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Chapter 1: To Goldicia
Chapter 1:
To Goldicia
THERE SURE ARE A LOT of people.
“Hm. It was fun.”
“Woof.”
Two days after the end of the tournament, we decided to leave Ulmutt. We’d wanted to stay longer, but Fran was just too popular. Multitudes of people swarmed the inn, shouting things like “Black Lightning Princess!” and “Look this way!” She was like an idol from the Showa period.
It was like that wherever we went, and it prevented Fran from actually resting. Fame came at a cost, and it was exhausting to be a tournament winner.
We’d said goodbye to all our acquaintances. Leaving the city should have been straightforward. What I hadn’t expected was for there to be a whole mass of people waiting for Fran at the town gates. The sheer number of people surrounding us as we waited in line was kind of scary. It wasn’t just merchants and nobles seeking to make connections with Fran, but also rubbernecking locals who wanted to catch a glimpse of her. You really can’t take the urban information network lightly.
In the end, a quick-thinking guard recognized Fran and gave her special treatment by letting her through early.
Good thing, too… Any later and Fran might have started picking fights with the crowd.
Excellent work, Guardsman!
What now? We’ve got half a month to the appointment with Belioth. That’s enough time to make a few detours if we hurry.
“Bulbola?”
No, going the opposite direction would take too much time.
“Hrm. Then Alessa. I couldn’t see Amanda last time. I want to see her now.”
Then off to Alessa we go.
“Hm! Let’s go, Jet!”
“Woof, woof!”
Our trip went very smoothly. No strong monsters made an appearance, and Fran and Jet handled bad terrain with ease. In fact, they traveled in a straight line, right across any mountains and valleys we encountered.
We reached Alessa after ten days, with some pit stops here and there. One of the villages had had a hot spring, and we simply couldn’t resist…
It’s been a while since we’ve been in Alessa. First stop, the Adventurers’ Guild.
“Hm.”
“Woof!”
We made our way to the guild after passing through the gates of Alessa.
News of Fran’s victory had yet to arrive. No one made a fuss as Fran walked through town. I was sure some of the merchants knew who she was, but Fran didn’t look like much of a fighter. She was just another cute and super pretty girl.
A familiar face appeared as we enjoyed our stroll to the guild. Fran sensed her presence as she approached—she was moving in fast.
“Fran!”
“Amanda.”
“It’s been so long! I’ve missed you!”
“Mrgh.”
Amanda hugged Fran without slowing down. “The guildmaster told me! Congratulations on your tournament win!”
“Mgh.”
“But are you all right? You’re not injured or anything? It must’ve been a hard battle.”
“Hrgh.”
“Fran?”
“Hng…!”
Fran couldn’t breathe within Amanda’s voluminous chest. She knew Amanda meant her no harm, so she couldn’t bear to peel herself away from the embrace.
Could you ease off, Amanda? I think Fran’s turning blue.
“Oh! Sorry about that! Are you okay?”
“Hm. I’m fine.” Fran smiled despite her near suffocation.
“I can’t believe you actually won. You fought hard!”
“Hm. I did.”
“But there are a lot of strong people in the world, so you can’t let this get to your head, all right?”
“Thanks. I’ll be careful.”
“Ha ha ha. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here… Well, as long as you understand.”
Fran was really happy to speak to Amanda. She was one of the few people who was really able to spoil her.
“Anyway, let’s stop by the guild. That’s where you’re headed, right?”
“Hm.”
And so we did. We passed some adventurers along the way, but they didn’t recognize Fran, either. Klimt and Amanda had the benefit of magical message transmission, but the regular adventurers were still in the dark.
“A few days later and the town would’ve thrown a party.”
We’d rather avoid that.
“Then good thing you arrived today.”
“Hm. And you’re here too.”
“I know! I planned on leaving for the north again tomorrow! It’s destiny! We were meant to meet today!”
We arrived at the guild with our heavily excited A-Rank adventurer in tow. Again, we were greeted by another familiar face.
“Oh, hello, Fran. It’s been a long time.”
It was Furion, a plain-looking elf with slanted eyes. Last time, we’d teamed up for an expedition into a dungeon. He was able to use rare Spirit Magic, but his looks were so plain for an elf that they actually made him stand out.
“Hm. Hey, Furion.”
Wow! Fran actually remembered Furion’s name! She had completely forgotten Krad, who had also gone on the expedition. Maybe being a Spirit Magic user left an impression on her.
Instead of focusing on Furion’s face, she stared intently at his shoulder. I couldn’t help staring, either. There was a spirit there. We hadn’t noticed them at all before. They were quite powerful, too… Somewhere around the level of an intermediate spirit.
“Can you see them?”
“A bit.”
“That’s wonderful. Train that instinct and you might be able to use Spirit Magic one day.”
“I’ll do my best.”
As Fran talked with Furion about spirits, Amanda went to speak with Nell.
“Can we see the guildmaster?”
“Nope. We’ve got an official from the capital in town. He and Donadrond are talking to him.” Nell shrugged her shoulders with a wry smile. The official was apparently a handful.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.”
“Well, that guy’s in a bad mood because you refused to see him.”
“Can’t be helped. Sorry, Fran. The guildmaster’s occupied at the moment.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Well, never mind that. Congratulations, Fran!” Nell leaned over the counter to congratulate her victory. She’d always taken good care of her ever since we met. I guess a pretty girl like Fran was a breath of fresh air, compared to the average smelly adventurer.
“Thanks. How did you know?”
“Call it receptionist privilege.”
The guild staff seemed to have heard already. I could feel the other receptionists’ admiring gazes on us.
“To think that the girl I explored a dungeon with just last year is able to win the fighting tournament… Amazing!”
“You know about it too, Furion?”
“Y-yes. I’m more informed than I look.”
“Wow.”
The other adventurers were unaware of Fran’s victory, but the fact that this year’s winner was the youngest in tournament history made headlines. Anyone would be able to figure it out if they kept their ear to the ground.
“What are your plans after this, Fran? It would be great if you could clear out some quests for the guild in Alessa.”
“I’m going to Goldicia!”
“What? The Goldician continent? That place is dangerous.”
“I’ll be fine!”
Nell looked slightly worried but soon nodded in acquiescence. “Hmm, you’re right. I’m sure you will be.”
“Hm!”
Anyone who sought to be stronger went to Goldicia. It wasn’t rare.
“Goldicia… I see.” In contrast, Amanda looked lost in thought as she rested her chin on her hand. “Fran…”
“Hm? What’s up?”
“Are you up to spar with me? Outside town.”
The suggestion came out of nowhere. For a moment, I thought I saw a serious look flash across her face. Was it just me?
But battle-loving Fran was never one to turn down a sparring match. She immediately nodded. “Okay!”
“Ha ha ha. Let’s get going, then.”
“Sparring’s fine, but don’t mess up the rookies’ hunting grounds!”
“We’ll be good! Isn’t that right, Fran?”
“Hm.”
“I don’t trust either of you.”
Nell was right. I would keep an eye on them for her.
“…”
“…”
We left Alessa in silence. Both Amanda and Fran were preparing for battle. This was normal for Fran, but it was rare to see Amanda this focused. She’d been a bit more talkative last time.
In the end, we reached our destination after thirty minutes of silence. It was a hill a little bit away from Alessa, covered in short grass, with a few trees. But Amanda was no longer smiling. In fact, she was surrounded by a foreboding air. What was going on?
“No endangered species here and no adventurers either because of a lack of monsters. This place is Alessa’s best-kept secret.” Her tone was light, but the atmosphere was heavy.
“What’s it for?”
“Duels and intense sparring matches, of course.”
It looked like this place was out of the way enough to be safe.
“Shall we?”
“Hm.”
They were both unsmiling as the match began.
“Tsch!”
“Hrm!”
Fran dodged Amanda’s sharp whip crack in the nick of time. Although her movements were light and fluid, the force could have torn a goblin into pieces.
“Nice moves!”
“Heh heh.”
Fran smoothly avoided Amanda’s repeated attacks, sometimes countering with some spells of her own. They were decently strong, too. The average onlooker might have thought they were trying to kill each other, but for them, this was just a warmup.
But both combatants got heated as the match went on.
“Whip Art: Manjusaka!”
“Sonic Wave!”
“Awooo!”
They traded blows that would’ve caused heavy injuries had they scored a direct hit. Several craters were soon carved deep into the side of the hill.
“Raah!”
“Grrr!”
“Urgh! You’re getting better at coordinating with Jet…!”
After an hour, they’d worked up a decent sweat. Satisfied, they sat on top of a boulder to rest.
“Munch, munch.”
“Nom, nom.”
“This is good. You’re an amazing cook, Teacher. And I thought the curry was delicious enough.”
Ha ha ha! They call me the Curry Master…but I can make desserts, too.
Fran and the others were eating an assortment of fruit jellies. A refreshing treat always hits the spot after working up a sweat. The jellies were made of a variety of fruits from this world.
…Prepping the exploding fruits had been a pain.
I’d also prepared some hand-squeezed pseudo lemonade, using a fruit that had a sort of citrusy flavor. Because its flesh was red, it ended up looking more like tomato juice.
Amanda let out a sigh as she drank the pseudo lemonade. Then a hint of sorrow passed across her face, and she knitted her eyebrows slightly.
Do you not like it?
“Huh? No, it’s good. I love it.”
Good to know.
“I’ve always loved it… It reminds me of old times.” Amanda whispered and turned to Fran.
“…?”
“Do you like it?”
“Hm!”
“I see… That’s good.”
Amanda had been acting funny all day today, ever since Fran mentioned going to Goldicia. Was she worried about Fran going to such a dangerous place? That didn’t feel quite right, though…
“Fran. You said you were going to Goldicia after this, right?”
“Hm! I took a quest from Belioth.”
“Do you really want to go?”
“Hm. There’s an S-Rank adventurer with a godsword. I must find Trismegistus for Teacher’s sake, too.”
“For Teacher’s sake?”
Well, we heard Trismegistus had an Intelligent Weapon of his own. I have some questions to ask of my own kind.
There was no need to burden Amanda with the possibility of me losing my mind. I assumed she’d be more worried about Fran losing me than about me.
“Right… Of course.”
“Amanda, what’s wrong?”
“…” Amanda hesitated as she looked at Fran. Her face was colored with a mix of emotions. It was sad, lonely, and filled with regret.
“Amanda?”
“… Fran, do you remember your mom and dad?”
“Hm? Of course. There’s no way I’d forget.”
“Right… Mind if I tell you a story?”
“Hm.” Fran nodded solemnly, noticing that Amanda was not her usual self.
Remaining seated, Amanda looked off into the distance.
“I’ve been running an orphanage for quite a long time now, taking in the orphans of Granzell whenever I can. There are those who lost their parents in the dungeons and those I broke out of illegal slavery…”
“Hm.”
“And they came in every race. Humans, elves, dwarves, beastmen… Even Black Cats.”
“Black Cats?”
“Yes… There was a boy and girl who were very close to each other. They were a wild couple, reckless. Said they wanted to be adventurers.”
Black Cat adventurers… Just like Fran’s parents. They must have had it tough, but they were probably seeking to evolve too.
“In the end, they left the orphanage because I forbade them to become adventurers.”
That was truly reckless. But knowing Fran, it was probably inevitable. She would’ve done the same thing if she was in their shoes.
“But one day, they returned to stay for a while. They came over to show me their child.”
Amanda smiled happily as she remembered those times. Then the smile faded, and a shadow of sadness fell over her face.
“Maybe I should’ve stopped them. I still have regrets.”
“That’s…”
“They were killed eight years later. The guild published notice of their death. I tracked down the village they lived in from their letters and used my connections to get there as fast as I could.”
Amanda was a formidable force when push came to shove. She probably reached her destination a lot faster than you could imagine.
“I covered a month’s worth of distance in four days. But nothing was left by the time I arrived. Their bodies were gone…and so was their child.”
That may have been why Amanda was so protective of Fran. Amanda loved children but she also saw the child of those Black Cats in her.
“I can still remember their smiles and voices. The children I failed to protect. Their names—” Amanda stopped. She took a breath to steady herself before continuing. “Their names were Kenan and Framere. And their child’s name was Fran.”
“…!”
Huh? What?
No way. I’d thought their story sounded a lot like Fran’s parents, but this went beyond that!
Kenan and Framere. I knew those names. Fran told me her parents’ names in the past. I never pried further, because I didn’t want to open up old wounds, but…
Th-that’s…
“Yes. Fran’s parents grew up in my orphanage.”
Amanda talked about Kenan and Framere’s childhood—about how they were these rowdy kids who chose their own destiny. After a few years, the Black Cats had returned from their grueling adventures, appearing before her with a newly born baby in their arms.
“When they came back with you, I was as happy as if you were my own. We stayed in touch by writing to each other. It was only once a year, though.”
Kenan and Framere couldn’t always receive Amanda’s letters because of their travels. All she could do was wait for them to write.
“But I was relieved when I heard that they had finally settled down somewhere. I felt conflicted, though.”
“Conflicted? Why?”
“It was a dangerous place. I know they had their reasons, but…”
Amanda must have wanted Fran’s parents to quit adventuring. The sentiment seeped through her words. Still, she’d respected their decision enough not to drag them back.
“I still wonder if I should’ve forced them to come home… Maybe they’d still be alive if I did.”
Amanda looked down. Her eyes were red.
“I couldn’t tell when I first met you, but I knew after we talked for a while. I knew you were that baby.”
“Why…didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry. I was afraid. I was afraid you’d blame me…”
Amanda felt responsible for Kenan and Framere’s fate. Knowing Fran, she would probably dismiss the whole thing as a ridiculous coincidence. But Amanda couldn’t help feeling worried, since she didn’t know her that well.
“I thought you’d blame me for Kenan and Framere’s death.”
“I wouldn’t!”
“Fran…”
“Mom and Dad lived and died on their own terms. Like adventurers. It’s not your fault, Amanda.”
Adventurers took their lives into their own hands. Everything that happened to them was a result of their own choices. It was a tough road, but not without its benefits. For those without honor, it was a difficult path to follow. For the honorable, it was a way to live a life of true freedom.
Death was cause for grief. But it was an insult to an adventurer’s spirit to claim that they could have been forced into a life of safety.
Fran’s words consoled and rebuked Amanda at the same time, for better and for worse. Amanda understood. She rubbed her eyes and bowed her head to Fran.
“I’m sorry… You’re right… Those two were first-rate adventurers. And they lived and died accordingly.”
“Hm.”
“And I can tell that they were great just by looking at you, Fran.”
“Me?”
“Uh-huh. Though small, you’re a proper adventurer. I knew that the moment I saw you. So…I don’t have to be your guardian anymore.”
Amanda was the one who’d taken care of Fran’s parents when they were growing up. If anyone had the right to be her guardian, it was her. She’d probably thought about telling her so she could keep Fran close and safe…but she hadn’t done it.
“That’s why I decided to be a wall for you… Not as a guardian, but as a guide. I didn’t want to teach you or anything so overbearing. But I still wanted to protect you as best I could.”
Amanda did her best to teach by being a senior adventurer instead of a guardian. Sometimes, she would go on a quest with Fran, while at other times, she would be a formidable rival. If Fran died, it would be Amanda’s greatest regret. Still, she never tried to formally take her under her wing, because she respected her as a proper adventurer.
“Amanda… Thank you.”
“I should be thanking you too. For staying alive.”
“…Hm.”
Fran’s eyes shone with a faint glimmer when Amanda moved in to hold her. She wasn’t quite her mother or grandmother…but she was close.
“Mom and Dad always said that even Black Cats can evolve.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I became a slave, lost my name. I could barely remember their faces… That’s why I wanted to evolve. Because I was so close to forgetting them.”
Fran…
She always said that she wanted to see her parents’ dream come true. I’d never commented on it. Evolution was important to the beastmen of this world, so I didn’t think it strange for Fran to want to evolve. But it went deeper than that…
Evolution was Fran’s final link to her parents. As long as she strived to evolve, she wouldn’t forget them.
I’m sorry…I didn’t even try to understand how you felt!
“It’s not your fault, Teacher! I just realized, too… The real reason why I wanted to evolve…”
But…
“It’s okay. Besides, I managed to evolve, thanks to you. Mom and Dad are happy.”
…Do you think so?
“I know so.”
Yeah, you’re probably right.
“Hm.”
I decided to stop apologizing. Fran wasn’t looking for one.
“…I want to thank you, Teacher. Fran can smile thanks to you. Kenan and Framere must be smiling, too,” said Amanda.
…I hope so.
“I know so. I wanted to introduce you to them, but they don’t have graves,” Fran whispered sadly.
But Amanda cut in. “No, they do.”
“What?”
“Their bodies were never found. But I gathered their belongings and made a grave for them.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I wanted to tell you sooner, but I couldn’t work up the courage to. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You can tell me now.”
“Yes. Of course. The village is called Castell. It’s located…” Amanda took out a map that depicted an island shaped like an almost-perfect circle. She pointed to a spot on the map.
It said Castell.
Where is this?
“This is a map of Goldicia.”
What? Then Castell is…
“That’s right. Fran’s parents lived in a special village set up on the continent. That’s where you’ll find their graves.”
That was why Amanda was so restless when Fran said she was going to Goldicia!
“Castell… I think I’ve heard of it before?” Fran couldn’t remember the place where she used to live, maybe because she’d been enslaved, or because she was too young.
“Goldicia is a dangerous place. But you’ll be able to take whatever it throws at you, Fran. You’re an elite adventurer, after all.”
“Hm!”
***
The day after Amanda told Fran about her parents, we left Alessa. We’d had a great going-away party with Nell. It was a pity we didn’t get to see Klimt, but there was always next time.
He’ll be surprised when he hears you’ve been to Goldicia.
“Hm.”
Fran had never imagined her hometown was on the Goldician continent. She was truly surprised. She was probably too young to remember the other things her parents taught her.
Still, she knew about Trismegistus.
We’ve got quite a list of things to do in Goldicia now. Good thing we have a map.
“We’re visiting my parents’ grave!”
You can count on it.
“Woof, woof!”
And so, we headed out for the capital of Granzell. The people from the Dimitris School had been summoned there, too. That incident was far too big for the capital to ignore.
Their penalties had been decided back in Ulmutt, so the inquisition at the capital would be a formality. It was just the government’s way of showing the people that they were taking the incident seriously.
We would rendezvous with Hilt and the others once the inquisition was complete and head to Belioth together.
Aurel said it would be fine, but there’s always a chance that the capital might extend their time in custody.
“Hm.”
In that case, Belioth would have to adjust its schedule to Hilt’s circumstances. In the worst case, Fran might have to step in and inform Granzell of Belioth’s plan to employ Hilt and the others. We had some connections, so it shouldn’t be too hard to tell the higher-ups about Belioth’s intentions.
But our worries turned out to be unfounded. Hilt had already been in the capital for two days. Soon, they were casually released from custody.
Both parties were satisfied with the prior agreement. Hilt and a few others would go to Goldicia, while the other students would remain in Granzell to work on quests.
It was a slap on the wrist. I was just happy to see that things had ended without any tempers flaring.
…But not everyone in the capital was so even-tempered.
“Ugh! That mantis bastard!”
“Calm down.”
“Woof.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down! Captain… No, Bastard Knighthart! I’ll make him cry next time I see him!” Erianthe was screaming in fury. Her hair had turned purple, the color of combat.
The spider halfling warrior was the guildmaster of the capital’s Adventurers’ Guild. Her hair changed color to suit her mood…and she was truly furious. The guildmaster’s office was soundproofed, but I was dead sure that people outside could hear her. I could feel their unrest through the walls.
We went to the guild after deciding to tell Erianthe about Knighthart. Big mistake. We’d known she would be angry. The plan had been to casually inform her of what happened and escape before she blew a fuse…but she kept asking questions and eventually got the whole story out of us.
“Knighthart did go to Raydoss, but it was for his friends. Don’t be mad at him.”
I could tell from her words that Fran wasn’t resentful of either Knighthart or Sibyl. She was even actively covering for Knighthart. Her affection for them was greater than her hatred of Raydoss.
“Yes, yes. I’m pleased to hear that, too. Our dead friends might turn out to be alive, after all. I’d do anything to get them out of there. Even if it means helping our enemies…”
Oh? I’d thought Erianthe was furious about Knighthart teaming up with Raydoss, but maybe that wasn’t the case.
“…But that mantis bastard gave advance orders to Robin and the others! I know I’m an outsider now that I’ve left, but he didn’t even have the decency to give me a heads up!”
Robin was the lobster halfling and leader of a five-man squad in Feeler and Shell. We’d fought alongside him in the battle at the capital. Until recently, he and his squad were helping their old friend Erianthe with work in the capital.
They had left town by now…on Knighthart’s orders, by the sound of it. He must have wanted his men out of Granzell before he left for Raydoss. They might get arrested, otherwise.
Erianthe seemed to be pissed that she was left out of the loop, and I thought maybe she was just feeling jilted. But she quickly proved me wrong.
“I would’ve given them more work to do if I knew they were leaving!”
“Work?”
“Yes! I’ve got a backlog of jobs just for them!”
Okay. Maybe she was just being shy about her feelings. Maybe this was just her way of sulking after being left out.
“What a waste! If only they had told me sooner…!” Erianthe yelled, slamming a fist into her desk. I noticed it had a crack in it. Was that always there? Maybe she was shy and angry. She couldn’t be that furious… Could she?
“We’re low on manpower after the Aschtner conspiracy! Manpower… If only we had…manpower.”
“Hm?”
“A-arf?”
Erianthe’s insane eyes locked onto Fran and Jet.
“Manpower…”
Oh no, we were locked in her sights! She was calculating the work she could get out of Fran and Jet.
“Fighting tournament winner… Giant wolf… A stack of jobs…”
She was freaking me out with her partial sentences!
We need to get out of here!
“…Okay.”
“No, wait! Let’s talk a while longer!”
“I’m out of time. I have to meet up with Hilt and the others!”
“Please! I just need you for a few weeks!”
A few weeks?!
Leg it, you two!
“Hm!”
“Woof!”
“Aaah! Wait! Please!”
***
After narrowly escaping Erianthe’s clutches, we regrouped with Hilt and left the capital.
“I see it.”
We got here sooner than expected.
“Hm.”
We quickly arrived at Ladyblue, capital of the Magic Academy. Crossing the Granzell–Belioth border only took a few days, and the calendar was entering the month of June.
But man…Erianthe was persistent.
She could’ve used her energy to work, instead of chasing us down, but all her pent-up frustrations had come to a head. Work-related stress had combined with the loneliness of being left behind by her friends…not to mention Knighthart’s betrayal.
Still, Knighthart had probably kept her in the dark to protect her. It would be harder for her to be implicated if she didn’t know what he was up to. In a world with lie-detecting Skills, she could prove that she truly didn’t know anything about it.
She was probably still in the capital, getting work done while grumbling every step of the way. We’d been unable to say hi to Garrus and the others because of her. Unfortunate. But I wasn’t about to blame her. I knew what she was going through all too well. I felt her pain.
Useless superiors with impossible demands… Endless documents and paperwork… Wage slavery with no overtime pay… Jerks who unloaded their work on you right before a weekend…
Ugh! My head!
Teacher?
Nothing. I’m fine.
That was close. I almost fell to the dark side.
In any case, you can do it, Erianthe! I’m rooting for you!
As I quietly cheered for Erianthe, Hilt spotted something in the distance. “So that’s the Magic Academy.”
The city’s outer walls could be seen on the other side of the mountain.
“Is this your first time?”
“Yes. I’ve been to Belioth a few times, but I’ve never been to this city. Most of the high-ranking quests are taken care of by the high elf, after all.”
“I see.”
Hilt was together with the other Dimitris students. There were seven of them in total—not many, but their quality would more than make up for their lack of quantity.
“What about you, Colbert?”
“I’ve been here a couple times. Phobos?”
“Never…been here!” he wheezed.
“Oh yeah, you’ve never been outside of Granzell, huh?”
“Yes… That’s right!”
Having acquired leadership of the school, Hilt used her authority to force Colbert back in. All in all, there were four high-ranking students plus the young hopeful Phobos. The squad consisted of one A Rank, two B Ranks, three C Ranks, and one D Rank.
Phobos was slowing us down. Surprising, considering D Rank was considered an intermediate adventurer. We would’ve reached two or three days sooner if Phobos had run faster.
Of course, it was kind of ridiculous to ask him to keep up with Jet without the use of a horse. The rest of the Dimitris students didn’t seem to have a problem with it. It was all just part of their training. I only pitied him because his seniors forced potions down his throat every time he approached his limits.
But Fran seemed interested in their methods. She might start running next to Jet in time. She couldn’t resist the opportunity to train.
“Sharpen up, Phobos. You can rest when we reach the city.”
“Y-yes!”
Good luck, Phobos. We were ahead of schedule because everyone moved quickly, but we couldn’t exactly let him ride Jet. Things might have been different if we were behind schedule, though…
***
Two hours passed. We safely reached Ladyblue and decided to see Wina.
Fran and I went to see her alone, since Wina’s weakened state was something of a state secret. Hilt and Colbert were out on a date, anyway—though since Hilt hadn’t made her feelings clear, she was just a lady out with her servant. It sure was sweet, though! I could feel my steel turn to sugar! I hope they had fun taking in the sights of Ladyblue.
“It’s been a while, Fran, Teacher.”
“Hm.”
You’re looking…not that great.
“Ha ha, you know how it is.”
The right half of Wina’s face, as well as her right arm, was wrapped with bandages. As usual, her right arm didn’t seem like it could move. Her mana waves were so messed up that there wasn’t much life left in them.
It might have looked like she was suffering from some kind of disease, but these were injuries she’d sustained by using a special ability called Advance to defeat the great beast. The ability allowed Wina to borrow mana from her future self.
“Your companions are Dimitris’s students?”
