number of soldiers who continued to confront the armor while keeping their morale high, but quite a few soldiers discarded their weapons. Once they switched towards escaping while screaming and exposing their backs to the black armor, the place stopped being a battlefield and turned into nothing more than a hunting ground. If its a hunting groundyou have to create a fence, right? (Renya) On the edge of Renyas line of sight, the black armor released a violet radiance.The radiance started moving along the armors surface like a liquid, crossed over to the ground from its feet, and rapidly extended from there while drawing some kind of complicated figure. Kurz! Aim there! (Renya) Jumping down from his horse, Kurz covers his body in a black mist.The two eyes faintly shining through the visor of Kurz helmet, who had changed into his silver armor in an instant, targeted the place Renya was looking at.The violet light, which had continued to encroach along the ground, has widely spread, drawing some kind of figure.Its expansion progressed at a considerable rate while covering the entire battlefield. As expected, huh? Kurz, pull him in! (Renya) Roger, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Countless black snakes released from behind Kurz traveled across the battlefield.Those black snakes, which traveled towards the area Renya indicated, touched the lines of violet light that had started to cover the battlefields ground, and suddenly returned to their original misty state.That, which had returned to being mist, melted into the atmosphere and vanished.At the same time Kurz, who was manipulating the snakes, raised a small, painful voice. Kurz, pull them back! (Renya) Its fineits fine, Margrave-sama. (Kurz) Even while looking slightly pained, Kurz manipulated the remaining snakes so that they wouldnt touch the violet, shining lines. Even though he lost several more snakes, the last set of snakes arrived at the target, and succeeded in twining themselves around it. I caught him, Margrave-sama! (Kurz) Good, reel him in! (Renya) Raising a spirited voice, the silver armor grasped the torsos of several snakes, which were extending from its body, all at once, and pulled them in with all its might.Renya didnt know whether those snakes had a consciousness or a sense of pain, but what they had managed to retrieve as if reeling it in with a fishing pole with such carelessness that it made Renya worry that it must pain the snakes to be treated in such a way, was Albert.The snakes made sure to partly force Albert along, who looked as if he was shouting or something like that, by sealing his limbs, as they delivered his body to Renyas group.And, just when Alberts body had been dragged at the feet of Renyas and Shions horse, the violet light finished covering the entire battlefield.The battlefield was surrounded by a wall of violet light, rising in that instant, blocking the soldiers escape path.At the same time needles of various sizes with metallic luster protruded from the ground.The big ones stabbed the soldiers bodies all over, and the small ones wounded their soles by penetrating the soldiers boots from below.The ones who died from those attacks were still the luckier fellows.Those, who didnt lose their lives as they had only been injured, staggered due to the pain or fell to the ground while grabbing their feet.Naturally countless needles awaited them at their staggering or falling destinations.Anyone could imagine what would happen if they were to fall down in such places.Even those who got through this without falling down, immediately realized that they would eventually suffer the same fate as their comrades.Thats because they couldnt leave through the wall of violet light which was covering the whole battlefield.Those who bumped into the wall, were flicked off and thrown on top of the countless needles. Even those, who didnt bump into the wall, had their bodies injured all over the place by the successively appearing needles, and eventually ran out of strength, going down on their hands and knees.The blood, which flowed out each time they were wounded, trickled down onto the ground and was continuously absorbed by the shining lines. Before long it was sucked up by the black armor, the source of the lines. In addition to a barrier to prevent escape, the absorption of mana and vitality with blood as the mediumit sure is doing something nasty there. (Emil) Emil mutters in admiration.If Renya were to possess detailed knowledge about the defense mechanism in Klinge, it would have been an opportunity for him to retort with Youre doing something similar, arent you?, but unfortunately he didnt know about the defense details drawn up by Emil and Frau, albeit him being the one ruling the city.Incidentally, if Renya were to blame Emil in such a way, Emil would plainly respond like this: Those are two different stories.As a matter of fact, if Emil had a say in this, she would claim that the act being carried out in front of her eyes right now was completely different to what had been set up in Klinge.The item referred to as Simple Hell Furnace in Klinge is basically a system to collect mana and amplify it through the bodies of the living beings inside the furnace by passing the mana throughout the furnaces interior.On the other hand, this trap, which perfectly caught the dragonoids army, is something that only continues to extract the strength of the creatures within.In other words, Klinges system is something that can be used for a long time if used properly, but the trap prepared by the demon army loses its usefulness as soon as it has sucked up everything that could be absorbed, leaving only dust behind. That means, the design idea behind this trap was something completely different in Emils eyes.Of course, from the standpoint of the living creatures caught within, there was no doubt that either system would result in a horrible destiny, though. I wonder, where did that black armor get such an idea? (Emil) Somehow I have a hunch that the main culprits are basically you and Frau Its just your imagination, Renya. Even Frau and I wouldnt readily build something so awful. (Emil) There are situations where a white lie sounds more pleasant to the ears than the harsh truth.Even Emil knew that they couldnt keep hiding the furnaces mechanism indefinitely despite it being indispensable for Klinges defense.But Renya might order its removal if he should ever find out about it.In that case delaying the moment Renya learns of its existence as much as possible is the only thing I can do here, Emil decided in her mind, confronting Renyas suspicious gaze with a very natural smile. Chapter 183 Margrave-dono! (Albert) The black snakes apparently released Alberts body right away. Albert stood up with verve and turned towards Renya, but Renya slowly shook his head after calmly watching him get up. If youre going to ask me to save the guys caught in the trap, its probably impossible. (Renya) No way (Albert) To cancel a barrier with the proper procedure would likely take time. In the first place, we cant analyze it. I dont know if it was prepared beforehand or if it was an impromptu feat of strength, but I have no clue where to start, seeing as the barriers scope is too wide. Of course it would be possible to destroy it if we go all out on it, but Renya, who looked at his right palm while adopting a milder tone towards the end of his statement, continued with an apologetic feeling for some reason. Of course theres no way to rescue the soldiers if I use sorcery to blow away the barrier and the traps on the ground altogether. I think you can safely say that great damage would also befall the city on the other side. (Renya) Completely eradicating the traps and barrier deployed by the black armor didnt seem to be such a troublesome undertaking if Renya were to mobilize all his mana and knowledge he received from Emedra.However, if he did that, it would be impossible for the soldiers inside the barrier to come out scot-free.It if was a wall, he would just need to destroy it, and it would suffice if he were to release his sorcery at an angle that wouldnt allow for the soldiers to be hit, But to break the needle traps on the ground, one would need to launch sorcery towards the ground.Telling the soldiers, who are writhing in pain after being stabbed by the needles, to dodge would be unreasonable. Moreover, a spell so weak that it wouldnt kill the soldiers would most likely not be able to destroy the traps. A stalemate, it is. (Renya) That cant be! (Albert) I will try to think about it, butfor starters, go and do something about that. (Renya) Renya said while pointing at the dragonoid armys rear guard, which had been outside the barriers range, and had now fallen into a state of chaos due to the scenes taking place within the barrier.Although the deployed barrier was quite big, it apparently wasnt large enough to also engulf the infantrymen who left before its deployment, and the rear guard which had been left behind in order to take care of the chariots and the cavalry. Have them calm down and retreat. If it were to turn into a situation where even they are eaten, the situation would quickly spiral out of control. (Renya) In order to once again rally the soldiers, who are shaken up due to the swift loss of their commander, Linus, some kind of wake-up call is probably necessary, Renya thought.Being called out by their hero, Albert, should do the trick, I think. Understood. (Albert) Seemingly having instantly judged that he couldnt do anything else anyway, Albert showed a faint hesitation towards Renyas words, but immediately bowed his head and started running towards the troops that were falling into a state of disorder.Renya, who followed Albert with his eyes, waited until he was a good distance away from them, and breathed out. Now then, that means we have to do something about this side, though. (Renya) Honestly speaking, as Renya had been told to somehow keep the number of victims low, this was a chore for him.On the other hand, if he were told that he didnt need to take the number of victims into account, he was confident he could handle it one way or the other. Thats true, isnt it? I mean, after all that armor will devour many thousands or at least a good share of the dragonoids if we leave it alone as is. I really wouldnt want to take that thing on after everything is over and done with. (Emil) While squinting, Emil stared at the spectacle on the other side of the barriers wall.Even as an understatement, the scenes happening in there were like torture that would almost never take place in broad daylight, but it was nothing that would cause Emils expression to freeze up.Once Renya looked around thinking,leaving Emil aside, the other members will certainly be shaken by those scenes. They generally had gloomy expressions and made sure not to look as much as possible by averting their eyes. Only Shion looked in the same direction as Emil without any visible change in her countenance, carrying a completely blank expression. Are you alright, Shion? (Renya) No matter how I think about it, its not a sight that would allow a woman to remain calm after witnessing it.Shions reply used the same, unchanged tone she normally used to answer Renya, who called out to her after becoming worried that she might have been overwhelmed by her emotions. Mmh? Yeah, wellI suppose it might be a bit cruel, but Renya, youre behind mebesides (Shion) She stopped talking for a moment, and after pondering how to phrase it, she dropped a bombshell. Its the citizens of another country? (Shion) Everyone turned startled gazes at Shion who declared such a thing without no hesitation.While having a bit of sweat run down his face, Renya asked what everyone else was likely thinking. Hey, thats quite the awful thing to say, you know? (Renya) Ehehe (Shion) Oy, thats not meant as praise!? Im really not praising you, okay? (Renya) Renya repeated to Shion, who grinned in embarrassment while scratching her head, to make doubly sure.Going by her reaction, I cant exclude the risk of her really misunderstanding this as me praising her if I dont tell her off properly. Lets shelve this issue for now. (Grn) As it had turned into an atmosphere where it was hard to say anything, Grn cut in with a forcibly-calm voice.Everyone except for Shion silently offered their gratitude towards Grns consideration who apparently spoke up so as to somehow change the mood as one of the older people here, seeing as the other members couldnt bring themselves to do so. In order to get closer to that black armor, we need to undo the barrier no matter what. (Grn) Thats reasonable. Even if they could handle the needles at their feet by jumping or whatever, there would still be the obstacle of the violet light wall separating the inside from the outside. Thats why I think that we should obediently start by searching for a method to cancel that barrier, but what do you think? Its a sound argument, but Rona raises her hand diffidently. How long is that going to take? (Rona) Lets see. (Emil) Emil groaned while staring at the barrier. Going by my estimationif its at the level of opening a holearound one hour. (Emil) You think there will be any survivors left inside by then? The answer was obvious, but Renya tried asking anyway, just to make sure. Ha ha ha. In your eyes people must be really amazing, Renya. If they suffer under such circumstances for an hour, theres no way that therell be any survivors, is there? (Emil) Emil smiled brightly, but Renyas expression became gloomy and heavy.It was a truth he understood even without being explicitly told so, but he couldnt help feeling a heaviness weighing down on him now that he heard the words frankly spoken out. It looks like its impossible to keep the number of victims low, thereforeI suggest we resign ourselves to it and force our way through. Croire proposed.It was a suggestion that would cause Albert to fly into a rage or try to prevent it if he heard about it, but no matter how much they tried to think of alternatives, no other ingenious plans came to mind. Margrave-sama? Shall I go? (Kurz) When Renya and the others started to think that forcibly breaking through the barrier might be inevitable if no other options presented themselves, Kurz suddenly suggested something like that. I feel like I can proceed through that needle-laden path. (Kurz) Renya looked at Kurz after being told so.Currently Kurz was fully covered by a silver plate armor.Its sturdiness was something Renya could guarantee since he had run various tests on it in the past. It was difficult to believe that Kurz armor could be broken as long as he was conscious.Even if it were to be destroyed for arguments sake, Kurz was protected by the black misted he generated inside the armor. It wouldnt develop into a situation where he would get injured right away.If there was something to worry about, it was that the armor had quite a few gaps all over it. It might get somewhat dangerous if the armor were penetrated through those gaps. Margrave-sama, if I deliver you to the black armor by carrying you, you will somehow be able to deal with it, right? (Kurz) Hmm? Yeahprobably. Well, I will manage, I guess? (Renya) Then things are simple, arent they? (Lepard) Lepard interjected. We just gotta open a hole large enough so that Kurz can pass through, and have him charge in. What about me? (Renya) Aint it fine if you have Kurz carry you on his back? There aint no way that carrying you is gonna burden him while hes in his armor state, is there? (Lepard) No matter how close Renya gets to the armor, fighting without a foothold will be impossible, dont you think? (Rona) Rona voiced her concern in a hurry, but Kurz cheerfully replied to that, Then Margrave-sama simply has to use me as his foothold. (Kurz) Is that really alright? Even if we ignore those needles, when the snakes touched that violet lightthey were erased. Didnt you feel any pain when that happened? Upon Renya worriedly asking, Kurz pondered for a little moment. It hurt a bit, but not to an unbearable degree. Without me, you wont be able to fight over there, will you Margrave-sama? In that case I will do my best. (Kurz) I see. Then allow me to rely on you. (Renya) Now that we have decided, its better to get started soon. Leave opening a gap in the barrier to us, okay? Lepard knocked his fists together, and Grn drew his two katana.Kurz beckoned Renya over, and once Renya got close, he crouched down with his back towards Renya so that it would be easier to get on. Being carried by you, Kurz, feels somewhat strange. (Renya) Youre like a grandpa~! (Kurz) Stifled laughter came from the surroundings in response to Kurz who had said that simply trying to make a light joke, but only Renya seriously pondered whether this is how it would feel to be carried by ones grandson, while clinging to Kurz back. I will hold you with something else since I wont be able to prop you up with my hands, okay~? (Kurz) Right after saying so, a black mist gushed out of Kurz back.It didnt materialize as snakes, but started to support Renyas body by manifesting itself around his body as if gently running alongside it.It was the first time Renya had been touched by this mist, but he felt like he was being wrapped up by a warmth that somewhat felt like steam, sensing no eeriness that would warrant any worries.If one considered it properly, those two priestesses had been stored away somewhere inside this mist, so there was no way it would make him feel chills or cold, but since it could also become a weapon to devour enemies and such sometimes, Renyas worries were justified. Were ready to go~ (Kurz) Alriiight, I guess I will put a little bit of effort into it then! (Lepard) Lepard made his palms face each other as if holding something in front of his chest, creating a small space.That stance was the one he had demonstrated a while ago when using his big technique. The other members distanced themselves from Renya, Kurz, Lepard and Grn so as to not get caught up in their attack.Next to Lepard, Grn took an L-shaped stance with his legs, his left leg bent in front and the other extended behind. At the same time he readied his two drawn blades into a straight line, with his left katana being in front of him at chest height, and his right katana held above the solar plexus. Oh, nice, Grn. You sure look as if youre gonna dish out a big bang, doncha? (Lepard) Its a technique Im not really keen on using, but its a reliable method in this situation. (Grn) Whos going to start? (Lepard) I will gladly let you make the first move. (Grn) Okay, leave it to me! (Lepard) The air was rumbling, converging in the space Lepard had created in front of his chest.Lepard unleashed the cluster of air, which had taken a concrete shape after plenty of air had amassed, towards the barrier along with a yell full of fighting spirit. Once the air drill, which had even torn through an army, clashed against the barriers wall, a strong gale blew in the vicinity making the wall sway strongly.The wall became quite distorted, but it didnt look like the air drill would be able to penetrate it.While there was still some power left in Lepards technique, who clicked his tongue, the two katana readied by Grn cast a light of mana. These are the wings of the two sexes. They spread their wings in unity. Fly together and pierce through all creation! (Grn) The pair of blades, which had been lined up in a straight line, were clad in mana and turned into a single ray of light.Once ordered by Grn, who lightly crouched down in preparation of the impact, that light pierced into the area, where Lepards big technique had hit the barrier, while leaving a shock behind which even Grn, who prepared himself for it, couldnt endure completely.The wall, which had been largely warped by Lepards technique, was hit by Grns follow-up attack, and had countless cracks running across it.However, it didnt go as far as having a spot where it had broken apart. Oy, thats a lie, right? (Lepard) For it to endure the combined attack of two heroes (Grn) If they had overcome the barrier too easily, it might have caused serious damage to the place on the other side.Maybe such a brake mechanism unconsciously came into play here. Or maybe the barrier was something that had been meticulously set up so that it could even stop the heroes attacks.While Lepard and Grn looked shocked due to the wall only starting to break, but not getting destroyed completely, Kurz charged towards a crack in the wall with Renya on his back. Its alright, if it doesnt work with two people (Kurz) The ramming attack by Kurzs black snakes assailed the barrier, which was about to repair itself, stopping it from succeeding.While continuously unleashing snakes, which got repelled when they hit the wall, without giving up, Kurz raised his right fist overhead as he kept up his charging speed. Then you just have to destroy it with three people! (Kurz) Kurzs fist was covered in black mist when he struck the barrier.Immediately after Kurz fist and the violet-shining wall clashed, a shrill, bursting sound, which would cause mental discomfort to anyone who heard it, reverberated in the vicinity.Renya reflexively covered his ears, but due to the unpleasant sound, which he could still hear albeit subdued, he furrowed his eyebrows and endured while gritting his teeth.When the barrier received the third heros attack, the cracks were still small, but as expected, unable to endure the consecutive attacks of the heroes, the wall broke, and a small hole opened up, just big enough for Kurz to pass through.However, the spell which was forming the barrier was still active. It immediately started to repair the gaping hole. However, faster than it could accomplish its task, Kurz trespassed inside the barrier.Countless needles sensed the foreign object and attacked from below.They were repelled by the Kurzs armor, crushed by the armors feet, and blocked by the black mist so that they wouldnt reach Renya. Meanwhile, Kurz pushed his way towards the black armor, the source of this barrier. Margrave-dono! (Albert) The black snakes apparently released Alberts body right away. Albert stood up with verve and turned towards Renya, but Renya slowly shook his head after calmly watching him get up. If youre going to ask me to save the guys caught in the trap, its probably impossible. (Renya) No way (Albert) To cancel a barrier with the proper procedure would likely take time. In the first place, we cant analyze it. I dont know if it was prepared beforehand or if it was an impromptu feat of strength, but I have no clue where to start, seeing as the barriers scope is too wide. Of course it would be possible to destroy it if we go all out on it, but Renya, who looked at his right palm while adopting a milder tone towards the end of his statement, continued with an apologetic feeling for some reason. Of course theres no way to rescue the soldiers if I use sorcery to blow away the barrier and the traps on the ground altogether. I think you can safely say that great damage would also befall the city on the other side. (Renya) Completely eradicating the traps and barrier deployed by the black armor didnt seem to be such a troublesome undertaking if Renya were to mobilize all his mana and knowledge he received from Emedra.However, if he did that, it would be impossible for the soldiers inside the barrier to come out scot-free.It if was a wall, he would just need to destroy it, and it would suffice if he were to release his sorcery at an angle that wouldnt allow for the soldiers to be hit, But to break the needle traps on the ground, one would need to launch sorcery towards the ground.Telling the soldiers, who are writhing in pain after being stabbed by the needles, to dodge would be unreasonable. Moreover, a spell so weak that it wouldnt kill the soldiers would most likely not be able to destroy the traps. A stalemate, it is. (Renya) That cant be! (Albert) I will try to think about it, butfor starters, go and do something about that. (Renya) Renya said while pointing at the dragonoid armys rear guard, which had been outside the barriers range, and had now fallen into a state of chaos due to the scenes taking place within the barrier.Although the deployed barrier was quite big, it apparently wasnt large enough to also engulf the infantrymen who left before its deployment, and the rear guard which had been left behind in order to take care of the chariots and the cavalry. Have them calm down and retreat. If it were to turn into a situation where even they are eaten, the situation would quickly spiral out of control. (Renya) In order to once again rally the soldiers, who are shaken up due to the swift loss of their commander, Linus, some kind of wake-up call is probably necessary, Renya thought.Being called out by their hero, Albert, should do the trick, I think. Understood. (Albert) Seemingly having instantly judged that he couldnt do anything else anyway, Albert showed a faint hesitation towards Renyas words, but immediately bowed his head and started running towards the troops that were falling into a state of disorder.Renya, who followed Albert with his eyes, waited until he was a good distance away from them, and breathed out. Now then, that means we have to do something about this side, though. (Renya) Honestly speaking, as Renya had been told to somehow keep the number of victims low, this was a chore for him.On the other hand, if he were told that he didnt need to take the number of victims into account, he was confident he could handle it one way or the other. Thats true, isnt it? I mean, after all that armor will devour many thousands or at least a good share of the dragonoids if we leave it alone as is. I really wouldnt want to take that thing on after everything is over and done with. (Emil) While squinting, Emil stared at the spectacle on the other side of the barriers wall.Even as an understatement, the scenes happening in there were like torture that would almost never take place in broad daylight, but it was nothing that would cause Emils expression to freeze up.Once Renya looked around thinking,leaving Emil aside, the other members will certainly be shaken by those scenes. They generally had gloomy expressions and made sure not to look as much as possible by averting their eyes. Only Shion looked in the same direction as Emil without any visible change in her countenance, carrying a completely blank expression. Are you alright, Shion? (Renya) No matter how I think about it, its not a sight that would allow a woman to remain calm after witnessing it.Shions reply used the same, unchanged tone she normally used to answer Renya, who called out to her after becoming worried that she might have been overwhelmed by her emotions. Mmh? Yeah, wellI suppose it might be a bit cruel, but Renya, youre behind mebesides (Shion) She stopped talking for a moment, and after pondering how to phrase it, she dropped a bombshell. Its the citizens of another country? (Shion) Everyone turned startled gazes at Shion who declared such a thing without no hesitation.While having a bit of sweat run down his face, Renya asked what everyone else was likely thinking. Hey, thats quite the awful thing to say, you know? (Renya) Ehehe (Shion) Oy, thats not meant as praise!? Im really not praising you, okay? (Renya) Renya repeated to Shion, who grinned in embarrassment while scratching her head, to make doubly sure.Going by her reaction, I cant exclude the risk of her really misunderstanding this as me praising her if I dont tell her off properly. Lets shelve this issue for now. (Grn) As it had turned into an atmosphere where it was hard to say anything, Grn cut in with a forcibly-calm voice.Everyone except for Shion silently offered their gratitude towards Grns consideration who apparently spoke up so as to somehow change the mood as one of the older people here, seeing as the other members couldnt bring themselves to do so. In order to get closer to that black armor, we need to undo the barrier no matter what. (Grn) Thats reasonable. Even if they could handle the needles at their feet by jumping or whatever, there would still be the obstacle of the violet light wall separating the inside from the outside. Thats why I think that we should obediently start by searching for a method to cancel that barrier, but what do you think? Its a sound argument, but Rona raises her hand diffidently. How long is that going to take? (Rona) Lets see. (Emil) Emil groaned while staring at the barrier. Going by my estimationif its at the level of opening a holearound one hour. (Emil) You think there will be any survivors left inside by then? The answer was obvious, but Renya tried asking anyway, just to make sure. Ha ha ha. In your eyes people must be really amazing, Renya. If they suffer under such circumstances for an hour, theres no way that therell be any survivors, is there? (Emil) Emil smiled brightly, but Renyas expression became gloomy and heavy.It was a truth he understood even without being explicitly told so, but he couldnt help feeling a heaviness weighing down on him now that he heard the words frankly spoken out. It looks like its impossible to keep the number of victims low, thereforeI suggest we resign ourselves to it and force our way through. Croire proposed.It was a suggestion that would cause Albert to fly into a rage or try to prevent it if he heard about it, but no matter how much they tried to think of alternatives, no other ingenious plans came to mind. Margrave-sama? Shall I go? (Kurz) When Renya and the others started to think that forcibly breaking through the barrier might be inevitable if no other options presented themselves, Kurz suddenly suggested something like that. I feel like I can proceed through that needle-laden path. (Kurz) Renya looked at Kurz after being told so.Currently Kurz was fully covered by a silver plate armor.Its sturdiness was something Renya could guarantee since he had run various tests on it in the past. It was difficult to believe that Kurz armor could be broken as long as he was conscious.Even if it were to be destroyed for arguments sake, Kurz was protected by the black misted he generated inside the armor. It wouldnt develop into a situation where he would get injured right away.If there was something to worry about, it was that the armor had quite a few gaps all over it. It might get somewhat dangerous if the armor were penetrated through those gaps. Margrave-sama, if I deliver you to the black armor by carrying you, you will somehow be able to deal with it, right? (Kurz) Hmm? Yeahprobably. Well, I will manage, I guess? (Renya) Then things are simple, arent they? (Lepard) Lepard interjected. We just gotta open a hole large enough so that Kurz can pass through, and have him charge in. What about me? (Renya) Aint it fine if you have Kurz carry you on his back? There aint no way that carrying you is gonna burden him while hes in his armor state, is there? (Lepard) No matter how close Renya gets to the armor, fighting without a foothold will be impossible, dont you think? (Rona) Rona voiced her concern in a hurry, but Kurz cheerfully replied to that, Then Margrave-sama simply has to use me as his foothold. (Kurz) Is that really alright? Even if we ignore those needles, when the snakes touched that violet lightthey were erased. Didnt you feel any pain when that happened? Upon Renya worriedly asking, Kurz pondered for a little moment. It hurt a bit, but not to an unbearable degree. Without me, you wont be able to fight over there, will you Margrave-sama? In that case I will do my best. (Kurz) I see. Then allow me to rely on you. (Renya) Now that we have decided, its better to get started soon. Leave opening a gap in the barrier to us, okay? Lepard knocked his fists together, and Grn drew his two katana.Kurz beckoned Renya over, and once Renya got close, he crouched down with his back towards Renya so that it would be easier to get on. Being carried by you, Kurz, feels somewhat strange. (Renya) Youre like a grandpa~! (Kurz) Stifled laughter came from the surroundings in response to Kurz who had said that simply trying to make a light joke, but only Renya seriously pondered whether this is how it would feel to be carried by ones grandson, while clinging to Kurz back. I will hold you with something else since I wont be able to prop you up with my hands, okay~? (Kurz) Right after saying so, a black mist gushed out of Kurz back.It didnt materialize as snakes, but started to support Renyas body by manifesting itself around his body as if gently running alongside it.It was the first time Renya had been touched by this mist, but he felt like he was being wrapped up by a warmth that somewhat felt like steam, sensing no eeriness that would warrant any worries.If one considered it properly, those two priestesses had been stored away somewhere inside this mist, so there was no way it would make him feel chills or cold, but since it could also become a weapon to devour enemies and such sometimes, Renyas worries were justified. Were ready to go~ (Kurz) Alriiight, I guess I will put a little bit of effort into it then! (Lepard) Lepard made his palms face each other as if holding something in front of his chest, creating a small space.That stance was the one he had demonstrated a while ago when using his big technique. The other members distanced themselves from Renya, Kurz, Lepard and Grn so as to not get caught up in their attack.Next to Lepard, Grn took an L-shaped stance with his legs, his left leg bent in front and the other extended behind. At the same time he readied his two drawn blades into a straight line, with his left katana being in front of him at chest height, and his right katana held above the solar plexus. Oh, nice, Grn. You sure look as if youre gonna dish out a big bang, doncha? (Lepard) Its a technique Im not really keen on using, but its a reliable method in this situation. (Grn) Whos going to start? (Lepard) I will gladly let you make the first move. (Grn) Okay, leave it to me! (Lepard) The air was rumbling, converging in the space Lepard had created in front of his chest.Lepard unleashed the cluster of air, which had taken a concrete shape after plenty of air had amassed, towards the barrier along with a yell full of fighting spirit. Once the air drill, which had even torn through an army, clashed against the barriers wall, a strong gale blew in the vicinity making the wall sway strongly.The wall became quite distorted, but it didnt look like the air drill would be able to penetrate it.While there was still some power left in Lepards technique, who clicked his tongue, the two katana readied by Grn cast a light of mana. These are the wings of the two sexes. They spread their wings in unity. Fly together and pierce through all creation! (Grn) The pair of blades, which had been lined up in a straight line, were clad in mana and turned into a single ray of light.Once ordered by Grn, who lightly crouched down in preparation of the impact, that light pierced into the area, where Lepards big technique had hit the barrier, while leaving a shock behind which even Grn, who prepared himself for it, couldnt endure completely.The wall, which had been largely warped by Lepards technique, was hit by Grns follow-up attack, and had countless cracks running across it.However, it didnt go as far as having a spot where it had broken apart. Oy, thats a lie, right? (Lepard) For it to endure the combined attack of two heroes (Grn) If they had overcome the barrier too easily, it might have caused serious damage to the place on the other side.Maybe such a brake mechanism unconsciously came into play here. Or maybe the barrier was something that had been meticulously set up so that it could even stop the heroes attacks.While Lepard and Grn looked shocked due to the wall only starting to break, but not getting destroyed completely, Kurz charged towards a crack in the wall with Renya on his back. Its alright, if it doesnt work with two people (Kurz) The ramming attack by Kurzs black snakes assailed the barrier, which was about to repair itself, stopping it from succeeding.While continuously unleashing snakes, which got repelled when they hit the wall, without giving up, Kurz raised his right fist overhead as he kept up his charging speed. Then you just have to destroy it with three people! (Kurz) Kurzs fist was covered in black mist when he struck the barrier.Immediately after Kurz fist and the violet-shining wall clashed, a shrill, bursting sound, which would cause mental discomfort to anyone who heard it, reverberated in the vicinity.Renya reflexively covered his ears, but due to the unpleasant sound, which he could still hear albeit subdued, he furrowed his eyebrows and endured while gritting his teeth.When the barrier received the third heros attack, the cracks were still small, but as expected, unable to endure the consecutive attacks of the heroes, the wall broke, and a small hole opened up, just big enough for Kurz to pass through.However, the spell which was forming the barrier was still active. It immediately started to repair the gaping hole. However, faster than it could accomplish its task, Kurz trespassed inside the barrier.Countless needles sensed the foreign object and attacked from below.They were repelled by the Kurzs armor, crushed by the armors feet, and blocked by the black mist so that they wouldnt reach Renya. Meanwhile, Kurz pushed his way towards the black armor, the source of this barrier. Chapter 184 Kurz ran while scattering the fragments of the needles he crushed underfoot. It was a very careful sprint so as to avoid the dragonoids, who were laying all over the place while groaning and screaming, and the violet lines that were still shining suspiciously. But considering the armors weight, Kurz movement speed was still abnormally high. Renya, who was riding on Kurz back, clung to Kurz using just his legs and drew the katana at his waist. Renya could be thrown off if he did something like that while on Kurz back which was moving up and down irregularly, but it was a stunt he was able to pull off due to his own leg strength, his sense of balance and the fact Kurz was supporting him with the black mist. And yet Renya frowned slightly. All of that didnt change the fact that he couldnt secure enough footing. Even if it was Renya, there was no way he could make full use of his katana in this situation. The question of whether he should have worn slightly more armored equipment popped up in his mind for an instant, but Renya immediately rejected the thought. Speed and quick defensive movements were the characteristic traits of Renyas fighting style. No matter how much armored equipment, which would hinder those attributes, might seem necessary, it would only result in a drop of Renyas combat abilities. Margrave-sama! Incoming attacks! Once Renya turned his eyes towards the black armor upon hearing Kurz warning, he saw the black armor readying its halberd in order to intercept the enemy that had invaded past its barrier. Countless black chains were about to be released towards Kurz from behind the black armor. In response Kurz also unleashed countless black snakes to face the armors attacks.The chains and snakes clashed against each other. The chains pierced the snakes, and the snakes bit into the chains. It was a struggle for supremacy. However, Renya, who watched that battle unfold, immediately realized that Kurz was being pushed back, albeit only faintly. In contrast to the black armor which continued sucking strength from the dragonoid soldiers within the barrier, Kurz was completely cut off from any external supply. If both were to continue expanding their strength the same way as they were now, it was obvious that Kurz would use up all his strength first as the one without any means of recovery. However, while that might be true, Renya couldnt simply tell him to eat the dragonoids laying around them. That didnt mean that he didnt have a part of him thinking on an emotional level that it might be fine since there were some dragonoids who likely couldnt be saved anymore, but even Renya knew that it would result in a very bad situation in terms of foreign affairs. I suppose its my job to compensate for the parts hes missing, murmuring out a complaint, Renya climbed up Kurz back, placed his feet on Kurz shoulders, and started running, using the backs of the snakes as a makeshift scaffold. Renya arrived where the snakes and chains were clashing in no time despite using an unstable footing which was shaking intensely. After a light jump, he began using the chains as his footing and closed in on the black armor in one breath. The black armor, which stopped manipulating the chains while revealing a faint hint of unrest, swung its halberd at Renya who was soaring high above its head after jumping before the chains lost their tension. To counter the swing, Renya performed a forward somersault in midair while falling, and faced the halberds upward swinging blade with a slash that contained his full centripetal force. The full power slash, unleashed while using the force of gravity, his downwards movement, centripetal force, and even the spring force of his entire body, cut two times the katanas width into the ax blade part of the halberd, but Renyas expectation of being able to sever the ax blade completely in one go was quickly betrayed. It stopped!? Renya was shocked. Renyas katana had cut deeply into the halberds blade, but it ended up being fully stopped just as the katanas blade was twice its width within. Renya, who had no scaffold, had no other option but to put all his remaining strength into his katana as soon as it got blocked. In contrast to Renya who had lost his momentum, the black armor pulled the blade back and performed a sweep with the opposite handle of the halberd, aiming at Renyas flank. Being in midair with no foothold, Renya had no way to avoid it, but while blocking the bladeless handle attack with the sole of his feet, he used the handle as a foothold using its force to jump far away. That allowed him to widen the distance, but there was nowhere Renya could land. Renya resolved himself to suffer some injuries by landing on the ground which had countless needles pointed upwards, but not allowing that to happen, Kurz had a black snake coil itself around a somewhat largish needle and performed a high-speed move by using it like a grappling gun. Margrave-sama! Over here! Kurz yelled. Responding to the call, Renya stretched his body as far as he could and did a somersault. When he landed on Kurz, who had made his way to the landing point while smashing the needles growing out of the ground, most of Renyas momentum was gone and he successfully carried out a soft soundless landing. Kurz, good move, said Renya. Landing with the momentum you had from being sent flying would have been really bad, said Kurz. Judging from the difference in weight between Renya and the armor donning Kurz, it was very likely that Kurz wouldnt have budged even a millimeter even if Renya had landed on him with quite some force, but for Renya that part was more of a question of how he felt about it. But, I certainly wasnt expecting the black armor to be able to block the attack just now, said Renya. Margrave-sama, you havent properly strengthened yourself with manait looks like that big weapon and the chains are one and the same. Being told so by Kurz, Renya suddenly remembered. Even though he had been taught by Emedra how to properly reinforce his body with mana, he ended up slashing at the armor in the same manner as usual, thinking that it would work out one way or the other. However, this could also be attested to the fact that the notion of strengthening his body with mana was prevalent in Renyas mind, and it was also impossible for him to develop such a habit in the short time since he learned the technique. But, leaving that aside, Renya tried asking Kurz about a part of his statement that bothered him, That halberd and the chains are one and the same, you say? Yeah, thats what it looks like. Being able to stop Margrave-samas attack was owed to it sending a part of whatevers forming the chains to the weapon, continuously repairing it, I think. Kurz guessed. Once Renya looked at the black armor after being told as much, he realized that the large number of chains, which had been growing out of its waist, had mostly vanished without a trace. Apparently being able to stop Renyas slash wasnt a result of the black armors skill or the weapons strength, but because it was continuously repaired from the outset as it was being cut. What actually happened was that the repairing speed surpassed the cutting speed and was thus able to stop the blade from cutting any further. So basically that means it can be cut, Renya summarized. For me it has become much easier~, Kurz rejoiced. Because the black armor had rerouted the power forming the chains to the weapon, the number of chains had dropped sharply, and the battle for supremacy between the snakes and chains had heavily shifted in favor of the snakes.Kurz attacks, which now excelled in numbers, reached a point where they frequently got through to the black armor, but they didnt reach its main body as they were blocked by the halberds blade. Can you overcome its resistance at this rate? Renya asked while riding on Kurz shoulder. I wonder? Kurz inclined his head to the side and after pondering about it for a little while, he shook his head and said, No good. Its recovering, after all. For the moment Kurz snakes were overpowering the black armors chains, but Kurz had noticed that the black armor was starting to recover its numbers of chains, albeit only slowly, while repelling the black snakes with its halberd. Kurz immediately knew that its recovery was due to the black armor constantly sucking the strength from the dragonoid soldiers.Among those soldiers, some were on the brink of turning into mummies and others went past mummies, turning into dust, and were about to crumble, but it seemed like there were still many more soldiers who had some strength left. How troublesome. With the numbers being what they are, I think it still has a lot of leeway left to recover. Renya assessed. Isnt it just fine to hinder it from recovering then? Kurz asked and fleetingly glanced at the soldiers laying at his feet. Although he had a somewhat bad premonition, Renya decided to be polite for the time being and tried asking, And the method to achieve that would be? Cleaning up the recovery medicine scattered around here. Kurz answered indifferently. You should stop that. Its also bad for your reputation, warned Renya while knocking Kurz helmet with his fist. Seemingly somewhat unhappy, Kurz made a deep but quiet groan, but nodded at Renyas words nonetheless as it was apparently not something he would obsess over to the extent of pushing for it. But Margrave-sama, as long as that armor continues to recover, everyone will turn into dust sooner or later, you know? Kurz rebutted. Well, I guess thats true as wellbut if we dirty our hands, it will likely cause various problems, Renya conceded. Theres already one seed of trouble. The fact that one of that obstinate Witenagemot and moreover the son of its chairman had been easily killed in action will likely turn into quite the source for trouble afterwards, was Renyas concern, although only in secret. Renya had been taking the situation lightly, thinking that he wouldnt die that quickly since he was the commander of 10,000 soldiers. He thought he just should have wrapped him up in a bamboo mat, if he had known that it would turn out like it had, but now it was too late for that. It was Renyas honest wish to not add any more seeds of troubles, seeing as he couldnt change what had already happened anyway. He fully understood that it was a situation that might have the unfortunate consequence of annihilation, but whether that result was achieved through their own hands or by those of the demons made a difference like heaven and earth. Getting through this situation in one goI wonder whether thats not somehow possible. Renya pondered. I dont really care, but if youre going to make up your mind, you have to do it quickly as its going to completely recover otherwise, Margrave-sama, Kurz said while sensing that the attacks by the chains were gradually gaining in intensity. Im lacking a trump card here, but Im going to attack it once more. Can you pick me up once more, Kurz? Renya asked. Leave that part to me. Also, go after reinforcing yourself properly, okay Margrave-sama? Kurz voice held Renya, who was about to kick off Kurz shoulder, back after forgetting about this once again. After Renya looked at Kurz, who seemed to have somehow chuckled under his breath, for an instant with an unhappy expression, he reconsidered his attitude since it was his own carelessness that caused this reminder, and began to strengthen himself with mana as he had been told by Kurz. Although you might call itbegan, there wasnt any kind of chanting or ceremony involved. Basically reinforcement through mana meant being precisely aware of the mana flowing in ones body, strengthening and broadening that flow, and making sure that it could flow smoothly. When someone uses this technique for an item and not ones body, it adds conditions to the amount of mana used and the creation of a circuit that would allow the mana to flow into the target item as well as the maintenance of all that, but if it was only about strengthening ones body, such troublesome procedures werent necessary. Renya shut his eyes and imagined the flow of mana. It was an image of the mana branching off a thick, large flow into many smaller ones, like the blood flow, and spreading into each cell. That was possible due to Renyas knowledge that a human body is composed of many, many cells, but Renya misunderstood one thing here. The method of mana strengthening in this world is normally based on imagining something like a stream of mana running through the bones to strengthen the whole body or just one stream heading into an arm, to strengthen only that arm.However, Renya, who happened to know about cells, was under the impression that reinforcement meant spreading mana into each and every cell. As a result of that he let his mana flow while imagining blood veins and not bones. If a common sorcerer had done something at a similar scale, they would have easily run out of mana and fainted. But, for Renya using such a huge amount of mana didnt really matter. Renya strengthened his whole body with an accuracy that any run-of-the-mil sorcerer would have likely failed to control if they had let the mana flow with the same attention to detail as Renya had invested. Speaking of what would happen as a result of Renyas misunderstanding; lets just say that mana strengthening is a technique that displays its effectiveness and exhibits power corresponding to the amount of mana used and the time and effort it takes to cast the spell. Huh? SomehowI have a bad feeling, Margrave-sama, Kurz spoke up in bewilderment due to the signs he sensed from Renyas body, but Renya didnt notice it as he was concentrating. Kurz, who was assailed by an extremely bad premonition, temporarily increased the power he was releasing, he manipulated the snakes, and once he pushed back all the black armors chains, he stabbed his snakes into the ground during the momentary break he gained, using them to anchor his body. Go for it, Margrave-sama, he called out to Renya. OkayIm off, Renya said and kicked off Kurz shoulder. In that instant Kurz felt as if he had heard violent screams coming from the shoulder Renya had used. The armor, which wouldnt get dented even if hit by something like a wyvern, received so much damage that it caved in from the impact left behind by Renyas soles. Even though Kurz had braced himself, he was pushed several meters back, digging into the ground as he slid. Of course the torsos of the snakes, which he had stabbed into the ground to serve as anchors, groaned loudly under the stress and were ripped apart, causing Kurz to feel a chill run down his spine. And it wasnt just Kurz who wondered just what the heck had happened. Even Renya was flustered when he saw the black armor get closer right in front of his eyes the instant he thought he had kicked off Kurz shoulder.Even though he didnt recall having used this much power as he took into account the fact he was borrowing Kurz shoulder, the enemy had appeared right in front of him before he even noticed. That enemy apparently couldnt understand why Renya was there so fast either. The armor kept standing stock still without using its chains to intercept or its halberd to attack. Renya decided to postpone pondering what had just happened in favor of bringing down the black armor. Because the casualties would only continue to grow until the barrier and the traps had been disabled, he subdued the questions welling up within him, and brandished his katana towards the black armor, which hadnt reacted yet, in a flash. Kurz ran while scattering the fragments of the needles he crushed underfoot. It was a very careful sprint so as to avoid the dragonoids, who were laying all over the place while groaning and screaming, and the violet lines that were still shining suspiciously. But considering the armors weight, Kurz movement speed was still abnormally high. Renya, who was riding on Kurz back, clung to Kurz using just his legs and drew the katana at his waist. Renya could be thrown off if he did something like that while on Kurz back which was moving up and down irregularly, but it was a stunt he was able to pull off due to his own leg strength, his sense of balance and the fact Kurz was supporting him with the black mist. And yet Renya frowned slightly. All of that didnt change the fact that he couldnt secure enough footing. Even if it was Renya, there was no way he could make full use of his katana in this situation. The question of whether he should have worn slightly more armored equipment popped up in his mind for an instant, but Renya immediately rejected the thought. Speed and quick defensive movements were the characteristic traits of Renyas fighting style. No matter how much armored equipment, which would hinder those attributes, might seem necessary, it would only result in a drop of Renyas combat abilities. Margrave-sama! Incoming attacks! Once Renya turned his eyes towards the black armor upon hearing Kurz warning, he saw the black armor readying its halberd in order to intercept the enemy that had invaded past its barrier. Countless black chains were about to be released towards Kurz from behind the black armor. In response Kurz also unleashed countless black snakes to face the armors attacks.The chains and snakes clashed against each other. The chains pierced the snakes, and the snakes bit into the chains. It was a struggle for supremacy. However, Renya, who watched that battle unfold, immediately realized that Kurz was being pushed back, albeit only faintly. In contrast to the black armor which continued sucking strength from the dragonoid soldiers within the barrier, Kurz was completely cut off from any external supply. If both were to continue expanding their strength the same way as they were now, it was obvious that Kurz would use up all his strength first as the one without any means of recovery. However, while that might be true, Renya couldnt simply tell him to eat the dragonoids laying around them. That didnt mean that he didnt have a part of him thinking on an emotional level that it might be fine since there were some dragonoids who likely couldnt be saved anymore, but even Renya knew that it would result in a very bad situation in terms of foreign affairs. I suppose its my job to compensate for the parts hes missing, murmuring out a complaint, Renya climbed up Kurz back, placed his feet on Kurz shoulders, and started running, using the backs of the snakes as a makeshift scaffold. Renya arrived where the snakes and chains were clashing in no time despite using an unstable footing which was shaking intensely. After a light jump, he began using the chains as his footing and closed in on the black armor in one breath. The black armor, which stopped manipulating the chains while revealing a faint hint of unrest, swung its halberd at Renya who was soaring high above its head after jumping before the chains lost their tension. To counter the swing, Renya performed a forward somersault in midair while falling, and faced the halberds upward swinging blade with a slash that contained his full centripetal force. The full power slash, unleashed while using the force of gravity, his downwards movement, centripetal force, and even the spring force of his entire body, cut two times the katanas width into the ax blade part of the halberd, but Renyas expectation of being able to sever the ax blade completely in one go was quickly betrayed. It stopped!? Renya was shocked. Renyas katana had cut deeply into the halberds blade, but it ended up being fully stopped just as the katanas blade was twice its width within. Renya, who had no scaffold, had no other option but to put all his remaining strength into his katana as soon as it got blocked. In contrast to Renya who had lost his momentum, the black armor pulled the blade back and performed a sweep with the opposite handle of the halberd, aiming at Renyas flank. Being in midair with no foothold, Renya had no way to avoid it, but while blocking the bladeless handle attack with the sole of his feet, he used the handle as a foothold using its force to jump far away. That allowed him to widen the distance, but there was nowhere Renya could land. Renya resolved himself to suffer some injuries by landing on the ground which had countless needles pointed upwards, but not allowing that to happen, Kurz had a black snake coil itself around a somewhat largish needle and performed a high-speed move by using it like a grappling gun. Margrave-sama! Over here! Kurz yelled. Responding to the call, Renya stretched his body as far as he could and did a somersault. When he landed on Kurz, who had made his way to the landing point while smashing the needles growing out of the ground, most of Renyas momentum was gone and he successfully carried out a soft soundless landing. Kurz, good move, said Renya. Landing with the momentum you had from being sent flying would have been really bad, said Kurz. Judging from the difference in weight between Renya and the armor donning Kurz, it was very likely that Kurz wouldnt have budged even a millimeter even if Renya had landed on him with quite some force, but for Renya that part was more of a question of how he felt about it. But, I certainly wasnt expecting the black armor to be able to block the attack just now, said Renya. Margrave-sama, you havent properly strengthened yourself with manait looks like that big weapon and the chains are one and the same. Being told so by Kurz, Renya suddenly remembered. Even though he had been taught by Emedra how to properly reinforce his body with mana, he ended up slashing at the armor in the same manner as usual, thinking that it would work out one way or the other. However, this could also be attested to the fact that the notion of strengthening his body with mana was prevalent in Renyas mind, and it was also impossible for him to develop such a habit in the short time since he learned the technique. But, leaving that aside, Renya tried asking Kurz about a part of his statement that bothered him, That halberd and the chains are one and the same, you say? Yeah, thats what it looks like. Being able to stop Margrave-samas attack was owed to it sending a part of whatevers forming the chains to the weapon, continuously repairing it, I think. Kurz guessed. Once Renya looked at the black armor after being told as much, he realized that the large number of chains, which had been growing out of its waist, had mostly vanished without a trace. Apparently being able to stop Renyas slash wasnt a result of the black armors skill or the weapons strength, but because it was continuously repaired from the outset as it was being cut. What actually happened was that the repairing speed surpassed the cutting speed and was thus able to stop the blade from cutting any further. So basically that means it can be cut, Renya summarized. For me it has become much easier~, Kurz rejoiced. Because the black armor had rerouted the power forming the chains to the weapon, the number of chains had dropped sharply, and the battle for supremacy between the snakes and chains had heavily shifted in favor of the snakes.Kurz attacks, which now excelled in numbers, reached a point where they frequently got through to the black armor, but they didnt reach its main body as they were blocked by the halberds blade. Can you overcome its resistance at this rate? Renya asked while riding on Kurz shoulder. I wonder? Kurz inclined his head to the side and after pondering about it for a little while, he shook his head and said, No good. Its recovering, after all. For the moment Kurz snakes were overpowering the black armors chains, but Kurz had noticed that the black armor was starting to recover its numbers of chains, albeit only slowly, while repelling the black snakes with its halberd. Kurz immediately knew that its recovery was due to the black armor constantly sucking the strength from the dragonoid soldiers.Among those soldiers, some were on the brink of turning into mummies and others went past mummies, turning into dust, and were about to crumble, but it seemed like there were still many more soldiers who had some strength left. How troublesome. With the numbers being what they are, I think it still has a lot of leeway left to recover. Renya assessed. Isnt it just fine to hinder it from recovering then? Kurz asked and fleetingly glanced at the soldiers laying at his feet. Although he had a somewhat bad premonition, Renya decided to be polite for the time being and tried asking, And the method to achieve that would be? Cleaning up the recovery medicine scattered around here. Kurz answered indifferently. You should stop that. Its also bad for your reputation, warned Renya while knocking Kurz helmet with his fist. Seemingly somewhat unhappy, Kurz made a deep but quiet groan, but nodded at Renyas words nonetheless as it was apparently not something he would obsess over to the extent of pushing for it. But Margrave-sama, as long as that armor continues to recover, everyone will turn into dust sooner or later, you know? Kurz rebutted. Well, I guess thats true as wellbut if we dirty our hands, it will likely cause various problems, Renya conceded. Theres already one seed of trouble. The fact that one of that obstinate Witenagemot and moreover the son of its chairman had been easily killed in action will likely turn into quite the source for trouble afterwards, was Renyas concern, although only in secret. Renya had been taking the situation lightly, thinking that he wouldnt die that quickly since he was the commander of 10,000 soldiers. He thought he just should have wrapped him up in a bamboo mat, if he had known that it would turn out like it had, but now it was too late for that. It was Renyas honest wish to not add any more seeds of troubles, seeing as he couldnt change what had already happened anyway. He fully understood that it was a situation that might have the unfortunate consequence of annihilation, but whether that result was achieved through their own hands or by those of the demons made a difference like heaven and earth. Getting through this situation in one goI wonder whether thats not somehow possible. Renya pondered. I dont really care, but if youre going to make up your mind, you have to do it quickly as its going to completely recover otherwise, Margrave-sama, Kurz said while sensing that the attacks by the chains were gradually gaining in intensity. Im lacking a trump card here, but Im going to attack it once more. Can you pick me up once more, Kurz? Renya asked. Leave that part to me. Also, go after reinforcing yourself properly, okay Margrave-sama? Kurz voice held Renya, who was about to kick off Kurz shoulder, back after forgetting about this once again. After Renya looked at Kurz, who seemed to have somehow chuckled under his breath, for an instant with an unhappy expression, he reconsidered his attitude since it was his own carelessness that caused this reminder, and began to strengthen himself with mana as he had been told by Kurz. Although you might call itbegan, there wasnt any kind of chanting or ceremony involved. Basically reinforcement through mana meant being precisely aware of the mana flowing in ones body, strengthening and broadening that flow, and making sure that it could flow smoothly. When someone uses this technique for an item and not ones body, it adds conditions to the amount of mana used and the creation of a circuit that would allow the mana to flow into the target item as well as the maintenance of all that, but if it was only about strengthening ones body, such troublesome procedures werent necessary. Renya shut his eyes and imagined the flow of mana. It was an image of the mana branching off a thick, large flow into many smaller ones, like the blood flow, and spreading into each cell. That was possible due to Renyas knowledge that a human body is composed of many, many cells, but Renya misunderstood one thing here. The method of mana strengthening in this world is normally based on imagining something like a stream of mana running through the bones to strengthen the whole body or just one stream heading into an arm, to strengthen only that arm.However, Renya, who happened to know about cells, was under the impression that reinforcement meant spreading mana into each and every cell. As a result of that he let his mana flow while imagining blood veins and not bones. If a common sorcerer had done something at a similar scale, they would have easily run out of mana and fainted. But, for Renya using such a huge amount of mana didnt really matter. Renya strengthened his whole body with an accuracy that any run-of-the-mil sorcerer would have likely failed to control if they had let the mana flow with the same attention to detail as Renya had invested. Speaking of what would happen as a result of Renyas misunderstanding; lets just say that mana strengthening is a technique that displays its effectiveness and exhibits power corresponding to the amount of mana used and the time and effort it takes to cast the spell. Huh? SomehowI have a bad feeling, Margrave-sama, Kurz spoke up in bewilderment due to the signs he sensed from Renyas body, but Renya didnt notice it as he was concentrating. Kurz, who was assailed by an extremely bad premonition, temporarily increased the power he was releasing, he manipulated the snakes, and once he pushed back all the black armors chains, he stabbed his snakes into the ground during the momentary break he gained, using them to anchor his body. Go for it, Margrave-sama, he called out to Renya. OkayIm off, Renya said and kicked off Kurz shoulder. In that instant Kurz felt as if he had heard violent screams coming from the shoulder Renya had used. The armor, which wouldnt get dented even if hit by something like a wyvern, received so much damage that it caved in from the impact left behind by Renyas soles. Even though Kurz had braced himself, he was pushed several meters back, digging into the ground as he slid. Of course the torsos of the snakes, which he had stabbed into the ground to serve as anchors, groaned loudly under the stress and were ripped apart, causing Kurz to feel a chill run down his spine. And it wasnt just Kurz who wondered just what the heck had happened. Even Renya was flustered when he saw the black armor get closer right in front of his eyes the instant he thought he had kicked off Kurz shoulder.Even though he didnt recall having used this much power as he took into account the fact he was borrowing Kurz shoulder, the enemy had appeared right in front of him before he even noticed. That enemy apparently couldnt understand why Renya was there so fast either. The armor kept standing stock still without using its chains to intercept or its halberd to attack. Renya decided to postpone pondering what had just happened in favor of bringing down the black armor. Because the casualties would only continue to grow until the barrier and the traps had been disabled, he subdued the questions welling up within him, and brandished his katana towards the black armor, which hadnt reacted yet, in a flash. Chapter 185 It was a flash cutting across from the right to the left of the black armors chest, Renya believed. Him thinking that itwasjust a flash stemmed from that strike not having any feedback. Even after pondering afterwards whether he had actually unleashed his attack or not, it didnt leave anything but a somewhat ambiguous impression behind. In the first place, when cutting something, the hands would always sense some kind of feedback, indicating that the object had been cut. Renya didnt have the slightest intention to blurt out I cant get enough of this wonderful feedback, like someone who was working as an assassin and had stepped into a hell from which they could never return, but even so, without the feedback that he had indeed cut the armor, it didnt feel real either. The flash simply dug into the black armors armor between the right elbow and shoulder, passed through the handle of the halberd in its hands, and exited from the left side. Even though that was all that happened here, anything and everything was torn apart with just that much. The black armors body above the line, where Renyas katana had passed through, continued to soundlessly slide off the lower part. The halberd had lost its support after being cut in two at the handle, succumbed to gravity, and fell to the ground along with the black armors two arms. Even faster than the falling arms and halberd remains could hit the ground, largish needles, which were behind the black armor, were severed at the same height. Moreover, the wall of the violet barrier, which separated the inside from the outside, on the other side was cleaved apart. Apparently having the sorcery structure itself break caused the severed needles to be unable to maintain their shape and thus vanish like dust. The severed barrier now allowed one to see the landscape on the other side, but it began to slowly repair itself. Renya didnt have the spare time to be surprised and wonder just what had happened. After all he was on a collision course with the black armor if he didnt do anything. And he knew that there was like no time left for that to happen because of his strengthening which exceeded his expectations by far. In a state of being calm on the surface but somewhat panicking in his mind, Renya transitioned from the stance of having completed his slash to placing his feet on black armors abdomen, which was standing stock still. Different from the time with Kurz, he kicked off the armor without holding back. Producing a sound that was very unlikely to be produced when a human kicked an iron plate, Renyas body traced back the flight path he had taken before but this time while upside down. Renya wasnt interested in what happened to the black armor due to his kick but he hoped that like Kurz, who had served as his foothold before and as a result was pushed back, fell on one knee and had apparently received quite the impact, the black armor would be in even worse shape as Renya hadnt held back and wouldnt be able to attack again, at least for a while. Renya judged that Kurz wouldnt be able to pick him up even if he were to try landing elsewhere after cutting the black armor, and thus tried to return to Kurz by himself. If I were to land on him while still having a lot of momentum left, I might damage Kurz once again. With those thoughts Renya killed his momentum by revolving many times in midair, and landed on Kurz shoulder. You alright, Kurz? Renya asked while patting Kurz helmet after he had landed on Kurz shoulder. With a slightly pained voice Kurz answered, Margrave-samawhat was that just now? If it had been just me, I wouldnt have been able to endure it. Even quite a few snakes were torn apart No, I mean I just strengthened my body normally Renya returned. Wondering whether he had made some mistake, Renya reviewed the knowledge he had received from Emedra, but even after reviewing his information about mana strengthening several times, all he got was that its a technique to reinforce ones abilities by passing mana through ones body, and he couldnt find anything indicating that what he had done earlier was wrong. Thats was normal body strengthening? At the end of Kurz line of sight was the black armor, which had been sent flying by Renyas kick. After having crashed into the barrier while smashing through the needles growing out of the ground and getting various other things involved that were along its path, a cloud of dust was now raising at the impact site. The barrier had countless cracks running around the part Renya had cut and the area where the black armor had impacted C apparently having turned Renyas attack into a double score C broke apart into small pieces before long, and vanished. It was reeeeally painful. Kurz stressed. NuuI did something inexcusable. Renya apologized. As the wall separating the inside from the outside disappeared, Renya and Kurz could now see how the dragonoids rear guard, which had been on standby outside until now, started to advance in order to rescue the fallen soldiers. But, although the wall had vanished, the needles growing out of the ground were still there. They blocked the soldiers path and caused them to stumble. The needles remaining despite the barrier having broken down means that the spell formula is still active, or that a battle formation is still intact somewhere. Renya conjectured. Isnt that the spell caster? Kurz pointed a finger while saying so. The black armor, which had completely lost the part above its chest, was still trying to stand up over there. Black chains spilled out of the armors cross section while clinking together. Although Renya and Kurz had anticipated as much, there was no sign of something like a person or similar having been stuffed in there. The chains are its main body? Renya wondered. I think so? The feeling I got when the snakes hit it was the same for the armor, the weapon, and the chains, you know? Kurz replied. I see? That means In front of Renya, who was observing while imagining a certain possibility in his mind, the black armors arms and helmet, which had fallen to the ground, lost their shape and vanished. They were absorbed into the violet light lines drawn on the ground, moved towards the black armor that had finally gotten up, and were absorbed back into its body through its feet. Its regenerating after all, huh? Renya concluded. The armors severed section swelled up, and once the overflowing chains were stored away again, the black armors body was quickly restored to what it was before being cut. The halberd, which had been cut in two, returned to its previous state, and the black armor readied it once more while producing a metallic gating sound. Going by the template, it should have a core somewhere. Renya stated. And where would that be? Kurz folded his arms and tilted his head to the side in confusion. Renya didnt have a response to that question. Since its bothersome, I will have its whole body disappear in one go Renya said in annoyance. Ahahahaha, Margrave-sama, even I know that punch line~ Kurz retorted in a carefree tone. Renya lightly hit Kurz helmet in response, which was right next to him, with his fist. That hit made a far nicer sound than what he had expected, and although it was a light tap, Kurz staggered. I-I mean, isnt it the truth, Margrave-sama? Kurz protested while holding the place that was hit, but Renya made him shut up with just his eyes. There are many things you mustnt say out loud even if you think them, Kurz. Renya admonished Kurz. Thats too unreasonable, Margrave-sama~ Kurz honestly complained while rubbing the place Renya had hit, although it wasnt as though having his exterior hit would affect the Kurz inside since the armor was something Renya had created properly in Kurzs case. Even while wondering why Kurz had become able to express himself to such an extent with a tone that seemed to somewhat plead for pity, Renya hit the helmet once more, forcing Kurz attention back towards the black armor. Having completely finished restoring its body and weapon, the black armor was about to head towards Renya and Kurz with its halberd at the ready, but its movements were obviously slower than before being cut by Renya. Renya, who understood that cutting was apparently not completely pointless, felt relieved as he couldnt see any damage or indication that it had been cut on the black armors exterior. I suppose thats a sign that it can be defeated as long as I continuously chop it up . Renya judged. Yeah~ Kurz affirmed. If I could secure a proper footing it wouldnt be that hard, but well It was Renyas impression that the chains were fairly troublesome weapons, but if one excluded those, the black armor would be no more than a