“You can tell?”
Did you use spirit magic?
“It was Lene. She shares her senses with me, since I’m linked to her.”
I see.
Spirit users were able to use their spirits as their eyes and ears. Weakened as she was, the bond between Wina and Lene was strong enough that it allowed them to maintain that link.
“I’m back. Hello, Fran and Teacher. It’s been ages.”
“Hey, Lene. How are you?”
“As well as a spirit can be, I suppose. All thanks to you.”
Lene the spirit smiled faintly. Her translucent smile reminded me that she had once been the Lady of the Lake. “I heard about Dimitris, as well. I take it the people you’re traveling with are his replacements.”
“Hm.”
Hilt is Dimitris’s successor. Not as strong as the man himself, but…
Having Dimitris’s A-Rank granddaughter might come as a disappointment to Wina. The S Rank was one of her few rivals, after all.
I felt obliged to convince her somehow. But Wina had other thoughts.
“They’ll do. I’m not going to tell you to go get Dimitris at all costs.”
Really?
Wina casually shrugged her shoulders. “Who do you think is more useful? An S Rank who refuses to do as he’s told, or a gang of A and B Ranks who can follow orders? If I had to choose…”
You’d pick the latter?
“That I would. Not my call, of course, but Belioth would be happier with that lot.”
After seeing Dimitris in person, I can’t help but agree.
The old man didn’t seem to be someone who would take orders from the government. As impressive as his military conquests were, they came with a price… Fighting nobles was a given, and there was a legitimate fear that he might kill some of them.
Compared to him, Hilt was much easier to control. She seemed to be quite serious about completing contracts, perhaps because she had such an excellent anti-role model.
Even as she was training Phobos, she still reminded the others that they needed to be on time for the contract.
“I’m sure Belioth will agree with me on this point.”
If you say so.
Afterwards, we chatted a bit with Lene before taking our leave.
Well, we have to get going. There’s still time, but something might happen on the way.
“Wait. Before you go, I have a favor to ask of you.”
“A favor?”
“Take this with you to Goldicia.” Wina took out an envelope. It was sealed with the mark of a tree and faintly emitted mana. She had prepared it when Fran was getting out of her seat.
“What’s this? Who’s William?”
“William is the mage advisor for the Goldicia Management Committee. One of my students. I need you to get this to him. Reward is set at a hundred thousand gold. What do you say?”
“I don’t mind. Teacher?”
Sure. We’ll just leave the letter in Pocket Dimension.
“Take care not to break the seal.”
“Hm. No problem.”
And so, we added another item to our Goldicia to-do list.
We would visit the graves of Fran’s parents and look for Trismegistus. We would visit a godsword user and hunt antibodies along the way. Urslars, Velmeria, and Frederick should also be in Goldicia.
“Bye-bye.”
See you around!
“Take care of yourselves.”
“Hope to see you again soon.”
We left the Magic Academy with Wina and the others seeing us off. What adventures would await us in Goldicia?
Our prospects were exciting and frightening at the same time.
ASIDE: ???
THIS VILLAGE WAS IN SHAMBLES…
The wind and the rain beat down on it, peeling the roofs off most of the houses. With no one to look after them, it was inevitable. Weeds grew everywhere, and it would take considerable effort for the village to be inhabitable again.
Most passersby would take this place for a ghost town…
But it wasn’t, since I was still living here. Besides, people still came around from time to time.
“You’re here earlier than expected, Mursani.”
“I heard the antibodies were multiplying again…”
Mursani was a peddler who regularly sold me supplies.
“You should really get someone else to make your rounds. You don’t need to go out of your way to visit such a dangerous place as this.”
“…Not at all. I hope you will allow me to keep my trade route.”
“Stubborn. You only need to visit the dead once a year, you know.”
“If that was the case, this deserted village wouldn’t need a gravekeeper.”
“Hah! The antibodies will come, even if people won’t. It will all end someday. I’m the gravekeeper until that day comes.”
“…Then I am only a peddler with a route through this village.”
Mursani’s face was tinged with remorse. He still had regrets over what happened on that day…
I knew what he was going through. I felt the same.
That day…the village came to an end.
Was there more I could’ve done? Different choices I could’ve made? More lives I could’ve saved?
Mursani and I shared similar regrets.
“…This village is little more than a grave now. But I don’t think they would want you to sacrifice your life to protect this place.”
“…”
“If the antibodies are multiplying, that means it’s almost time for antibody season. Perhaps you should evacuate the village for a time?”
“…Impossible.”
“It’s not. I can let you in if it’s just one of you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll ruin everything you’ve built for yourself.”
“A cheap price if I can be of service to you,” the fool said with a determined face.
I knew what Mursani was feeling. The things he wanted to save were long gone, so he wanted to save me instead. Maybe I was a poor replacement, but he couldn’t sit by and do nothing.
This feeling of loss was what held us together. The understanding shared between those who have lost something was what made us friends.
“You have family and men under you now. This isn’t a decision you can make lightly.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. I’m satisfied with the way I am now.”
“And what about her?”
“…She’s a big girl now. She’ll be fine without me.”
“Are you sure? She would be sad, if nothing else.” Mursani shook his head, looking as if he was about to cry.
He was right. She was against me residing in this village. But I could do nothing about my feelings. I knew it wasn’t reasonable. It knew it was stupid and pointless. Anyone in my position would know that.
“I’ll be here.”
“I’ll be back. Try not to die before you make your payment.”
“I know.”
“Until then…”
“See you.”
I repeated his words to myself as I saw him leave.
“Don’t die… No, I don’t have any plans to.”
Not when…
“…I’m almost at my limit.”
I’m sorry, everyone. I couldn’t avenge you.
***
“Slurp.”
Is it good?
Hm.
Fran sipped on her tropical fruit juice while lying on a deck chair of her own making. In front of the chair was Jet, currently Fran’s footstool. She must have been enjoying the fluffiness of Jet’s fur on her feet. Fran closed her eyes in delight as she rubbed her feet.
Is that really okay with you, Wolf of the Twilight? I wondered.
Fran squinted her eyes to look at the sky as she felt the warm and salty breeze wash over her.
“Good weather.”
“Woof.”
Yeah. It’s not every day that traveling by sea is smooth sailing… They said we’re arriving today.
Fran was given a gracious welcome when she returned to Belioth. Admiral Brunnen didn’t seem at all disappointed when Fran informed him she had Hilt and the others instead of Dimitris.
Instead, he said, “You got Dimitris’s students instead of Dimitris… Excellent! This is the best possible outcome!”
I would never forget Hilt’s wry smile. It must not have been her first time.
Brunnen quickly apologized after realizing his rudeness, but there was no hiding his delight. He needed someone like Dimitris to replace Winalene…but a character like Dimitris came with their own challenges. If you weighed the pros and cons, the scales barely tipped in favor of pro.
Besides, it was never certain whether Dimitris would accept the quest. If he had, he might have been a liability…but if he refused, they’d still be in trouble. It was a very complicated situation. But instead, here was Hilt, an A-Rank adventurer, spearheading the team of elite Dimitris students. Brunnen couldn’t have asked for a better consolation prize.
It made me wonder why he didn’t just hire Hilt in the first place. But getting several elite adventurers of the Dimitris School in one place was exceedingly difficult. They were scattered throughout the land, doing their own thing, and there was always the possibility of them turning the contract down. Maybe the smart money was to just bet on the off chance that Dimitris himself might be interested.
“Slurp.”
“Y-you’re taking it easy.”
“Brunnen.”
Brunnen was taken aback with how lazy Fran was acting. The admiral with the face of a pirate was standing next to her deck chair.
“…If you were an average adventurer, I would yell at you to get to work…”
Jet barked as if to answer his complaint. “Woof!”
I’ve got it covered, he seemed to say. He was doing his job as a guard dog even in this situation, taking out all the elite monsters that emerged from the water.
When we brought a shark monster to him earlier, Brunnen begged to buy it from us, crystals aside. He could make use of more than just its fin and oil.
Soldiers and chefs taking apart a ten-meter shark on the top deck was quite a sight to behold…
We were on a large Belioth-owned vessel used for deep-sea fishing, and the deck was big enough to line up several giant sharks. This thing was as big as a large trade vessel on the lake.
“You even have sunglasses on… Enjoying yourself?”
“Hm. I don’t hate ships…”
Fran seemed at ease, despite the dangerous events that occurred most of the time we traveled by ship. Our encounter with the Leviathan would’ve been enough to traumatize anybody.
But Fran seemed to identify ships with fun, probably because she could fish and sunbathe.
“Well…I suppose that’s fine.”
The contract stated that we were free to do whatever on the ship as long as we kept up with our tasks. So he had no grounds to complain about us relaxing!
But I guess Brunnen couldn’t help himself considering how busy the rest of the ship was compared to Fran. She looked like she was on vacation.
“Enjoy the rest of the trip. We’re almost there. Probably won’t run into any threats, either.”
“Really? What about monsters?”
There had been powerful monsters up until yesterday. Nothing like sea dragons or krakens, but we did encounter some C-level Threats like the Ship Eater Shark.
…Or was there a reason behind the sudden change in monster species?
“I don’t know why, but monsters just don’t show up once we pass a certain point. Some say it’s because of the barrier, but no one knows for sure.”
Apparently, the seas surrounding Goldicia were monster-free. The reason was unknown, so a lot of people attributed it to the barrier the gods set up.
“No pirates stupid enough to do their business here, either.”
“Why not? Aren’t there a lot of ships coming in from the mainland?”
Concealing yourself was much easier without monsters to worry about, and there were a lot of vulnerable ships to target…among them supply ships with few soldiers guarding their cargo.
“Think about it. The ships heading to Goldicia are all related to the Goldician Obligation. They’d be picking a fight with every navy in the world. We’d send our ships out to obliterate them.”
The governments wouldn’t want the pirates to get any bright ideas. If word got out that the Goldician ships were easy targets, it might affect the supply chain. There was once a group of pirates who were reckless enough to give it a shot…but the pirate cartels got the message after a few bloodbaths. The waters of Goldicia were forbidden territory. These days, no pirate in his right mind even sailed close to Goldicia.
“Fog’s coming in. That’s a sign we’re close to Goldicia. We’ll see land in less than an hour. Get ready.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got everything prepared.”
Brunnen’s eyes burned with envy as Fran stored her drink in Pocket Dimension.
“Aaah, such talent! Sure you don’t wanna move to Belioth? I can pull some strings, make you a countess.”
“Don’t think so.”
“Figures.”
Brunnen had always wanted to keep sailing the seas—or lake, rather. But with promotions came more paperwork, until he was eventually landlocked. If anything, he understood Fran’s refusal of the title of countess. Countess was pretty up there, if I remembered right. She’d rule over much more land than a viscountess.
I guess it spoke to how much he thought Fran was worth.
“We’ll stay the night at an encampment when we land, then play it by ear. But…I have to ask you to come with me on the first dispatch.”
“I know.”
Fran would be free to do as she pleased in Goldicia, but she wouldn’t be released immediately. First, she’d be assigned on a hunt with soldiers in the Belioth jurisdiction. In a sense, she would be protecting them until they got used to Goldicia. If things went well, she’d be able to go off on her own.
“Can’t wait.”
“Not many people who’d say that… You really are an elite adventurer.” Brunnen was now even more taken aback than he had been by witnessing Fran in vacation mode. He was just astounded by how strong she was, right? He wasn’t shocked because she was a weirdo…right? Not like all the other elite adventurers…right?
Please don’t lump her in with them! I thought.
She talked with Brunnen and fished until things got busy on the top deck. We went to the gunwale to look over the ocean. Our destination was in sight.
Fran and Jet expressed their surprise.
“Is that Goldicia?”
“That’s right! You can see the barrier from here, eh?”
“Hm. Amazing.”
“Woof.”
Fran couldn’t help being astonished. A semi-translucent dome covered the continent, just like the stories said. But seeing it in person took her breath away.
The giant dome and mountain range loomed above the foggy sea. It was as good a proof of the gods as anything else. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Like the lost city of Atlantis, a highly advanced civilization risen from the bottom of the sea.
Our ship slowly approached the giant dome of Goldicia.
“The fog’s going to get thicker from here. We’ll navigate by signal fire.”
The thick fog covering Goldicia was the leading cause of naval disasters. The lighthouse installed at the port drastically reduced the number of accidents. A blue light kept our ship on its path, and a red light showed where the coastline was. A lot of thought was put into the system.
Brunnen returned to the cabin to bark out orders while Fran remained on the bow, entranced by Goldicia. A mixture of emotions showed on her face. Curiosity and expectation, to be sure—but also anxiety and sorrow.
“The fog’s clearing up.”
“The closer we get to land, the less fog there’s going to be.”
The ship cut through the fog, which got thinner before suddenly disappearing.
The port was much larger than I imagined, and now it welcomed us.
This place made Bulbola’s harbor look unimpressive. It was ten times bigger, at least. There were over a hundred ships moored at the docks. I couldn’t count them at a glance. About half were super large vessels like the one we were on, too.
Seeing these giant ships all lined up was spectacular.
“Welcome to the United Western Anchorage of Goldicia. As you can see, it’s one of the world’s biggest ports.”
“Are there other ports this size?”
“Yeah. All of them are in Goldicia.”
“All the cardinal directions have dedicated ports.”
He explained that all these gigantic ports were built through the grand alliance. Jointly owned property, established in the name of protecting the world. The alliance was created to manage the situation in Goldicia and valued all its members…at least on the surface.
“On the surface? How is it actually, then?”
“It’s not like one particular kingdom controls the whole thing. But the smaller countries with less money to spend don’t get much say.”
The bigger countries would have more influence, even in an alliance. But no one implemented policies which were severely detrimental to particular countries…and no one wanted to take control of Goldicia for themselves, either. Doing so would only invite criticism from other kingdoms, if not outright war. The offender would be everyone’s enemy at that point.
In the end, each country contributed as much as it could, whether via funds or manpower. All so the world could carry out the Goldician Obligation.
Led by the dockmaster, our ship slowly made its way into port.
We still hadn’t passed through the barrier, though. The barrier was smaller than the Goldician continent, leaving the ports and coastlands outside it. From where we were, it was another three hundred meters to the barrier. It looked as if a glass wall had been placed beyond the harbor.
There are so many countries here.
“Hm.”
The many ships sported a myriad of flags. Belioth was the odd one out, with its singular vessel. Some of the other nations had more than ten vessels docked here.
We safely made it into the harbor as we watched all the ships around us. Brunnen came out again and called out to Fran.
“We’re disembarking. All personnel, with the exception of maintenance, will head to the garrison.”
“You don’t need to put the ship away?”
“Not while we’re in Goldicia. No one’s going to complain even if we leave it here. Besides, we might need to resupply later. We didn’t bring a storage unit.”
Belioth was a landlocked kingdom. It had ships because of its gigantic lake, but only a few could navigate the seas. There were only three naval admirals, Brunnen included, and they mostly served on missions to Goldicia. They didn’t have many seafaring vessels, and they didn’t always float the ones they did have. That would only speed up the deterioration of their precious vessels, increasing the cost of maintenance.
Parking it in another country’s harbor didn’t guarantee its safety, either. They couldn’t exactly deploy a ton of security in a foreign harbor, after all. So, the people of this world had developed a special magic item to store these giant ships, allowing them to be transported to other harbors to set sail.
At least, that was standard…but in Goldicia, having these giant vessels side by side was no problem.
Leaving the cargo to the soldiers, Fran followed Brunnen to disembark and regroup with Hilt and the others.
“Have the soldiers carry your belongings, Lady Hiltoria. We’ll head to the lodge for now. I hope that’s all right.”
“No problem, Admiral. We are on your payroll.”
“Thank you.”
Though brief, Brunnen’s words sounded strangely heavy. Hilt must’ve picked up on it too. She looked somewhat confused.
“Ha ha ha. Strong people usually have a unique presence. Reminds me of a certain high elf…”
He meant Winalene. Compared to her, Hilt’s manners were immaculate.
“I hear that adventurers are usually free to do as they please.”
“Yes, if you’re B Rank or above. Our country’s policy is to have a small but elite team of fighters. They would be much more effective on their own than teaming up with us.”
“Is that so?”
“Our usual dispatch consists of Lady Winalene. She has no need for our help.”
Winalene was enough to replace several thousand soldiers. That was why Brunnen had asked for Dimitris as a stand-in.
“Will it be all right this time?”
“It might be tough. But I’ll leave the fighting to you.”
“I see… Then we’ll go with the main unit. There’s no replacing Lady Winalene, but there is strength in numbers.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Besides, we are not familiar with Goldicia. Some guidance would be appreciated.”
“And you’re comfortable taking orders from me?”
“Of course.”
“I see. I can’t remember the last time I had an elite adventurer who didn’t mind taking orders. We are in your hands!”
Hey, don’t look at us while you say that! Fran was a good girl who did as she was told. The old man must have really thought that Fran was another weirdo.
Fine! I’ll show them all that Fran is a good girl by the end of this mission!
Brunnen was in good spirits all the way to the lodge.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Come on, stop playing hard to get!”
His expression darkened immediately. Someone was having an altercation in an alley. It was a man and a woman, and the man was making a move. A common enough incident, one that could happen in any town…but Fran paused to look at Brunnen.
As much as she wanted to help, she had her own mission to think about.
Brunnen met her gaze and understood. But he didn’t give her the go-ahead.
“Do you really plan on butting into every little incident on the continent? These things happen every day in Goldicia.”
“Hrm.”
“Besides—”
But just as Brunnen was about to finish…
“I said, hands off!”
“Gaah!” A loud crash followed the man’s scream.
“Oh crap!”
“M-my lady! That was too much!”
“You bitch! You’ve done it now!”
“Shut up!”
“Geergh!”
“My lady, please!”
“Th-this isn’t my fault! These guys came after me first! Come on, let’s go!”
“Huh? W-wait for me!”
Another thud, followed by another crash. It sounded like a falling tree. The man who sounded like her servant groaned. Their shoes pitter-pattered away quickly.
We peeked into the alleyway to see a gaunt-looking man running after a blonde girl with a hood over her head. The altercation had been settled, and the girl was fleeing the scene.
“…”
“See?” Brunnen shrugged as Fran was left speechless.
“Monsters roam the island, and I’m not talking about the ones inside the barrier. Women aren’t the weaker sex here.”
“I see.”
Fran nodded in understanding. She was confident she could take on an ordinary street thug, and she wasn’t the only female who could do so. This was hell-on-earth Goldicia. Women who made it here were not run of the mill.
“And don’t think they’ll thank you for stepping in, either.”
“Sure.”
People were flocking to the scene of the crime. The crowd seemed self-contained, though.
“This where it happened?”
“It seems to be over by now, sir.”
“Get the guy who’s sprawled out on the ground!”
“Yes sir!”
Soldiers in armor, each sporting different insignia, moved as a unit.
“There are always international soldiers making the rounds. That’s what you get if you try and cause trouble.”
“I see.”
“They’re strong and work well as a team. Just like those guys over there. Start something here and the whole continent will know about it. Try not to get the attention of the other nations while you’re here.”
“Hm. Got it.”
“I hope you do.”
The Management Committee coordinated and organized the nations’ forces so they could all work together.
The Management Committee… Wait, wasn’t that the organization we were supposed to take Winalene’s letter to?
“Do you know where the Management Committee is?” Fran asked Brunnen. We couldn’t deliver the letter to William if we didn’t know where it was.
“The Management Committee? They have a base in this port. They have a base at each port, actually.”
“What about the advisor?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know much about the details. Do you need to see him?”
“Hm. It’s a job from Wina.”
“He’ll talk to you if that’s the case.”
Heading to the branch office ourselves would be the fastest way to go about it since Brunnen didn’t know.
“The office is in the center of the port. You’ll know it when you see it. The building’s not too big, but there’s a sign right outside.”
“It’s not big?”
“They went for a modest but sturdy construction, since there’s no need for them to show force. They’re civil officials anyway, so they don’t have much firepower.”
“No soldiers?”
“Yeah.”
Brunnen casually explained what the committee did. “The Management Committee’s main task is to manage the facilities in Goldicia. They collate information from around the continent and organize the troops accordingly. That’s the long and short of it.”
Committee members were mostly civil officials dispatched from their respective countries. They could defend themselves but weren’t of much use on the battlefield. There was a separate organization to organize the penal slaves dispatched to Goldicia.
“Advisor is the position given to someone who’s worked in the Management Committee for a long time.”
Surviving Goldicia for several years was difficult for an ordinary human. Average soldiers and officials who never trained weren’t going to make the cut.
It was normal for committee members to change once every few years. But some chose to stay in Goldicia out of a sense of accomplishment, dedication, or other personal reasons. They would usually be highly motivated and valued for their wealth of experience. However, having too many of these people posed its own problems. If new members stopped joining the committee, nations would have no need to send government officials.
This was a problem for smaller countries who lacked either the experience or firepower to accomplish their Goldician Obligation. So, the organization and nations had worked out a deal to give long-standing members an office of their own.
“There’s the lodge now.”
“…That one?”
“That’s right.”
“A mansion?”
As Fran pointed out, Belioth’s lodging was nothing like we expected.
We were picturing a small, cramped barracks since Brunnen said it could only fit a few people. The lodges around the harbor had been quite plain and humble.
But this was a noble’s mansion. It was on the smaller side but…
“Guess we’re here again this year. And I even asked them to tone it down…” Brunnen said with a wry smile.
The committee respected Winalene so much that they always reserved this place for her.
Even if influence held little sway in Goldicia, they would still pull out the stops for members of the royal family and other VIPs. Noble mansions and first-class rooms were the least they could do.
The mansion in front of us was quite a facility. I guess Winalene warranted special treatment considering she was strong enough to rule the world if she wanted to.
Brunnen had informed them that Winalene was not going to be on this dispatch, but they’d prepared the mansion anyway out of habit.
“Can’t be helped. I guess I still count as a noble, though. It’s not out of the ordinary.”
Come on! Despite everything, Brunnen was still a count. And as far as the world was concerned, Belioth was the upper crust…not some riff-raff nation. He was probably on par with a marquis of a smaller kingdom.
Not that he acted like it!
“I’ll get your rooms ready while you go pester your official.”
“Am I free to go to the Management Committee and the Adventurers’ Guild?”
“Sure, sure. Our dispatch is in four days, so you’re free to do as you please until then. Just don’t be late.”
“I know.”
“Oh, and if you have any trouble with the other nations just bring up Winalene. She gives anyone second thoughts.”
He wasn’t even asking us not to get into trouble. I guess Winalene really could solve anything.
“Got it.”
“It’d be best if you stayed out of trouble to begin with, though…” Brunnen clarified, concerned over Fran’s vigorous nodding.
Fran quickly made her way to the harbor, leaving a worried Brunnen behind.
The harbor was usually a habitat for town hooligans, and this was a harbor of notable size…but they were rare in Goldicia. The soldiers and knights from around the world went to great lengths to ensure that their countries looked good.
Food stalls were sparse, but we carried on walking down the beautiful harbor.
At first, I thought Goldicia’s harbor would look more like a hellscape bearing the scars of constant combat with antibodies… But with all the soldiers posted here, this place was quite the opposite.
I was a little disappointed.
“Dwarves.”
“Woof.”
Warriors quietly advanced before us, and all of them were dwarves. Did they come from the dwarven kingdom? They all looked pretty strong… Fran’s eyes were gleaming with admiration.
They all marched silently in a line, a genuine platoon if I ever saw one. No wonder no one dared to do anything funny.
Fran got bored after watching the dwarven procession for a short while. They were just…walking.
“Lame.”
“Woof.”
We soon arrived at the management committee without stopping at any food stalls or getting into trouble. It was about fifteen minutes away from our lodge.
Management Committee Western Branch. A plain, two-story building, just as Brunnen said. The wooden construction could easily have been mistaken for an inn if not for the sign hanging out front.
Let’s ask if Advisor William is in.
“Hm.”
I was expecting a stuffy organization, but it was actually quite relaxed. The security guards greeted us with a smile, and the receptionist even brought some light refreshments for Fran.
It reminded me of a mom-and-pop business I once visited in my employee days.
They also showed us into William’s office thirty minutes after asking for him. Quite surprising considering we showed up without an appointment. Even more shocking was the fact that they let us in see him so quickly.
Fran’s B-Rank adventurer card and Winalene’s letter must have worked their magic. But the staff must have been used to having important guests because they remained unflappable throughout. They were real professionals.
“I’m William. Glad you made it.”
“Hm. Fran. Adventurer.”
William’s appearance was startling. He was the elven mage advisor for the committee, so I was expecting a wispy elf in long robes…
“You’re an elven mage?”
“Bwa ha ha! Can’t expect to survive on this continent just blasting spells from the back line! Even mages need to get some training in!”
William was a sweaty and muscular fellow. He was only 170 centimeters tall but probably weighed over a hundred kilos.
His leather armor was covered in scars, and there was a giant mace hanging on the wall of his office. He was a seasoned veteran no matter how you diced it.
The only elven things about him were his long ears and blond hair. I hadn’t seen an elf so…unelfish since Furion.
“But I can say the same for you if we’re talking about appearances.”
“Me?”
“Indeed. B Rank at your age, and your strength is the real deal. I’d call you a fraud if you weren’t so strong.”
Not something I wanted to hear from a muscular elf, but Fran’s looks were more than deceiving.
“I hear you have a message for me from my master.”
“Hm. Here. I don’t know what it says. She just told me to get it to Advisor William.”
“I see. I’ll take a look.”
William opened the envelope and started reading. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. When he got to the end, his expression relaxed.
“Phew…”
“Is something wrong?”
“Not at all. My master likes you quite a bit. She says to help you as much as I can because she owes you a favor.”
So… Wina felt so indebted to us that she’d drafted that letter.