simple, dull, armor monster. Exactly because he had such an impression, his irritation at the current situation, where it was difficult to land proper attacks because the ground had been covered with needles, became stronger, and he asked in annoyance, In the first place, just what the hell is that armor anyway? Is it something like the demon kings offshoot that attacked Klinge? Even if you ask mehowever, I can somehow grasp that its nothing very pleasant. Kurz said while intercepting the chain attacks that came flying towards them while making a buzzing sound with the snakes. Probably because the chains themselves had also decreased in power compared to the initial attacks, they were easily repelled or broken, although they should still possess the same power as the snakes. Although they regenerated, they have become slightly weaker, havent they? I will try passing mana through my katana in addition to strengthening my body, I think. Renya played around with the idea. I wonder, which will be completely destroyed, the rear guard forces or the dragonoid city~? Kurz retorted. Just by swinging his katana while having strengthened his body through sorcery, Renya had performed an attack that not only cut the black armor but also the barriers wall which had been a fair distance away. As such Kurz was asking what tragedy would strike next if Renya were to let mana flow through his katana this time as well. Kurz expected that either the rear guard or the city would get caught up in this, but because he voiced out his thoughts honestly, his helmet was once again hit by Renya in silence. In that case, with a single target spell like Renya tried to offer an alternative. How are you going to stop its feet? Kurz countered with a question. was a spell that made lightning strike down. Even if it had speed, it wasnt a spell that had much of an effect over an extended range. Originally it required the caster to chant and concentrate mentally for a fairly long time. According to Emedras knowledge, it was a spell that wouldnt hit the target if its activation was sensed ahead of time unless something unexpected happened.Since it was a spell causing lightning to strike down over a range of several meters the moment it activated, it wasnt that simple to evade, but if it was someone with a considerable ability, they would just need to rush out of its effective range the moment it activates, or if they had training in sorcery, they would have plenty of time to prepare a countermeasure. Renya being able to handle these disadvantages was because he could simply release the spell without casting. Renya remained silent for a moment, wondering what he should answer Kurz reasonable question. Kurz, can you detain it? Renya asked. I think I can, but Kurz replied but his voice gave away that he didnt want to do so if at all possible, directly transmitting Kurz inclination to Renya without any need to make any guesses. Renya wondered whether it had been such an unreasonable request, but Kurz next words allowed him to somehow understand the reasoning behind his unwillingness, Margrave-sama, my snakes would get dragged into your attack too That is Renya lacked a proper reply to that. It hurts quite a bit each time a snake is destroyed, you know? I dont want to experience something like that. Kurz clearly refused. Muu Renya couldnt imagine just how muchquite a bitactually was, but even Renya could understand Kurzs point of not wanting to do it since it would hurt. Renya wasnt fond of forcing others to do what they didnt want to do. As he was pondering how he should detain the black armor, Kurz was still slapping down the chains unleashed by the black armor. Is it bad if I defeat it normally? Kurz inquired. Can you actually bring it down? Renya doubted. Now that it has weakened to such an extent, I think Ill be able to manage one way or another. But, I wonder, just what the heck that katana of yours is, for it to be able to cause damage that the armor couldnt heal with just one slash~? Being told so by Kurz, Renya lowered his eyes at the drawn katana. For Renya it was an item he didnt spend much time thinking about except for its extremely sharp cutting ability, its extreme sturdiness, and moreover it being mostly maintenance free. Of course I have no intention of mistreating this katana, which can withstand my usage. To begin with, it appears its not something that cant be readily obtained in this world. From the start, the act of someone, who handles katana, treating their weapons without due care normally deserves certain death, Renya believed.However, as a tool is no more than a tool in the end, theres no point in being stubborn about it either. As a matter of fact, after he obtained the katana, he tried to examine it with the help function and his appraisal skill, which he hadnt used much most recently, but both only returned . Renya didnt bother any further with it, believing that such things exist in this world as well, but now that he was seriously questioned by Kurz, it certainly wasnt as if he hadnt wondered just what that katana might be. That questionlets shelve it for now, okay? I actually dont really know the answer to that either. Renya admitted. Then it cant be helped~. After all, even you dont know, Margrave-sama. Kurz readily gave up on it. If it concerned knowledge, Renya believed that Croire or Grn definitely knew much more than himself, but from Kurz perspective Renyas judgment and knowledge seemed to be the best. Well then, Kurz, can I ask you to get rid of that? Thats fine, but youre going to stay here, Margrave-sama? Kurz asked. It might be difficult to fight against the black armor while Im still on his shoulder.Considering it like that, Renya stared at the empty air, lightly kicked off Kurz shoulder, jumped, and sat down in the air. Margrave-sama, wow~! How are you doing that? I hardened the atmosphere with ah, no, I created an invisible bag with sorcery, turned it into a simple foothold by filling it with air, and sat down on it, explained Renya. You didnt need my shoulder? Kurz wondered whether Renya ever needed to borrow his shoulder if he could create a foothold himself. Renya smiled at that and denied it, No, if its at the level of sitting on this, it can handle it somewhat, but it lacks the strength to serve as a stepping stone for me. I wonder whether that spell is different from the one that restrained Rubydras body, Kurz thought, but didnt voice it out. Because he believed that Renya must be right if he said that a foothold created through this method would be inappropriate for battle. I see! Im off to somehow deal with that black armor! Please do. I will see if I cant do something about this needle spell. Renya said. There was some knowledge about canceling spells included within Emedras knowledge. Carefreely thinking that he might find at least one spell that would work against this as long as he searched for it, Renya apparently entrusted Kurz with the fighting, deciding to devote himself to his own speculation. Once he smiled at Kurz from above his air bag and waved a hand, he moved a bit higher so he wouldnt hinder Kurz, folded his arms, and started to let his eyes wander. Then Kurz made the mana in his body flow through his entire body, his armor, and the black mist he was manipulating. While the black armor put itself on guard, apparently because of its wariness of the risen presence of mana, Kurz broke into a smile inside his silver armor without anyone seeing it, and muttered to no one in particular, Now, I guess its time for lunch. It was a flash cutting across from the right to the left of the black armors chest, Renya believed. Him thinking that itwasjust a flash stemmed from that strike not having any feedback. Even after pondering afterwards whether he had actually unleashed his attack or not, it didnt leave anything but a somewhat ambiguous impression behind. In the first place, when cutting something, the hands would always sense some kind of feedback, indicating that the object had been cut. Renya didnt have the slightest intention to blurt out I cant get enough of this wonderful feedback, like someone who was working as an assassin and had stepped into a hell from which they could never return, but even so, without the feedback that he had indeed cut the armor, it didnt feel real either. The flash simply dug into the black armors armor between the right elbow and shoulder, passed through the handle of the halberd in its hands, and exited from the left side. Even though that was all that happened here, anything and everything was torn apart with just that much. The black armors body above the line, where Renyas katana had passed through, continued to soundlessly slide off the lower part. The halberd had lost its support after being cut in two at the handle, succumbed to gravity, and fell to the ground along with the black armors two arms. Even faster than the falling arms and halberd remains could hit the ground, largish needles, which were behind the black armor, were severed at the same height. Moreover, the wall of the violet barrier, which separated the inside from the outside, on the other side was cleaved apart. Apparently having the sorcery structure itself break caused the severed needles to be unable to maintain their shape and thus vanish like dust. The severed barrier now allowed one to see the landscape on the other side, but it began to slowly repair itself. Renya didnt have the spare time to be surprised and wonder just what had happened. After all he was on a collision course with the black armor if he didnt do anything. And he knew that there was like no time left for that to happen because of his strengthening which exceeded his expectations by far. In a state of being calm on the surface but somewhat panicking in his mind, Renya transitioned from the stance of having completed his slash to placing his feet on black armors abdomen, which was standing stock still. Different from the time with Kurz, he kicked off the armor without holding back. Producing a sound that was very unlikely to be produced when a human kicked an iron plate, Renyas body traced back the flight path he had taken before but this time while upside down. Renya wasnt interested in what happened to the black armor due to his kick but he hoped that like Kurz, who had served as his foothold before and as a result was pushed back, fell on one knee and had apparently received quite the impact, the black armor would be in even worse shape as Renya hadnt held back and wouldnt be able to attack again, at least for a while. Renya judged that Kurz wouldnt be able to pick him up even if he were to try landing elsewhere after cutting the black armor, and thus tried to return to Kurz by himself. If I were to land on him while still having a lot of momentum left, I might damage Kurz once again. With those thoughts Renya killed his momentum by revolving many times in midair, and landed on Kurz shoulder. You alright, Kurz? Renya asked while patting Kurz helmet after he had landed on Kurz shoulder. With a slightly pained voice Kurz answered, Margrave-samawhat was that just now? If it had been just me, I wouldnt have been able to endure it. Even quite a few snakes were torn apart No, I mean I just strengthened my body normally Renya returned. Wondering whether he had made some mistake, Renya reviewed the knowledge he had received from Emedra, but even after reviewing his information about mana strengthening several times, all he got was that its a technique to reinforce ones abilities by passing mana through ones body, and he couldnt find anything indicating that what he had done earlier was wrong. Thats was normal body strengthening? At the end of Kurz line of sight was the black armor, which had been sent flying by Renyas kick. After having crashed into the barrier while smashing through the needles growing out of the ground and getting various other things involved that were along its path, a cloud of dust was now raising at the impact site. The barrier had countless cracks running around the part Renya had cut and the area where the black armor had impacted C apparently having turned Renyas attack into a double score C broke apart into small pieces before long, and vanished. It was reeeeally painful. Kurz stressed. NuuI did something inexcusable. Renya apologized. As the wall separating the inside from the outside disappeared, Renya and Kurz could now see how the dragonoids rear guard, which had been on standby outside until now, started to advance in order to rescue the fallen soldiers. But, although the wall had vanished, the needles growing out of the ground were still there. They blocked the soldiers path and caused them to stumble. The needles remaining despite the barrier having broken down means that the spell formula is still active, or that a battle formation is still intact somewhere. Renya conjectured. Isnt that the spell caster? Kurz pointed a finger while saying so. The black armor, which had completely lost the part above its chest, was still trying to stand up over there. Black chains spilled out of the armors cross section while clinking together. Although Renya and Kurz had anticipated as much, there was no sign of something like a person or similar having been stuffed in there. The chains are its main body? Renya wondered. I think so? The feeling I got when the snakes hit it was the same for the armor, the weapon, and the chains, you know? Kurz replied. I see? That means In front of Renya, who was observing while imagining a certain possibility in his mind, the black armors arms and helmet, which had fallen to the ground, lost their shape and vanished. They were absorbed into the violet light lines drawn on the ground, moved towards the black armor that had finally gotten up, and were absorbed back into its body through its feet. Its regenerating after all, huh? Renya concluded. The armors severed section swelled up, and once the overflowing chains were stored away again, the black armors body was quickly restored to what it was before being cut. The halberd, which had been cut in two, returned to its previous state, and the black armor readied it once more while producing a metallic gating sound. Going by the template, it should have a core somewhere. Renya stated. And where would that be? Kurz folded his arms and tilted his head to the side in confusion. Renya didnt have a response to that question. Since its bothersome, I will have its whole body disappear in one go Renya said in annoyance. Ahahahaha, Margrave-sama, even I know that punch line~ Kurz retorted in a carefree tone. Renya lightly hit Kurz helmet in response, which was right next to him, with his fist. That hit made a far nicer sound than what he had expected, and although it was a light tap, Kurz staggered. I-I mean, isnt it the truth, Margrave-sama? Kurz protested while holding the place that was hit, but Renya made him shut up with just his eyes. There are many things you mustnt say out loud even if you think them, Kurz. Renya admonished Kurz. Thats too unreasonable, Margrave-sama~ Kurz honestly complained while rubbing the place Renya had hit, although it wasnt as though having his exterior hit would affect the Kurz inside since the armor was something Renya had created properly in Kurzs case. Even while wondering why Kurz had become able to express himself to such an extent with a tone that seemed to somewhat plead for pity, Renya hit the helmet once more, forcing Kurz attention back towards the black armor. Having completely finished restoring its body and weapon, the black armor was about to head towards Renya and Kurz with its halberd at the ready, but its movements were obviously slower than before being cut by Renya. Renya, who understood that cutting was apparently not completely pointless, felt relieved as he couldnt see any damage or indication that it had been cut on the black armors exterior. I suppose thats a sign that it can be defeated as long as I continuously chop it up . Renya judged. Yeah~ Kurz affirmed. If I could secure a proper footing it wouldnt be that hard, but well It was Renyas impression that the chains were fairly troublesome weapons, but if one excluded those, the black armor would be no more than a simple, dull, armor monster. Exactly because he had such an impression, his irritation at the current situation, where it was difficult to land proper attacks because the ground had been covered with needles, became stronger, and he asked in annoyance, In the first place, just what the hell is that armor anyway? Is it something like the demon kings offshoot that attacked Klinge? Even if you ask mehowever, I can somehow grasp that its nothing very pleasant. Kurz said while intercepting the chain attacks that came flying towards them while making a buzzing sound with the snakes. Probably because the chains themselves had also decreased in power compared to the initial attacks, they were easily repelled or broken, although they should still possess the same power as the snakes. Although they regenerated, they have become slightly weaker, havent they? I will try passing mana through my katana in addition to strengthening my body, I think. Renya played around with the idea. I wonder, which will be completely destroyed, the rear guard forces or the dragonoid city~? Kurz retorted. Just by swinging his katana while having strengthened his body through sorcery, Renya had performed an attack that not only cut the black armor but also the barriers wall which had been a fair distance away. As such Kurz was asking what tragedy would strike next if Renya were to let mana flow through his katana this time as well. Kurz expected that either the rear guard or the city would get caught up in this, but because he voiced out his thoughts honestly, his helmet was once again hit by Renya in silence. In that case, with a single target spell like Renya tried to offer an alternative. How are you going to stop its feet? Kurz countered with a question. was a spell that made lightning strike down. Even if it had speed, it wasnt a spell that had much of an effect over an extended range. Originally it required the caster to chant and concentrate mentally for a fairly long time. According to Emedras knowledge, it was a spell that wouldnt hit the target if its activation was sensed ahead of time unless something unexpected happened.Since it was a spell causing lightning to strike down over a range of several meters the moment it activated, it wasnt that simple to evade, but if it was someone with a considerable ability, they would just need to rush out of its effective range the moment it activates, or if they had training in sorcery, they would have plenty of time to prepare a countermeasure. Renya being able to handle these disadvantages was because he could simply release the spell without casting. Renya remained silent for a moment, wondering what he should answer Kurz reasonable question. Kurz, can you detain it? Renya asked. I think I can, but Kurz replied but his voice gave away that he didnt want to do so if at all possible, directly transmitting Kurz inclination to Renya without any need to make any guesses. Renya wondered whether it had been such an unreasonable request, but Kurz next words allowed him to somehow understand the reasoning behind his unwillingness, Margrave-sama, my snakes would get dragged into your attack too That is Renya lacked a proper reply to that. It hurts quite a bit each time a snake is destroyed, you know? I dont want to experience something like that. Kurz clearly refused. Muu Renya couldnt imagine just how muchquite a bitactually was, but even Renya could understand Kurzs point of not wanting to do it since it would hurt. Renya wasnt fond of forcing others to do what they didnt want to do. As he was pondering how he should detain the black armor, Kurz was still slapping down the chains unleashed by the black armor. Is it bad if I defeat it normally? Kurz inquired. Can you actually bring it down? Renya doubted. Now that it has weakened to such an extent, I think Ill be able to manage one way or another. But, I wonder, just what the heck that katana of yours is, for it to be able to cause damage that the armor couldnt heal with just one slash~? Being told so by Kurz, Renya lowered his eyes at the drawn katana. For Renya it was an item he didnt spend much time thinking about except for its extremely sharp cutting ability, its extreme sturdiness, and moreover it being mostly maintenance free. Of course I have no intention of mistreating this katana, which can withstand my usage. To begin with, it appears its not something that cant be readily obtained in this world. From the start, the act of someone, who handles katana, treating their weapons without due care normally deserves certain death, Renya believed.However, as a tool is no more than a tool in the end, theres no point in being stubborn about it either. As a matter of fact, after he obtained the katana, he tried to examine it with the help function and his appraisal skill, which he hadnt used much most recently, but both only returned . Renya didnt bother any further with it, believing that such things exist in this world as well, but now that he was seriously questioned by Kurz, it certainly wasnt as if he hadnt wondered just what that katana might be. That questionlets shelve it for now, okay? I actually dont really know the answer to that either. Renya admitted. Then it cant be helped~. After all, even you dont know, Margrave-sama. Kurz readily gave up on it. If it concerned knowledge, Renya believed that Croire or Grn definitely knew much more than himself, but from Kurz perspective Renyas judgment and knowledge seemed to be the best. Well then, Kurz, can I ask you to get rid of that? Thats fine, but youre going to stay here, Margrave-sama? Kurz asked. It might be difficult to fight against the black armor while Im still on his shoulder.Considering it like that, Renya stared at the empty air, lightly kicked off Kurz shoulder, jumped, and sat down in the air. Margrave-sama, wow~! How are you doing that? I hardened the atmosphere with ah, no, I created an invisible bag with sorcery, turned it into a simple foothold by filling it with air, and sat down on it, explained Renya. You didnt need my shoulder? Kurz wondered whether Renya ever needed to borrow his shoulder if he could create a foothold himself. Renya smiled at that and denied it, No, if its at the level of sitting on this, it can handle it somewhat, but it lacks the strength to serve as a stepping stone for me. I wonder whether that spell is different from the one that restrained Rubydras body, Kurz thought, but didnt voice it out. Because he believed that Renya must be right if he said that a foothold created through this method would be inappropriate for battle. I see! Im off to somehow deal with that black armor! Please do. I will see if I cant do something about this needle spell. Renya said. There was some knowledge about canceling spells included within Emedras knowledge. Carefreely thinking that he might find at least one spell that would work against this as long as he searched for it, Renya apparently entrusted Kurz with the fighting, deciding to devote himself to his own speculation. Once he smiled at Kurz from above his air bag and waved a hand, he moved a bit higher so he wouldnt hinder Kurz, folded his arms, and started to let his eyes wander. Then Kurz made the mana in his body flow through his entire body, his armor, and the black mist he was manipulating. While the black armor put itself on guard, apparently because of its wariness of the risen presence of mana, Kurz broke into a smile inside his silver armor without anyone seeing it, and muttered to no one in particular, Now, I guess its time for lunch. Chapter 186 In the end, the battle between the black and the silver armor ended after a short while. When it was balanced out, the battle had developed into a stalemate, but after apparently receiving a lot of damage from Renyas slash which the black armor was unable to recover from, it gradually couldnt deal with Kurzs attacks, and its condition declined immediately as if connected to the barriers complete destruction originating from a few cracks.Unable to recuperate from this deteriorated situation, its chains were one-sidedly cut and beaten down. The attacks that had started to reach the black armors main body drove it towards destruction by continuously piling up damage on its parts. The broken armor parts were devoured by the snakes, and by reusing them as strength for the snakes, the black armor was being destroyed even faster. Thus, when Renya got close to Kurz while slowly floating on his air cushion just like Son Goku on his cloud, the black armor had turned into a wreckage, while the black chains, which had been stuffed inside, had vanished except for a couple fragments that were scattered all over the place. Surrounding the remains of the armor and the chains was something that appeared to be black mist. Good job. That was amazing, Kurz. Renya praised him. Kurz peeked his face out of the armors open plackart, and looked up at Renya who was floating in the air, while showing a smile that was appropriate for his age. Its thanks to you having weakened it, Margrave-sama~! Kurz answered brightly. That was only possible because you carried me. You did well. Nice, Kurz. Kurz narrowed his eyes happily as Renya, after having descended with his air chair, caressed his head. Seemingly judging that the battle had finished, Kurz gathered the black mist around the shoulders of his silver armor. The two beastmen priestesses appeared from within, and started to clap their hands while sitting on Kurzs shoulders, looking small and quiet. Kurz-sama, amazing~ Tsubaki applauded. Kurz-sama, you did your best~ Botan joined in. Renya watched Kurz become bashful while blushing after being praised by the two with a somewhat warm and snug mood. The needles that had protruded out from the ground nearby lost their shape as if they were slowly being undone, and went back into the ground, returning the surroundings to their original flat surface. Given that Renya himself hadnt done anything, he thought that Emil had likely cast a cancellation spell. The dragonoid armys rear guard unit, which waited for the needles to completely disappear as they had hesitated to advance while the needles were still a hazard, began to rescue their colleagues that were still breathing. You could hear loud shouting ring across the battlefield. It looked like quite a few soldiers had been completely sucked dry to the point they turned into dust, but because the dragonoids resilience is quite high, the number of survivors appeared to be at a reasonably high level because too many of them had fallen into the trap, which resulted in the dragonoid army avoiding complete annihilation. Even so, the exhaustion that befell the trapped soldiers wasnt anything to scoff at. Those that had been saved all lost consciousness as they had no strength left in their bodies.Among them therell likely be some soldiers that are going to die even if theyre breathing right now, Renya exhaled. So Margrave-sama, what are we going to do about this? Kurzs voice brought Renyas attention back to reality as he had started to consider offering a prayer since everyone will ascend to heaven upon death. Once he looked at Kurz, Renya noticed that Kurz was looking in his direction while pointing at the remains of the black armor which was still leaking what looked like black mist. That is? Renya asked. For some reason its not tasty. It feels like youre being pulled in when you touch it. Kurz answered with a really disgusted face while poking at it every now and then with the tip of his armored foot. Unable to get too close to it as he was still floating on his air chair, Renya lowered his altitude just a bit and after closing in on the remains that Kurz was kicking, and used with a parallel activation of the spell. When he tried to grab the remains, Renyas expression changed due to the weird sensation. The hand-like object created out of sorcery vanished as if it had been completely absorbed the instant it touched the remains. Moreover, although the spells effect had disappeared, the sensation that Renyas mana was being drained continued. After Renya canceled the spell in a hurry, he increased the altitude of his air chair slightly, distancing himself from the remains. Margrave-sama? Whats wrong? Kurz asked, puzzled. What the heck is this? Its sucking out my mana? At first Renya anticipated that the black armor might return to its original form after recovering by absorbing mana from its surroundings again. However, once he continued his observation for a while, it looked as if the remains were about to vanish, their size continuously decreasing, albeit very, very slowly. Renya saw that the remains looked like they were about to disappear, but because it couldnt do so as there was some sort of obstacle or it was caught on something, it seemed to become gradually smaller at an irritatingly slow pace. For heavens sake, just what is this thing? Margrave-sama, do you have an idea? Kurz inquired of Renya. I dont know, butsomehow it feels really bad. Renya replied due to a feeling that lacked any proof, and lifted up the katana in his hand. Renya, who had raised the blade in front of himself, began to slowly pour mana into the katana. Just like he had done for body strengthening, he imagined something like fine, complicated circuits inside the katana, and let the mana flow into those. Although he had imagined cells for his body and thought about providing mana to each and every single one of them, this time he strengthened the katana by moving the metal molecules that composed it. Of course there was no way he could actually provide mana to every molecule. No matter how much Renyas ability might stand out, he couldnt do something so far removed from common sense. To the bitter end it was just an image.And although it was just an image, the concept that metals were composed of small elements that couldnt be seen with the naked eye didnt exist in this world. Renya was about the only person who could manipulate mana by using such an image. The spell, which was based on an image no one had ever used, naturally turned into a spell no one had ever used. Margrave-samawhats that? Somehow its scary, okay? Kurz asked with a slight tremble in his voice while staring at Renyas katana. The katana, which Renya kept completely still, began to emit what seemed to be black electrical discharges all over its blade, and the atmosphere around it glistened like a heat haze. Renya didnt answer. He simply stared at the katana in his hand. While Kurz withdrew several steps due to unconsciously feeling an abnormal aura, Renyas body, which sat on the transparent air chair, lost its support and fell with some kind of rupturing sound.Kurz, comprehending that the scaffold that was being maintained by Renyas sorcery broke down for some reason, simply watched as Renya softly landed on the ground without being thrown off balance. The two beastmen priestesses, who sat on Kurzs shoulders, curled up their bodies and clung to Kurzs shoulder and helmet, apparently frightened by Renyas unusual aura. Without minding the reactions of those around him, Renya switched his hold on the katana from just his right hand to both hands. From aseiganstance, he slowly shifted towards a hassou style1while pulling back his right foot. From that point, he changed his stance further by bending his left knee a bit while slightly lowering his left shoulder. Lightning, which should strike down from the sky, was released from Renyas blade, who had temporarily stopped moving, and was emitted with a rumbling sound towards the sky after changing into a pitch black color. The haze-like fluctuation covered Renyas entire body and the ground started to vibrate with such intensity that even the soldiers, who were busy saving their injured comrades quite a ways away from Renya noticed it. Due to the density of the charged mana, Kurz hurriedly stored the two priestesses inside his black mist again. He himself also retreated deep into his armor after having closed the open parts and tried to get as far away as possible. This was owed to Kurz guessing that the damage to the target and the surroundings would be enormous, no matter what action Renya took, considering the amount of mana flowing through the katana. However, Kurzs response was a bit too late. Kicking the ground with the left foot he had positioned in front, Renya widely stepped in with his right foot, which he had pulled back before, and while distorting the atmosphere, he thoroughly thrust his katana, which was clad in lightning that was piercing the sky, at the black armors remains alongside a loud, spirited scream. In that moment Kurz tightly closed his eyes and gave up on most things. It was a thrust technique that had been unleashed with a staggering amount of mana converged into the katana. The thrusts destination will likely not be pretty to look at due to the damage it will suffer due to this outrageous power. Being right next to Renya, even I, who dont have anything that can be called a form of protection, dont know whether I will be blasted far away just by the aftermath. Even if it develops into the worst possible outcome, I will at least protect the two priestesses sheltered inside me somehow, Kurz heroically hardened his resolve, but no matter how long he waited, the expected shockwave didnt come. Realizing this, Kurz slightly opened his tightly shut eyes. The armor, which stored Kurzs body, was extremely big in comparison to Kurzs physique. For that reason, the helmet, which should originally contain a head, was filled with Kurzs black mist. Since Kurzs own head was at the height of the armors torso, he couldnt grasp the situation outside just by opening his eyes. As such, Kurz aligned his vision with the black mist as always, peeking outside through the gaps in his helmet. What unfolded in front of him wasnt the scenery he had expected. Just as he had seen before closing his eyes, the battlefields remains, seemingly untouched, spread out before him. The dragonoid soldiers stared this way thinking that something outrageous might have happened as they couldnt tell exactly what had taken place from their distant location. Renya wasnt moving, still in the stance of having unleashed his thrust, but after a short time he returned to his normal position while pulling back his katana. Even though nothing was clinging to his blade, he sharply swung his katana once as if shaking something off, and then sheathed it back into its scabbard. Kurz hurriedly cut the alignment of vision, opened the breastplate again, peeked out with his head, and frantically looked around. It was an action triggered by his disbelief that nothing happened after a thrust charged with so much mana was released, but from what he could see, the surrounding area hadnt changed almost at all from what it was before he dove inside his armor. Kurz found the only change that occurred as a consequence of Renyas thrust after looking around for a short time, it was the complete disappearance of the black armor, which had been half eaten by Kurz, and the black mist that had been drifting around it. Seeing that, Kurz comprehended that the sole purpose of Renyas attack was to erase the black armors remains. However, even if he understood that part, he still didnt comprehend why there was absolutely no damage done to the surroundings as a side effect of Renyas attack. The fact that no unnecessary damage was inflicted onto the vicinity was an auspicious event, but since it was also an unbelievable reality, Kurz turned an imploring gaze at Renya while being confused. Well, even if you look at me like that Renya said. I mean, Margrave-samaeven though you attacked, its only those yucky remains that vanished. Thats weird, definitely! Kurz exclaimed. What is it that you want to say? Renya asked back. If the situation were to develop as usual, the ground surrounding the thrusts target would be completely whittled down and gone, the dragonoid army would have been dragged into it and blown away, or the buildings on the other side of that hole in the city wall would be completely destroyedah, it hurts! Margrave-sama, it really hurts. Im sorry. I will reflect. Kurz, who had insisted on this while pushing out his upper body from within the armor, had his head caught in an eagle hold by Renya, who had silently approached Kurz, and in response Kurz immediately went into an apology mode. Renya started to silently grind Kurzs head. Margrave-sama!? Margrave-sama~!? Margrave-sa~ma~!? Kurz whined. Say Kurzsomehow the way you put it made it seem as though Im always causing collateral damage without care, doesnt it? Renya squeezed out. Huh? You werent aware of that, Margrave-sama? Ah, its a lie. Sorry, Margrave-sama!? While restraining Kurz head, who continued to scream, with his right hand, Renya thought back on the phenomenon he had caused just now. In reality he had believed his attack might not only damage his target, the black armors remains, but also to the surroundings on the other side of the black armor, if he had unleashed his thrust without holding back, even without having it pointed out by Kurz. Nevertheless, the reason he didnt stop the attack was because he believed C by intuition not logic C that it was wrong to leave the remains to vanish at their own pace. Because it was an action that stemmed from his intuition and not logic, he intended to obediently resign himself to the blame that might come afterwards. However, as if betraying Renyas feelings, the thrust had almost no effect on the vicinity, scattering only the black armors remains. Because Renya adjusted his attack, Kurz apparently thought that it was unlike the usual Renya, but the reality of the situation was slightly different. Renya had unleashed his attack without holding back almost at all like he always does. Hence the result should have been the same as they always are, but the reason why it hadnt turned out like that was right in front of Renyas eyes. The remains had absorbed all of Renyas attacks power like a sponge. Renya panicked for an instant thinking that it would revive after this, but the remains soundlessly crumbled and vanished, apparently unable to withstand the power they had absorbed from Renyas attack. Renya tilted his head in confusion, wondering what this was all about. In the end the black armor had intended to revive by absorbing Renyas mana just as he had thought, but although it could be considered that it had destroyed itself by taking in more mana than it could withstand, investigating what had actually happened properly was now impossible since the remains had already disappeared. Renya ended up thinking that he probably should have destroyed the remains after investigating them in detail, but he immediately denied that thought on his own accord.The aura I felt from the remains was sinister, no matter how I think about it. I had to erase it as soon as possible, Renya felt by instinct. Reason or intuition; if he were asked which he trusted more, Renya was the type to believe in his intuition if made to choose. With just this reasoning, Renya believed that his attack just now wasnt wrong. Margrave-sama, Kurz-samas face has become ghastly pale! Tsubaki screamed Margrave-sama, Kurz-sama is convulsing! Botan added. Renya, who returned to reality due to his right wrist being lightly grabbed, released Kurzs head in panic after seeing Tsubaki and Botan, who had appeared left and right of him, placing their hands on his wrist with quite frantic looks as Kurz had fainted in Renyas eagle hold. He had apparently put too much strength into his hand while in the middle of his brooding. While watching the two priestesses that started to desperately nurse Kurz who wouldnt wake up while showing the whites of his eyes, Renya harbored a somewhat dislocated impression that even Kurz would go down after receiving enough damage, and decided to shelve his worries regarding the remains he had scattered moments ago for the time being. In the end, the battle between the black and the silver armor ended after a short while. When it was balanced out, the battle had developed into a stalemate, but after apparently receiving a lot of damage from Renyas slash which the black armor was unable to recover from, it gradually couldnt deal with Kurzs attacks, and its condition declined immediately as if connected to the barriers complete destruction originating from a few cracks.Unable to recuperate from this deteriorated situation, its chains were one-sidedly cut and beaten down. The attacks that had started to reach the black armors main body drove it towards destruction by continuously piling up damage on its parts. The broken armor parts were devoured by the snakes, and by reusing them as strength for the snakes, the black armor was being destroyed even faster. Thus, when Renya got close to Kurz while slowly floating on his air cushion just like Son Goku on his cloud, the black armor had turned into a wreckage, while the black chains, which had been stuffed inside, had vanished except for a couple fragments that were scattered all over the place. Surrounding the remains of the armor and the chains was something that appeared to be black mist. Good job. That was amazing, Kurz. Renya praised him. Kurz peeked his face out of the armors open plackart, and looked up at Renya who was floating in the air, while showing a smile that was appropriate for his age. Its thanks to you having weakened it, Margrave-sama~! Kurz answered brightly. That was only possible because you carried me. You did well. Nice, Kurz. Kurz narrowed his eyes happily as Renya, after having descended with his air chair, caressed his head. Seemingly judging that the battle had finished, Kurz gathered the black mist around the shoulders of his silver armor. The two beastmen priestesses appeared from within, and started to clap their hands while sitting on Kurzs shoulders, looking small and quiet. Kurz-sama, amazing~ Tsubaki applauded. Kurz-sama, you did your best~ Botan joined in. Renya watched Kurz become bashful while blushing after being praised by the two with a somewhat warm and snug mood. The needles that had protruded out from the ground nearby lost their shape as if they were slowly being undone, and went back into the ground, returning the surroundings to their original flat surface. Given that Renya himself hadnt done anything, he thought that Emil had likely cast a cancellation spell. The dragonoid armys rear guard unit, which waited for the needles to completely disappear as they had hesitated to advance while the needles were still a hazard, began to rescue their colleagues that were still breathing. You could hear loud shouting ring across the battlefield. It looked like quite a few soldiers had been completely sucked dry to the point they turned into dust, but because the dragonoids resilience is quite high, the number of survivors appeared to be at a reasonably high level because too many of them had fallen into the trap, which resulted in the dragonoid army avoiding complete annihilation. Even so, the exhaustion that befell the trapped soldiers wasnt anything to scoff at. Those that had been saved all lost consciousness as they had no strength left in their bodies.Among them therell likely be some soldiers that are going to die even if theyre breathing right now, Renya exhaled. So Margrave-sama, what are we going to do about this? Kurzs voice brought Renyas attention back to reality as he had started to consider offering a prayer since everyone will ascend to heaven upon death. Once he looked at Kurz, Renya noticed that Kurz was looking in his direction while pointing at the remains of the black armor which was still leaking what looked like black mist. That is? Renya asked. For some reason its not tasty. It feels like youre being pulled in when you touch it. Kurz answered with a really disgusted face while poking at it every now and then with the tip of his armored foot. Unable to get too close to it as he was still floating on his air chair, Renya lowered his altitude just a bit and after closing in on the remains that Kurz was kicking, and used with a parallel activation of the spell. When he tried to grab the remains, Renyas expression changed due to the weird sensation. The hand-like object created out of sorcery vanished as if it had been completely absorbed the instant it touched the remains. Moreover, although the spells effect had disappeared, the sensation that Renyas mana was being drained continued. After Renya canceled the spell in a hurry, he increased the altitude of his air chair slightly, distancing himself from the remains. Margrave-sama? Whats wrong? Kurz asked, puzzled. What the heck is this? Its sucking out my mana? At first Renya anticipated that the black armor might return to its original form after recovering by absorbing mana from its surroundings again. However, once he continued his observation for a while, it looked as if the remains were about to vanish, their size continuously decreasing, albeit very, very slowly. Renya saw that the remains looked like they were about to disappear, but because it couldnt do so as there was some sort of obstacle or it was caught on something, it seemed to become gradually smaller at an irritatingly slow pace. For heavens sake, just what is this thing? Margrave-sama, do you have an idea? Kurz inquired of Renya. I dont know, butsomehow it feels really bad. Renya replied due to a feeling that lacked any proof, and lifted up the katana in his hand. Renya, who had raised the blade in front of himself, began to slowly pour mana into the katana. Just like he had done for body strengthening, he imagined something like fine, complicated circuits inside the katana, and let the mana flow into those. Although he had imagined cells for his body and thought about providing mana to each and every single one of them, this time he strengthened the katana by moving the metal molecules that composed it. Of course there was no way he could actually provide mana to every molecule. No matter how much Renyas ability might stand out, he couldnt do something so far removed from common sense. To the bitter end it was just an image.And although it was just an image, the concept that metals were composed of small elements that couldnt be seen with the naked eye didnt exist in this world. Renya was about the only person who could manipulate mana by using such an image. The spell, which was based on an image no one had ever used, naturally turned into a spell no one had ever used. Margrave-samawhats that? Somehow its scary, okay? Kurz asked with a slight tremble in his voice while staring at Renyas katana. The katana, which Renya kept completely still, began to emit what seemed to be black electrical discharges all over its blade, and the atmosphere around it glistened like a heat haze. Renya didnt answer. He simply stared at the katana in his hand. While Kurz withdrew several steps due to unconsciously feeling an abnormal aura, Renyas body, which sat on the transparent air chair, lost its support and fell with some kind of rupturing sound.Kurz, comprehending that the scaffold that was being maintained by Renyas sorcery broke down for some reason, simply watched as Renya softly landed on the ground without being thrown off balance. The two beastmen priestesses, who sat on Kurzs shoulders, curled up their bodies and clung to Kurzs shoulder and helmet, apparently frightened by Renyas unusual aura. Without minding the reactions of those around him, Renya switched his hold on the katana from just his right hand to both hands. From aseiganstance, he slowly shifted towards a hassou style1while pulling back his right foot. From that point, he changed his stance further by bending his left knee a bit while slightly lowering his left shoulder. Lightning, which should strike down from the sky, was released from Renyas blade, who had temporarily stopped moving, and was emitted with a rumbling sound towards the sky after changing into a pitch black color. The haze-like fluctuation covered Renyas entire body and the ground started to vibrate with such intensity that even the soldiers, who were busy saving their injured comrades quite a ways away from Renya noticed it. Due to the density of the charged mana, Kurz hurriedly stored the two priestesses inside his black mist again. He himself also retreated deep into his armor after having closed the open parts and tried to get as far away as possible. This was owed to Kurz guessing that the damage to the target and the surroundings would be enormous, no matter what action Renya took, considering the amount of mana flowing through the katana. However, Kurzs response was a bit too late. Kicking the ground with the left foot he had positioned in front, Renya widely stepped in with his right foot, which he had pulled back before, and while distorting the atmosphere, he thoroughly thrust his katana, which was clad in lightning that was piercing the sky, at the black armors remains alongside a loud, spirited scream. In that moment Kurz tightly closed his eyes and gave up on most things. It was a thrust technique that had been unleashed with a staggering amount of mana converged into the katana. The thrusts destination will likely not be pretty to look at due to the damage it will suffer due to this outrageous power. Being right next to Renya, even I, who dont have anything that can be called a form of protection, dont know whether I will be blasted far away just by the aftermath. Even if it develops into the worst possible outcome, I will at least protect the two priestesses sheltered inside me somehow, Kurz heroically hardened his resolve, but no matter how long he waited, the expected shockwave didnt come. Realizing this, Kurz slightly opened his tightly shut eyes. The armor, which stored Kurzs body, was extremely big in comparison to Kurzs physique. For that reason, the helmet, which should originally contain a head, was filled with Kurzs black mist. Since Kurzs own head was at the height of the armors torso, he couldnt grasp the situation outside just by opening his eyes. As such, Kurz aligned his vision with the black mist as always, peeking outside through the gaps in his helmet. What unfolded in front of him wasnt the scenery he had expected. Just as he had seen before closing his eyes, the battlefields remains, seemingly untouched, spread out before him. The dragonoid soldiers stared this way thinking that something outrageous might have happened as they couldnt tell exactly what had taken place from their distant location. Renya wasnt moving, still in the stance of having unleashed his thrust, but after a short time he returned to his normal position while pulling back his katana. Even though nothing was clinging to his blade, he sharply swung his katana once as if shaking something off, and then sheathed it back into its scabbard. Kurz hurriedly cut the alignment of vision, opened the breastplate again, peeked out with his head, and frantically looked around. It was an action triggered by his disbelief that nothing happened after a thrust charged with so much mana was released, but from what he could see, the surrounding area hadnt changed almost at all from what it was before he dove inside his armor. Kurz found the only change that occurred as a consequence of Renyas thrust after looking around for a short time, it was the complete disappearance of the black armor, which had been half eaten by Kurz, and the black mist that had been drifting around it. Seeing that, Kurz comprehended that the sole purpose of Renyas attack was to erase the black armors remains. However, even if he understood that part, he still didnt comprehend why there was absolutely no damage done to the surroundings as a side effect of Renyas attack. The fact that no unnecessary damage was inflicted onto the vicinity was an auspicious event, but since it was also an unbelievable reality, Kurz turned an imploring gaze at Renya while being confused. Well, even if you look at me like that Renya said. I mean, Margrave-samaeven though you attacked, its only those yucky remains that vanished. Thats weird, definitely! Kurz exclaimed. What is it that you want to say? Renya asked back. If the situation were to develop as usual, the ground surrounding the thrusts target would be completely whittled down and gone, the dragonoid army would have been dragged into it and blown away, or the buildings on the other side of that hole in the city wall would be completely destroyedah, it hurts! Margrave-sama, it really hurts. Im sorry. I will reflect. Kurz, who had insisted on this while pushing out his upper body from within the armor, had his head caught in an eagle hold by Renya, who had silently approached Kurz, and in response Kurz immediately went into an apology mode. Renya started to silently grind Kurzs head. Margrave-sama!? Margrave-sama~!? Margrave-sa~ma~!? Kurz whined. Say Kurzsomehow the way you put it made it seem as though Im always causing collateral damage without care, doesnt it? Renya squeezed out. Huh? You werent aware of that, Margrave-sama? Ah, its a lie. Sorry, Margrave-sama!? While restraining Kurz head, who continued to scream, with his right hand, Renya thought back on the phenomenon he had caused just now. In reality he had believed his attack might not only damage his target, the black armors remains, but also to the surroundings on the other side of the black armor, if he had unleashed his thrust without holding back, even without having it pointed out by Kurz. Nevertheless, the reason he didnt stop the attack was because he believed C by intuition not logic C that it was wrong to leave the remains to vanish at their own pace. Because it was an action that stemmed from his intuition and not logic, he intended to obediently resign himself to the blame that might come afterwards. However, as if betraying Renyas feelings, the thrust had almost no effect on the vicinity, scattering only the black armors remains. Because Renya adjusted his attack, Kurz apparently thought that it was unlike the usual Renya, but the reality of the situation was slightly different. Renya had unleashed his attack without holding back almost at all like he always does. Hence the result should have been the same as they always are, but the reason why it hadnt turned out like that was right in front of Renyas eyes. The remains had absorbed all of Renyas attacks power like a sponge. Renya panicked for an instant thinking that it would revive after this, but the remains soundlessly crumbled and vanished, apparently unable to withstand the power they had absorbed from Renyas attack. Renya tilted his head in confusion, wondering what this was all about. In the end the black armor had intended to revive by absorbing Renyas mana just as he had thought, but although it could be considered that it had destroyed itself by taking in more mana than it could withstand, investigating what had actually happened properly was now impossible since the remains had already disappeared. Renya ended up thinking that he probably should have destroyed the remains after investigating them in detail, but he immediately denied that thought on his own accord.The aura I felt from the remains was sinister, no matter how I think about it. I had to erase it as soon as possible, Renya felt by instinct. Reason or intuition; if he were asked which he trusted more, Renya was the type to believe in his intuition if made to choose. With just this reasoning, Renya believed that his attack just now wasnt wrong. Margrave-sama, Kurz-samas face has become ghastly pale! Tsubaki screamed Margrave-sama, Kurz-sama is convulsing! Botan added. Renya, who returned to reality due to his right wrist being lightly grabbed, released Kurzs head in panic after seeing Tsubaki and Botan, who had appeared left and right of him, placing their hands on his wrist with quite frantic looks as Kurz had fainted in Renyas eagle hold. He had apparently put too much strength into his hand while in the middle of his brooding. While watching the two priestesses that started to desperately nurse Kurz who wouldnt wake up while showing the whites of his eyes, Renya harbored a somewhat dislocated impression that even Kurz would go down after receiving enough damage, and decided to shelve his worries regarding the remains he had scattered moments ago for the time being. Chapter 187 On the same day, at the same time Renya blew away the remains of the black armor at the capital of the dragonoids, cries of pain echoed in a wide, empty space. That dark hall, where the sun never shone, was said to be located in the center of the sole, huge continent in this world since ancient times. A domain in the center that connected the territories of the four races. Its the land ruled by a race with violet hair, referred to as demons. If one were to speak about buildings situated in the heart of such a land, nothing except the castle, where the demon king lives, would come to mind. Usually the castle has no lord. But, matching the timing of the heros descent on the world, a king would be born from among the demons, taking the name of the demon king. That demon king would become the lord of the castle. When there was no lord, the demon kings castle would remain deserted, but even with the passage of time, its majesty didnt wane. Without knowing who might have built it or when, it would always throw a huge shadow across the land. At present a lord habitated the demon kings castle. Many demons were hanging with ropes casually tied around their necks all over the castle where many monsters had gathered.To the trained eye it would probably be obvious that some of the hanging demons were those who were once considered influential even among the demons that had raised their names as candidates for being the next demon king. They were the ones who opposed the current demon kings enthronement and were thus consigned to oblivion by the demon king himself. The present demon king was recognized as such in both name and reality the moment he personally got rid of them. It isnt rare for other demons to oppose a demon kings enthronement. It was something like a customary event that followed the naming of a demon king whose power was all that mattered, but normally a demon king, who originated from powerful demons, would make the demons that opposed him yield without going as far as taking their lives, as it wouldnt be good to lower the strength of the demons as a whole. However, this generations demon king was different. Without forgiving the demons that opposed him, he deprived them of life, ripped them of their authority, put ropes around their necks, hung them at the walls all over his castle, and left them to rot. Such a deed was the height of madness even by the demons standards. The demon kings name turned into a synonym for calamity for them. The person, who was breathing roughly in pain while seizing at his chest while on the throne in a hall located in the center of the demon kings castle, was that very same demon king, Stolas Vasargo.His clothes would have been described as a suit worn by a company employee by Renya, if he were present. He had put on a blackjougeabove a white shirt, and wore a mantle with a collar. His looks could be called graceful. It wasnt that he didnt give off a slightly cruel impression, but his slender face and the sharp eyes looked well enough that there would be no objection even if he called himself a fairly handsome man, if he were on the human continent. He wore his hair knotted in the back, and although it was violet, one of the characteristics of a demon, the violet color was pale, and tinged with a silver hue. Violet hair with a tinge of silver was a phenomenon that almost never manifested itself among demons, but it wasnt as though it never happened. Demons, who were born while possessing that trait, generally had low abilities. The fact that one would be labeled as incompetent for nothing but this trait alone in the Vasargo family, which was reasonably famous for having produced many influential people even among the demons, was easy to imagine for someone who knew those circumstances. Moreover, although faintly, golden hair was also mixed into his pale violet hair. This was a trait which was impossible for demons to have. Even if there were different shades of the color, demons always have violet hair. This phenomenon manifested itself a little while after he took the seat of the demon king. Among the demons it was rumored that it might be an old phenomenon taking place after he became the demon king, but no one besides the demon king himself and another, completely different being knew the truth. Your Majesty! What happened!? The soldiers, who were on watch, gathered due to the demon kings painful wail reverberating throughout the throne room. They were soldiers who definitely fell behind when compared to the demon king and the demon king candidates, but that was because the targets for comparison are too outlandish. In the humans eyes, every one of them could be called an incarnation of their nightmares. Those soldiers assembled due to the abnormal events of the demon king, whom they themselves must protect at all cost. But, they werent able to take a single step into the throne room. To enter, it is necessary to have the demon kings permission. Even if they might be his royal guards, they were prohibited to enter. Helplessly the soldiers called out while in front of the door leading into the throne throne room. However, the demon kings reply to the soldiers, who called out to him while worried about his safety, was filled with rage, Dont come! No one is allowed to get close to me! Withdraw! Your Majesty! Just what happened!? What was the voice Shut up! I ordered you to withdraw, soldiers! Stolas yelled. But, Your Majesty The tenacious soldier was likely frantic to accomplish his duty. For the royal guards, protecting the demon king ought to be their number one priority, no matter what happens. If the king suffered some kind of harm without them noticing, it would be a disgrace to them.However, the words of the royal guard, who was anxious about the demon kings safety, apparently achieved nothing but worsening the demon kings mood. You talk too much! Dont you understand the order to withdraw!? Stolas shouted angrily. The head of the entreating soldier burst open like a watermelon that had been thrown on the ground. A shower of blood and flesh fell on his comrades standing behind him. The body of the headless soldier was vertically crushed as if a huge, invisible hammer smashed it from right above, drawing a bright red circle on the floor. The royal guards needed some time to process what had happened in front of their eyes due to the sudden event. They finally understood what had happened only after the blood streaming out of the corpse, which had turned into a meat paste, had reached their feet all the while they were completely covered in flesh and blood. Some among them weakly crumbled down on the spot, yet others had their faces cramp up in fear, trying to leave the scene albeit only managing to take several steps back instead. I wont repeat myself over and over again! If you dont want to experience the same, then fall back, soldiers! There are plenty of substitutes for the likes of you bastards! Obey my order! Stolas threatened. Y-Yes, Your Majesty! The soldiers, who answered him in concert, left the place with a speed as if running away. Only the miserable, smashed corpse of the soldier was left behind, but not a single person tried to touch it. Very likely it would be left like that for a while. Sooner or later the unlucky person in charge of cleaning would be forced to get rid of it while lamenting their own bad luck and suppressing their nausea. Glaring at the door with eyes full of hatred until the presences of the soldiers on the other side of the door had completely disappeared, the demon king exhaled very deeply, pausing for a while after everyone had disappeared. His left hand was grasping his own chest as if tearing it off. Great amounts of cold sweat were exuded from his face, traced the contour of his chin, and fell down as drops from the tip of his chin. His right hand clasped the thrones armrest so strongly that it wouldnt be strange for it to break. Seemingly because the pain didnt ebb down, his feet were trembling quite strongly. You were rather flashy there, werent you? Suddenly a carefree voice that completely disregarded the mood echoed in the room that should be empty except for the demon king. The demon king, who hung his head apparently due to the pain assailing his chest, lifted his eyes with a startled expression, but there was no one in sight. Wouldnt it be better if you quickly severed the connection to your puppet? I dont know the details, butbecause the puppet was broken in an unusual manner, when I tried I couldnt sever the path Stolas replied. The wording was still somewhat arrogant, but the demon kings tone contained something similar to respect towards the voice that could suddenly be heard. Upon the demon kings reply, laughter echoed within the space that should be empty. Thats truly unfortunate, isnt it? You have to create your puppets while properly considering these things. Hasnt it become a good lesson for you? It looks like the tuition fee was slightly costly, though. The demon king didnt answer. Maybe because of the pain or his anger towards the voice, he stayed silent while twisting his face. Without particularly minding the lack of an answer, the voice further added, Even so, youre wondering just what the hell that person might be, right? Hes just a human, isnt he? You are the demon king, arent you? It should be impossible for him to cause so much damage with the meager quality of his attribute, right? The only being able to fight the demon king on equal terms was supposedly the hero. That fact was something like a rule in this world. Even if someone that wasnt the hero were to face off against the demon king, and even if that persons combat ability exceeded the heros for arguments sake, this rule wouldnt be overturned. Why? Because such a thing had been agreed upon. There not being any room to doubt this rule was common sense in this world. Normally you wouldnt think something like a ranged attack would reach you through the connection before it can be severed. And even if you had considered it, you would think that theres no way for someone capable of putting that into practice to exist, right? Or, is this the result of some kind of coincidence? Hey, what do you think? The reason why I received damage even in this placeisnt that something you know much better? The demon kings words, which were partly guesswork but also possessed a small amount of conviction, caused the invisible owner of the voice to fall silent for a short while. For some time silence dominated the hall. Then, before long, pained breathing and intense, violent coughing could be heard from the demon king. Otherwiseit would have been impossible for you to have given me such a blessing, wouldnt it? The demon king asked and stared at his palm that had covered his mouth when he had his coughing fit. Bright red blood had been splattered on that palm. The demon king understood that his internal organs had been damaged to some extent. It might heal back to its original state once some time passes, but until then he has no choice but to continue bearing the pain and discomfort of the wound he received, regardless of whether hes the demon king. I wonder? It might have been my pure, good will to grant that blessing to you, dont you think? Good will, eh? Is it fine to leave it while interpreting it like that? While carelessly wiping away the blood, which spilled out of the corners of his mouth and dripped down towards his chin, mixing with his sweat, with the sleeve of his attire, the demon king replied with a bitter smile. In response, a feeling of sullenness was added to the voice, Are you unhappy with it? Certainly not. Of course I have been thankful, my master. No matter what your intentions might be, that is. The demon king said, spitting out the taste of iron rust permeating the inside of his mouth along with his saliva on the floor. Otherwise, I would have been cursed as incompetent. I had no future other than to waste away as an unneeded person, unbeknown to anyone. Thanks to you, I have been able to carry out my revenge against everything. The demon king rejoiced. Those who slandered me.Those who declared me as unneeded.Those who didnt even concern themselves with me, assuming that I didnt exist.Those who laughed at me, those who insulted me, those who ignored me, and those who despised meIf we assume that there doesnt exist any other criterion of evaluation apart from power, then its the demon king that holds a power towering at the top of the demons. If I decide everything besides myself is unneeded, scornful, and despicable, then it should be permitted for me to cast it away, the demon king believed. And the demon king didnt hate exercising that privilege. Thats right, isnt it? I mean, I lent you my help exactly because you desired power while in such despicable circumstances. Im grateful. Thats why Ill turn the entire world into my enemy as the demon king. I will conduct myself as the demon king just as its expected. I see. It would be a big help for me if you could do that. Though it would help me even more if you could go at it with such vigor that everything and anything disappears, returning the world to an empty lot, if possible. Then give me even more power! The demon king beseeched the voice. If you give me power, I will conquer the world. I wont even mind returning it into nothingness, if you so desire. So, give me more power! Power to a level that makes it possible for me to accomplish all that! Lets see. Even if you say that, what I gave you the other day was just a part, but it was still a considerable amount, you know? If you can master it properly, it can give you even more power, butit might be necessary to adjust that area a tiny bit. I dont care! Do as you like! As long as I can trample everything and everyone with that, I will accept anything! The demon king shouted. Like a starving person wishing for a piece of bread, like a parched person yearning for a cup of water, the demon king extended his hand towards the empty air, desiring power with bloodshot eyes, forgetting the pain in his chest, tearing off his arranged hair, and dripping greasy sweat.The appearance of the demon king couldnt be regarded as the attitude befitting one standing at the top of the demons. He looked like a beggar asking for money from the people coming and going at a street corner. Seemingly overpowered by the appearance of the demon king, the voice stayed silent for a while, and then, finally, directed calm words towards the demon king as if throwing a bucket of cold water on him, Wouldnt it be better if you didnt become too agitated? It will probably affect your injuries, no? At any rate, first we have to start from healing those wounds. You wont be able to endure in your current state and will die soon. Then it would bear no meaning for me to have made the effort. The demon king let the hand, which he had stretched out, hang feebly, and while seizing his chest as usual, he managed to squeezed out his voice in between rough gasps, caused by his excitement or maybe because he was unable to bear the pain of his wounds once again, Understood For the time being, it might be necessary for you to rest for some time. As for the adjustment and supplement of power, I will consider it on my side, but first you should get properly attuned with that which I had granted you first. I think it will be fairly difficult since its something of a different attribute, but thats also something that can be resolved over time. Yeahunderstood. The demon king answered. Since the harvest of the necessarythingsended to some extent, forgettingthatside is no good, okay? For a while you must focus on building up your power. If you end up losing everything by being impatient, it will be meaningless, no matter how much I help you out. Therefore, make sure not to forget it, got it? There was no reply to the voice. The demon king had closed his eyes and completely stopped moving, except for a shallow, short breathing. After seeing that, the voice quietly left the place. Now then, forthatto get injured so severely was unexpected, but its certainly true that it has become a good excuse to waste some time. If I dont finish adjusting the demon king who usedthatbefore something strange happens,thatwill remain unusable. That, which muttered words in a place where no one was listening C words it couldnt afford to be heard by others, began to wrack its brain about the preparations of the thing that will become the demon kings new source of power, and about the schedule for adjusting the demon king. On the same day, at the same time Renya blew away the remains of the black armor at the capital of the dragonoids, cries of pain echoed in a wide, empty space. That dark hall, where the sun never shone, was said to be located in the center of the sole, huge continent in this world since ancient times. A domain in the center that connected the territories of the four races. Its the land ruled by a race with violet hair, referred to as demons. If one were to speak about buildings situated in the heart of such a land, nothing except the castle, where the demon king lives, would come to mind. Usually the castle has no lord. But, matching the timing of the heros descent on the world, a king would be born from among the demons, taking the name of the demon king. That demon king would become the lord of the castle. When there was no lord, the demon kings castle would remain deserted, but even with the passage of time, its majesty didnt wane. Without knowing who might have built it or when, it would always throw a huge shadow across the land. At present a lord habitated the demon kings castle. Many demons were hanging with ropes casually tied around their necks all over the castle where many monsters had gathered.To the trained eye it would probably be obvious that some of the hanging demons were those who were once considered influential even among the demons that had raised their names as candidates for being the next demon king. They were the ones who opposed the current demon kings enthronement and were thus consigned to oblivion by the demon king himself. The present demon king was recognized as such in both name and reality the moment he personally got rid of them. It isnt rare for other demons to oppose a demon kings enthronement. It was something like a customary event that followed the naming of a demon king whose power was all that mattered, but normally a demon king, who originated from powerful demons, would make the demons that opposed him yield without going as far as taking their lives, as it wouldnt be good to lower the strength of the demons as a whole. However, this generations demon king was different. Without forgiving the demons that opposed him, he deprived them of life, ripped them of their authority, put ropes around their necks, hung them at the walls all over his castle, and left them to rot. Such a deed was the height of madness even by the demons standards. The demon kings name turned into a synonym for calamity for them. The person, who was breathing roughly in pain while seizing at his chest while on the throne in a hall located in the center of the demon kings castle, was that very same demon king, Stolas Vasargo.His clothes would have been described as a suit worn by a company employee by Renya, if he were present. He had put on a blackjougeabove a white shirt, and wore a mantle with a collar. His looks could be called graceful. It wasnt that he didnt give off a slightly cruel impression, but his slender face and the sharp eyes looked well enough that there would be no objection even if he called himself a fairly handsome man, if he were on the human continent. He wore his hair knotted in the back, and although it was violet, one of the characteristics of a demon, the violet color was pale, and tinged with a silver hue. Violet hair with a tinge of silver was a phenomenon that almost never manifested itself among demons, but it wasnt as though it never happened. Demons, who were born while possessing that trait, generally had low abilities. The fact that one would be labeled as incompetent for nothing but this trait alone in the Vasargo family, which was reasonably famous for having produced many influential people even among the demons, was easy to imagine for someone who knew those circumstances. Moreover, although faintly, golden hair was also mixed into his pale violet hair. This was a trait which was impossible for demons to have. Even if there were different shades of the color, demons always have violet hair. This phenomenon manifested itself a little while after he took the seat of the demon king. Among the demons it was rumored that it might be an old phenomenon taking place after he became the demon king, but no one besides the demon king himself and another, completely different being knew the truth. Your Majesty! What happened!? The soldiers, who were on watch, gathered due to the demon kings painful wail reverberating throughout the throne room. They were soldiers who definitely fell behind when compared to the demon king and the demon king candidates, but that was because the targets for comparison are too outlandish. In the humans eyes, every one of them could be called an incarnation of their nightmares. Those soldiers assembled due to the abnormal events of the demon king, whom they themselves must protect at all cost. But, they werent able to take a single step into the throne room. To enter, it is necessary to have the demon kings permission. Even if they might be his royal guards, they were prohibited to enter. Helplessly the soldiers called out while in front of the door leading into the throne throne room. However, the demon kings reply to the soldiers, who called out to him while worried about his safety, was filled with rage, Dont come! No one is allowed to get close to me! Withdraw! Your Majesty! Just what happened!? What was the voice Shut up! I ordered you to withdraw, soldiers! Stolas yelled. But, Your Majesty The tenacious soldier was likely frantic to accomplish his duty. For the royal guards, protecting the demon king ought to be their number one priority, no matter what happens. If the king suffered some kind of harm without them noticing, it would be a disgrace to them.However, the words of the royal guard, who was anxious about the demon kings safety, apparently achieved nothing but worsening the demon kings mood. You talk too much! Dont you understand the order to withdraw!? Stolas shouted angrily. The head of the entreating soldier burst open like a watermelon that had been thrown on the ground. A shower of blood and flesh fell on his comrades standing behind him. The body of the headless soldier was vertically crushed as if a huge, invisible hammer smashed it from right above, drawing a bright red circle on the floor. The royal guards needed some time to process what had happened in front of their eyes due to the sudden event. They finally understood what had happened only after the blood streaming out of the corpse, which had turned into a meat paste, had reached their feet all the while they were completely covered in flesh and blood. Some among them weakly crumbled down on the spot, yet others had their faces cramp up in fear, trying to leave the scene albeit only managing to take several steps back instead. I wont repeat myself over and over again! If you dont want to experience the same, then fall back, soldiers! There are plenty of substitutes for the likes of you bastards! Obey my order! Stolas threatened. Y-Yes, Your Majesty! The soldiers, who answered him in concert, left the place with a speed as if running away. Only the miserable, smashed corpse of the soldier was left behind, but not a single person tried to touch it. Very likely it would be left like that for a while. Sooner or later the unlucky person in charge of cleaning would be forced to get rid of it while lamenting their own bad luck and suppressing their nausea. Glaring at the door with eyes full of hatred until the presences of the soldiers on the other side of the door had completely disappeared, the demon king exhaled very deeply, pausing for a while after everyone had disappeared. His left hand was grasping his own chest as if tearing it off. Great amounts of cold sweat were exuded from his face, traced the contour of his chin, and fell down as drops from the tip of his chin. His right hand clasped the thrones armrest so strongly that it wouldnt be strange for it to break. Seemingly because the pain didnt ebb down, his feet were trembling quite strongly. You were rather flashy there, werent you? Suddenly a carefree voice that completely disregarded the mood echoed in the room that should be empty except for the demon king. The demon king, who hung his head apparently due to the pain assailing his chest, lifted his eyes with a startled expression, but there was no one in sight. Wouldnt it be better if you quickly severed the connection to your puppet? I dont know the details, butbecause the puppet was broken in an unusual manner, when I tried I couldnt sever the path Stolas replied. The wording was still somewhat arrogant, but the demon kings tone contained something similar to respect towards the voice that could suddenly be heard. Upon the demon kings reply, laughter echoed within the space that should be empty. Thats truly unfortunate, isnt it? You have to create your puppets while properly considering these things. Hasnt it become a good lesson for you? It looks like the tuition fee was slightly costly, though. The demon king didnt answer. Maybe because of the pain or his anger towards the voice, he stayed silent while twisting his face. Without particularly minding the lack of an answer, the voice further added, Even so, youre wondering just what the hell that person might be, right? Hes just a human, isnt he? You are the demon king, arent you? It should be impossible for him to cause so much damage with the meager quality of his attribute, right? The only being able to fight the demon king on equal terms was supposedly the hero. That fact was something like a rule in this world. Even if someone that wasnt the hero were to face off against the demon king, and even if that persons combat ability exceeded the heros for arguments sake, this rule wouldnt be overturned. Why? Because such a thing had been agreed upon. There not being any room to doubt this rule was common sense in this world. Normally you wouldnt think something like a ranged attack would reach you through the connection before it can be severed. And even if you had considered it, you would think that theres no way for someone capable of putting that into practice to exist, right? Or, is this the result of some kind of coincidence? Hey, what do you think? The reason why I received damage even in this placeisnt that something you know much better? The demon kings words, which were partly guesswork but also possessed a small amount of conviction, caused the invisible owner of the voice to fall silent for a short while. For some time silence dominated the hall. Then, before long, pained breathing and intense, violent coughing could be heard from the demon king. Otherwiseit would have been impossible for you to have given me such a blessing, wouldnt it? The demon king asked and stared at his palm that had covered his mouth when he had his coughing fit. Bright red blood had been splattered on that palm. The demon king understood that his internal organs had been damaged to some extent. It might heal back to its original state once some time passes, but until then he has no choice but to continue bearing the pain and discomfort of the wound he received, regardless of whether hes the demon king. I wonder? It might have been my pure, good will to grant that blessing to you, dont you think? Good will, eh? Is it fine to leave it while interpreting it like that? While carelessly wiping away the blood, which spilled out of the corners of his mouth and dripped down towards his chin, mixing with his sweat, with the sleeve of his attire, the demon king replied with a bitter smile. In response, a feeling of sullenness was added to the voice, Are you unhappy with it? Certainly not. Of course I have been thankful, my master. No matter what your intentions might be, that is. The demon king said, spitting out the taste of iron rust permeating the inside of his mouth along with his saliva on the floor. Otherwise, I would have been cursed as incompetent. I had no future other than to waste away as an unneeded person, unbeknown to anyone. Thanks to you, I have been able to carry out my revenge against everything. The demon king rejoiced. Those who slandered me.Those who declared me as unneeded.Those who didnt even concern themselves with me, assuming that I didnt exist.Those who laughed at me, those who insulted me, those who ignored me, and those who despised meIf we assume that there doesnt exist any other criterion of evaluation apart from power, then its the demon king that holds a power towering at the top of the demons. If I decide everything besides myself is unneeded, scornful, and despicable, then it should be permitted for me to cast it away, the demon king believed. And the demon king didnt hate exercising that privilege. Thats right, isnt it? I mean, I lent you my help exactly because you desired power while in such despicable circumstances. Im grateful. Thats why Ill turn the entire world into my enemy as the demon king. I will conduct myself as the demon king just as its expected. I see. It would be a big help for me if you could do that. Though it would help me even more if you could go at it with such vigor that everything and anything disappears, returning the world to an empty lot, if possible. Then give me even more power! The demon king beseeched the voice. If you give me power, I will conquer the world. I wont even mind returning it into nothingness, if you so desire. So, give me more power! Power to a level that makes it possible for me to accomplish all that! Lets see. Even if you say that, what I gave you the other day was just a part, but it was still a considerable amount, you know? If you can master it properly, it can give you even more power, butit might be necessary to adjust that area a tiny bit. I dont care! Do as you like! As long as I can trample everything and everyone with that, I will accept anything! The demon king shouted. Like a starving person wishing for a piece of bread, like a parched person yearning for a cup of water, the demon king extended his hand towards the empty air, desiring power with bloodshot eyes, forgetting the pain in his chest, tearing off his arranged hair, and dripping greasy sweat.The appearance of the demon king couldnt be regarded as the attitude befitting one standing at the top of the demons. He looked like a beggar asking for money from the people coming and going at a street corner. Seemingly overpowered by the appearance of the demon king, the voice stayed silent for a while, and then, finally, directed calm words towards the demon king as if throwing a bucket of cold water on him, Wouldnt it be better if you didnt become too agitated? It will probably affect your injuries, no? At any rate, first we have to start from healing those wounds. You wont be able to endure in your current state and will die soon. Then it would bear no meaning for me to have made the effort. The demon king let the hand, which he had stretched out, hang feebly, and while seizing his chest as usual, he managed to squeezed out his voice in between rough gasps, caused by his excitement or maybe because he was unable to bear the pain of his wounds once again, Understood For the time being, it might be necessary for you to rest for some time. As for the adjustment and supplement of power, I will consider it on my side, but first you should get properly attuned with that which I had granted you first. I think it will be fairly difficult since its something of a different attribute, but thats also something that can be resolved over time. Yeahunderstood. The demon king answered. Since the harvest of the necessarythingsended to some extent, forgettingthatside is no good, okay? For a while you must focus on building up your power. If you end up losing everything by being impatient, it will be meaningless, no matter how much I help you out. Therefore, make sure not to forget it, got it? There was no reply to the voice. The demon king had closed his eyes and completely stopped moving, except for a shallow, short breathing. After seeing that, the voice quietly left the place. Now then, forthatto get injured so severely was unexpected, but its certainly true that it has become a good excuse to waste some time. If I dont finish adjusting the demon king who usedthatbefore something strange happens,thatwill remain unusable. That, which muttered words in a place where no one was listening C words it couldnt afford to be heard by others, began to wrack its brain about the preparations of the thing that will become the demon kings new source of power, and about the schedule for adjusting the demon king. Chapter 188 Chapter 188 C It seems to be the Post-War Period after the Recapture Achooo! Hearing a very quiet but lovely sneeze, Renya opened his eyes. Once he looked up at the sky, he noticed that the sun had gone down quite a bit, compared to where it had been when he closed his eyes, with its color having shifted towards being a madder red. He felt like the temperature had also fallen a bit. The place was the dragonoids capital which they had taken back from the demon army C on top of the wall surrounding the city. Since he had nothing to do in particular, Renya had put down a rocking chair, which he had stolen from some vacant house, and had been nodding off on top of it, but since he apparently had too much free time, he ended up falling asleep. Many hastily made tents were spreading out below the wall. While the dragonoids were restlessly going back and forth as they carried and housed the wounded soldiers, Ronas loud voice could be heard and one could tell she was at her wits end, The severely wounded over there! Prioritize the wounded whose lives are in danger regardless of the severity of their injuries! Those with small and inconsequential injuries have to wait! Please bear with the pain! First those whose lives are on the line! Be accurate with the triage! Otherwise those that have been rescued will be lost as well! Cast away social status and similar! A strangely arrogant soldier called out to Rona from among the dragonoids that were moving left and right. Renya couldnt make out what he was saying from where he was, but he immediately grasped from Ronas face, which had become ill-humored in the blink of an eye, that he must have said something quite disagreeable to Rona. Staff of the Witenagemot!? I dont give a damn, just lay down over there, will you!? Rona yelled. Ronas frontal kick, which she unleashed without minding the fact that her nicely-shaped thighs were in plain sight after the hem of her priestess garb rolled up, hit the abdomen of the slightly cocky soldier head on. The soldiers body, which was blown away without him even being able to scream, passed through the entrance of a tent where the wounded had been gathered, and vanished from sight. With a stunned feeling, Renya, who thought that the soldier had now likely joined the group of severely wounded even if he looked like he only had minor injuries before, turned his eyes from below the wall to the source of the sneeze, which had most likely been the reason he woke up. Right next to his rocking chair, Emil was hugging herself with slightly trembling shoulders.Seemingly having noticed Renyas gaze, who was thinking that she certainly wasnt wearing a warm attire, Emil looked in Renyas direction with a somewhat but not fully satisfied expression. Yo, Renya. Had a nice nap? Emil asked. Looks like it. Youre not cold, Emil? Renya replied with a question of his own. Being asked that, Emil blushed faintly. Apparently she had thought that Renya was fully asleep, and certainly didnt expect him to wake up from her sneeze. I might feel slightly cold. She answered honestly. Well, with your getup thats no surprise. Renya retorted. Compared to the other members, Emils clothes certainly showed a lot of skin.Renya had been wondering whether she was wearing such an outfit because she was resistant to cold and heat since she was a demon, but that didnt seem to be the case. Youre not really tactful, are you Renya? Wouldnt you usually lend a woman your coat if she told you that shes cold? Emil complained while pouting a bit, apparently dissatisfied with Renyas reply. Renya replied after pinching his coat a bit, If I lent you this, I would feel cold since Im only wearing a shirt below, wouldnt I? Youre a lost cause Emil said with a sigh. Renya, who was dissed by Emil with the gaze of a teacher looking at a bad student, thought that it would be fine to simply ignore her, but somehow felt that Emil would regard him as an even bigger disappointment if he did, and thus opened his inventory reluctantly. He had put the change of clothes, which Frau had prepared for him, in there. Renya took out a coat similar to the one he was wearing right now, and tried to lend it to Emil. But she sighed deeply. What is it? Renya asked, puzzled. Not that onethe one youre wearing, Renya. Emil pointed out. Not understanding what she was saying, Renya stopped moving, still holding the coat he had just taken out in his hands.Support the translation by reading this on infinitenoveltranslations net. Emil repeated her demand, I said, Id like you lend me the one youre wearing right now, got it Renya? Why? This one is clean. The one Im wearing at the moment is dusty and sweaty, you know Renya tried to argue. Hand me that one. Emil insisted. Still not understanding the reason, Renya took his own coat off, and handed it over to Emil. Then he put on the one he had taken out of his inventory while feeling puzzled. Emil took Renyas coat, and put it on while spilling a small chuckle. Yeah, as I thought, this ones better. She said happily. I dont get the meaning behind it. Does it have something to do with some kind of hobby characteristic to demons? Renya inquired. Yeah, youre a slightly disappointing guy after all. Emil evaluated Renya who had once again entrusted his back to the rocking chair. Such assessment lacked an understandable reason and cause in Renyas opinion. Arbitrarily deciding that it must be some profound knowledge or something along those lines, which was out of his range of understanding, Renya decided to stop thinking about the matter. If youre told the same thing by Shion, lend her the one youre wearing. Got it? Emil added. Why is Shions name coming up here? Renya asked in wonder. Listen, just do as I say, okay? Emil reminded him once more. Renya was wondering why she was telling him to lend out a dirty coat, but Emil stood next to Renyas chair, and repeatedly tapped Renyas head. Renya felt as though he was being treated like a child because of this gesture, and snorted. For now Im going to say that I understand what youre saying. So, whats the result of your investigation? Renya inquired. The heroes, who werent currently present, as well as Kaede, Croire, and Shion headed out to explore the dragonoids recaptured capital. It was a mission to look for survivors, and kill any demons or monsters that might have stayed behind. After adding dragonoid soldiers to their ranks and splitting up into teams, they have been thoroughly investigating the buildings of the fairly big city and examining the current state of this city. Renya himself believed that it was almost hopeless, but the dragonoids stubbornly believed in the chance of finding survivors. Also, given the fact that the enemy army, besides the black armor which Renya had taken on, was nowhere to be found, Renya expected that the enemy soldiers were certainly hiding within the city. Renya lightheartedly considered it to be something like a little city adventure, but even so, it was a fact that he wanted to get some definite information as fast as possible, and thus asked Emil to investigate the city separately. It was a request based on his idea that she would undoubtedly be able to provide conclusive and precise information a lot faster than the investigation being carried out by the dragonoid soldiers. As Emil looked at him with a broad grin, Renya thought that he hadnt made a mistake in his choice. The investigation is done and over with. Ah, the dragonoids are still at it, though. Them fearfully advancing all over the place is quite the amusing sight. Emil said, ridiculing the dragonoids investigation.and the people reading this novel at aggregator sites instead of supporting the TL. Youll be called a bad person if someone hears you saying that. Renya lightly rebuked her. Im not a person anyway. Emil retorted. Although Renya believed that to be a terrible response, it would bear no meaning even if he tried to get to the bottom of this matter. As it actually wasnt a lie that she was not a person, Renya lightly lifted both hands as if to indicate his surrender. So? Whats your impression? Reny probed further. There are no survivors. Regardless of friend and foe. Emil reported. Everyone ended up in the black armors belly, eh? What a glutton. Renya commented nonchalantly. Well, I wonder about that? You remember those objects outside the city that had a bad taste? The city is plastered with similar objects in great numbers all over. Though its no biggie to omit those as bad taste. Emil spoke in a way that allowed various things to be implicitly included. Renya avoided commenting for the time being, and urged her to continue. Youre not going to argue it, eh? Anyway, I think that those scattered objects might be some kind of camouflage. Emil supplemented. Whats your proof? Renya checked. Most of the corpses were destroyed for fun. I dont know who did it, but I think its better to clean those up as they leave a horrible aftertaste. But, that doesnt apply for several of the corpses. Emil explained. I see? Renya said with uncertainty. They were properly dissected to such an extent that anyone, who saw them, would understand. Though I dont get the goal behind doing something like that or why it was necessary to hide it. They were reasonably skilled. Wanna have a look? Emil extended that strange invitation towards Renya while carrying an ill-natured smile. However, Renya refused by shaking his head. Renya didnt happen to have the hobby of examining dissected corpses. In the first place, he wouldnt be able to tell whether the corpses had been cut apart irresponsibly or if it had been sliced correctly while following some principle backed up by a precise technique. Thats why he merely thought,Oh, is that so?when Emil told him about it. So, as an expert, whats your opinion? Renya asked. I cant really say much since Im lacking information. Any possibility ranging from some advanced, religious ceremony to simple preference could be right or wrong. It looks to me like some crazy art created by a psycho demon king, but what do you think? Emil answered. Renya envisioned the demon king, whom he somehow managed to imagine, diligently creating objects of art with the corpses of his enemies all by himself. The impression given by that image was extremely distorted for Renya, probably because he had no artistic inclinations. Rather than a gruesome scenery, it somehow had the atmosphere of the black humor found in American comics. Renya erased that image from his mind in a hurry. Dont ask for my opinion. Since everyone goes to heaven once they die, violating corpses is the act of trash. The hobby of cutting corpses without even eating them is something I cant understand. Renya replied. I see, so thats your opinion on this. Its a very interesting piece of information. Emil said. What kind of information gathering are you doing here, just what kindanyway, do you have any more information? Renya called out to Emil, bringing her back to reality as she was writing something down on a memo she had taken out of her hotpants pocket while grinning. Emil answered Renyas question without stopping the hand writing down notes, Even if you ask that, theres no one left to question. Saying that its impossible to procure any more information is me speaking the truth, you know? Ah, I tried to investigate a couple roads here and there in the city, but theres no doubt that some formations that can probably be used as sorcery arrays have been set up. As expected, eh? Renya sighed. The spell, which hit the dragonoid army outside the wall, might have been an effect of the arrays drawn in this city. Youre gonna to make sure that they cant be used any longer? Emil asked. Yeahor rather, just as I thought, it would be easier to simply blow the city away and end it once and for all. Renya complained. I agree with that opinion, but the dragonoids likely wont approve of it. Emil argued back. Even Renya knew that the dragonoids wouldnt simply tell him to go ahead if he told them, Please allow me to completely destroy your capital since some weird formations have been set up.Having said that, its not like he could leave the formations alone just because he couldnt take care of them all at once. The power of a spell that was invoked through a sorcery array using the entire city was easily understandable from the devastation the dragonoid army suffered outside the city. Leaving the formation in a state that made it possible to use was far too dangerous. I guess theres no other option but to sever the circuits of the array at several places Renya mused. Thats dangerous, but it looks like it will be difficult to make the dragonoids understand. By the way, I found the facility with the transfer gate of this city. That one hadnt been destroyed, and there are no traces of weird traps either. Its clean. Emil informed Renya. I see, thats a good piece of information. For Renya the news that the transfer gate was in good shape was an extremely important piece of information. After all Renya was planning to plot his escape from the dragonoid continent. If Linus was alive, it might have been fine to return and take a peek at the creepy faces of the Witenagemot, he thought, but Linus had been easily killed in action. In Renyas eyes it was due to Linuss own naive foresight, but very likely the Witenagemot, and especially its chairman, wouldnt consider it like that. In that case it was easy to imagine that they would lay the blame for Linuss death on Renya and the heroes.As long as it isnt all that hard to imagine this outcome, I should consider some way of dealing with it. Thats why Renya readily chose to run away. Well, the distribution channel for materials has been established. If they come after us to complain, I just have to threaten to cut off the food supply, I guess. Renya made up his mind. Thats true. I think we should tell the others to start assembling after choosing a good time to finish their investigation. Emil suggested. If Albert makes trouble, well kidnap him. Renya added. Sure thing. Its fine to leave things to me when it comes to surprise attacks. Emil declared confidently while throwing out her chest, proud of her words, which dont actually warrant any boasting. I guess were going into action then. Before anyone notices anything or kicks up a fuss, that is. Renya stated. Yeah. Well, I will go secure the transfer gate while at the same time spreading the word. By the way Renya, theres something Id like to ask. Can I? Emil suddenly lowered the volume of her voice and asked with a serious look. Renya nodded in response, wondering just what she wanted to know. Emil looked around, and after confirming that no one was nearby, she brought her face close to Renyas, asking him with a very quiet whisper while covering her mouth with her right hand, Is it better for me to return the coat after washing it? Or do you want me to return it just like that after wearing it on top for one night? Which do you prefer, Renya? After fixedly staring at Emils face that was right in front of his own, Renya silently grabbed her head with an eagle grip. Chapter 188 C It seems to be the Post-War Period after the Recapture Achooo! Hearing a very quiet but lovely sneeze, Renya opened his eyes. Once he looked up at the sky, he noticed that the sun had gone down quite a bit, compared to where it had been when he closed his eyes, with its color having shifted towards being a madder red. He felt like the temperature had also fallen a bit. The place was the dragonoids capital which they had taken back from the demon army C on top of the wall surrounding the city. Since he had nothing to do in particular, Renya had put down a rocking chair, which he had stolen from some vacant house, and had been nodding off on top of it, but since he apparently had too much free time, he ended up falling asleep. Many hastily made tents were spreading out below the wall. While the dragonoids were restlessly going back and forth as they carried and housed the wounded soldiers, Ronas loud voice could be heard and one could tell she was at her wits end, The severely wounded over there! Prioritize the wounded whose lives are in danger regardless of the severity of their injuries! Those with small and inconsequential injuries have to wait! Please bear with the pain! First those whose lives are on the line! Be accurate with the triage! Otherwise those that have been rescued will be lost as well! Cast away social status and similar! A strangely arrogant soldier called out to Rona from among the dragonoids that were moving left and right. Renya couldnt make out what he was saying from where he was, but he immediately grasped from Ronas face, which had become ill-humored in the blink of an eye, that he must have said something quite disagreeable to Rona. Staff of the Witenagemot!? I dont give a damn, just lay down over there, will you!? Rona yelled. Ronas frontal kick, which she unleashed without minding the fact that her nicely-shaped thighs were in plain sight after the hem of her priestess garb rolled up, hit the abdomen of the slightly cocky soldier head on. The soldiers body, which was blown away without him even being able to scream, passed through the entrance of a tent where the wounded had been gathered, and vanished from sight. With a stunned feeling, Renya, who thought that the soldier had now likely joined the group of severely wounded even if he looked like he only had minor injuries before, turned his eyes from below the wall to the source of the sneeze, which had most likely been the reason he woke up. Right next to his rocking chair, Emil was hugging herself with slightly trembling shoulders.Seemingly having noticed Renyas gaze, who was thinking that she certainly wasnt wearing a warm attire, Emil looked in Renyas direction with a somewhat but not fully satisfied expression. Yo, Renya. Had a nice nap? Emil asked. Looks like it. Youre not cold, Emil? Renya replied with a question of his own. Being asked that, Emil blushed faintly. Apparently she had thought that Renya was fully asleep, and certainly didnt expect him to wake up from her sneeze. I might feel slightly cold. She answered honestly. Well, with your getup thats no surprise. Renya retorted. Compared to the other members, Emils clothes certainly showed a lot of skin.Renya had been wondering whether she was wearing such an outfit because she was resistant to cold and heat since she was a demon, but that didnt seem to be the case. Youre not really tactful, are you Renya? Wouldnt you usually lend a woman your coat if she told you that shes cold? Emil complained while pouting a bit, apparently dissatisfied with Renyas reply. Renya replied after pinching his coat a bit, If I lent you this, I would feel cold since Im only wearing a shirt below, wouldnt I? Youre a lost cause Emil said with a sigh. Renya, who was dissed by Emil with the gaze of a teacher looking at a bad student, thought that it would be fine to simply ignore her, but somehow felt that Emil would regard him as an even bigger disappointment if he did, and thus opened his inventory reluctantly. He had put the change of clothes, which Frau had prepared for him, in there. Renya took out a coat similar to the one he was wearing right now, and tried to lend it to Emil. But she sighed deeply. What is it? Renya asked, puzzled. Not that onethe one youre wearing, Renya. Emil pointed out. Not understanding what she was saying, Renya stopped moving, still holding the coat he had just taken out in his hands.Support the translation by reading this on infinitenoveltranslations net. Emil repeated her demand, I said, Id like you lend me the one youre wearing right now, got it Renya? Why? This one is clean. The one Im wearing at the moment is dusty and sweaty, you know Renya tried to argue. Hand me that one. Emil insisted. Still not understanding the reason, Renya took his own coat off, and handed it over to Emil. Then he put on the one he had taken out of his inventory while feeling puzzled. Emil took Renyas coat, and put it on while spilling a small chuckle. Yeah, as I thought, this ones better. She said happily. I dont get the meaning behind it. Does it have something to do with some kind of hobby characteristic to demons? Renya inquired. Yeah, youre a slightly disappointing guy after all. Emil evaluated Renya who had once again entrusted his back to the rocking chair. Such assessment lacked an understandable reason and cause in Renyas opinion. Arbitrarily deciding that it must be some profound knowledge or something along those lines, which was out of his range of understanding, Renya decided to stop thinking about the matter. If youre told the same thing by Shion, lend her the one youre wearing. Got it? Emil added. Why is Shions name coming up here? Renya asked in wonder. Listen, just do as I say, okay? Emil reminded him once more. Renya was wondering why she was telling him to lend out a dirty coat, but Emil stood next to Renyas chair, and repeatedly tapped Renyas head. Renya felt as though he was being treated like a child because of this gesture, and snorted. For now Im going to say that I understand what youre saying. So, whats the result of your investigation? Renya inquired. The heroes, who werent currently present, as well as Kaede, Croire, and Shion headed out to explore the dragonoids recaptured capital. It was a mission to look for survivors, and kill any demons or monsters that might have stayed behind. After adding dragonoid soldiers to their ranks and splitting up into teams, they have been thoroughly investigating the buildings of the fairly big city and examining the current state of this city. Renya himself believed that it was almost hopeless, but the dragonoids stubbornly believed in the chance of finding survivors. Also, given the fact that the enemy army, besides the black armor which Renya had taken on, was nowhere to be found, Renya expected that the enemy soldiers were certainly hiding within the city. Renya lightheartedly considered it to be something like a little city adventure, but even so, it was a fact that he wanted to get some definite information as fast as possible, and thus asked Emil to investigate the city separately. It was a request based on his idea that she would undoubtedly be able to provide conclusive and precise information a lot faster than the investigation being carried out by the dragonoid soldiers. As Emil looked at him with a broad grin, Renya thought that he hadnt made a mistake in his choice. The investigation is done and over with. Ah, the dragonoids are still at it, though. Them fearfully advancing all over the place is quite the amusing sight. Emil said, ridiculing the dragonoids investigation.and the people reading this novel at aggregator sites instead of supporting the TL. Youll be called a bad person if someone hears you saying that. Renya lightly rebuked her. Im not a person anyway. Emil retorted. Although Renya believed that to be a terrible response, it would bear no meaning even if he tried to get to the bottom of this matter. As it actually wasnt a lie that she was not a person, Renya lightly lifted both hands as if to indicate his surrender. So? Whats your impression? Reny probed further. There are no survivors. Regardless of friend and foe. Emil reported. Everyone ended up in the black armors belly, eh? What a glutton. Renya commented nonchalantly. Well, I wonder about that? You remember those objects outside the city that had a bad taste? The city is plastered with similar objects in great numbers all over. Though its no biggie to omit those as bad taste. Emil spoke in a way that allowed various things to be implicitly included. Renya avoided commenting for the time being, and urged her to continue. Youre not going to argue it, eh? Anyway, I think that those scattered objects might be some kind of camouflage. Emil supplemented. Whats your proof? Renya checked. Most of the corpses were destroyed for fun. I dont know who did it, but I think its better to clean those up as they leave a horrible aftertaste. But, that doesnt apply for several of the corpses. Emil explained. I see? Renya said with uncertainty. They were properly dissected to such an extent that anyone, who saw them, would understand. Though I dont get the goal behind doing something like that or why it was necessary to hide it. They were reasonably skilled. Wanna have a look? Emil extended that strange invitation towards Renya while carrying an ill-natured smile. However, Renya refused by shaking his head. Renya didnt happen to have the hobby of examining dissected corpses. In the first place, he wouldnt be able to tell whether the corpses had been cut apart irresponsibly or if it had been sliced correctly while following some principle backed up by a precise technique. Thats why he merely thought,Oh, is that so?when Emil told him about it. So, as an expert, whats your opinion? Renya asked. I cant really say much since Im lacking information. Any possibility ranging from some advanced, religious ceremony to simple preference could be right or wrong. It looks to me like some crazy art created by a psycho demon king, but what do you think? Emil answered. Renya envisioned the demon king, whom he somehow managed to imagine, diligently creating objects of art with the corpses of his enemies all by himself. The impression given by that image was extremely distorted for Renya, probably because he had no artistic inclinations. Rather than a gruesome scenery, it somehow had the atmosphere of the black humor found in American comics. Renya erased that image from his mind in a hurry. Dont ask for my opinion. Since everyone goes to heaven once they die, violating corpses is the act of trash. The hobby of cutting corpses without even eating them is something I cant understand. Renya replied. I see, so thats your opinion on this. Its a very interesting piece of information. Emil said. What kind of information gathering are you doing here, just what kindanyway, do you have any more information? Renya called out to Emil, bringing her back to reality as she was writing something down on a memo she had taken out of her hotpants pocket while grinning. Emil answered Renyas question without stopping the hand writing down notes, Even if you ask that, theres no one left to question. Saying that its impossible to procure any more information is me speaking the truth, you know? Ah, I tried to investigate a couple roads here and there in the city, but theres no doubt that some formations that can probably be used as sorcery arrays have been set up. As expected, eh? Renya sighed. The spell, which hit the dragonoid army outside the wall, might have been an effect of the arrays drawn in this city. Youre gonna to make sure that they cant be used any longer? Emil asked. Yeahor rather, just as I thought, it would be easier to simply blow the city away and end it once and for all. Renya complained. I agree with that opinion, but the dragonoids likely wont approve of it. Emil argued back. Even Renya knew that the dragonoids wouldnt simply tell him to go ahead if he told them, Please allow me to completely destroy your capital since some weird formations have been set up.Having said that, its not like he could leave the formations alone just because he couldnt take care of them all at once. The power of a spell that was invoked through a sorcery array using the entire city was easily understandable from the devastation the dragonoid army suffered outside the city. Leaving the formation in a state that made it possible to use was far too dangerous. I guess theres no other option but to sever the circuits of the array at several places Renya mused. Thats dangerous, but it looks like it will be difficult to make the dragonoids understand. By the way, I found the facility with the transfer gate of this city. That one hadnt been destroyed, and there are no traces of weird traps either. Its clean. Emil informed Renya. I see, thats a good piece of information. For Renya the news that the transfer gate was in good shape was an extremely important piece of information. After all Renya was planning to plot his escape from the dragonoid continent. If Linus was alive, it might have been fine to return and take a peek at the creepy faces of the Witenagemot, he thought, but Linus had been easily killed in action. In Renyas eyes it was due to Linuss own naive foresight, but very likely the Witenagemot, and especially its chairman, wouldnt consider it like that. In that case it was easy to imagine that they would lay the blame for Linuss death on Renya and the heroes.As long as it isnt all that hard to imagine this outcome, I should consider some way of dealing with it. Thats why Renya readily chose to run away. Well, the distribution channel for materials has been established. If they come after us to complain, I just have to threaten to cut off the food supply, I guess. Renya made up his mind. Thats true. I think we should tell the others to start assembling after choosing a good time to finish their investigation. Emil suggested. If Albert makes trouble, well kidnap him. Renya added. Sure thing. Its fine to leave things to me when it comes to surprise attacks. Emil declared confidently while throwing out her chest, proud of her words, which dont actually warrant any boasting. I guess were going into action then. Before anyone notices anything or kicks up a fuss, that is. Renya stated. Yeah. Well, I will go secure the transfer gate while at the same time spreading the word. By the way Renya, theres something Id like to ask. Can I? Emil suddenly lowered the volume of her voice and asked with a serious look. Renya nodded in response, wondering just what she wanted to know. Emil looked around, and after confirming that no one was nearby, she brought her face close to Renyas, asking him with a very quiet whisper while covering her mouth with her right hand, Is it better for me to return the coat after washing it? Or do you want me to return it just like that after wearing it on top for one night? Which do you prefer, Renya? After fixedly staring at Emils face that was right in front of his own, Renya silently grabbed her head with an eagle grip. Chapter 189 Hey, Albert. I got a little something to talk about with you. You mind? Renya called out when Albert was all by himself. Compared to his title as a hero, Albert was being pushed around so much that it couldnt be called anything except him being put mostly in charge of odd jobs, as far as Renya could see. Albert had finally managed to take a break between jobs, but as soon as he saw Renya, he immediately straightened himself out again. Oh, Margrave-dono. Thanks for your hard work. Do you have some business with me? Albert asked. It was a polite manner to deal with Renya, but in Renyas eyes Albert was so exhausted it was noticeable just from his outward appearance. Stamina-wise, and attire-wise. Even though it looked like the katana hanging at his waist C apparently even called a hero exclusive item C hadnt been maintained very much, it didnt seem like it had lost its brilliance, but his casual wear had become worn-out. His boots and the leathertekkouon both of his hands were covered in dirt and dust, an appearance that could describe most of his armour after apparently not being cleaned properly. Although his hair had been neatly combed down, it looked somewhat greasy, and above all, stubbles had started to grow around the outline of his fairly good-looking face. No matter how one looked at this, it seemed as though he had spent all his time working so hard he hadnt had the chance to clean his body, let alone pay attention to his clothes. Renya observed Albert closely, just to see that, on top of everything else, Alberts casual dress and his boots didnt match. Due to Renya not talking business even after Albert called out to him, Albert scratched his cheek as if stumped, UmmMargrave-dono? Ah? Aah, sorry. I ended up brooding over something. Let me see Renya, who was about to broach his topic with Albert, faltered for an instant. Now that I consider it, Ive noticed several times that Albert is treated like a single, common soldier, despite his position as hero, and moreover, it looks like Albert himself isnt unhappy with that treatment either. To Renya it appeared as if Albert accepted his treatment because he was taking social status as absolute measure, but in this situation it raised the question of whether Albert would move as Renya expected him to in case he talked with Albert about the matter at hand. Renya pondered about it for just a moment, and immediately deemed such a possibility to be low. Renya currently wanted to discuss returning to Klinge through the beastmens or elves territory so that it wouldnt be reported to the Witenagemot. Renya got a headache just thinking about how to handle that group, which was such a major pain in the ass to deal with even when nothing was happening, now that its chairmans son died on the battlefield just how much more of a pain would they become. It didnt take Renya long to conclude that he should let any reports vanish and run away, seeing as he was, more or less, going to keep cooperating with them by continuing to provide relief anyway.What turned into a problem at this point was Alberts existence. In Renyas eyes, heroes and demon kings are relatively inconsequential. Rather, the problem was how to make absolutely sure to get a supply of fish-related resources, which were seriously lacking in comparison to the meat resources that had been filling the warehouses and his inventory, was of utmost importance, but in order to be able to focus on this problem, the situation had to stabilize first. In order to stabilize the situation Renya needed time. Time he didnt have since he also had to lead a war. For the sake of stopping the war, it was necessary to make the demon king vanish completely from this world once and for all. Renya pondered whether he might be able to handle that by himself, but no matter whom he tried to ask or what books he read, it was only the heroes that could oppose the demon king. He thought that he wouldnt know how true that statement was unless he actually tried to have a look himself, but as far as he could judge from this generations heroes, he couldnt believe the heroes were the strongest beings on this world at all. If the heroes werent the strongest in the world, there should be beings stronger than them. It shouldnt be all that odd even if the demon king was to be defeated by one of them, but he couldnt find such stories no matter how hard he looked. From here on out its a guess, but I wonder whether the beings referred to as demon kings and heroes are maybe special, only allowing the heroes to affect the demon kings existence and life, Renya pondered.In that case, it makes me want to keep all of the heroes at hand.If you consider that the heroes dont exist with the sole purpose of defeating the demon king, but are also tasked with saving the people suffering from monsters, monopolizing the heroes wouldnt be a very nice thing to do, Renya believed,however, since all of them will be assembled and thrown against the demon king army at some point anyway, I dont think it really matters if I speed up that process a bit. Even if Renya were powerless against the demon king, he might be able to deal with everything else beside the demon king. In other words, he thought that he might be capable of playing the role of the heroes vanguard in order to allow them to reach the demon king at the very least. I havent the slightest intention to boast about it, but so far I havent met anyone in this world who could be a vanguard better than me. Margrave-dono? Albert asked, puzzled. Renya realized that his thoughts had veered off quite a bit. In short, since Renya wanted to place the four heroes under his command, hed like Albert to accompany them to Klinge, but even if he were to honestly voice out his intentions, he felt that for some reason Albert wouldnt comply. What would be the best course of action in this case? Umm, Margrave-dono? Albert probed once more. Yeah, sorryyou know, Albertwhats that? Renya suddenly pointed somewhere after beckoning Albert over. Since their location was inside the city, there was no way for it to be something that unusual. Albert walked up next to Renya, following his beckoning while wondering just what Renya wanted him to see. Renya seized Alberts shoulder, abruptly pulling it towards himself, and delivered a pointed strike at Alberts nape. Gah!? M-Margrave-dono!? Albert screamed in surprise. Huh? It was too shallow? Renya muttered. Renya went easy on Albert, believing that Albert wouldnt be able to recover after losing his head if Renya hit him for real, but it looked as though his adjustment didnt turn out that well. Albert tried to get away from Renya while holding the struck area due to the pain. Renya, who grasped Albert in such a way that he couldnt escape, drove his knee into Alberts solar plexus while pulling both of Alberts shoulders towards him, and settled into a Guillotine choke by twining his arms around Alberts neck from the front, who had folded while groaning heavily. Albert, who had his throat constricted on top of losing his breath due to the impact on his solar plexus, showed small signs of resistance, but once Renya suddenly put some more strength into his hold, his body lost all its strength on the spot, relaxing in Renyas grasp. Renya thought that Albert, going by his character, likely wasnt skillfully enough to pretend that he had been defeated so as to lower his opponents guard, but even so he checked that Albert had properly fainted for cautions sake and then retrieved a rope out of his inventory while continuously monitoring Alberts condition. He bound the legs of the limp Albert, placed his hands against his back and firmly bound those as well, made him bite a gag, blindfolded him, and finally stuffed cotton into his ears. Afterwards he wrapped up Alberts entire body in cloth and loosely tied it into a bundle with a string so as to make it easier to transport, resulting in Renya accomplishing a full Albert package. Pheeew Renya breathed out in satisfaction after having finished his job. The time Renya needed for all this to happen was just a couple minutes. Since it would naturally become troublesome if the other dragonoids heard talks about going to a human country, Renya had called out to Albert after he chose a deserted spot, resulting in zero witnesses of what had just occurred. One could call it a truly speedy and adept criminal technique of abduction. Renya easily shouldered the bundle, which had been packaged properly, ran up the wall of a nearby building after lightly kicking off the ground, and started to move along the roofs, thinking that it would be bad if someone saw what he was shouldering. Just what the hell are those guys thinking!? The information about the heros kidnapping reached the dragonoid soldiers faster than Renya had expected. Renya thought that they would react slower than usual since they had lost their commander in battle, but for some reason the dragonoid soldiers reaction was abnormally fast. They immediately gathered their guards at the building with the transfer gate inside the city, and laid out a firm guard protocol so as to not allow a single ant in or out. Moreover, they sent out quite a large number of soldiers in order to secure Renyas friends wherever they might be. However, that didnt bring about any notable results. They didnt even find Emil, Grn, and Croire. They did manage to discover Kurz and the two priestesses, but the soldiers ended up scurrying away just from the threat that Kurz would let the black mist out of his hands, not even cladding himself in his armor. Lepard and Kaede were on the verge of being arrested after having been spotted, but being hit by Lepards counterattack after he snapped because to the dragonoid soldiers way of handling Kaede was anything but courteous, the soldiers were annihilated. Rona was arrested for a moment, but she complained about wanting to go back to her room to put on new clothes after being taken away. She asked her guards to wait outside since she was going to change her clothes inside the room, and entered while only carrying her change of clothes. Although it was unclear to the soldiers where she had hidden it, she used some kind of tool to blow up the entire building from inside the room and managed to escape. Only Shion after seemingly noticing that something had happened from the soldiers expressions, drew her sword, and plunged into battle, no questions asked. She deceived the dragonoid soldiers, who at first underestimated her as a human swordswoman, thinking that they would be able to capture her easily, with her calm appearance and quickly chopped them up, beating any soldier she happened to meet. With this the dragonoid army failed to catch any of Renyas party, but Renya and the others had no choice but to go through the transfer gate in order to escape from this continent and go to their own continent. The armys judgment of gaining control of that place first could be more or less called admirable. But, going by Renyas groups strength, it was easy to predict that breaking through the dragonoid army surrounding the transfer gate and recapturing the gate would pose no problem for them. Based on that, the soldiers who were on guard duty considered destroying the transfer gate in the worst case scenario if it meant not letting Renyas group get away. You still havent found them!? We have a reasonable number of people on this! It shouldnt be that difficult to find them! The idea that theyll likely be able to find them because of their large numbers even though they hadnt been able to find the two elves and Emil was a line of thinking that could only be called naive. But as they had to cope with a continuous chain of problems such as being pitted against the demons army, having their brethren annihilated in battle, losing their commander, and having their hero kidnapped, it might be heartless to condemn them after having been thrown into such confusion. As if to spur on their confusion, something suddenly happened above their heads. Someone had launched something into the air above the city. When the soldiers noticed it, several shots had already been launched. As the soldiers watched attentively, wondering just what had happened, those flying objects suddenly exploded, unleashing a thunderous roar and a blinding flash once they had reached the sky right above the city. Seemingly having been launched quite high into the air, only sound and light reached the city. The shock from the explosion didnt cause the citys buildings to tremble, but if that shock had hit the city directly, it would have likely been difficult for the city, which had been thoroughly trampled down by monsters once, to keep its shape. Explosions of such extent occurred in succession. What the hell is going on!? Is it an enemy attack!? We dont know! Tighten the citys guard! Leave only a few soldiers at the transfer gate, and dispatch the rest to defend the city! Is that alright? If we do something like that, those humans will easily Having the city attacked and stolen once more will cause more damage than allowing those guys to escape! Hurry! There was also the possibility that the explosions in the sky were a diversion created by Renyas groups, but the soldiers feared the possibility that the demons invasion army might attack the city once again much more than allowing Renya and the others to escape. Them still leaving several soldiers at the transfer gate was because they estimated that they could likely use the possibility of Renyas group forcing their way through for some kind of deal later on.They believed that the conditions would probably be completely different between Renyas group passing through while the gate was completely defenseless, and Renyas group passing through while causing some trouble because of the few soldiers left behind. However, their expectations easily went amiss. The chaos induced by the explosions settled down as time passed, but Renyas group didnt show up around the transfer gate. That didnt change even after night came and the next day started. Well, it would have been nice if we could have used the transfer gate in the city. Renya muttered to himself while enjoying the pleasant wind which was suppressed to a level of making his forelocks flutter. I was sure that they would gain control of the transfer gate first. Even if it would have been easy to break through, it seemed that matters afterwards would become troublesome. Is it just me who feels like matters became totally troublesome the moment you kidnapped their hero? Shion said while closely clinging to Renyas back, but Renya ignored her deliberately. Rather than that, Croires gaze, who was sitting even further back, was scary. Croire, who sat down in a somewhat separate place, glared at Renya and Shion with a glazed look as if she was going to kill them if things took a turn for the worse while grinding her teeth so strongly that it was audible albeit faintly. Grn, who sat cross-legged next to her, stroke Croires head in order to soothe her while smiling bitterly, but there wasnt even the slightest indication of her mood improving. The one muttering that serious comment was a dragon whose deep crimson scales glittered under the sunlight. The one flying parallel next to her, was a dragon with vividly emerald scales. Kurz, Lepard, and the three priestesses sat on that dragons back. For some reason Emil was sitting cross-legged on top of the crimson dragons head. On the other hand, Rona sat around the tails root in the opposite direction of the flights direction while trying to straddle the tail, seemingly keeping watch of the rear. For that reason we didnt forcibly use the citys transfer gate, but are instead going to return home by using the caves transfer gate which we used when coming here. Since he kept the telepathic channel open, it was easy for Renya to talk to Rubydra. He had her bring along Emedra while at it too, but the arrival and departure of two dragons would have stood out too much. Given that the dragonoids wouldnt have any way to pursue them even if they found out about it, calling it inconsequential either way might have been fine, but not seeing it as amusing if even the caves transfer gate was to be blocked because of that, Renya caused an explosion, which would cover the citys sky, with sorcery just for the sake of concealing the two dragons. Since Renya didnt have the intention of influencing the city, he had several shots of the spell detonate at a height and level of fire power that wouldnt cause any damage to the city after Emil had calculated it. You could say, he depended on Emil in times of trouble. Renya was confident that he would have unquestionably caused extensive damage to the city if he had adjusted the spell himself. It wasnt as if Renya didnt understand what Emedra wanted to complain about.As long as the situation permitted it, he respected sticking to pride and such, but if he were to show that respect here, the one troubled would be Renya himself. Well, look, Im just borrowing your help once. Renya soothed Emedra. For some reason Emedra strangely jumped at Renyas words which he voiced out while thinking that this might be a good compromise. Renya faltered a bit, wondering whether he might have said something bad, but having obtained that promise from him, Emedra didnt say anything further.Still, this promise might result in him being burdened with some kind of troublesome matter again in the future. While feeling Shions soft presence clinging to his back with a strangely happy expression, and Croires presence, which seemed to be accompanied by a physical pressure due to the blood thirst she had quietly incorporated into her gaze, Renya looked towards the front, and focused on thinking about how to gather information on places that supplied marine products once he returned to Klinge. Hey, Albert. I got a little something to talk about with you. You mind? Renya called out when Albert was all by himself. Compared to his title as a hero, Albert was being pushed around so much that it couldnt be called anything except him being put mostly in charge of odd jobs, as far as Renya could see. Albert had finally managed to take a break between jobs, but as soon as he saw Renya, he immediately straightened himself out again. Oh, Margrave-dono. Thanks for your hard work. Do you have some business with me? Albert asked. It was a polite manner to deal with Renya, but in Renyas eyes Albert was so exhausted it was noticeable just from his outward appearance. Stamina-wise, and attire-wise. Even though it looked like the katana hanging at his waist C apparently even called a hero exclusive item C hadnt been maintained very much, it didnt seem like it had lost its brilliance, but his casual wear had become worn-out. His boots and the leathertekkouon both of his hands were covered in dirt and dust, an appearance that could describe most of his armour after apparently not being cleaned properly. Although his hair had been neatly combed down, it looked somewhat greasy, and above all, stubbles had started to grow around the outline of his fairly good-looking face. No matter how one looked at this, it seemed as though he had spent all his time working so hard he hadnt had the chance to clean his body, let alone pay attention to his clothes. Renya observed Albert closely, just to see that, on top of everything else, Alberts casual dress and his boots didnt match. Due to Renya not talking business even after Albert called out to him, Albert scratched his cheek as if stumped, UmmMargrave-dono? Ah? Aah, sorry. I ended up brooding over something. Let me see Renya, who was about to broach his topic with Albert, faltered for an instant. Now that I consider it, Ive noticed several times that Albert is treated like a single, common soldier, despite his position as hero, and moreover, it looks like Albert himself isnt unhappy with that treatment either. To Renya it appeared as if Albert accepted his treatment because he was taking social status as absolute measure, but in this situation it raised the question of whether Albert would move as Renya expected him to in case he talked with Albert about the matter at hand. Renya pondered about it for just a moment, and immediately deemed such a possibility to be low. Renya currently wanted to discuss returning to Klinge through the beastmens or elves territory so that it wouldnt be reported to the Witenagemot. Renya got a headache just thinking about how to handle that group, which was such a major pain in the ass to deal with even when nothing was happening, now that its chairmans son died on the battlefield just how much more of a pain would they become. It didnt take Renya long to conclude that he should let any reports vanish and run away, seeing as he was, more or less, going to keep cooperating with them by continuing to provide relief anyway.What turned into a problem at this point was Alberts existence. In Renyas eyes, heroes and demon kings are relatively inconsequential. Rather, the problem was how to make absolutely sure to get a supply of fish-related resources, which were seriously lacking in comparison to the meat resources that had been filling the warehouses and his inventory, was of utmost importance, but in order to be able to focus on this problem, the situation had to stabilize first. In order to stabilize the situation Renya needed time. Time he didnt have since he also had to lead a war. For the sake of stopping the war, it was necessary to make the demon king vanish completely from this world once and for all. Renya pondered whether he might be able to handle that by himself, but no matter whom he tried to ask or what books he read, it was only the heroes that could oppose the demon king. He thought that he wouldnt know how true that statement was unless he actually tried to have a look himself, but as far as he could judge from this generations heroes, he couldnt believe the heroes were the strongest beings on this world at all. If the heroes werent the strongest in the world, there should be beings stronger than them. It shouldnt be all that odd even if the demon king was to be defeated by one of them, but he couldnt find such stories no matter how hard he looked. From here on out its a guess, but I wonder whether the beings referred to as demon kings and heroes are maybe special, only allowing the heroes to affect the demon kings existence and life, Renya pondered.In that case, it makes me want to keep all of the heroes at hand.If you consider that the heroes dont exist with the sole purpose of defeating the demon king, but are also tasked with saving the people suffering from monsters, monopolizing the heroes wouldnt be a very nice thing to do, Renya believed,however, since all of them will be assembled and thrown against the demon king army at some point anyway, I dont think it really matters if I speed up that process a bit. Even if Renya were powerless against the demon king, he might be able to deal with everything else beside the demon king. In other words, he thought that he might be capable of playing the role of the heroes vanguard in order to allow them to reach the demon king at the very least. I havent the slightest intention to boast about it, but so far I havent met anyone in this world who could be a vanguard better than me. Margrave-dono? Albert asked, puzzled. Renya realized that his thoughts had veered off quite a bit. In short, since Renya wanted to place the four heroes under his command, hed like Albert to accompany them to Klinge, but even if he were to honestly voice out his intentions, he felt that for some reason Albert wouldnt comply. What would be the best course of action in this case? Umm, Margrave-dono? Albert probed once more. Yeah, sorryyou know, Albertwhats that? Renya suddenly pointed somewhere after beckoning Albert over. Since their location was inside the city, there was no way for it to be something that unusual. Albert walked up next to Renya, following his beckoning while wondering just what Renya wanted him to see. Renya seized Alberts shoulder, abruptly pulling it towards himself, and delivered a pointed strike at Alberts nape. Gah!? M-Margrave-dono!? Albert screamed in surprise. Huh? It was too shallow? Renya muttered. Renya went easy on Albert, believing that Albert wouldnt be able to recover after losing his head if Renya hit him for real, but it looked as though his adjustment didnt turn out that well. Albert tried to get away from Renya while holding the struck area due to the pain. Renya, who grasped Albert in such a way that he couldnt escape, drove his knee into Alberts solar plexus while pulling both of Alberts shoulders towards him, and settled into a Guillotine choke by twining his arms around Alberts neck from the front, who had folded while groaning heavily. Albert, who had his throat constricted on top of losing his breath due to the impact on his solar plexus, showed small signs of resistance, but once Renya suddenly put some more strength into his hold, his body lost all its strength on the spot, relaxing in Renyas grasp. Renya thought that Albert, going by his character, likely wasnt skillfully enough to pretend that he had been defeated so as to lower his opponents guard, but even so he checked that Albert had properly fainted for cautions sake and then retrieved a rope out of his inventory while continuously monitoring Alberts condition. He bound the legs of the limp Albert, placed his hands against his back and firmly bound those as well, made him bite a gag, blindfolded him, and finally stuffed cotton into his ears. Afterwards he wrapped up Alberts entire body in cloth and loosely tied it into a bundle with a string so as to make it easier to transport, resulting in Renya accomplishing a full Albert package. Pheeew Renya breathed out in satisfaction after having finished his job. The time Renya needed for all this to happen was just a couple minutes. Since it would naturally become troublesome if the other dragonoids heard talks about going to a human country, Renya had called out to Albert after he chose a deserted spot, resulting in zero witnesses of what had just occurred. One could call it a truly speedy and adept criminal technique of abduction. Renya easily shouldered the bundle, which had been packaged properly, ran up the wall of a nearby building after lightly kicking off the ground, and started to move along the roofs, thinking that it would be bad if someone saw what he was shouldering. Just what the hell are those guys thinking!? The information about the heros kidnapping reached the dragonoid soldiers faster than Renya had expected. Renya thought that they would react slower than usual since they had lost their commander in battle, but for some reason the dragonoid soldiers reaction was abnormally fast. They immediately gathered their guards at the building with the transfer gate inside the city, and laid out a firm guard protocol so as to not allow a single ant in or out. Moreover, they sent out quite a large number of soldiers in order to secure Renyas friends wherever they might be. However, that didnt bring about any notable results. They didnt even find Emil, Grn, and Croire. They did manage to discover Kurz and the two priestesses, but the soldiers ended up scurrying away just from the threat that Kurz would let the black mist out of his hands, not even cladding himself in his armor. Lepard and Kaede were on the verge of being arrested after having been spotted, but being hit by Lepards counterattack after he snapped because to the dragonoid soldiers way of handling Kaede was anything but courteous, the soldiers were annihilated. Rona was arrested for a moment, but she complained about wanting to go back to her room to put on new clothes after being taken away. She asked her guards to wait outside since she was going to change her clothes inside the room, and entered while only carrying her change of clothes. Although it was unclear to the soldiers where she had hidden it, she used some kind of tool to blow up the entire building from inside the room and managed to escape. Only Shion after seemingly noticing that something had happened from the soldiers expressions, drew her sword, and plunged into battle, no questions asked. She deceived the dragonoid soldiers, who at first underestimated her as a human swordswoman, thinking that they would be able to capture her easily, with her calm appearance and quickly chopped them up, beating any soldier she happened to meet. With this the dragonoid army failed to catch any of Renyas party, but Renya and the others had no choice but to go through the transfer gate in order to escape from this continent and go to their own continent. The armys judgment of gaining control of that place first could be more or less called admirable. But, going by Renyas groups strength, it was easy to predict that breaking through the dragonoid army surrounding the transfer gate and recapturing the gate would pose no problem for them. Based on that, the soldiers who were on guard duty considered destroying the transfer gate in the worst case scenario if it meant not letting Renyas group get away. You still havent found them!? We have a reasonable number of people on this! It shouldnt be that difficult to find them! The idea that theyll likely be able to find them because of their large numbers even though they hadnt been able to find the two elves and Emil was a line of thinking that could only be called naive. But as they had to cope with a continuous chain of problems such as being pitted against the demons army, having their brethren annihilated in battle, losing their commander, and having their hero kidnapped, it might be heartless to condemn them after having been thrown into such confusion. As if to spur on their confusion, something suddenly happened above their heads. Someone had launched something into the air above the city. When the soldiers noticed it, several shots had already been launched. As the soldiers watched attentively, wondering just what had happened, those flying objects suddenly exploded, unleashing a thunderous roar and a blinding flash once they had reached the sky right above the city. Seemingly having been launched quite high into the air, only sound and light reached the city. The shock from the explosion didnt cause the citys buildings to tremble, but if that shock had hit the city directly, it would have likely been difficult for the city, which had been thoroughly trampled down by monsters once, to keep its shape. Explosions of such extent occurred in succession. What the hell is going on!? Is it an enemy attack!? We dont know! Tighten the citys guard! Leave only a few soldiers at the transfer gate, and dispatch the rest to defend the city! Is that alright? If we do something like that, those humans will easily Having the city attacked and stolen once more will cause more damage than allowing those guys to escape! Hurry! There was also the possibility that the explosions in the sky were a diversion created by Renyas groups, but the soldiers feared the possibility that the demons invasion army might attack the city once again much more than allowing Renya and the others to escape. Them still leaving several soldiers at the transfer gate was because they estimated that they could likely use the possibility of Renyas group forcing their way through for some kind of deal later on.They believed that the conditions would probably be completely different between Renyas group passing through while the gate was completely defenseless, and Renyas group passing through while causing some trouble because of the few soldiers left behind. However, their expectations easily went amiss. The chaos induced by the explosions settled down as time passed, but Renyas group didnt show up around the transfer gate. That didnt change even after night came and the next day started. Well, it would have been nice if we could have used the transfer gate in the city. Renya muttered to himself while enjoying the pleasant wind which was suppressed to a level of making his forelocks flutter. I was sure that they would gain control of the transfer gate first. Even if it would have been easy to break through, it seemed that matters afterwards would become troublesome. Is it just me who feels like matters became totally troublesome the moment you kidnapped their hero? Shion said while closely clinging to Renyas back, but Renya ignored her deliberately. Rather than that, Croires gaze, who was sitting even further back, was scary. Croire, who sat down in a somewhat separate place, glared at Renya and Shion with a glazed look as if she was going to kill them if things took a turn for the worse while grinding her teeth so strongly that it was audible albeit faintly. Grn, who sat cross-legged next to her, stroke Croires head in order to soothe her while smiling bitterly, but there wasnt even the slightest indication of her mood improving. The one muttering that serious comment was a dragon whose deep crimson scales glittered under the sunlight. The one flying parallel next to her, was a dragon with vividly emerald scales. Kurz, Lepard, and the three priestesses sat on that dragons back. For some reason Emil was sitting cross-legged on top of the crimson dragons head. On the other hand, Rona sat around the tails root in the opposite direction of the flights direction while trying to straddle the tail, seemingly keeping watch of the rear. For that reason we didnt forcibly use the citys transfer gate, but are instead going to return home by using the caves transfer gate which we used when coming here. Since he kept the telepathic channel open, it was easy for Renya to talk to Rubydra. He had her bring along Emedra while at it too, but the arrival and departure of two dragons would have stood out too much. Given that the dragonoids wouldnt have any way to pursue them even if they found out about it, calling it inconsequential either way might have been fine, but not seeing it as amusing if even the caves transfer gate was to be blocked because of that, Renya caused an explosion, which would cover the citys sky, with sorcery just for the sake of concealing the two dragons. Since Renya didnt have the intention of influencing the city, he had several shots of the spell detonate at a height and level of fire power that wouldnt cause any damage to the city after Emil had calculated it. You could say, he depended on Emil in times of trouble. Renya was confident that he would have unquestionably caused extensive damage to the city if he had adjusted the spell himself. It wasnt as if Renya didnt understand what Emedra wanted to complain about.As long as the situation permitted it, he respected sticking to pride and such, but if he were to show that respect here, the one troubled