“My master. Kind to everyone while taking zero interest in them at the same time. I can hardly believe it, but…”
That was an apt description. He perfectly described Winalene who wasn’t interested in anyone other than Lene.
“I’ll do my best to aid you! This is a perfect chance to gain a little favor with my master. So, do you need any help?”
So straightforward! But there were a few things we needed to know.
“I’ve got some questions.”
“Ask them.”
“First, the location of Trismegistus.”
“What?”
“I want to see the legendary alchemist. I’m also looking for this village called Castell and the location of two S Ranks—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on! You said Trismegistus?” William interjected, clearly bewildered. “You want to see Trismegistus?”
“Hm. Winalene said he’s still fighting in Goldicia.”
Trismegistus, the great sinner and alchemist, was cursed with immortality and doomed to fight monsters in Goldicia. It sounded like a fairy tale, but it was the truth. He was still atoning for his sins on the continent.
“…That’s why she sent me this letter…”
“Can I see him if I travel deep into the continent?”
“Hmm…” William was tongue-tied. This was history’s greatest sinner, after all. Not someone you could meet at the drop of a hat. “May I ask why you wish to see the alchemist?”
“Can’t say.”
“Personal reasons, then.”
“Hm.”
“Well…” Was this not going to work out? William paused for a few moments before continuing. “As for his location, he is in the center of the continent. The palace of the old Drake Nation. He lives there while continuing his battle against the Abyss Eater.”
“The palace in the center of the continent.”
“But you couldn’t see him even if you went there. His realm is protected by another barrier. You can’t go in without a permit.”
“How do I get a permit?”
“Well… Even with the master’s recommendation you’re still going to have to build a little more trust. That means hunting antibodies and accomplishing other military service.”
The passage to Trismegistus’s castle required permission from all the branches. This system was set up so that only the worthy might see the great sinner and barred most from direct contact with him.
“So, I just need to work hard in Goldicia?”
“That’s the spirit. Take up quests from the Adventurers’ Guild, since it’ll be easier to track your progress that way. We’ll need proof of your contributions.”
Of course. At least it was simple. Fran probably felt the same way. She nodded energetically.
“All right, I’ll do my best.”
“That you will. But…all we can do is give you permission to enter the old palace. We cannot guarantee your safety upon meeting Trismegistus.”
“What do you mean?”
“Many historians and playwrights have asked to see the old alchemist. They used their connections in the government to force our hand. However…” William slumped his shoulders painfully. “Each year, some of them inevitably anger Trismegistus and get killed.”
“And that’s fine?”
“Can’t be helped. A sinner cursed by the gods is not under our control. We can’t order him to do anything.”
I thought Trismegistus would be all chained up, but it seemed as if he was free to act within his prison.
“Officially they are all reported as missing in action… But we get the brunt of the complaints from their home nations. It’s unbearable. I must ask you to stop if it’s only to satisfy your curiosity.”
“All right. I’ll be careful.”
“See to it that you do. Now, what was the other thing? Something about a village?”
“Castell. I have a map of it. Here.” Fran showed William the map she got from Amanda.
“Castell… And this is a map of somewhere in Goldicia?”
“Hm.”
“Let’s see… Yes, it looks familiar. Is it in the east?” William gave it some thought before taking a book out of his bookshelf and turning its pages. It seemed to contain a compilation of maps of the continent. “It’s not recorded here. An unregistered village, maybe…?”
“Unregistered village?”
“That’s right. Within Goldicia are towns and villages set up by bandits, outcasts and runaway slaves. Castell must be one of those.”
Different types of people came to Goldicia. Among them were dispatched soldiers and slaves used as human shields. There were also adventurers on quests or training missions as well as escaped criminals.
Goldicia accepted them all, eager to take in any kind of manpower it could get. Not that wanted criminals got a free pass around the harbors. But Urslars was a different story.
There were also those who changed their names to turn a new leaf.
Getting to the continent was actually a goal for many criminals. There were brokers who specialized in getting criminals out of their homelands. Fresh criminals were smuggled into Goldicia on a daily basis.
But anyone who wanted to live a life of crime here would get arrested. Most of the people here were knights and soldiers, after all. The Goldician harbors might have been the world’s safest places.
“Yet that only applies to outside the barrier. Within is an underbelly untouched by the law.”
“Criminals get to do whatever they want?”
“In some regions, yes. Some people enter the barrier and never look back.”
“They can live inside the barrier?”
“It’s not impossible.”
The barrier was created to seal the ever-expanding Abyss Eater, and its body was contained within.
But it was invisible. Being a non-corporeal creature, it didn’t interfere in a physical manner. Air still passed through the barrier so people could live inside of it if they wanted. There certainly was enough land, plants, and animals to make a living. There were even rivers and lakes.
“Doesn’t the Abyss Eater eat everything? How are animals and plants still around?”
“Well, even if it does consume everything, it follows a law of efficiency.”
The Abyss Eater had a unique digestive system. It created monsters called Antibodies within itself which gathered energy for it.
The antibodies ate everything. Dirt, animals, mana, malice, it didn’t matter.
But it had preferences, or rather priorities. Mana quantity. The more mana something had, the juicier meal it made.
Monsters were wiped out soon after the Abyss Eater was created. There were dragons and other powerful creatures, but they were no match for the infinitely spawning antibodies.
The antibodies then went after magical trees and spirit grass. Finally, they came after people.
“They might start eating the earth and plants after humans are wiped out. But ever since we started coming to the continent to battle them, they rushed to the periphery of the barrier to hunt us down. They don’t really eat much else.”
Humans became the antibodies’ primary target after reinforcements started on the continent. The Goldician Obligation fought the antibodies by making humans bait to protect the land from their hunger.
“As for the villages, the antibodies spawn within the Abyss Eater. Basically, they can spring anywhere on the continent.”
“Spring…?”
Spring. I never really thought about how the antibodies reproduced.
“It looks as if they just come out of thin air. They’re like springs which come out of the earth.”
William must have meant that in a mildly metaphorical sense…
“But their spring patterns follow a particular tendency.”
The closer you got to the center, the more antibodies would spawn and the more powerful they got.
“But that’s not all. Different places would have different spring rates. There are places where they don’t spring at all. That’s where we set up our towns.”
I understood. No antibodies meant people could farm and live off the land. But that was only possible if there were people pushing the antibodies back from the outside.
“But there are towns outside the reach of the Management Committee. Criminals and fugitives set up their own towns where antibodies are sparse.”
“Sparse. So, they still show up?”
“That’s right. But as long as those towns can handle the odd antibodies that wander up to their walls, they can keep on going. They go undetected, and some of them could be destroyed before we can register them.”
Such was the peril of the unregistered towns and villages, communities built by outlaws.
“Castell must be one of those unregistered villages.”
“I see… Do you become a criminal if you go there?”
“No. The unregistered villages are allowed to exist. They might even be useful to adventurers that happen to operate near them, after all. Besides, they have to hunt down antibodies if they want to continue living there. As a necessary evil, no one touches them.”
Though unregistered settlements had their own problems, they were a net benefit to the effort. And they seemed to have a special relationship with adventurers who used them as waypoints…
“Are adventurers welcome in unregistered village?”
“Adventurers are their source of information and trade. They can also help them with an antibody problem if things get out of hand. They actively help adventurers so they can be overlooked. Sometimes, they’ll even provide lodging.”
They were more like a hideaway of outcasts than a den of criminals. But what were Fran’s parents doing in such a place? I didn’t think I’d ever heard of them being described as criminals…
“Do illegal slaves get shipped from Goldicia to the other continents?”
“…Why do you ask?” William looked at Fran with narrowed eyes. This might have been the first time he put up his guard. But Fran casually answered his question.
“I was one of them. I grew up in a village in Goldicia and I was enslaved after my parents got killed. They took me to Granzell.”
It was nothing to brag about, but it wasn’t like Fran was a criminal. Though her memories from her time as a slave were painful, it didn’t lessen her dignity.
And that’s certainly how Fran saw it. She frankly told William about her enslavement without mincing words.
“That’s… I see. And that’s why you seek Castell…”
“I’m visiting their grave.”
“Very well. I’ll help you as much as I can. I’ll write you a letter of introduction to the Adventurers’ Guild. With that in hand, they’ll show you their latest maps. As for slavers…” William hesitated. But he carried on after making up his mind. “We’ve identified the organization involved with large-scale slave trafficking. They’re made up of different nations and take illegal slaves from of the continent.”
“You don’t check their ships?”
“We don’t have the authority. It’s just not worth the trouble.”
Magical metals were eaten by the antibodies. There were no monsters and spirit grass was rare. The antibodies didn’t leave the barrier, either. Goldicia didn’t have anything worth smuggling, so the laws concerning contraband were quite lax.
Although the inhabitants of the barrier had tacit approval, they were still technically fugitives. Such individuals had no rights, and the Management Committee wasn’t going to go out of their way to pick a fight with the other nations for them.
And so, there was a loophole which allowed the trafficking of illegal slaves.
“Watch out for Blue Cats.”
“They’re illegal slavers?”
“I can’t say any more since I don’t have proof. The Adventurers’ Guild should know more about it.”
“All right.”
A fire was lit within Fran.
Safety first, Fran. Okay?
I know.
This didn’t seem like it was going to be a simple graveside visit.
“Now, you wanted to know about the locations of an S Rank?”
“Hm. Izalio and Urslars.” Fran nodded, and William proceeded to give her the information. But then, anyone would be interested in the S Ranks.
“Sir Izalio is currently in the eastern harbor. You might be able to learn more by checking in on the guild there.”
That was the opposite side of the continent. I was a little scared about traversing Goldicia because of our unfamiliarity with it…
…We could go see him after visiting Fran’s parents.
“And Urslars?”
“I know he’s on the continent, but his exact location is unknown. Information about the S Ranks is usually shared with us but…”
If Urslars had gone through the barrier and made his base of operations in an unregistered village, no one would know about it.
We would have to track him down on our own. I’d consider it a bonus if we found him; we didn’t really have any business with him.
“Izalio aside, Urslars is a dangerous man.”
“I know. We’re acquainted.”
He breathed a sigh of relief when Fran told him she knew Urslars. “I see. All right then.”
William didn’t want the person he was supposed to take care of to run into a dangerous S Rank. No wonder he was worried.
“Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.” Fran bowed her head.
But William stopped her when she was about to leave. “Wait, there’s something else you should know!”
“?”
“It’s almost time for the Great Aggression… Antibody Season. Don’t do anything reckless.”
“Great Aggression? Antibody Season?”
“A time when the antibodies increase in number and strength. It happens once every few years.”
The antibodies sprung up in waves. There were years when there were less than usual and years when there were far more. But there was a special period called the Great Aggression or Antibody Season when their numbers and strength would peak.
No one knew when it would come; sometimes, it would happen two years in a row. It had been five years since the last Antibody Season, so everyone was on their guard.
“Do they just get more numerous and stronger?”
“Not only that, but there are sightings of unique specimens.”
The unique specimens had features and abilities unseen in regular antibodies. They were one of a kind and no one knew where they came from.
As for the ordinary antibodies that occurred all the time, those were split into five types:
Swordsman type. Goblin-sized and mainly engaged in close-range combat.
Archer type. Smaller than the swordsmen but fired spells from long distances.
Knight type. Ogre-sized antibodies who were formidable at all ranges.
Fanged type. Quadrupeds that could range from the size of a small dog to larger than a house.
Magic Cannon type. The smallest ones were the size of a house…the biggest ones the size of a fortress. They specialized in artillery combat.
That was the basic info on the antibodies. It was unknown whether they were sapient, but they could group together to do coordinated attacks on humans.
Communication and coexistence were impossible, and both sides were doomed to fight until one of them was wiped out.
“Knights tend to take charge of an antibody unit. Sometimes a large-sized fanged can lead a unit, and there are times when a special antibody will lead a pack.”
“Are they strong?”
“There are many kinds…but one of the antibodies we encountered could trade blows with an S Rank.”
That was crazy. A monster that could give an S Rank a run for his money would be around an A Threat.
“That said, antibodies that strong are only sighted once every few centuries. Doesn’t change the fact that they’re strong, but the average threat level would be a B Threat.”
Good. Having to fight off one A Threat after another sounded like a nightmare.
“But you might need to hurry if you’re going to Castell.”
“Why’s that?”
“There is another unique type of antibody which only spawns during Antibody Season called the Occupant Type.”
The Occupant Type actively attacked towns and villages and devoured everything within them, turning the settlement into a base for antibodies.
The settlements in Goldicia were set up in blank spots, regions where antibodies didn’t spring. But areas captured by the occupants ceased to be blank spots, allowing antibodies to spring up.
“Castell should be set up on a blank spot, which means…”
“It might be a target?”
“That’s right. You said you were visiting a grave. Areas attacked by occupants are picked clean. Everything is consumed. People, houses, graves…everything.”
Fran jumped out of her seat. She couldn’t remain calm after hearing her destination might be no more. Panic was on her face.
“I have to hurry.”
“Calm down.”
“But…!”
Fran, we can’t get there immediately anyway. We have to take Belioth’s quest.
“…”
Fran bit her lip. Though she had the good judgment not to abandon her post and head straight for Castell, it was still causing her distress.
“It’ll be all right, Fran. You still have time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sorry for making you panic like that. Antibody Season isn’t upon us yet. Scout Types are usually sighted when the Great Aggression is about to happen.”
Scout Types were human-sized spider antibodies which were thought to specialize in recon.
“Occupants usually follow a few days after scouts are sighted. There is still more than a week before Antibody Season comes.”
Castell should still be all right. We should be able to make it in time if we were quick with our quest.
“Also, occupants don’t immediately flood the barrier when Antibody Season starts. They tend to attack settlements near the center of the barrier. I don’t know the exact location of Castell based on the map you gave, but you should have a leeway of ten days.”
“…All right.”
But we didn’t have time to fool around. We needed to get to Castell as fast as possible.
We left the Management Committee branch office and made our way to the Adventurers’ Guild.
It was a gigantic building in a corner of the harbor. Its size was due to an inn that was attached to it. It served all the adventurers in the area.
William had warned, “There are a lot of unsavory types there, unlike the center of the harbor where military personnel are plentiful. Be careful.”
The adventurers in Goldicia were blood knights looking for a challenge. There were those who caused so much trouble in their hometowns that they had nowhere else to go. Not to mention others with shady pasts and personal reasons. I wasn’t expecting that gathering of characters to mind their manners…
“Gya ha ha!”
“Cheers!”
“What’s that you say to me?!”
“You wanna go?! Let’s do it!”
The guild was as noisy as you would expect thanks to its pub. But a faint smile crept onto Fran’s face even though she was worried about Castell.
Fran was an adventurer herself. She was much more at home in a rough-and-tumble guild than the clean and orderly harbor.
“Huh? What’s a kid doing here?”
“How’s this possible? How much have I had to drink?”
The adventurers lined up near the counter looked at Fran with confusion. Some rubbed their eyes.
The Goldician adventurers were too confused about the presence of a child to pick a fight with her. The guilds in the other continents usually had children who were trainee adventurers. But no one had families in Goldicia, so children were nonexistent.
To make matters worse, Fran was clearly dressed up as an adventurer. Her equipment was first class. They knew she wasn’t playing pretend.
Fran passed through the confused adventurers and headed to the counter.
“Hey?”
“Yeah? Oh, welcome!” The receptionist looked quite flustered. She was about as confused as the rest of the adventurers. “Y-you are an adventurer, right?”
“Hm.”
Members as young as Fran were rare.
“I see. Are you hunting antibodies? Did you come to Goldicia alone?”
“I’m on contract with a kingdom. But they said I just needed to help them on their first mission, so I’m free until then.”
“Oh? I’ve never heard of such…lenient terms.”
It was a highly advantageous contract for an adventurer. Not something that happened much outside of Belioth.
“They said I can get quests here.”
“That’s right. Most of them are for supporting the local villages and fortresses. There are also dispatches with the kingdoms and quests from nobilities and royalty.”
“The kingdoms hire the adventurers here?”
“There’s quite a lot of that going on. Prolonged installment naturally decreases their military power. Sometimes they argue with the adventurers they initially hired, and those adventurers would leave. The kingdoms come to the guild to bolster their forces when they need to.”
Not all kingdoms had the resources to keep their troops installed in Goldicia indefinitely. The guild was especially important for smaller kingdoms. Adventurers provided an expendable but formidable source of military strength.
“I see. Sorry, but I don’t want to work for another kingdom.”
The receptionist wasn’t surprised. Most of the adventurers shared Fran’s sentiment.
“That leaves antibody hunting and settlement support.”
Gathering quests were rare because the antibodies ate up all the medicinal plants they could find, but there were still submission quests.
Instead of monsters, animals could be hunted and sold for a high price.
Antibodies went for animals too, of course, but they prioritized humans as long as they were around. There were still animals in Goldicia, especially near the borders of the barrier…even if most of them were ground squirrels and goats.
“I still recommend making an antibody card even if you’re not taking quests.”
“Antibody card? Is that like an adventurer card?”
“Yes. It will identify antibodies as well track your contributions to the antibody hunt.”
“Wow, that sounds great. I want one.”
“All right. Let me just—”
“Gya ha ha! A kid like that doesn’t need an antibody card!”
“She’s gonna die in seconds!”
“Hrm.”
The drunk adventurers shouted when Fran requested her card. They were so intoxicated that they were swaying. Then they staggered to the counter and grinned with their flushed faces. They looked like they were about to lay their hands on her.
The receptionist watched the scene with worry.
Fran…seemed pleased with the altercation. The whole thing with Castell was still upsetting her, and now she’d found a pressure release valve.
She calmly intimidated them. Maybe she wasn’t even doing it on purpose. She was just that into it.
The adventurers with decent detection skills got on their feet. They knew that Fran wasn’t bluffing and didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire, or at least that was my guess.
Anyone strong enough to detect knew how powerful she was.
Among the adventurers who were backing away was a blonde girl. Even as she was walking away, she steadily held on to her wooden cup and meal. She seemed to be looking forward to a little dinner theater.
I felt a sense of déjà vu. My eyes locked on to the girl. Where had I…? Was it really her? Of course. That was the girl from the fight that nearly broke out in the harbor today! I only caught a glimpse of her as she was running away, but she looked familiar enough. There was a thin man next to her, too. I hadn’t seen the man’s face, but his figure was similar enough.
“What? What are you smiling at?”
“Hm?”
But I had to focus on the task before me now. I needed to keep Fran from getting out of hand.
Her smile grew wider when she saw the adventurers getting angry. It couldn’t be helped. There was no avoiding a fight at this point, and she needed to relax anyway.
Don’t worry, boys, we won’t leave any lasting injuries.
“Please, stop! You’re scaring the rookies!”
“Hya ha ha! This little punk—” The drunk batted away the receptionist’s arm and made his way to Fran—
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“Gwergh!”
“Yargh!”
But just as Fran was about to warm up, it happened. The drunks were bowled over by some unseen force.
Then a dwarf stepped out from within the guild offices.
“Huff, huff… Idiots! Know who you’re up against before you pick a fight with them!” The exhausted dwarf let out a desperate cry. “You don’t even take responsibility for all the people you’ve pissed off! You’re a waste of space! Die!”
Quite the choice of words. Even the surrounding adventurers were stunned in silence.
“…”
“What? Wh-why are you glaring at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
“Look, I was only trying to help… Sorry? I guess? I’m Dalho. The guildmaster.”
I thought he was just staff, but he turned out to be the guildmaster himself!
“Uhh… You mind coming with me for a sec?”
After raining down judgment on what could’ve become a fight, Fran was taken to the guildmaster’s office. Fran sat on the sofa, still annoyed, but her mood brightened when she saw the snacks laid out in front of her. Good food was the best way to cheer her up.
“You…you’re Fran the Black Lightning Princess, right?”
“Hm.” Fran nodded while chewing a cookie.
“Beat the crap out of Dias, didn’t you? Wish I could’ve seen it.”
“How’d you know that?”
“News about powerful adventurers gets around. I’m up to date on most everything that happened in the Ulmutt tournament. Erianthe contacted me, too.”
Word of Fran’s victory had even reached this distant land.
“Those guys are cronies for a large adventurer group. Fight them and the elites will come after ya. And the casualties that’ll come out of the ensuing battle… Ugh. Spare me.”
“They started it.”
“I know. But it’s almost Antibody Season and if a lot of people…retire it’ll affect my standing!”
Fran wouldn’t go that far. But Erianthe must have presented an exaggerated account of her exploits.
“You should keep an eye out so people don’t do stupid things.”
“I did! That’s why I cut in! And here you are, just glaring at me! Just don’t cause any trouble right now! I’m begging you! This is the problem with you damn blood knights!” Dalho screamed while scratching his head.
His hair was on the sparse side, but I thought that was just him being a dwarf. Maybe the stress of being guildmaster was getting to him.
Fran’s expression softened when she saw that. She was quite aggravated after the drunks picked a fight with her. Normally, her aggravation would continue…
“I’m sorry. I’ll ignore them next time.”
“Y-you will?”
“Hm?”
“Thank you!”
She was being kind to Dalho for some reason. Why?
Fran, you’re being awfully soft on him…
Dalho is a lot like Erianthe. I feel bad for him.
Ah, I see.
The mountains of paperwork was certainly a common point between the two. The mental state of a man being so hounded by bureaucracy was enough to evoke sympathy in anyone. I felt the same. You ought to be kind to anyone working under those sorts of conditions.
“I’ll forget about them.”
“I appreciate it. Really. Did you need anything else besides the antibody card? I can line up some jobs for you if you want. Your pick.”
“Next time. I want information.”
Fran told him about wanting to go to Castell, seeing some S Ranks as well as her ultimate goal of meeting Trismegistus. He reacted in much the same way as William did. But the guildmaster was more familiar with the state of unregistered villages than the advisor was.
“Here. A map of Castell.”
“Ooh. That’s a map of somewhere in Goldicia, all right. Even has Nocta and Cendia on it…”
She showed him the map we got from Amanda. It placed Castell in the northeastern part of Goldicia. That was quite a distance away from the western harbor we were currently at.
“And this is where Castell should… Hang on.” Dalho took out several maps from his desk and investigated them. Quite closely, too.
Fran’s sympathy seemed to have won him over. Perhaps he wanted to do a favor for the adventurer who defeated an A Rank.
“Hmm… I think Castell’s been destroyed.”
“What?”
“I don’t know why, but it’s not on any of the current maps. It’s on the older ones, but the name’s been removed from the map we published last year.”
Dalho showed her his maps. Castell was indeed on the older maps but no longer on the latest edition.
“I don’t know why you’re going there, but I don’t think anyone lives there anymore.”
“…Doesn’t matter.”
“I won’t ask why.”
“It doesn’t matter because I’m visiting a grave.”
“A grave?”
“My mom and dad.”
Dalho’s eyes widened slightly at Fran’s response. He started nodding. There was a softness in his eyes, the kind a grandfather had for a granddaughter.
“I see… Well. You can’t afford not to go.”
“Hm.”
Fran nodded and Dalho gave her some information. There was a tall mountain blocking off a straight line to Castell. She would have to go around it.
“You look like you can scale mountains back home, but that’s not going to work in Goldicia. Going around is faster. Besides, the northern route will have you go through to Nocta.”
“Nocta?”
“Here.”
Dalho pointed to a point on the map, a northern part of Goldicia, somewhere south of the northern harbor. It was a route we could take from the western harbor if we wanted to go to the northeastern part of the continent.
“Nocta’s a registered settlement. It’s a town built on a blank under the aegis of the Management Committee. They have an Adventurers’ Guild too, so you can resupply there.”
It was used by those operating near the center of the continent as a frontline base.
“You might be able to get information on the Blue Cats in Nocta, as well.”
Nocta was home to the Office of Missing Adventurers. As its name suggested, they were an organization dedicated to finding adventurers who disappeared, whether during a quest or other circumstances.
Being defeated by antibodies meant being absorbed by them, disappearing without a trace. But there were also those who would run away after failing a quest to avoid paying fines. They would hunt down these missing adventurers to keep the nobility of the nations from getting involved.
But among these missing adventurers were some suspected of being sold off into slavery. They should have the information we needed.
“I just need to go there to get information?”
“The guildmaster in Nocta is a pervert who likes strong people. She’ll take a liking to you in an instant. You shouldn’t have a problem getting the information you need. Don’t worry.”
A pervert? I was absolutely worried. He said pervert, didn’t he? W-would Fran be okay?
We left the guild after getting some extra details, mostly names of big unregistered settlements and gangs to look out for.
Of particular value was information about the drakes. We’d heard they’d undergone some sort of conversion and were quietly carrying out their duty of fighting the antibodies.
And there were plenty of drakes like that, but it didn’t apply to all of them. Some still clung to their past glory, refusing to accept their race’s fall from grace. They carried on the old ways of being strong and arrogant.
I could sympathize. Fran was the same insofar as she couldn’t accept the current condition of her race. The younger generation couldn’t accept having to bear the burden of the sins committed by their ancestors.
Working to better the conditions of your race wasn’t a bad thing. If anything, it was the right thing to do.
But there were some who twisted those ideals to evil ends. These drakes insisted that the drakes were the greatest race on the planet and looked down on others. Sometimes, they would even resort to violence to prove their point.
Conflicts with them had been increasing over the past few years.
We should steer clear of them. Only trouble could come of Fran running into those idiots.
Fran’s antibody card was completed as we were talking to Dalho. We left the guild.
Looks like the S Rank, Izalio, is in the East Harbor.
Hm. But we still don’t know where Urslars is.
It’s Urslars; he’ll be fine. He’s probably in one of the unregistered settlements…
But something was nagging at me as I was talking to Fran. It was like I was forgetting something… Was there something we forgot to ask?
Hmm…
What is it, Teacher?
I feel like something is missing? Maybe I forgot to ask Dalho something.
Uhhh.
Fran didn’t know either. But there was someone who answered our question.