would be Renya himself. Well, look, Im just borrowing your help once. Renya soothed Emedra. For some reason Emedra strangely jumped at Renyas words which he voiced out while thinking that this might be a good compromise. Renya faltered a bit, wondering whether he might have said something bad, but having obtained that promise from him, Emedra didnt say anything further.Still, this promise might result in him being burdened with some kind of troublesome matter again in the future. While feeling Shions soft presence clinging to his back with a strangely happy expression, and Croires presence, which seemed to be accompanied by a physical pressure due to the blood thirst she had quietly incorporated into her gaze, Renya looked towards the front, and focused on thinking about how to gather information on places that supplied marine products once he returned to Klinge. Chapter 190 The news that Margrave Kunugi of the Trident Principality took possession of all four heroes spread throughout the world at an astonishing rate. There were various reactions. The ones with the weakest reaction were the beastmen, although the opinions were divided on whether it was because they were being relatively estranged to such information or because it was a race-typical trait. For better or worse, it was about Lepard, a prince of one of the four tribes. Moreover it was directly related to the fact that Kaede, who held a considerably high position among the priestesses and who attended to Lepard, had been seized as well, but the beastmen merely reacted by saying, Well if they want to come back, they will just do so, right? However, since a strong request to take care of Lepard and Kaede as well as the two priestesses attached to Kurz by any means had been delivered to Renyas castle although he hadnt informed his surroundings, it meant that the beastmen werent completely indifferent to this whole affair, but you could still say that they at least didnt show any outward reaction that could be called as such. The ones with the second weakest reaction were the elves. Their side seemed to be only preoccupied with Croires attitude, who ended up sticking to Renya, rather than their hero, Grn. As for their inquiries about her welfare, it went as far as them coming over for a courtesy visit through the transfer gate every three days. But then again, because Croire herself was wandering around while sticking to Renya, she loitered around her and there, not staying in Klinge all that much. However, given that the elves would obtain quite a bit of information whenever she came to Klinge, the elven emperor seemed to have approved of the current situation. But, because they extensively only investigated Croire, Renya had been worried whether Grn would feel offended by that, but as a matter of fact, the elves, who came for Croires courtesy visit, checked up on Grns safety as well, albeit secretly, before returning to their home country. Given that Grn had a very difficult standing, or rather, personal history, it was apparently complicated to worry or check up on him too openly. Due to the elven emissaries gathering information on Grn without fail despite this, Renyas opinion of the elven emperor improved, although just a wee bit. The humans reaction could be called extremely divergent. Most of the countries didnt show almost any reaction to this information. Or rather, they tacitly took it for granted without speaking up or making any moves as they were apparently reluctant to attract Renyas attention by showing a reaction. The Trident Principality didnt announce any official statement, but there was a plausible rumor going around that the archduchess always brushed the nobles aside with nothing but the same old response each time they demanded the archduchess to give her opinion on the matter. At the beginning the nobles apparently pressed the archduchess for answers with a fairly threatening attitude, but they gradually lost momentum due to the pressure coming from the archduchess smile, and before long they no longer raised their voices, finally returning to their own territories as if running away while murmuring apologies. Renya admired her for sticking to her ways. The ones raising their voices without having learned their lesson were the churchs authorities.They kicked up a fuss that the human hero originally belonged to the church, and that it was treason against all humanity for a single noble like Renya to monopolize the human hero. Upon hearing that the church was demanding that Margrave Kunugi ought to swiftly return the human hero to the church if he really had any intention of obeying the human laws and that he should fight against the evil together with all humanity in accordance with the churchs ideology, Renya got a light headache and some dizziness, reflexively cursing the gods. It resulted in him immediately being told to stop by the little goddess via a hotline. Renya couldnt check whether it was true or false, but the beings equal to gods in the world, where Renya and the others currently resided, were apparently afflicted by Renyas curses and fainted. Although the incidents in the Holy Kingdom caused considerable traumas to a part of the humans, it looks like those people, who havent seen it in person, didnt perceive it as that much of a threat, Renya sighed. Renya, who wondered whether he should do as told by the other party for a change, requested Emil to head together with Kurz towards the Holy Kingdom, where the headquarters of the church was located, as the driver for the car. Seeing the car off as it raced away with a roar towards the Holy Kingdom, Renyas group held a meeting with all of Klinge to make bets on how many days it would actually take for the two to come back. By dragging the residents into it as well, it turned into a festival merrymaking. His own bet was on approximately four to five days, opposed to bets ranging from one week to ten days. When Emil and Kurz returned to Klinge in the evening of the next day, they were greeted by great booing from all the residents as there hadnt been a big winner among them. Margrave-sama!? Did I do something bad!? Kurz asked in panic. Noah, well, probably you did something bad to a part of the people, I think. Whether you like it or not Renya answered. It wasnt as though they directed terrible ill will at him, but Kurz, who had never experienced such a situation, leaped onto Renyas lap as he was sitting in a chair after returning to his castle, grabbed Renyas collar, and became teary eyed while shaking Renya back and forth. As he was shaken while not knowing what to tell Kurz, Renya rocked his upper body back and forth, but froze upon hearing Emils comment who had just entered Renyas room, following after Kurz. Slandered for no reasona storm of angry insultsbeing blamedhow truly nice Emil raved about the booing. Theres a pervert here!? Kurz, who clung to Renya with a pale face, and Renya, who reflexively restrained Kurz, insulted Emil, who stood stock still with her hands pressed against her cheeks while having an entranced expression for some reason. Emil turned an even more entranced gaze at Renya and Kurz after being insulted by them. Gimme more. Emil whispered. Margrave-sama!? Margrave-sama!? That, whats that!? Kurz yelled. Dont look at it, Kurz. Thats an existence bad for your mental health. You will be contaminated. Renya replied with a serious look. Aww, jeez, you two. Im just enjoying the difficult situation after having experienced being blamed from all sides, okaaay? Haauu. Emil said as she leaked a coquettish sigh. While caressing Kurzs back, who was clinging to Renya while trembling as if scared of something, Renya thought,This one is also up to her usual gimmicks1, and asked Emil, Well, I have no desire to comment on your tastes anyway. What about the actual issue? Perfect. We gave them a proper education. Well, to the extent that they probably wont ask us to hand Kurz over a second time. I will give you a written report later, okay? Emil answered. The written report with the details about what happened in the time between Emils and Kurz departure from Klinge and their return, which was created for the sake of explaining the circumstances to Renya, later on went down in history as a written record of the Holy Churchs destruction, and was left behind as a prohibited document in the Trident Principalitys archive as the most important document pertaining to that incident. Because of the gruesomeness of its contents and the detailed depictions, it was handed down for a long time as a piece of evil said to induce a mental disorder in its reader, but thats another story. Due to this incident, the church lost its authority, and the big organization, which held influence across the entire human continent until then, easily collapsed to become just one of the assorted local religious groups. In exchange, it resulted in a religious group of a new doctrine that originated from the Trident Principality rising to power, but this is also a story of a distant future, and nothing Renya knew of at this time. The ones showing the most extreme reaction among the four races were the dragonoids. This was only understandable. Although Renyas group was certainly the one who rendered the most distinguished service of repelling the invading demon forces, they were at the same time great criminals for having abducted the dragonoids hero. They immediately sent out a directive for Renya to personally report to the Witenagemot and to immediately return the hero Albert in the name of the dragonoids Witenagemot, but Renya ignored this. On the contrary, he demanded the dissolution of the Witenagemot as compensation for the food and material support he had provided the war stricken dragonoids. The Witenagemot flew into a rage in response, and promptly discussed invading the Kunugi Margraviate, but as it was almost impossible to come and go between the continents without using the transfer devices, and given that the dragonoids themselves hadnt actively connected that many transfer gates to other continents, they had no way to send troops even if they wanted to. Moreover, no one saw any value in trying to pick a fight with Renyas party, which took on the demon army that drove the dragonoid army to destruction, won, and recaptured the dragonoids capital, while the dragonoidss army itself was weakened after having suffered heavy losses in the war against the demon army. In addition, with Renya, who supplied plenty of food and materials to the common dragonoids who had become impoverished after getting burned by the fires of war, as an opponent, neither the soldiers nor the citizens had any intention to force a battle. Thus, the members of the Witenagemot, who were getting heated up, were arrested by soldiers with fed-up faces, put under house arrest, and removed from power. The recently elected members of the newly inaugurated dragonoid government, officially entrusted hero Albert to Renya. Isnt thiswhat you would normally call a revolution or something similar? Albert felt dumbfounded by how quickly the state of affairs changed. The Witenagemot until now was a hereditary organization and there hadnt been any changes to the families ruling it for a long time, but since it suddenly turned into a democratic state that would choose the peoples representative through elections, it wasnt unreasonable for him to be surprised either. Complete strangers that can protect and feed the people being more popular than statesmen who cant is always the same everywhere. Renya lightly shrugged his shoulders while saying so. It was unlikely for the dragonoid citizens, who had been living under the complete control of the Witenagemot until now, to suddenly wake up to democracy and elections. It was the opinion of future historians that someone pulled the strings behind the scenes, but no written documents about who might have been the mastermind existed anywhere. It was one of those historic events where only the ones involved knew the truth. Renya taking all the heros was a situation that didnt lack uproars and reforms taking place all over the world because of it, but in contrast to that, the demons suddenly stopped moving no sooner had they failed to invade the dragonoid continent. Even the movements of the monsters inside the Miasma Forest, which had become more active lately, had quieted down, and it didnt look as if they had been mobilized as organized troops, as far as one could tell from the outside. The incidents of a few monsters sporadically attacking villages close to the boundary lines between the Miasma Forest and the continents was the same as ever, but it returned to the same frequency as before the increase in activity. This resulted in various theories circulating, wondering whether some kind of problem had occurred on the demons side, and specifically the demon kings side, but as there was no way to find out the truth, all of it just stayed as speculation and assumptions. Since there were no means of obtaining information about the demon territory in the first place, nothing could be done about this either. Extremely optimistic theories about the demon kings death were popular, but everyone regarded them as nothing but wishful thinking, and the people spent their days driven by the unexpressed anxiety thats similar to the calm before the storm. Since we just have to think about the situation when the demons come, I think its a waste of time to worry what to do when they come. Renya voiced out such a carefree opinion. Only Klinge with Renya at its helm continued working normally2at all times as the rest of the world felt worried, albeit faintly and vaguely. This status quo continued for a short while. The news that Margrave Kunugi of the Trident Principality took possession of all four heroes spread throughout the world at an astonishing rate. There were various reactions. The ones with the weakest reaction were the beastmen, although the opinions were divided on whether it was because they were being relatively estranged to such information or because it was a race-typical trait. For better or worse, it was about Lepard, a prince of one of the four tribes. Moreover it was directly related to the fact that Kaede, who held a considerably high position among the priestesses and who attended to Lepard, had been seized as well, but the beastmen merely reacted by saying, Well if they want to come back, they will just do so, right? However, since a strong request to take care of Lepard and Kaede as well as the two priestesses attached to Kurz by any means had been delivered to Renyas castle although he hadnt informed his surroundings, it meant that the beastmen werent completely indifferent to this whole affair, but you could still say that they at least didnt show any outward reaction that could be called as such. The ones with the second weakest reaction were the elves. Their side seemed to be only preoccupied with Croires attitude, who ended up sticking to Renya, rather than their hero, Grn. As for their inquiries about her welfare, it went as far as them coming over for a courtesy visit through the transfer gate every three days. But then again, because Croire herself was wandering around while sticking to Renya, she loitered around her and there, not staying in Klinge all that much. However, given that the elves would obtain quite a bit of information whenever she came to Klinge, the elven emperor seemed to have approved of the current situation. But, because they extensively only investigated Croire, Renya had been worried whether Grn would feel offended by that, but as a matter of fact, the elves, who came for Croires courtesy visit, checked up on Grns safety as well, albeit secretly, before returning to their home country. Given that Grn had a very difficult standing, or rather, personal history, it was apparently complicated to worry or check up on him too openly. Due to the elven emissaries gathering information on Grn without fail despite this, Renyas opinion of the elven emperor improved, although just a wee bit. The humans reaction could be called extremely divergent. Most of the countries didnt show almost any reaction to this information. Or rather, they tacitly took it for granted without speaking up or making any moves as they were apparently reluctant to attract Renyas attention by showing a reaction. The Trident Principality didnt announce any official statement, but there was a plausible rumor going around that the archduchess always brushed the nobles aside with nothing but the same old response each time they demanded the archduchess to give her opinion on the matter. At the beginning the nobles apparently pressed the archduchess for answers with a fairly threatening attitude, but they gradually lost momentum due to the pressure coming from the archduchess smile, and before long they no longer raised their voices, finally returning to their own territories as if running away while murmuring apologies. Renya admired her for sticking to her ways. The ones raising their voices without having learned their lesson were the churchs authorities.They kicked up a fuss that the human hero originally belonged to the church, and that it was treason against all humanity for a single noble like Renya to monopolize the human hero. Upon hearing that the church was demanding that Margrave Kunugi ought to swiftly return the human hero to the church if he really had any intention of obeying the human laws and that he should fight against the evil together with all humanity in accordance with the churchs ideology, Renya got a light headache and some dizziness, reflexively cursing the gods. It resulted in him immediately being told to stop by the little goddess via a hotline. Renya couldnt check whether it was true or false, but the beings equal to gods in the world, where Renya and the others currently resided, were apparently afflicted by Renyas curses and fainted. Although the incidents in the Holy Kingdom caused considerable traumas to a part of the humans, it looks like those people, who havent seen it in person, didnt perceive it as that much of a threat, Renya sighed. Renya, who wondered whether he should do as told by the other party for a change, requested Emil to head together with Kurz towards the Holy Kingdom, where the headquarters of the church was located, as the driver for the car. Seeing the car off as it raced away with a roar towards the Holy Kingdom, Renyas group held a meeting with all of Klinge to make bets on how many days it would actually take for the two to come back. By dragging the residents into it as well, it turned into a festival merrymaking. His own bet was on approximately four to five days, opposed to bets ranging from one week to ten days. When Emil and Kurz returned to Klinge in the evening of the next day, they were greeted by great booing from all the residents as there hadnt been a big winner among them. Margrave-sama!? Did I do something bad!? Kurz asked in panic. Noah, well, probably you did something bad to a part of the people, I think. Whether you like it or not Renya answered. It wasnt as though they directed terrible ill will at him, but Kurz, who had never experienced such a situation, leaped onto Renyas lap as he was sitting in a chair after returning to his castle, grabbed Renyas collar, and became teary eyed while shaking Renya back and forth. As he was shaken while not knowing what to tell Kurz, Renya rocked his upper body back and forth, but froze upon hearing Emils comment who had just entered Renyas room, following after Kurz. Slandered for no reasona storm of angry insultsbeing blamedhow truly nice Emil raved about the booing. Theres a pervert here!? Kurz, who clung to Renya with a pale face, and Renya, who reflexively restrained Kurz, insulted Emil, who stood stock still with her hands pressed against her cheeks while having an entranced expression for some reason. Emil turned an even more entranced gaze at Renya and Kurz after being insulted by them. Gimme more. Emil whispered. Margrave-sama!? Margrave-sama!? That, whats that!? Kurz yelled. Dont look at it, Kurz. Thats an existence bad for your mental health. You will be contaminated. Renya replied with a serious look. Aww, jeez, you two. Im just enjoying the difficult situation after having experienced being blamed from all sides, okaaay? Haauu. Emil said as she leaked a coquettish sigh. While caressing Kurzs back, who was clinging to Renya while trembling as if scared of something, Renya thought,This one is also up to her usual gimmicks1, and asked Emil, Well, I have no desire to comment on your tastes anyway. What about the actual issue? Perfect. We gave them a proper education. Well, to the extent that they probably wont ask us to hand Kurz over a second time. I will give you a written report later, okay? Emil answered. The written report with the details about what happened in the time between Emils and Kurz departure from Klinge and their return, which was created for the sake of explaining the circumstances to Renya, later on went down in history as a written record of the Holy Churchs destruction, and was left behind as a prohibited document in the Trident Principalitys archive as the most important document pertaining to that incident. Because of the gruesomeness of its contents and the detailed depictions, it was handed down for a long time as a piece of evil said to induce a mental disorder in its reader, but thats another story. Due to this incident, the church lost its authority, and the big organization, which held influence across the entire human continent until then, easily collapsed to become just one of the assorted local religious groups. In exchange, it resulted in a religious group of a new doctrine that originated from the Trident Principality rising to power, but this is also a story of a distant future, and nothing Renya knew of at this time. The ones showing the most extreme reaction among the four races were the dragonoids. This was only understandable. Although Renyas group was certainly the one who rendered the most distinguished service of repelling the invading demon forces, they were at the same time great criminals for having abducted the dragonoids hero. They immediately sent out a directive for Renya to personally report to the Witenagemot and to immediately return the hero Albert in the name of the dragonoids Witenagemot, but Renya ignored this. On the contrary, he demanded the dissolution of the Witenagemot as compensation for the food and material support he had provided the war stricken dragonoids. The Witenagemot flew into a rage in response, and promptly discussed invading the Kunugi Margraviate, but as it was almost impossible to come and go between the continents without using the transfer devices, and given that the dragonoids themselves hadnt actively connected that many transfer gates to other continents, they had no way to send troops even if they wanted to. Moreover, no one saw any value in trying to pick a fight with Renyas party, which took on the demon army that drove the dragonoid army to destruction, won, and recaptured the dragonoids capital, while the dragonoidss army itself was weakened after having suffered heavy losses in the war against the demon army. In addition, with Renya, who supplied plenty of food and materials to the common dragonoids who had become impoverished after getting burned by the fires of war, as an opponent, neither the soldiers nor the citizens had any intention to force a battle. Thus, the members of the Witenagemot, who were getting heated up, were arrested by soldiers with fed-up faces, put under house arrest, and removed from power. The recently elected members of the newly inaugurated dragonoid government, officially entrusted hero Albert to Renya. Isnt thiswhat you would normally call a revolution or something similar? Albert felt dumbfounded by how quickly the state of affairs changed. The Witenagemot until now was a hereditary organization and there hadnt been any changes to the families ruling it for a long time, but since it suddenly turned into a democratic state that would choose the peoples representative through elections, it wasnt unreasonable for him to be surprised either. Complete strangers that can protect and feed the people being more popular than statesmen who cant is always the same everywhere. Renya lightly shrugged his shoulders while saying so. It was unlikely for the dragonoid citizens, who had been living under the complete control of the Witenagemot until now, to suddenly wake up to democracy and elections. It was the opinion of future historians that someone pulled the strings behind the scenes, but no written documents about who might have been the mastermind existed anywhere. It was one of those historic events where only the ones involved knew the truth. Renya taking all the heros was a situation that didnt lack uproars and reforms taking place all over the world because of it, but in contrast to that, the demons suddenly stopped moving no sooner had they failed to invade the dragonoid continent. Even the movements of the monsters inside the Miasma Forest, which had become more active lately, had quieted down, and it didnt look as if they had been mobilized as organized troops, as far as one could tell from the outside. The incidents of a few monsters sporadically attacking villages close to the boundary lines between the Miasma Forest and the continents was the same as ever, but it returned to the same frequency as before the increase in activity. This resulted in various theories circulating, wondering whether some kind of problem had occurred on the demons side, and specifically the demon kings side, but as there was no way to find out the truth, all of it just stayed as speculation and assumptions. Since there were no means of obtaining information about the demon territory in the first place, nothing could be done about this either. Extremely optimistic theories about the demon kings death were popular, but everyone regarded them as nothing but wishful thinking, and the people spent their days driven by the unexpressed anxiety thats similar to the calm before the storm. Since we just have to think about the situation when the demons come, I think its a waste of time to worry what to do when they come. Renya voiced out such a carefree opinion. Only Klinge with Renya at its helm continued working normally2at all times as the rest of the world felt worried, albeit faintly and vaguely. This status quo continued for a short while. Chapter 191 Its a slightly sudden story, but the Trident Principality has access to the ocean. If one takes the Trident Principalitys structure into consideration, it should be obvious that it would. Because becoming a shield against the Miasma Forest and the demons lying beyond would be the goal of a country in that location, there were no complaints when the Trident Principality was founded. Or maybe it was very popular and normal to doubt whether a country could be created in such a dangerous place. The Miasma Forest is an abnormally large forest, even if based on Renyas knowledge. Its far bigger than any of the countries on the human continent. Its width covers the entire area ranging from the continents northern extremity to its southern tip. Conversely, returning to the story about the Trident Principality, its a state that was created or allowed to be created as a shield against the Miasma Forest. Hence, there was no reason for the Trident Principalitys width to be inferior to that of the Miasma Forest. In other words, the Trident Principalitys northern and southern borders are much further apart than the eastern and western ones. Of course its impossible for a single noble to manage that long of a border. The number of nobles governing territories situated at the boundary line between the Trident Principality and the Miasma Forest reaches two digits if you include Margrave Renya Kunugi. However, if one were to ask whether all of those nobles at the boundary were actually functioning as the principalitys shields against the Miasma Forest, anyone would deny it. For some strange reason most of the invasions through the Miasma Forest take place at the continents central area. It almost never happens that the demon army invades from the northern or the southern edges. Based on that, the nobles at the northern and southern tips serve their purpose as long as they govern their territories well while also mitigating the damage of somewhat bigger hordes of monsters. By the way, the one governing the territory in the center of the continent was none other than Renya. This place had been given to him purposely. Renya, who knew this fact, has been harassing the archduchess by sending long, ridiculing letters composed of fervent complaints. Putting that aside, there is no connection to the ocean in the Kunugi Margraviate because of its location. Furthermore, generally rivers grow wider the closer they get to the ocean. Hence there was no big river in Renyas territory. In that case, one might wonder whether it wouldnt be extremely difficult to secure water, but since sorcery tools that generate water, springs with copiously gushing, clear water, and rivers with a reasonable width existed all over the place, it was possible to secure water without much trouble by creating, drawing or transporting water from those places. However, the number of fish in these water sources is low. The rivers flow speed was high for some reason, resulting in the fish being small and thus not suitable to eat. A small amount inhabited springs and similar, but probably because clear spring water had a low amount of nutrients, the fish living there were mostly small as it didnt seem to be an environment where a lot of fish could live. In short, the fish circulating the market in the Kunugi Margraviate were mostly fish that had been brought in from other territories. Their variety and freshness couldnt possibly satisfy Renya. This was a very grave problem for Renya. It was such a serious issue for him that it drove any serious thoughts about the demon king, the demons, or the monsters out of his head. That being said, isnt there some plan on how to deal with this? Renya asked. It was Shions place C something unexpected in the eyes of the other members C where Renya went to look for an answer. But to Renya this wasnt an unexpected turn of events at all since Shion or Mayria were the best candidates for this kind of topic. After all they were both daughters of the Trident Principalitys archduchess. Renya assumed that the two might possess plenty of information on such matters. Renya, I wonder what to think about me being the one to tell you, but I think there are other issues you can wrack your brain over such as the demon king or the demons army led by him, despite them staying docile for the moment. Shion brushed him off. That side will work out one way or the other. In the worst case, I will somehow deal with it. However, this is a problem I cant do anything about, despite having thought about it quite deeply. Renya insisted. Noumm, for the demon kings existence to be inferior to the issue of establishing a trade route to procure marine products Shion muttered with a stupefied gaze after having been asked for a consultation by Renya, who earnestly brooded whether there might be some good method to obtain marine products while groaning in her room. For me its a big problem. Renya stated powerfully. O-Okay? Well, in that caseif you make contact with the nobles at the sea through motherbut, since the ocean is quite far away, there are no methods to circulate the goods, are there? Shion considered the issue. Even if he were to obtain marine goods, it would be meaningless so long as theres no proper way to transfer them over a long distance. The simplest method would be to transport marine goods that wouldnt easily rot by drying or smoking them, but Shion somehow understood that this might not be what Renya was looking for. Dont tell me youre going to use a transfer gate for the sake of your own gourmand desires, are you? Shion grilled him. Even I hesitate to use that method. Renya answered. It wasnt impossible. After all Renya possessed a considerable amount of funds and an incredible number of magic stones. Assets that wouldnt run out even if he were to operate the transfer gate in his own city 24/7 for an entire year. However, that would in turn become a hindrance to the people using the gate for other purposes. A transfer gate is used after switching the channel to the destination. Normally its already good enough to possess one such device, and two is mostly regarded as having a lot. Even Klinge only has one transfer gate. Moreover, its specified so that it cant be used by different people at the same time. Besides, even if he were to obtain a certain amount of marine products by using that method, the transportation cost would be fairly high, making it difficult to circulate them among the common people. Of course it was possible to ignore the costs and distribute the food while accepting to go in the red, but that would be a bit different from Renyas intention. Its not like he wanted to donate the marine products. It would be pointless if there didnt exist a distribution channel which was continuously available even after the trade became independent from Renyas support. Renya didnt intend to spare any effort on paving the road in the beginning, but it was unthinkable for him to take care of it forever. Once it developed into something that could be done by others, he would quickly leave people he can trust in charge of it. Saying that he wanted to spread marine products to Klinge so that he could buy them up himself was Renyas honest notion. Even if its you, you cant do anything about distances, can you? Shion inquired. There is a method to handle that part somehow. Renya refuted. The information that it was possible to transport personnel on the scale of a corps as long as one could create something like a path through a precise mana circuit wasnt anything he could shout from the rooftops, but Renya had obtained that piece of information from Emil who assumed that the demon army had used this technique to mobilize. Which doesnt mean that its a method exclusive to demons. Its also not related to needing some sort of special component. In other words, its a technique that can be used even if one isnt a demon and as long as one knows how to construct the paths. Renya thought he would try to obtain information regarding the construction method from Emil, but once he very carefully examined his own knowledge, he found out that the construction method was properly recorded in the sorcery knowledge he had received from Emedra. Renya was constantly grateful towards Emedra for having given him such a great present. But, that meanssome kind of facility connecting from Klinge to a territory with access to the ocean would become necessaryand as far as I know, such a facility doesnt exist, does it? Shion countered. You just have to build it if it doesnt exist. Renya declared without hesitation. Pardon? Shion asked again, sensing something unbelievable in Renyas words. In response Renya indifferently repeated the same words while donning a curious expression as he wondered whether he had said anything weird, You just have to build it if it doesnt exist. Just build, you say Shion mulled while trying to form her very own reasoning. Because Shion was aware that she isnt overly smart and that she doesnt know many things, she pondered whether Renya might know something important she might have failed to notice. But, after contemplating it so much that it seemed as if steam might come out from her head, Shion stopped brooding over it, fixedly stared at Renyas face and curtly said, Its impossible, no? Where there is a will, there is a way. Renya objected. Im telling you, its absurd. Do you know just how far away the ocean is? Shion asked back. According to Shions somewhat unreliable knowledge, the ocean was so far away that it would take a carriage seven to ten days at full speed to reach it, even if it advanced north or south in a straight line from Klinge. The Forest Labyrinth, said to be used by the demons, spanned over a far longer distance than that, but she didnt know who created it, and she also didnt know how long it had taken to create that place to begin with. However, even though such a distance would for sure be much shorter than the Forest Labyrinth, Shion knew that C assuming someone tried to create something similar C it would require an amount of funds that could make ones eyes dizzy and time that would make one faint. No matter how abundant your funds might be, its not a project that could be handled by a noble of a single country. I think Mayria can make a more detailed calculation in regards to the construction time and the necessary funds than I could, but rather than doing something like that, it would still be more realistic to build an exclusive transfer gate, wouldnt it? Shion commented. I have the manpower. Renya clearly asserted, appearing confident. Feeling a strangely bad premonition because of Renyas bold attitude, Shion tried asking, Just for reference, what kind of manpower is it? Look, there are at least three lively people who dont know what to do with their stamina and abilities. Renya replied. Being told so, Shion thought of the four heroes. Certainly, in the current situation with the demons movements having quieted down, the heroes almost never get their turn to shine, and leaving their abilities aside, they likely have more than enough stamina as well. However, just as Shion was about to think,Its not four, she thought back on Kurz.No matter what Renya might say, he doesnt seem to have any intention of making Kurz, whom he favors, do such heavy work. Let me confirm for the time being, but what are you planning to have the heroes do, Renya? Shion inquired. Public works. Mainly digging a hole. Renya answered curtly. Dont do it, okay? I beg you, give up on that, please. Shion pleaded. Even under normal circumstances there had been complaints from all over the continent about the fact Renya had assembled all the heroes. Although such complaints have mostly died out by now, theres almost no doubt that the complaints will resurface if its revealed that the gathered heroes are being used for public works. And, Shion couldnt come up with a method to extinguish those resurfaced complaints except forcibly retracting the reason for the complaints since the fault would completely be with Renya this time. H-However, in that case the manpower for creating the path Renya stammered, obviously troubled. Lets think of another way? Shion cracked a smile, not allowing Renya to refuse. In the first place, although you might say digging a hole, its impossible not to go through the territories of other nobles, isnt it? Shion argued. It wont be exposed as long as its an underground path, right? Renya replied. Yeah, sureyou could say that, but..only for the time being, no? Shion said. Although only vaguely, Shion believed that it might be somewhat difficult at the present point in time to change or stop Renyas line of thought, and thus decided instead to slightly alter the direction of the discussion. Isnt it fine to do all this planning after first going to the ocean and checking out whether its actually worth all the trouble? Renya, youre a Lost. You have never seen the ocean in this world, have you? Isnt it possible that there are no marine products you like? Shion reasoned. Thats yet another argument that completely lacks any dreams and ambitions Renya made a slightly sad face. Seeing that, Shion followed up in a hurry. Shion thought that it would certainly hurt Renyas mood to have his preferences denied from the get-go, but bulling through with ones preferences is also troublesome. Its just an example. An example, okay? On the contrary, there might be marine products there which stir the wish in you to transport them to Klinge even if its slightly unreasonable. Isnt it worthwhile to devise means on how to get it done after youve discovered such goods? Shion asked. Youhave become glib, havent you? Renya said half naturally and half astonished. Shion averted her eyes while making it seem natural, I will refrain from commenting on that. So, which do you prefer, Renya, north or south? Definitely north. Somehow Ive got a hunch that there are more delicious things in the north. These words lacked any basis or even a mental image, but Renya replied immediately. Shion nodded, I got it. I will contact mother for a bit and try asking her about a noble who has a territory in the north and doesnt have any problems with us staying there. I see. I suppose I will wait for the reply then. Renya answered. First of all, we must look for a place that accepts an investigation. The easiest way to get this information is from the archduchess through Shion. Deciding that course of action, Renya was about to return to his room, but suddenly stopped. Once Shion looked at Renya again, who had stopped moving, Renya turned around and asked, How about digging a path below the Miasma Forest? Hmm, isnt it better to consult with Emil and Croire about this rather than with me? Shion suggested somewhat irresponsibly while thinking,I feel like the matter of the heroes doing public works is already set in stone. In that case I got to fully delegate that matter to someone who knows more about this field and might be able to avoid it more skillfully than me whos no suitable obstacle for Renya. Its a slightly sudden story, but the Trident Principality has access to the ocean. If one takes the Trident Principalitys structure into consideration, it should be obvious that it would. Because becoming a shield against the Miasma Forest and the demons lying beyond would be the goal of a country in that location, there were no complaints when the Trident Principality was founded. Or maybe it was very popular and normal to doubt whether a country could be created in such a dangerous place. The Miasma Forest is an abnormally large forest, even if based on Renyas knowledge. Its far bigger than any of the countries on the human continent. Its width covers the entire area ranging from the continents northern extremity to its southern tip. Conversely, returning to the story about the Trident Principality, its a state that was created or allowed to be created as a shield against the Miasma Forest. Hence, there was no reason for the Trident Principalitys width to be inferior to that of the Miasma Forest. In other words, the Trident Principalitys northern and southern borders are much further apart than the eastern and western ones. Of course its impossible for a single noble to manage that long of a border. The number of nobles governing territories situated at the boundary line between the Trident Principality and the Miasma Forest reaches two digits if you include Margrave Renya Kunugi. However, if one were to ask whether all of those nobles at the boundary were actually functioning as the principalitys shields against the Miasma Forest, anyone would deny it. For some strange reason most of the invasions through the Miasma Forest take place at the continents central area. It almost never happens that the demon army invades from the northern or the southern edges. Based on that, the nobles at the northern and southern tips serve their purpose as long as they govern their territories well while also mitigating the damage of somewhat bigger hordes of monsters. By the way, the one governing the territory in the center of the continent was none other than Renya. This place had been given to him purposely. Renya, who knew this fact, has been harassing the archduchess by sending long, ridiculing letters composed of fervent complaints. Putting that aside, there is no connection to the ocean in the Kunugi Margraviate because of its location. Furthermore, generally rivers grow wider the closer they get to the ocean. Hence there was no big river in Renyas territory. In that case, one might wonder whether it wouldnt be extremely difficult to secure water, but since sorcery tools that generate water, springs with copiously gushing, clear water, and rivers with a reasonable width existed all over the place, it was possible to secure water without much trouble by creating, drawing or transporting water from those places. However, the number of fish in these water sources is low. The rivers flow speed was high for some reason, resulting in the fish being small and thus not suitable to eat. A small amount inhabited springs and similar, but probably because clear spring water had a low amount of nutrients, the fish living there were mostly small as it didnt seem to be an environment where a lot of fish could live. In short, the fish circulating the market in the Kunugi Margraviate were mostly fish that had been brought in from other territories. Their variety and freshness couldnt possibly satisfy Renya. This was a very grave problem for Renya. It was such a serious issue for him that it drove any serious thoughts about the demon king, the demons, or the monsters out of his head. That being said, isnt there some plan on how to deal with this? Renya asked. It was Shions place C something unexpected in the eyes of the other members C where Renya went to look for an answer. But to Renya this wasnt an unexpected turn of events at all since Shion or Mayria were the best candidates for this kind of topic. After all they were both daughters of the Trident Principalitys archduchess. Renya assumed that the two might possess plenty of information on such matters. Renya, I wonder what to think about me being the one to tell you, but I think there are other issues you can wrack your brain over such as the demon king or the demons army led by him, despite them staying docile for the moment. Shion brushed him off. That side will work out one way or the other. In the worst case, I will somehow deal with it. However, this is a problem I cant do anything about, despite having thought about it quite deeply. Renya insisted. Noumm, for the demon kings existence to be inferior to the issue of establishing a trade route to procure marine products Shion muttered with a stupefied gaze after having been asked for a consultation by Renya, who earnestly brooded whether there might be some good method to obtain marine products while groaning in her room. For me its a big problem. Renya stated powerfully. O-Okay? Well, in that caseif you make contact with the nobles at the sea through motherbut, since the ocean is quite far away, there are no methods to circulate the goods, are there? Shion considered the issue. Even if he were to obtain marine goods, it would be meaningless so long as theres no proper way to transfer them over a long distance. The simplest method would be to transport marine goods that wouldnt easily rot by drying or smoking them, but Shion somehow understood that this might not be what Renya was looking for. Dont tell me youre going to use a transfer gate for the sake of your own gourmand desires, are you? Shion grilled him. Even I hesitate to use that method. Renya answered. It wasnt impossible. After all Renya possessed a considerable amount of funds and an incredible number of magic stones. Assets that wouldnt run out even if he were to operate the transfer gate in his own city 24/7 for an entire year. However, that would in turn become a hindrance to the people using the gate for other purposes. A transfer gate is used after switching the channel to the destination. Normally its already good enough to possess one such device, and two is mostly regarded as having a lot. Even Klinge only has one transfer gate. Moreover, its specified so that it cant be used by different people at the same time. Besides, even if he were to obtain a certain amount of marine products by using that method, the transportation cost would be fairly high, making it difficult to circulate them among the common people. Of course it was possible to ignore the costs and distribute the food while accepting to go in the red, but that would be a bit different from Renyas intention. Its not like he wanted to donate the marine products. It would be pointless if there didnt exist a distribution channel which was continuously available even after the trade became independent from Renyas support. Renya didnt intend to spare any effort on paving the road in the beginning, but it was unthinkable for him to take care of it forever. Once it developed into something that could be done by others, he would quickly leave people he can trust in charge of it. Saying that he wanted to spread marine products to Klinge so that he could buy them up himself was Renyas honest notion. Even if its you, you cant do anything about distances, can you? Shion inquired. There is a method to handle that part somehow. Renya refuted. The information that it was possible to transport personnel on the scale of a corps as long as one could create something like a path through a precise mana circuit wasnt anything he could shout from the rooftops, but Renya had obtained that piece of information from Emil who assumed that the demon army had used this technique to mobilize. Which doesnt mean that its a method exclusive to demons. Its also not related to needing some sort of special component. In other words, its a technique that can be used even if one isnt a demon and as long as one knows how to construct the paths. Renya thought he would try to obtain information regarding the construction method from Emil, but once he very carefully examined his own knowledge, he found out that the construction method was properly recorded in the sorcery knowledge he had received from Emedra. Renya was constantly grateful towards Emedra for having given him such a great present. But, that meanssome kind of facility connecting from Klinge to a territory with access to the ocean would become necessaryand as far as I know, such a facility doesnt exist, does it? Shion countered. You just have to build it if it doesnt exist. Renya declared without hesitation. Pardon? Shion asked again, sensing something unbelievable in Renyas words. In response Renya indifferently repeated the same words while donning a curious expression as he wondered whether he had said anything weird, You just have to build it if it doesnt exist. Just build, you say Shion mulled while trying to form her very own reasoning. Because Shion was aware that she isnt overly smart and that she doesnt know many things, she pondered whether Renya might know something important she might have failed to notice. But, after contemplating it so much that it seemed as if steam might come out from her head, Shion stopped brooding over it, fixedly stared at Renyas face and curtly said, Its impossible, no? Where there is a will, there is a way. Renya objected. Im telling you, its absurd. Do you know just how far away the ocean is? Shion asked back. According to Shions somewhat unreliable knowledge, the ocean was so far away that it would take a carriage seven to ten days at full speed to reach it, even if it advanced north or south in a straight line from Klinge. The Forest Labyrinth, said to be used by the demons, spanned over a far longer distance than that, but she didnt know who created it, and she also didnt know how long it had taken to create that place to begin with. However, even though such a distance would for sure be much shorter than the Forest Labyrinth, Shion knew that C assuming someone tried to create something similar C it would require an amount of funds that could make ones eyes dizzy and time that would make one faint. No matter how abundant your funds might be, its not a project that could be handled by a noble of a single country. I think Mayria can make a more detailed calculation in regards to the construction time and the necessary funds than I could, but rather than doing something like that, it would still be more realistic to build an exclusive transfer gate, wouldnt it? Shion commented. I have the manpower. Renya clearly asserted, appearing confident. Feeling a strangely bad premonition because of Renyas bold attitude, Shion tried asking, Just for reference, what kind of manpower is it? Look, there are at least three lively people who dont know what to do with their stamina and abilities. Renya replied. Being told so, Shion thought of the four heroes. Certainly, in the current situation with the demons movements having quieted down, the heroes almost never get their turn to shine, and leaving their abilities aside, they likely have more than enough stamina as well. However, just as Shion was about to think,Its not four, she thought back on Kurz.No matter what Renya might say, he doesnt seem to have any intention of making Kurz, whom he favors, do such heavy work. Let me confirm for the time being, but what are you planning to have the heroes do, Renya? Shion inquired. Public works. Mainly digging a hole. Renya answered curtly. Dont do it, okay? I beg you, give up on that, please. Shion pleaded. Even under normal circumstances there had been complaints from all over the continent about the fact Renya had assembled all the heroes. Although such complaints have mostly died out by now, theres almost no doubt that the complaints will resurface if its revealed that the gathered heroes are being used for public works. And, Shion couldnt come up with a method to extinguish those resurfaced complaints except forcibly retracting the reason for the complaints since the fault would completely be with Renya this time. H-However, in that case the manpower for creating the path Renya stammered, obviously troubled. Lets think of another way? Shion cracked a smile, not allowing Renya to refuse. In the first place, although you might say digging a hole, its impossible not to go through the territories of other nobles, isnt it? Shion argued. It wont be exposed as long as its an underground path, right? Renya replied. Yeah, sureyou could say that, but..only for the time being, no? Shion said. Although only vaguely, Shion believed that it might be somewhat difficult at the present point in time to change or stop Renyas line of thought, and thus decided instead to slightly alter the direction of the discussion. Isnt it fine to do all this planning after first going to the ocean and checking out whether its actually worth all the trouble? Renya, youre a Lost. You have never seen the ocean in this world, have you? Isnt it possible that there are no marine products you like? Shion reasoned. Thats yet another argument that completely lacks any dreams and ambitions Renya made a slightly sad face. Seeing that, Shion followed up in a hurry. Shion thought that it would certainly hurt Renyas mood to have his preferences denied from the get-go, but bulling through with ones preferences is also troublesome. Its just an example. An example, okay? On the contrary, there might be marine products there which stir the wish in you to transport them to Klinge even if its slightly unreasonable. Isnt it worthwhile to devise means on how to get it done after youve discovered such goods? Shion asked. Youhave become glib, havent you? Renya said half naturally and half astonished. Shion averted her eyes while making it seem natural, I will refrain from commenting on that. So, which do you prefer, Renya, north or south? Definitely north. Somehow Ive got a hunch that there are more delicious things in the north. These words lacked any basis or even a mental image, but Renya replied immediately. Shion nodded, I got it. I will contact mother for a bit and try asking her about a noble who has a territory in the north and doesnt have any problems with us staying there. I see. I suppose I will wait for the reply then. Renya answered. First of all, we must look for a place that accepts an investigation. The easiest way to get this information is from the archduchess through Shion. Deciding that course of action, Renya was about to return to his room, but suddenly stopped. Once Shion looked at Renya again, who had stopped moving, Renya turned around and asked, How about digging a path below the Miasma Forest? Hmm, isnt it better to consult with Emil and Croire about this rather than with me? Shion suggested somewhat irresponsibly while thinking,I feel like the matter of the heroes doing public works is already set in stone. In that case I got to fully delegate that matter to someone who knows more about this field and might be able to avoid it more skillfully than me whos no suitable obstacle for Renya. Chapter 192 It looks like there is a noble with a territory facing the sea who has approved our visit. A short while later Shion visited Renyas office while holding a bundle of papers in her hand.Renya admired her for the quick job, but given that the contact information originated from the archduchess personally, he somehow guessed that it might be a result based on some kind of consideration towards himself. He didnt consider being treated preferentially as especially good thing, but there was no need to be antagonistic towards someone giving him such treatment either. By the way, since the transfer gate was usually used for exchanges over a long distance that put importance on speed, it became extremely expensive, but because the second choice would be to give up on speed to save on costs, it depended on the situation which method to choose. Baron Gordonals territory, which is located north of the Kunugi Margraviate, seems to fit your requirements perfectly. Shion said. Tell me the details about Baron Gordonal. Renya asked with the feeling that it was probably written in the bundle of papers in her hand anyway, but Shions next course of action surprised him somewhat. She threw the bundle of papers on top of Renyas desk, and started to talk without looking at anything. Renya felt like he had just watched a bad student, whom he considered to simply be a cheater, suddenly started to smoothly write the answers of a test on the sheet without cheating. However, without knowing anything about Renyas thoughts, Shion verbally provided the information he had asked for without any hesitation. Baron Gordonal is a noble who doesnt show up at the central government often. There are various factions among the nobles, but I havent heard anything about this person belonging to any of them. Because his territory is far off and seeing how Baron Reicus, the family head, is an elderly man, mother doesnt summon him unreasonably either. Probably because of that, he doesnt have any outstanding achievements and its said that he will very likely stay as a Baron for a while. There are no special products in his territory. The agricultural produce is much the same as in other territories, but the harvest is slightly low. If judging it over-all, its no mistake to consider it to be in the lower-middle ranks as a territory of the Trident Principality. Shion explained. Renya moved to the next question while wondering whether marine products werent acceptable as special products, despite only caring about it being a coastal territory, Baron Reicus Gordonal is? Hes an elderly baron whos 69 years old. In his youth he was someone who quite flashily joined battlefields and territorial defense battles, but after he lost his wife, he quietly secluded himself in his territory. Its said that he was one of the three top swordsmen in the Trident Principality. It was just for a short time in my childhood, but he was my swordsmanship teacher. Shion said slightly proudly. Although Renya made sure not to show it on his face, he now understood the trick behind Shion being able to smoothly recite the Barons information. In short, its because hes someone related to her. He couldnt have helped but to doubt the mental capacity of someone, who didnt really know anything about the person they declared to be their own master. Is he strong? Renya asked. Id like to confirm that, butcompared to you, Renya, thats a somewhat difficult question, isnt it? Shion replied. Just regard me as an exception. Renya himself was aware that he could probably be called an irregular. If you were to use such an irregular as the standard, the talks wouldnt go anywhere. In that case, hes strong. Not only did he repel monster invasions on countless occasions because he has a territory adjoining the Miasma Forest like you, he has also experienced fighting a demon. Shion replied. Demon, you say? Thats amazing, but did he defeat them? Renya inquired. That isif its just about defeating them then he did, butquite a few of his subordinates and his wife, who was an excellent sorceress, passed away in the battle. Seeing Shion say that with a bitter voice while casting her face down, Renya broke into a cold sweat in his mind. He tried asking about it while not taking it too seriously, but the outcome was much graver than he had expected. However, if you were to consider it, demons are at the same level as dragons for normal people. If they met them, they had to resolve themselves to die on the spot. Although that wasnt the way Renya himself felt about it. That meant that even though he traded the lives of his subordinates and wife for it the barons abilities, who returned alive after killing the demon, were tremendous. Even while admiring that fact, Renya firmly decided to remember that he mustnt broach this topic in case he met the baron. Renya, are you in there? A bright voice that seemed to dispel the slightly gloomy atmosphere in Renyas office resounded. The one who opened the door without knocking and entered was Emil in her usual getup that made you cold just looking at it. After vaguely sensing the mood inside the room and slightly tilting her head to the side in confusion, Emil indifferently asked Shion, Youre talking about breaking up? Were not breaking up! Shion denied with a loud voice. Well, we would need to go out in the first place, no? Renya retorted very calmly. Even though weve already kissed and had a night visit Shion protested against his retort with teary eyes. In response, Renya remembered,Come to think of it, that did happen, didnt it? Moreover, if were talking about kissing, its something I did voluntarily, albeit for the sake of making her drink some medicine. As such it wasnt like he didnt feel sorry for Shion after he told her they werent going out. Yeah, well I guess youre right. Just now I said it without thinking it through. Sorry. Renya apologized after accepting it honestly. Hearing his words, Shions face became red, and she started to squirm while covering her face with both hands. Emil was watching Shions state with a gaze that made it obvious that she didnt give a damn at all, but seemingly having decided that things wouldnt proceed at this rate if she didnt interject, she addressed Renya while making sure not to look at Shion, who was earnestly agonizing, Ive finished the calculations you asked me for, you know? Let me have a look. After gently pushing Shion aside, who was still wriggling her body, Emil spread out a piece of paper, which she had suddenly taken out of nowhere, on top of Renyas desk. Just now, from where? Renya began to ask. Its said a girls body has plenty of places to hide things, right? You didnt know? Emil said as she grinned broadly. The paper unfolded on the table was a huge map of the circumference of the Kunugi Margraviate. The paper was so big that it definitely couldnt be tucked into any gaps on Emils body, no matter how one thought about it. She probably just said something suggestive after having casually taken it out of a void storage, but Id like her to say such things after considering what she might cause by saying them out in case her words are taken seriously, Renya thought. Theres a place on you to hide something so big, Emil? I dont know where, but isnt that way over-sized? Once Shion, who finally recovered after writhing around, exactly voiced what Renya was thinking although it wasnt as if she had read his mind. Emils expression froze after hearing Shions words. Shion responded to Emil, who turned her head in Shions direction with such a stiff motion one could almost hear creaking sounds, with a curious look, wondering whether there might be some kind of problem. Is there some kind of problem? Shion voiced out her own thoughts. I-.Its you who are saying that!? You!? Emil was shocked. What are you doing Emil!? I just honestly stated my thoughtsbah, you thought that I would stay silent just because its me, didnt you!? Deliberately averting his eyes from the two who had started to grapple while completely ignoring his presence, Renya scanned the map spread out on top of his desk. What was written on it were the calculation results of possible tunnel digging courses from the Kunugi Margraviate to the north, and the necessary depths in regards to the topography.Renya didnt understand the details as he had absolutely no knowledge in that field, but as far as he saw from the parts he understood, a route through the Miasma Forest, which he had considered at one point, seemed impossible over the whole span. If asked about a route heading straight north in that case, it apparently couldnt be called a very realistic plan either since it would require digging the tunnel quite deep so that it wouldnt be exposed to the other nobles, despite it having a shorter distance than the alternate routes. Renya smiled wryly after feeling that it was a very Emil-like way of drawing up a plan that used the premise of working in such a way that it wouldnt be noticed by the other nobles rather than consulting with them. Either way, even if we used the heroes outlandish abilities, it appears to be difficult to actually implement it. Renya commented. I-Is it okay for me to ask why you had planned to have the heroes do it? Albeit being in the middle of her scuffle with Emil, Shion asked Renya while holding Emils wrists, who had grabbed Shions mouth on both sides and was trying to stretch it to the left and right, and was doing her best to stop Emil. About that, what do you two think about the heroes? Renya questioned the two while deciding not to think about the fact that two girls were grappling and that one of them was actually a demon for the time being. Having her mind diverted from the scuffle for a moment due to Renyas words, Emil removed her hands from Shions cheeks.It created a situation of struggling for supremacy between Shion, who didnt let Emils distraction slip and tried to push from her side, and Emil who resisted Shions push. Whatdo you mean by that? Emil asked back. If Emil were to use all her power as a demon in this situation, she might have enough power to immediately twist and kill someone at Shions level, but Emil apparently possessed enough discretion to know that she couldnt afford to do something like that, and thus forced Shion back with a reasonable amount of strength. Shion was surprised by the fact she was being outmatched by Emil whom she considered to only be in charge of brain work, but the instant she understood that she had no chance of winning through strength, she retreated without fighting Emils pushing force, causing Emils upper body to pitch forward. Before Emil was able to fix her posture, Shion decisively head butted Emils forehead.A dull, thick sound reverberated inside the room. That barrier I destroyed with a single blow in the battle to recapture the dragonoids capital, the heroes had to attack it three times to break it. What do you think about that, seeing as they will be the representative combat forces against the demon kings army? Renya specified his question. That isit cant be helped, can it? Shion said. Was there a difference in awareness between the one who head-butted and the one who was head-butted? Although both sides should be in quite a bit of pain, Shion, who recovered first, grabbed Emils head, who was staggering with a hand on her forehead, and carried out a follow-up attack by dishing out another head butt while gritting her teeth.The first attack was forehead against forehead, but probably because Shion unleashed a head butt from a properly prepared stance this time, it turned into a head butt showdown between the crown of Emils head and Shions forehead. Emils expression as she fully received the attack with the crown of her head became befuddled for a moment. Renya, if we use you as a comparison, everyone will fall behind, especially in regards to combat. Shion head locked Emil with her right arm as Emil had stopped moving. Emil raised a heartbreaking voice because of the headlock that put her in quite a dilemma. Renya was puzzled, wondering just where Shion had learned such a technique, but it wasnt a topic he really wanted to pursue. If not compared to you, I dont really know about Albert-san, but I think its fine to say that the other three are at a considerable level, you know? Shion continued. Emil, who had been immobilized by the headlock, put her arms around Shions slender waist at the height of her belly with her head still being held by Shion in order to somehow stage a counterattack. Once she put strength into her arms and constricted them just like that, it became Shions turn to scream in pain. This became a contest of endurance between Emil, whose head was being tightly pressed, and Shion who had her hips constricted. Although coming from the demon king, it was only his terminal. In other words, they barely managed to break a barrier created by a part of the demon king. If they were to fight against the demon kings main body, I dont see them having a chance, much less fighting a close battle. Renya explained. Maybe theywill demonstrate some mysterious powerwhen all four of them are gathered? Emil said while bearing the pain, but even she didnt believe in the existence of such a power. Even Renya, the recipient of Emils question, shook his head, I listened to various stories and tried to search through many books, but there wasnt a single account about the heroes having such a function. Renya denied her words. Okay? But, hows that connected to the matter of the public works? Rraahh!? Emil, who had her head ground, yelled out her fighting spirit, and lifted Shions body after straining her arms. Then she thrust one of her knees forward, and dropped Shions butt on it. It was a backbone splitter, or whats called atomic drop in pro wrestling.1 This had apparently been quite effective. It made Shion throw her head back, but she barely relaxed her hold on Emil. In fact, as if returning the favor, Shion put even more strength into her arm, constricting Emils head even further. Public work is an extremely effective training method for your basic abilities. When I trained Keiths unit in Kukrika I had them earnestly dig holes on the training ground because I lacked a fitting opportunity to put that work to good use. Renya replied. Ah, that, huh? I see. Certainly, that can certainly forge all parts of your body. Shion recalled. Having said that, no matter how much time we have, it probably wont be enough for the heroes to dig a hole from here to the ocean. In fact, the heroes would die from that, wouldnt they? Emil commented. The continuous knocking sound, which was audible throughout the room, was Shion banging Emils head against the wall.On the other hand, Emil gathered her strength once more after having received the nth blow, lifted Shions body up, turned around, and dropped Shions buttocks on her knee once more. Apparently unable to endure the second blow to her butt, Shion collapsed while holding her bum, but apparently still having a hazy consciousness after having her head hit and pressured repeatedly, Emil couldnt follow up with an attack against the fallen Shion.After a short break, Emil, who had somehow managed to clear up her muddled consciousness by shaking her head, and Shion, who revived from her butt pain with teary eyes, confronted each other. Give it a rest already, and go doooown! Shion yelled. As if Im going to let you finish me off! Emil screamed back. Both sides used a running lariat while shouting at each other. As a result they hit each others throats at the same time. Emil, whose body was lighter to some degree than Shions, made a vertical half rotation on the spot, and fell to the ground with the back of her head first. On the other hand, Shion won out in strength, but Emils blow, which she received in the way of a counter, apparently damaged Shions organs, and the moment she passed by Emil, she pitched forward and collapsed, albeit not as flashy as Emil. This was what youd call a double knockout. After confirming that both sides showed no sign of standing up, Renya rang the bell to call Frau so that she could retrieve both. The bell ringing also signaled the end of the match. It looks like there is a noble with a territory facing the sea who has approved our visit. A short while later Shion visited Renyas office while holding a bundle of papers in her hand.Renya admired her for the quick job, but given that the contact information originated from the archduchess personally, he somehow guessed that it might be a result based on some kind of consideration towards himself. He didnt consider being treated preferentially as especially good thing, but there was no need to be antagonistic towards someone giving him such treatment either. By the way, since the transfer gate was usually used for exchanges over a long distance that put importance on speed, it became extremely expensive, but because the second choice would be to give up on speed to save on costs, it depended on the situation which method to choose. Baron Gordonals territory, which is located north of the Kunugi Margraviate, seems to fit your requirements perfectly. Shion said. Tell me the details about Baron Gordonal. Renya asked with the feeling that it was probably written in the bundle of papers in her hand anyway, but Shions next course of action surprised him somewhat. She threw the bundle of papers on top of Renyas desk, and started to talk without looking at anything. Renya felt like he had just watched a bad student, whom he considered to simply be a cheater, suddenly started to smoothly write the answers of a test on the sheet without cheating. However, without knowing anything about Renyas thoughts, Shion verbally provided the information he had asked for without any hesitation. Baron Gordonal is a noble who doesnt show up at the central government often. There are various factions among the nobles, but I havent heard anything about this person belonging to any of them. Because his territory is far off and seeing how Baron Reicus, the family head, is an elderly man, mother doesnt summon him unreasonably either. Probably because of that, he doesnt have any outstanding achievements and its said that he will very likely stay as a Baron for a while. There are no special products in his territory. The agricultural produce is much the same as in other territories, but the harvest is slightly low. If judging it over-all, its no mistake to consider it to be in the lower-middle ranks as a territory of the Trident Principality. Shion explained. Renya moved to the next question while wondering whether marine products werent acceptable as special products, despite only caring about it being a coastal territory, Baron Reicus Gordonal is? Hes an elderly baron whos 69 years old. In his youth he was someone who quite flashily joined battlefields and territorial defense battles, but after he lost his wife, he quietly secluded himself in his territory. Its said that he was one of the three top swordsmen in the Trident Principality. It was just for a short time in my childhood, but he was my swordsmanship teacher. Shion said slightly proudly. Although Renya made sure not to show it on his face, he now understood the trick behind Shion being able to smoothly recite the Barons information. In short, its because hes someone related to her. He couldnt have helped but to doubt the mental capacity of someone, who didnt really know anything about the person they declared to be their own master. Is he strong? Renya asked. Id like to confirm that, butcompared to you, Renya, thats a somewhat difficult question, isnt it? Shion replied. Just regard me as an exception. Renya himself was aware that he could probably be called an irregular. If you were to use such an irregular as the standard, the talks wouldnt go anywhere. In that case, hes strong. Not only did he repel monster invasions on countless occasions because he has a territory adjoining the Miasma Forest like you, he has also experienced fighting a demon. Shion replied. Demon, you say? Thats amazing, but did he defeat them? Renya inquired. That isif its just about defeating them then he did, butquite a few of his subordinates and his wife, who was an excellent sorceress, passed away in the battle. Seeing Shion say that with a bitter voice while casting her face down, Renya broke into a cold sweat in his mind. He tried asking about it while not taking it too seriously, but the outcome was much graver than he had expected. However, if you were to consider it, demons are at the same level as dragons for normal people. If they met them, they had to resolve themselves to die on the spot. Although that wasnt the way Renya himself felt about it. That meant that even though he traded the lives of his subordinates and wife for it the barons abilities, who returned alive after killing the demon, were tremendous. Even while admiring that fact, Renya firmly decided to remember that he mustnt broach this topic in case he met the baron. Renya, are you in there? A bright voice that seemed to dispel the slightly gloomy atmosphere in Renyas office resounded. The one who opened the door without knocking and entered was Emil in her usual getup that made you cold just looking at it. After vaguely sensing the mood inside the room and slightly tilting her head to the side in confusion, Emil indifferently asked Shion, Youre talking about breaking up? Were not breaking up! Shion denied with a loud voice. Well, we would need to go out in the first place, no? Renya retorted very calmly. Even though weve already kissed and had a night visit Shion protested against his retort with teary eyes. In response, Renya remembered,Come to think of it, that did happen, didnt it? Moreover, if were talking about kissing, its something I did voluntarily, albeit for the sake of making her drink some medicine. As such it wasnt like he didnt feel sorry for Shion after he told her they werent going out. Yeah, well I guess youre right. Just now I said it without thinking it through. Sorry. Renya apologized after accepting it honestly. Hearing his words, Shions face became red, and she started to squirm while covering her face with both hands. Emil was watching Shions state with a gaze that made it obvious that she didnt give a damn at all, but seemingly having decided that things wouldnt proceed at this rate if she didnt interject, she addressed Renya while making sure not to look at Shion, who was earnestly agonizing, Ive finished the calculations you asked me for, you know? Let me have a look. After gently pushing Shion aside, who was still wriggling her body, Emil spread out a piece of paper, which she had suddenly taken out of nowhere, on top of Renyas desk. Just now, from where? Renya began to ask. Its said a girls body has plenty of places to hide things, right? You didnt know? Emil said as she grinned broadly. The paper unfolded on the table was a huge map of the circumference of the Kunugi Margraviate. The paper was so big that it definitely couldnt be tucked into any gaps on Emils body, no matter how one thought about it. She probably just said something suggestive after having casually taken it out of a void storage, but Id like her to say such things after considering what she might cause by saying them out in case her words are taken seriously, Renya thought. Theres a place on you to hide something so big, Emil? I dont know where, but isnt that way over-sized? Once Shion, who finally recovered after writhing around, exactly voiced what Renya was thinking although it wasnt as if she had read his mind. Emils expression froze after hearing Shions words. Shion responded to Emil, who turned her head in Shions direction with such a stiff motion one could almost hear creaking sounds, with a curious look, wondering whether there might be some kind of problem. Is there some kind of problem? Shion voiced out her own thoughts. I-.Its you who are saying that!? You!? Emil was shocked. What are you doing Emil!? I just honestly stated my thoughtsbah, you thought that I would stay silent just because its me, didnt you!? Deliberately averting his eyes from the two who had started to grapple while completely ignoring his presence, Renya scanned the map spread out on top of his desk. What was written on it were the calculation results of possible tunnel digging courses from the Kunugi Margraviate to the north, and the necessary depths in regards to the topography.Renya didnt understand the details as he had absolutely no knowledge in that field, but as far as he saw from the parts he understood, a route through the Miasma Forest, which he had considered at one point, seemed impossible over the whole span. If asked about a route heading straight north in that case, it apparently couldnt be called a very realistic plan either since it would require digging the tunnel quite deep so that it wouldnt be exposed to the other nobles, despite it having a shorter distance than the alternate routes. Renya smiled wryly after feeling that it was a very Emil-like way of drawing up a plan that used the premise of working in such a way that it wouldnt be noticed by the other nobles rather than consulting with them. Either way, even if we used the heroes outlandish abilities, it appears to be difficult to actually implement it. Renya commented. I-Is it okay for me to ask why you had planned to have the heroes do it? Albeit being in the middle of her scuffle with Emil, Shion asked Renya while holding Emils wrists, who had grabbed Shions mouth on both sides and was trying to stretch it to the left and right, and was doing her best to stop Emil. About that, what do you two think about the heroes? Renya questioned the two while deciding not to think about the fact that two girls were grappling and that one of them was actually a demon for the time being. Having her mind diverted from the scuffle for a moment due to Renyas words, Emil removed her hands from Shions cheeks.It created a situation of struggling for supremacy between Shion, who didnt let Emils distraction slip and tried to push from her side, and Emil who resisted Shions push. Whatdo you mean by that? Emil asked back. If Emil were to use all her power as a demon in this situation, she might have enough power to immediately twist and kill someone at Shions level, but Emil apparently possessed enough discretion to know that she couldnt afford to do something like that, and thus forced Shion back with a reasonable amount of strength. Shion was surprised by the fact she was being outmatched by Emil whom she considered to only be in charge of brain work, but the instant she understood that she had no chance of winning through strength, she retreated without fighting Emils pushing force, causing Emils upper body to pitch forward. Before Emil was able to fix her posture, Shion decisively head butted Emils forehead.A dull, thick sound reverberated inside the room. That barrier I destroyed with a single blow in the battle to recapture the dragonoids capital, the heroes had to attack it three times to break it. What do you think about that, seeing as they will be the representative combat forces against the demon kings army? Renya specified his question. That isit cant be helped, can it? Shion said. Was there a difference in awareness between the one who head-butted and the one who was head-butted? Although both sides should be in quite a bit of pain, Shion, who recovered first, grabbed Emils head, who was staggering with a hand on her forehead, and carried out a follow-up attack by dishing out another head butt while gritting her teeth.The first attack was forehead against forehead, but probably because Shion unleashed a head butt from a properly prepared stance this time, it turned into a head butt showdown between the crown of Emils head and Shions forehead. Emils expression as she fully received the attack with the crown of her head became befuddled for a moment. Renya, if we use you as a comparison, everyone will fall behind, especially in regards to combat. Shion head locked Emil with her right arm as Emil had stopped moving. Emil raised a heartbreaking voice because of the headlock that put her in quite a dilemma. Renya was puzzled, wondering just where Shion had learned such a technique, but it wasnt a topic he really wanted to pursue. If not compared to you, I dont really know about Albert-san, but I think its fine to say that the other three are at a considerable level, you know? Shion continued. Emil, who had been immobilized by the headlock, put her arms around Shions slender waist at the height of her belly with her head still being held by Shion in order to somehow stage a counterattack. Once she put strength into her arms and constricted them just like that, it became Shions turn to scream in pain. This became a contest of endurance between Emil, whose head was being tightly pressed, and Shion who had her hips constricted. Although coming from the demon king, it was only his terminal. In other words, they barely managed to break a barrier created by a part of the demon king. If they were to fight against the demon kings main body, I dont see them having a chance, much less fighting a close battle. Renya explained. Maybe theywill demonstrate some mysterious powerwhen all four of them are gathered? Emil said while bearing the pain, but even she didnt believe in the existence of such a power. Even Renya, the recipient of Emils question, shook his head, I listened to various stories and tried to search through many books, but there wasnt a single account about the heroes having such a function. Renya denied her words. Okay? But, hows that connected to the matter of the public works? Rraahh!? Emil, who had her head ground, yelled out her fighting spirit, and lifted Shions body after straining her arms. Then she thrust one of her knees forward, and dropped Shions butt on it. It was a backbone splitter, or whats called atomic drop in pro wrestling.1 This had apparently been quite effective. It made Shion throw her head back, but she barely relaxed her hold on Emil. In fact, as if returning the favor, Shion put even more strength into her arm, constricting Emils head even further. Public work is an extremely effective training method for your basic abilities. When I trained Keiths unit in Kukrika I had them earnestly dig holes on the training ground because I lacked a fitting opportunity to put that work to good use. Renya replied. Ah, that, huh? I see. Certainly, that can certainly forge all parts of your body. Shion recalled. Having said that, no matter how much time we have, it probably wont be enough for the heroes to dig a hole from here to the ocean. In fact, the heroes would die from that, wouldnt they? Emil commented. The continuous knocking sound, which was audible throughout the room, was Shion banging Emils head against the wall.On the other hand, Emil gathered her strength once more after having received the nth blow, lifted Shions body up, turned around, and dropped Shions buttocks on her knee once more. Apparently unable to endure the second blow to her butt, Shion collapsed while holding her bum, but apparently still having a hazy consciousness after having her head hit and pressured repeatedly, Emil couldnt follow up with an attack against the fallen Shion.After a short break, Emil, who had somehow managed to clear up her muddled consciousness by shaking her head, and Shion, who revived from her butt pain with teary eyes, confronted each other. Give it a rest already, and go doooown! Shion yelled. As if Im going to let you finish me off! Emil screamed back. Both sides used a running lariat while shouting at each other. As a result they hit each others throats at the same time. Emil, whose body was lighter to some degree than Shions, made a vertical half rotation on the spot, and fell to the ground with the back of her head first. On the other hand, Shion won out in strength, but Emils blow, which she received in the way of a counter, apparently damaged Shions organs, and the moment she passed by Emil, she pitched forward and collapsed, albeit not as flashy as Emil. This was what youd call a double knockout. After confirming that both sides showed no sign of standing up, Renya rang the bell to call Frau so that she could retrieve both. The bell ringing also signaled the end of the match. Chapter 193 The location was a certain road stretching from the Kunugi Margraviate to the north. As forests were growing on both sides, it was a route with bad visibility. There was no other option but to ask the creator what they had in mind when they built the road, but the road itself was actually quite old, and it was obvious that its creator wouldnt be alive anymore. The fact that the view on both sides of the road was obstructed by forests made it the perfect spot for ambushes. There might have been some kind of reason to build it like that based on the territorys defense, but excluding times of war, it had absolutely no meaning in times of peace. A group was lying motionlessly within the forest. It was obvious at a glance that their weapons and clothes were worn-out, and their equipment lacked any kind of unity. They were dirty and it was obvious with a glance that they werent decent people to begin with. They fixedly stared down the road with the glaring eyes of starved beasts while keeping their bodies low. What they were waiting for was a big trade caravan that got noticed by their intelligence network. In short, they were bandits. Having obtained the information that a trade caravan, which would be fully loaded with cargo, would be traveling along this road, they were on high alert, eagerly awaiting for the merchants to arrive. Of course, if it was such a big trade caravan, they would naturally have quite a few guards with them. However, it often happened that low-ranking adventurers looking to earn some extra change were hired for such things, and if their ability was low, their experience in group and interpersonal battles would be lacking as well. On the other hand, the bandits might be several levels worse off in terms of equipment when compared to adventurers, but they were used to group and interpersonal battles, and on top of that, they had the numerical advantage on their side. Its a digression, but genuine bandits dont exist in this world. Most of them are dropouts like farmers, who went broke, or adventurers who were excommunicated by the guild after repeated transgressions. The fact they went down the criminal path might have some parts that could be somewhat pitied, but if you see it from the perspective of the ones being attacked, theres no difference whether they do it for the sake of survival, to get food, or for pleasure. However, apparently because these were the main reasons bandits would crop up, the number of them in the Kunugi Margraviate was negligible. After all, there was plenty of work in a new territory like the Kunugi Margraviate as long as one wasnt particular about the type of work. Even if the citizens didnt go out of their way to meddle with occupations like banditry that only had few people doing it because of the dangers associated, they would receive jobs by simply asking at the employment agency, and those working diligently could always live affluently. For that reason, the bandits, who existed in the Kunugi Margraviate, were only composed of people that had wandered in from other territories after hearing about the good situation in the Kunugi Margraviate. Oi, I see em. One of the bandits said with a quiet, stifled voice. At the end of his line of sight they discovered a cloud of dust raising far down the highway. Aint it somewhat weird? Someone voiced out, showing signs of suspicion. The suspicion arose because the amount of dust being blown into the air seemed to be abnormally big, but another bandit ridiculed those words, Ya gettin cold feet? If yer pressin on with yer wagons that are fully loaded, such an amount of smoke is blown up, ye? Ya might b rite. Hey, ye shitheads! Shut yer traps and get rdy. A man who seemed to be the leader ordered. Accordingly, the bandits began to prepare. Although it was called preparation, it was only several bandits getting a grip on the rope, which they had spanned across the road and then hidden beneath a layer of sand, for blocking the road. The remaining bandits drew their weapons and got ready to attack all at once as soon as the order went out. All that was left was to pull the rope to block the road once the trade caravan passed by their location, and attack all at once when the merchants wagons came to a halt. There were also times when the bandits would choose to block the road with their own bodies, but once they had done that several times, their targets came up with countermeasures, and the number of trade caravans, which tried to break through by running over the ones blocking the street after adding leather and metal guards to their horses and wagons, had been increasing. As a consequence of this, the ones breaking through got injured in the process, but because the bandits were naturally injured as well, it led to a greater loss of combat power on the bandits side. However, while that may be true, it didnt mean that the likes of bandits could blockade the road with some kind of big trap. And even assuming they could for arguments sake: If the road became unusable because of the trap and the aftermath cleanup, it would result in the trade caravans passing through there decreasing, effectively lowering the bandits spoils. Hence they came up with the method of stopping the horses, which would likely be pulling the wagons, with a rope as a compromise. Even if the merchants were to force their way through in this case, the horses would fall over, or, if it looked like the horses were going to break through, they just had to let the rope go. As long as they could completely stop the horses, the bandits would be able to proceed to their hearts contents afterwards, be it burning everything down or killing everyone. That was the case until today. Having finished their preparations as usual, and waiting at their stations as usual, the bandits started to hear explosions that werent as usual in any way. Not that much time had passed since they had confirmed the cloud of dust in the distance. The hells this? The bandits started to become noisy because of the sounds they werent used to hearing. Going by the rough estimate at the time when they saw the clod out dust, there should still be plenty of time left until that, which appeared to be the targeted trade caravan, would reach their hiding spot, but the cloud of dust suggested that it had closed the distance considerably, and the explosions, which were of completely unknown origin, continued to rise in volume as if to indicate that the caravan was approaching at a great speed. A-Aint somethin wrong here? Idiot. If its different, so be it. Aint it fine to simply slaughter the guys comin first and then aim for the ones coming after? Some of the bandits started to get flustered, but as they were shouted down by the others, they had no choice but to stay where they were. If they had left those that wanted to escape to their own devices at this time, things might have turned out differently further down the road, but believing that things would proceed as usual, following their expectations, turned out to be their doom. Hey, theyr comin! Pull the rope! Huh? Somehow I dun see ny horses Having reached this point in time, some others finally noticed the abnormality of the situation as well, but the other bandits, who had their eyes set on their prey, were already unable to make a calm judgment, and shouted at them. Shut t fuck up! Just stoppit, the rests gonna work out somehow. As ordered, the rope was pulled, and some of the more short-tempered bandits showed up on the other side. While readying their swords and axes which they were holding and flaunting, they turned their eyes towards what might be a wagon, which was closing in while kicking up a cloud of dust, and their expressions froze once they noticed that they had been wrong. Wahahahahahaha! No matter how often I ride it, its really, damn fun! They could hear a woman saying something while laughing wildly, but they had absolutely no spare time to pay attention to something like that. For the bandits it was something they were seeing for the very first time. It had a frame that appeared to be made out of some kind of metal, a square something that had been equipped with some unknown armor and leather while following some kind of purpose. For a second it looked like it might be a wagon, but if it were a wagon, it would be very odd for it to have no horses pulling it, and yet no horses could be seen. Even though it wasnt being pulled, something that seemed like wheels were raising a big dust cloud, and while they were turning they were making thunderous explosions. It was something completely outside the bandits scope of knowledge and imagination. With only that much, they reflexively ended up being completely captivated by it, resulting in them being late in coping with the situation. Once it thrust into the rope spanning across the road without dropping its speed at all, it went straight ahead while pulling the rope along without decelerating at all. There was no way for the bandits, who had been holding on to the rope, to be able to evade that which had appeared right in front of them just as they realized what was going on.Sounds of something wet and soft being knocked against something hard reverberated many times. Without being able to tell whether it was the bodies or faces of the bandits, who had hidden near the grove of trees or within, the bandits were struck and sprayed by something with a slimy sensation, and an intense stench of iron rust was scattered into the vicinity. The bandits, who had grasped the rope, missed the timing to let go of it due to the excessive speed ofthatas it had passed through. Some were dragged along the roads surface for a while as they held onto the rope. Others were suddenly slapped against trees. And other, unluckier fellows were thrown against their comrades at a high speed. All of this happened in an instant. None of the bandits could react. They, who were dumbfounded for a while as they followed the cloud of dust as it grew distant with their eyes, wiped the something clinging to their faces and bodies with their hands before long, and froze once they realized what it really was. They were the smashed body parts of what used to be their comrades several minutes ago. Some raised hollow laughter due to the overly gruesome sight. Others immediately went down on all fours and threw up everything in their stomachs, unable to hold back their urge to vomit. Even the bandits, who didnt go as far as to vomit, werent able to move as single step from where they were standing, and merely racked their brains with the questions, Just what did we try to mess with? and What did we do for it to leave?, questions lacking any answers. Huh? Why are so many people around hereoh, those guys were bandits!? Uoh!? Whats this pool of blood? Hey, you guys, just what, bah, theres no one to answer, is there? Saaay, is it fine to catch them? I think well be able to get a bounty since they are bandits, but its fine to catch them, right? A little time passed after the something, which had left the bandits dumbfounded, had left. The trade caravan, which should have been the bandits original target, arrived on-site. The escorting adventurers discovered a group of bandits, which didnt even try to move, in the middle of the forests on the highway and on the sides, resulting in them becoming extremely bewildered. Going by their personal appearances, their equipment, and the situation on-site, there seemed to be no doubt that they were bandits, but even when the adventurers cautiously approached them, they didnt move at all, and didnt show any signs of resisting arrest. Blood, body parts, and countless clumps of meat, which couldnt be identified any longer, were scattered on the ground and in the surrounding forest. Given that there was a considerably large number of people, that died after being thrown against fellow bandits and trees with an excessively powerful force, the adventurers guessed that they might have been attacked by some kind of monster, but there was almost no one among the captured bandits who had regained their sanity, and since even those, who barely did, started to confess incoherent things as they had no idea what had attacked them at all, the investigation about them quickly came to an end, and all of them were taken along for their punishment. Hey, Emil. We definitely ran over something just now, didnt we? Renya, who had been nodding off in the passenger seat of Emils carefully produced car, woke up from a faint impact traveling across the cars frame, and asked Emil who was laughing loudly next to him. Shion and Rona, both sleeping soundly as well, sat in the back seats. Renyas group, which had decided to postpone their decision on whether to dig a tunnel to the sea or if they could think up some kind of other method until after they had actually seen the sea for starters, took out the car, which Emil had built before and had then been stored in Renyas inventory, and were now in the middle of traveling straight north. From Renyas point of view, it was something that made him feel slightly anxious, but the one most skilled at driving this car was Emil. Since it couldnt be helped, he first asked Emil to accompany them, and then entrusted the driving to her. Moreover, Shion and Rona requested to accompany him as well, claiming that it would be absolutely necessary to greet the noble governing the territory they were heading to. On the other hand, the ones who didnt want to accompany him were Mayria, who had completely turned into a workaholic, and Croire who seemed uninterested in visiting other human territories. Since Renya had asked Frau to take care of his home from the start, she joined the ones staying behind. As for the four heroes: Kurz had been playing with the two priestesses who followed him around as usual, but the other three made themselves scarce, seemingly having felt some kind of bad premonition. Renya admired how their intuition worked at the strangest of times. For that reason, Renya departed to the Baron Gordonal territory for the sake of seeing the sea with only three members, which was unusual considering it was Renya. Eh? Did we run something over, you ask? I dont think we did, though? Emil replied. Please, Im begging you, its wrong to run over travelers or caravans, so dont do it. If you hit someone at this speed, they wont be able to remain as people anymore, and we will be charged with big reparation payments. Renya pleaded. This car was quite something even in regard to the sturdiness of its main frame, but because it also uses a barrier at the same time, its sturdiness gets boosted even further. On top of that, Emil went at the highest acceleration this car possessed from the very start, driving it at its highest speed. However, even if she drove like this, the destination was so far away that it would still take more than half a day to arrive. Shion and Rona, who were sitting in the back seats, quickly lost consciousness, and were now peacefully sleeping next to each other. Renya had remained awake for a while to monitor Emil, but he apparently fell asleep in due time. Youre really a worrywart, Renya. Its fine. I wont run over things that mustnt be run over, got it? Emil exclaimed in annoyance. As if I could trust you. Renya retorted. How cruel. Itll be alright, so just go sleep already. Ill wake you up once we enter a city. If you like, Ill arrange for an inn, and even take you to bed. Emil said jokingly. For now it was scheduled that they would arrive in the evening to a city located in Baron Gordonals territory, their destination. They had planned to spend a night in an inn over there, and then head to the city the next day after greeting Baron Gordonal first. Its said that sleep is healthy for a childs growth, right? Since the two in the back are also sleeping while looking so happy, its okay for you to be sound asleep as well, you know? Emil commented. Theres no way I would make you drive all the way, is there? Renya intended to take her fatigue into consideration as well, but for Emil that appeared to be unnecessary. She laughed lightly through her nose, Im not someone that would feel exhausted from something like this. Since my true abilities are different to begin with, you dont need to be strangely considerate of me, and should get some rest when you can. Dont you think so? Really? ThenI will rely on you for a little while longer. Renya consented. Its probably true that theres nothing better than sleeping, Renya thought. Once he decided to sleep for a while, he didnt need much time to doze off. Emil fixedly stared at Renyas profile for a while after he had started to snore once again while entrusting his back to the passengers seat, but once she confirmed that he wouldnt wake up anytime soon, she headed towards their destination while churning up the acceleration close to the limit again, bringing up the speed which she had decreased a bit. The location was a certain road stretching from the Kunugi Margraviate to the north. As forests were growing on both sides, it was a route with bad visibility. There was no other option but to ask the creator what they had in mind when they built the road, but the road itself was actually quite old, and it was obvious that its creator wouldnt be alive anymore. The fact that the view on both sides of the road was obstructed by forests made it the perfect spot for ambushes. There might have been some kind of reason to build it like that based on the territorys defense, but excluding times of war, it had absolutely no meaning in times of peace. A group was lying motionlessly within the forest. It was obvious at a glance that their weapons and clothes were worn-out, and their equipment lacked any kind of unity. They were dirty and it was obvious with a glance that they werent decent people to begin with. They fixedly stared down the road with the glaring eyes of starved beasts while keeping their bodies low. What they were waiting for was a big trade caravan that got noticed by their intelligence network. In short, they were bandits. Having obtained the information that a trade caravan, which would be fully loaded with cargo, would be traveling along this road, they were on high alert, eagerly awaiting for the merchants to arrive. Of course, if it was such a big trade caravan, they would naturally have quite a few guards with them. However, it often happened that low-ranking adventurers looking to earn some extra change were hired for such things, and if their ability was low, their experience in group and interpersonal battles would be lacking as well. On the other hand, the bandits might be several levels worse off in terms of equipment when compared to adventurers, but they were used to group and interpersonal battles, and on top of that, they had the numerical advantage on their side. Its a digression, but genuine bandits dont exist in this world. Most of them are dropouts like farmers, who went broke, or adventurers who were excommunicated by the guild after repeated transgressions. The fact they went down the criminal path might have some parts that could be somewhat pitied, but if you see it from the perspective of the ones being attacked, theres no difference whether they do it for the sake of survival, to get food, or for pleasure. However, apparently because these were the main reasons bandits would crop up, the number of them in the Kunugi Margraviate was negligible. After all, there was plenty of work in a new territory like the Kunugi Margraviate as long as one wasnt particular about the type of work. Even if the citizens didnt go out of their way to meddle with occupations like banditry that only had few people doing it because of the dangers associated, they would receive jobs by simply asking at the employment agency, and those working diligently could always live affluently. For that reason, the bandits, who existed in the Kunugi Margraviate, were only composed of people that had wandered in from other territories after hearing about the good situation in the Kunugi Margraviate. Oi, I see em. One of the bandits said with a quiet, stifled voice. At the end of his line of sight they discovered a cloud of dust raising far down the highway. Aint it somewhat weird? Someone voiced out, showing signs of suspicion. The suspicion arose because the amount of dust being blown into the air seemed to be abnormally big, but another bandit ridiculed those words, Ya gettin cold feet? If yer pressin on with yer wagons that are fully loaded, such an amount of smoke is blown up, ye? Ya might b rite. Hey, ye shitheads! Shut yer traps and get rdy. A man who seemed to be the leader ordered. Accordingly, the bandits began to prepare. Although it was called preparation, it was only several bandits getting a grip on the rope, which they had spanned across the road and then hidden beneath a layer of sand, for blocking the road. The remaining bandits drew their weapons and got ready to attack all at once as soon as the order went out. All that was left was to pull the rope to block the road once the trade caravan passed by their location, and attack all at once when the merchants wagons came to a halt. There were also times when the bandits would choose to block the road with their own bodies, but once they had done that several times, their targets came up with countermeasures, and the number of trade caravans, which tried to break through by running over the ones blocking the street after adding leather and metal guards to their horses and wagons, had been increasing. As a consequence of this, the ones breaking through got injured in the process, but because the bandits were naturally injured as well, it led to a greater loss of combat power on the bandits side. However, while that may be true, it didnt mean that the likes of bandits could blockade the road with some kind of big trap. And even assuming they could for arguments sake: If the road became unusable because of the trap and the aftermath cleanup, it would result in the trade caravans passing through there decreasing, effectively lowering the bandits spoils. Hence they came up with the method of stopping the horses, which would likely be pulling the wagons, with a rope as a compromise. Even if the merchants were to force their way through in this case, the horses would fall over, or, if it looked like the horses were going to break through, they just had to let the rope go. As long as they could completely stop the horses, the bandits would be able to proceed to their hearts contents afterwards, be it burning everything down or killing everyone. That was the case until today. Having finished their preparations as usual, and waiting at their stations as usual, the bandits started to hear explosions that werent as usual in any way. Not that much time had passed since they had confirmed the cloud of dust in the distance. The hells this? The bandits started to become noisy because of the sounds they werent used to hearing. Going by the rough estimate at the time when they saw the clod out dust, there should still be plenty of time left until that, which appeared to be the targeted trade caravan, would reach their hiding spot, but the cloud of dust suggested that it had closed the distance considerably, and the explosions, which were of completely unknown origin, continued to rise in volume as if to indicate that the caravan was approaching at a great speed. A-Aint somethin wrong here? Idiot. If its different, so be it. Aint it fine to simply slaughter the guys comin first and then aim for the ones coming after? Some of the bandits started to get flustered, but as they were shouted down by the others, they had no choice but to stay where they were. If they had left those that wanted to escape to their own devices at this time, things might have turned out differently further down the road, but believing that things would proceed as usual, following their expectations, turned out to be their doom. Hey, theyr comin! Pull the rope! Huh? Somehow I dun see ny horses Having reached this point in time, some others finally noticed the abnormality of the situation as well, but the other bandits, who had their eyes set on their prey, were already unable to make a calm judgment, and shouted at them. Shut t fuck up! Just stoppit, the rests gonna work out somehow. As ordered, the rope was pulled, and some of the more short-tempered bandits showed up on the other side. While readying their swords and axes which they were holding and flaunting, they turned their eyes towards what might be a wagon, which was closing in while kicking up a cloud of dust, and their expressions froze once they noticed that they had been wrong. Wahahahahahaha! No matter how often I ride it, its really, damn fun! They could hear a woman saying something while laughing wildly, but they had absolutely no spare time to pay attention to something like that. For the bandits it was something they were seeing for the very first time. It had a frame that appeared to be made out of some kind of metal, a square something that had been equipped with some unknown armor and leather while following some kind of purpose. For a second it looked like it might be a wagon, but if it were a wagon, it would be very odd for it to have no horses pulling it, and yet no horses could be seen. Even though it wasnt being pulled, something that seemed like wheels were raising a big dust cloud, and while they were turning they were making thunderous explosions. It was something completely outside the bandits scope of knowledge and imagination. With only that much, they reflexively ended up being completely captivated by it, resulting in them being late in coping with the situation. Once it thrust into the rope spanning across the road without dropping its speed at all, it went straight ahead while pulling the rope along without decelerating at all. There was no way for the bandits, who had been holding on to the rope, to be able to evade that which had appeared right in front of them just as they realized what was going on.Sounds of something wet and soft being knocked against something hard reverberated many times. Without being able to tell whether it was the bodies or faces of the bandits, who had hidden near the grove of trees or within, the bandits were struck and sprayed by something with a slimy sensation, and an intense stench of iron rust was scattered into the vicinity. The bandits, who had grasped the rope, missed the timing to let go of it due to the excessive speed ofthatas it had passed through. Some were dragged along the roads surface for a while as they held onto the rope. Others were suddenly slapped against trees. And other, unluckier fellows were thrown against their comrades at a high speed. All of this happened in an instant. None of the bandits could react. They, who were dumbfounded for a while as they followed the cloud of dust as it grew distant with their eyes, wiped the something clinging to their faces and bodies with their hands before long, and froze once they realized what it really was. They were the smashed body parts of what used to be their comrades several minutes ago. Some raised hollow laughter due to the overly gruesome sight. Others immediately went down on all fours and threw up everything in their stomachs, unable to hold back their urge to vomit. Even the bandits, who didnt go as far as to vomit, werent able to move as single step from where they were standing, and merely racked their brains with the questions, Just what did we try to mess with? and What did we do for it to leave?, questions lacking any answers. Huh? Why are so many people around hereoh, those guys were bandits!? Uoh!? Whats this pool of blood? Hey, you guys, just what, bah, theres no one to answer, is there? Saaay, is it fine to catch them? I think well be able to get a bounty since they are bandits, but its fine to catch them, right? A little time passed after the something, which had left the bandits dumbfounded, had left. The trade caravan, which should have been the bandits original target, arrived on-site. The escorting adventurers discovered a group of bandits, which didnt even try to move, in the middle of the forests on the highway and on the sides, resulting in them becoming extremely bewildered. Going by their personal appearances, their equipment, and the situation on-site, there seemed to be no doubt that they were bandits, but even when the adventurers cautiously approached them, they didnt move at all, and didnt show any signs of resisting arrest. Blood, body parts, and countless clumps of meat, which couldnt be identified any longer, were scattered on the ground and in the surrounding forest. Given that there was a considerably large number of people, that died after being thrown against fellow bandits and trees with an excessively powerful force, the adventurers guessed that they might have been attacked by some kind of monster, but there was almost no one among the captured bandits who had regained their sanity, and since even those, who barely did, started to confess incoherent things as they had no idea what had attacked them at all, the investigation about them quickly came to an end, and all of them were taken along for their punishment. Hey, Emil. We definitely ran over something just now, didnt we? Renya, who had been nodding off in the passenger seat of Emils carefully produced car, woke up from a faint impact traveling across the cars frame, and asked Emil who was laughing loudly next to him. Shion and Rona, both sleeping soundly as well, sat in the back seats. Renyas group, which had decided to postpone their decision on whether to dig a tunnel to the sea or if they could think up some kind of other method until after they had actually seen the sea for starters, took out the car, which Emil had built before and had then been stored in Renyas inventory, and were now in the middle of traveling straight north. From Renyas point of view, it was something that made him feel slightly anxious, but the one most skilled at driving this car was Emil. Since it couldnt be helped, he first asked Emil to accompany them, and then entrusted the driving to her. Moreover, Shion and Rona requested to accompany him as well, claiming that it would be absolutely necessary to greet the noble governing the territory they were heading to. On the other hand, the ones who didnt want to accompany him were Mayria, who had completely turned into a workaholic, and Croire who seemed uninterested in visiting other human territories. Since Renya had asked Frau to take care of his home from the start, she joined the ones staying behind. As for the four heroes: Kurz had been playing with the two priestesses who followed him around as usual, but the other three made themselves scarce, seemingly having felt some kind of bad premonition. Renya admired how their intuition worked at the strangest of times. For that reason, Renya departed to the Baron Gordonal territory for the sake of seeing the sea with only three members, which was unusual considering it was Renya. Eh? Did we run something over, you ask? I dont think we did, though? Emil replied. Please, Im begging you, its wrong to run over travelers or caravans, so dont do it. If you hit someone at this speed, they wont be able to remain as people anymore, and we will be charged with big reparation payments. Renya pleaded. This car was quite something even in regard to the sturdiness of its main frame, but because it also uses a barrier at the same time, its sturdiness gets boosted even further. On top of that, Emil went at the highest acceleration this car possessed from the very start, driving it at its highest speed. However, even if she drove like this, the destination was so far away that it would still take more than half a day to arrive. Shion and Rona, who were sitting in the back seats, quickly lost consciousness, and were now peacefully sleeping next to each other. Renya had remained awake for a while to monitor Emil, but he apparently fell asleep in due time. Youre really a worrywart, Renya. Its fine. I wont run over things that mustnt be run over, got it? Emil exclaimed in annoyance. As if I could trust you. Renya retorted. How cruel. Itll be alright, so just go sleep already. Ill wake you up once we enter a city. If you like, Ill arrange for an inn, and even take you to bed. Emil said jokingly. For now it was scheduled that they would arrive in the evening to a city located in Baron Gordonals territory, their destination. They had planned to spend a night in an inn over there, and then head to the city the next day after greeting Baron Gordonal first. Its said that sleep is healthy for a childs growth, right? Since the two in the back are also sleeping while looking so happy, its okay for you to be sound asleep as well, you know? Emil commented. Theres no way I would make you drive all the way, is there? Renya intended to take her fatigue into consideration as well, but for Emil that appeared to be unnecessary. She laughed lightly through her nose, Im not someone that would feel exhausted from something like this. Since my true abilities are different to begin with, you dont need to be strangely considerate of me, and should get some rest when you can. Dont you think so? Really? ThenI will rely on you for a little while longer. Renya consented. Its probably true that theres nothing better than sleeping, Renya thought. Once he decided to sleep for a while, he didnt need much time to doze off. Emil fixedly stared at Renyas profile for a while after he had started to snore once again while entrusting his back to the passengers seat, but once she confirmed that he wouldnt wake up anytime soon, she headed towards their destination while churning up the acceleration close to the limit again, bringing up the speed which she had decreased a bit. Chapter 194 Out of consideration that suddenly driving into the town in Emils special car would probably cause chaos among the citizens, we got off fairly far away, and I stored the car away in my inventory. Even though there was no problem up until we entered the city on foot, I wonder, just whats going on right now, Renya was baffled.It seems its safe to say that getting involved with nobles wont result in anything decent. I welcome you after coming all this way, Margrave Kunugi-dono. I am Reicus Gordonal, the one ruling this territory. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. The one bowing his head with those well-mannered, polite words was a man with a wrinkled face, a well-shaped and trimmed beard, and all the white hair on his head neatly combed down. A smile that made one feel as though hes a good-natured old man was plastered on his face, but his blue eyes, which were vigilantly staring at Renya, gave a graphic account that Renya would be in for a lot of pain if he were to look down on Reicus as a mere old man. All of that was certainly important information, but because Renya had something he wanted to know above all else, he asked with a somewhat flabbergasted voice, Why yes, thank you for your politeness. By the way, theres something Id like to ask you if possible. What might it be, Your Excellency? Reicus answered. I just visited to give you my greetings and planned to leave immediately after doing so, so Id like you to tell me why I was brought to such a place? Renya inquired while looking down at his feet. What he found there was soil firmly hardened after being tread upon, and when he raised his eyes, he saw the blue sky spreading out above him. The vicinity was surrounded by a simple fence, and it was obvious at a single glance that this place had been created for an obvious reason. Emil amused herself while outside the fence, Shion revealed a somewhat troubled expression, and Rona was strangely calm. Its funny how each of their expressions seem to convey their respective expectations, Renya ended up thinking unintentionally. Please allow me to explain, Your Excellency. Reicus courteously said while placing a hand on his chest. While acutely getting a bad premonition due to his behavior, Renya urged him to continue by nodding. Her Highness Shion, who has been staying near you, is the daughter of Her Majesty the Archduchess whom I love and respect. Reicus continued. Renya nodded once more. After all he hadnt said anything untrue. And yet Renya felt as if his bad premonition was getting stronger, albeit little by little. Moreover, while unworthy, I had the privilege to teach Shion-sama the sword in her childhood. Reicus said. Okay. It may be presumptuous, but I think of Shion-sama as my granddaughter. Reicus further continued. Okay? As Renya looked at Shion once more while turning his confirmation into a question, he saw her smiling extremely bashfully while scratching her head for some reason. While sighing as he wondered just what she was thinking about in that small bird brain of hers, Renya gradually began to understand his own position, albeit only vaguely. So what youre saying is that the embarrassedly wriggling girl over there is your precious pupil and granddaughter. After pointing at Shion, he pointed at Reicus who was humbling himself in front of Renya, adding, A grandpa whos prone to worrying. At the end Renya pointed at himself while smiling bitterly, An undesired boyfriend, I assume? No, not at all. I havent said anything like that. Reicus waved his hands and shook his head while laughing, but Renya noticed that the laughter couldnt be seen in Reicus eyes at all. I only wish to understand what kind of man you are, Kunugi-dono. Reicus explained. That would have been plenty possible by simply talking, no? I dont understand the reason why you would drag me to this training ground. Just as Renya said, they were currently at a military training facility frequented by the soldiers everyday. The compressed ground was proof of the many soldiers devoting their time to harsh training regimens while wearing heavy equipment. Certainly, words might suffice for that, but I have heard about you being a military man, Kunugi-dono. Reicus answered. It was only faint, but Renya could hear the sound of Reicus sliding his foot across the ground with a scratch. Renya perceived that Reicus had shifted his posture from just standing to getting ready to strike with nothing more than just this little action. Unarmed, huh? Renya muttered. Since he only came here to extend his greetings, he didnt have his katana hanging at his waist as he usually did. Of course he could equip it with a snap of his fingers seeing as it was stored away in his inventory, but it didnt look like Reicus would face him with a weapon either. No, Im a swordsman. Once Reicus lightly swung his right hand, a longsword appeared in the twinkling of an eye. If it had been Renya from a little while ago, he might have felt surprised by such an event, but now that he possessed the sorcery knowledge he received from Emedra, he could immediately see that this was the spell. As the name implies, its a spell used to equip an item, which had been marked beforehand, into ones hand. If one were to go by the spells degree of difficulty, it wasnt overly complicated, but that still didnt mean that it could be used by any amateur. Moreover, since Reicus hadnt chanted the spell, it was difficult for Renya to imagine that Reicus had used sorcery after naming himself a swordsman. Hence, he guessed that the sword itself might have been enchanted with the spell, or that it was a so-called sorcery craft. However, based on the assumption that he was right, Renya had a single question, It has a blade, hasnt it? Enchanting an item with a spell naturally wasnt done for free. Emedras knowledge didnt contain the exact method, but even to Renya it was clear that it wouldnt be cheap by any means. Because of that most items that had such enhancements applied to them were articles used on a daily basis. That didnt mean that rich people didnt have such items made just for playing around, but those were mostly exceptions. Renyas words hinted at him thinking that the sword in the Barons hand was such a daily article as well, but the Baron denied this very easily. Yes, it has. Would it have been better for me to have a toy called blade draw by chance? Reicus asked jokingly. Renya immediately understood that this had apparently been a provocation, but he didnt really feel like getting angry over it. After all, the other party was far below him in social standing. And although he was much older than Renya was right now, Reicus age was below Renyas true age, too. As a result, it simply ended with Oh really? in Renyas eyes, despite it having been an attempt to provoke him with a threat. However, because Renya could understand that the Barons actions were apparently based on his concerns for Shion, and not on some kind of vanity or curiosity, there was no way he could treat Reicus with nothing but cruelty either. There seems to be another troublesome aspect: this Baron seems to be the kind of person who understands others by crossing swords with them,Renya thought. Such a way of thinking was common among pure military people and soldiers, but Renya couldnt approve of this approach. Generally it wasnt limited to swordsmanship, but Renyas line of thinking was based on the idea that killing someone with a single blow was the true secret of someone intending to make a living through battle. However, although Renya almost never reached such a level and thus reluctantly went with an ideology of Many Shots One Kill, a katana was still a tool to kill an opponent for Renya.Given that his thoughts and beliefs differed in this area, he didnt say it out loud, but to Renya the way of thinking that one would understand someone better by crossing swords with them sounded like the nonsensical rambling of deviants or people with supernatural powers. In a nutshell, he didnt really want to go along with this, but the other party had the justification that it was for Shions sake and maybe something like the obstinacy of a military man. Thus Renya found it very difficult to flat out ignore these reasons and run away. Whats wrong, Kunugi-dono? You certainly wont say that you cant accept the request of an old man like me, will you? Reicus asked Renya who had sunk into silence. Renya let his eyes wander around as he was hesitating, and he met Shions eyes who had been looking his way. Seemingly understanding that Renya was hesitating over something even though she didnt know what he was thinking, she donned a worried expression. Renya spoke to her about something he had just come up with, Say, Shion. Ueh!? W-What is it? Shion replied as he body trembled with a start thanks to being called out all of a sudden. Renya smiled wryly while continuing, This means I got stuck with fighting your teacher, you know? T-Thats trueI would be happy if you could avoid killing him, though. Shion answered timidly. Thats what she worries about all of a sudden?Renya wondered, but Reicus also looked at Shion with what seemed to be a somewhat startled expression. It wont come to that as long as my opponent doesnt harbor such an intention. But rather than that, dont you think theres something else you should tell me here? Eh? Eh!? Being told so, Shion clearly became flustered. She reflexively turned her eyes left and right, looking for help, but Rona kept up a composed expression, making it clear that it had nothing to do with her, and Emil grinned broadly as if finding it all quite funny, it was highly unlikely that either of them would help her. As a last resort Shion frantically wracked her brain for an answer, and at the end of her pondering, while being watched by everyone, her face suddenly lit up, having apparently reached some kind of conclusion. While feeling a touch of unease due to the change in her expression, Renya thought,Dont blurt out anything weird while putting on airs. At the end of his line of sight, Shion tightly clenched both of her fists together and shouted flatly and distinctively with a voice that carried over surprisingly well, I love you! At almost the same time, Renya and Reicus audibly slumped their shoulders. Alongside a sigh, Emil drove her elbow into Shions flank, who tilted her head to the side with a Huh?, and Ronas palm relentlessly hit the back of Shions head, who was holding her flank while groaning. Grabbing Shions shoulders who pitched forward after being slapped, Rona turned Shion around, silently grabbed her collar, and started to violently shake her back and forth. Emil quietly mumbled something behind Shion. It sure is nice to be young. Reicus, who somehow managed to fix his posture, squeezed out words that seemed to be a follow up in one way or another, but Renya didnt feel like confirming or denying Reicus words. After a short time, within this considerably silly atmosphere, Shion, who had been given some detailed instructions by Emil, broke free from Ronas hold, and while clenching her fists once more, she clearly stated while blushing faintly, probably because it was the second time, Renya, do your best! That flirtation really lacks impact. Emil curtly said. Shion received a shock from being instantly shot down by Emil. While watching Shions state, Renya twisted his lips into a broad grin and extended his left hand into empty space. That hand gripped the hilt of a katana, making a drawn blade, which was tempered to shine palely in the sunlight, appear out of thin air. I dont really feel like going along with this, though. Adding his right hand to the hilt, he adopted aseiganstance. As if in concert to that, Reicus held the longsword in front of his chest with both hands for a moment, and then after getting ready, he held out his left hand in front, and lowered the longsword in his right hand towards his right side. One must fight after being cheered on by a girl, right? Renya said. Ho ho ho, what a bothersome gentleman. Reicus answered. Reicus expression, who laughed at Renya for forcibly making up a reason to fight because he couldnt get out of this despite not wanting to go along with it, hardened in the next moment. Even though Renya hadnt taken a single step forward after getting ready, Reicus retreated several steps from his position. Just what happened?To the three onlookers it was immediately obvious. RenyaId like to make the single request to avoid any serious injury Shion implored Renya timidly. Its fine. As long as he doesnt die, I can probably heal him up one way or another. With the same calm expression, Rona said something that couldnt be considered a follow up no matter how you looked at it. And Emil added immediately after, Even if he dies, I can fix him up somehow, so it should be okay, I think. You cant call that okay! Shion yelled back. Even before that, I think you cant call that healing, Shion. Rona calmly retorted Shions retort. The one on the receiving end of the retorts, Emil, wondered what might have been wrong about what she said, Eh? I mean, its healing as long as no one finds out about it, no? If I can get Shion to tell me about his personality and stuff, Im confident that it wont be found out even by his family, okay? Just what are those people over there? With cold sweat emerging from his forehead, Reicus, who heard the dangerous conversation outside the fence by chance, threw that question at Renya who pondered whether this might be going too far. Wondering how he should answer, Renya decided to go with an inoffensive reply for starters, My friends, I guess. I see. I fully understand. Reicus replied. Reicus immediate answer made even Renya end up feeling strange about it. After all it implied that this dangerous conversation suited him. Id like to protest vehemently. Renya objected. I shall listen to it once this match is over. I see. Lets begin right away then? Renya asked. Reicus felt as though he heard the space around him crack. No sooner had Renya prepared himself, the intimidating air, which had been assailing Reicus entire body, became even denser, making his blood run cold. Feeling as if he was being choked at the same time, Reicus made sure to slowly breathe from the depth of his abdomen as if to oppose the choking feeling while sensing how his palm grasping the longsword got damp with sweat. Even if there are various circumstances, dont think that youll get away unscathed after making me draw my katana, old man. Renya smiled. So as to not get overpowered, Reicus shouted his fighting spirit loudly and slashed at Renya with a sharp sideways sweep. Out of consideration that suddenly driving into the town in Emils special car would probably cause chaos among the citizens, we got off fairly far away, and I stored the car away in my inventory. Even though there was no problem up until we entered the city on foot, I wonder, just whats going on right now, Renya was baffled.It seems its safe to say that getting involved with nobles wont result in anything decent. I welcome you after coming all this way, Margrave Kunugi-dono. I am Reicus Gordonal, the one ruling this territory. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. The one bowing his head with those well-mannered, polite words was a man with a wrinkled face, a well-shaped and trimmed beard, and all the white hair on his head neatly combed down. A smile that made one feel as though hes a good-natured old man was plastered on his face, but his blue eyes, which were vigilantly staring at Renya, gave a graphic account that Renya would be in for a lot of pain if he were to look down on Reicus as a mere old man. All of that was certainly important information, but because Renya had something he wanted to know above all else, he asked with a somewhat flabbergasted voice, Why yes, thank you for your politeness. By the way, theres something Id like to ask you if possible. What might it be, Your Excellency? Reicus answered. I just visited to give you my greetings and planned to leave immediately after doing so, so Id like you to tell me why I was brought to such a place? Renya inquired while looking down at his feet. What he found there was soil firmly hardened after being tread upon, and when he raised his eyes, he saw the blue sky spreading out above him. The vicinity was surrounded by a simple fence, and it was obvious at a single glance that this place had been created for an obvious reason. Emil amused herself while outside the fence, Shion revealed a somewhat troubled expression, and Rona was strangely calm. Its funny how each of their expressions seem to convey their respective expectations, Renya ended up thinking unintentionally. Please allow me to explain, Your Excellency. Reicus courteously said while placing a hand on his chest. While acutely getting a bad premonition due to his behavior, Renya urged him to continue by nodding. Her Highness Shion, who has been staying near you, is the daughter of Her Majesty the Archduchess whom I love and respect. Reicus continued. Renya nodded once more. After all he hadnt said anything untrue. And yet Renya felt as if his bad premonition was getting stronger, albeit little by little. Moreover, while unworthy, I had the privilege to teach Shion-sama the sword in her childhood. Reicus said. Okay. It may be presumptuous, but I think of Shion-sama as my granddaughter. Reicus further continued. Okay? As Renya looked at Shion once more while turning his confirmation into a question, he saw her smiling extremely bashfully while scratching her head for some reason. While sighing as he wondered just what she was thinking about in that small bird brain of hers, Renya gradually began to understand his own position, albeit only vaguely. So what youre saying is that the embarrassedly wriggling girl over there is your precious pupil and granddaughter. After pointing at Shion, he pointed at Reicus who was humbling himself in front of Renya, adding, A grandpa whos prone to worrying. At the end Renya pointed at himself while smiling bitterly, An undesired boyfriend, I assume? No, not at all. I havent said anything like that. Reicus waved his hands and shook his head while laughing, but Renya noticed that the laughter couldnt be seen in Reicus eyes at all. I only wish to understand what kind of man you are, Kunugi-dono. Reicus explained. That would have been plenty possible by simply talking, no? I dont understand the reason why you would drag me to this training ground. Just as Renya said, they were currently at a military training facility frequented by the soldiers everyday. The compressed ground was proof of the many soldiers devoting their time to harsh training regimens while wearing heavy equipment. Certainly, words might suffice for that, but I have heard about you being a military man, Kunugi-dono. Reicus answered. It was only faint, but Renya could hear the sound of Reicus sliding his foot across the ground with a scratch. Renya perceived that Reicus had shifted his posture from just standing to getting ready to strike with nothing more than just this little action. Unarmed, huh? Renya muttered. Since he only came here to extend his greetings, he didnt have his katana hanging at his waist as he usually did. Of course he could equip it with a snap of his fingers seeing as it was stored away in his inventory, but it didnt look like Reicus would face him with a weapon either. No, Im a swordsman. Once Reicus lightly swung his right hand, a longsword appeared in the twinkling of an eye. If it had been Renya from a little while ago, he might have felt surprised by such an event, but now that he possessed the sorcery knowledge he received from Emedra, he could immediately see that this was the spell. As the name implies, its a spell used to equip an item, which had been marked beforehand, into ones hand. If one were to go by the spells degree of difficulty, it wasnt overly complicated, but that still didnt mean that it could be used by any amateur. Moreover, since Reicus hadnt chanted the spell, it was difficult for Renya to imagine that Reicus had used sorcery after naming himself a swordsman. Hence, he guessed that the sword itself might have been enchanted with the spell, or that it was a so-called sorcery craft. However, based on the assumption that he was right, Renya had a single question, It has a blade, hasnt it? Enchanting an item with a spell naturally wasnt done for free. Emedras knowledge didnt contain the exact method, but even to Renya it was clear that it wouldnt be cheap by any means. Because of that most items that had such enhancements applied to them were articles used on a daily basis. That didnt mean that rich people didnt have such items made just for playing around, but those were mostly exceptions. Renyas words hinted at him thinking that the sword in the Barons hand was such a daily article as well, but the Baron denied this very easily. Yes, it has. Would it have been better for me to have a toy called blade draw by chance? Reicus asked jokingly. Renya immediately understood that this had apparently been a provocation, but he didnt really feel like getting angry over it. After all, the other party was far below him in social standing. And although he was much older than Renya was right now, Reicus age was below Renyas true age, too. As a result, it simply ended with Oh really? in Renyas eyes, despite it having been an attempt to provoke him with a threat. However, because Renya could understand that the Barons actions were apparently based on his concerns for Shion, and not on some kind of vanity or curiosity, there was no way he could treat Reicus with nothing but cruelty either. There seems to be another troublesome aspect: this Baron seems to be the kind of person who understands others by crossing swords with them,Renya thought. Such a way of thinking was common among pure military people and soldiers, but Renya couldnt approve of this approach. Generally it wasnt limited to swordsmanship, but Renyas line of thinking was based on the idea that killing someone with a single blow was the true secret of someone intending to make a living through battle. However, although Renya almost never reached such a level and thus reluctantly went with an ideology of Many Shots One Kill, a katana was still a tool to kill an opponent for Renya.Given that his thoughts and beliefs differed in this area, he didnt say it out loud, but to Renya the way of thinking that one would understand someone better by crossing swords with them sounded like the nonsensical rambling of deviants or people with supernatural powers. In a nutshell, he didnt really want to go along with this, but the other party had the justification that it was for Shions sake and maybe something like the obstinacy of a military man. Thus Renya found it very difficult to flat out ignore these reasons and run away. Whats wrong, Kunugi-dono? You certainly wont say that you cant accept the request of an old man like me, will you? Reicus asked Renya who had sunk into silence. Renya let his eyes wander around as he was hesitating, and he met Shions eyes who had been looking his way. Seemingly understanding that Renya was hesitating over something even though she didnt know what he was thinking, she donned a worried expression. Renya spoke to her about something he had just come up with, Say, Shion. Ueh!? W-What is it? Shion replied as he body trembled with a start thanks to being called out all of a sudden. Renya smiled wryly while continuing, This means I got stuck with fighting your teacher, you know? T-Thats trueI would be happy if you could avoid killing him, though. Shion answered timidly. Thats what she worries about all of a sudden?Renya wondered, but Reicus also looked at Shion with what seemed to be a somewhat startled expression. It wont come to that as long as my opponent doesnt harbor such an intention. But rather than that, dont you think theres something else you should tell me here? Eh? Eh!? Being told so, Shion clearly became flustered. She reflexively turned her eyes left and right, looking for help, but Rona kept up a composed expression, making it clear that it had nothing to do with her, and Emil grinned broadly as if finding it all quite funny, it was highly unlikely that either of them would help her. As a last resort Shion frantically wracked her brain for an answer, and at the end of her pondering, while being watched by everyone, her face suddenly lit up, having apparently reached some kind of conclusion. While feeling a touch of unease due to the change in her expression, Renya thought,Dont blurt out anything weird while putting on airs. At the end of his line of sight, Shion tightly clenched both of her fists together and shouted flatly and distinctively with a voice that carried over surprisingly well, I love you! At almost the same time, Renya and Reicus audibly slumped their shoulders. Alongside a sigh, Emil drove her elbow into Shions flank, who tilted her head to the side with a Huh?, and Ronas palm relentlessly hit the back of Shions head, who was holding her flank while groaning. Grabbing Shions shoulders who pitched forward after being slapped, Rona turned Shion around, silently grabbed her collar, and started to violently shake her back and forth. Emil quietly mumbled something behind Shion. It sure is nice to be young. Reicus, who somehow managed to fix his posture, squeezed out words that seemed to be a follow up in one way or another, but Renya didnt feel like confirming or denying Reicus words. After a short time, within this considerably silly atmosphere, Shion, who had been given some detailed instructions by Emil, broke free from Ronas hold, and while clenching her fists once more, she clearly stated while blushing faintly, probably because it was the second time, Renya, do your best! That flirtation really lacks impact. Emil curtly said. Shion received a shock from being instantly shot down by Emil. While watching Shions state, Renya twisted his lips into a broad grin and extended his left hand into empty space. That hand gripped the hilt of a katana, making a drawn blade, which was tempered to shine palely in the sunlight, appear out of thin air. I dont really feel like going along with this, though. Adding his right hand to the hilt, he adopted aseiganstance. As if in concert to that, Reicus held the longsword in front of his chest with both hands for a moment, and then after getting ready, he held out his left hand in front, and lowered the longsword in his right hand towards his right side. One must fight after being cheered on by a girl, right? Renya said. Ho ho ho, what a bothersome gentleman. Reicus answered. Reicus expression, who laughed at Renya for forcibly making up a reason to fight because he couldnt get out of this despite not wanting to go along with it, hardened in the next moment. Even though Renya hadnt taken a single step forward after getting ready, Reicus retreated several steps from his position. Just what happened?To the three onlookers it was immediately obvious. RenyaId like to make the single request to avoid any serious injury Shion implored Renya timidly. Its fine. As long as he doesnt die, I can probably heal him up one way or another. With the same calm expression, Rona said something that couldnt be considered a follow up no matter how you looked at it. And Emil added immediately after, Even if he dies, I can fix him up somehow, so it should be okay, I think. You cant call that okay! Shion yelled back. Even before that, I think you cant call that healing, Shion. Rona calmly retorted Shions retort. The one on the receiving end of the retorts, Emil, wondered what might have been wrong about what she said, Eh? I mean, its healing as long as no one finds out about it, no? If I can get Shion to tell me about his personality and stuff, Im confident that it wont be found out even by his family, okay? Just what are those people over there? With cold sweat emerging from his forehead, Reicus, who heard the dangerous conversation outside the fence by chance, threw that question at Renya who pondered whether this might be going too far. Wondering how he should answer, Renya decided to go with an inoffensive reply for starters, My friends, I guess. I see. I fully understand. Reicus replied. Reicus immediate answer made even Renya end up feeling strange about it. After all it implied that this dangerous conversation suited him. Id like to protest vehemently. Renya objected. I shall listen to it once this match is over. I see. Lets begin right away then? Renya asked. Reicus felt as though he heard the space around him crack. No sooner had Renya prepared himself, the intimidating air, which had been assailing Reicus entire body, became even denser, making his blood run cold. Feeling as if he was being choked at the same time, Reicus made sure to slowly breathe from the depth of his abdomen as if to oppose the choking feeling while sensing how his palm grasping the longsword got damp with sweat. Even if there are various circumstances, dont think that youll get away unscathed after making me draw my katana, old man. Renya smiled. So as to not get overpowered, Reicus shouted his fighting spirit loudly and slashed at Renya with a sharp sideways sweep. Chapter 195 One should probably be surprised about truly astonishing things, Renya thought. Going by that line of thought, he definitely didnt have any objections towards referring to Baron Reicus Gordonals sword skills as surprisingly powerful. After his initial slashing attack, they crossed swords five times until they separated from each other again. Renya had mostly parried and repelled the Barons attacks, but he still attempted to send the Barons weapon flying in two of the five sword rallies. And yet, the Barons weapon was still in his hands, contrary to Renyas aim, despite having a few chips in the blade. Of course Renya had gone easy on him. Renya would have been able to cut the sword alongside the Baron if he wanted to, but Renya believed that he could still destroy the Barons weapon despite that. I dont get why I couldnt break it, Renya angrily glared at the Baron. The instant blade clashed against blade, the Baron didnt allow Renya to cut into it. Or to be precise, he escaped his weapons destruction by pulling back before Renyas katana could cut into it. An attack didnt accomplish its goal just by connecting. It had to pierce or cut through on top of it. Anyway, if it didnt cause any damage, there would be no point in just hitting the target. Youre experienced, to an irritating degree. Renya muttered. However, adopting such a defense method required one to actually see through the attack in an instant. Because Renya thought that this should be impossible for the Baron purely based on his reaction speed, seeing how old he was, it had to be a technique based on taking precautionary steps in advance relying purely on intuition and anticipation. It seemed to enter the region of what you would call a masters or experts sixth sense. Having grasped the reason right away, you are much more experienced than your age would suggest. Reicus answered. Even though they had only crossed blades five times, the Baron was out of breath, and the hand holding the longsword was trembling faintly. Renya had evaluated the Barons abilities highly in his own way, but the Baron began to fear Renyas ability. Certainly, the Baron succeeded in invalidating most of the damage from Renyas slashes. However, that wasnt because he had seen through Renyas attacks. Although he hated it, Reicus was forced to admit that it was simply because Renya continued to use adjusted attacks against him. After all, two deep cuts were drilled into the sword in his hand and although he evaded its complete destruction, it still meant that he couldnt even completely invalidate those lax attacks. If he had been