Woof!
What is it, Jet?
Woof, woof!
Jet came out of the shadows and started gesturing. He stood on his hind legs and started motioning with his front paws. He moved his right paw up and down and touched it to his mouth.
What is that supposed to mean? Mouth… Are you eating something?
Arf!
Close but not quite.
Not eating… Drinking?
Arf!
Drink…? Oh, the alcohol!
The old wine we got from Dias! We were supposed to give it to the guildmaster for benefits!
But we already got the information we need, so going back now would be a bit of a waste…
No harm in keeping it in Pocket Dimension for a while longer. Maybe we’d need to bribe another dwarf.
We continued walking for five minutes until we finally reached the barrier.
The semi-translucent membrane loomed over us, separating us from the world within.
“Here goes.”
Right.
The guild said that people were able to pass through the barrier without any problems. No rituals, tools, or magicks were needed. Just walk on through.
Before us were grasslands within the barrier while the giant harbor spread behind us. Our eyes could tell that stepping into the barrier would be like crossing into a new world.
“Hrm…”
Fran lightly poked the barrier.
W-well?
“It feels weird.”
Oh?
“Arf?”
Jet and I touched the barrier, too. Telekinesis didn’t register anything. I could see it, but there was no sensation of touch. It felt like an illusion.
Meanwhile, Jet paddled his paws in the barrier and then sniffed it. He could feel something, though he would be in the shadows for most of our time here. The antibodies shouldn’t be able to detect him as long as he concealed his mana.
If they did, then he would remain outside to stand guard.
I would also need to suppress my mana. Adventurers with magic swords usually had mana-concealing scabbards to avoid detection from antibodies. We could fool them as long as we kept our mana under wraps.
After a while, Fran got bored with poking around the barrier. She stepped in without hesitation.
“Feel that?”
“Woof.”
There was a very slight sensation upon entry. The fact that I could feel it too meant it must have been mental rather than physical. It was a divinely made barrier, after all. I doubted we outsiders could understand what was going on.
Let’s look for some antibodies.
“Hm.”
Our goal today was to test ourselves against antibodies.
How strong were they? This was a question which could only be answered through direct contact.
“It’s an ordinary field.”
Yeah.
It really was ordinary. Grass grew like it would on the mainland, and there were bugs flying about.
It looked nothing like the hellscape I’d had in mind before landing here. The only thing reminding us that we were still in Goldicia was the barrier behind us.
“Teacher, over there.”
Yeah, I see them.
We found our prey after a ten-minute walk. They looked like goblins and kobolds from a distance…but those were an impossibility on this continent. These were the swordsman types.
We got closer and continued to observe them. They still hadn’t noticed us.
Their bodies were jet black with green eyes, fangs, and what looked like horns. Their heads and bodies were covered with a gray shell which had green spikes growing out of it.
They kind of looked like monsters out of a tokusatsu series. Quite a cool design. They were short, but they looked tougher and stronger than the average goblin.
The black parts were probably skin. The gray bits were tougher than that and the green bits the toughest of all.
They were also carrying weapons. Gray hilts with green and silver blades; some spears, some swords. Were they also part of the antibodies? And despite being called swordsman type, they weren’t limited to equipping swords.
Let’s give it a shot.
“Hm.”
Fran ducked into some bushes to hide herself.
The antibodies were about a hundred meters away. We slowly released our mana. At a certain point, the antibodies started looking around.
They weren’t quite sure where we were yet. Still, the fact that they could detect something at this distance was impressive.
Next, I had Jet come out of the shadows. The antibodies were still on alert, but Jet’s appearance went undetected. That meant Jet and I could operate as long as we suppressed our mana.
Fran increased her mana output, and the antibodies finally took notice of us. They were running straight for the bushes we were hiding in.
So, the weakest of the antibodies had the ability to detect mana from a hundred meters away. You’d be swarmed by antibodies if you didn’t manage your mana properly.
Now to see how strong they are.
“Hm.”
Fran drew me with great excitement…but she was soon disappointed.
“Weak.”
Well, we’re on the borders, after all.
She made quick work of them. They were about as strong as hobgoblins. Their shells were tough, but I could still cut right through them.
They might prove dangerous with greater numbers, but a small squad of them was no match for Fran.
The special units were as tough as B Threats, but this bunch wasn’t that strong.
And they immediately disappear upon defeat.
“Their weapons are gone, too.”
So…they do count as part of the antibodies’ body.
The antibodies faded into thin air, not leaving any materials behind. One of their unique features.
But adventurers still got something out of killing them. They still gave experience points to level up with. Also, you could exchange the points on your antibody card for money.
Adventurers who weren’t in Goldicia to train were in it for the reward money. Not having to track down monsters and having the monsters come to you was an efficient farming method.
How many points did you get from that?
“One.”
One? One point from three antibodies…
What counted was the strength of the antibodies you defeated and not the total number. The technology on the card was actually quite sophisticated.
Let’s keep going.
“Hm!”
Next, we went after a group of five swordsmen. Jet would be the one handling them.
I got nervous after Jet took a few hits, but he came out of the battle unscathed. His fur couldn’t be pierced by their weak attacks.
The lower antibodies were no match for us.
“Arf?”
Jet tilted his head as he was chewing on what was left of the antibodies. The parts in his mouth had disappeared.
Predator didn’t trigger, either. The only thing these things left behind was experience.
Looks like Jet and I aren’t going to get much out of this place.
“Woof.”
Goldicia was a good place to hunt for adventurers who wanted experience points and reward money…as long as they were willing to take some risks.
“I’ll fight for a while longer.”
Yeah.
“Woof!”
We fought antibodies for about an hour after that but didn’t run into any stronger enemies.
We met some adventurers who were doing the same thing, but they were all E Rank and below. They operated in small groups near the border precisely because they knew the stronger antibodies didn’t spawn here.
After twenty kills, our antibody card was at eleven points. A single antibody point got you the cheapest room in the guild. It also got you a cheap but good-sized meal.
That meant you needed to hunt six swordsmen to get the cheapest room with two meals a day. Being in a party split the antibody points; a five-man group would need to hunt thirty units in total.
Which sounded kind of tough for rookies, but anyone who wasn’t ready to do that would be nothing but a burden.
Let’s head back. We’ll go deeper tomorrow.
“Okay.”
Chapter 2: Various Encounters
Chapter 2:
Various Encounters
FIVE DAYS AFTER we landed in Goldicia…
We spent several days hunting antibodies but found nothing that could get Fran excited.
The stronger antibodies were more sensitive to the barrier and operated deeper inside the dome.
I wonder if we’ll run into some strong ones today.
We’ll see.
Fran was enthusiastic and entered the barrier with the Belioth soldiers, two hundred strong. The Management Committee had reserved a battlefield for us.
Brunnen gave Fran some orders as we walked across the field.
“There are some plains up ahead. That’s where we’ll meet the antibodies.”
“Meet? The antibodies come there?”
“They’ll come once they sense a gathering of several thousand people.”
“I see.”
This strategy depended on the antibodies’ tendency of flocking toward people. Although unable to make fine maneuvers like adventurers, the large army was well suited to a grand battle.
Fran and Hilt quickly dispatched any antibodies that came our way as we made our way there.
But Phobos did most of the heavy lifting.
“Teryaaa!”
“Shaaaa!”
Fran didn’t express any desire to fight. She knew that Phobos needed some training, but she had also gotten bored of fighting the low-level swordsmen. They didn’t leave anything behind and weren’t much of a challenge, after all.
We carried on walking for an hour, defeating any swordsman that came our way. The soldiers listened to our orders since we were Winalene’s representative—it was an easy trip. Belioth’s soldiers knew that they weren’t the main bulk of their own forces. Following orders became natural for them.
“I sense a group of people up ahead.”
“Hm.”
Hilt was right. About a thousand soldiers had already gathered, setting up their stations.
“We’ll wait here until they’re finished with the trenches. Just keep an eye out for potential threats.”
“We don’t have to help?”
“We can do some heavy lifting if you want.” Brunnen gave Fran and Hilt a wry smile and shook his head. “Listen, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ll just get in their way. You’re rookies, compared to the dwarves.”
Looking at them again, most of the soldiers were indeed dwarves. They were building walls and digging holes with earth magic, pickaxes, and shovels. The trenches were taking shape at an incredible speed.
Regular soldiers would only slow them down.
“We’ll leave the fighting to you. You don’t have to lift a finger to set up the trenches, but no slacking off when the antibodies come.”
He probably didn’t need to say that, but Brunnen’s worries weren’t totally unfounded. The issue was the dwarven personality. Though they seemed to be natural engineers, they were also powerful fighters in their own right. Every one of the lower-ranking dwarves stuck digging holes was as strong as D Rank Phobos.
Their equipment was also flawlessly decked out in magical alloy. Most of their armor was orihalcon, using mithril with adamantite reinforcement.
Orihalcon had high mana conductivity as well as hardness, the ultimate in magical alloys. Mithril was like orihalcon in its mana conductivity but not as tough. On the flip side, adamantite was even harder than orihalcon but came with a poor mana-conductivity rating.
This kind of equipment was usually reserved for elite knight captains. The fact that they were made by dwarves probably meant they were even better than that.
Now a thousand battle-hardened dwarves were wearing some of the toughest armor imaginable. A force to be reckoned with, especially when you took their commanders into account.
“Wow.”
“Y-you can say that again.”
Fran was impressed. Phobos’s knees buckled. His weakness made him look a little immature, despite being nineteen. He was talented but lacked confidence. And it didn’t help that his gray hair made him look like a pretty boy.
“Dwarven strength is world-famous.” Colbert explained as Fran and Phobos looked at the dwarves.
“Really?”
“Yeah. They’ve got an army of old and experienced soldiers, and it’s said that they beat back enemies a thousand times their number. There’s also a legend of them driving back a dragon horde.”
“A d-dragon horde? That’s crazy.”
“Hm.”
I didn’t think we could win against a horde of dragons. And the dwarves drove them away? That was an impossible feat of strength. They could take over a whole continent with that kind of strength.
“As strong as they are, they’re even braver for daring to challenge a dragon horde. There are rumors of the dwarven king having an incredibly powerful Skill. Maybe it’s because of that… Either way, they’re plenty strong. They’ll take all the fun out of a fight if you’re not careful.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Me too!”
Less than an hour later, the trenches were complete long before we expected. Dugouts and walls surrounded us to fend off enemy fire and there was a single pathway for all our enemies to funnel through. This was the main strategy.
“That’s the dwarves for you. They never cease to impress.”
Brunnen nodded in astonishment. Their construction speed was more than impressive. The other soldiers were amazed, too. It would take an army of humans more than a month to set all of this up.
Some dwarves were now approaching the Belioth army.
“Someone’s coming to say hello.”
“Huh? That’s… Her majesty the queen. Whatever you do, don’t offend her! Please!”
“Queen?”
“That’s right. Just keep quiet and stand behind me.”
“Okay.”
The queen? Did the ruler directly lead the dwarven army? Talk about an elite commander.
“The queen always leads the dwarven army into combat. And with amazing results. They only have about a thousand soldiers, but even kingdoms who deploy tens of thousands of men are no match for them.” Brunnen explained, standing perfectly still. He looked tense as if he was nervous.
“You all right?”
“Lady Winalene always does the talking with the other leaders. Today that task falls to me.”
Being Winalene’s aide, Brunnen usually stayed on the sidelines during negotiations. Now he was required to talk to royalty. No wonder he was anxious.
Was the one at the head of their group their queen? There were no other women around, so it must have been…
“You are from Belioth? Where is Winalene?”
“Your Majesty! Lady Winalene is unable to be deployed due to other circumstances.”
“Is that so? Unfortunate.”
This girl really was the dwarven queen. She didn’t look like royalty to me at first glance.
She looked too young to be a ruler. She was beautiful, with white hair done up in half-twintails and supple skin. She scanned us with her large golden eyes.
Did she take the throne regardless of her age? Or was she one of those legal lolis who were quite popular in recent fantasy titles? No, she wasn’t young enough. She was just short. Like a short eighteen-year-old. Dwarves had much longer lifespans than humans. Their men started getting beards when they were ten. Their women might not age in the way we expected, either.
Still, there was nothing unnatural about the sense of grandeur she exuded. She didn’t give off the impression that she was trying too hard, and she didn’t rub people the wrong way. In fact, her aura commanded respect and veneration. If nothing else, she was definitely royalty.
What I knew for sure was that the queen was formidable in her own right. Her presence conveyed that she was at least an A Rank, even by conservative estimates.
She’s strong.
I know you’re excited, but don’t stare at her too much. She’s still royalty.
Hm. Got it.
But Fran didn’t get it. Please stop staring at her! What if she thinks you’re being rude?!
At least the queen was returning the favor, but still!
“Hmm… Even without Winalene, you’ve managed to gather some powerful warriors.” The dwarven queen grinned—yes, grinned—at Fran and Hilt. She had the smile of a fighter who had met her match. “I am Orfevre Farnis, queen of the dwarven kingdom of Snow Rabbit. State your names.”
She sounded haughty, but she was actually quite casual as far as royalty went. She felt a lot like Mea but with more dignity and majesty. The queen was a lot stronger on the battlefield compared to her, too.
Now that I think about it, the dwarven ruler was also counted among the Seven Sages, like Winalene.
There were the three godsword owners; those who possessed the First Godsword Alpha, the Mad Sword Berserk, and the Demon King Sword Diablos. Winalene the high elf, the king of the Magus Kingdom, the king of Insectoid Kingdom. Last but not least was the ruler of the dwarven kingdom.
The Seven Sages was a title made up to oppose the S Ranks of the Adventurers’ Guild, but Winalene was truly powerful. The rest of the Seven shouldn’t be underestimated. There was a good chance that the queen herself was as strong as an S Rank.
Even though the Seven Sages themselves weren’t antagonistic to the guild—Winalene had a healthy relationship with the guild—the kingdoms had come up with the name without their approval.
“I am Brunnen Boer, navy admiral of the kingdom of Belioth! It is an honor to meet you!”
“Indeed. You were with Winalene last time. I remember you. I hope you are up to the task.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
She made her serenity felt through her presence backed up by power. Hilt and Fran didn’t seem bashful and introduced themselves.
“Your Majesty. My name is Hiltoria.”
Hilt gave her a deep bow. Her courtesy was sufficiently beautiful for anyone to accept despite not having any etiquette Skills. She must have known how to deal with powerful figures after having to cover up for her grandfather many times.
“I knew it! I can see the likeness!”
“Y-you are acquainted with my grandfather?”
“Indeed. We sparred once before. I’ve never had someone beat me half to death with his bare hands! Quite an experience!”
The queen seemed happy despite the near-death encounter. She was as crazy about fighting as the rest of them.
Did that mean she wasn’t as strong as Dimitris? Maybe she didn’t go all out since it was just a sparring match. If nothing else, that meant she was strong enough to enjoy a sparring match with Dimitris.
“Yes, yes, quite the resemblance. I hope you’ll grow up to be just as strong as he is one day! I can’t wait.”
Orfevre offered her genuine compliments. But Hilt didn’t seem particularly pleased despite her smile. She appreciated the comment about her strength but felt conflicted about being compared to her irresponsible grandfather.
“My name is Fran. And I am an adventurer.”
“Oh? Fran, you said?” Orfevre’s eyes narrowed when she heard her name. There was no hostility, but she eyed Fran critically. “A Black Cat with impressive strength. With a magical sword whose depths I cannot penetrate… Are you the one they call Black Lightning Princess?”
“Hm.”
Fran, you should say, “Yes!”
But Orfevre didn’t seem to mind Fran’s roughness. She smiled broadly and quickly approached.
“I see! So, you’re the one! I’m glad to have finally met you! Fua ha ha!”
“?”
She let out a guffaw while slapping Fran on the back like an old friend. Fran remained still, detecting no malice in her actions.
Apparently, the queen had heard of us. Had word of Fran reached the dwarven kingdom? Yes, but not quite in the way I expected…
“I have been wanting to thank you in person!”
“Thank me?”
I couldn’t think of any reason for the queen to thank her.
“Indeed. Thank you for saving my son-in-law.”
“Son-in-law?”
“Oh? You’re unaware? He is a dwarf named Garrus.”
“Garrus! The blacksmith?”
“The very one. By saving his life, you have preserved the line of the godsmiths!”
“Hm.”
“He is under the tutelage of a godsmith despite his age. And he has the potential to fulfill the wish of all dwarves—creating a weapon to surpass the godswords! I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Do come to the dwarven kingdom if you get the chance. We will receive you like royalty!”
That sounded a bit much. But son-in-law? It piqued Fran’s interest as well.
“Son-in-law? So you’re his wife’s mom?”
“That is right.”
Wait, he was married? To royalty?! He didn’t tell us that!
“The queen’s daughter’s husband… Does that make him a noble? Is he a prince?”
“Fua ha ha ha! A prince! Ahh, that’s rich! But not quite right! He is no noble, either! For us dwarves, he is much more important as a blacksmith.”
Those related to the king of the dwarves didn’t always hold power. In Garrus’s case, he was respected for his skill.
Orfevre also thanked Fran for connecting him with the godsmith Aristea.
“How old are you, Your Majesty?”
Hey—
“FRAAAN!” Brunnen cut in before I could, his face pale. Age wasn’t something you could ask a lady, let alone a queen.
Orfevre laughed it off, not seeming to mind.
“Fua ha ha! Yes, I suppose it is difficult for you to judge a dwarf’s age! I am a hundred fifty this year! In my prime!”
On the younger side, considering the average dwarven lifespan being three to four hundred years old. But looking like this at a hundred fifty… Elves aside, dwarves looked much younger than they seemed.
“We mature quickly and maintain our physical fitness. It is practically impossible for those outside our race to judge our age.”
“Garrus looks older than you.”
“To your eyes, yes.”
Dwarves, however, were able to perceive each other’s age. Garrus was on the younger side for them.
Orfevre exchanged greetings with Colbert and the others before circling back to Fran.
“Hmm…”
She suddenly drew close and started sniffing her. D-did Fran stink? That couldn’t be. She took a bath every day, and I made sure to clean her gear! She should have been fine…
But the dwarves behind Orfevre seemed restless when they saw what she was up to. They had been standing like statues this whole time… Orfevre now glanced at Fran while breathing heavily.
It was kind of freaky, actually. What was up with this queen?!
“What’s wrong?”
“Fran. I sense…that you have some good wine on you!” she shouted, eyes gleaming. It was definitely the elven wine. But how could she tell?
“How’d you know?”
“Fua ha ha! There is no fooling my nose!”
Did she sense the faint remnants of the wine that was left on Fran? I knew dwarves were a race of dru—people who appreciated alcohol… But I didn’t know they were this sensitive to it!
Fran took out the old wine as I shook in my scabbard.
“You mean this?”
“Nunaaa!” Orfevre let out a wild scream as soon as Fran showed her the bottle. Her look of shock made her prior dignity seem like an act. She shook as she kept her eyes on the wine in Fran’s hand. It was kind of cute. “Th-that’s…elven wine made of fruit from the holy tree! And it’s quite old, yes?”
She even knew what it was with a single look.
“It’s three hundred years old.”
The dwarves surrounding us audibly swallowed when they heard Fran’s words. It wasn’t just Orfevre’s guards, either. All the other dwarven soldiers now had their eyes on us. On the bottle of wine.
Their simultaneous gulping was audible.
Fran gently swayed the wine bottle, and their eyes tracked its every movement. It was a strange sight to behold, but quite funny with how coordinated they were with each other.
“B-by the way… Would you be willing to sell me this wine? I’ll pay three million gold for it. What do you say?”
That was a lot of money. That was how much the dwarves valued their drink.
“I would love to pay you more for it, but…”
…More? I knew it was old and valuable, but she was already offering three million for it.
But Orfevre was serious. The other dwarves didn’t flinch at the three million gold price tag, either. It all seemed completely reasonable to them.
“The law of our land states that three million is the most we can pay for alcohol.”
“Why’s that?”
“Alcohol is the lifeblood of the dwarves. Naturally, we like to enjoy our drink.”
“Hm.”
“Now a king would have more money at his disposal to purchase drinks…”
Dwarves weren’t as greedy for money or possessions as the other races, but they had their desires all the same. For a workaholic race like them, nothing beat a delicious drink after a hard day’s work.
It was quite common for artisans to put their entire paychecks into drink. The more delicious the beverage, the more money it would require. Rarity and a lengthy fermentation period only added to the price.
…But then one of the old dwarven kings bought up a whole hoard of rare alcohol, spending most of the national budget in the process. And another even took out a gigantic loan to spend on booze.
And that was the year they set an alcohol budget.
This put an upper limit on how much the government could spend on a single bottle of alcohol. Setting a limit and not a ban was very dwarflike.
Three million was a lot of money, but it still felt like selling such a rare wine would be a loss.
I didn’t have a problem with selling the wine. We had acquired it in exchange for prize money, so the thing was rightfully ours.
We were supposed to give it to the guildmaster in Goldicia to facilitate better relations, but it wasn’t like we were required to. It was only a suggestion. We could just sell it to Orfevre for three million, but…
What do we do?
We’re not strapped for cash, and wine like this is hard to come by.
So, we’re not selling it?
But three million was still three million. It was more than enough for a single bottle of wine we got for free. If anything, I thought it was too much.
As we talked telepathically, Orfevre started sniffing the bottle.
“My Skill tingles. The fragrant aroma of full-bodied wine… I can’t get enough.”
“Skill?”
“It is an Extra Skill called Wine God’s Favor. It tells me the deliciousness of wine and allows me to smell people who are related to such wines. It is the dwarves’ greatest Skill.”
It sounded kind of lame for an Extra Skill…but the dwarves didn’t think so.
In fact, they were very proud of it. It truly was the ultimate Skill for the wine loving race.
“Is that the super strong Skill?”
“Hm? Aah, so you’ve heard. Wine God’s Favor has nothing to do with battle. It only lets me sniff out wine and quickly judge its maturity. It also enhances the quality of wine that I pour out and gives me the palate to taste it accurately. It’s an identification Skill which focuses solely on wine. It is a Skill for enjoying wine from start to finish.”
I expected nothing less from Wine God’s Favor. It was a favor granted from the Wine God himself. It didn’t even enhance your abilities after drinking wine, but rather it was focused solely on enjoying the experience.
Fran seemed to understand why they were so proud.
I want Curry God’s Favor.
That’s not a real thing.
Curry was a dish that I made, and it had no god in particular. At best, it would be the Food God.
“But you’re asking about the other Extra Skill that I possess.”
Orfevre had multiple Extra Skills?
“What does that do?”
“Well, it’s not really relevant at the moment. You know how it is.”
“…Will you tell me if I give you this wine?”
Whoa, hang on! We have to negotiate a little before just handing it over!
“I won’t tell you for free!”
“Tell me and I’ll let you buy it.”
“Deal!”
Good thing Orfevre was a proper dwarf.
But as we were talking about the wine, another dwarf approached us.
“Your Majesty, the antibodies are approaching.”
“Hrm. That they are. We’ll have to take care of them first.”
“Hm!”
It was nerve-wracking at first, but we were able to get along with the dwarves.
A few minutes passed after everyone got to their positions.
“RUOOOOO!”
A horde of antibodies let out a shrill cry as they approached the dwarven battlements. There were about three thousand of them. On the front lines were the swordsmen. Behind them were archers and the knights who led the horde.
There weren’t many of us, but the dwarven warriors didn’t look the least bit afraid. They knocked the antibodies’ spells out of the air with their warhammers and let out a volley of steel arrows of their own.
They calmly carried out the operation without any excitement, just like true artisans. The antibodies were decimated by their ranged attack. Fortunately, even the antibodies who survived the storm of arrows couldn’t get past the walls.
The dwarves broke the antibodies with their hammers to scatter them.
We should move out too.
“Hm!”
The dwarves would get all the glory at this rate, and all we would get was an earful from Brunnen.
“Let’s go!”
“Roger that!”
Fran and Hilt leapt out of the battlements into the heart of the horde.
The dust settled quickly after that. They made their way through the antibodies, ignoring the archers’ attacks.
Phobos was probably the only one in danger. He kept up with Hilt while desperately trying to dodge every attack. Colbert was taking care of him, though, so he was probably all right.
Fight on, Phobos! We can heal you as long as you don’t die!
“Haaaa!”
“Hilt is amazing.”
We can learn something from her situational awareness, Fran said while casting a side glance at Hilt’s fighting.
Our enemies were weak, so we could’ve just wiped them all out with area-of-effect attacks…but Fran decided to fight alongside Hilt this time.
It was a learning experience, all right. Hilt moved with no wasted movements.
She made sure that her fireballs blasted through multiple antibodies every time she fired, even getting the antibodies that were behind her. She also positioned herself perfectly according to the flow of battle. Fran could almost do the same thing, but she wasn’t as perfect as Hilt.
The difference in experience of fighting armies couldn’t be clearer. Colbert and the others moved in a similar way. They must have had some special training in the Dimitris School.
Looks like Colbert’s using the Dimitris Style just fine.
Tradition Lost. A Skill only known by the headmaster of a combat school which causes someone to lose the school’s Skills. Colbert had been afflicted by this Skill upon expulsion from the Dimitris School.
“Colbert, you can use the Dimitris Style?”
“Yeah! Tradition Lost was lifted when I was accepted into the school again.”
And the Dimitris Style wasn’t the only thing he regained.
“I can feel my Mana Manipulation get better. Apparently, my attempts at reproducing Dimitris Style outside the school made me better at them.” Colbert said as he delivered a light jab to an incoming antibody. It was enough to knock the enemy down and disintegrate it.
His penetration was much better. The flow of his mana was shockingly smooth. He was giving Hilt a run for her money. The training he underwent while expelled wasn’t for nothing.
“It makes me wonder if I should add Tradition Lost to the curriculum.”