just an instant later in pulling his weapon back, the blade would have definitely been severed. For the sake of seeing those delicate instants, the Baron had to concentrate on all the nerves in his body. Even though he had a fairly trained body, he had already used up most of his stamina and was short of breath after merely five exchanges. In contrast to this, Renya didnt look exhausted at all. Because Renya possessed the ability , one could actually say that Renyas stamina was boundless, but the Baron didnt know about these circumstances. He only knew that his body probably wouldnt be able to deal with the next attack. I really dont want to get any older. Reicus said. If you have this much ability at your age, you could still be on active duty at the front line for a long time still to come, no? Renya believed so from the bottom of his heart. However, Reicus denied that while smiling sadly, No, not at all. Even if I possess the technique, my body cant keep up. Im already barely standing while my hands are trembling and my breath is out of order. How honest. Renya replied. Im old, after all. If I were twenty years younger, I wouldnt have allowed that worthless bunch in the central government to do with Shion-sama as they pleased, and I wouldnt have allowed the likes of a hero to do whatever he pleased. Reicus declared. A Baron was one at the lower end of nobility. While at it, a hero was commonly representing a single race, despite the tendency of it being forgotten because they werent treated overly well around Renya. At the very least Reicus wasnt in a position to call nobles worthless, and there was no excuse for him attaching the likes of to the hero either. Though it looks like both were done away with by you, Kunugi-dono. I certainly did away with the hero, but I dont know anything about the Trident Principalitys nobles. Once Renya continued by saying that one of them was beaten up in an unforeseen accident during the mock battle carried out at Kukrika, both Reicus and Shion looked as if they were surprised for some reason. Given that he hadnt said any lies, he didnt understand the meaning behind their reaction. Once Renya looked at Rona and Emil, those two deliberately averted their eyes. It seemed that something had happened and that it had apparently been labeled as Renyas deed. Renya could guess as much from the reactions of everyone present. Certainly, Renya had told Rona to make a list of all the nobles, but apart from the one, who recklessly challenged him to a mock battle, Renya hadnt done anything to them as he was too busy. Especially not coming up with methods to take revenge on them. Although he had indulged in imagining giving them hell, he realized that the ones being troubled the most would likely be the residents of their respective territories if he were to actually carry out his ideas. The fact that he would likely give the civil officials a lot of paperwork was yet another reason that made Renya hesitate to go through with his revenge. Well, not like it really matters. Even if my bad reputation got worse by one or two more evil deeds, it probably doesnt make that big of a difference anyway. Renya gave up on pursuing that matter. So youre aware of your own bad reputation, Shion retorted with a murmur, but Renya pretended to not have heard it, and clearly ignored her. Most recently Renya was learning that pretending to not hear something could be a much stronger attack than a katana slash in some cases. So, are you going to continue? Although Renya couldnt have his way with the Baron, it didnt mean that the Baron was able to tide through it completely unhurt. Lets see. Reicus released his combat stance, brought his face close to the longswords blade, and checked its state. The sword, which was initially fairly sharp and had been carefully and frequently maintained, had obviously received damage beyond repairable as far as Reicus could tell. Although he didnt know how many more slashes it would last, it would definitely break or snap if they continued at this rate. Realizing that, Reicus shifted from a one-handed hold to a two-handed hold. Id like you to keep me company for one more rally. Reicus said and got ready by shouldering the longsword which he was now grasping with two hands. Seeing him, Renyas expression grew grim. After all he could somewhat tell what Reicus was aiming for with that stance. No matter how you look at it, you intend to launch the next attack with all your power, dont you? Renya tried to make sure. Yes, of course. Reicus quickly answered. I think I said in the beginning that I wont do anything terrible as long as theres no reason to do so, but Im going to judge that this would be a reason, okay? Renya warned him in a low, cold voice. Do as you please, answered Reicus without any hesitation or faltering while calmly smiling back at Renya. Hearing those words, Shion was about to raise her voice in protest, but Reicus stepped in quicker than she could speak up. The ground should be hardened and firm because of the soldiers training which had been repeatedly carried out here, but it couldnt withstand the power of Reicus kick and a cloud of soil flew into the air. Shion and Rona lost sight of Reicus due to his high speed movement triggered by the acceleration which was generated through the force of the explosive kick. Because Emil was watching from the side on top of her own high innate abilities, it didnt go as far as her losing sight of him, but her composure vanished from her face for an instant. Thats how strong his step-in was. In addition to the acceleration from the charge, he put his entire bodys strength into the slash that followed up next. You could say it was the strongest attack Reicus could unleash at that point in time. Although its power had likely fallen due to his age compared to the full-power slash in his youth when he struck down a cavalryman along with the horse he was riding, Reicus had the confidence that even Renya wouldnt be able to deal with his attack nonchalantly. However, that confidence was easily smashed apart. Reicus was targeting Renyas left shoulder. The frontal slash was loaded with such a power that it would completely excel in penetrative force if Renya tried to block it with his katana. But, Renyas response was a lot faster than Reicus had anticipated. What caused Reicus to be surprised in the first place was the fact that Renyas eyes were looking directly into his. Despite the fact that he was so fast that Shion and Rona had lost sight of him, Renyas eyes were fully fixated on Reicus movements. Moreover, the slash unleashed by Renya produced a white flash in front of Reicus eyes. Until now Reicus had pulled his sword back each time Renyas katana and Reicus sword clashed while adopting to Renyas swordsmanship so as to avoid his sword being cut, but for Reicus, who had mustered all his strength, there was no method to parry the blade of Renyas katana which reached his swords blade long before he could even fully swing his sword downwards. The swords blade, which was cut off and sent flying all too quickly, flew off somewhere while whirling around. While registering that at the edge of his visual field, Reicus charge still didnt stop. The swords blade being cut off was no more than one of the predictions Reicus had made. And he had already finished thinking about how to deal with it. Because its blade was gone, Reicus let go of the sword which had become light, and attempted to grab Renya with his accumulated force. As he had cut off the attack aimed for his left shoulder while holding the katana in his right hand, the right half of Renyas body was wide open, and he showed his right flank to Reicus. Reicus intended to grapple that flank and pull Renya down. If he suddenly forced an opponent, who had been preoccupied with a sword fight, into an unarmed grappling match, that switch would produce an opportunity and a small moment of hesitation. Thats what he was aiming for. Of course it was a gamble. Reicus knew very well that it was possible for his head to be sent flying if Renya were to pull back the katana which he had swung through his sword. He gambled on Renya hesitating to go this far. Its not that I dont understand how you feel, but its pointless. The slightly fed-up voice came from above Reicus head. Just how and when did he get up there? Renyas body, which he intended to grapple, was gone from in front of him, and once he lifted his face, he looked into Renyas which was now upside-down. From the current situation, Reicus could understand that Renya had lept over his head with a front lay-out1. However, Reicus didnt have any memory of Renya having done any preparatory motions so that he could perform such a jump. You think thats a poor move, dont you? What he swung next was the pommel of his katana. Once it cleanly hit Reicus temple, who had stopped moving, Reicus body was blown away up to the wooden fence. Being out of bounds over there, his body hit the fence without having his momentum dampened too much, and rolled outside the fence after destroying that place which should have been built quite sturdily. Renya!? Master isnt dead, is he!? Hey, hes not dead, yes!? Shion, who had climbed over the fence, clung to Renyas shoulder after he had pulled off a clean landing, but after turning his eyes at the katanas pommel, which had struck Reicus temple moments ago, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. He hasnt died, I think. It looks like he leaped back by himself when the strike connected. Renya soothed her. Him rolling around flashily was also owed to Renyas strong blow, but it was also owed to Reicus jumping back to negate some of the power in Renyas hit. The reason why he broke through the fence and rolled outside the training area was because he couldnt fully kill the power behind Renyas attack. From the feedback remaining in his hand, Renya could sense that he didnt manage to deliver such a strong attack that it would have broken his neck or smashed in his skull. It was an attack based on the assumption that Reicus would at least be able to adopt such defensive maneuvers, but with him having tumbled such a long distance in such a flashy manner even after having adopted those defense measures, Renya wondered whether the damage from that tumbling flight hadnt been larger than the damage caused by his own blow. Well, look, theres no way that I would kill him. Renya declared to Shion. Thatscertainly true, butmaster is an old man. You should have gone a bit easier on him Shion objected. If I had held back, I might have been the one to be cut down. Renya answered. That would have been troublesome, but Shion mumbled under her breath. Gazing in the direction where Reicus had flown off to, her eyes widened slightly when she noticed a figure having stood up and heading this way. Well, well, this was reallya surprise, Margrave-dono. While brushing off the dirt clinging to his clothes, Reicus returned through a gap in the broken fence with a smile after having flown through that same gap moments ago. As if telling a tale of the force of his flight, his clothes were torn all over, and the area of his temple, which was struck by Renya, had swollen slightly with the skin becoming red, but he didnt seem to have suffered any injuries beyond that, and his walking stride was firm, too. Its my complete defeat, isnt it? Good gracious, youre strong. Reicus laughed. Look Shion, isnt he all lively? Renya said while pointing at him. Shion couldnt do more than smile feebly. Because Shion was in such a state, she didnt notice, but Rona and Emil, who were looking inside the fence while still being outside, had seen something different than Shion had. It had quite the effect on Baron-sama, didnt it? Rona asked. Indeed, his knees are ridiculously shaky. Emil replied. Renya has realized it as well, hasnt he? Rona inquired further. Well of course. But, if he were to point that out, the master, who wants to look cool in front of his pupil would lose face. Emil chuckled. Rona leaked a small sigh at Emils behavior, and headed to Renyas group by nimbly climbing over the fence. Baron Gordonal-sama, please allow me to check your injuries and your body. It looks like youre alright, but there are cases where head injuries are serious despite looking shallow. Rona offered her medical treatment. T-Thats right, master. Testing out Renya is over with this, right? Since you arent young anymore, Id like you to get checked by Rona. Shion pleaded. Renya noticed how Reicus looked shocked when he was told that he wasnt young anymore, but without any intention to particularly point that out, he yielded his spot to Rona, who had approached, and stored the katana back into his inventory. I really dont want to get any older. It makes others worry too much over trifling matters. Reicus grumbled while entrusting his check-up to Rona, and added, Even so, it brought about some results. I cant quite believe that you understood anything about me from the battle just now. Renya doubted his words. Your sword skills. The level of trust by your friends. And I somehow grasped just how much Shion-sama has grown emotionally attached to you, Id say? Reicus explained. Couldnt you have found all of this out except for my sword skill with a method that didnt involve combat?Renya wondered, but as this was the other partys style, Renya decided to leave it alone since Reicus had apparently understood what he wanted to understand. Rather than that, Renya was bothered about Rona actively sending him eye signals outside of Reicus view while pretending to look at the state of his wounds. Even Renya had guessed that Reicus had suffered some damage and wasnt as healthy as he seemed, but going by Ronas expression, he had apparently received so much damage that it was necessary to quickly wrap this up and have him devote himself to his healing. I dont have any interest in your conclusions, Baron-dono. If were done here, Id like you to give your body a rest and give your undivided attention to an urgent medical treatment. Renya stated. What are you talking about? Im not so poorly built that I couldnt fight with injuries of this level Reicus said while trying to firmly flex his biceps and arms, probably in an attempt to appeal that he was doing fine. Rona immediately twined her slender arm around the Barons neck, and made him faint by constricting his carotid artery in an instant. Easily lifting the Barons body, which almost sat down on the spot after losing all his strength and showing the whites of his eyes, Rona bowed towards Renya, saying, I will work on his treatment right away. Sure, please do. Renya was slightly taken aback by her all too experienced movements in making the Baron faint, but still managed to somehow respond to Rona. Rona left while carrying the Barons body. That was an amazing skill just now. Once Renya muttered those few words, Shion, who was still clinging to him, muttered back in the same way, Its a necessary technique so as to make sure that wounded people dont kick up a fuss. Rona previously said that everyone, who uses healing arts, would be capable of it I dont really wanna be treated by a priest of this world, is what Im thinking right now. Yep, I share your opinion on this. After following Ronas back as she became distant while carrying the Barons body, Renya and Shion exchanged glances, and seriously said so from the bottoms of their hearts. One should probably be surprised about truly astonishing things, Renya thought. Going by that line of thought, he definitely didnt have any objections towards referring to Baron Reicus Gordonals sword skills as surprisingly powerful. After his initial slashing attack, they crossed swords five times until they separated from each other again. Renya had mostly parried and repelled the Barons attacks, but he still attempted to send the Barons weapon flying in two of the five sword rallies. And yet, the Barons weapon was still in his hands, contrary to Renyas aim, despite having a few chips in the blade. Of course Renya had gone easy on him. Renya would have been able to cut the sword alongside the Baron if he wanted to, but Renya believed that he could still destroy the Barons weapon despite that. I dont get why I couldnt break it, Renya angrily glared at the Baron. The instant blade clashed against blade, the Baron didnt allow Renya to cut into it. Or to be precise, he escaped his weapons destruction by pulling back before Renyas katana could cut into it. An attack didnt accomplish its goal just by connecting. It had to pierce or cut through on top of it. Anyway, if it didnt cause any damage, there would be no point in just hitting the target. Youre experienced, to an irritating degree. Renya muttered. However, adopting such a defense method required one to actually see through the attack in an instant. Because Renya thought that this should be impossible for the Baron purely based on his reaction speed, seeing how old he was, it had to be a technique based on taking precautionary steps in advance relying purely on intuition and anticipation. It seemed to enter the region of what you would call a masters or experts sixth sense. Having grasped the reason right away, you are much more experienced than your age would suggest. Reicus answered. Even though they had only crossed blades five times, the Baron was out of breath, and the hand holding the longsword was trembling faintly. Renya had evaluated the Barons abilities highly in his own way, but the Baron began to fear Renyas ability. Certainly, the Baron succeeded in invalidating most of the damage from Renyas slashes. However, that wasnt because he had seen through Renyas attacks. Although he hated it, Reicus was forced to admit that it was simply because Renya continued to use adjusted attacks against him. After all, two deep cuts were drilled into the sword in his hand and although he evaded its complete destruction, it still meant that he couldnt even completely invalidate those lax attacks. If he had been just an instant later in pulling his weapon back, the blade would have definitely been severed. For the sake of seeing those delicate instants, the Baron had to concentrate on all the nerves in his body. Even though he had a fairly trained body, he had already used up most of his stamina and was short of breath after merely five exchanges. In contrast to this, Renya didnt look exhausted at all. Because Renya possessed the ability , one could actually say that Renyas stamina was boundless, but the Baron didnt know about these circumstances. He only knew that his body probably wouldnt be able to deal with the next attack. I really dont want to get any older. Reicus said. If you have this much ability at your age, you could still be on active duty at the front line for a long time still to come, no? Renya believed so from the bottom of his heart. However, Reicus denied that while smiling sadly, No, not at all. Even if I possess the technique, my body cant keep up. Im already barely standing while my hands are trembling and my breath is out of order. How honest. Renya replied. Im old, after all. If I were twenty years younger, I wouldnt have allowed that worthless bunch in the central government to do with Shion-sama as they pleased, and I wouldnt have allowed the likes of a hero to do whatever he pleased. Reicus declared. A Baron was one at the lower end of nobility. While at it, a hero was commonly representing a single race, despite the tendency of it being forgotten because they werent treated overly well around Renya. At the very least Reicus wasnt in a position to call nobles worthless, and there was no excuse for him attaching the likes of to the hero either. Though it looks like both were done away with by you, Kunugi-dono. I certainly did away with the hero, but I dont know anything about the Trident Principalitys nobles. Once Renya continued by saying that one of them was beaten up in an unforeseen accident during the mock battle carried out at Kukrika, both Reicus and Shion looked as if they were surprised for some reason. Given that he hadnt said any lies, he didnt understand the meaning behind their reaction. Once Renya looked at Rona and Emil, those two deliberately averted their eyes. It seemed that something had happened and that it had apparently been labeled as Renyas deed. Renya could guess as much from the reactions of everyone present. Certainly, Renya had told Rona to make a list of all the nobles, but apart from the one, who recklessly challenged him to a mock battle, Renya hadnt done anything to them as he was too busy. Especially not coming up with methods to take revenge on them. Although he had indulged in imagining giving them hell, he realized that the ones being troubled the most would likely be the residents of their respective territories if he were to actually carry out his ideas. The fact that he would likely give the civil officials a lot of paperwork was yet another reason that made Renya hesitate to go through with his revenge. Well, not like it really matters. Even if my bad reputation got worse by one or two more evil deeds, it probably doesnt make that big of a difference anyway. Renya gave up on pursuing that matter. So youre aware of your own bad reputation, Shion retorted with a murmur, but Renya pretended to not have heard it, and clearly ignored her. Most recently Renya was learning that pretending to not hear something could be a much stronger attack than a katana slash in some cases. So, are you going to continue? Although Renya couldnt have his way with the Baron, it didnt mean that the Baron was able to tide through it completely unhurt. Lets see. Reicus released his combat stance, brought his face close to the longswords blade, and checked its state. The sword, which was initially fairly sharp and had been carefully and frequently maintained, had obviously received damage beyond repairable as far as Reicus could tell. Although he didnt know how many more slashes it would last, it would definitely break or snap if they continued at this rate. Realizing that, Reicus shifted from a one-handed hold to a two-handed hold. Id like you to keep me company for one more rally. Reicus said and got ready by shouldering the longsword which he was now grasping with two hands. Seeing him, Renyas expression grew grim. After all he could somewhat tell what Reicus was aiming for with that stance. No matter how you look at it, you intend to launch the next attack with all your power, dont you? Renya tried to make sure. Yes, of course. Reicus quickly answered. I think I said in the beginning that I wont do anything terrible as long as theres no reason to do so, but Im going to judge that this would be a reason, okay? Renya warned him in a low, cold voice. Do as you please, answered Reicus without any hesitation or faltering while calmly smiling back at Renya. Hearing those words, Shion was about to raise her voice in protest, but Reicus stepped in quicker than she could speak up. The ground should be hardened and firm because of the soldiers training which had been repeatedly carried out here, but it couldnt withstand the power of Reicus kick and a cloud of soil flew into the air. Shion and Rona lost sight of Reicus due to his high speed movement triggered by the acceleration which was generated through the force of the explosive kick. Because Emil was watching from the side on top of her own high innate abilities, it didnt go as far as her losing sight of him, but her composure vanished from her face for an instant. Thats how strong his step-in was. In addition to the acceleration from the charge, he put his entire bodys strength into the slash that followed up next. You could say it was the strongest attack Reicus could unleash at that point in time. Although its power had likely fallen due to his age compared to the full-power slash in his youth when he struck down a cavalryman along with the horse he was riding, Reicus had the confidence that even Renya wouldnt be able to deal with his attack nonchalantly. However, that confidence was easily smashed apart. Reicus was targeting Renyas left shoulder. The frontal slash was loaded with such a power that it would completely excel in penetrative force if Renya tried to block it with his katana. But, Renyas response was a lot faster than Reicus had anticipated. What caused Reicus to be surprised in the first place was the fact that Renyas eyes were looking directly into his. Despite the fact that he was so fast that Shion and Rona had lost sight of him, Renyas eyes were fully fixated on Reicus movements. Moreover, the slash unleashed by Renya produced a white flash in front of Reicus eyes. Until now Reicus had pulled his sword back each time Renyas katana and Reicus sword clashed while adopting to Renyas swordsmanship so as to avoid his sword being cut, but for Reicus, who had mustered all his strength, there was no method to parry the blade of Renyas katana which reached his swords blade long before he could even fully swing his sword downwards. The swords blade, which was cut off and sent flying all too quickly, flew off somewhere while whirling around. While registering that at the edge of his visual field, Reicus charge still didnt stop. The swords blade being cut off was no more than one of the predictions Reicus had made. And he had already finished thinking about how to deal with it. Because its blade was gone, Reicus let go of the sword which had become light, and attempted to grab Renya with his accumulated force. As he had cut off the attack aimed for his left shoulder while holding the katana in his right hand, the right half of Renyas body was wide open, and he showed his right flank to Reicus. Reicus intended to grapple that flank and pull Renya down. If he suddenly forced an opponent, who had been preoccupied with a sword fight, into an unarmed grappling match, that switch would produce an opportunity and a small moment of hesitation. Thats what he was aiming for. Of course it was a gamble. Reicus knew very well that it was possible for his head to be sent flying if Renya were to pull back the katana which he had swung through his sword. He gambled on Renya hesitating to go this far. Its not that I dont understand how you feel, but its pointless. The slightly fed-up voice came from above Reicus head. Just how and when did he get up there? Renyas body, which he intended to grapple, was gone from in front of him, and once he lifted his face, he looked into Renyas which was now upside-down. From the current situation, Reicus could understand that Renya had lept over his head with a front lay-out1. However, Reicus didnt have any memory of Renya having done any preparatory motions so that he could perform such a jump. You think thats a poor move, dont you? What he swung next was the pommel of his katana. Once it cleanly hit Reicus temple, who had stopped moving, Reicus body was blown away up to the wooden fence. Being out of bounds over there, his body hit the fence without having his momentum dampened too much, and rolled outside the fence after destroying that place which should have been built quite sturdily. Renya!? Master isnt dead, is he!? Hey, hes not dead, yes!? Shion, who had climbed over the fence, clung to Renyas shoulder after he had pulled off a clean landing, but after turning his eyes at the katanas pommel, which had struck Reicus temple moments ago, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. He hasnt died, I think. It looks like he leaped back by himself when the strike connected. Renya soothed her. Him rolling around flashily was also owed to Renyas strong blow, but it was also owed to Reicus jumping back to negate some of the power in Renyas hit. The reason why he broke through the fence and rolled outside the training area was because he couldnt fully kill the power behind Renyas attack. From the feedback remaining in his hand, Renya could sense that he didnt manage to deliver such a strong attack that it would have broken his neck or smashed in his skull. It was an attack based on the assumption that Reicus would at least be able to adopt such defensive maneuvers, but with him having tumbled such a long distance in such a flashy manner even after having adopted those defense measures, Renya wondered whether the damage from that tumbling flight hadnt been larger than the damage caused by his own blow. Well, look, theres no way that I would kill him. Renya declared to Shion. Thatscertainly true, butmaster is an old man. You should have gone a bit easier on him Shion objected. If I had held back, I might have been the one to be cut down. Renya answered. That would have been troublesome, but Shion mumbled under her breath. Gazing in the direction where Reicus had flown off to, her eyes widened slightly when she noticed a figure having stood up and heading this way. Well, well, this was reallya surprise, Margrave-dono. While brushing off the dirt clinging to his clothes, Reicus returned through a gap in the broken fence with a smile after having flown through that same gap moments ago. As if telling a tale of the force of his flight, his clothes were torn all over, and the area of his temple, which was struck by Renya, had swollen slightly with the skin becoming red, but he didnt seem to have suffered any injuries beyond that, and his walking stride was firm, too. Its my complete defeat, isnt it? Good gracious, youre strong. Reicus laughed. Look Shion, isnt he all lively? Renya said while pointing at him. Shion couldnt do more than smile feebly. Because Shion was in such a state, she didnt notice, but Rona and Emil, who were looking inside the fence while still being outside, had seen something different than Shion had. It had quite the effect on Baron-sama, didnt it? Rona asked. Indeed, his knees are ridiculously shaky. Emil replied. Renya has realized it as well, hasnt he? Rona inquired further. Well of course. But, if he were to point that out, the master, who wants to look cool in front of his pupil would lose face. Emil chuckled. Rona leaked a small sigh at Emils behavior, and headed to Renyas group by nimbly climbing over the fence. Baron Gordonal-sama, please allow me to check your injuries and your body. It looks like youre alright, but there are cases where head injuries are serious despite looking shallow. Rona offered her medical treatment. T-Thats right, master. Testing out Renya is over with this, right? Since you arent young anymore, Id like you to get checked by Rona. Shion pleaded. Renya noticed how Reicus looked shocked when he was told that he wasnt young anymore, but without any intention to particularly point that out, he yielded his spot to Rona, who had approached, and stored the katana back into his inventory. I really dont want to get any older. It makes others worry too much over trifling matters. Reicus grumbled while entrusting his check-up to Rona, and added, Even so, it brought about some results. I cant quite believe that you understood anything about me from the battle just now. Renya doubted his words. Your sword skills. The level of trust by your friends. And I somehow grasped just how much Shion-sama has grown emotionally attached to you, Id say? Reicus explained. Couldnt you have found all of this out except for my sword skill with a method that didnt involve combat?Renya wondered, but as this was the other partys style, Renya decided to leave it alone since Reicus had apparently understood what he wanted to understand. Rather than that, Renya was bothered about Rona actively sending him eye signals outside of Reicus view while pretending to look at the state of his wounds. Even Renya had guessed that Reicus had suffered some damage and wasnt as healthy as he seemed, but going by Ronas expression, he had apparently received so much damage that it was necessary to quickly wrap this up and have him devote himself to his healing. I dont have any interest in your conclusions, Baron-dono. If were done here, Id like you to give your body a rest and give your undivided attention to an urgent medical treatment. Renya stated. What are you talking about? Im not so poorly built that I couldnt fight with injuries of this level Reicus said while trying to firmly flex his biceps and arms, probably in an attempt to appeal that he was doing fine. Rona immediately twined her slender arm around the Barons neck, and made him faint by constricting his carotid artery in an instant. Easily lifting the Barons body, which almost sat down on the spot after losing all his strength and showing the whites of his eyes, Rona bowed towards Renya, saying, I will work on his treatment right away. Sure, please do. Renya was slightly taken aback by her all too experienced movements in making the Baron faint, but still managed to somehow respond to Rona. Rona left while carrying the Barons body. That was an amazing skill just now. Once Renya muttered those few words, Shion, who was still clinging to him, muttered back in the same way, Its a necessary technique so as to make sure that wounded people dont kick up a fuss. Rona previously said that everyone, who uses healing arts, would be capable of it I dont really wanna be treated by a priest of this world, is what Im thinking right now. Yep, I share your opinion on this. After following Ronas back as she became distant while carrying the Barons body, Renya and Shion exchanged glances, and seriously said so from the bottoms of their hearts. Chapter 196 A while after the battle between Renya and Reicus. For some reason Renyas group was warmly welcomed by the people of the Gordonal Barony. While not even understanding why they were being treated like this, they were led to the dining hall of Baron Gordonals mansion and lavishly entertained with a feast consisting of the mansions prized food and alcohol. Because Renya and his friends were welcomed with bright smiles by everyone, even though their lord had collapsed as result of the duel, Renya suspected that the fiefs population and the barons retainers might hate Baron Gordonal, but once he tried to ask them about it, their treatment apparently had a slightly different tenor. Renya had previously heard that the baron was secluding himself inside his territory in a partially retired state ever since he lost his wife in the battle against the demon. That information wasnt wrong, but the baron repeatedly acted quite mischievously within his own territory. To be precise, he continued going out to hunt dangerous monsters in the forest under the pretext that his sword skills would decline otherwise, no matter how much his surroundings tried to put a stop to it. It seems he kept bringing back the materials of the monsters he determinedly hunted, which caused the people around him to be extremely worried. Once Renya asked how that was connected to the current situation, he was told that it was because Renya had broken Baron Gordonals cherished sword, and procuring a replacement would take quite a while. In addition, the damage he suffered by Renyas hand in the duel, caused him to bear deep injuries according to Ronas examination, and he was ordered to consequently rest for a while. The viewpoint that even the baron would likely stay put in his mansion for some time because of these two points spread among the people, resulting in Renya, who was the cause, to be warmly welcomed. The one who explained all that while crying was an elderly butler personally serving the baron. Emil sampled the served dishes, ignoring the conversation as usual since it apparently didnt pique her interest. Apart from her, Rona and Shion, who had question marks floating above their heads while modestly partaking of the food, looked as if such an explanation had convinced them. Only Renya harbored remorseful feelings as he might have done something bad to the baron and showed an apologetic expression. That was just because he could somehow understand the feelings of the baron who had been setting out to hunt in the forest despite being told off by his surroundings because of the dangers. The baron lost his spouse and many of his men in the battle against the demon. Its easy to imagine that all of them were important to him. What kind of feelings did the baron have when they were abruptly and completely stolen from him? Very likely he wished for his own death as well, didnt he?Renya assessed. In that case, the easiest way without causing any trouble to his surroundings might be to thrust a drawn blade into his own neck, Renya thought, but he could also comprehend that this was an unacceptable way to go for a military man.In other words, isnt the reason for the baron kept on fighting to such an extent that he worried those around him was because he wanted to find his death at the end of the battles lying ahead? Renya had stopped while saying things without actually knowing the barons wish. Renya let out a deep breath due to the somewhat gloomy feeling welling up within his heart. I think its different from a guilty conscience, but I cannot help feeling that its something similar to that. Its as if I, an outsider, have gotten in the way of what a military man had decided for himself. Of course it had been the baron who challenged him to the duel. It was probably nothing that Renya would need to worry about, but even so Renya couldnt stop himself from thinking so. For a person trying to live from battle, the blank time when they are told to rest merely results in their body becoming weak. If one is still young, they can recover their previous condition through training, but even if the baron could achieve that with his old body, it would likely require a fairly long period of time, and it might actually prove difficult for him to get back to his previous condition. In addition to having lost his favorite weapon, he shouldnt be able to fight very well in his current state. And yet, Im sure the baron will recklessly go out hunting again once his wounds have healed. Renya, you okay? Shion called out to him, looking worried. In response, Renya returned from his deep brooding. Shion, who was sitting next to him, had gently placed her hand on his shoulder. Going by her expression, he realized that his feelings had shown on his face. Thus Renya quickly switched to a smile while being slightly flustered. However, because of this sudden change in expression, Shion apparently guessed what Renya was thinking about, Is it about master? YeahI was wondering whether I went a bit too far, or something like that. Renya replied. How unusual. For you to reflect on something, thats quite a surprise, you know? Emil, who sat opposite of Renya, said with a slightly mischievous smile. Its not that Renya didnt feel a bit offended by Emils comments, but he kept his mouth shut because she had spoken the truth. Seeing his state, Shion put a little bit more strength into the hand she had placed on his shoulder, and said, Renya, master is someone who tried to make a living through battles as a swordsman. Since he had drawn his sword, he should have naturally resolved himself in regards to the outcome. Besides, hes not the kind of person who would complain about this and that. As someone who has been taught by him, albeit only for just a short time, I guarantee at least that much. Thats totally correct. Well, allow me to say that its certainly not something you need to worry about, Margrave-dono. Renya was surprised to hear a decent and good opinion from Shion as it was extremely unusual for that to happen, but he got even more surprised by the voice addressing him from behind. Once he turned around, he found Reicus standing there with a smile plastered on his face, his hands joined behind his back, and in a stylish uniform that used a black color scheme. Close to Renya, who couldnt form any words because of his surprise, the butler, who had just now explained the reason for the warm welcome to Renyas party, said with a trembling voice, I suppose even that damage wasnt enough to stop milord. Theres still quite a way to go until I can be called old, is what I want to say, but this time it was slightly hard. Ah, is it fine for me to sit down next to you, Margrave-dono? Once Renya nodded, still unable to speak up, Reicus sat down in the seat next to Renya with an Alley oop. This predicament even after he has gone so easy on me, old age is really something terrifying. Reicus said. Baron Gordonal Please stop, Kunugi-dono. I was the one who started it, and I was the one who lost. If you were considerate of me even after that, it would wake in me the urge to run away out of excessive embarrassment. Reicus added while laughing. Renya stayed silent as he didnt know what he should answer. If I look at your face, I can roughly guess what youre thinking, but its very likely just as youre generally suspecting. And yet youre telling me to not mind it? Renya asked. Reicus immediately dipped his head at that, This might also be a guidance after all. Whose? What kind of guidance? The guidance of that person and my subordinates who went ahead. Reicus muttered while seemingly looking off at a far distance, adding, I suppose they are saying something along the linesits too early for you to come over hereordont screw around by trying to come this way with such a method. Thatsyour interpretation, isnt it? Indeed, but, for me thats reality, all of it. Once he was told this much, Renya couldnt deny Reicus words. After all the rest was Reicus own problem, and not something others should butt into. Now, now, lets leave the depressing stories at that, okay? At any rate, it sure is nice to be young, isnt it Margrave-dono? Renya raised an eyebrow at Reicus trying to change the topic in a fairly high-handed manner. He didnt quite understand the meaning behind the words he just heard, but Reicus eyes, who was smiling complacently, fell on Renyas shoulder. The shoulder where Shions hand still rested. It looks like youre being loved quite a bit. So thats the direction youre going for!? Shion-sama doesnt look as though shes fully disinclined either. I wont deny that, but Isnt that fine? I was very popular in my young days as well, though. Reicus puffed up in pride as if wanting to say, How about that? Renya doubted the accuracy of that statement, but with her hand still on his shoulder, Shion brought her mouth close to Renyas ear, and whispered, Its the truth. He was a person who had countless rumors going around about love affairs until he finally settled down with his deceased wife. What are you saying, Shion-sama? If youre talking about that topic, Im still going at full strength. Once Reicus said so while putting on the airs of a hotshot with his eyes turned towards the entrance of the dining hall, shrill voices could be heard from over there. When they looked in the direction of the squeals wondering what was going on, women such as cooks and maids, who seemed to work at Baron Gordonals mansion, had apparently squealed after simply seeing the Barons behavior. On a closer look, several among them were blushing, and their eyes were somewhat moist, or rather, passionate. At any rate, they donned expressions that couldnt be described as normal. It was a spectacle that couldnt be called anything but very ill-mannered for people working in the mansion of a noble, but Renya felt like it was somewhat difficult to retort here, and ended up thinking that it was better to not touch the topic. Did you two see? This is what it means to have the charm of a truly handsome man. Reicus smoothly brushed his hair up with a triumphant look. While ignoring almost all of it, Shion calmly whispered additional information into Renyas ear, I heard that he was beaten half to death several times by his wife because hes like that. According to the rumors, having the baron as a practice partner was the very reason why his wifes sorcery skills improved so abnormally Putting that aside Because Shions whispers apparently came dangerously close to a topic he didnt really want others to know about, the Baron increased the volume of his voice a bit and also made a very unnatural cough as if clearing his throat. In response to that, Shion shrugged her shoulders, stopped whispering, and gently removed her hand from Renyas shoulder. While feeling a tiny bit of regret over losing the warmth on his shoulder just as her hand separated, Renya turned his attention towards the baron. For what reason did you visit my modest territory with your friends on this occasion, Margrave-dono? Now that you mention it, I was dragged to the training ground before I could mention why we were here, wasnt I? Ha ha ha, I completely forgot what happened before. Once Renya glared at him with narrowed eyes, the baron quickly averted his eyes as if to escape Renyas scowl. Due to the Baron not changing his expression at all besides avoiding eye contact even after Renya continued to glare at him for a while, Renya comprehended that it would be pointless to pursue the matter any further, and spoke of his visits objective which he had intended to speak about when they met at the beginning, I heard that your territory is facing the ocean. Theres no ocean adjoining my territory. Id like to get my hands on marine products by all means. I see. However, I wonder whether youre aware of it, but this place doesnt have any marine products as specialties. Reicus said something that conformed to Renyas prior information. Renya had known about this, but when it was confirmed once more by a local, it really hammered it in as a fact. Thats something I cant understand. Why is that the case even though you have the sea right in front of you? Renya asked. Reicus expression was full of marvel as he looked at Renyas face, wondering just what this person might be talking about. Next to Renya, who was puzzled since he hadnt intended to ask anything weird, Shion raised her voice with a little Ah! Baron Gordonal, Renya is a Lost. Thus there exists a lot of common sense hes lacking. Shion explained. When she said that he lacked common sense, Renya ended up wondering whether that wasnt a faulty expression, but since he had no other way to explain it either, he had no choice but to contend himself with that explanation. Oh, Margrave-dono was a Lost? In that case it might be something he doesnt know, indeed. Baron Gordonal could apparently agree, but Renya had no idea what was going on. However, all that he could guess was that the reason marine products werent a specialty product of the territory, although it was adjacent to the ocean, seemed to be common sense in the eyes of this worlds residents. Margrave-dono. Since I dont possess any knowledge about the continents of the other races, I cant say this with absolute confidence, but on the human continent being adjacent to the sea and being able to use the sea dont always correspond with each other. Reicus stated. Renya couldnt understand why one wouldnt be able to use the sea when one had access to it. Shion explained the reason to Renya, who was wondering whether the area around the ocean was contaminated with something like poison or something like that, The katurul will come out. Whats that? It was a word he hadnt heard until now, but going by the faces of those around him becoming gloomy and then frowning as soon as they heard that term, he could guess that it wasnt anything good at the very least. Renya, who believed that it might be necessary for him to hear the details about this, began to sort the facts he should confirm inside his head. A while after the battle between Renya and Reicus. For some reason Renyas group was warmly welcomed by the people of the Gordonal Barony. While not even understanding why they were being treated like this, they were led to the dining hall of Baron Gordonals mansion and lavishly entertained with a feast consisting of the mansions prized food and alcohol. Because Renya and his friends were welcomed with bright smiles by everyone, even though their lord had collapsed as result of the duel, Renya suspected that the fiefs population and the barons retainers might hate Baron Gordonal, but once he tried to ask them about it, their treatment apparently had a slightly different tenor. Renya had previously heard that the baron was secluding himself inside his territory in a partially retired state ever since he lost his wife in the battle against the demon. That information wasnt wrong, but the baron repeatedly acted quite mischievously within his own territory. To be precise, he continued going out to hunt dangerous monsters in the forest under the pretext that his sword skills would decline otherwise, no matter how much his surroundings tried to put a stop to it. It seems he kept bringing back the materials of the monsters he determinedly hunted, which caused the people around him to be extremely worried. Once Renya asked how that was connected to the current situation, he was told that it was because Renya had broken Baron Gordonals cherished sword, and procuring a replacement would take quite a while. In addition, the damage he suffered by Renyas hand in the duel, caused him to bear deep injuries according to Ronas examination, and he was ordered to consequently rest for a while. The viewpoint that even the baron would likely stay put in his mansion for some time because of these two points spread among the people, resulting in Renya, who was the cause, to be warmly welcomed. The one who explained all that while crying was an elderly butler personally serving the baron. Emil sampled the served dishes, ignoring the conversation as usual since it apparently didnt pique her interest. Apart from her, Rona and Shion, who had question marks floating above their heads while modestly partaking of the food, looked as if such an explanation had convinced them. Only Renya harbored remorseful feelings as he might have done something bad to the baron and showed an apologetic expression. That was just because he could somehow understand the feelings of the baron who had been setting out to hunt in the forest despite being told off by his surroundings because of the dangers. The baron lost his spouse and many of his men in the battle against the demon. Its easy to imagine that all of them were important to him. What kind of feelings did the baron have when they were abruptly and completely stolen from him? Very likely he wished for his own death as well, didnt he?Renya assessed. In that case, the easiest way without causing any trouble to his surroundings might be to thrust a drawn blade into his own neck, Renya thought, but he could also comprehend that this was an unacceptable way to go for a military man.In other words, isnt the reason for the baron kept on fighting to such an extent that he worried those around him was because he wanted to find his death at the end of the battles lying ahead? Renya had stopped while saying things without actually knowing the barons wish. Renya let out a deep breath due to the somewhat gloomy feeling welling up within his heart. I think its different from a guilty conscience, but I cannot help feeling that its something similar to that. Its as if I, an outsider, have gotten in the way of what a military man had decided for himself. Of course it had been the baron who challenged him to the duel. It was probably nothing that Renya would need to worry about, but even so Renya couldnt stop himself from thinking so. For a person trying to live from battle, the blank time when they are told to rest merely results in their body becoming weak. If one is still young, they can recover their previous condition through training, but even if the baron could achieve that with his old body, it would likely require a fairly long period of time, and it might actually prove difficult for him to get back to his previous condition. In addition to having lost his favorite weapon, he shouldnt be able to fight very well in his current state. And yet, Im sure the baron will recklessly go out hunting again once his wounds have healed. Renya, you okay? Shion called out to him, looking worried. In response, Renya returned from his deep brooding. Shion, who was sitting next to him, had gently placed her hand on his shoulder. Going by her expression, he realized that his feelings had shown on his face. Thus Renya quickly switched to a smile while being slightly flustered. However, because of this sudden change in expression, Shion apparently guessed what Renya was thinking about, Is it about master? YeahI was wondering whether I went a bit too far, or something like that. Renya replied. How unusual. For you to reflect on something, thats quite a surprise, you know? Emil, who sat opposite of Renya, said with a slightly mischievous smile. Its not that Renya didnt feel a bit offended by Emils comments, but he kept his mouth shut because she had spoken the truth. Seeing his state, Shion put a little bit more strength into the hand she had placed on his shoulder, and said, Renya, master is someone who tried to make a living through battles as a swordsman. Since he had drawn his sword, he should have naturally resolved himself in regards to the outcome. Besides, hes not the kind of person who would complain about this and that. As someone who has been taught by him, albeit only for just a short time, I guarantee at least that much. Thats totally correct. Well, allow me to say that its certainly not something you need to worry about, Margrave-dono. Renya was surprised to hear a decent and good opinion from Shion as it was extremely unusual for that to happen, but he got even more surprised by the voice addressing him from behind. Once he turned around, he found Reicus standing there with a smile plastered on his face, his hands joined behind his back, and in a stylish uniform that used a black color scheme. Close to Renya, who couldnt form any words because of his surprise, the butler, who had just now explained the reason for the warm welcome to Renyas party, said with a trembling voice, I suppose even that damage wasnt enough to stop milord. Theres still quite a way to go until I can be called old, is what I want to say, but this time it was slightly hard. Ah, is it fine for me to sit down next to you, Margrave-dono? Once Renya nodded, still unable to speak up, Reicus sat down in the seat next to Renya with an Alley oop. This predicament even after he has gone so easy on me, old age is really something terrifying. Reicus said. Baron Gordonal Please stop, Kunugi-dono. I was the one who started it, and I was the one who lost. If you were considerate of me even after that, it would wake in me the urge to run away out of excessive embarrassment. Reicus added while laughing. Renya stayed silent as he didnt know what he should answer. If I look at your face, I can roughly guess what youre thinking, but its very likely just as youre generally suspecting. And yet youre telling me to not mind it? Renya asked. Reicus immediately dipped his head at that, This might also be a guidance after all. Whose? What kind of guidance? The guidance of that person and my subordinates who went ahead. Reicus muttered while seemingly looking off at a far distance, adding, I suppose they are saying something along the linesits too early for you to come over hereordont screw around by trying to come this way with such a method. Thatsyour interpretation, isnt it? Indeed, but, for me thats reality, all of it. Once he was told this much, Renya couldnt deny Reicus words. After all the rest was Reicus own problem, and not something others should butt into. Now, now, lets leave the depressing stories at that, okay? At any rate, it sure is nice to be young, isnt it Margrave-dono? Renya raised an eyebrow at Reicus trying to change the topic in a fairly high-handed manner. He didnt quite understand the meaning behind the words he just heard, but Reicus eyes, who was smiling complacently, fell on Renyas shoulder. The shoulder where Shions hand still rested. It looks like youre being loved quite a bit. So thats the direction youre going for!? Shion-sama doesnt look as though shes fully disinclined either. I wont deny that, but Isnt that fine? I was very popular in my young days as well, though. Reicus puffed up in pride as if wanting to say, How about that? Renya doubted the accuracy of that statement, but with her hand still on his shoulder, Shion brought her mouth close to Renyas ear, and whispered, Its the truth. He was a person who had countless rumors going around about love affairs until he finally settled down with his deceased wife. What are you saying, Shion-sama? If youre talking about that topic, Im still going at full strength. Once Reicus said so while putting on the airs of a hotshot with his eyes turned towards the entrance of the dining hall, shrill voices could be heard from over there. When they looked in the direction of the squeals wondering what was going on, women such as cooks and maids, who seemed to work at Baron Gordonals mansion, had apparently squealed after simply seeing the Barons behavior. On a closer look, several among them were blushing, and their eyes were somewhat moist, or rather, passionate. At any rate, they donned expressions that couldnt be described as normal. It was a spectacle that couldnt be called anything but very ill-mannered for people working in the mansion of a noble, but Renya felt like it was somewhat difficult to retort here, and ended up thinking that it was better to not touch the topic. Did you two see? This is what it means to have the charm of a truly handsome man. Reicus smoothly brushed his hair up with a triumphant look. While ignoring almost all of it, Shion calmly whispered additional information into Renyas ear, I heard that he was beaten half to death several times by his wife because hes like that. According to the rumors, having the baron as a practice partner was the very reason why his wifes sorcery skills improved so abnormally Putting that aside Because Shions whispers apparently came dangerously close to a topic he didnt really want others to know about, the Baron increased the volume of his voice a bit and also made a very unnatural cough as if clearing his throat. In response to that, Shion shrugged her shoulders, stopped whispering, and gently removed her hand from Renyas shoulder. While feeling a tiny bit of regret over losing the warmth on his shoulder just as her hand separated, Renya turned his attention towards the baron. For what reason did you visit my modest territory with your friends on this occasion, Margrave-dono? Now that you mention it, I was dragged to the training ground before I could mention why we were here, wasnt I? Ha ha ha, I completely forgot what happened before. Once Renya glared at him with narrowed eyes, the baron quickly averted his eyes as if to escape Renyas scowl. Due to the Baron not changing his expression at all besides avoiding eye contact even after Renya continued to glare at him for a while, Renya comprehended that it would be pointless to pursue the matter any further, and spoke of his visits objective which he had intended to speak about when they met at the beginning, I heard that your territory is facing the ocean. Theres no ocean adjoining my territory. Id like to get my hands on marine products by all means. I see. However, I wonder whether youre aware of it, but this place doesnt have any marine products as specialties. Reicus said something that conformed to Renyas prior information. Renya had known about this, but when it was confirmed once more by a local, it really hammered it in as a fact. Thats something I cant understand. Why is that the case even though you have the sea right in front of you? Renya asked. Reicus expression was full of marvel as he looked at Renyas face, wondering just what this person might be talking about. Next to Renya, who was puzzled since he hadnt intended to ask anything weird, Shion raised her voice with a little Ah! Baron Gordonal, Renya is a Lost. Thus there exists a lot of common sense hes lacking. Shion explained. When she said that he lacked common sense, Renya ended up wondering whether that wasnt a faulty expression, but since he had no other way to explain it either, he had no choice but to contend himself with that explanation. Oh, Margrave-dono was a Lost? In that case it might be something he doesnt know, indeed. Baron Gordonal could apparently agree, but Renya had no idea what was going on. However, all that he could guess was that the reason marine products werent a specialty product of the territory, although it was adjacent to the ocean, seemed to be common sense in the eyes of this worlds residents. Margrave-dono. Since I dont possess any knowledge about the continents of the other races, I cant say this with absolute confidence, but on the human continent being adjacent to the sea and being able to use the sea dont always correspond with each other. Reicus stated. Renya couldnt understand why one wouldnt be able to use the sea when one had access to it. Shion explained the reason to Renya, who was wondering whether the area around the ocean was contaminated with something like poison or something like that, The katurul will come out. Whats that? It was a word he hadnt heard until now, but going by the faces of those around him becoming gloomy and then frowning as soon as they heard that term, he could guess that it wasnt anything good at the very least. Renya, who believed that it might be necessary for him to hear the details about this, began to sort the facts he should confirm inside his head. Chapter 197 The world not being round but something like a pizza placed on a tray seemed to be accounted as common knowledge in this word. Given that Renya had also received an explanation about this from the little goddess, he had known it as a fact albeit not being able to understand it, but in reality there existed supplementary information to this fact. This world has the shape of a tray like this, but it appears theres a space between the continents and the tray at the bottom. Rona explained as her fluffy blond hair fluttered in the salty sea breeze while walking in front of Renya. Ronas hair, visible through the gradually increasing sunlight beneath the cloudless sky, sparkled as if capturing the suns light. It had a different charm from Shions black hair that seemed to be wet, and Croires platinum-blonde hair that had a metallic touch. The next day after the warm welcome in Baron Gordonals mansion, Renya had slipped out of the mansion by himself to try to take a look at the sea first thing in the morning, but for some reason he was spotted by Rona and forced to allow her to come with him. Because it felt as though he had been caught by something the instant he sneaked out of his room, Renya thought that Rona might have set up a probe through some kind of divine arts, but even after asking her about it, he didnt get her to tell him the details. She apparently considered the possibility that he would create a countermeasure in case a similar situation cropped up next time, if she were to tell him the answer. Renya wasnt someone specialized at moving stealthily to begin with. Emedra, who had become the source of Renyas current sorcery knowledge, wasnt a being that would need to move around in secret. Probably because of that, Renya didnt have the slightest idea about what she had done, even after trying to search Emedras knowledge. Even if Im saying that its a space, that doesnt mean that the continents are floating. You can think of it as countless pillars growing out from the tray at the bottom, and supporting the continents. Rona added. There are various, doubtful parts there, butwell, for the time being, okay. Renya answered. Questions such as who built those pillars, and who confirmed the existence of those pillars keep popping up within me, but our conversation wont get anywhere if I question all of it. Im also pretty sure that its not part of Ronas knowledge, but merely knowledge she had been told, Renya assessed. The one said to live underneath the continents as a being that coils itself around those countless pillars is the katurul, the dreamer. Huh? Renya felt like he heard a word that slightly weighed on his mind within Ronas explanation, but Rona continued without paying Renya any attention, Its appearance is said to be similar to a huge octopus, but its unclear whether thats the actual truth. After all, no one has ever encountered it, or survived to tell the tale. In legends its passed on that it possesses eight main arms, but it looks like things similar to auxiliary arms grow out of its body in great numbers. Ahwait a second. Stopping Ronas explanation for a moment by placing his hand on her shoulder, Renya sorted his questions within his mind. He picked what seemed to be the most important among them, and decided to ask Rona who turned around while tilting her head slightly to one side. You said dreamer, didnt you? Indeed, thats what I said. Its not plural, right? Ronas explanation sounded to Renya as if she were talking about a single entity. However, if it was a single being, the huge size of the continents would become an issue. After all, even if you just considered the demon continent in the center, it boasted of a huge land mass with a length and width of many thousands kilometers. If one was to consider all the continents, the distances from one end to the other would result in enormous values of several tens of thousands of kilometers. If the being living beneath the continents was a single entity, it would boast an outrageous size skyrocketing far outside Renyas sphere of imagination. No matter how much it might be based on Renyas view of this world, he had posed that question with the faint hope that this world wouldnt be that much random bullshit, although you could say that its structure was completely nonsensical to begin with, but as expected, reality wasnt that kind to Renya. Because no one has ever seen the real thing, its very difficult to say. However, if several beings similar to katurul existed, this world would perish before wed even need to mention something like the demon king. Somehow I feel like it would perish with just one of them existing, though Probably because it was early in the morning, there were no people out on the streets. If this were a place similar to a fish market, it wouldnt be strange for fishermen and wholesalers to start doing business since quite early in the morning, but as marine products werent treated as a local specialty, just like the baron said, such markets and their customers werent present in this city. The reason why there are cities with no seafood markets and harbor facilities despite facing the ocean is the katurul. Didnt it strike you as odd, Renya? Like, why one mustnt cross the ocean to go to the neighboring continents, even if the land route is impossible to use because of the Miasma Forest and the demons domain. I just thought that there werent any ships capable of crossing it. Even while having said so, Renya had certainly considered it weird as well; the abnormal fact that transfer gates are almost the only intercontinental travel system; and that one would normally consider ships to transport many people at once, even though transfer gates might actually be the cheapest method when it came to travel expenses for an individual. Thats also one of the reasons, but the foremost reason is that anyone trying to cross the ocean to get to the neighboring continent will always be attacked by katuruls arms and dragged into the sea. According to the legends, the katuruls main body is right below the continents, and it was handed down that two of its main arms are each extending to the ends of the world throughout the oceans between the continents, said Rona. Moreover, countless auxiliary arms originating from those main arms are crawling across the sea bottom. In short, those katurul tentacles seem to wriggle around at the bottom of all oceans across the world. In several areas of the ocean, limited to those close to land, the existence of the tentacles hasnt been confirmed, despite them being part of the ocean. These are areas where boats wont get attacked even if they sail forth. Only the towns facing the sea in those areas can deal with seafood as a special product. Rona brought her explanation to a close. Sayif you include the arms, just how many tens of thousands of kilometers long is this creature supposed to be? Who knows? The length from one end of the world to the other has never been measured to begin with. Once Rona tossed that reply at him quite indifferently, Renya was at a loss for words. Thats why it might be better to keep your expectations low in terms of getting a large amount of seafood from this place. Large amount? So a small amount would work? Its a small amount on the level of casting a fishing line at the wharf. Howeverthe probability is low, but if your fish hook gets caught in one of katuruls arms, its the end. The katurul will never extend its arms towards the shore by itself, but if it gets stuck on a fish hook, it will judge that as an attack and extend its arms towards the shore. Whats that? Sounds scary. Its no problem if the angler gets quickly dragged down to the sea, but there are stories that anglers were annihilated alongside their towns every now and then when they tried to run away in the past. Right now its generally forbidden to fish at the wharf. Doesnt this mean that even getting small quantities of fish is impossible?Renya wondered, but it looked as if that thought hadnt gotten through to Rona yet. A message board had been set up in front of the two, who had walked up to the wharf facing the sea at the edge of the city before they knew it, as if to prove Ronas words as the truth. It stated that the act of fishing was completely prohibited, and that one would be thrown into the ocean without question if discovered to be fishing despite the ban. How aggressive Well, it will turn into a huge tragedy with just one mistake. Its not unreasonable to be very careful. Because there was no pedestrian traffic yet since it was early in the morning, there seemed to be no patrols going around, and the wharf looked deserted. As far as it goes, the wharf itself had been paved with stones in an orderly shape, but not a single boat was floating on the water, and the wharf didnt possess any facilities for ships to moor either. Therefore, Id like you to give up on this matter, but apart from thathow aboutumm, going to grab breakfast at a restaurant around here, seeing as we are already here. Rona said with a bit of hesitation, but although Renyas ears had registered her words more or less, his head didnt comprehend what they meant. Its because he had spotted an unbelievable sight slightly away from them atop the wharf. Hey, Rona? Umm, I have found out in my previous investigations that there are restaurants that serve breakfast with a delicious salad around here. Id like to go there together with you by all means, Re-.Pardon? Rona, who had interrupted her speech in the middle, immediately reacted to Renyas call albeit with a slightly sullen voice. This kind of reaction might be one of the aspects separating her from Shion, Renya thought.If I were to talk with Shion, she probably wouldnt get back to the matter at hand, continuing to endlessly ramble on by herself, unless I gave her a strong retort. Fishing is strictly forbidden on this wharf, right? Yes, just as its written on the message board over there. What about it? If my eyes arent playing a trick on me, theres someone fishing over there, though? Huh? Renya pointed behind Rona. Rona, who turned her eyes in the direction Renya was pointing at while wondering what silly stuff he was going on about, reflexively froze with her mouth half open upon seeing what was going on. Uryaaaaaaa! Alongside an extremely manly yell, a thick fishing rod, which might be several meters long, had been cast so powerfully that it made one worried that it might break. Long, black hair with pigtails tied on both sides of the head, and partly-open red eyes that gave one the impression of being somewhat sleepy. A dull gray mantle atop plain, light brown shirt and trousers. And a largish pouch dangling on the right side of the waist. A girl, that made Renya feel as though he had seen her somewhere before, was desperately pulling on a fishing rod several times her height which was affixed to a leather belt that was coiled around her waist. That was the scenery Renya and Rona witnessed over there. Eh? When encountering something going beyond ones imagination, everyone reacted differently, but in Ronas case, her thought process apparently came to a complete stop. While only muttering a single exclamation, Rona had completely stopped moving, only staring fixedly at the angler.It seemed to be such an unbelievable sight for her, but Renya, who didnt possess all that prior knowledge, merely thought that the fishing rod would be taken away at any moment now, even if the girl had affixed it to her belt, seeing how there was no stopper at her feet. Nuoooooooh! How stubborn! But! Youre my breakfast! I wont let you get away! W-Wait a moment!? What are you doing over there!? While watching Rona, whose thought process had finally rebooted, starting to run in panic towards the angler, Renya began to slowly walk in the same direction. What made Rona anxious seemed to be the possible troubles if the katurul came out, but since Renya judged that the girl pulling the fishing rod right now wasnt about to cause such an event, he didnt look panicked at all.After all, the girls body would immediately disappear into the sea if she tried to go for a contest of strength with such a monster on the other end of her rod. Oh? Some lewd onee-san showed up. Good mooorning! The hurled an energetic morning greeting at Rona who was coming closer to her, but she didnt let go of the bending rod. Looking at the other end of the fishing line, it was dashing left and right while causing violent splashes on the seas surface, making it obvious that she had caught something big. Whos a lewd onee-san here!? Rona yelled. Huh? I was wrong? I was certain you were on your way back home from work. What kind of work!? Since Rona had seen through Renyas objective, she was wearing clothes that accurately fit her body. She was wearing them, but since she had fairly amazing proportions to begin with, she was far off from giving off a prim and proper impression even when wearing her normal priestess garb. Renya, why do you look like youre agreeing with her? Renya shrugged his shoulders at Ronas question that seemed to stifle both emotions and intonation without replying. Huh? The onii-san over thereI feel like weve met somewhere beforewhaa!? The girls words, who saw Renyas face, changed into a scream midway. The catch, which had been swinging the fishing line left and right, started to escape towards the open sea at full power, as if having decided that this was crunch time. As its charge appeared to be quite powerful, the girl pitched forward after losing her balance, and was about to be dragged away alongside the rod. Renya swiftly approached and tightly grasped the rod with his right hand. Renya easily stopped the girls body from being dragged into the sea by supporting it with his other hand.The next moment Renya silently lifted up the girl alongside the rod she was grabbing, and very casually tossed her body landward. The girl flew through the air while screaming. And, as if chasing after her, a huge, golden fish sailed through the air while being pulled in by the fishing rod. UmmRenya, the other party looks like a womanso treat her a bit better Even Rona, who had been holding a grudge over being treated as a woman working in the nightlife business, apparently thought that Renyas way of handling her was kind of ruthless. She was about to give Renya, who wiped his forehead as if having finished a difficult job despite not even breaking a sweat, a sermon but after seeing the fish fell on top of the girls body, she burst into laughter. Look here, the fish would get damaged if it were to drop on the stone paving. Renya declared. Due to the explanation that he had apparently aimed for this, Rona looked for a short moment at the girl who had fainted while being sandwiched between the stone paving and the fish, and then showed a thumbs-up C albeit secretly C towards Renya. The world not being round but something like a pizza placed on a tray seemed to be accounted as common knowledge in this word. Given that Renya had also received an explanation about this from the little goddess, he had known it as a fact albeit not being able to understand it, but in reality there existed supplementary information to this fact. This world has the shape of a tray like this, but it appears theres a space between the continents and the tray at the bottom. Rona explained as her fluffy blond hair fluttered in the salty sea breeze while walking in front of Renya. Ronas hair, visible through the gradually increasing sunlight beneath the cloudless sky, sparkled as if capturing the suns light. It had a different charm from Shions black hair that seemed to be wet, and Croires platinum-blonde hair that had a metallic touch. The next day after the warm welcome in Baron Gordonals mansion, Renya had slipped out of the mansion by himself to try to take a look at the sea first thing in the morning, but for some reason he was spotted by Rona and forced to allow her to come with him. Because it felt as though he had been caught by something the instant he sneaked out of his room, Renya thought that Rona might have set up a probe through some kind of divine arts, but even after asking her about it, he didnt get her to tell him the details. She apparently considered the possibility that he would create a countermeasure in case a similar situation cropped up next time, if she were to tell him the answer. Renya wasnt someone specialized at moving stealthily to begin with. Emedra, who had become the source of Renyas current sorcery knowledge, wasnt a being that would need to move around in secret. Probably because of that, Renya didnt have the slightest idea about what she had done, even after trying to search Emedras knowledge. Even if Im saying that its a space, that doesnt mean that the continents are floating. You can think of it as countless pillars growing out from the tray at the bottom, and supporting the continents. Rona added. There are various, doubtful parts there, butwell, for the time being, okay. Renya answered. Questions such as who built those pillars, and who confirmed the existence of those pillars keep popping up within me, but our conversation wont get anywhere if I question all of it. Im also pretty sure that its not part of Ronas knowledge, but merely knowledge she had been told, Renya assessed. The one said to live underneath the continents as a being that coils itself around those countless pillars is the katurul, the dreamer. Huh? Renya felt like he heard a word that slightly weighed on his mind within Ronas explanation, but Rona continued without paying Renya any attention, Its appearance is said to be similar to a huge octopus, but its unclear whether thats the actual truth. After all, no one has ever encountered it, or survived to tell the tale. In legends its passed on that it possesses eight main arms, but it looks like things similar to auxiliary arms grow out of its body in great numbers. Ahwait a second. Stopping Ronas explanation for a moment by placing his hand on her shoulder, Renya sorted his questions within his mind. He picked what seemed to be the most important among them, and decided to ask Rona who turned around while tilting her head slightly to one side. You said dreamer, didnt you? Indeed, thats what I said. Its not plural, right? Ronas explanation sounded to Renya as if she were talking about a single entity. However, if it was a single being, the huge size of the continents would become an issue. After all, even if you just considered the demon continent in the center, it boasted of a huge land mass with a length and width of many thousands kilometers. If one was to consider all the continents, the distances from one end to the other would result in enormous values of several tens of thousands of kilometers. If the being living beneath the continents was a single entity, it would boast an outrageous size skyrocketing far outside Renyas sphere of imagination. No matter how much it might be based on Renyas view of this world, he had posed that question with the faint hope that this world wouldnt be that much random bullshit, although you could say that its structure was completely nonsensical to begin with, but as expected, reality wasnt that kind to Renya. Because no one has ever seen the real thing, its very difficult to say. However, if several beings similar to katurul existed, this world would perish before wed even need to mention something like the demon king. Somehow I feel like it would perish with just one of them existing, though Probably because it was early in the morning, there were no people out on the streets. If this were a place similar to a fish market, it wouldnt be strange for fishermen and wholesalers to start doing business since quite early in the morning, but as marine products werent treated as a local specialty, just like the baron said, such markets and their customers werent present in this city. The reason why there are cities with no seafood markets and harbor facilities despite facing the ocean is the katurul. Didnt it strike you as odd, Renya? Like, why one mustnt cross the ocean to go to the neighboring continents, even if the land route is impossible to use because of the Miasma Forest and the demons domain. I just thought that there werent any ships capable of crossing it. Even while having said so, Renya had certainly considered it weird as well; the abnormal fact that transfer gates are almost the only intercontinental travel system; and that one would normally consider ships to transport many people at once, even though transfer gates might actually be the cheapest method when it came to travel expenses for an individual. Thats also one of the reasons, but the foremost reason is that anyone trying to cross the ocean to get to the neighboring continent will always be attacked by katuruls arms and dragged into the sea. According to the legends, the katuruls main body is right below the continents, and it was handed down that two of its main arms are each extending to the ends of the world throughout the oceans between the continents, said Rona. Moreover, countless auxiliary arms originating from those main arms are crawling across the sea bottom. In short, those katurul tentacles seem to wriggle around at the bottom of all oceans across the world. In several areas of the ocean, limited to those close to land, the existence of the tentacles hasnt been confirmed, despite them being part of the ocean. These are areas where boats wont get attacked even if they sail forth. Only the towns facing the sea in those areas can deal with seafood as a special product. Rona brought her explanation to a close. Sayif you include the arms, just how many tens of thousands of kilometers long is this creature supposed to be? Who knows? The length from one end of the world to the other has never been measured to begin with. Once Rona tossed that reply at him quite indifferently, Renya was at a loss for words. Thats why it might be better to keep your expectations low in terms of getting a large amount of seafood from this place. Large amount? So a small amount would work? Its a small amount on the level of casting a fishing line at the wharf. Howeverthe probability is low, but if your fish hook gets caught in one of katuruls arms, its the end. The katurul will never extend its arms towards the shore by itself, but if it gets stuck on a fish hook, it will judge that as an attack and extend its arms towards the shore. Whats that? Sounds scary. Its no problem if the angler gets quickly dragged down to the sea, but there are stories that anglers were annihilated alongside their towns every now and then when they tried to run away in the past. Right now its generally forbidden to fish at the wharf. Doesnt this mean that even getting small quantities of fish is impossible?Renya wondered, but it looked as if that thought hadnt gotten through to Rona yet. A message board had been set up in front of the two, who had walked up to the wharf facing the sea at the edge of the city before they knew it, as if to prove Ronas words as the truth. It stated that the act of fishing was completely prohibited, and that one would be thrown into the ocean without question if discovered to be fishing despite the ban. How aggressive Well, it will turn into a huge tragedy with just one mistake. Its not unreasonable to be very careful. Because there was no pedestrian traffic yet since it was early in the morning, there seemed to be no patrols going around, and the wharf looked deserted. As far as it goes, the wharf itself had been paved with stones in an orderly shape, but not a single boat was floating on the water, and the wharf didnt possess any facilities for ships to moor either. Therefore, Id like you to give up on this matter, but apart from thathow aboutumm, going to grab breakfast at a restaurant around here, seeing as we are already here. Rona said with a bit of hesitation, but although Renyas ears had registered her words more or less, his head didnt comprehend what they meant. Its because he had spotted an unbelievable sight slightly away from them atop the wharf. Hey, Rona? Umm, I have found out in my previous investigations that there are restaurants that serve breakfast with a delicious salad around here. Id like to go there together with you by all means, Re-.Pardon? Rona, who had interrupted her speech in the middle, immediately reacted to Renyas call albeit with a slightly sullen voice. This kind of reaction might be one of the aspects separating her from Shion, Renya thought.If I were to talk with Shion, she probably wouldnt get back to the matter at hand, continuing to endlessly ramble on by herself, unless I gave her a strong retort. Fishing is strictly forbidden on this wharf, right? Yes, just as its written on the message board over there. What about it? If my eyes arent playing a trick on me, theres someone fishing over there, though? Huh? Renya pointed behind Rona. Rona, who turned her eyes in the direction Renya was pointing at while wondering what silly stuff he was going on about, reflexively froze with her mouth half open upon seeing what was going on. Uryaaaaaaa! Alongside an extremely manly yell, a thick fishing rod, which might be several meters long, had been cast so powerfully that it made one worried that it might break. Long, black hair with pigtails tied on both sides of the head, and partly-open red eyes that gave one the impression of being somewhat sleepy. A dull gray mantle atop plain, light brown shirt and trousers. And a largish pouch dangling on the right side of the waist. A girl, that made Renya feel as though he had seen her somewhere before, was desperately pulling on a fishing rod several times her height which was affixed to a leather belt that was coiled around her waist. That was the scenery Renya and Rona witnessed over there. Eh? When encountering something going beyond ones imagination, everyone reacted differently, but in Ronas case, her thought process apparently came to a complete stop. While only muttering a single exclamation, Rona had completely stopped moving, only staring fixedly at the angler.It seemed to be such an unbelievable sight for her, but Renya, who didnt possess all that prior knowledge, merely thought that the fishing rod would be taken away at any moment now, even if the girl had affixed it to her belt, seeing how there was no stopper at her feet. Nuoooooooh! How stubborn! But! Youre my breakfast! I wont let you get away! W-Wait a moment!? What are you doing over there!? While watching Rona, whose thought process had finally rebooted, starting to run in panic towards the angler, Renya began to slowly walk in the same direction. What made Rona anxious seemed to be the possible troubles if the katurul came out, but since Renya judged that the girl pulling the fishing rod right now wasnt about to cause such an event, he didnt look panicked at all.After all, the girls body would immediately disappear into the sea if she tried to go for a contest of strength with such a monster on the other end of her rod. Oh? Some lewd onee-san showed up. Good mooorning! The hurled an energetic morning greeting at Rona who was coming closer to her, but she didnt let go of the bending rod. Looking at the other end of the fishing line, it was dashing left and right while causing violent splashes on the seas surface, making it obvious that she had caught something big. Whos a lewd onee-san here!? Rona yelled. Huh? I was wrong? I was certain you were on your way back home from work. What kind of work!? Since Rona had seen through Renyas objective, she was wearing clothes that accurately fit her body. She was wearing them, but since she had fairly amazing proportions to begin with, she was far off from giving off a prim and proper impression even when wearing her normal priestess garb. Renya, why do you look like youre agreeing with her? Renya shrugged his shoulders at Ronas question that seemed to stifle both emotions and intonation without replying. Huh? The onii-san over thereI feel like weve met somewhere beforewhaa!? The girls words, who saw Renyas face, changed into a scream midway. The catch, which had been swinging the fishing line left and right, started to escape towards the open sea at full power, as if having decided that this was crunch time. As its charge appeared to be quite powerful, the girl pitched forward after losing her balance, and was about to be dragged away alongside the rod. Renya swiftly approached and tightly grasped the rod with his right hand. Renya easily stopped the girls body from being dragged into the sea by supporting it with his other hand.The next moment Renya silently lifted up the girl alongside the rod she was grabbing, and very casually tossed her body landward. The girl flew through the air while screaming. And, as if chasing after her, a huge, golden fish sailed through the air while being pulled in by the fishing rod. UmmRenya, the other party looks like a womanso treat her a bit better Even Rona, who had been holding a grudge over being treated as a woman working in the nightlife business, apparently thought that Renyas way of handling her was kind of ruthless. She was about to give Renya, who wiped his forehead as if having finished a difficult job despite not even breaking a sweat, a sermon but after seeing the fish fell on top of the girls body, she burst into laughter. Look here, the fish would get damaged if it were to drop on the stone paving. Renya declared. Due to the explanation that he had apparently aimed for this, Rona looked for a short moment at the girl who had fainted while being sandwiched between the stone paving and the fish, and then showed a thumbs-up C albeit secretly C towards Renya. Chapter 198 Haah, dear customer, we sure meet again at a strange place. Fish slices were roasting with a nice sizzling sound on top of a net setup above a bright red open fire. Drops of oil dripped down onto the fire below. Having their surface lightly smeared with soy sauce, the aroma of the sauce hung in the air as the slices were being grilled. Blending with the fragrance of the roasted oil, it all combined into an aroma that stimulated ones appetite to an abnormal degree. It was a situation where the lack of white rice was truly regrettable, but even Renya didnt feel like cooking rice at the wharf, where they currently were, no matter how wide of a space it might be. However, as he thought that, the actions of the girl in front of him, who had quickly cut and trimmed the fish she captured, had started a fire, had built a cooking stove out of stones she had procured somewhere, and had started to grill the fish slices by laying them across a wire netting, was something far removed from common sense, even when using Renya as criterion. Is she an acquaintance of yours? Standing stock still in a place slightly distanced from Renya, who was right next to the girl who was fully concentrated on cooking the fish while humming through her nose, Rona asked him shyly. Renya clearly understood that Rona kept up that questionable feeling of distance with the intention of promptly claiming that she was an unrelated stranger to them if something were to happen, but since there would be no meaning in pointing it out, Renya kept acting as he had before. From a little while ago. Shes the merchant who sold me my katana. Renya answered. Peddler. Kilie urged him to correct himself as if that one word was the game changer here. There was that shinai I received from you afterwards, you remember dear customer? I sold that for quite a bit of money. I must say, there are certainly people with fantastic taste. Ah, I cant tell you to whom I sold it, okay? Its a matter of confidentiality. Since the katana I received in exchange has served me well, thats alright with me, butis this really just a normal katana? Renya asked After all it surpassed the level of simply good performance. I mean, theres not a single chip in the blade even after having clashed with longswords that are many times heavier and thicker. Theres no way that itd be sorted by merely evaluating it as a sharp sword. Renya wondered whether she, who had given him the katana, might know something about it, but the reply he got was something truly simple. Its a katana, no? I dont know the details, but since its something I obtained somewhere else as well, going as far as its originah, I cant tell you how I got my hands on it either, though. This is also something that falls within the range of a peddlers duty of confidentiality. No matter how much you ask me about it, dear customer. Kilie said. Youve repeatedly called me customer, customer is somehow No, I mean, when we did business the other day, I introduced myself, but dear customer, you havent told me your name, have you? Being told so, Renya searched his memory. Even after probing the part of his memories he could remember, as it had been quite a while ago, he could recall that she introduced herself, but that he hadnt. Im sorry about that. Im called Renya Kunugi. Im a margrave and so forth in the Trident Principality. As soon as Renya said that he was a margrave and so forth, Rona revealed a slightly miserable expression. In Ronas eyes, who could pretty much be regarded as nobility in the Trident Principality, margrave was a fairly high position. It wasnt a rank she would ever introduce with and so forth, but going by Renyas values, it was no more than a simple title. Oh? I feel like you were an adventurer back when we met a while ago? So you got ahead in life, eh? Before I realized, I guess. Its nothing I wished for, though. The majority of people cant actually obtain what they wish for, Rona reflexively muttered, but neither Renya nor Kilie had apparently heard her. By the way, about that fish Ah, want some? Ill share what has been given to me, okay? Its a fairly greasy gilbartouin. That seemed to be the name of the fish. On top of it being rotund and fat, it was almost half as tall as Renya. Moreover, the scent it gave off as it was being grilled splendidly whetted Renyas appetite. Since he was told by her that she would share some of it with him, Renya had no reason to reject her offer. Then I shall take you up on that offer. Renya confirmed. W-Wait a moment, you two!? Rona stopped Renya and Kilie, who were about to sit down together on the stone paving next to the fire, in a panic. Once both of them looked at her curiously while simultaneously asking, Is something wrong?, Rona faltered for an instant as if she had been mentally overpowered by them, but apparently recalling what she had to tell them right away, she lifted her voice, and pressed the two for an answer with, Youre going to eat in such a place!? Eh? Thats bad? If we dont eat it while its still fresh, it will be rude to the grilled fish, right? Rona was on the verge of spontaneously squatting down on the spot as she was at her wits end because of their replies, but she immediately pulled herself together, and pressed the two for an answer once more, In the first place, hasnt it been written that fishing is prohibited here!? Isnt it alright as long as we all stay quiet about it, seeing as we werent caught by that katurul or whatever? Thats something you couldnt have known in advance! Once he was clearly shot down, even Renya couldnt rebut her since she was speaking the truth. Ah, Renya-san, its done you know? It looks good for eating, here, have a plate. Sorry. I will gratefully accept it. Listen to what Im telling you! Rona was about to impulsively launch her divine arts at the fire grilling the fish, but she desisted at the last moment. She stopped herself because she knew that she would definitely piss off Renya if she did something like that. Renya was a person where she couldnt tell what kind of revenge she would have to suffer, if she were to spoil the grilled fish prepared while using fresh ingredients. If youre this angry, Rona, would you be satisfied with tossing her into the ocean as its written on the message board? Eh? Thats Whatever the circumstances might be, Rona couldnt demand such a thing. She might survive this if she were to immediately get back to shore, but the instant Kilie is sensed by the katurul, it would spell her death sentence. Certainly she should be condemned for having fished in an area where it was prohibited to do so, but it was difficult to tell her to die in a situation where nothing had happened, just because it was a rule. Now, now, lewd onee-san. Eat some fish with us Whos a lewd onee-san here!? I have a proper name! Its Rona! Rona-san, eh? Nice to meet you. Once she saw Kilies broad grin, Rona couldnt say anything further anymore. She sat down next to Renya, and silently accepted the plate with the grilled fish held out to her by Kilie. When she stabbed the fish slice with the fork that had been provided alongside the plate, the considerable elasticity of the fish meat forced the forks tip back. Hence she pierced through the skin by putting a bit of strength into it, and lifted up the freshly grilled slice. The steam rising from it carried a light aroma of grilled soy sauce. Rona slowly bit into the slice. Its delicious. Next to Rona, who voiced out such an impression, Renya was silently transporting slices of the fish into his mouth. Those oily fish slices seemed to agree with Renyas taste. Kilie placed one slice after the other on the net, and as soon as they got roasted, every single of them was wolfed down by Renya and Kilie. Even Rona ate two, three slices because of their deliciousness, but since they were quite oily, she started to feel somewhat full after eating that many. You two are amazing. Rona, who put down her plate, muttered as she watched the two still wolfing down the food. Hearing that, Kilie answered while looking slightly disappointed, Since its a tasty fish, I can eat as much as I like. But, the taste falls behind a bit, Id say. Compared to what? Renya asked while stopping his hands. Renya almost never compromised and was always interested when it came to matters of food. The one I had aimed for is a fish called goldthun. Its somewhat smaller compared to a silber, but it has a faintly golden-shining patch on its back, and its oil will turn into a syrupy, first-rate quality if you heat it up a bit. If you just sprinkle some salt on the fish and grill it, you can sell it for several gold coins in any bigger city. Its a fish you will hardly ever find on fish markets as its believed that you can only find it in areas of the oceans where you cant sail out with a ship, like this place here. Its that delicious? Renya asked and turned his eyes towards the sea. Rona suddenly had a very bad premonition, but she had no means to stop Kilies explanation. Well, of course. Only once, when I made a killing with a deal, I happened to eat it as a celebration. Its aroma and texture were great. It had a flavor completely justifying to be called a high-class item. Since I ate it in an inland city, it was already slightly old, and I had no choice but to grill it while strengthening the fire, but it looks like its possible to even eat it raw. Kilie continued further with an enthralled expression, Its oil melted at body temperature, and its texture was similar to that of a belbad. Its umami overflowed when you bit into it. Even when it slid down the throat, it felt pleasant. Such fish can be found in this area of the sea? Seems so. Its only sometimes, but there are cases where it will be washed up at beaches after being nibbled on by other fish. Since no boats sail out and as there are no anglers either, these areas can be considered like heaven to fish. Hmm, how far away from the wharf is it? Renya started to unbutton his tunic. Once he quickly tossed the tunic in front of Rona, who stared at him with wide-open eyes for some reason while being driven by the thoughtDont tell me!, he readily took off the shirt below as well, exposing his naked upper body. Contrary to the expectation that his body might be quite trained, it didnt look as though it was trained to such an extent that it was plastered with muscles. I cast my fishing hook thinking its not that far away from here since it seems that the sea becomes quite deep right away once you move away from the wharf a bit. Ive been taken lightly by the fish since theres usually no danger of them being caught. I see. Renya folded his clothes neatly, entrusted them to Rona, who was staring at him without even blinking, and then took off his boots next, becoming barefooted. He drew something by sliding his finger across the stone paving, where he had sat, pinched the pavings surface, and pulled it up as if he were manipulating clay. By just doing that, he was able to pull out a harpune from within the stone paving. Combining the alchemy previously shown to him by Emil and Emedras sorcery knowledge, Renya created a stone spear through adjusted alchemy, but as neither Kilie nor Rona seemed to possess any knowledge in that field, they were surprised by the sudden appearance of the stone spear. Renya, just what Rona felt compelled to ask even though she could somewhat predict the answer she would receive. And Renya confirmed Ronas prediction by giving her the answer she had anticipated, I will go diving for a bit to catch fish. Eh? No, wait!? Y-You mustnt! I mean, this place is If youre going to say that I will be thrown into the ocean if I fish here, it will be impossible to blame me if I jump into the ocean to begin with, right? Whats with that absurd logic?Ronas brain started to freeze, but forcibly pulling herself back to reality, she yelled at Renyas back as he continued walking across the stone paving with bare feet, Dont do it, Renya! Even if its you, the katurul will I think itll be alright as long as I dont provoke it. If it proves impossible, I will escape. Lightly waving his hand, Renya said without any concern, and kicked off the wharfs edge. Rona, who saw him vanish into the sea after creating a water spray, pondered whether she should wait here or request help by calling other people. Lets wait while making sure the fire doesnt go out? You sure say that without any sense of danger Upon Kilies proposal, Rona glared at her while even putting bloodthirst into her gaze, but Kilie folded her arms and tilted her head to the side without any indication that she minded it or was concerned. Even if you tell me that, its not like I can jump into the sea to chase after him. Even if we were to call for someone, its already beyond help. Thats certainly true. Thus, dont you think its more constructive to be ready so that Renya-san can warm himself by the fire once he gets back? Or, are you going to jump in after him, Rona-san? Personally I think a picture of you being attacked by tentacles would be very popular. What are you expecting there? Kilie started to rummage through the pouch hanging at her waist, muttering, In that case I have a magic filming tool. Because Rona had gone out with the intention of strolling around town with Renya, she didnt have a weapon at hand. While firmly enduring the urge to pummel the crown of Kiliels head with her beloved mace assuming she had it with her, she continued fixedly gazing at the waves into which Renyas figure had completely disappeared. Haah, dear customer, we sure meet again at a strange place. Fish slices were roasting with a nice sizzling sound on top of a net setup above a bright red open fire. Drops of oil dripped down onto the fire below. Having their surface lightly smeared with soy sauce, the aroma of the sauce hung in the air as the slices were being grilled. Blending with the fragrance of the roasted oil, it all combined into an aroma that stimulated ones appetite to an abnormal degree. It was a situation where the lack of white rice was truly regrettable, but even Renya didnt feel like cooking rice at the wharf, where they currently were, no matter how wide of a space it might be. However, as he thought that, the actions of the girl in front of him, who had quickly cut and trimmed the fish she captured, had started a fire, had built a cooking stove out of stones she had procured somewhere, and had started to grill the fish slices by laying them across a wire netting, was something far removed from common sense, even when using Renya as criterion. Is she an acquaintance of yours? Standing stock still in a place slightly distanced from Renya, who was right next to the girl who was fully concentrated on cooking the fish while humming through her nose, Rona asked him shyly. Renya clearly understood that Rona kept up that questionable feeling of distance with the intention of promptly claiming that she was an unrelated stranger to them if something were to happen, but since there would be no meaning in pointing it out, Renya kept acting as he had before. From a little while ago. Shes the merchant who sold me my katana. Renya answered. Peddler. Kilie urged him to correct himself as if that one word was the game changer here. There was that shinai I received from you afterwards, you remember dear customer? I sold that for quite a bit of money. I must say, there are certainly people with fantastic taste. Ah, I cant tell you to whom I sold it, okay? Its a matter of confidentiality. Since the katana I received in exchange has served me well, thats alright with me, butis this really just a normal katana? Renya asked After all it surpassed the level of simply good performance. I mean, theres not a single chip in the blade even after having clashed with longswords that are many times heavier and thicker. Theres no way that itd be sorted by merely evaluating it as a sharp sword. Renya wondered whether she, who had given him the katana, might know something about it, but the reply he got was something truly simple. Its a katana, no? I dont know the details, but since its something I obtained somewhere else as well, going as far as its originah, I cant tell you how I got my hands on it either, though. This is also something that falls within the range of a peddlers duty of confidentiality. No matter how much you ask me about it, dear customer. Kilie said. Youve repeatedly called me customer, customer is somehow No, I mean, when we did business the other day, I introduced myself, but dear customer, you havent told me your name, have you? Being told so, Renya searched his memory. Even after probing the part of his memories he could remember, as it had been quite a while ago, he could recall that she introduced herself, but that he hadnt. Im sorry about that. Im called Renya Kunugi. Im a margrave and so forth in the Trident Principality. As soon as Renya said that he was a margrave and so forth, Rona revealed a slightly miserable expression. In Ronas eyes, who could pretty much be regarded as nobility in the Trident Principality, margrave was a fairly high position. It wasnt a rank she would ever introduce with and so forth, but going by Renyas values, it was no more than a simple title. Oh? I feel like you were an adventurer back when we met a while ago? So you got ahead in life, eh? Before I realized, I guess. Its nothing I wished for, though. The majority of people cant actually obtain what they wish for, Rona reflexively muttered, but neither Renya nor Kilie had apparently heard her. By the way, about that fish Ah, want some? Ill share what has been given to me, okay? Its a fairly greasy gilbartouin. That seemed to be the name of the fish. On top of it being rotund and fat, it was almost half as tall as Renya. Moreover, the scent it gave off as it was being grilled splendidly whetted Renyas appetite. Since he was told by her that she would share some of it with him, Renya had no reason to reject her offer. Then I shall take you up on that offer. Renya confirmed. W-Wait a moment, you two!? Rona stopped Renya and Kilie, who were about to sit down together on the stone paving next to the fire, in a panic. Once both of them looked at her curiously while simultaneously asking, Is something wrong?, Rona faltered for an instant as if she had been mentally overpowered by them, but apparently recalling what she had to tell them right away, she lifted her voice, and pressed the two for an answer with, Youre going to eat in such a place!? Eh? Thats bad? If we dont eat it while its still fresh, it will be rude to the grilled fish, right? Rona was on the verge of spontaneously squatting down on the spot as she was at her wits end because of their replies, but she immediately pulled herself together, and pressed the two for an answer once more, In the first place, hasnt it been written that fishing is prohibited here!? Isnt it alright as long as we all stay quiet about it, seeing as we werent caught by that katurul or whatever? Thats something you couldnt have known in advance! Once he was clearly shot down, even Renya couldnt rebut her since she was speaking the truth. Ah, Renya-san, its done you know? It looks good for eating, here, have a plate. Sorry. I will gratefully accept it. Listen to what Im telling you! Rona was about to impulsively launch her divine arts at the fire grilling the fish, but she desisted at the last moment. She stopped herself because she knew that she would definitely piss off Renya if she did something like that. Renya was a person where she couldnt tell what kind of revenge she would have to suffer, if she were to spoil the grilled fish prepared while using fresh ingredients. If youre this angry, Rona, would you be satisfied with tossing her into the ocean as its written on the message board? Eh? Thats Whatever the circumstances might be, Rona couldnt demand such a thing. She might survive this if she were to immediately get back to shore, but the instant Kilie is sensed by the katurul, it would spell her death sentence. Certainly she should be condemned for having fished in an area where it was prohibited to do so, but it was difficult to tell her to die in a situation where nothing had happened, just because it was a rule. Now, now, lewd onee-san. Eat some fish with us Whos a lewd onee-san here!? I have a proper name! Its Rona! Rona-san, eh? Nice to meet you. Once she saw Kilies broad grin, Rona couldnt say anything further anymore. She sat down next to Renya, and silently accepted the plate with the grilled fish held out to her by Kilie. When she stabbed the fish slice with the fork that had been provided alongside the plate, the considerable elasticity of the fish meat forced the forks tip back. Hence she pierced through the skin by putting a bit of strength into it, and lifted up the freshly grilled slice. The steam rising from it carried a light aroma of grilled soy sauce. Rona slowly bit into the slice. Its delicious. Next to Rona, who voiced out such an impression, Renya was silently transporting slices of the fish into his mouth. Those oily fish slices seemed to agree with Renyas taste. Kilie placed one slice after the other on the net, and as soon as they got roasted, every single of them was wolfed down by Renya and Kilie. Even Rona ate two, three slices because of their deliciousness, but since they were quite oily, she started to feel somewhat full after eating that many. You two are amazing. Rona, who put down her plate, muttered as she watched the two still wolfing down the food. Hearing that, Kilie answered while looking slightly disappointed, Since its a tasty fish, I can eat as much as I like. But, the taste falls behind a bit, Id say. Compared to what? Renya asked while stopping his hands. Renya almost never compromised and was always interested when it came to matters of food. The one I had aimed for is a fish called goldthun. Its somewhat smaller compared to a silber, but it has a faintly golden-shining patch on its back, and its oil will turn into a syrupy, first-rate quality if you heat it up a bit. If you just sprinkle some salt on the fish and grill it, you can sell it for several gold coins in any bigger city. Its a fish you will hardly ever find on fish markets as its believed that you can only find it in areas of the oceans where you cant sail out with a ship, like this place here. Its that delicious? Renya asked and turned his eyes towards the sea. Rona suddenly had a very bad premonition, but she had no means to stop Kilies explanation. Well, of course. Only once, when I made a killing with a deal, I happened to eat it as a celebration. Its aroma and texture were great. It had a flavor completely justifying to be called a high-class item. Since I ate it in an inland city, it was already slightly old, and I had no choice but to grill it while strengthening the fire, but it looks like its possible to even eat it raw. Kilie continued further with an enthralled expression, Its oil melted at body temperature, and its texture was similar to that of a belbad. Its umami overflowed when you bit into it. Even when it slid down the throat, it felt pleasant. Such fish can be found in this area of the sea? Seems so. Its only sometimes, but there are cases where it will be washed up at beaches after being nibbled on by other fish. Since no boats sail out and as there are no anglers either, these areas can be considered like heaven to fish. Hmm, how far away from the wharf is it? Renya started to unbutton his tunic. Once he quickly tossed the tunic in front of Rona, who stared at him with wide-open eyes for some reason while being driven by the thoughtDont tell me!, he readily took off the shirt below as well, exposing his naked upper body. Contrary to the expectation that his body might be quite trained, it didnt look as though it was trained to such an extent that it was plastered with muscles. I cast my fishing hook thinking its not that far away from here since it seems that the sea becomes quite deep right away once you move away from the wharf a bit. Ive been taken lightly by the fish since theres usually no danger of them being caught. I see. Renya folded his clothes neatly, entrusted them to Rona, who was staring at him without even blinking, and then took off his boots next, becoming barefooted. He drew something by sliding his finger across the stone paving, where he had sat, pinched the pavings surface, and pulled it up as if he were manipulating clay. By just doing that, he was able to pull out a harpune from within the stone paving. Combining the alchemy previously shown to him by Emil and Emedras sorcery knowledge, Renya created a stone spear through adjusted alchemy, but as neither Kilie nor Rona seemed to possess any knowledge in that field, they were surprised by the sudden appearance of the stone spear. Renya, just what Rona felt compelled to ask even though she could somewhat predict the answer she would receive. And Renya confirmed Ronas prediction by giving her the answer she had anticipated, I will go diving for a bit to catch fish. Eh? No, wait!? Y-You mustnt! I mean, this place is If youre going to say that I will be thrown into the ocean if I fish here, it will be impossible to blame me if I jump into the ocean to begin with, right? Whats with that absurd logic?Ronas brain started to freeze, but forcibly pulling herself back to reality, she yelled at Renyas back as he continued walking across the stone paving with bare feet, Dont do it, Renya! Even if its you, the katurul will I think itll be alright as long as I dont provoke it. If it proves impossible, I will escape. Lightly waving his hand, Renya said without any concern, and kicked off the wharfs edge. Rona, who saw him vanish into the sea after creating a water spray, pondered whether she should wait here or request help by calling other people. Lets wait while making sure the fire doesnt go out? You sure say that without any sense of danger Upon Kilies proposal, Rona glared at her while even putting bloodthirst into her gaze, but Kilie folded her arms and tilted her head to the side without any indication that she minded it or was concerned. Even if you tell me that, its not like I can jump into the sea to chase after him. Even if we were to call for someone, its already beyond help. Thats certainly true. Thus, dont you think its more constructive to be ready so that Renya-san can warm himself by the fire once he gets back? Or, are you going to jump in after him, Rona-san? Personally I think a picture of you being attacked by tentacles would be very popular. What are you expecting there? Kilie started to rummage through the pouch hanging at her waist, muttering, In that case I have a magic filming tool. Because Rona had gone out with the intention of strolling around town with Renya, she didnt have a weapon at hand. While firmly enduring the urge to pummel the crown of Kiliels head with her beloved mace assuming she had it with her, she continued fixedly gazing at the waves into which Renyas figure had completely disappeared. Chapter 199 Renyas first thought after he jumped into the sea was regarding the waters clarity. Just as Kilie had said, the sea became deep shortly after he distanced himself from the wharf. Going by Renyas estimation, the ocean was around a dozen meters deep here, but the degree of water clearness was so high that he could actually see the stones scattered at the bottom of the sea. Unintentionally being mesmerized by that sight, he almost let out a sigh of admiration, but no matter how much Renya might be outside the norm in this world, even he couldnt hold his breath underwater for an extended period of time. Upon realizing this, he picked and from among the spells he received from Emedra, and cast them on himself. Once he shifted his attention towards his vicinity again after having alleviated his concerns about possibly suffocating, the ocean waters clearness still stood out the most. Renya didnt know about it, but on top of there being very few elements that would pollute the water in this world, coastland cities paid very close attention about polluted water not being directed into the ocean as it would very likely incur the rage of the katurul, resulting in the destruction of not only the pollutions source but also that of the city. These were the reasons the ocean water was so clean in this world. It was obvious from the fact that the water quality preservation costs were included in the budgets of any coastal country. Every country had been wracking its brain every year about how to secure the budget which had increased to a considerable amount of money, but following the common perception that it was far better to pay more than losing several cities to the wrathful rampage of the katurul, this budget was never cut down in any way. And even the occasional corrupt bureaucrat, who embezzled public funds, never touched this budget. Probably as a consequence of all this, the ocean, which was maintaining a high level of transparency, allowed Renya to watch the fish swim leisurely within, but at the same time, he could observe things he didnt really want to see. Those were the remains of sunken boats. Seafood, which could only be caught in restricted regions of the ocean, was a high-class ingredient that could be sold for a fairly decent price. The stream of people setting out on boats in hopes of getting rich quickly apparently never died out. Its not like they were always attacked by the katurul just because they set out with a ship, if it was at the level of a small boat. That fact spurred on the people even further, but either way, the sunken ship wrecks covered a wide range, from old, worn-down remains to fairly new ones. Renya was cautious, wondering whether crew members of those wrecks might still be around by some chance, but fortunately, as far as Renya could see, there were none to be found. Had they been washed away by the ocean current? Or had they been taken away by something else? As Renya was diving, he didnt feel a strong tidal current that would carry his body away at present. In that case, the latter must have been the case here, Renya judged. And as if confirming his judgment, those suddenly appeared from within the gaps between the stones on the oceans floor. They were greenish, transparent tentacles with the length and thickness of around an adults arm. As if they were seaweed or something else, the tentacles started to slowly sway within the ocean. And, as if being in concert with each other, one tentacle after the other appeared from the oceans bottom and the remains of the boats, starting to shake their bodies. Renya stopped moving due to the extremely abnormal spectacle. (Thosereally give me the creeps.) Watching the flock of tentacles fully covering the oceans floor and filling his visual field in a flash, Renya couldnt help but instinctively feel disgust. And yet, even as he watched the tentacles for a while, they only swayed grossly, and made no effort to approach, or to go even further, attack Renya as he swam. While watching them, Renya even grew accustomed to his feeling of disgust, and decided to expel the flock of tentacles from his mind for the time being to focus on searching for the fish he was aiming for. The only thing he knew about his target fish were their name, goldthun, but if Kilies explanation was correct, he just had to look for fish that were smaller than the fish Kilie had reeled in, had a similar appearance, and a golden patch on their belly. (Found them.) They were quite far away from Renya, but Renyas eyes spotted a swarm of fish that looked just like he had imagined them. At once he tried to swim close to them, but naturally there was a remarkable difference in swimming speed between a man and fish. Moreover, probably because they were fish with a considerable size, the swarm of goldthun easily took distance from Renya as he was chasing after them by powerfully swinging their fins. Even if Renya swam at full power, it would be impossible for him to catch up with the speed of fish, but what made matters worse was that he was holding a stone spear in his hand. That fact lowered Renyas swimming speed even further, but it wasnt as though he could simply toss it away because it was a hindrance. After all he would have to catch the fish with his bare hands if he were to do so. Renya continued to pointless struggle for a short while, but after comprehending that he would very likely never catch up like this, he thought about it for a moment, and then started to activate his third spell. It was a high-handed method of accelerating himself by using on the water around him. He had considered cladding his body in wind just like when he flew in the sky with wind sorcery, but as it was obvious that he would block his line of sight with all the bubbles rising up if he clad his body in wind underwater, he swiftly gave up on that notion. While manipulating the water flow around him so as to head towards the fish swarm, Renya, who sped up all of a sudden, caught up with the fish speed and plunged into the swarm. The goldthun swarm started to escape by scattering in all directions in order to avoid Renya, but Renyas eyes and arm immediately captured one fish, which was the closest to him, as it was late in escaping. The stone spearhead, which Renya thrust out while using the speed of his charge, penetrated the head of the straggler without erring in its aim. Fish blood rapidly spread underwater. Renya tried to pull the fish he had just stabbed with his spear to himself while watching the other fish scrambling to get away. The fish, which had just been stabbed, smoothly slid off the spear and sank down towards the bottom. While immediately understanding that the reason the fish slid off was the lack of barbs on the spear, Renya was about to chase after its sinking body to recover it, but then noticed that something slender and semi-transparent coiled itself around the tail fin of the fish. (Those are) Given that the tentacles that appeared in swarms from the oceans floor were around the size of an adult arm, Renya believed all of them to be like this, but this was apparently a false assumption. There existed a lot thinner C around the thickness of his pinky finger C and far longer tentacles, too. Those had snatched the prey Renya killed as bystanders. Of course, Renya was not one to let such a steal pass by while remaining silent about it. Right away he pursued the fish that had been stolen, put his arm around its body as if to carry it beneath his armpit, and severed the tentacles coiling around the fish tail fin by swinging his spear. No matter how outrageous of a being the katurul might be, the tentacles with the thickness of a little finger apparently didnt possess outlandish strength. Severed by one swing of the spear, the tentacles lost their strength, got disconnected from the tail fin, and dropped towards the sea ground. Renya tried to resurface immediately while carrying the fish under his arms without even watching the fate of the tentacles he cut, but his body got stopped as if being pulled by something which didnt allow him to surface. (This isconstricting me, I think?) With his upper body naked, Renya felt something touching his right shoulder. Faster than Renya could realize, that tentacle had pinned down his shoulder after approaching him from behind while he was preoccupied with the stolen fish, Renyas body was dragged down with a speed that couldnt be compared at all with the speed at which the fish had been pulled down towards the oceans floor. Once Renya was slapped against the oceans floor without any decrease in speed, he reflexively let bubbles escape from his mouth. The impact was so strong that he would have likely suffered heavy injuries if he had hit the ground defenselessly, but Renya managed to protect himself with sorcery at the nick of time. While watching the ground collapse and pebbles scatter due to the impact, he swiftly stored the fish under his armpit into his inventory. It was an act of him believing that he must escape while taking the fish along with him at the very least, but other people would have likely wondered just what this person was doing in the middle of an emergency situation. Furthermore, he carelessly threw away the stone spear in his hand. No matter how he considered it, it was far too meager a weapon to take on the katurul, and he couldnt believe at all that it would be of any use to get the job done. Before I rely on something like that, I should use another method while keeping my hands free, Renya judged. He tore off the tentacle tightly clinging to his shoulder with all his might. Once he looked closely at it, the tentacles surface was densely packed with small suction pads. Those had been apparently sticking to Renyas shoulder while he was struck against the ground. It looks like there will be traces left on my skin since they clung to my shoulder quite tightly, Renya carefreely pondered, but while he was tearing off the tentacle that had been clinging to his shoulder, another tentacle twined itself around Renyas right ankle next. As he was about to tear off the one at his ankle while clicking his tongue, another tentacle stuck to his back, and while he was trying to get that one off, yet another tentacle coiled around his legs. (These guys) Even more so than the strength of the tentacles themselves and their suction power, their large numbers posed the biggest problem. While Renya was removing one, several other tentacles stuck to his body or coiled around it. Because of that, he wouldnt be able to escape from here no matter how much time passed. Thanks to his sorcery, he didnt need to fear suffocation, but he could expect to run out of breath after running out of mana, or otherwise, before that, being strangled to death after having so many tentacles twine around his body that he wouldnt be able to do anything, while he was struggling like this. Moreover, if Renya was only a little bit late in dealing with the katuruls tentacles, they would immediately aim for its neck, trying to coil a tentacle around it. Even if Renyas mana and stamina were endless due to , only death would await him if his neck were to be broken. Renya possessed enough strength so that his neck wouldnt be broken so easily, but if countless tentacles were to coil around him and overpower him with their sheer numbers, it was hard to say that he couldnt lose the competition. (I will do itin one go!) Renyas irritation steadily grew at the tenacity of the tentacles which he couldnt keep away, even though he would leave right away if they would just let him go, and finally shifted towards counterattacking. He shook off one tentacle, which had reached out for his neck, with his hand, seized it with both hands, and bit into it just like that. For a moment, the many tentacles trying to coil around Renyas body froze. While watching that, Renya completely ripped out a bite-sized chunk of the tentacles flesh while maintaining his hold on it so that it wouldnt get away, and started to chew the meat in his mouth. (Hmm? This is quite good.) Renya had considered the possibility that he wouldnt be able to bite it off, but unexpectedly he could do so quite easily. As he was chewing the meat while rolling it around inside his mouth, the consistency he sensed was completely different from what he had anticipated. At first Renya had considered the katurul to be some kind of huge octopus or squid. He had wondered whether the taste and consistency of its meat wouldnt be something closely resembling those two, but now that he had actually tried it, the katuruls meat had a crunchy texture, a fairly normal taste, and almost no smell either. Naturally, he also considered the possibility of there being poison in it. But, Renya had the skill . He believed that it was simply impossible for him to die, even if it was a fairly strong poison, but there were no signs of the meat containing any in the first place. He took yet another bite of the tentacle in his hands. The taste spreading in his mouth alongside a faint saltiness felt C as far as Renya knew C kind of like having thrown together jellyfish and chicken gristle and taken the average of both. It wasnt a bad taste. Rather, it could be called a good ingredient to eat while enjoying its consistency. (Theres so much of it around me. It probably wont pose a problem even if I collect some of it.) Renya, who had happened across this unexpected food after having dived into the ocean to catch delicious fish, looked towards the tentacles surrounding him. There wasnt a shred of his previous irritation left on his expression any longer. Rather, he even emanated an aura of happily welcoming the tentacles which had come gathering around him. At that moment, it wasnt clear just what the katuruls main body thought as it remained below the continents central part, in the far distance. However, it was a doubtless fact that the katurul, which had until then one-sidedly preyed upon others, completely changed, shifting towards the side of being preyed upon. For the katurul, the part bitten off by Renya was no more than a tiny fragment of its whole body, but it was questionable just how much of a shock it must have been for a being that always preyed upon others to suddenly become the target of a predator. That was something no one could answer, but the level of shock the katurul received might been somewhat guessable from the tentacles behavior, which had been altogether devoted to gathering around Renya, suddenly being pulled back. However, you could say that the katurul, which had solely focused on hunting others so far, was far too slow in making the decision to run away. The tentacles, which it tried to pull back, were successively cut apart while showing clean cross-sections, and drifted in the sea. Renya quickly gathered these severed pieces. Without anyone noticing, his right hand was grasping a sharp, silver-shining katana even while being in the ocean. (Even raw they are great, so Im quite interested in how theyll taste after grilling them. Besides, they should definitely be suitable for pickling. I feel like this is an ingredient that could even be used even for desserts as it could be sweet depending on the location of the catch.) Renya wasnt absolutely sure, but he had a hunch that it would also work as an analeptic. He couldnt say anything definite unless he had Emil analyze it, but if his thoughts, which were based on his perception when he ate it, werent wrong, it might become useful as edible medicine. (I have to catch as much as possible.) After beating the tentacles which were late in escaping, he struck his mana at the tentacles trying to escape by diving into the ground or behind rocks, blew them up alongside the bedrock, and captured them. When they appeared, there were so many tentacles that they covered the oceans ground. It wasnt an amount he could fully exhaust, no matter how many he took. And yet, he tossed every single tentacle he captured into his inventory, and as the tentacles in there continuously and steadily gained in quantity, Renyas face unintentionally broke into a wide smile. Then he started to gouge out the oceans floor in order to secure an even larger amount and blew away the wrecks of the sunken ships. Renyas first thought after he jumped into the sea was regarding the waters clarity. Just as Kilie had said, the sea became deep shortly after he distanced himself from the wharf. Going by Renyas estimation, the ocean was around a dozen meters deep here, but the degree of water clearness was so high that he could actually see the stones scattered at the bottom of the sea. Unintentionally being mesmerized by that sight, he almost let out a sigh of admiration, but no matter how much Renya might be outside the norm in this world, even he couldnt hold his breath underwater for an extended period of time. Upon realizing this, he picked and from among the spells he received from Emedra, and cast them on himself. Once he shifted his attention towards his vicinity again after having alleviated his concerns about possibly suffocating, the ocean waters clearness still stood out the most. Renya didnt know about it, but on top of there being very few elements that would pollute the water in this world, coastland cities paid very close attention about polluted water not being directed into the ocean as it would very likely incur the rage of the katurul, resulting in the destruction of not only the pollutions source but also that of the city. These were the reasons the ocean water was so clean in this world. It was obvious from the fact that the water quality preservation costs were included in the budgets of any coastal country. Every country had been wracking its brain every year about how to secure the budget which had increased to a considerable amount of money, but following the common perception that it was far better to pay more than losing several cities to the wrathful rampage of the katurul, this budget was never cut down in any way. And even the occasional corrupt bureaucrat, who embezzled public funds, never touched this budget. Probably as a consequence of all this, the ocean, which was maintaining a high level of transparency, allowed Renya to watch the fish swim leisurely within, but at the same time, he could observe things he didnt really want to see. Those were the remains of sunken boats. Seafood, which could only be caught in restricted regions of the ocean, was a high-class ingredient that could be sold for a fairly decent price. The stream of people setting out on boats in hopes of getting rich quickly apparently never died out. Its not like they were always attacked by the katurul just because they set out with a ship, if it was at the level of a small boat. That fact spurred on the people even further, but either way, the sunken ship wrecks covered a wide range, from old, worn-down remains to fairly new ones. Renya was cautious, wondering whether crew members of those wrecks might still be around by some chance, but fortunately, as far as Renya could see, there were none to be found. Had they been washed away by the ocean current? Or had they been taken away by something else? As Renya was diving, he didnt feel a strong tidal current that would carry his body away at present. In that case, the latter must have been the case here, Renya judged. And as if confirming his judgment, those suddenly appeared from within the gaps between the stones on the oceans floor. They were greenish, transparent tentacles with the length and thickness of around an adults arm. As if they were seaweed or something else, the tentacles started to slowly sway within the ocean. And, as if being in concert with each other, one tentacle after the other appeared from the oceans bottom and the remains of the boats, starting to shake their bodies. Renya stopped moving due to the extremely abnormal spectacle. (Thosereally give me the creeps.) Watching the flock of tentacles fully covering the oceans floor and filling his visual field in a flash, Renya couldnt help but instinctively feel disgust. And yet, even as he watched the tentacles for a while, they only swayed grossly, and made no effort to approach, or to go even further, attack Renya as he swam. While watching them, Renya even grew accustomed to his feeling of disgust, and decided to expel the flock of tentacles from his mind for the time being to focus on searching for the fish he was aiming for. The only thing he knew about his target fish were their name, goldthun, but if Kilies explanation was correct, he just had to look for fish that were smaller than the fish Kilie had reeled in, had a similar appearance, and a golden patch on their belly. (Found them.) They were quite far away from Renya, but Renyas eyes spotted a swarm of fish that looked just like he had imagined them. At once he tried to swim close to them, but naturally there was a remarkable difference in swimming speed between a man and fish. Moreover, probably because they were fish with a considerable size, the swarm of goldthun easily took distance from Renya as he was chasing after them by powerfully swinging their fins. Even if Renya swam at full power, it would be impossible for him to catch up with the speed of fish, but what made matters worse was that he was holding a stone spear in his hand. That fact lowered Renyas swimming speed even further, but it wasnt as though he could simply toss it away because it was a hindrance. After all he would have to catch the fish with his bare hands if he were to do so. Renya continued to pointless struggle for a short while, but after comprehending that he would very likely never catch up like this, he thought about it for a moment, and then started to activate his third spell. It was a high-handed method of accelerating himself by using on the water around him. He had considered cladding his body in wind just like when he flew in the sky with wind sorcery, but as it was obvious that he would block his line of sight with all the bubbles rising up if he clad his body in wind underwater, he swiftly gave up on that notion. While manipulating the water flow around him so as to head towards the fish swarm, Renya, who sped up all of a sudden, caught up with the fish speed and plunged into the swarm. The goldthun swarm started to escape by scattering in all directions in order to avoid Renya, but Renyas eyes and arm immediately captured one fish, which was the closest to him, as it was late in escaping. The stone spearhead, which Renya thrust out while using the speed of his charge, penetrated the head of the straggler without erring in its aim. Fish blood rapidly spread underwater. Renya tried to pull the fish he had just stabbed with his spear to himself while watching the other fish scrambling to get away. The fish, which had just been stabbed, smoothly slid off the spear and sank down towards the bottom. While immediately understanding that the reason the fish slid off was the lack of barbs on the spear, Renya was about to chase after its sinking body to recover it, but then noticed that something slender and semi-transparent coiled itself around the tail fin of the fish. (Those are) Given that the tentacles that appeared in swarms from the oceans floor were around the size of an adult arm, Renya believed all of them to be like this, but this was apparently a false assumption. There existed a lot thinner C around the thickness of his pinky finger C and far longer tentacles, too. Those had snatched the prey Renya killed as bystanders. Of course, Renya was not one to let such a steal pass by while remaining silent about it. Right away he pursued the fish that had been stolen, put his arm around its body as if to carry it beneath his armpit, and severed the tentacles coiling around the fish tail fin by swinging his spear. No matter how outrageous of a being the katurul might be, the tentacles with the thickness of a little finger apparently didnt possess outlandish strength. Severed by one swing of the spear, the tentacles lost their strength, got disconnected from the tail fin, and dropped towards the sea ground. Renya tried to resurface immediately while carrying the fish under his arms without even watching the fate of the tentacles he cut, but his body got stopped as if being pulled by something which didnt allow him to surface. (This isconstricting me, I think?) With his upper body naked, Renya felt something touching his right shoulder. Faster than Renya could realize, that tentacle had pinned down his shoulder after approaching him from behind while he was preoccupied with the stolen fish, Renyas body was dragged down with a speed that couldnt be compared at all with the speed at which the fish had been pulled down towards the oceans floor. Once Renya was slapped against the oceans floor without any decrease in speed, he reflexively let bubbles escape from his mouth. The impact was so strong that he would have likely suffered heavy injuries if he had hit the ground defenselessly, but Renya managed to protect himself with sorcery at the nick of time. While watching the ground collapse and pebbles scatter due to the impact, he swiftly stored the fish under his armpit into his inventory. It was an act of him believing that he must escape while taking the fish along with him at the very least, but other people would have likely wondered just what this person was doing in the middle of an emergency situation. Furthermore, he carelessly threw away the stone spear in his hand. No matter how he considered it, it was far too meager a weapon to take on the katurul, and he couldnt believe at all that it would be of any use to get the job done. Before I rely on something like that, I should use another method while keeping my hands free, Renya judged. He tore off the tentacle tightly clinging to his shoulder with all his might. Once he looked closely at it, the tentacles surface was densely packed with small suction pads. Those had been apparently sticking to Renyas shoulder while he was struck against the ground. It looks like there will be traces left on my skin since they clung to my shoulder quite tightly, Renya carefreely pondered, but while he was tearing off the tentacle that had been clinging to his shoulder, another tentacle twined itself around Renyas right ankle next. As he was about to tear off the one at his ankle while clicking his tongue, another tentacle stuck to his back, and while he was trying to get that one off, yet another tentacle coiled around his legs. (These guys) Even more so than the strength of the tentacles themselves and their suction power, their large numbers posed the biggest problem. While Renya was removing one, several other tentacles stuck to his body or coiled around it. Because of that, he wouldnt be able to escape from here no matter how much time passed. Thanks to his sorcery, he didnt need to fear suffocation, but he could expect to run out of breath after running out of mana, or otherwise, before that, being strangled to death after having so many tentacles twine around his body that he wouldnt be able to do anything, while he was struggling like this. Moreover, if Renya was only a little bit late in dealing with the katuruls tentacles, they would immediately aim for its neck, trying to coil a tentacle around it. Even if Renyas mana and stamina were endless due to , only death would await him if his neck were to be broken. Renya possessed enough strength so that his neck wouldnt be broken so easily, but if countless tentacles were to coil around him and overpower him with their sheer numbers, it was hard to say that he couldnt lose the competition. (I will do itin one go!) Renyas irritation steadily grew at the tenacity of the tentacles which he couldnt keep away, even though he would leave right away if they would just let him go, and finally shifted towards counterattacking. He shook off one tentacle, which had reached out for his neck, with his hand, seized it with both hands, and bit into it just like that. For a moment, the many tentacles trying to coil around Renyas body froze. While watching that, Renya completely ripped out a bite-sized chunk of the tentacles flesh while maintaining his hold on it so that it wouldnt get away, and started to chew the meat in his mouth. (Hmm? This is quite good.) Renya had considered the possibility that he wouldnt be able to bite it off, but unexpectedly he could do so quite easily. As he was chewing the meat while rolling it around inside his mouth, the consistency he sensed was completely different from what he had anticipated. At first Renya had considered the katurul to be some kind of huge octopus or squid. He had wondered whether the taste and consistency of its meat wouldnt be something closely resembling those two, but now that he had actually tried it, the katuruls meat had a crunchy texture, a fairly normal taste, and almost no smell either. Naturally, he also considered the possibility of there being poison in it. But, Renya had the skill . He believed that it was simply impossible for him to die, even if it was a fairly strong poison, but there were no signs of the meat containing any in the first place. He took yet another bite of the tentacle in his hands. The taste spreading in his mouth alongside a faint saltiness felt C as far as Renya knew C kind of like having thrown together jellyfish and chicken gristle and taken the average of both. It wasnt a bad taste. Rather, it could be called a good ingredient to eat while enjoying its consistency. (Theres so much of it around me. It probably wont pose a problem even if I collect some of it.) Renya, who had happened across this unexpected food after having dived into the ocean to catch delicious fish, looked towards the tentacles surrounding him. There wasnt a shred of his previous irritation left on his expression any longer. Rather, he even emanated an aura of happily welcoming the tentacles which had come gathering around him. At that moment, it wasnt clear just what the katuruls main body thought as it remained below the continents central part, in the far distance. However, it was a doubtless fact that the katurul, which had until then one-sidedly preyed upon others, completely changed, shifting towards the side of being preyed upon. For the katurul, the part bitten off by Renya was no more than a tiny fragment of its whole body, but it was questionable just how much of a shock it must have been for a being that always preyed upon others to suddenly become the target of a predator. That was something no one could answer, but the level of shock the katurul received might been somewhat guessable from the tentacles behavior, which had been altogether devoted to gathering around Renya, suddenly being pulled back. However, you could say that the katurul, which had solely focused on hunting others so far, was far too slow in making the decision to run away. The tentacles, which it tried to pull back, were successively cut apart while showing clean cross-sections, and drifted in the sea. Renya quickly gathered these severed pieces. Without anyone noticing, his right hand was grasping a sharp, silver-shining katana even while being in the ocean. (Even raw they are great, so Im quite interested in how theyll taste after grilling them. Besides, they should definitely be suitable for pickling. I feel like this is an ingredient that could even be used even for desserts as it could be sweet depending on the location of the catch.) Renya wasnt absolutely sure, but he had a hunch that it would also work as an analeptic. He couldnt say anything definite unless he had Emil analyze it, but if his thoughts, which were based on his perception when he ate it, werent wrong, it might become useful as edible medicine. (I have to catch as much as possible.) After beating the tentacles which were late in escaping, he struck his mana at the tentacles trying to escape by diving into the ground or behind rocks, blew them up alongside the bedrock, and captured them. When they appeared, there were so many tentacles that they covered the oceans ground. It wasnt an amount he could fully exhaust, no matter how many he took. And yet, he tossed every single tentacle he captured into his inventory, and as the tentacles in there continuously and steadily gained in quantity, Renyas face unintentionally broke into a wide smile. Then he started to gouge out the oceans floor in order to secure an even larger amount and blew away the wrecks of the sunken ships. Chapter 200 Chasing the escaping tentacles and chopping them up, discovering even more thick tentacles by digging them out at the oceans floor and chopping them up; and in between, chasing around goldthun swarms, his initial objective, for a bit, trying to catch several of them. Renya, who enjoyed fishing to his hearts content, stuffed his inventory with so much seafood that he felt slightly uneasy about its capacity, and thus swam back to the wharf. When he arrived at the wharf Renya stored his katana into his inventory and tried to pull himself up after placing his hands at the wharfs edge, but he stopped moving for a moment due to the spectacle unfolding on the other side of the wharf. The first thing he saw was a group of fully armed soldiers as far as the eye could see. Although they were unsure about how to proceed, the sight of them surrounding the wharf, where Renya was trying to pull himself up, with their longswords and spears at the ready was so abnormal that it caused Renya to wonder just what might have happened. What he saw next were Rona and Kilie sitting around the fire just as before. They were continuing to grill the remaining fish slices on the net, but they were surrounded by soldiers for no apparent reason. They completely looked like criminals, and the looks the two were sending Renya somehow made him feel as if they were blaming him for something. Nearby, one could see Shion, who was looking in Renyas direction with gleaming eyes for some reason, and Emil who was also looking at him with gleaming eyes but in a somewhat different meaning than Shions, a dangerous glint to be precise. Those two werent surrounded by the soldiers, but instead Baron Gordonal stood stock still next to them while folding his arms and making a bitter expression. Looking even further into the distance, Renya could sporadically see the figures of town residents, who were watching the situation with frightened expressions, beyond the soldiers. Renya kept hanging at the wharf as if doing a pull-up exercise, thinking about the situation he had swum into. Whats going on? Not being able to reach a conclusion after thinking it over, Renya asked no one in particular. He did such a thing hoping that someone that understood the current situation would give him an answer, but the one who replied the quickest here was surprisingly Shion. Renya in the nude! Quite a few soldiers fell over, dropping their weapons. Kilie gazed at Shion as if looking at some kind of disappointing existence. On the other hand, Rona slightly blushed and stared at the ground. Renya nimbly removed his right hand from the wharfs edge, and scratched his cheek with the now free hand while holding his body up with just the left hand, You know, thats not the answer Im looking for Come to think of it, Rona also stared at me intently when I was undressing, wasnt she?Renya recalled. For an instant Renya wondered what might be so interesting about seeing a nude man, but then he changed his mind as it might not be unusual for women to get excited when looking at a nude man, seeing as men would get excited when seeing a nude woman. Welcome back, Renya! Did you catch anything unusual!? Emil asked with shining eyes, but that wasnt an explanation of the current situation either. Saying that Emil seemed to put more importance on her research than naked men was not wrong, but for Renya that information had no use. Leaving that aside, an explanation of the current situation Current situation? As if saying that she had just noticed, Emil looked at the soldiers around her, and the towns residents in the distance. Emil, who had spent a good chunk of time surveying her vicinity, thought for a moment afterwards, and asked Renya with a smile plastered all over her face, Should I erase them? Stop it While thinking that it was only natural for the surrounding people to look startled, Renya pulled his body out of the water using only one hand and sat down at the edge of the wharf. It was a line he would usually