“He’s that good?”
“Yes.” Hilt looked like she was seriously considering it. “I never thought you could use Tradition Lost like this…”
“You never noticed until now?”
“Expelled members like Colbert are rare.”
“What do you mean?”
“The expelled don’t bother training after they’ve had Tradition Lost used on them.”
Most students who were expelled were expelled because of attitude problems. They signed up to the Dimitris School for power and were kicked out for the abuse of it. These delinquents weren’t likely to continue training after that.
Even rarer were those accepted again after being expelled. Dimitris would not lift the expulsion without good reason.
Meaning that Colbert had two layers of rarity on him: an expelled member who continued training and one who was accepted again.
“Unfortunately, I am unable to undergo this kind of training.”
Tradition Lost couldn’t be used by its owner on herself. Hilt shrugged her shoulders as she blew up another antibody.
Personally, I didn’t think she needed it.
Fran and the others charged through the swarm of swordsmen and reached the knight in ten minutes. The knight was quite powerful but was no match for them. It was on par with the average ogre.
Wow, they’re not running even after their boss died.
“But they’re weaker now.”
I guess they’re less organized without the knight in charge.
The antibodies which had been fighting like an organized unit now scattered like a flock of birds. But they didn’t flee. They now attacked randomly in all directions.
They were no longer a threat and were soon wiped out by the dwarves’ ranged attacks.
Orfevre greeted us with a smile when we returned to the battlements.
“Excellent work! I didn’t have a chance to join! It’s a shame I didn’t get to show off my Skill!”
“Unfortunate.”
“You’ll see it in action soon enough!”
“What Skill is it?”
“It’s called Courageous Advance! It does what it says for the most part. It greatly increases the abilities of those I have in my charge. That’s all.”
“So you have to keep leading the charge the whole time?”
“Indeed. But being on the front lines is only natural for a queen. It is not a problem.”
That was quite a difficult requirement despite Orfevre’s nonchalance. It would be difficult for a human king to do, anyway. Normally, the king would have to stay behind to be protected. The battle would be lost if they were killed.
It was the perfect Skill for the battle-hardened people of the dwarves.
“Will I get stronger if I fight with you?”
“You would have to swear loyalty to me from the bottom of your heart.”
“Loyalty…? Not happening.”
“Fua ha ha! Of course! Even if the Beast King and his beastmen were here, it wouldn’t have an effect.”
“Really?”
“The only ones able to benefit from the Skill are dwarves, insectoids, and ogrekin. Beastmen, magi, and drakes are far too individualistic.”
She had a point. The beastmen didn’t follow orders based on loyalty. They did so out of a respect for power, or out of respect of their ruler as a ruler. These weren’t quite the same as loyalty. They followed orders because of the advantage it afforded them. It was their habit as a species.
“This Skill wouldn’t be of much use to races who aren’t used to fighting together.”
It also required cohesion from their users. Absolute loyalty was not as easy of a requirement as it sounded.
Drakes were ambitious, magi were idiosyncratic. Not many would swear absolute loyalty to their king. Humans weren’t much better. If there weren’t many kings who would fight on the front lines, there were fewer people who were absolutely loyal to their king.
“But for all its restrictions, its effects are astounding. It awakens the battle drive in all my men.”
“That’s amazing.” Fran nodded with enthusiasm and Orfevre puffed out her chest with pride.
“Fua ha ha! That it is! It is a Skill passed down through dwarfdom to protect our kingdom!”
“So, all the rulers get it?”
“That’s right. Our palace is a divine vessel built by the God of Craftsmen, allowing its rulers to acquire the Skill.”
There was a line of succession for the Extra Skill? No wonder the palace was considered a holy place. It was also highly effective for ruling the country. The king was sure to become a hero. The king’s charisma and military power would legitimize his rule.
“I-in any case…”
“?”
“About the wine…”
“Hm. I’ll sell it to you now that you’ve told me your Skill. I promised.”
“Oooh! Thank you so much!”
Fran took out the old wine and handed it to Orfevre. The queen rubbed her cheek against the bottle, a wide smile on her face. Her royal dignity was gone, but the dwarves watching her weren’t in the least bit disappointed.
In fact, they looked just as happy as she was. And their eyes were fixated on the bottle like their queen.
But why were the dwarves so pleased about the queen’s purchase? There probably wasn’t enough for it to go around…
“Why is everyone happy?”
“This wine will go to the ones who contribute the most. There should be enough here for several dozen dwarves. That’s what they’re looking forward to.”
Judging from the earlier battle, the dwarves were experts at coordinated warfare. They formed cohesive squadrons to easily knock back the antibodies. There wasn’t much chance for any individual dwarf to shine.
In order to stand out, they would have to face an enemy strong enough to make them break ranks. Wouldn’t that pose a problem?
But the dwarves showed no signs of fear. In fact, they looked forward to the appearance of such a great enemy. I really underestimated the desire for booze in these heavy drinkers.
“Yes, I can feel their motivation already. A worthy purchase, indeed. Thank you, Fran. This expedition will prove much more exciting than I expected!”
We drove off the remaining antibodies. A few stragglers came at us, but no larger threat followed.
In a few hours, the antibodies were eliminated from our surroundings. Brunnen gave the order to withdraw after consulting with the dwarves.
“We’re heading back. Get ready.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. We’ve done our part for today. You can stick around if you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“Uh-huh. We’re just returning to the harbor, anyway. Besides, we have enough firepower with the Dimitris school around.”
“Okay.”
We parted ways with the Belioth troops and dwarves for the day to do our own thing. Fran and Jet still had a lot left in the tank after that fight.
And so, we looked for more powerful antibodies further away from the harbor. We walked for thirty minutes until we felt the presence of an army of them. There were loads of them. This army was five thousand antibodies strong!
“Come on!”
“Woof!”
We’ll pull back if things get too dicey. There’s just too many of them.
Even if the army was made up of the weaker varieties, they still had commanders leading them. The stronger varieties were stronger than B Threats, and having to deal with all of them at once might prove dangerous even for us.
As we were making our way toward the antibodies, we sensed another presence. There were others on the hunt, as well.
They might get pulled in if we fought too close to them. Calling out to the squad ahead of us might be a good idea.
Jet, approach them casually.
“Woof!”
Jet slowed down to approach the squad. I thought they were adventurers, but they were more complicated than that. Some of them looked like soldiers, and there were drakes thrown in the mix. It was a multiracial kind of squad.
I wasn’t sure if they understood our intentions, but they didn’t attack us either. They watched cautiously as Fran and Jet got closer and alighted. Fran approached them with Jet in his miniature size and me still in my scabbard.
They recognized from looking at her that she wasn’t an enemy. They slowly welcomed her.
“Could you be the Black Lightning Princess?”
“Hm? Yeah.”
“Ooh! This is most fortunate!”
The soldier talking to her was a committee member in charge of the squad. He had probably been informed of her arrival before leaving town.
“Will you help us, Black Lightning Princess? You won’t go unrewarded, I promise you that.”
“You want me to help with the antibodies?”
“Yes. We can’t let them go unchecked.”
“Why are there so many of them?”
“It looks like the Basharlians needlessly aggravated them.”
“Basharl!”
I wasn’t expecting to hear that name here! Fran was also surprised.
Basharl was a kingdom that teamed up with Murelia to attack the Beastman Nation. We repelled that invasion, and the Beastman Nation was supposed to be doing a counterattack on them right now…
“Oh? Have you heard of them before?”
“Hm. They’re enemies of the Beastman Nation.”
“Ah, you’re talking about their failed assault last year.”
“That’s the one.”
I’m surprised there’s any of them left.
The Beast King would never let anyone get away with that sort of act, so I’d thought Basharl would’ve been finished by now…
And yet they had dispatched troops to assist in the Goldician Obligation. A reckless thing to do considering how the Beastman Nation was bent on counterattacking them.
Fran pointed this out to the officer, and he explained their reasoning. It was all a tactic to protect their country.
“No one is allowed to attack a country which has sent troops to assist in the Goldician Obligation. Attacking Basharl would be an act of aggression and other nations would be forced to respond.”
If assisting kingdoms got attacked while their troops were out on the Obligation, they would naturally stop dispatching them. It was a gaping hole in national security, after all.
So, the nations of the world signed a treaty to prevent this from happening. There were to be no attacking nations which had troops out on the Obligation, and if there was an ongoing war between two countries, they would be forced to come to a ceasefire.
Basharl must have known that their turn was coming up and used that to their advantage. The ceasefire bought them time either to reorganize their troops or to negotiate with the Beastman Nation.
But using the Obligation to one’s own nefarious purposes might invite sanctions. A kingdom had to send more than a couple dozen people for the deployment to count.
And so Basharl sent a thousand men to hunt antibodies in earnest for the sake of making a good impression. But motivation wasn’t enough to get the job done.
“Apparently there are problems with the training and morale of the troops.”
Knights and veterans were still injured from the war with the Beastman Nation. Most of the soldiers in this deployment were new. Being forced into the deployment, most of them weren’t too happy about it. They were minimally trained, too. Most just wanted to make it back home in one piece.
Meanwhile, their commander was dead set on making a good impression. Drunk on his own ego, he wanted his men to show the other nations what Basharl was made of.
The highly motivated commander gave reckless commands, leading some soldiers to desert. They wound up with an even smaller number of troops than they had before. This deployment was not going to have a happy ending.
They failed to defend the points assigned to them and were routed by the antibodies.
“And they weren’t very good at running away, either.”
“What do you mean?”
“The soldiers ignored orders and ran in every direction, drawing the surrounding antibodies to gather in one spot.”
The Basharlians became bait, which attracted more antibodies than expected.
“We won’t be able to fight off the antibodies if more arrive.”
This squad was made of a select few people to deal with this problem.
“Allow me to introduce you. First—”
“Come on! Do you really have time to be talking to that little girl?” A low-level adventurer cut him off.
He glared at Fran, sizing her up. I could almost hear his thoughts: Even if you’ve made a name for yourself where you came from, that didn’t matter here. Despite knowing Fran wasn’t weak, he still wasn’t strong enough to assess her strength.
But a much bigger man came at him from behind. And his tone was completely different. “M-my name is Diggins! B Rank! P-pleased to make your acquaintance!”
He was abasing himself on behalf of his comrade. He looked absolutely apologetic.
Diggins was an evolved bear beastman, and on the more animalistic side of the spectrum. On top of his body was the head of a bear.
A yellow bear… Was he going to turn into a particular bear once Awakened? It should be all right as long as he wasn’t wearing a red shirt…
But it was probably for the best that he was a full-faced bear. I don’t know how I would handle a burly, middle-aged man with cute bear ears on his head.
“Uhh, Diggins? What’s wrong? This girl—”
“You idiot! Who do you think you’re talking to?! This is the Black Lightning Princess! The only evolved Black Cat in the world!”
Being a beastman, he immediately figured out who Fran was. Fran was one of a kind.
Diggins looked like a wimpy crony around Fran. The rest of the adventurers looked confused. He was probably the strongest adventurer they had, and he was suddenly showering this little girl with respect. They didn’t know who the Black Lightning Princess was since they weren’t beastmen themselves.
“The Black Lightning Princess may be a B Rank like me, but she’s powerful enough to give an A Rank a run for his money!”
With their leading man bowing his head to her, the other adventurers followed suit. The man who interrupted us earlier began apologizing while the others pledged their allegiance to Fran. They were all pretty strong, so they shouldn’t be deadweight.
One B Rank, five C Ranks, the rest D Rank. A decently high-level average. Their Skill composition also allowed them to handle melee combat. There were some mages here and there, but even these had Sword and Spear Masteries in their Skillset. Like William said, you needed melee if you were going to survive on this continent.
Now that the adventurers had settled their chain of command, a new figure approached.
Two women. Seeing one of them, I immediately put up my guard.
A tall drake. She was strong and belonged to a rowdy race. She probably wouldn’t attack us out of nowhere but…
“Thank you for your assistance. My name is Chelsea, leader of the warriors. This squad is under my charge.”
Uhhh. She wasn’t anything like what we had heard!
Chelsea politely bowed her head. She was stoic while maintaining the ferocity of a warrior. She had chocolate-colored skin along with orange scales that matched her hair. A beautiful woman.
Her height must have been around two meters. A slightly above-average height for drakes. Her hair was done in cornrows, and her gallant aura made her a handsome woman.
Female warriors weren’t uncommon among drakes, and she was actually quite strong since she had better control of her mana. She was probably stronger than Colbert.
The blue-scaled drakes in particular were respected for their water magic. In the harsh land of Goldicia, the ability to create water made for a huge advantage.
Drakes were known to be a proud race, but Chelsea didn’t have that kind of vibe. She sounded a bit stuck up because of her formal speech, but she was very respectful of Fran.
This must have surprised Fran, because she tilted her head.
“What’s wrong, Lady Fran?”
“I thought drakes were cockier.”
Fran! You can’t say that out loud! See, you’re upsetting Chelsea!
“Northerners! They’re a disgrace on all of drakedom!”
“North?”
“I don’t wish to make excuses, but the recent incidents were mostly committed by the drakes in the north…”
The drakes lived in all corners of Goldicia, and Chelsea lived in the east. Their notoriety for being arrogant and ambitious was apparently a regional issue.
“They keep looking down on the other races… The fools.”
Drakes were always looking for a fight, but they had become more aggressive lately.
“An absolute disgrace! I apologize on behalf of my race, Lady Fran.”
Chelsea seemed more upset at her northern counterparts than at what Fran said. She was very polite, even going so far as to bow her head in apology.
Fran remained silent, not knowing how to react. She had never come into direct contact with the northern drakes, after all. Fortunately, the woman next to Chelsea stepped forward to throw her a lifeline.
“Let’s leave it there, Lady Chelsea. It’s not your fault anyway. She seems troubled by your apology.”
“Hrm? Are you? Sorry.”
“Hm. It’s okay.”
“Fu fu fu. I am Tzalutta Camellia, head of the Camellia mercenaries.”
A human with short brown hair. She had a round face and soft eyes like a cute tanuki. She was 155 centimeters high, but next to Chelsea, she seemed tiny.
She was also just as powerful. She had the mana flow of a first-rate mage. No wonder she was captain of a mercenary group. But there was something else she said that caught my interest.
“Camellia Mercenaries? Camellia?”
We had heard the name before. It was one of the three Goldician Houses along with House Magnolia—the house Romeo belonged to. I didn’t know what the circumstances were, but the houses had the graces of the Evil One. Somehow, they were converted and were now protecting the fragments of the Evil One.
The drakes had attacked them since they wanted the fragments for themselves…and were allegedly wiped out in the process.
“Our mercenary group was founded by nobles of House Camellia.”
The Camellias were nobles who originally lived in Goldicia. With the destruction of the continent, the vassals of the house formed the mercenary band to take back their homeland.
This Camellia was directly related.
Fran was stunned by the explanation. Honestly, so was I.
“Why are you working together with drakes?”
“Are you familiar with the three houses of Goldicia?”
We didn’t know everything, but we knew that the houses had special powers in their blood. In the case of the Magnolias, it was Evil One’s Communion—the ability to absorb power from fiends.
I wasn’t sure whether we should tell her our whole story, but my worries soon proved unfounded.
“So, you are aware of the power in our blood?” Tzalutta opened the discussion for us.
“I know you have some weird power. I heard you got wiped out by the drakes, too.”
“I see. You are quite knowledgeable. No wonder our current arrangement seems strange to you.”
Tzalutta then explained the situation without withholding any facts.
Her forefathers resented the drakes. But their bigger regret was letting the fragment be taken and used as material for creating the Abyss Eater.
And so, they set aside their vendetta to work together with the drakes for the common good.
Time diluted their hatred for the drakes and reinforced their sense of duty. Now they were driven by a sense of obligation and the simple satisfaction of mercenary work. Tzalutta’s relationship with the drakes was very businesslike.
“House Camellia’s power is very effective in the battle against the antibodies.”
“But they’re not fiends.”
“The Abyss Eater which spawns them was created out of the Evil One’s fragment. They have Malice running through them, though faint.”
“Hm. I felt that.”
The swordsmen, being weaker than Malice-filled goblins, were difficult to detect because of the Malice covering the land. The stronger knights would have more Malice in them, though.
“My ability slows down creatures with Malice. Very useful in large-scale battles.”
Goldicia was quite a profitable hunting ground for the Camellias, since their captain’s ability made quick work of the antibodies. The Camellian mercenaries lacked the grim resolve you would expect them to have. Though they didn’t particularly like it, they weren’t mercenaries for the sake of atoning for the sins of their ancestors.
Work was work, and being a mercenary was good enough.
“Are you acquainted with one of the other houses, by chance?”
“Hm.”
“May I know who it is?”
“…I’m not sure if I can tell you that.” Fran definitely wasn’t at liberty to share that information in casual conversation.
“Aah, of course. Forgive me. We don’t really bother to hide ourselves, but I’m sure the situation is different on the other continents.”
“I hate to interrupt your conversation, but we really should be going.”
“Of course, Lady Chelsea. We can continue our conversation as we walk.”
“Hm.”
And the conversation carried on. It wasn’t forced, and they hit it off quite well.
Fran wanted to know the abilities of the three Goldician houses, and Tzalutta was a natural teacher. There was no stopping her once she got going. She was currently telling her about the old legends passed down through House Camellia about the founding of the Three Houses.
“Elves actually lived on this continent thousands of years ago.”
“What about the drakes?”
“The drakes were in the minority and kept to themselves in the forests. The seal of the Evil One’s fragment was already there but hidden.”
The gods had kept it so concealed that even the elves were unaware that it was right beneath their feet.
“But a certain elf discovered it and started worshipping the Evil One. He was unique; apparently spirits found him repellent and ran away from him.”
Elves were proud of being spirit users. It was easy enough to imagine him to be ostracized, even persecuted. Why couldn’t he use spirits? Why did the spirits hate him? Why did the God of the Forest abandon him?
In desperation, he started worshipping the Evil One in his room, abandoning his other work. He was eventually cast out of his village and wandered the forest until he eventually found the seal.
Perhaps it was chance, perhaps the Evil One guided him there. But following the strange voice in his head, he weakened the seal and accessed the Evil One’s Grace.
Apparently, the spirits didn’t hate him at all. But because of the Spirit Eater Skill he happened to possess, they feared drawing near to him. As its name suggested, the ability allowed him to consume spirits. If only someone had been able to identify this Skill within him, maybe this whole tragedy could have been averted.
In any case, he was able to acquire great power through this latent Spirit Eater and Evil One’s Grace. But he didn’t go on a vengeful rampage, not because he had forgiven the elves but because he wanted time to make a plan that would completely wipe them out.
He learned how to suppress his Malice and visited the elven kingdom. He infiltrated the military and made a name for himself. Ten years were all it took.
And then the day of vengeance came. The elves were still experimenting with chimeras. Using this technology, he merged the four pieces of the Evil One in Goldicia to himself. Fusing himself to several thousand elves and the fragments of the Evil One to himself, he ascended.
Evil King Gardenia was the new name he chose for himself, having forgotten his real name.
At the time, he used his powers to brainwash elves to hunt down the other elves until he eventually lost control.
Chimeran madness wasn’t well known at the time. But having multiple souls and thoughts in one body drove him mad. He consumed all the elves around him to feed his great hunger, turning into a great beast. Gardenia grew larger, eating all elves and spirits in sight.
Then, the evil king who became a monster disappeared. His vengeance remained, though he was insane. He crossed the oceans and headed for elven kingdoms in other continents. Even the Camellias were fuzzy on the details of this event.
But a few years later, he returned to his elven form, washed clean of all Malice. Somehow, his strange power over the fiends remained.
The elven kingdom had been destroyed, and the drake kingdom now took its place. Gardenia took a group of humans who had been persecuted by the drakes under his wing to live quietly in a corner of the continent.
But peace did not last for long.
One day, an elf appeared seeking revenge for the loss of her family.
She was called Wina…though not much else was known about her. It was a common name for an elf at the time. Gardenia accepted her vengeance and chose death.
Wina’s little sister had been the reason he recovered his mind.
He’d probably known this day was coming. He had already finished sealing the chimera soul and sealed the three fragments of the Evil One near his settlement.
Before his death, he distributed his power among his three sons and told them to protect the seal of the fragments. Then he perished.
And that was the beginning of the Three Houses of Goldicia.
“But forgetting about the menace of the Evil One and the chimera, the drake king Trismegistus set his eyes on them.”
The rest was just as the legend of Trismegistus said. He used the chimera’s soul and fragments of the Evil One as material to create the terrible Abyss Eater and received divine punishment for the gods.
But one part of Tzalutta’s story caught our interest: the elf who sought revenge on Gardenia.
She said…Wina. Our Wina?
Chances are high.
The great beast which appeared out of nowhere in Belioth in the distant past. Lene’s sacrifice to seal it away. What if that beast was Gardenia?
We didn’t know why Gardenia returned to Goldicia after being made an elf again, but maybe a part of him escaped before it could be sealed. Wina chased him to have her revenge.
It was all plausible. She even knew about Evil One’s Communion. I decided we wouldn’t know until we asked her.
We reached our destination as we turned the conversation with Tzalutta in our heads.
Then Fran and Tzalutta were summoned to the strategy meeting.
“We don’t know what happened to the Basharlians surrounded by the antibodies. Avoid area-of-effect attacks that would get them caught in the crossfire.”
“All right.”
“It seems the antibodies have a commander. Taking it out is our first priority.”
The plan was bold: charge through the horde of antibodies and take out the commander. Splitting up would just make the squad easy pickings for our enemies.
The adventurers would be taking point.
“It’s a dangerous position. Can you do it?”
“Hm. I’ll handle it.”
“Let’s go!”
Fran and Diggins nodded, settling the matter. The others wouldn’t dare oppose their decision.
“But for drakes to let us take point…”
“Doesn’t happen every day?”
“They’re a proud race.”
Drakes were so proud that most of them refused to let other races take the lead. They were just the type to say, I don’t need your help! even when they clearly did.
But I knew what was going on. Honestly, it was just a process of elimination. Although we had an elite squad, we still couldn’t meet all of the antibodies head on. Someone would have to take the lead while the others supported them from behind.
But adventurers weren’t used to large-scale fights, let alone support. They never really had a use for it. But drakes and mercenaries were quite good at support, so they were forced to give up point.
“Let’s go.”
“Right!”
The plan was simple. The antibody horde lay to the east. They weren’t moving toward us because their commander was keeping them together. We would blitz them, take out their commander to weaken the horde, then wipe them all out.
Don’t be reckless, Fran. We have other adventurers around.
“Hm. I know.”
Jet, take care of them, too.
“Woof!”
The squad accelerated with thirty adventurers leading the way.
At the head of the unit was Fran, and she was stoked. She remembered that she needed experience commanding others to make it to A Rank. Her subordinates were strong, and there weren’t too many of them. It would make for a great learning experience.
I just hoped she didn’t overreach and cause casualties!
“I’ve got point. Dickens, you’re behind me.”
“…It’s Diggins, Black Lightning Princess.”
“Hm. Diggins. And tell me if you spot the commander.”
“Roger that! You heard the lady!”
“Y-yes…”
“Yep.”
The other adventurers looked worried despite Diggins being in high spirits. They couldn’t help being afraid when faced with such a great mass of antibodies. They were used to fighting fifty at a time at most.
“We’ll be fine. I’ll help you if it gets dangerous.”
“Heh heh! I’m a hundred times braver with the Black Lightning Princess covering me!”
“Hm!”
“…”
The adventurers looked at Diggins with doubtful eyes. Even if they knew Fran was strong, they still didn’t know how strong.
Sorry, adventurers. I’ll help you myself if things get really bad! I can’t talk to you, though, so you’ll have to figure out how to deal with your anxieties yourself.
Fran carried on, pale-faced adventurers in tow. I wondered if maybe I should help a little bit. If nothing else, I should tell Fran to say something encouraging.
But Fran looked at the frightened adventurers before I could say anything. Then she started talking…
“I can use healing magic. You’ll be fine. As long as you don’t die. I won’t leave you if you get knocked out, either.”
“…”
“Jet’s here, too.”
“Woof!”
Jet enlarged himself to the size of a bull. Everyone was shocked to see the small dog expand to such a great size.
“Whoa! H-how’d that dog do that? It’s so huge…!”
“Grrr!”
“Eek!”
“Jet’s not a dog. He’s a wolf. He gets mad if you get it wrong.”
“Bark!”
Oh, come on!
I didn’t know Jet had enough wolf left in him to be offended by dog allegations. He never seemed to be particularly proud of being a wolf. And he didn’t mind being treated like a dog by Winalene or the food stall guy. Then again, Winalene was overwhelmingly powerful, and the food stall guy gave him treats…
Diggins was weaker and gave him no treats. Jet must have found it necessary to establish a hierarchy. Very doglike.
“J-Jet the wolf. I won’t get that wrong again!”
“Woof.”
“He forgives you.”
“Heh heh!” Diggins was even humbling himself before Jet. It wasn’t just because Jet was Fran’s familiar—he could tell how strong Jet was.
He looked like a musclehead, but he had a discerning eye and a wealth of experience.
“And imagine all the points we’ll get if we beat this horde. We’ll be rolling in them!”
“Now that you mention it…!”
“Don’t worry. Just stick with me.” Fran grinned, letting out a bit of intimidation. I was the only one who knew she was smiling, though.
She did her best to show how strong she was to her men to encourage them.
“Jet’s really strong, too. Stronger than Diggins. He’ll cover you. Won’t you, Jet?”
“Woof!”
The adventurers were getting amped up, now. They listened to Fran with healthier-looking faces. Maybe they’d felt embarrassed about having this little girl encourage them. Regardless, they were in higher spirits.
Good job, Fran! You’re like a real commander!
I took notes from Donadrond.
I see.
The first large-scale battle Fran took part in was in Alessa. Donadrond giving orders had left a huge impression on her.
I also referenced the knight captain in the capital and the Beast King.
She had seen how different commanders worked in different war zones… She did well to remember them.
“Just follow our lead.”
“Woof!”
“Yes!”
The adventurers nodded with confidence.
“That’s a good look. Together we can do it. Be brave.”
“Yes!” Diggins shouted along with everyone else. He seemed especially motivated.
“Let’s go!”
“Yeah!”
Fran drew me out with a flourish and accelerated into the approaching horde. The adventurers followed her trail.
First, we’ll get the advantage.
“Hm!”
We fired a hail of fire arrows into the front line. Forty fire arrows rained down on the antibodies.
We repeated that three or four times. It was enough to wipe out more than a hundred of them. Even so, the arrows still took out less than we expected, mostly because Fran and I would target the same antibody.
“Huh? Black Lightning Princess, area-of-effect spells are…!”
“It’s fine. I’m only hitting the antibodies.”
“Huh? You can aim that many spells at once?”
“Hm? Yeah.”
“W-wow!”
“She has complete control over all those spells?”
“N-no wonder she has a nickname!”
The adventurers let out a shocked cry after seeing Fran’s spell control. Smiles returned to their faces. They were reassured now that they had seen Fran’s strength with their own eyes.
“Going in.”
“All right! Let’s get cooking!”
“We’re getting out of this alive!”
“We’re C Ranks! Let’s show them what we’re made of!”
“Uoooh!”
Give it your best, guys! I’ll be backing you up too!
The southern adventurers under Fran’s lead let out a roar to fire themselves up.
Meanwhile, I was deflecting most of the incoming projectiles.
“Haaa! Impact Slash!” Fran let out an Advanced Sword Art on the front line, slaying a multitude of antibodies.
This move had a huge delay after launching it. The delay was significant enough to prove lethal for most users on the battlefield.
I used telekinesis to force Fran’s body out of the delay, but it came at a huge cost. Sore joints were a given, broken bones and torn muscles were common. I would heal her injuries so that she could keep using the move.
But things were different now. There wasn’t much of a delay, even without my assistance. She absorbed the recoil of the move while moving her body into a follow-through without injuring herself.
This was proof that Fran had mastered Advanced Sword Arts. She had used this very move against the skeleton knight of the sky isle, but she needed me to cancel her out of it, and she ended up with a broken arm. The Art was using her instead of the other way around.
But now, Fran had total control of the Art.
Ha ha! Nice one, Fran!
“Hm!”
Fran jumped into the gap she opened and cut through the antibodies around her.
But she wasn’t blazing through the mob. She was purposely slowing herself down so as not to leave the adventurers behind. They were fighting the antibodies, too, focusing on the right and left flanks since Fran was taking care of the front.
“Doraaah! Follow the Black Lightning Princess!”
“Take the right flank!”
“You got it! Wind Bullet!”
“We’ve got it covered here!”
Diggins wasn’t running into any problems, either. Like Fran, he was easily dispatching the antibodies without Awakening. His weapon of choice was a giant steel club. A weapon that would normally take two hands to wield…but he was swinging it one-handed with ease while using his free left hand to punch antibodies in the face.
The rest of the adventurers were also putting up a solid fight while working with each other.
Jet was covering their backs. He was in a support role today rather than full on offense, helping the group with dark magic while fending off antibodies in their blind spots.
Though the adventurers had had their doubts about letting Jet cover them, they now respected his power as the battle carried on.
They were no longer worried about their rear. The C Ranks weren’t about to get flanked by lesser antibodies now that they could fight without reservations. Thanks to Jet, nobody deserted despite being surrounded by antibodies on all sides.
We’ve got a long way to go.
“Hm.”
Fran wasn’t rushing in, waiting on the adventurers behind her. Because of it, more and more antibodies were surrounding us.
It wasn’t a problem for Fran, but the others were having a rough time. Though morale was high, it was only a matter of time before we started taking casualties.
Teacher, I think I’m going to switch positions.
What do you mean?
Diggins will take the lead. He shouldn’t have a problem with it. Jet and I will support the flanks.
Doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
Having Fran or Diggins in the lead didn’t affect the overall speed of the squad.
Bolstering the flanks would take some pressure off the remaining adventurers.
“Diggins!”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“You take point. I’m going back to help the others.”
“All right! I’ll carry out this honorable position!”
“Thanks.”
“Doryaaa!”
The B-Rank adventurer immediately switched positions and continued his onslaught of the antibodies. The bearman could take care of the front line, especially since he still had an Awakening in him.
“Jet, support the right flank. I’ll take the left.”
“Woof!”
Our advancement speed was maintained, but the situation was much more stable. There were lots of healing and enhancement spells to go around. Not only that, but the drakes and mercenaries covering fire protected the rear perfectly.
“Thank you!”
“She can heal too…?!”
“No wonder Diggins respects her!”
The adventurers even had time for small talk.
I’m getting a mana response ahead. I think it’s the commander.
“The commander’s just ahead. Get ready.”
“Yeaaah!”
The look on the adventurers’ faces changed. They were all looking for glory.
The points helped, too.
The commander was soon in sight. It was a knight a head taller than the rest, making it visible even from afar. It had a different aura, stronger in both mana and Malice. An elite knight was known to have the same amount of Malice as a minotaur or elite orc.
I’d like to just pepper that thing with spells, but…
I scanned its surroundings for magic, but there was no sign of human life. It was as we feared: The Basharlian squad had been eliminated.
Doesn’t look like the Basharlians are around.
Oh…
Fran was genuinely saddened, but I was somewhat relieved. Nothing good could come out of meeting the Basharlians.
In any case, we can use our bigger attacks now. My Kanna Kamuy should be enough to destroy the knight. But Fran had different plans. She wanted the whole squad to take part.
“Diggins!”
“Yeah!”
“I’ll open a path. You take out the knight.”
“Got it! I’ll kill it good!”
Diggins immediately agreed to rush the enemy boss—not just behaving like a mindless crony, he trusted Fran now. If she told him he could do it, then he could do it.
“Everyone back him up!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Sword Sonic!”
Gale Hazard!
Fran let out a shockwave, blasting away thirty antibodies.
My wind spell blew them even farther away, widening the opening even further.
The adventurers peppered the ground with ranged attacks, clearing up a narrow thirty-meter path to the knight. Diggins roared when he saw it.
“Raaah! Awaken!”
This was the moment he was waiting for. He turned from a Yellow Bear into a Topaz Bear.
The biggest difference was the color of the fur on his body. It was already a striking yellow color, but now it had a radiant glow to it. As the name implied, his fur was a brilliant topaz.
His size remained mostly the same, just pumped. He was definitely energized.
“Graaah!” Diggins accelerated with renewed strength and speed, instantly closing the distance between him and the knight.
The antibodies that tried to get in his way were immediately swatted away with his club. The improvement to his strength must have been immense. A single swing of his club sent scores of them flying.
His defense was even more surprising. There wasn’t a scratch on him despite the antibodies’ attacks. His fur was a lot tougher than it looked.
Then the knight was right in front of him. But it was fully aware and prepared to take him on…
Undaunted, Diggins gritted his teeth and raised his left hand in a big arc.
“Goaaah! Yellow Shockwave!” he roared before slamming his furry hand into the ground before him.
WHAM!
His claws sunk into the earth, and the shockwave raised the ground.
But this wasn’t the point of the move. It only looked like a useless assault on the ground…but to those who could sense mana, a powerful mana current was seen rushing through the earth. Waves of mana emanated from the ground with Diggins’s fist as the epicenter.
Then the ground beneath the knight’s feet gave out.
“Riiiooo?” The knight let out an unsettling, shrill cry. Was that what it sounded like? It was strange, not sounding anything like an animal.
Screaming, the knight was buried up to its stomach. It held out its arms in an attempt to keep from falling, but Diggins’s attack went on.
Earthen walls jutted out from the fissure, encasing the knight, crushing it like a bear trap.
The walls weren’t just made of soil; they were reinforced with Diggins’s mana. It had no problem dealing with the knight’s outer shell.
CRASH!
A shrill metallic sound, then the knight shattered to pieces, unable to resist the pressure of the walls. Its pieces scattered before fading into the air.
“All right! I did it, Black Lightning Princess!”
“Now we deal with the rest of the antibodies.”
With the knight destroyed, the remaining antibodies lost their organizational cohesion. At most, only several swordsmen still moved as a unit.
This is kind of annoying.
Pretty much.
Chaos spread over the antibodies as they lost whatever strategy they formerly had. They moved like a grade school soccer team, attacking Fran and the others however they could. They were far more aggressive now than before.
Fran didn’t have a problem handling them, but the same couldn’t be said for the other adventurers. They were getting injured, and fighting the antibodies might have been easier had the knight been left alive. The antibodies were even attacking the drakes in the back line.
Attacking them with something big might be the play here.
“Hm! I’ll use an area-of-effect attack, so get close to me.”
“Okay!”
Diggins was out of his Awaken. Yellow Shockwave was probably something like Fran’s Black Thunderfall, a move which removed Awaken right after you used it. But it shouldn’t be a problem now that the rest of our opponents were weak.
“Here goes! Ekato Keraunos!”
Multicast Ekato Keraunos from Thunder Zone!
After setting up a thunder spell-resistant barrier, I let out several casts of a wide area-of-effect thunder spell.
My target was the front line where there was less risk of friendly fire. Hundreds of lightning bolts fell on the antibody army, destroying them. Electricity still ran on the ground, jolting antibodies which managed to avoid a direct hit.
“Whaaa?!”
“W-wow!”
“Hyaaa!”
Adventurer and mercenary both shouted cries of astonishment. Even the drakes let out screams of surprise. Except for their commander, anyway.
The rain of lightning gouged out the ground, leaving behind a hellscape of destroyed antibodies. Quite the shocking sight.
The troops were in a panic after the rumbling which shook their stomachs and the bright lights which burned the retinas. Diggins didn’t look shaken, and they rallied after they remembered that Fran was the source of the spectacle.
“N-no wonder she’s called the Black Lightning Princess.”
“That should take out a thousand of them.”
“Right… It’s messed up that she’s still a B Rank.”
“No way… She’s just one rank above me…?” Diggins spoke with the other incredulous adventurers.
I would agree.
“Now we take care of the stragglers…”
“Got it.”
Half of the enemy antibodies were still standing after the destruction. More had gathered from the surrounding countryside before we could take out the commander.
But the drake back line had begun attacking the antibodies before we could react. They must have seen us wanting to make a move.
“They’re strong.”
“Woof.”
The drakes’ strategy was simple. The stronger ones went in front and fought however they wanted. Meanwhile, the back line assisted them with ranged attacks to take down the antibodies that were closing in on the front.
I guess you could call it teamwork.
The antibodies probably decided to go after the drakes since fighting us was a lost cause. They had chosen the safest strategy…
But the antibodies were quickly wiped out thanks to the drakes’ efforts.
In less than an hour, the antibody presence in the area had been eliminated. No additional antibodies were incoming. The loss of the knight would likely keep antibodies from grouping together for the time being.
“That was an amazing spell. Splendid.”
“Such power for one so young.”
Chelsea and Tzalutta approached Fran to compliment her. But despite the harsh battle we’d just gone through, they showed no signs of exhaustion. The battle probably wasn’t much for them.
“I look forward to fighting with you again if fate permits it.”
“Having reliable allies is always appreciated.”
“Hm. You too.”
Fran’s violent style of fighting was deemed…reliable.
Knowing the drakes and mercenaries was sure to come in handy on this continent.
It might even be a good idea to take up emergency quests just to see those two again.
Chapter 3: Meeting at Nocta
Chapter 3:
Meeting at Nocta
FRAN RETURNED TO THE WESTERN harbor after defeating the antibody army. She was soon back on the Adventurers’ Guild training ground.
Diggins the bearman had requested a sparring match. It was a good chance to show off the Black Cats’ strength, and Diggins was a B Rank. There was no way Fran would refuse.
“Here goes!”
“Hm.”
Many adventurers were watching. Some were here to learn, and some just wanted to gawk.
And so, the match started.
“Doryaaa!”
Diggins wasn’t holding back. He knew that he wouldn’t be worth Fran’s time if he did. The swing of his club would’ve shattered bone if it hit, and he even added a feint into it.
“Hnggghhh!”
“Too slow.”
“Gaaah!”
But a heavy hit meant nothing if it didn’t land. The match was over in seconds.
Fran dodged Diggins’s attack and closed in, taking him out with a shot to the stomach. It blew him all the way to the back wall.
Most of the bystanders had thought Diggins was going to win, as Diggins was quite famous in these parts. Disappointed groans sounded throughout the grounds. But the lower-level adventurers’ impression of Fran was completely reversed.
Diggins quickly picked himself up from the rubble and rubbed his stomach. The damage wasn’t much, but he bowed and admitted defeat.
“You got me, Black Lightning Princess. And I know you were holding back.”
“I didn’t think you’d get up so fast.”
“He he he. I can take a hit if nothing else. Can I ask for another round? I’m all warmed up now.”
“Hm. Sure.”
Fran didn’t have any intention of showing off, but the sparring match continued—no magic or Awakens, just weapons. Diggins was as tough as he said, getting back up no matter how many times Fran knocked him down.
He was sturdy with quick recovery and an endless tank of stamina, all of which aided him in long battles against antibodies.
Eventually, Hilt and Colbert joined, making the sparring match more chaotic. The gallery was heating up.
“There! Get ’em!”
“Go, go!”
“Lady, your robes!”
“Yeah, break through!”
“You can do it, Diggins!”
The cheers only added to the motivation. The adventurers participating in the sparring match weren’t going down without a fight. It eventually ended with Fran and Colbert being the last ones standing, and Fran pulled a trick out of her sleeve.
“Ha.”
“Urgh! Th-this is… Penetration?”
“Hm. I figured it out after getting hit with it a lot.”
“Aha ha… Good job…”
Fran had learned the attack that she had been getting hit with throughout the match. She mimicked the mana flow into her hands but ended up making the move better than the original.
Penetration wasn’t added to her list of Skills, so it was probably treated as an extension of Punch Mastery.
“Would you like to enroll, Fran? I’ll make you a top student immediately!”
“I’m good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Hm.”
“Aaah, well. Worth a shot. It’s unfortunate.”
Hilt took advantage of the chaos to recruit Fran. I’d thought she was coming in to check on Colbert who was coughing up blood, but she was in full school headmistress mode.
Drinks came right after the sparring match. It was for the boys of the Goldician front, and Fran looked like she was enjoying herself in the ruckus.
Every adventurer in the west harbor knew who Fran was now.
Thing was…we were leaving the west tomorrow. Fran had a hard time containing her feelings.
But as we had agreed, we left the harbor at sunrise. She usually slept in, but she wanted to reach Castell as soon as possible.
First stop, the town of Nocta, built upon a blank.
Don’t push yourself too hard, Fran.
“Hm. I know.”
Fran was running through the plains on foot. As much as we could conceal our mana, a monster of Jet’s scale would alert the antibodies. She would ride him if she needed a break or if they were moving at night, but we did all we could to avoid unnecessary encounters.
Even so, the encounter rate was pretty high. There were more antibodies the deeper we got into the continent. The lesser swordsmen and archers could be dealt with in passing. She barely needed to stop to dispatch them.
We carried on for another half day before spotting a large gathering of antibodies. About two thousand of them…and numbers weren’t the only thing it had.
The antibody standing in the middle of them was gigantic, visible even from a distance. It was about the size of a two-story house.
It had the same color as the rest of the antibodies, black skin, gray carapace, and green thorns on its weak points and horns. It had a long and thin tube sprouting from its dome-like body.
Was that the magic cannon? Despite its great size, it was fast.
Under the dome silhouette were spiderlike legs. Four of them, to be precise. But this giant was not the squad’s commander.
The big one right next to it. Is that the boss? It has a lot of Malice.
Definitely.
A tall knight stood in the center of the squad, cloaked in thick mana and Malice. It was five meters tall, unlike the other knights in the squad which were only three meters tall. It was also just as wide.
This might have been one of the unique units.
What do we do?
We couldn’t force our way past, and we didn’t know the strength of our enemies, either. Goldicia wasn’t a place where you could pull at will.
I don’t think we can beat them back by ourselves…
There are a lot of people there.
Probably a squad from one of the nations. It’s going to make contact in a few minutes, but…
The squad ahead wasn’t in a hurry to escape. Either they weren’t aware of the threat, or they were planning to meet it head on.
Let’s just tell the unit up ahead about what we saw.
Got it.
We increased our speed and approached the squad ahead. They didn’t look like they were trying to run away. But they were having trouble…
They had a lot of injured warriors, slowing them down.
The unit of knights and soldiers moved while shouldering their injured comrades. There were about four hundred of them in total, but most of them were casualties of varying degrees.
They had already made contact with the antibodies but probably found them too powerful and were overwhelmed.
Fran announced her presence and approached them.
One of the uninjured members was immediately put on alert, but a look of relief soon came over his face, probably because Fran didn’t look like a bandit. Once we were close enough, the knight in the lead called out to her.
He was likely the leader, going by his extravagant armor. He was only lightly injured, but even he had bandages on his limbs.
“Are you an adventurer?”
“Hm. I am.”
“Do you need something from us?”
“There are a lot of antibodies coming this way. I was wondering if you were trying to escape.”
“Thanks for coming out. But we’ll be all right.”
They were well aware of the antibodies. Did they have a plan for keeping them off their trail?
A loud voice called from a distance before Fran could ask more questions.
Several people were shouting as they made their move.
They had been concealing their presence, which was why we hadn’t detected them. And they were good at it, too. I could also tell that this group was going right for the antibodies.
But what was going on?
As Fran wondered, the commander’s face darkened. “There they go… You should get away from here while the antibodies are occupied.”
“Are those your comrades?”
“…Yes.”
The ones making the noise were a diversion so the rest of them could get away.
The looks on the knights’ faces told us that it wasn’t supposed to be this way. Some of them were crying. Still, the nation they were from couldn’t afford to lose all its knights on this tour. Some would have to survive so they could carry out their mission.
“Men… Move out!”
“Sir!”
The commander gave the painful order. His men had the same pained look on their faces.
“Don’t worry about us. Get out of here.”
He knew that Fran was strong, and his squad was on the stronger side, too.
Still, he didn’t think that they could take on two thousand antibodies.
Perhaps they’d have a chance if they asked Fran for help…but they didn’t. Instead, the commander told her to save herself.
Fran gave a small smile that only I could detect. She had taken a liking to them.
Teacher.
I know. You want to help, right?
Hm.
No other choice, eh?
Thanks.
We wouldn’t run into any problems if that giant knight wasn’t around… But we couldn’t rule out the possibility of A-Threat antibodies in the mix.
But Fran wasn’t backing down. We were going in. We would go all out if we had to.
“Why are you drawing your sword?”
“Time to exterminate some antibodies.”
“Wait! We can’t lose an elite adventurer! Not over us!”
“I’ll be fine.”
“But the numbers…!”
The commander was clearly distraught. He knew that the fight might still be lost with Fran’s help.
“Look.”
“An adventurer card? B Rank! You?”
“Yeah.”
“I knew you were strong but not as strong as this!”
“I’ll hold them off. You guys run.”
Fran and I cast an area heal on the knights. While it was not enough to fully heal them, no one was now in danger of dying. We didn’t have time to bring them to full health, but it should help their escape speed.
“W-wait!”
“See you later.”
Fran jumped away, ignoring the commander’s words. The antibodies would get to the knights if we wasted any more time. They were about two hundred meters away now.
Fran, we can’t use area-of-effect attacks for now. The knights who are distracting the antibodies might get caught.
Hm.
Fran would have to charge through the ranks of the antibodies to save both the escaping and sacrificial knights. She would use herself as a distraction, but she needed to hurry if there were going to be knights left to save.
There’s a lot more of them now.
More antibodies had flocked to the great swarm. There were over two thousand of them now.
Let’s go! Don’t get surrounded!
I know!
Jet, go after the magic cannon from the shadows.
Woof!
I didn’t know the effective range of the magic cannon, but it might fire far enough to decimate the knights. It needed to be taken care of.
Let’s make a scene to help Jet out.
“Hm!”
Fran unleashed her mana and stood in front of the antibodies. She was now the most attractive bait on the field.
The antibodies let out a shrill cry, perhaps in celebration.
“Iiieee!”
“Here they come!”
Yeah! Let’s go beat them up!
“Hm!”
Fran leapt into the swarm of antibodies and started cutting down swordsmen. The lesser antibodies were still pretty weak.
She danced with her sword while avoiding the blades which fell on her from all sides. The antibodies were taken out and faded into nothing.
“Grrr!”
Jet shrunk himself and ran through the swarm, biting through the antibodies’ necks when he had the chance. Others tasted the crushing force of his claws.
But our blatant aggression caused the antibodies to focus on Fran. Just as planned.
We’ll have to disrupt the magic cannon’s ranged attacks, too.
How do we do that?
We’ll make a wall to hide the escaping knights.
I see.
A barrier should prevent the knights from being wiped out with a single artillery strike. I cast the land spell Great Wall to protect them.
Fran was now the only one in the antibodies’ sight with the fleeing knights hidden by the wall. But they weren’t out of the woods yet because the antibodies could still sense their mana.
Still, Fran and Jet had more mana than they did, and they were right in their face. That should change their priorities.
Jet, go full force into the magic cannon!
“Woof!”
We’ll take care of the small fry!
“Hm! Haaa!”
Doryaaa!
Many of the swordsmen on the front line were wiped out from our thunder spell. The antibodies’ movements changed. They now knew we were a threat.
Swordsmen split up to press our flanks. A knight also stepped forward.
The bait soldiers were still in the thick of it. Half of the swarm’s back line was focused on them.
Still, the threat of Fran caused most of them to head in our direction.
But that wasn’t all. Some antibodies were still trying to go after the fleeing knights. A portion of the swordsmen were circling around the wall.
Even with Fran present, they still weren’t going to give up an easy target.
Either the commander was smarter than we thought, or the horde was hungrier than we expected. Either way, they seemed to go after everything that was in their vicinity.
What now, Teacher?
I got it!
I cast multiple instances of Great Wall to block off the swordsmen. I just needed to physically keep them from getting to the knights.
But the enemy seemed to have figured us out. The magic cannon fired a giant projectile in an arc just after I erected the walls.
I was surprised that the enemy adjusted so quickly after seeing me cast Great Wall once, working out a way to not let the magic cannon’s projectile go to waste. The commander’s intelligence might have been on the level of a human.
But we were just a little smarter…
I had been charging telekinesis since the probability of the magic cannon firing was so high.
Not on my watch!
“Nice one, Teacher.”
Telekinesis shifted the projectile’s trajectory, causing it to make a crater in an empty field. It was powerful enough to shatter a Great Wall in a single hit… If it hit!
The antibodies are confused. Now’s our chance! I’ll protect the walls!
“Hm!”
I decimated the flustered swordsmen once their way forward was blocked, and Fran kept advancing through the horde.
Five knights stepped forward to stop her.
They were much more dangerous than I expected. Individually they were around D Threat. Strong, but no match for Fran. But with their numbers and coordination, they were no joke.
The knights waited to counterattack if we hit first and surrounded Fran when she was defending, all with perfect timing.
The archers supporting them also had unbelievable accuracy, attacking with impeccable coordination. They were on the same level as the dwarven army. Perhaps they had a mental link allowing them to carry out these coordinated maneuvers.
The horde’s perfect coordination seemed impossible without it.
But there was no stopping Fran. The coordination of the lesser antibodies was no match for her strength. To demonstrate, she killed one knight after another while perfectly dealing with the attacks of the archers and swordsmen.
Fran was now approaching the fighting soldiers. They noticed her and were shocked when she came near.
“Whaa? A child?”
“Are you okay?”
“Wh-what’s a kid doing here…?”
All of them were still alive. Survival was their main priority so they could buy the most time possible for their comrades. All five of them were badly injured but still alive.
We hit them with an area heal to get them out of the danger zone. The area-of-effect spell healed some of the surrounding antibodies, but it wasn’t a problem. They were all one-hit kills anyway.
“Giii!”
An ear-piercing screech came from the magic cannon as it toppled. Jet had destroyed it. Good, now we didn’t have to worry about those pesky cannonballs anymore!
Looks like Jet’s doing good, too.
“Let’s get away from here.”
“B-but…”
“I can’t use my area attacks with you still around.”
“I-I see…”
The soldiers silently assented, having seen Fran’s no-cast Area Heal firsthand. They immediately started moving.
The only thing left is the giant knight.
“Hm.”
The giant knight quietly standing there was creepy. I hoped it would just let us escape, but—
“Ruooo!”
Of course it won’t be that easy!
Right after Fran gave the bait soldiers the signal to escape, the giant knight rushed in with unexpected speed.
“Ruooo!”
Tch! It’s going after the soldiers…!
The giant knight thrust its lance, unleashing an arrow of shaped mana. It was quite destructive by the looks of it.
…And Fran wasn’t its main target. It was going after the soldiers behind her.
Fran knocked the arrow away, but the other antibodies moved in for the attack. They were going after anything but Fran, knowing that she wouldn’t flee. Did the antibodies have a grasp of human psychology? Or were they just going after the weakest ones first…?
Still, their attacks were nasty. The commander fired another fireball which Fran barely deflected in time. It was accounting for our exhaustion and the mistakes we would make.
“Annoying.”
What do we do…?
Should we cut through the antibodies to take it down or risk taking a few hits?
The soldiers wouldn’t die as long as Fran and I kept up our healing. Keeping all of them alive might prove difficult, though…
But we could do it. We had a powerful ally on our side, after all.
“Grrr!”
“Ruuooo!”
Jet attacked the giant knight, having defeated the magic cannon. He leapt out of the shadows and enlarged himself to force the commander down.