interpret as a joke, but since Emil was actually serious, he had to tread carefully. If Renya were to say yes to her question for arguments sake, it would really lead to a one-sided massacre. Even Renya didnt have the hobby of meaninglessly turning an innocent city into a bloody hell. So, what about the explanation? Look Renya, if two beautiful girls are grilling fish over a fire at a plaza close to the wharf early in the morning, the soldiers on patrol would come and have a look at whats going on, dont you think? Being introduced as beautiful girls, Rona lowered her gaze even further, whereas Kilie acted strangely bashful. Given that there was no particular protest towards the way they were introduced, Renya urged Emil to continue. And once they were questioned by the guards, wasnt there an idiot that jumped into the ocean by himself? Well, there are some things Id like to say about that, but I can accept such an evaluation, if absolutely necessary. In reality, Renya had intended to explain that he hadnt done anything that justified calling him an idiot, but in Emils eyes his actions were extremely stupid, and in the eyes of the soldiers and residents idiot was too soft an expression. The difference in perception in this area could be allotted to the difference in power and respective position. Afterwards it soon turned into a huge uproar. It would have been fine if the idiot were to die all by himself, but since it would turn into a disaster if something went wrong, causing the katurul to get angry, the soldiers from all over town were pulled together, and now we have this mess here. Hearing that it was you who apparently jumped into the water, Shion and I quickly came running over along with the baron. On top of that, Renya Shion, who was breathing roughly in a rather questionable way, got close to Renya with her eyes still glued to his chest. Somehow Renya could feel something like a danger aimed at his body, but since he would have no other option but to jump back into the ocean if he were to try escaping, he forced himself to resist the urge to flee. Once everyone had gathered, explosions could suddenly be heard from within the ocean, things that somehow looked like tentacles could also be seen moving around in a great hurry, and columns of water were repeatedly shot into the air. Dont you think that those watching such events, would fall into great turmoil? Being told so, Renya turned his eyes towards the horizon. He hadnt cared about it at all while diving, but certainly, when he was chasing the katurul around, the tentacles did break through the water surface sometimes, and when he blew up the oceans ground, he felt like a considerable amount of water was driven upwards, however he hadnt considered how it would appear when seen from the town. ThatsIm terribly sorry. No, I mean, I dont give a flying damn about it. So, what did you catch, Renya? When asked like that, even Renya had no other choice but to show his spoils. He opened his inventory, chose a relatively small amount from the catch within, and pulled it out. Watching a motionless tentacle the size of a childs arm suddenly appear in Renyas palm, screams were audible and a commotion took place. This is an auxiliary arm of the katurul, isnt it? Emil asked. Probably. Ive never seen a master arm, so I cant say which it is. What are you going to do with this? Contrary to their surroundings which had drawn back, Shion brought her face close to Renyas hand with keen interest. Renya had been slightly worried that it might grow from where it had been cut or stay alive for a while even after being detached from its main body, but even after leaving it alone for some time, it didnt show any signs of doing such things. Therefore, Renya didnt caution Shion when she started to poke the severed end of the tentacle with her fingertip. I tried to bite it, and it was actually quite delicious. You ate it!? Renya nodded at the surprised Shion. Renya also noticed that the faces of the soldiers, who overheard their conversation, froze, very likely out of fear, but he decided that there wouldnt be any point in worrying about it. He decided to leave it alone because he believed that eating marine products raw was probably going to be very difficult to explain to this worlds residents.Even in my former world, countries other than Japan didnt really have a passion for raw marine products, hence theres no way that residents of a completely different world would be able to understand, Renya judged. It has a crunchy consistency and a faintly salty taste. Its a fairly interesting ingredient, Id say? I-Is that so? Renya, obviously youre going to share several of them with me, right? For research purposes! You wont eat them? Im not really eager to do so, but welltheres something I want you to look at as well. For Renya who only perceived the tentacles as foodstuff, Emils request to give her some of it as research material wasnt something he was keen on. However, as he wanted her to look at something else he had stuffed into his inventory, Renya resolved himself to hand over several katurul tentacles as a sort of payment. Something you want me to look at? I wonder what it iswait, this isnt slimy, its squishy, though. Emil was the owner of a void storage and thus she gleefully stored several tentacles, which Renya had taken out of his inventory, into her own storage. At the same time Renya retrieved the object he wanted Emil to look at. The thing Renya wanted Emil to look at were undersea stones that got broken and scattered about when Renya was attacking the katuruls tentacles with slashes and magic while trying to capture more tentacles. In certain areas of the stones surfaces, where small barnacle-like shells or some types of seaweeds completely unknown to Renya should be clinging, there was nothing, but what Renya worried the most were the fractured surface areas that were exposed for the first time when he broke them. Look, the surface over here has a somewhat metallic shine. Hmm? Let me see. After she finished putting away her share of tentacles, Emil brought her face close to the part of the stone Renya was pointing at. Kilie, who had drawn near without them noticing, brought her face close as well. Assuming its an ore, it seems to be one with fairly high purity. Hmm, well, from what I can see, it might be possible to get the metal by simply throwing it into a furnace after crushing it enoughthesemaybe Emil stared at the cross-section of the stone for a while, but apparently having suddenly hit upon some kind of idea, she let a finger run across the stones cross-section. As if tracing Emils finger, something that seemed like characters were depicted on the stone, solidifying into real characters while radiating. Renya, mana. You can use your own Just hurry it up. Youve reached the point where you can use alchemy, right? Emil had a massive amount of mana when compared to a normal person, but if compared to Renya, who had an almost infinite amount, using Renyas mana would doubtlessly be more cost-efficient. Renya, who poured mana into the characters drawn by Emil while thinking that it really was something she could have activated by herself, showed a faint expression of surprise as he felt mana being drawn out from within his body. After all it was decisively more mana than he had expected. As Renya continued to provide mana while feeling slightly tired, the light of the characters slowly gained in intensity. Before long, the characters themselves started to smoothly flow down from the stones surface onto Emils palm who had just waited for them. When all characters had trickled down, only a simple stone without any metallic glitter was left behind. On the other hand, Emil, who had caught all the characters with her palm, lightly clutched her hand once, and when she opened it again, silver clods the size of gravel grains could be seen on her palm. That just now was the alchemy spell , just so you know. Emil explained. A technique that will make any smith cry, Im sure. So, what are those small grains? Yeah, welluntil I tried refining them, I wasnt confident either. Emil looked at the silver grains atop her palm while lightly rolling them around, and then made eye contact with Kilie who was peeking at Emils palm. Whore you? Oh sorry, Im the peddler Kilie. I did business with Renya a little while ago. Ah, okay. What do these look like to you? Kilie folded her arms and made a brooding face after being asked so by Emil. I tried to appraise them, butalthough I dont know why, I grasped that they are ores. However, my understanding doesnt reach as far as grasping what kind of ore it is Renya remembered that he had received such a skill as well, although he felt as if it had been a very, very long time ago. He had tried to appraise the grains before relying on others, but probably because his own knowledge was too lacking, the appraisals result was limited to no more than, As long as theres no discrepancy in the analysis, I assume that its orichalcum from its appearance. Kilie said. You sure got good eyes. I have the same opinion. Emil confirmed. Orichalcum? Renya asked by parroting the word he had never heard before, but the reactions in his surroundings were completely different. Starting with the baron, all officials of the Gordonal Barony showed visible changes on their expressions. Rona and Shion looked at Emil with expressions that revealed hat they were slightly taken aback, but Emil and Kilie, who had voiced out the metals name, remained calm without any particular change to their expressions. Chasing the escaping tentacles and chopping them up, discovering even more thick tentacles by digging them out at the oceans floor and chopping them up; and in between, chasing around goldthun swarms, his initial objective, for a bit, trying to catch several of them. Renya, who enjoyed fishing to his hearts content, stuffed his inventory with so much seafood that he felt slightly uneasy about its capacity, and thus swam back to the wharf. When he arrived at the wharf Renya stored his katana into his inventory and tried to pull himself up after placing his hands at the wharfs edge, but he stopped moving for a moment due to the spectacle unfolding on the other side of the wharf. The first thing he saw was a group of fully armed soldiers as far as the eye could see. Although they were unsure about how to proceed, the sight of them surrounding the wharf, where Renya was trying to pull himself up, with their longswords and spears at the ready was so abnormal that it caused Renya to wonder just what might have happened. What he saw next were Rona and Kilie sitting around the fire just as before. They were continuing to grill the remaining fish slices on the net, but they were surrounded by soldiers for no apparent reason. They completely looked like criminals, and the looks the two were sending Renya somehow made him feel as if they were blaming him for something. Nearby, one could see Shion, who was looking in Renyas direction with gleaming eyes for some reason, and Emil who was also looking at him with gleaming eyes but in a somewhat different meaning than Shions, a dangerous glint to be precise. Those two werent surrounded by the soldiers, but instead Baron Gordonal stood stock still next to them while folding his arms and making a bitter expression. Looking even further into the distance, Renya could sporadically see the figures of town residents, who were watching the situation with frightened expressions, beyond the soldiers. Renya kept hanging at the wharf as if doing a pull-up exercise, thinking about the situation he had swum into. Whats going on? Not being able to reach a conclusion after thinking it over, Renya asked no one in particular. He did such a thing hoping that someone that understood the current situation would give him an answer, but the one who replied the quickest here was surprisingly Shion. Renya in the nude! Quite a few soldiers fell over, dropping their weapons. Kilie gazed at Shion as if looking at some kind of disappointing existence. On the other hand, Rona slightly blushed and stared at the ground. Renya nimbly removed his right hand from the wharfs edge, and scratched his cheek with the now free hand while holding his body up with just the left hand, You know, thats not the answer Im looking for Come to think of it, Rona also stared at me intently when I was undressing, wasnt she?Renya recalled. For an instant Renya wondered what might be so interesting about seeing a nude man, but then he changed his mind as it might not be unusual for women to get excited when looking at a nude man, seeing as men would get excited when seeing a nude woman. Welcome back, Renya! Did you catch anything unusual!? Emil asked with shining eyes, but that wasnt an explanation of the current situation either. Saying that Emil seemed to put more importance on her research than naked men was not wrong, but for Renya that information had no use. Leaving that aside, an explanation of the current situation Current situation? As if saying that she had just noticed, Emil looked at the soldiers around her, and the towns residents in the distance. Emil, who had spent a good chunk of time surveying her vicinity, thought for a moment afterwards, and asked Renya with a smile plastered all over her face, Should I erase them? Stop it While thinking that it was only natural for the surrounding people to look startled, Renya pulled his body out of the water using only one hand and sat down at the edge of the wharf. It was a line he would usually interpret as a joke, but since Emil was actually serious, he had to tread carefully. If Renya were to say yes to her question for arguments sake, it would really lead to a one-sided massacre. Even Renya didnt have the hobby of meaninglessly turning an innocent city into a bloody hell. So, what about the explanation? Look Renya, if two beautiful girls are grilling fish over a fire at a plaza close to the wharf early in the morning, the soldiers on patrol would come and have a look at whats going on, dont you think? Being introduced as beautiful girls, Rona lowered her gaze even further, whereas Kilie acted strangely bashful. Given that there was no particular protest towards the way they were introduced, Renya urged Emil to continue. And once they were questioned by the guards, wasnt there an idiot that jumped into the ocean by himself? Well, there are some things Id like to say about that, but I can accept such an evaluation, if absolutely necessary. In reality, Renya had intended to explain that he hadnt done anything that justified calling him an idiot, but in Emils eyes his actions were extremely stupid, and in the eyes of the soldiers and residents idiot was too soft an expression. The difference in perception in this area could be allotted to the difference in power and respective position. Afterwards it soon turned into a huge uproar. It would have been fine if the idiot were to die all by himself, but since it would turn into a disaster if something went wrong, causing the katurul to get angry, the soldiers from all over town were pulled together, and now we have this mess here. Hearing that it was you who apparently jumped into the water, Shion and I quickly came running over along with the baron. On top of that, Renya Shion, who was breathing roughly in a rather questionable way, got close to Renya with her eyes still glued to his chest. Somehow Renya could feel something like a danger aimed at his body, but since he would have no other option but to jump back into the ocean if he were to try escaping, he forced himself to resist the urge to flee. Once everyone had gathered, explosions could suddenly be heard from within the ocean, things that somehow looked like tentacles could also be seen moving around in a great hurry, and columns of water were repeatedly shot into the air. Dont you think that those watching such events, would fall into great turmoil? Being told so, Renya turned his eyes towards the horizon. He hadnt cared about it at all while diving, but certainly, when he was chasing the katurul around, the tentacles did break through the water surface sometimes, and when he blew up the oceans ground, he felt like a considerable amount of water was driven upwards, however he hadnt considered how it would appear when seen from the town. ThatsIm terribly sorry. No, I mean, I dont give a flying damn about it. So, what did you catch, Renya? When asked like that, even Renya had no other choice but to show his spoils. He opened his inventory, chose a relatively small amount from the catch within, and pulled it out. Watching a motionless tentacle the size of a childs arm suddenly appear in Renyas palm, screams were audible and a commotion took place. This is an auxiliary arm of the katurul, isnt it? Emil asked. Probably. Ive never seen a master arm, so I cant say which it is. What are you going to do with this? Contrary to their surroundings which had drawn back, Shion brought her face close to Renyas hand with keen interest. Renya had been slightly worried that it might grow from where it had been cut or stay alive for a while even after being detached from its main body, but even after leaving it alone for some time, it didnt show any signs of doing such things. Therefore, Renya didnt caution Shion when she started to poke the severed end of the tentacle with her fingertip. I tried to bite it, and it was actually quite delicious. You ate it!? Renya nodded at the surprised Shion. Renya also noticed that the faces of the soldiers, who overheard their conversation, froze, very likely out of fear, but he decided that there wouldnt be any point in worrying about it. He decided to leave it alone because he believed that eating marine products raw was probably going to be very difficult to explain to this worlds residents.Even in my former world, countries other than Japan didnt really have a passion for raw marine products, hence theres no way that residents of a completely different world would be able to understand, Renya judged. It has a crunchy consistency and a faintly salty taste. Its a fairly interesting ingredient, Id say? I-Is that so? Renya, obviously youre going to share several of them with me, right? For research purposes! You wont eat them? Im not really eager to do so, but welltheres something I want you to look at as well. For Renya who only perceived the tentacles as foodstuff, Emils request to give her some of it as research material wasnt something he was keen on. However, as he wanted her to look at something else he had stuffed into his inventory, Renya resolved himself to hand over several katurul tentacles as a sort of payment. Something you want me to look at? I wonder what it iswait, this isnt slimy, its squishy, though. Emil was the owner of a void storage and thus she gleefully stored several tentacles, which Renya had taken out of his inventory, into her own storage. At the same time Renya retrieved the object he wanted Emil to look at. The thing Renya wanted Emil to look at were undersea stones that got broken and scattered about when Renya was attacking the katuruls tentacles with slashes and magic while trying to capture more tentacles. In certain areas of the stones surfaces, where small barnacle-like shells or some types of seaweeds completely unknown to Renya should be clinging, there was nothing, but what Renya worried the most were the fractured surface areas that were exposed for the first time when he broke them. Look, the surface over here has a somewhat metallic shine. Hmm? Let me see. After she finished putting away her share of tentacles, Emil brought her face close to the part of the stone Renya was pointing at. Kilie, who had drawn near without them noticing, brought her face close as well. Assuming its an ore, it seems to be one with fairly high purity. Hmm, well, from what I can see, it might be possible to get the metal by simply throwing it into a furnace after crushing it enoughthesemaybe Emil stared at the cross-section of the stone for a while, but apparently having suddenly hit upon some kind of idea, she let a finger run across the stones cross-section. As if tracing Emils finger, something that seemed like characters were depicted on the stone, solidifying into real characters while radiating. Renya, mana. You can use your own Just hurry it up. Youve reached the point where you can use alchemy, right? Emil had a massive amount of mana when compared to a normal person, but if compared to Renya, who had an almost infinite amount, using Renyas mana would doubtlessly be more cost-efficient. Renya, who poured mana into the characters drawn by Emil while thinking that it really was something she could have activated by herself, showed a faint expression of surprise as he felt mana being drawn out from within his body. After all it was decisively more mana than he had expected. As Renya continued to provide mana while feeling slightly tired, the light of the characters slowly gained in intensity. Before long, the characters themselves started to smoothly flow down from the stones surface onto Emils palm who had just waited for them. When all characters had trickled down, only a simple stone without any metallic glitter was left behind. On the other hand, Emil, who had caught all the characters with her palm, lightly clutched her hand once, and when she opened it again, silver clods the size of gravel grains could be seen on her palm. That just now was the alchemy spell , just so you know. Emil explained. A technique that will make any smith cry, Im sure. So, what are those small grains? Yeah, welluntil I tried refining them, I wasnt confident either. Emil looked at the silver grains atop her palm while lightly rolling them around, and then made eye contact with Kilie who was peeking at Emils palm. Whore you? Oh sorry, Im the peddler Kilie. I did business with Renya a little while ago. Ah, okay. What do these look like to you? Kilie folded her arms and made a brooding face after being asked so by Emil. I tried to appraise them, butalthough I dont know why, I grasped that they are ores. However, my understanding doesnt reach as far as grasping what kind of ore it is Renya remembered that he had received such a skill as well, although he felt as if it had been a very, very long time ago. He had tried to appraise the grains before relying on others, but probably because his own knowledge was too lacking, the appraisals result was limited to no more than, As long as theres no discrepancy in the analysis, I assume that its orichalcum from its appearance. Kilie said. You sure got good eyes. I have the same opinion. Emil confirmed. Orichalcum? Renya asked by parroting the word he had never heard before, but the reactions in his surroundings were completely different. Starting with the baron, all officials of the Gordonal Barony showed visible changes on their expressions. Rona and Shion looked at Emil with expressions that revealed hat they were slightly taken aback, but Emil and Kilie, who had voiced out the metals name, remained calm without any particular change to their expressions. Chapter 201 Orichalcum was the name of a metal. It was as rare as mithril which was mostly monopolized by the elves. It was a metal famous in this world for its abnormal hardness and durability, even more so than for the beauty of its silver shine. Only its name was renown, but most humans wouldnt get to see the real thing even once in their lives. It had a value that could be exchanged between people, who knew of its worth, for twice its weight in gold. Thats how precious a metal it is. Because it requires a high level of skill on top of an extremely long time and a lot of effort to process and refine, it is also known as a troublesome metal that would turn into useless craps depending on the skill of the craftsman working with it. Its not wrong for me to say that its a somewhat amazing metal, right? Renya asked to make sure after receiving an explanation about orichalcum. In response, Emil bobbed her head with a nod, At least its such an amazing metal that it made the barons expression change. Somehow it doesnt sound like its anything worthwhile if you phrase it like that. Ah right, I forgot you were a margrave, Renya. Emil laughed with an Ahahaha. The baron and his soldiers had begun to remove the unnecessary soldiers and residents in the vicinity. In the end, the baron and his retainers didnt know what to do with Renya who safely returned after jumping into the sea just as he had said at the beginning. Above all, its not like it was luck that kept him safe after jumping into the ocean. He properly returned after hunting the katurul, the reason fishing in the sea is banned. Margrave-donoplease restrain yourself a bit. The baron couldnt do anything besides saying this with an extremely exhausted voice. Being told so, it wasnt as if Renya didnt feel slightly guilty about it, but beyond that, he was actually more concerned about processing his catch first. I think Ill leave dealing with this orichalcum or whatever for later. Umm, Renya. Thats actually a top quality item as a metal that can be processed by humans, and a priceless treasure as a military material. If you dont handle it right, its very likely capable of throwing the continents military balance into chaos. Certainly, its a metal that requires a lot of time and effort. Moreover its unusable as a raw material unless you handed it to a capable craftsman with a high skill, but its also a material which becomes more rewarding the more effort you put into it. It would be possible to create weapons boasting such high performance that any comparison with armies only using iron and steel would be considered a bad joke. Just by knowing this fact, one could tell that it should be handled delicately, but Renyas handling of the orichalcum could be described as crude. Given that it would become impossible for Renya to play dumb by saying that he hadnt heard anything about this later on as long as she told him in advance, even though she believed it might be pointless to do so, Rona gave him a retort while explaining, but Renyas reply was curt. Isnt it fine for them to do as they like as long as they can retrieve it from the bottom of the ocean? Thats impossible. They will die. Rona bluntly said as if making it clear that no one besides Renya would be able to swim around in such a dangerous sea. Without being surprised, Renya nodded, and answered, Then theres no problem, is there? One could tell from Renyas words that he didnt think it was necessary to worry about the matter, regardless of how valuable the metal is, as long as he was the only one able to obtain it, even if it was extremely dangerous, and since this was the truth no one could object either. Theres something more important than that. Eh? Ummmore important despite the metal being such a crucial topic? For me this is more important. Despite being surrounded by soldiers, Kilie continued to maintain her fire without minding the looks of the towns residents at all. Round slices of the katuruls tentacles and slices of the goldthun, which Renya had just caught, were being grilled on top of the wire netting placed above the fire while scattering a fragrant aroma all around with a sizzling sound, whetting everyones appetite. The tentacles and the goldthun were being grilled with some salt sprinkled on them, but the fragrance coming from the goldthuns roasted oil was mesmerizing, and the grilling aroma of the katuruls tentacles was C contrary to its appearance C filled with the smell of salt, bringing about a scent that spurred on the saliva in everyones mouths. Thinking that he might as well eat it raw, Renya cut it into thin slices and placed it on a plate along with some soy sauce. It was a raw dish, and as result, it managed to keep others at a distance, but since Renya told her to try it since its delicious, Shion readily went for it. Because the grilled ones were already available, the other members were only interested in those, and didnt go for the raw fish. Shion, who went for it after being told to do so by Renya, had slowly extended her hand for the initial and the second portion, seemingly thinking that raw seafood isnt half bad after tasting it, but now she was stabbing the raw slices with her fork and taking it off of Renyas plate on her own without being offered any by Renya, quickly dipping it in soy sauce, and stuffing it into her already swelling mouth. So it was about eating, after all. Well yeah. So, in regards to this matter, I think Ill completely hunt down the katurul in this area of the ocean first. Wut? Rona said something silly while feeling that she misheard. While stabbing her fork into a grilled fish slice, Emil said with a serious look, That makes sense. What a wonderful idea. Wait a moment!? Rona was surprised at Emil easily agreeing with Renya. Baron Gordonal had apparently heard Renyas words while organizing the soldiers withdrawal, and turned towards Renya with a cramped face. Whats so surprising? Seeing as the katurul is here, you cant fish in this area of the ocean. Hence, is there any other method besides exterminating it? Thats certainly true, but although you talk about exterminating, it isnt such an easy matter The opponent was a creature so large that it occupied almost all of the worlds oceans. No matter how much Renya could one-sidedly hunt the katurul, the Gordonal Barony was but a tiny fragment when compared to all the oceans combined. Even if he were to hunt the katuruls arms in this barony, Rona couldnt believe in the slightest that he would manage to hunt it down completely. More or less, it seems to possess some intelligence. It ran away when I started to hunt it. Thats why it will sooner or later understand that this area of the ocean is dangerous if I keep hunting it determinedly, no? Thats not really It doesntsound like a very realisticplan. Kilie interjected while bringing a piping hot, grilled fish slice to her mouth. Kilie, who was shrewdly watching over the portioning while preparing the fish and tentacles that Renya spit out of his inventory, continued after swallowing down the slice in her mouth, The katuruls intelligence isnt all that high. Above all, the damage taken by the katurul in this area is no more than chipping off a bit from its toes. Thats why I cant believe that it will consider it a danger, no matter how many tentacles you cut off, you know? So its no good if I dont fight its main body after all, huh? No, please refrain from fighting its main body. That will actually spell the destruction of all continents. The katuruls main body was said to exist in the space between the continents and the bottom of the world. It was unknown what kind of calamities would befall the continents which were located on top of its body, if the main body of such a creature were to thrash about after being provoked. At worst, it was possible that most of the continents would sink into the ocean. What are you telling me to do then? I want to tell you to give it a rest, but thats probably impossible, isnt it? Kilie separated her eyes from the fire with an expression that made it clear that she was reluctant to do so. While being watched by the others who wondered just what she was planning to start here, Kilie briskly stepped up to the edge of the wharf without any kind of enthusiasm, suddenly closed her eyes, and thrust her arms into the sky. Oh ocean demon, oh great ocean demon, thou shalt wait dreaming in this house of thine dreamland1 Hey, wait a moment. Renya, who went behind Kilie who had started to make some kind of speech towards the sea, delivered a frontal kick at Kilies waist area. His kick slightly veered off target, and struck Kilies tailbone. Kilie, who raised a weird yelp after being surprised by the kick and where she was kicked, had the misfortune of standing at the wharfs edge, and thus she fell into the sea with a splash. The act of kicking someone down into the ocean where the katurul dwelt was quite likely a death sentence. The air in the vicinity froze, but the perpetrator, who had kicked her down, and the victim remained calm. Renya-san, even if I might be a nice woman, I dont think that thats any reason to forcibly make me sopping wet with water. Kilie was completely submerged once, but she immediately rose to the surface, and reproachfully looked at Renya who was brazenly standing on the wharf. Even that look of hers didnt perturb Renya at all, Just when I was wondering what you were starting therea phrase that sounded like something I have heard somewhere before? Thats of course because I thought I would summon the katurul itself. Kilie declared indifferently, but the reaction by the gallery was tremendous. Almost everyone except for Renya distanced themselves from the wharf in a panic. For it to be almost everyone and not everyone was owed to Rona warming herself at the fire, Shion still extending her hands to the grilled fish in silence, and Emil watching the whole chain of events while looking amused. In other words, only Renyas friends hadnt moved a step from where they were. Summon the katurul, you say? Are you sane? Baron Gordonal, who was at a distance that couldnt be considered running away yet but was still within the range of having retreated somewhat from where he had stood, asked Kilie who still didnt show any signs of getting out of the ocean. No, I mean, dont you think its the easiest way for everyone involved to get the main body to come here to tell it about Renya-sans wish? It might be the easiest way, but I cant believe that itll be able to understand our intentions. In Renyas mind, the katurul hadnt left the region of being considered as an abnormally huge octopus. It was Renyas belief that it would be impossible to communicate with an octopus, but since this was a different world, he couldnt actually exclude that possibility either. Dont think that everything is allowed as long as you add the tag because its a different world to it, Renya felt. That puts me at a loss. While placing a finger on her chin, Kilie raised her body from the ocean where she had sunken down, and stood up straight. Haah? Kilie was obviously standing on the waters surface. It was clear to Renya who had dived there, but there was no foothold where one could stand. It should be a place with the oceans floor ten-odd meters below the waters surface. Of course people couldnt stand on water without any kind of support either. In that case, just what is supporting Kilie from below, allowing her to stand there? Shion! Rona! Yes? Shion, who was still chewing fish slices, and Rona, who was looking into the far distance for some reason, simultaneously looked in Renyas direction upon his slightly desperate-sounding voice while being led by the hand and having their heads grabbed by him. Emil, the only one not being pulled along, looked at Renya unhappily, but immediately after noticing where Renya was looking, her face cramped up a bit. Once Baron Gordonal and the surrounding soldiers, who noticed that Emils face had cramped up, followed her eyes, they directly looked into a pair of shining eyes beneath Kilie. Nu!? Baron Gordonal strongly ground his teeth. His eyes widened dramatically and large drops of sweat appeared on his face. Around him, the soldiers feebly sank down to the ground as if their souls had left their bodies. Some soldiers among them started to laugh weakly with empty voices while sitting on the ground, they also carried blank faces as their eyes darted around aimlessly. Well, I have given up on summoning the katurul itself. While looking down at her own feet, Kilie started to explain with an indifferent tone as if not noticing the terrible spectacle around her. I guess we should try talking with a kin that can understand us. The water surface under Kilies feet rose slightly. Renya, who guessed that it was an omen for the something beneath her feet trying to make its appearance above water, shouted in panic, which was unusual for him, Dont come out! Dont let that thing come out of the water, no matter what!! Are you pretending? As if anyone would put up such a pretense in this situation!? While blocking Ronas view, whose face became bright red, and Shion, who looked somewhat happy, with his own body to make sure that the two wouldnt see the thing below Kilies feet, Renya reined in Kilie, who had a puzzled expression, with a fairly frantic voice. Orichalcum was the name of a metal. It was as rare as mithril which was mostly monopolized by the elves. It was a metal famous in this world for its abnormal hardness and durability, even more so than for the beauty of its silver shine. Only its name was renown, but most humans wouldnt get to see the real thing even once in their lives. It had a value that could be exchanged between people, who knew of its worth, for twice its weight in gold. Thats how precious a metal it is. Because it requires a high level of skill on top of an extremely long time and a lot of effort to process and refine, it is also known as a troublesome metal that would turn into useless craps depending on the skill of the craftsman working with it. Its not wrong for me to say that its a somewhat amazing metal, right? Renya asked to make sure after receiving an explanation about orichalcum. In response, Emil bobbed her head with a nod, At least its such an amazing metal that it made the barons expression change. Somehow it doesnt sound like its anything worthwhile if you phrase it like that. Ah right, I forgot you were a margrave, Renya. Emil laughed with an Ahahaha. The baron and his soldiers had begun to remove the unnecessary soldiers and residents in the vicinity. In the end, the baron and his retainers didnt know what to do with Renya who safely returned after jumping into the sea just as he had said at the beginning. Above all, its not like it was luck that kept him safe after jumping into the ocean. He properly returned after hunting the katurul, the reason fishing in the sea is banned. Margrave-donoplease restrain yourself a bit. The baron couldnt do anything besides saying this with an extremely exhausted voice. Being told so, it wasnt as if Renya didnt feel slightly guilty about it, but beyond that, he was actually more concerned about processing his catch first. I think Ill leave dealing with this orichalcum or whatever for later. Umm, Renya. Thats actually a top quality item as a metal that can be processed by humans, and a priceless treasure as a military material. If you dont handle it right, its very likely capable of throwing the continents military balance into chaos. Certainly, its a metal that requires a lot of time and effort. Moreover its unusable as a raw material unless you handed it to a capable craftsman with a high skill, but its also a material which becomes more rewarding the more effort you put into it. It would be possible to create weapons boasting such high performance that any comparison with armies only using iron and steel would be considered a bad joke. Just by knowing this fact, one could tell that it should be handled delicately, but Renyas handling of the orichalcum could be described as crude. Given that it would become impossible for Renya to play dumb by saying that he hadnt heard anything about this later on as long as she told him in advance, even though she believed it might be pointless to do so, Rona gave him a retort while explaining, but Renyas reply was curt. Isnt it fine for them to do as they like as long as they can retrieve it from the bottom of the ocean? Thats impossible. They will die. Rona bluntly said as if making it clear that no one besides Renya would be able to swim around in such a dangerous sea. Without being surprised, Renya nodded, and answered, Then theres no problem, is there? One could tell from Renyas words that he didnt think it was necessary to worry about the matter, regardless of how valuable the metal is, as long as he was the only one able to obtain it, even if it was extremely dangerous, and since this was the truth no one could object either. Theres something more important than that. Eh? Ummmore important despite the metal being such a crucial topic? For me this is more important. Despite being surrounded by soldiers, Kilie continued to maintain her fire without minding the looks of the towns residents at all. Round slices of the katuruls tentacles and slices of the goldthun, which Renya had just caught, were being grilled on top of the wire netting placed above the fire while scattering a fragrant aroma all around with a sizzling sound, whetting everyones appetite. The tentacles and the goldthun were being grilled with some salt sprinkled on them, but the fragrance coming from the goldthuns roasted oil was mesmerizing, and the grilling aroma of the katuruls tentacles was C contrary to its appearance C filled with the smell of salt, bringing about a scent that spurred on the saliva in everyones mouths. Thinking that he might as well eat it raw, Renya cut it into thin slices and placed it on a plate along with some soy sauce. It was a raw dish, and as result, it managed to keep others at a distance, but since Renya told her to try it since its delicious, Shion readily went for it. Because the grilled ones were already available, the other members were only interested in those, and didnt go for the raw fish. Shion, who went for it after being told to do so by Renya, had slowly extended her hand for the initial and the second portion, seemingly thinking that raw seafood isnt half bad after tasting it, but now she was stabbing the raw slices with her fork and taking it off of Renyas plate on her own without being offered any by Renya, quickly dipping it in soy sauce, and stuffing it into her already swelling mouth. So it was about eating, after all. Well yeah. So, in regards to this matter, I think Ill completely hunt down the katurul in this area of the ocean first. Wut? Rona said something silly while feeling that she misheard. While stabbing her fork into a grilled fish slice, Emil said with a serious look, That makes sense. What a wonderful idea. Wait a moment!? Rona was surprised at Emil easily agreeing with Renya. Baron Gordonal had apparently heard Renyas words while organizing the soldiers withdrawal, and turned towards Renya with a cramped face. Whats so surprising? Seeing as the katurul is here, you cant fish in this area of the ocean. Hence, is there any other method besides exterminating it? Thats certainly true, but although you talk about exterminating, it isnt such an easy matter The opponent was a creature so large that it occupied almost all of the worlds oceans. No matter how much Renya could one-sidedly hunt the katurul, the Gordonal Barony was but a tiny fragment when compared to all the oceans combined. Even if he were to hunt the katuruls arms in this barony, Rona couldnt believe in the slightest that he would manage to hunt it down completely. More or less, it seems to possess some intelligence. It ran away when I started to hunt it. Thats why it will sooner or later understand that this area of the ocean is dangerous if I keep hunting it determinedly, no? Thats not really It doesntsound like a very realisticplan. Kilie interjected while bringing a piping hot, grilled fish slice to her mouth. Kilie, who was shrewdly watching over the portioning while preparing the fish and tentacles that Renya spit out of his inventory, continued after swallowing down the slice in her mouth, The katuruls intelligence isnt all that high. Above all, the damage taken by the katurul in this area is no more than chipping off a bit from its toes. Thats why I cant believe that it will consider it a danger, no matter how many tentacles you cut off, you know? So its no good if I dont fight its main body after all, huh? No, please refrain from fighting its main body. That will actually spell the destruction of all continents. The katuruls main body was said to exist in the space between the continents and the bottom of the world. It was unknown what kind of calamities would befall the continents which were located on top of its body, if the main body of such a creature were to thrash about after being provoked. At worst, it was possible that most of the continents would sink into the ocean. What are you telling me to do then? I want to tell you to give it a rest, but thats probably impossible, isnt it? Kilie separated her eyes from the fire with an expression that made it clear that she was reluctant to do so. While being watched by the others who wondered just what she was planning to start here, Kilie briskly stepped up to the edge of the wharf without any kind of enthusiasm, suddenly closed her eyes, and thrust her arms into the sky. Oh ocean demon, oh great ocean demon, thou shalt wait dreaming in this house of thine dreamland1 Hey, wait a moment. Renya, who went behind Kilie who had started to make some kind of speech towards the sea, delivered a frontal kick at Kilies waist area. His kick slightly veered off target, and struck Kilies tailbone. Kilie, who raised a weird yelp after being surprised by the kick and where she was kicked, had the misfortune of standing at the wharfs edge, and thus she fell into the sea with a splash. The act of kicking someone down into the ocean where the katurul dwelt was quite likely a death sentence. The air in the vicinity froze, but the perpetrator, who had kicked her down, and the victim remained calm. Renya-san, even if I might be a nice woman, I dont think that thats any reason to forcibly make me sopping wet with water. Kilie was completely submerged once, but she immediately rose to the surface, and reproachfully looked at Renya who was brazenly standing on the wharf. Even that look of hers didnt perturb Renya at all, Just when I was wondering what you were starting therea phrase that sounded like something I have heard somewhere before? Thats of course because I thought I would summon the katurul itself. Kilie declared indifferently, but the reaction by the gallery was tremendous. Almost everyone except for Renya distanced themselves from the wharf in a panic. For it to be almost everyone and not everyone was owed to Rona warming herself at the fire, Shion still extending her hands to the grilled fish in silence, and Emil watching the whole chain of events while looking amused. In other words, only Renyas friends hadnt moved a step from where they were. Summon the katurul, you say? Are you sane? Baron Gordonal, who was at a distance that couldnt be considered running away yet but was still within the range of having retreated somewhat from where he had stood, asked Kilie who still didnt show any signs of getting out of the ocean. No, I mean, dont you think its the easiest way for everyone involved to get the main body to come here to tell it about Renya-sans wish? It might be the easiest way, but I cant believe that itll be able to understand our intentions. In Renyas mind, the katurul hadnt left the region of being considered as an abnormally huge octopus. It was Renyas belief that it would be impossible to communicate with an octopus, but since this was a different world, he couldnt actually exclude that possibility either. Dont think that everything is allowed as long as you add the tag because its a different world to it, Renya felt. That puts me at a loss. While placing a finger on her chin, Kilie raised her body from the ocean where she had sunken down, and stood up straight. Haah? Kilie was obviously standing on the waters surface. It was clear to Renya who had dived there, but there was no foothold where one could stand. It should be a place with the oceans floor ten-odd meters below the waters surface. Of course people couldnt stand on water without any kind of support either. In that case, just what is supporting Kilie from below, allowing her to stand there? Shion! Rona! Yes? Shion, who was still chewing fish slices, and Rona, who was looking into the far distance for some reason, simultaneously looked in Renyas direction upon his slightly desperate-sounding voice while being led by the hand and having their heads grabbed by him. Emil, the only one not being pulled along, looked at Renya unhappily, but immediately after noticing where Renya was looking, her face cramped up a bit. Once Baron Gordonal and the surrounding soldiers, who noticed that Emils face had cramped up, followed her eyes, they directly looked into a pair of shining eyes beneath Kilie. Nu!? Baron Gordonal strongly ground his teeth. His eyes widened dramatically and large drops of sweat appeared on his face. Around him, the soldiers feebly sank down to the ground as if their souls had left their bodies. Some soldiers among them started to laugh weakly with empty voices while sitting on the ground, they also carried blank faces as their eyes darted around aimlessly. Well, I have given up on summoning the katurul itself. While looking down at her own feet, Kilie started to explain with an indifferent tone as if not noticing the terrible spectacle around her. I guess we should try talking with a kin that can understand us. The water surface under Kilies feet rose slightly. Renya, who guessed that it was an omen for the something beneath her feet trying to make its appearance above water, shouted in panic, which was unusual for him, Dont come out! Dont let that thing come out of the water, no matter what!! Are you pretending? As if anyone would put up such a pretense in this situation!? While blocking Ronas view, whose face became bright red, and Shion, who looked somewhat happy, with his own body to make sure that the two wouldnt see the thing below Kilies feet, Renya reined in Kilie, who had a puzzled expression, with a fairly frantic voice. Chapter 202 The first thing Renya did C while watching how Kilie, who looked like a wet rat, crouched on top of that mysterious something C was to take Shion and Rona away from the scene. Renya himself was completely fine even after looking atthat, but going by the state of the surrounding soldiers, Renya had no guarantee that Shion and Rona would remain okay. If its something Im not absolutely sure about, I just have to deal with it as carefully as a coward would, Renya judged.Leaving myself aside, I wouldnt be able to forgive myself if Shion and Rona were to break down. Renya didnt realize that he naturally excluded Emil from consideration, but Emil did, and as a result she donned a very unhappy expression. However, she thought that she might be wrong since it wasnt clear whether the reason she slipped Renyas mind was because he forgot about her, or because he believed that Emil would be alright. Either way, Renya kicked Baron Gordonals butt, the person accustomed to commanding a large number of people in this place, who had frozen on the spot while clenching his teeth and perspiring so much that the sweat dripped down from his chin, in order to pull him back to reality. Renya quickly instructed the baron, who somehow came back to his senses from the impact and pain, to gather the soldiers and return to his mansion while making absolutely sure not to look towards the sea. A pretense, is it? Dont look. Definitely dont look over there. Or rather, arent you quite calm about this, baron? Even I dont know what will happen if we dont put a stop to it. Although only faintly, Renya felt respect towards the baron for making a joke even at a time like this despite having a completely pale face. Renya entrusted Shion and Rona to the baron, telling them to go back with him, but Shion opposed this to some degree. Renya revealed a troubled smile towards Shion who insisted that he shouldnt stay back by himself while being fully aware that it was a dangerous situation. Originally, Shion often adopted such speech and conduct when the topic was related to the people of the Trident Principality. I remember that I considered her quite disappointing and dim-witted as far as understanding the situation goes, but whatever the circumstances might be, having someone truly worry about me makes me somehow happy and embarrassed, at any rate, it doesnt really feel that bad despite it being a bit questionable, Renya ended up feeling. Were friends, arent we? Shion argued while showing on her face that she didnt feel daunted, or rather that she didnt want to feel daunted. Renya persuaded her with a warning tone, Thats true. But, if you guys stay here, I wont be able to do anything. Id like you to understand that, and go back with the baron. So youre saying we cant act together with you at a time like thisbecause were weak? Thats If he didnt mince his words, it would be just as she said. A little while ago he might have actually said those words, which he now considered slightly difficult to voice out, without hesitation. Renya searched for a way to express himself while wondering how he should answer her. Shion spoke up before Renya could come up with another way to phrase it, Got it, I will pull back here. But Renya, I want to act together with you even in dangerous situations. Thats whyI want you to do something about it. Youre pushing all of it on me!? Renya and Rona thought that Shion was saying something quite admirable until the later half of her statement, but once they considered it very carefully, they noticed at almost the same time that it was rare for Shion to speak up after having completely considered her situation. Due to the fact that Shion was a girl who couldnt bring a story to its conclusion despite there being no doubt about her praiseworthy enthusiasm, Renya and Rona sighed almost simultaneously. However, not understanding the meaning behind their sighs, Shion stared at Renya while feeling that she might have said something weird again. Okay, I got it. After all I have to get the heroes in shape as well. While at it, I will do something about you too. Rona reacted by lightly glaring at Renya for saying while at it, but Shion apparently didnt mind that part at all. For her the fact that Renya had consented was far more important. Its a promise, right? You gave me your word, okay!? Yes, I did. Im a person who keeps his promises. Thats why Id like you to withdraw for now. With Renya insisting to such a degree, Shion agreed to retreat with the baron to his mansion, albeit still reluctant to go. Youre being loved, arent you Renya? As the only one not instructed to withdraw, Emil approached Renya, who saw Shion and the others off, while grinning. In truth, even Emil felt as something, which could be either her emotional strength or her sanity, was whittled down when in front of the something summoned by Kilie. Because she had a lot more leeway when compared to a human, no damage was visible in her case, but Emil still had to strain herself in order to keep herself calm in front of Renya. You think so? You dont? And yet you didnt even worry about someone like me. Not worried? I just believe in you. After revealing a befuddled expression for an instant after hearing what Renya said without a hint of hesitation, Emil donned an indescribable expression full of mixed feelings. Emil couldnt decide whether to be happy, poke fun at Renya as she usually does or to feel shy about it and as a result every option could be seen on her face, plain as day. Im sorry to interrupt your flirting, but is it okay if we start talking soon? Puchidagon-kun below my feet appears to be tired of waiting. Whats with that name, I feel like having heard it somewhere before!? In two meanings.1 Renya stared at Kilie as if looking at someone suspicious. Meanwhile Emil glared at her with such force that any weaker being would have been killed by her gaze alone. Oh my? Even though youre so good at making fun of others, you hate being made fun of? Youjust who the hell are you? There was no one else around them. Even if there had been, they would have been transformed into cripples or fallen into a state of stupefaction in an instant thanks to the thing Kilie summoned. Seeing as no one was watching them and with the presence of the thing below Kilie even if it was a somewhat weird presence, Emil had no reason to suppress her powers. Emil released her power into the surroundings with such force that space itself warped and made creaking sounds, but due to Kilies question, who warded Emils pressure off as if it was nothing, Emils expression froze. Isnt that something I could ask you as well? Just what are you? Emil couldnt answer immediately. Kilie continued speaking while somehow getting an answer from Emils face, Right now, this child below my feet is something that would cause people to fall into a state of stupefaction, even if they were to have a reasonable amount of nerve. And yet youre completely enduring it even while getting damaged. I wonder, just who might you be? E-Even if you say that, its you summoned such a being and is currently using it, no? If you call me weird, then youd be the very definition of weirdness, wouldnt you? Kilie took a daunting pose atop the something due to Emil being evasive for a change. While throwing out her chest in arrogance, she declared as if boasting about something, Im not odd. After all I am A peddler, you said, didnt you? Renya interrupted Kilie indifferently and dispassionately. Kilie, who had the words taken out of her mouth in the middle of her speech, froze with her mouth slightly open. Emil, who was next to Renya, retorted with a fed-up tone while somewhat softening her aura, You really think that such omnipotent peddlers exist? Since shes in front of us, it cant be helped. I dont really know, but such peddlers exist as well, dont they? Either way, Im not interested in her true identity As long as shes harmless. If such peddlers really existed, this world wouldnt need heroes, yknow? Even assuming that its of no consequence to you, it seems that the peddler over there hasnt moved since you stole her spotlight scene. Once Renya looked back at Kilie after being told so, Kilie had switched from her arrogant attitude to feeling down-hearted with her shoulders slumped while repeatedly muttering something with a downcast face. Even while having strong feelings of guilt believing that he might have done something evil to her, Renya raised his voice and addressed Kilie, Idiot, dont lose your nerve over something like that. I didnt expect you to deliver the finishing blow here. Emil, who had already stopped releasing her power, chuckled. Being told so, Kilie energetically lifted her face, and firmly stomped once on the head of the something she was standing on. With only that, the thing, which had been waiting underwater, sank down a bit, causing Kilie to sink underwater up to her ankles. Spraying a large sheet of water, even the wharf where Renya and Emil stood became soaking wet, but because Emil deployed a barrier in front of Renya and herself, they avoided getting wet. Youre terrible, Renya! Even though it was my line! I have absolutely no intention of seeing what might be below you, but didnt you damage it considerably with your stomping just now? Its fine since hes a sturdy child! Orly. So, if I speak to that Puchidagon-kun or whatever, my requests will be transmitted to the katurul, right? Please interpret it like that. In that case, I have two requests. First, allow the residents of this town to collect seafood and ores in this area of the ocean within a certain range. Second, Id like to borrow two of the tentacles owned by the katurul. Eh? For some reason Kilie and Emil were in harmony in their surprise. Silence dominated the place for a short while. Not understanding the meaning behind such silence, Renya, who had stated his requests, alternated between looking at Kilie and Emil. Whats with that reaction? UmmIm just asking for referenceI can understand the part about the collection of seafood and ores, but what are you going to use the katuruls tentacles for after receiving them? As for Kilie, she thought that Renya might request the katuruls tentacles to have it harvested as a part of the marine products. Putting aside whether that might be his demand or not, Renya already identified the tentacles as food. Although she felt sorry for the katurul, she intended to have it somehow put up with it since it wouldnt significant damage to the whole body anyways, but Renyas request didnt go in that direction. I dont really want to think about it, but Renya Emil said with a trembling voice, obviously shuddering. No matter how much tentacles might go well with Rona, I really wonder what I should think about you wanting to carry out such play to the degree of borrowing tentacles!? I think a play of teasing the cocksure Shion by tying her up with tentacles sounds rather nice, though. Ah, as for me, its a bitIm bad with slimy stuff, okay? Well, if you insist on it no matter what, I can coope Shut up, idiot. Renya kicked Emil, who had started to draw near, into the sea without asking any questions. Apparently having been kicked quite mercilessly, Emil disappeared into the ocean after raising a grand water column. After a short time she surfaced upside-down without even twitching. Since Renya apparently had no intention of saving Emil, a tentacle appeared from the sea, softly grabbed Emils nape, and laid her down on the wharf before returning into the sea again, seemingly having thought that Emil might die sooner or later given that she was floating with her face underwater. I will pass on your requests to the katurul word for word, butis it fine for me to ask what you plan to use the tentacles for, just for reference? The being called katurul exists below the the continents while being as big as the continents, right? Renya asked as if to get confirmation. In response, Kilie nodded. In that case its not like its limited to the ocean, correct? I dont understand what youre aiming for, butprobably. I have heard about it before, but theres a little problem with the ability to transfer large amounts of supplies through transfer gates. Moreover, they say such a transfer system requires the construction of some kind of facility that establishes a path between the gates. Dont tell me Kilie somehow guessed what Renya wanted to say. If I can have the path pass through the katuruls tentacles, or rather, a part of its body, it will be possible to connect this place with Klinge, wont it? In addition, if its possible to collect seafood and ores in this place, it will become possible to transport those to Klinge in one go, right? Of course I have to talk with the baron about the costs, though. Even Renya had no problem giving up on the katuruls tentacles as long as he could prepare an environment that allowed him to continuously procure fresh marine products. Certainly, he considered its tentacles to be an interesting ingredient, but food that resembled jellyfish could simply be replaced with jellyfish. There was still the issue of whether jellyfish actually existed in this world, but if it didnt, he just had to come up with something else. However, at present Renya couldnt come up with a method to secure a distribution channel between Klinge and the ocean besides this one. In such a case, it was only natural for Renya to give up on the tentacles as food and request the katuruls help instead. Of course, since Im requesting its help, I will consider paying some kind of compensation if necessary. A deal has to be fair for both sides. When Renya requested a deal with the katurul, he had already left the path of common sense, but he told all this to Kilie, who was standing atop the sea with a flabbergasted expression, with a very serious look. The first thing Renya did C while watching how Kilie, who looked like a wet rat, crouched on top of that mysterious something C was to take Shion and Rona away from the scene. Renya himself was completely fine even after looking atthat, but going by the state of the surrounding soldiers, Renya had no guarantee that Shion and Rona would remain okay. If its something Im not absolutely sure about, I just have to deal with it as carefully as a coward would, Renya judged.Leaving myself aside, I wouldnt be able to forgive myself if Shion and Rona were to break down. Renya didnt realize that he naturally excluded Emil from consideration, but Emil did, and as a result she donned a very unhappy expression. However, she thought that she might be wrong since it wasnt clear whether the reason she slipped Renyas mind was because he forgot about her, or because he believed that Emil would be alright. Either way, Renya kicked Baron Gordonals butt, the person accustomed to commanding a large number of people in this place, who had frozen on the spot while clenching his teeth and perspiring so much that the sweat dripped down from his chin, in order to pull him back to reality. Renya quickly instructed the baron, who somehow came back to his senses from the impact and pain, to gather the soldiers and return to his mansion while making absolutely sure not to look towards the sea. A pretense, is it? Dont look. Definitely dont look over there. Or rather, arent you quite calm about this, baron? Even I dont know what will happen if we dont put a stop to it. Although only faintly, Renya felt respect towards the baron for making a joke even at a time like this despite having a completely pale face. Renya entrusted Shion and Rona to the baron, telling them to go back with him, but Shion opposed this to some degree. Renya revealed a troubled smile towards Shion who insisted that he shouldnt stay back by himself while being fully aware that it was a dangerous situation. Originally, Shion often adopted such speech and conduct when the topic was related to the people of the Trident Principality. I remember that I considered her quite disappointing and dim-witted as far as understanding the situation goes, but whatever the circumstances might be, having someone truly worry about me makes me somehow happy and embarrassed, at any rate, it doesnt really feel that bad despite it being a bit questionable, Renya ended up feeling. Were friends, arent we? Shion argued while showing on her face that she didnt feel daunted, or rather that she didnt want to feel daunted. Renya persuaded her with a warning tone, Thats true. But, if you guys stay here, I wont be able to do anything. Id like you to understand that, and go back with the baron. So youre saying we cant act together with you at a time like thisbecause were weak? Thats If he didnt mince his words, it would be just as she said. A little while ago he might have actually said those words, which he now considered slightly difficult to voice out, without hesitation. Renya searched for a way to express himself while wondering how he should answer her. Shion spoke up before Renya could come up with another way to phrase it, Got it, I will pull back here. But Renya, I want to act together with you even in dangerous situations. Thats whyI want you to do something about it. Youre pushing all of it on me!? Renya and Rona thought that Shion was saying something quite admirable until the later half of her statement, but once they considered it very carefully, they noticed at almost the same time that it was rare for Shion to speak up after having completely considered her situation. Due to the fact that Shion was a girl who couldnt bring a story to its conclusion despite there being no doubt about her praiseworthy enthusiasm, Renya and Rona sighed almost simultaneously. However, not understanding the meaning behind their sighs, Shion stared at Renya while feeling that she might have said something weird again. Okay, I got it. After all I have to get the heroes in shape as well. While at it, I will do something about you too. Rona reacted by lightly glaring at Renya for saying while at it, but Shion apparently didnt mind that part at all. For her the fact that Renya had consented was far more important. Its a promise, right? You gave me your word, okay!? Yes, I did. Im a person who keeps his promises. Thats why Id like you to withdraw for now. With Renya insisting to such a degree, Shion agreed to retreat with the baron to his mansion, albeit still reluctant to go. Youre being loved, arent you Renya? As the only one not instructed to withdraw, Emil approached Renya, who saw Shion and the others off, while grinning. In truth, even Emil felt as something, which could be either her emotional strength or her sanity, was whittled down when in front of the something summoned by Kilie. Because she had a lot more leeway when compared to a human, no damage was visible in her case, but Emil still had to strain herself in order to keep herself calm in front of Renya. You think so? You dont? And yet you didnt even worry about someone like me. Not worried? I just believe in you. After revealing a befuddled expression for an instant after hearing what Renya said without a hint of hesitation, Emil donned an indescribable expression full of mixed feelings. Emil couldnt decide whether to be happy, poke fun at Renya as she usually does or to feel shy about it and as a result every option could be seen on her face, plain as day. Im sorry to interrupt your flirting, but is it okay if we start talking soon? Puchidagon-kun below my feet appears to be tired of waiting. Whats with that name, I feel like having heard it somewhere before!? In two meanings.1 Renya stared at Kilie as if looking at someone suspicious. Meanwhile Emil glared at her with such force that any weaker being would have been killed by her gaze alone. Oh my? Even though youre so good at making fun of others, you hate being made fun of? Youjust who the hell are you? There was no one else around them. Even if there had been, they would have been transformed into cripples or fallen into a state of stupefaction in an instant thanks to the thing Kilie summoned. Seeing as no one was watching them and with the presence of the thing below Kilie even if it was a somewhat weird presence, Emil had no reason to suppress her powers. Emil released her power into the surroundings with such force that space itself warped and made creaking sounds, but due to Kilies question, who warded Emils pressure off as if it was nothing, Emils expression froze. Isnt that something I could ask you as well? Just what are you? Emil couldnt answer immediately. Kilie continued speaking while somehow getting an answer from Emils face, Right now, this child below my feet is something that would cause people to fall into a state of stupefaction, even if they were to have a reasonable amount of nerve. And yet youre completely enduring it even while getting damaged. I wonder, just who might you be? E-Even if you say that, its you summoned such a being and is currently using it, no? If you call me weird, then youd be the very definition of weirdness, wouldnt you? Kilie took a daunting pose atop the something due to Emil being evasive for a change. While throwing out her chest in arrogance, she declared as if boasting about something, Im not odd. After all I am A peddler, you said, didnt you? Renya interrupted Kilie indifferently and dispassionately. Kilie, who had the words taken out of her mouth in the middle of her speech, froze with her mouth slightly open. Emil, who was next to Renya, retorted with a fed-up tone while somewhat softening her aura, You really think that such omnipotent peddlers exist? Since shes in front of us, it cant be helped. I dont really know, but such peddlers exist as well, dont they? Either way, Im not interested in her true identity As long as shes harmless. If such peddlers really existed, this world wouldnt need heroes, yknow? Even assuming that its of no consequence to you, it seems that the peddler over there hasnt moved since you stole her spotlight scene. Once Renya looked back at Kilie after being told so, Kilie had switched from her arrogant attitude to feeling down-hearted with her shoulders slumped while repeatedly muttering something with a downcast face. Even while having strong feelings of guilt believing that he might have done something evil to her, Renya raised his voice and addressed Kilie, Idiot, dont lose your nerve over something like that. I didnt expect you to deliver the finishing blow here. Emil, who had already stopped releasing her power, chuckled. Being told so, Kilie energetically lifted her face, and firmly stomped once on the head of the something she was standing on. With only that, the thing, which had been waiting underwater, sank down a bit, causing Kilie to sink underwater up to her ankles. Spraying a large sheet of water, even the wharf where Renya and Emil stood became soaking wet, but because Emil deployed a barrier in front of Renya and herself, they avoided getting wet. Youre terrible, Renya! Even though it was my line! I have absolutely no intention of seeing what might be below you, but didnt you damage it considerably with your stomping just now? Its fine since hes a sturdy child! Orly. So, if I speak to that Puchidagon-kun or whatever, my requests will be transmitted to the katurul, right? Please interpret it like that. In that case, I have two requests. First, allow the residents of this town to collect seafood and ores in this area of the ocean within a certain range. Second, Id like to borrow two of the tentacles owned by the katurul. Eh? For some reason Kilie and Emil were in harmony in their surprise. Silence dominated the place for a short while. Not understanding the meaning behind such silence, Renya, who had stated his requests, alternated between looking at Kilie and Emil. Whats with that reaction? UmmIm just asking for referenceI can understand the part about the collection of seafood and ores, but what are you going to use the katuruls tentacles for after receiving them? As for Kilie, she thought that Renya might request the katuruls tentacles to have it harvested as a part of the marine products. Putting aside whether that might be his demand or not, Renya already identified the tentacles as food. Although she felt sorry for the katurul, she intended to have it somehow put up with it since it wouldnt significant damage to the whole body anyways, but Renyas request didnt go in that direction. I dont really want to think about it, but Renya Emil said with a trembling voice, obviously shuddering. No matter how much tentacles might go well with Rona, I really wonder what I should think about you wanting to carry out such play to the degree of borrowing tentacles!? I think a play of teasing the cocksure Shion by tying her up with tentacles sounds rather nice, though. Ah, as for me, its a bitIm bad with slimy stuff, okay? Well, if you insist on it no matter what, I can coope Shut up, idiot. Renya kicked Emil, who had started to draw near, into the sea without asking any questions. Apparently having been kicked quite mercilessly, Emil disappeared into the ocean after raising a grand water column. After a short time she surfaced upside-down without even twitching. Since Renya apparently had no intention of saving Emil, a tentacle appeared from the sea, softly grabbed Emils nape, and laid her down on the wharf before returning into the sea again, seemingly having thought that Emil might die sooner or later given that she was floating with her face underwater. I will pass on your requests to the katurul word for word, butis it fine for me to ask what you plan to use the tentacles for, just for reference? The being called katurul exists below the the continents while being as big as the continents, right? Renya asked as if to get confirmation. In response, Kilie nodded. In that case its not like its limited to the ocean, correct? I dont understand what youre aiming for, butprobably. I have heard about it before, but theres a little problem with the ability to transfer large amounts of supplies through transfer gates. Moreover, they say such a transfer system requires the construction of some kind of facility that establishes a path between the gates. Dont tell me Kilie somehow guessed what Renya wanted to say. If I can have the path pass through the katuruls tentacles, or rather, a part of its body, it will be possible to connect this place with Klinge, wont it? In addition, if its possible to collect seafood and ores in this place, it will become possible to transport those to Klinge in one go, right? Of course I have to talk with the baron about the costs, though. Even Renya had no problem giving up on the katuruls tentacles as long as he could prepare an environment that allowed him to continuously procure fresh marine products. Certainly, he considered its tentacles to be an interesting ingredient, but food that resembled jellyfish could simply be replaced with jellyfish. There was still the issue of whether jellyfish actually existed in this world, but if it didnt, he just had to come up with something else. However, at present Renya couldnt come up with a method to secure a distribution channel between Klinge and the ocean besides this one. In such a case, it was only natural for Renya to give up on the tentacles as food and request the katuruls help instead. Of course, since Im requesting its help, I will consider paying some kind of compensation if necessary. A deal has to be fair for both sides. When Renya requested a deal with the katurul, he had already left the path of common sense, but he told all this to Kilie, who was standing atop the sea with a flabbergasted expression, with a very serious look.