But the giant knight easily deflected Jet’s attack. Its body was covered in a transparent film—likely a Malice-powered barrier.
“Grrr!”
“Ruooo!”
It remained calm despite being peppered by Jet’s shadow magic. It was tough, but its barrier was visibly being chipped away. It might have been the kind to have low durability in exchange for low maintenance.
In any case, Jet had the giant knight’s attention now. With it occupied, the bait soldiers would have an easier time getting away.
Just then, the other antibodies shifted their movement. They were now going at full charge to decimate us because their leader was being pressured.
“Gather up!”
“R-right!”
The soldiers quickly gathered under Fran’s command. I cast a spell, creating a ten-meter-high wall with Fran at its center.
We were riding on a Great Wall. I cast multiple instances of it, creating a thin line of walls in front of us.
We weren’t the only ones on the wall, of course. The surrounding antibodies got caught up with us, too. But they were easy pickings for Fran’s spells. A few thunder and wind spells knocked them off the walls, securing an escape route for us and the soldiers.
“Hurry! The walls will fall if the antibodies attack them!”
“Y-yes, ma’am! Let’s hop to it!”
“Yeah!”
The scouts were able to traverse the walls without a hitch. They easily dodged projectiles from the archers without breaking their balance.
We continued running on the Great Walls until we successfully escaped.
When it was time to descend, I spawned several more Great Walls to create steps for the soldiers. A five-meter drop should prove no problem for them.
“Go back to your friends.”
“But what about you, miss?!”
“I’ll go beat them up.”
“…Don’t die out there!”
“Hm.”
As much as they didn’t want to leave Fran behind, they knew that the antibodies would come for the knights if someone didn’t stop them. Fran was the most powerful person for the job. The soldiers solemnly thanked her before fleeing the battlefield.
Now we don’t have to worry about them.
“Hm! Let’s go!”
Jet! Back to the shadows!
Woof!
Once Jet was safe in the shadows, we let out a chain of powerful spells. Fran and I brought down countless lightning bolts on our enemies with Ekato Keraunos.
Lightning filled the space around us; rumbling and shockwaves shook the ground. Even we had to put up barriers to protect ourselves against the blast.
Once the lightning faded, the scenery was unlike what it had been before. The flat plains had been transformed into a war zone riddled with holes.
The antibodies were greatly reduced. The survivors outside the area of effect and those who’d somehow managed to avoid getting struck by lightning could be counted on one hand.
And then there was the commander. It stood even as its body smouldered with smoke. We didn’t seem to have caused much damage. Did it have high magic resistance?
“Ruooo…!”
Looks like it still wants to fight!
“Good.”
Jet, you take care of the weaklings.
“Woof!”
And we’ll—
“Cut that one down!”
Yeah!
Fran readied me and charged the commander.
She didn’t teleport, probably to gauge the elite antibody’s true strength.
But she was soon disappointed.
“Weak.”
It’s not weak…it’s just…honest.
Its stats were high and its swordsmanship wasn’t too bad. But its blade was so specialized for killing that Fran could easily read its every move. It was too logical, too straightforward.
Though its blade was deadly against weaker opponents, an evenly matched one like Fran could perfectly avoid all of its attacks. And all our counterattacks landed critical hits.
In the end, the commander was defeated in less than three minutes. And Fran had even been holding back to observe some exploitable weaknesses… She could’ve taken it out in mere seconds.
It had powerful ranged attacks and leadership skills. The barrier could’ve proven dangerous, too. Not to mention its magic resistance.
“But its sword sucks.”
No argument there.
Was the commander spec’d into commanding antibody squads instead of fighting on the front lines? Were the other commanders like this, too? I sure hoped so, despite it being a disappointment to Fran.
Combat-specialized antibodies sounded like they would be quite strong.
Let’s go back to the knights for now.
“Hm.”
By the way, how are your points doing? We just beat a commander, after all.
“Right.”
Fran checked her antibody card on her walk back to the knights.
Ooh, looks like you got 2500 out of that fight.
“Hm.”
Based on our experience of fighting antibodies near the harbor, two lesser antibodies made for 1 point. One knight should be around 50 points. But there was still variation even within the same type, so it was hard to know the conversion for sure.
Judging by our current points, we got 1000 points from two thousand lesser antibodies, and the five knights netted us 250 points.
That should give us 1250 points for one magic cannon and one commander.
The elite antibodies really gave a lot of points.
We reconvened with the knights who greeted us with genuine gratitude.
“Hey! You’re alive!”
“Hm.”
“Thank you for saving us.”
“It’s nothing. Defeating antibodies is my job.”
Fran didn’t know how to handle the conversation. It was so bad that she sounded like a tsundere!
The commander spotted Fran’s embarrassment, which deepened his smile.
“Even so, the fact remains that you saved us today. Allow us to show our gratitude.”
“Do what you want.”
“Thank you very much.”
The commander bowed his head, and his men followed suit. Some were still injured while others supported their comrades, but we could feel their heartfelt thanks.
That only embarrassed Fran even more.
These weren’t adventurers who were cavalier in expressing their thanks; these soldiers were incredibly sincere. She wasn’t used to such formal and genuine gratitude from people who seemed like nobility. Their politeness was without a hint of sarcasm. I think other adventurers would’ve felt just as awkward in this situation.
“May I know where you’re heading now?”
“Nocta.”
“What a coincidence! That’s where our base is located!”
Nocta was a city developed by the Management Committee. It made sense that we would run into people who were based there around these parts.
“Would you mind if we went together? No. May I request that you escort us to Nocta? You will be rewarded, of course, in addition to your support of us today. How about it?”
He liked her enough to be honest with her. Fran wasn’t the only one who was taking a liking to these knights.
Teacher, do you mind?
No, go for it. We’re going to the same town.
“Hm. I don’t mind.”
“That’s a load off my shoulders. We are in your care.”
“Hm. And let me introduce a friend of mine.”
“A friend?”
The commander looked around and found no one. That is, until Jet popped his snout out of the shadows.
“Woof!”
“What? He came from the shadows!”
“This is Jet. My friend. Say hi, Jet.”
“Woof!”
“We are in your care as well, Jet.”
The commander kept his etiquette even with Jet. He seemed to lack the gravity that knights usually had. Not that all knights were stuck up…but a whole lot of them were.
His personality was probably why his men showed Fran the same respect he did. And they were just as polite and kind as him, too. Some looked like they were of noble blood, but they bowed their heads to Fran regardless. They must really care for each other, seeing how they’d welcomed their scouts back with tears of joy.
Our trek to Nocta was a breeze. Fran healed everyone with Recovery Magic, increasing the squad’s speed. The few antibodies that showed up were taken down instantly.
This squad was far more experienced than I gave them credit for. That was why they were on the front lines, getting themselves injured. If they needed to, they would have no problem fighting antibodies while injured, even without Fran’s help—though they might end up with more casualties.
An hour later…
“There it is! Nocta!”
“So that’s Nocta?”
“That’s right!”
The commander shouted happily, and his men followed suit. They would finally be able to catch their breath within the city walls. They were emotional over the fact that they’d made it back at all.
“It’s huge.”
“Woof.”
Nocta was a far more developed city than I was expecting. It was a lot like Alessa. But developing a city in antibody-infested lands… You really had to appreciate the hard work of their founders.
When we reached the city gates, they let us in without a fuss.
The rates of death were quite high in Goldicia. Most of the adventurers operating here also had checkered pasts. That is, they had bounties issued by whatever kingdom it was they were running away from.
Refuse them all and you wouldn’t have a city.
The cities took you in, but if you did anything stupid you were out. They might even turn you into a criminal slave and use you as a human shield. That was just general policy in Goldicia.
“Again, thank you for saving us, Lady Fran.”
“I’m getting paid.”
“There is gratitude which money cannot express. Oh, and if you’re looking for the Adventurers’ Guild, it’s over there.”
“Okay.”
“We are the Third Order Knights of the kingdom of Segilucele. It would be our honor to come to your aid should you need it.”
They were a pleasant bunch to the end. But that was probably why they were in Goldicia to begin with.
They were their nation’s representatives. Combat prowess without manners would only smear the reputation of their country.
By that standard, they were the best dispatch operating on this side of the continent. The knights and soldiers in the harbor also seemed like a trustworthy bunch.
…Except the Basharlians, anyway.
Let’s head to the guild.
“Hm.”
We parted ways and walked through the town founded in hell.
The city looked like any other. In fact, the streets were clean and the buildings beautiful and orderly. There was even an entertainment district with pubs and amusement centers.
As we took in the sights with great interest, Fran stopped in front of a particular shop.
It was an open cafe with a delicious smell of roast meat. Not something you’d see every day on a continent where food was scarce.
A lot of fish was brought in from the harbor, but the same couldn’t be said about meat. Going by the menu out front, meat was pricey. It was a luxury around these parts.
But Fran didn’t stop at the restaurant for Nocta’s exotic meat dishes. The shop had an open terrace, and there was a beautiful girl eating a tasty piece of steak. She looked very happy as she put the bites into her mouth.
She had straight blonde hair with curled tips, medium length… She kind of looked like a noble if it weren’t for her dirty cloak.
Was this the girl from the Adventurers’ Guild? She could also have been the girl who allegedly got in a fight. Not that I had any way of being sure.
But the girl oozed a gluttonous aura. She ate with ravenous frenzy, like she was being paid to advertise the food. It made even me hungry.
Gulp.
I heard Fran swallow. Teacher, she said sadly to me. She couldn’t hold back anymore.
Let’s try this restaurant. There aren’t many food stalls in Nocta anyway.
“Hm!”
“Woof!”
Money shouldn’t be a problem after our three-million-gold sale of wine. The open cafe shouldn’t have any problems letting Jet in, either.
Fran entered the shop and ordered at the counter. They would bring our order to us once we were seated. A cheerful clerk greeted us.
“Welcome!”
“Do you guys take familiars?”
“Yes! No problem.”
“What do you recommend?”
“We have—”
Fran ordered twelve items for a total of six thousand gold. It was the price of a full course meal at a classy restaurant.
The meat dish was the best-selling item on the menu, probably because it was so rare. But the taste was exquisite. I could tell from looking at Fran’s face. The soup, pasta, and stew were also delicious. Her fork wouldn’t stop moving.
The price matched the flavor.
How is it?
So good. Only slightly worse than your cooking.
Not something we would tell the chef, but it was high praise coming from her.
What about you, Jet?
“Woof!”
Jet had shrunk down to a friendly size, and he too complimented the chef. We might have found a pretty good restaurant.
The blonde glutton was still eating. We had her to thank for the recommendation. We wouldn’t have tried this shop, otherwise.
As Fran drank her after-meal tea, several knight-looking types entered the restaurant.
“This place is really good.”
“Really? I can’t wait.”
“It’s not something you can easily find back home.”
The restaurant apparently catered to senior knights. Knights didn’t enjoy stuffy restaurants, but adventurer catering restaurants were a bit too loose for their taste. This place was just the right fit.
“Huh? But the price…”
One of the men sounded surprised. Unlike the knights he was bringing in, he looked to be of common birth. The group reminded me of a salaryman bringing his superiors for lunch at a high-end French restaurant. He was visibly wincing.
“Ha ha ha. Don’t worry. It’s our treat. You did really well at the battle the other day.”
“We would’ve had more casualties if it weren’t for you. Consider it a reward.”
“Th-thank you. I accept.”
As I basked in the knights’ pleasant aura, someone wasn’t looking quite pleased. And it wasn’t Fran.
The blonde girl who had been so happily stuffing her face with food started to look flustered after hearing the knights’ conversation. In fact, she began to behave suspiciously.
What’s up with her? She was saying something under her breath. I used a wind spell to listen in.
“O-oh no… This place is expensive? I just went here on a recommendation…”
Apparently, she was strapped for money and had ordered without knowing how much everything cost. It looked like she had six plates spread on her table. Easily three thousand gold.
“I bought too many knick-knacks from the stall…!” she said, holding her head. Was she okay? “Do I beg for forgiveness and wash the dishes…? No, I’ll be found out if I did. Th-that means I’ll have to cut and run…”
Nope! She was not okay!
What is it, Teacher? Fran felt my distress. She tilted her head and looked at me.
It’s just that blonde girl over there.
Hm.
She’s planning to dine and dash.
Hm!
Fran looked shocked and turned to the blonde. The girl still looked conflicted. She shifted in her seat and scratched her head, the embodiment of suspicious behavior. The waiters would probably catch her even if we didn’t tell them about her.
She can’t do that. Fran said with a serious look. This shop has really good food. She has to pay for it.
Y-yeah.
Hm! She mustn’t run.
She was passionate about it, too. She looked just as grim as if she was up against thugs.
The girl slowly stood up as we quietly watched her. But she sat back down again.
She was feeling conflicted.
“Ugh… I can’t be found out… B-but…”
Had she run away from home? She was particularly protective of her identity. Still, she didn’t want to resort to committing a crime.
But her desire to remain hidden won out in the end.
She got up and put her hand on the low hedge around the open cafe. Was that her escape route? But someone was there to stop her.
“Hey.”
“Ah!”
Fran popped up beside her. She startled the girl, who just stared at her.
I was just as surprised. This girl wasn’t your average dine and dasher. She put her guard up despite Fran not making a sound.
The way she moved when she was trying to escape was incredibly fast. She would’ve leapt at light speed and disappeared into the crowd if Fran hadn’t stopped her.
She was glaring at Fran. I Identified her, sensing a fight coming on, but something wasn’t right. The only thing beneath her stats was…Musical Performance?
That was impossible considering how strong she was. Was she hiding it with some kind of item?
Identify had been wonky ever since we landed in Goldicia, what with the Malice-covered antibodies and all. Running into much stronger individuals, Identify simply refused to work.
And that didn’t bode well going forward.
In a battle against something we had never encountered, Identify was crucial. I needed to enhance it somehow. But it was impossible to enhance with mere points. I couldn’t invest more points into Identify or Heavensight if I wanted to.
But there was still something I could do even if I couldn’t evolve the Skills. It was all in how I used them—like how Fran managed to use Penetrate despite not having the Skill.
I needed to look deeper into my targets, beyond their Skills and stats. Their flesh, their mana…I needed to look into the deeper facts of their existence.
I disabled all the Skills I usually had on and focused my mana into Heavensight. I didn’t have eyes, but I should be able to see something else because of that fact.
I can see it.
I saw the girl’s—Sophilia’s—stats. But it was incomplete. Some of it was still blocked off.
Deeper. I needed to see deeper.
I focused on Heavensight. My nonexistent eyes began hurting.
Urgh… Oooh…
This wasn’t a good feeling. The me before wouldn’t be able to handle the load. But I was much better at using my mana now. I dug my nonexistent heels and fought through the pain.
Name: Sophilia
Age: 19
Race: Human
Class: Divine Musician
Level: 50/99
Life: 202, Magic: 1597, Strength: 49, Agility: 168
Skills: Mind Transfer 8, Musical Performance (Strings) 10, Musical Performance (Keys) 10, Musical Performance (Percussion) 8, Musical Performance (Flute) 8, Evasion 6, Healing Magic 10, Sheet Music 8, Singing 10, Wind Magic 6, Observation 4, Danger Sense 2, Conceal Presence 3, Enhance Presence 7, Garrote Arts 2, Garrote Mastery 3, Blink 2, Vibration Sense 10, Oscillation 8, Mental Status Resistance 9, Recovery Magic 3, Simultaneous Musical Performance 8, Echolocation 8, Dance 5, Stick Mastery 4, Magic Song 10, Magic
Instrument 10, Mana Thread Creation 2, Magic Resistance 7, Mana Sense 3, Mana Barrier 5, Mana Thruster 3, Voice Projection, Sound Sense, Spirit Manipulation, Enhanced Hearing, Fortitude, Sleepless, Double Mind
Unique Skill: Music God’s Blessing, Magic Voice, Mana Command
Extra Skill: ■■■, Truth of Creation
Class Skill: Fellowship Song, Folk Music
Title: Singer, Healing Mage, Instrumentalist, Songstress of Despair, Instrumentalist of Sorrow, Near Death Survivor, Instrumentalist of Legends, Music Sheet Creator
Equipment: Magic Strings Lauda, Recluse Robes, Piercing of Silence, Recluse Bracelet
I thought she was some kind of wandering minstrel, but she didn’t seem to be on a journey. Judging by her class, she was some kind of musician.
She had a lot of music-related Skills, even possessing Music God’s Blessing. She must have been a genius. She could probably handle herself in any musical situation.
But despite her wealth of music Skills, she wasn’t half bad in the combat department either. She used strings and wind magic to fight. Magic Song should also be usable in a fight. She was like a bard that showed up in videogames. A lot of buffs and debuffs from her music along with recovery magic. The perfect backliner.
She might have been comparable to a B-Rank adventurer going by her level. In fact, her Extra Skills might have pushed her into A Rank.
But there was one Skill that I couldn’t see no matter how hard I tried. It was probably concealed by her equipment.
Why would a girl like this want to cut and run…? She should have no trouble making money!
“Wh-what…?”
“You can’t do that. It’s a major crime.”
“…”
Major crime…?
But Fran looked serious. “Eating without paying is a felony punishable by death.”
I-it really wasn’t! I knew you had to respect the restaurant owner, but you didn’t get executed for it!
Fran continued as the girl continued glaring at her. “The cooking here is amazing. It’s worth paying for.”
“…”
Knowing that Fran had seen through her intentions, the girl dejectedly fell into her seat.
She didn’t look like she was going to attack or try to make her escape.
“I just… I can’t help it… If I could pay, I would…”
“Get someone you know to pay for you.”
“They’re not here. Even if they were, I can’t be found by them…”
She really did have a checkered past. What now? She was unsuccessful, but she was intending to leave without paying. Maybe we could buy her gear off her. I didn’t know how much they went for, but that should be enough to pay for her lunch.
What do you wanna do, Fran?
“…”
Fran?
Fran suddenly turned around.
“Hey, wait!”
Fran, what are you doing?
I got this.
If you say so.
She walked to the counter, dragging the girl with her.
“The bill.”
“Of course. You were at table three?”
“And I’d like to pay for her, too.”
“Shall I just combine the bill?”
“Hm. Thanks.”
Fran decided to pick up the tab.
Are you sure?
“Hm.”
Having left the restaurant, Fran turned to Sophilia who was behind her. She was stunned but somehow still glaring at her.
“Why…?”
“You owe me. I expect you to pay me back the next time we meet.”
She turned her back to the girl without waiting for an answer.
You don’t know if we’ll see her again.
That’s fine. I just thought this was the best thing to do.
I see…
Hm.
Fran didn’t exactly like her; she just couldn’t leave her in that situation.
Maybe the wild instincts of a beastman told her to gain a favor from Sophilia. But Sophilia seemed like she didn’t appreciate Fran forcing her kindness on her…
Yet when Fran had her back turned to her, Sophilia said something in a low voice, which was somehow audible.
“Thanks.”
Fran turned around, but Sophilia was nowhere to be seen.
A tsundere! Well, at least she was on board with owing Fran a favor.
What now? Should we look for a hotel?
The guild first.
The pleasant aroma of the restaurant had distracted us from looking for the guild. At least we’d managed to prevent Sophilia from a dine-and-dash.
Fran walked through the town until she made a sudden turn into an alleyway.
She wasn’t trying to go through a shortcut. If anything, this was the long way round. But she wanted to bait the people who were tailing her.
She noticed her stalkers soon after we left the open cafe. They were good at concealing their presence, but their malice was harder to hide.
For Fran, they might as well have been announcing their presence. We could ignore them and go to the guild, but these stalkers were special. Fran really wanted to talk to them.
Fran stopped in the empty alleyway. As expected, the stalkers made themselves known.
“…Don’t move.”
“Put your hands on the wall.”
One of them came from behind her while another blocked off the exit. The Blue Cats watched Fran with a piercing gaze and slowly approached her.
They must have known this town well. And it seemed like they did this kind of stuff on a daily basis. There was no hesitation in their actions.
But that made the Blue Cats tragically predictable. But the fact that they were in Goldicia meant that they were quite a lot stronger than their Jillbirdian counterparts.
They weren’t your ordinary thugs. These looked like C Ranks. The two of them made a threatening team. We would’ve been in trouble if we had been attacked by them back in Alessa. Unlike the self-proclaimed slaughterer Gyuran, these two had the stuff.
But they didn’t have enough stuff to sense Fran’s strength. But I would chalk that up to Fran getting better at concealing her power.
“Did you want something?”
“You’re no rookie if you’re all the way out in Goldicia. You know what’s coming next.”
“Heh heh. We’re hunting slaves.”
“And we won’t let a Black Cat get away.”
“The perfect prey! Don’t move! You don’t wanna die, do you?”
The Blue Cats tried to intimidate us and made their intentions clear. But they didn’t want to harm their goods in a fight.
“Put your hands up.”
“Don’t think you can get away.”
Idiots. Fran smiled as they spoke. But there was nothing fun about it…this was the smile of a predator. A tiger spotting delicious prey.
“You Blue Cats are all the same.”
“Hey! Get her!”
“Yeah!”
Fran unleashed a hint of her strength, letting them know what they were getting into.
The man in front threw a knife at her as the man behind her lunged. They knew attacking her was the only option once they figured out that they couldn’t escape.
Wrong answer!
The correct answer was to drop your weapons and beg for your lives. That would’ve made things much less painful.
“Pinpoint Stab!”
“Pointless.”
“Wha?!”
Fran casually deflected the knife with her left hand while blocking the swing of the Sword Art with me. This was a level 8 Art, powerful enough to knock an ordinary B Rank off balance… But it wasn’t going to work on Fran.
She turned around and cut the legs off of the man behind her.
“Gyaaa!”
“Shit!”
Another knife came from behind her, but Fran twisted and did a backflip, beautifully avoiding it.
“What kinda moves—goh!”
As the man was stunned by her movement, Fran landed her newly learned Penetration right in the man’s gut.
That Blue Cat vomited while his friend panicked after losing his legs. They were incredibly loud.
“Gyaaa! It hurts! She’s gonna kill us! Someone help!”
It sounded like he was calling for the guards. I guess getting arrested was better than getting killed. He sounded awful confident about the guards listening to his story, though. Maybe he had some friends among them.
“Don’t bother. I set up a wind barrier earlier. No one can hear you scream.”
“Wha… When did you…?!”
“As soon as we stepped into this alley. I knew this was coming.”
“…!”
Fran sealed the Blue Cats’ fate the instant she knew they were following her.
“Heal.”
“…!”
She healed his legs, sealing up his wounds. It would be a waste for him to die of blood loss, after all. But he knew that Fran didn’t heal him out of kindness. The Blue Cat shivered as he looked at her.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of here in one piece.”
“Urgh…”
“Now I want you to answer some questions. If you don’t feel like it, you’ll just have to do your best to survive.”
“Ah!” Despair came upon the man’s face as Fran raised me up. He knew perfectly well what was about to happen.
“Not that I’ll stop if you tell me what I want to know.”
“Yaaargh!”
Five minutes passed. The Blue Cats put up a decent fight, but they folded and begged for mercy in the end.
“You’re illegal slavers?”
“Yes…”
Their spirits were broken and bruised like their bodies. Essence of Falsehood told me he wasn’t lying. Terror and resignation showed on the Blue Cat’s face as he talked to Fran.
As expected, they kidnapped slaves for their gang. The core was made up of Blue Cat slavers, and they operated quietly in large numbers. He’d called out for the guards earlier because some of them were working for them. Even if they got arrested, his friends on the inside would let them off.
The slaves were sent to various places, Raydoss being one of them.
Blue Cats and Raydoss. Those two names were on the top of Fran’s hit list. She had no greater enemies than them.
“You have a boss?”
“Y-yes! We do!”
“Where is he?”
“C-Cendia…! The unregistered town of Cendia!”
“Cendia.”
…Just one more stop we had to make on this continent.
Honestly, I didn’t mind ignoring it, but…
“Teacher.”
I know. I won’t stop you.
“Hm.” Fran was more than motivated. Fran said under her breath with murderous intent, “Cendia’s our next stop after Castell.”
Her expression was intense enough to knock the Blue Cats out cold. Their hairs stood on end with fear. At least feinting made handling them a lot easier.
We could’ve killed them right then, but Fran resisted. She tied them up and put them into burlap bags. She cut off their tails for good measure.
She carried them off to the Adventurers’ Guild.
After going through their belongings, the Blue Cats turned out to be adventurers. They were really in hot water after attacking Fran with their ID cards on them. The guild said the two were quite famous…for all the wrong reasons.
At least the guild was pleased with Fran for taking the two down on her own. We left the Blue Cats with the submaster and proceeded to the guildmaster’s office.
“I am Riplea, the guildmaster in Nocta. Pleased to meet you. Fu fu fu.”
“Fran.”
“The Black Lightning Princess. We finally meet!”
This was the woman. The one who was said to be a pervert who liked strong people.
She was a beautiful and enticing mage with the equipment of a backliner. She wore a tipped witch’s hat whose color matched her black mantle. Beneath it was a white blouse and a tight black skirt that emphasized the curves of her body.
Was she…going for that look? She had the body of a big-boobed gravure idol and had glossy lips. Her eyes were sleepy and feverish, with a beauty mark by one of them. If I’d had a body, I would’ve been very interested in the gap between her legs under her tight skirt.
She was totally bewitching and seductive, which was probably the reason why she was called a pervert.
“Those two are C Ranks who specialize in assassination. And you beat them up so hard they were begging for their lives! Brilliant!”
“Hm…”
“Fu fu. I’ll be sure to punish those two and their little friends. Don’t worry.”
Fran squirmed under her gaze and looked uneasy.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing.”
“Really?”
“Hm…”
Fran did not know how to interact with Riplea. She seemed very uncomfortable under her ravishing gaze.
This might be a first for Fran. She was used to getting ready for a fight against those who were clearly hostile against her. But she’d had no experience with seduction and could only be bewildered by it.
She furled her eyebrows and broke eye contact with Riplea.
“Mmhn~”
“!”
Fran twitched when Riplea let out a deliberate moan.
It might be best to get the information we needed as fast as possible and escape the guild.
“I-I have some questions.”
“Sure. Ask away.”
Riplea wasn’t lying. She answered every question we had for her. The location of the unregistered town Cendia and the criminal organization inside it. She even gave us the names of some primary suspects. Not only that, but she also gave us information on the recent news from around the continent.
I was worried about her being so generous, but she seemed to have taken a genuine liking to Fran.
It would also be a benefit to her to equip high-performing adventurers with as much information as they needed. Adventurers who could take out entire squadrons of antibodies were highly valued.
“The dwarves have really been standing out lately.”
She told us how the dwarves had been an unstoppable force and that the magi army had accomplished great things, among other interesting tidbits.
But what interested us most was the arrival of a godsword user in the northern harbor.
“Godsword!”
“From the northern continent, yes. And there are two of them.”
“Two godswords? Wow.”
“Indeed.”
The northern continent was split between two great kingdoms, both of which had dispatched their knights to Goldicia. The kingdoms were on bad terms with each other, and the threat of war was constant. Each had its godsword, and war between the two would lead to untold destruction.
Dominating the eastern half of Brodin was the Holy Empire of Szilard. Possessing the godsword Alpha, it was a military superpower that advocated justice and compassion.
The west was dominated by the Hagane Shogunate, still in conflict with Szilard. This mysterious and reclusive nation possessed the godsword Berserk.
Each kingdom owned great expanses of land and had powerful militaries. Each feared the situation between them worsening, and there was a tacit understanding that the godswords were not to be used in their conflict. There were times when they used the godswords to settle small disputes and intimidate each other, but both nations prohibited bringing the godswords into outright war. They were the equivalent of nuclear weapons back on Earth.
“So, they’re bringing their godswords with them here?”
“They do so once a decade, I believe.”
It helped that the rest of the world wanted the two nations to use their godswords for the Goldician Obligation.
While they were powerful enough to ignore the world’s pleas for peace, the other nations would end up saying, “They’ve got those godswords, but they’re too selfish and narrow minded to use it for others.”
It was a matter of pride. Both nations would eventually answer other countries’ pleas—Szilard was particularly proactive, because it wanted to protect its image. But their problem was always each other. If one country sent its godsword abroad, it would create an opening for the other country to attack it. Both fearing this outcome, the two nations refused to use their godswords for the Goldician Obligation for the longest time. But one day an agreement was struck between them where they agreed to dispatch their godswords in the same sortie.
With the absence of both godswords, the kingdoms would be reluctant to attack each other. Political squabbles were strictly forbidden as long as they were in Goldicia, so it was unlikely that they would start attacking each other on the continent.
And so, the two nations would send their godswords to Goldicia once every ten years.
“So Alpha and Berserk are here?”
“That’s right.”
“Whoa…”
I would like to see that if we got the chance. We were tangentially related, after all.
But Goldicia was really something else. From what we’d gathered so far, the continent was currently host to four godswords: Land Sword Gaia, Flame Sword Ignis, The First Godsword Alpha, and Mad Sword Berserk.
Three of the Seven Sages were also here: the dwarven queen Orfevre and the owners of Alpha and Berserk. Add to that two S Ranks and Trismegistus, and it really was a nightmare haunted by the powerful.
“Any other questions?”
“Uhhh…”
An hour passed.
“Sorry about our guildmaster.”
“…Thanks.”
“Well, my job is to protect adventurers from the guildmaster’s…hospitality.”
The submaster had stepped in when Fran was desperately refusing Riplea’s invitation to stay the night at her home. Even Riplea couldn’t overcome the old submaster. Behind the old man’s gentle smile was a thick armor of muscle rivaling younger adventurers.
“Feel free to call for me if the guildmaster is giving you trouble.”
“Hm.”
Her fame of being a pervert who liked strong people was more than accurate. I was relieved that Fran didn’t understand what it fully meant. It didn’t matter what race, age, or gender you were as long as you were strong… She might’ve been even more terrifying than Ulmutt’s Elza.
But as long as she liked Fran, Riplea was sure to extract all the information she could from the Blue Cats through her punishment. She also promised to look for their accomplices in the guard. We had a lot to look forward to.
But man, Riplea was persistent. She probably hadn’t given up on Fran yet.
Escaping the succubus, Fran was now heading to the training grounds. But it wasn’t to spar. A request had been made, but there was something more pressing at hand.
“Fresh meat is rare on the continent. We really appreciate it.”
“I have a lot of it.”
“Even better!” The old man smiled with delight. There was now a pep in his step.
We had been asked to take all the monster meat we had gathered out of Pocket Dimension. Meat and materials were rare in Goldicia.
Meat was especially rare. Necessary supplies of materials were usually shipped in from the other nations, mostly for repairs. The same couldn’t be said for meats.
They weren’t strictly necessary and transporting them across the sea was difficult. Not impossible…but the cost made it unrealistic.
The main staple of Goldicia was fish caught around the continent. Fish was much cheaper than it was in Ulmutt. But for adventurers, meat was meat. And they had a craving.
The problem was that there were barely any animals to hunt.
And here was Fran with a Pocket Dimension full of meat. The guildmaster and submaster became very interested when they heard it.
“Did you say meat?!”
“She said meat!”
“And materials.”
“Meat, did you hear that?”
“Yes, I did. She said meat.”
I was wondering if the submaster only helped Fran because he heard the word meat. Never mind the materials! That was the overall tenor of the conversation.
Did I mention meat?
But there was a problem. The guild didn’t have a dedicated carving facility due to the lack of influx of monster materials. The carving room they did have was small because they mainly dealt with deer, boars, rodents, and rabbits. It couldn’t be helped.
So here we were at the training ground, which was much larger than the average guild’s. There were a lot of adventurers here and all of them needed to train.
“This is our underground training ground.”
“Wow, it’s big.”
“That it is.”
It was five times the size of the training ground in Ulmutt. Close to a hundred adventurers were honing their skills. The size was at the expense of a large carving room.
All eyes were immediately on us. The submaster had just brought in a little girl, after all.
“Submaster, who’s the kid?”
“…Does she look like a normal child to you, Koson?”
“Nope. That’s what she looks like to the rest of the guys, though.”
“Too bad for them.”
“Heh heh.”
The warrior called Koson was quite strong. He was probably in charge of training the adventurers here. He was a tough middle-aged man with red hair done in a crew cut.
“They’ll find out soon enough. Lady Fran, if you will. I’ll clear out the adventurers for you.”
“Oh?”
Koson understood by the way the submaster addressed Fran that she wasn’t a run-of-the-mill strong adventurer. He looked at her with increased interest.
“Everybody to the walls! The training ground is now in use!”
“Hey, what gives? We were just getting star—gah!”
Uh, the submaster had just kicked one of the warriors without saying a word.
I guess it was one way to demonstrate that the adventurers needed to get to the walls. The man crashed into the wall and stayed motionless. He wasn’t dead, right?
“The guildmaster has authorized it. Anyone else have questions?”
Authority and violence. No one could object with both things at play. The other adventurers quickly scurried to the training ground walls. Some of them were shaking; I guessed they were friends with the man who got kicked.
The submaster looked around for any other stragglers, but he quickly turned to Fran and smiled.
Terrifying.
“Right this way.”
“Hm.”
Koson peeled the man off the wall and grinned. He probably thought he was in for a special sparring match. A look of great interest was on his face. For adventurers in Goldicia, sparring matches were a learning opportunity as well as entertainment. Unfortunately, there would be none of that going on.
“Here goes.”
Fran pulled out a monster to start. A Fanged Boar split in half. It was of low quality.
But she was told that quantity mattered more than quality and continued pulling out large monsters out to the training ground floor, even if they weren’t in great shape.
The adventurers gasped every time a carcass was brought out. They understood that this was going to turn into food. Eventually, those gasps turned into cheers.
“Thank you very much. We will pay you generously for this. May I ask that you help us in carving them? I’ll throw something extra for the carving lesson.”
“Sure. I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.”
The adventurers of the continent were out of practice, so we owed it to them to give a proper demonstration.
Turns out they were really bad at it. They spent most of their time fighting, leaving a gap in their utility skills. Even if they had learned how to carve once upon a time, their time in Goldicia had made them rusty. I didn’t blame them; it was a useless skill to have in these parts. Even the submaster was terrible at it.
Carving the whole lot took quite a bit of time. But after that, the adventurers threw a glorious meat party.
“Wa ha ha! Now this is what I call food!”
“All we need now are some pretty ladies!”
“You got that right!”
The training ground turned into a watering hole. They had no problem having fun even with the smell of blood still in the air.
The guild didn’t provide meat for the party. Nor did they eat the meat they gave to the guild. All the meat in this party was provided by Fran for the adventurers.
Building a reputation among the adventurers of Goldicia was worth it.
We held a barbecue with the freshly carved meat. The adventurers got incredibly passionate at the sight of the food, so I got a little worried that violence might break out.
But the submaster said nothing even after Fran made a stove and griddle out of earth magic and began cooking with fire magic.
He must have been relieved. He was definitely worried over how his adventurers would react. There wasn’t enough meat to completely satisfy the hundred strong adventurers in the room but there was at least enough ale to go around.
The party was in full swing as more adventurers showed up with drinks in their hands.
“Kid, you drinkin’?!”
“No.”
“Gah ha! Still too young, huh! What about your little wolf over there?”
“Woof.”
“What’s that? You don’t want any of mine?!”
“Glurb!”
Ale was being forced down Jet’s throat. He could’ve retaliated, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment. Our wolf was quite considerate.
Or maybe he just wanted to drink. He didn’t spill a drop of it. Had we ever given Jet alcohol up to this point? I didn’t think we had…
“Erf.”
“Guh ha! That’s the spirit! Drink up!”
“Wuf!” He didn’t seem to mind the taste. He’d better not beg for any later.
Suddenly, the adventurers started to sing.
“We are adventurers~ Adventurers in the land of gold~”
“We don’t fear nothin’!”
“Not dragons, not demons, nothin’!”
“We go to battle for money and friends and ale! We are adventurers~”
It was an awful song, but it sounded mysteriously wonderful as everyone sang it.
“Ha ha ha! Sorry for the noise! This is a song all adventurers of this continent know.”
“Is it an old song?”
“Damn right!” said Koson, the leader of the adventurers.
The song’s true origins were disputable, but it was apparently composed by the adventurers who first landed in Goldicia immediately after it was taken over by the Abyss Eater.
The history of the adventurers of the past was even more checkered than that of their successors, and they had all started singing it as a drinking song. Vulgar, violent, uncultured. Memorable. It was inevitable that the song would be passed down through history. The song was remembered precisely because it was so uncouth.
“Keep fighting~ Don’t look back~ Show your guts~”
“Get up! This is your time to shine!”
“Put everything into it!”
“We’re right behind you!”
At first, the song was a glorification of the recklessness native to adventurers. But it was also a song to encourage their comrades when things got tough.
“We are adventurers~”
“Adventurers of the land of gold~”
Everyone joined the chorus. Even Fran had started singing. As long as you got the Adventurers~ part right, anyone could sing this song.
Fran was expressionless as always, but she was having fun. She loved the vibe the adventurers had.
The party continued until it was put to a stop about an hour later. The training ground was not to be converted to a pub. Fran and the other adventurers enjoyed themselves greatly.
The adventurers worked together to clear out the smell the barbecue left behind.
Wind and water magic along with some purification and deodorizing spells. Soon enough, the training ground was back to smelling like dirt. They were all very cooperative. Maybe the barbecue had something to do with it.
It’s nighttime.
“Woof.”
We looked out on the streets from the guild counter, and the sky was split into a red-and-black contrast.
Soon enough, a curtain of night would be thrown on the whole town.
Looks like we’re staying the night in Nocta.
“…Hm.”
Fran hesitated slightly but nodded. As much as she wanted to hurry along, sleep was vital in Goldicia.
The guild recommended a high-class hotel near the city center. Pricey, but it was quiet with delicious food. Knights and nobles usually stayed there.
What did you think of the guild?
“Loud.”
Even so, Fran continued singing the adventurer song with Jet howling in accompaniment. They must have had fun.
She was humming all the way to the hotel.
We should join other parties in the future.
But suddenly, Fran stopped.
…Is stalking children a popular activity in Nocta?
Three of them. And they’re big?
Probably drakes. And ones with bad intentions.
What now?
Let’s bait them as usual. It’d be a pain if they followed us all the way to the hotel.
All right.
Fran made a sudden turn to enter an alleyway. If her stalkers stopped following her because of it, Jet could always just tail them from the shadows.
They’re still on us.
And their footsteps are loud. Are they amateurs?
They’re not scouts, if nothing else.
The average thug usually had a concealment Skill or two. These guys weren’t even bothering to hide their presence.
We’ll know soon enough.
“Hm.”
We waited a few seconds. The big men appeared, stomping their way in.
“You there! Girl!”
“What?”
“You have meat!”
“W-we know you do! Hand it over!”
“…Are you going to pay me for it?” Fran asked just in case. Maybe they were open to negotiation.
“Money? We don’t have money!”
“Just give us the meat! All that meat is a waste on you adventurers!”
“That’s right! You should be giving that meat to the drakes! The meat wants you to do that!”
“Yeah! The Drake King might make us imperial guards if we were to present him with some meat!”
“Hand it over, girl!”
They were just idiots. Drake King? I thought the Drake Kingdom was abolished a long time ago?
“Drake King? Do you mean Trismegistus?”
“Don’t be absurd! That fool is not our king!”
“That’s right!”
Guess not. So, someone among the drakes was proclaimed to be the Drake King…and these guys were his minions?
Let’s beat them up and get some answers.
“Hm.”
The drakes were terribly weak. Their stats were high because of their racial advantage, but that was about it. They had next to no Skills. And they didn’t train at all, relying on their natural talent. Their Identify results were similar to a lot of power-leveled nobles.
They didn’t have any guts, so they lacked fighting spirit, too.
Still, they were so confident about defeating Fran that it revealed a lot about their character.
Please hold back.
“I know. I won’t kill them.”
Fran was angry at the drakes for ruining her good mood after the party at the guild.
I can heal them as long as they’re not dead.
“Hm.”
Fran cracked her knuckles and slowly stepped forward. And then it happened.
“W-we’re sorry!”
“We just wanted to look cool!”
“M-mercy…”
Fran hadn’t even drawn me, let alone start attacking. She just glared at them with murderous intent. And that was enough for the drakes to tuck their tails between their legs and start shaking.
“Are you working for the Drake King?”
“Uhh, not exactly…”
“Spit it out.”
Fran glared at them again, prompting them to pull off the high-level technique of falling to their faces with their arms outstretched.
“Yes! We want to work for him, but we’re not actually working for him at all!”
“We’ve never even met him!”
These weren’t your ordinary hooligans.
Drakes had special treatment in Goldicia. Knights and soldiers respected them, and they allowed them to get away with insolence most of the time. And although drakes occasionally clashed with adventurers, they turned a blind eye to their minor misdemeanors.
As a result, they mistook the respect paid to their race as respect paid to them personally.
“I thought drakes lived in settlements all over the continent to hunt antibodies.”
“I mean, you can’t expect us to make up for the mistakes of our ancestors…”
“Yeah. They put us through an awful amount of training so that we could become warriors.”
“We just wanna have fun!”
These draconic thugs fled their settlements because of the harsh training and escaped to Nocta where they could scrape by if they hunted down the bare minimum number of antibodies.
I sympathized with the fact that children shouldn’t have to atone for the sins of their fathers. In a sense, these guys were victims. If only they hadn’t turned to a life of crime.
“Where is the Drake King?”
“Wh-who knows?”
“A-all we’ve heard are the rumors…”
So, there was someone going around calling himself the Drake King, but these guys were completely unrelated. But they wanted to cash in, thinking that they could live large if they did him a favor. The meat was supposed to be their meal ticket.
These guys were impressively stupid. Even Fran lost the desire to kill them. Her murderous intent was replaced with exasperation.
What do we do with them, Teacher?
Hmm. I guess we could just hand them over to the Adventurers’ Guild. They wouldn’t mind since we sold them all that meat.
Good idea. I’ll do that.
The Drake King. The whole thing sounded fishy.
I just hoped we wouldn’t have to deal with him.
Chapter 4: Ties That Bind
Chapter 4:
Ties That Bind
THE NIGHT AFTER we left Nocta…
There! I think that’s Castell!
Our destination was in sight. Though we ran into some antibodies along the way, our journey was mostly unhindered since it wasn’t a whole army of them.
I zoomed in on the village from the sky. Battered buildings were surrounded by equally battered wooden fences. There were no signs of life.
It was strange that there were no lights at this time of day. The place was definitely deserted.
The unregistered village had fallen to antibody attacks.
A common sight in Goldicia.
That’s Castell…
…Do you remember anything?
No.
Okay.
Fran shook her head. She’d lived here five years ago and had never seen the village from this angle. It was natural that she couldn’t remember.
Let’s get down there.
“Hm. Jet, over there.”
“Woof!”
Jet obeyed her command and landed in the village plaza.
Grass grew out of the ground near destroyed houses. Weeds peeked through the pavement of the plaza. No one had been here for years. The overgrowth was mostly grass instead of vines because of the dry air.
“…” Fran quietly surveyed the plaza.
An overgrown plaza at sundown. The shadows of the grass swayed in the twilight.
Once upon a time, laughter filled the air.
Now, it was only filled with the sound of insects and rustling leaves.
“This place…”
Fran?
“It seems…familiar…” Fran started walking toward the entrance of the plaza.
Was she actually remembering something?
It should’ve looked nothing like what she remembered. This place was a husk of its former self. Grass had completely taken over the ground on which she walked.
But she started walking faster and with purpose. She must’ve been on to something.
Maybe the atmosphere reminded her of her hometown. Maybe it was instinct. Fran had been growing increasingly sharp lately, making decisions based on intuition. I was just amazed that she did it so well…
Perhaps maturing as a beastman was sharpening her instincts.
Fran, where are you going?
Fran charged through the bushes, clearing a path through the grass.
“Here…”
Fran?
“…I knew it.”
No good. She was completely entranced by her memories and took no note of her surroundings.
Jet, be on guard.
“Woof!”
Fran continued through the thicket. She stepped through the grass and cleared a path to her destination.
Until she finally stopped.
“…” Fran looked at the building in front of her.
It was a small house, the walls broken, the roof collapsed. It was small even by the standards of this world. All of the houses in Castell were like it, though.
“…”
Seventy percent of the walls were broken while the rest had rotted away.
She peeked through a hole in the wall. Broken furniture was all over the floor, and the house had not escaped the invasion of the overgrowth.
She quietly entered from the side. There was a wooden frame that used to hold a door.
Fran?
“…Here,” Fran said, voice hoarse, as she approached an empty room.
Her steps lost their strength as if something was keeping her from going forward. Heavy footsteps.
But Fran’s reaction…
All I could do was silently watch over her.
“…”
Fran stepped into the abandoned room.
The ceiling and walls were of no more use. The flooring had fallen away, replaced by a carpet of grass. The overgrowth had hidden even the silhouette of the flooring.
But Fran definitely saw something.
“… This is my house.”
I knew it.
“Hm… I lived here with Mom and Dad…” Fran croaked as tears fell from her face.
I wondered what those tears signified.
Sadness? Joy? Loneliness from reliving old memories? Grief from living through her parents’ death?
“I’m home…”
Whatever it was, her tears were sacred. I said nothing and continued to watch. Her shoulders shook until she eventually calmed down.
She lifted her face and rubbed her eyes.
You okay?
“Hm. Thanks.”
Her eyes puffy and red, she continued her tour of her home. Had the antibodies destroyed this place? Perhaps bandits had come to raid it afterward. There was no trace of any cutlery or decoration left here.
If only there was something to remember it by…
But Fran seemed to have thought of something. She walked to a corner of the room, cleared out the grass, and started digging. She continued for several minutes, not minding the dirt in her hands. Finally, she took something out of the ground.
“This…”
A mug?
“Hm. I got it for my birthday.”
The mug, which used to be white, was split down the middle. It was covered in dirt, but a quick water spell revealed its original white color. The small spiral pattern on it was also now visible.
“It was my fifth birthday.”
The young Fran had loved the mug and drank everything out of it.
But she got careless one day and broke it. Fearing a scolding, she lifted the floorboards and buried it in the ground, which was how it managed to survive.
Do you want to get it fixed? It shouldn’t be too hard.
“Really?”
Yeah.
“Hm! I do! I’ll do anything to fix it!”
Her smile returned. Sadness didn’t suit her.
“Let’s look for the graveyard now.”
Amanda said she made graves for your parents.
“Hm!”
They should be located next to an already established graveyard… But where?
“…There.”
Her memories of the village had returned. She stepped forward without hesitation. Something must have clicked. The hesitation she had when we reached Castell was gone.
“The graveyard’s over there.”
She pointed out a dried-up fence peeking out of the overgrowth, creating a partition between the village square and what was beyond it.
We traversed the sea of grass until we eventually reached the graveyard.
Small tombstones were lined up in the cramped space.
But something was odd.
Why isn’t grass growing here?
“Maybe someone cut it.”
But that’s…
Hang on. Just because no one lived here didn’t mean there were no visitors. Maybe someone regularly came to clean up the place.
If nothing else, they kept the graveyard clean.
Oh well. It made it easier for us to find the graveyard, at least.
“Hm.”
We took a walk around the graveyard to inspect it. Someone had definitely been taking care of this place. It wasn’t just the grass. The tombstones were also clean. There was only a bit of vine and dirt.
Someone had cleaned this place within a couple of days. We might be able to find the Castellian survivor in the nearby towns and villages.
Fran looked around for a little longer until she finally found what we came for.
“There…”
That doesn’t look like the rest of this place.
“Hm.”
Amanda said she made the graves herself, and it clearly showed.
Unlike the professionally cut tombstones, these graves were marked by regular-sized rocks and cut by amateur hands. Rough around the edges.
But they were made with care and attention, being hewn over and over again. You could tell a lot of love was put into them.
Drawing closer, the stones read Kenan and Framere. These were the graves of Fran’s parents. Fran’s name was left out because her body was never found. Amanda was holding on to the hope that all was not lost.
“Mom… Dad…”
Fran, here.
“Thanks, Teacher.”
I took some flowers out of Pocket Dimension and handed them to her. We had acquired these in Belioth because we knew we would be paying our respects. It wasn’t impressive, but we put our hearts into it. Fran and I picked these flowers ourselves. They meant Desiring Joy… Desiring joy for others.
Fran desired joy for her parents the same way they did for her. It was a staple flower in Belioth for grave visits.
Fran set the two flowers in front of their graves and quietly closed her eyes.
“…”
…
“Woof…”
We prayed in silence.
Fran’s mother and father. Hello. I’m Teacher. Fran’s partner. I know you’re worried because I’m not much, but I’ll gladly give up my life for her. Please keep watching over her from heaven.
A few minutes passed. Fran looked at the sky. The twilight was invading, blending orange into the blue sky.
She then nodded.
“…Hm. I’m done.”
Are you sure?
“Hm. I’ve said my goodbyes.”
I was satisfied as long as she was.
It was good of us to come here. I renewed my resolve to protect her.
“I’m cleaning the graves.”
Yeah. Let’s clear out the grass.
“Hm.”
There wasn’t much to do, but it was necessary that we do it anyway.
After clearing out the surrounding weeds, we cleaned up the graves of Fran’s parents with a water spell.
Then, something happened right after we finished.
Fran suddenly stopped. And she wasn’t the only one. Jet was in a similar state.
“Hrm?”
“Bark, bark!”
That was—
I felt it too. Someone was here. I looked over our surroundings and detected a faint presence. And here we thought the place was deserted.
I scouted the place further and detected someone in the house next to the graveyard.
Were they living in the abandoned village? Were they running away and taking shelter? Whoever it was, they were pretty good at avoiding detection from us for so long.
If they hadn’t momentarily dropped their concealment, we would’ve left Castell never realizing their existence.
What should we do? We don’t know if they’re friendly.
They could be a bandit, a former adventurer, or someone tied to a criminal organization.
But Fran headed in the direction of the presence.
We might be able to learn something about Castell. And if they mean trouble…
Fran didn’t know whether she could call Castell her hometown. But it was important to her. It was where she and her parents had lived, where they laughed and cried.
She wouldn’t let anyone defile it any further. She had decided on that much.
All right. But be careful. Jet, go to the shadows and get ready to attack.
Woof!
Now, who were we going to run into?
The presence was faint. But it was still here. It didn’t run away. It was hard to describe, but I definitely felt the presence of someone near us.
They’re pretty good for being able to hide themselves while this close.
Hm.
Even if we couldn’t feel their presence now, their previous mistake allowed us to pinpoint their position. They should still be there as long as they hadn’t moved.
Over there.
Fran widened her eyes and stopped.
I felt something unsettling as we approached the house. It was a lot better off compared to the rest of the village. Repairs had been made to the roof and walls. Someone had been here recently.
But Fran was shocked by something else.
That house…
It looked familiar to her.
Fran?
…It’s Auntie’s house.
Auntie?
Hm. Auntie.
The house belonged to an acquaintance of hers. But there was no way she would still be living here…
Fran, even if they’re an intruder, don’t immediately strike them down.
It might have just been an adventurer taking a break. Not knowing if we were friendly, perhaps they just wanted to pass the time in silence.
I know.
Fran slowly walked toward the house and stopped about three meters from the entrance.
I’m opening it.
Hm.
Getting any closer was too risky.
I used telekinesis to open the door from afar.
Teacher!
Right!
I stopped telekinesis. Someone was in the house, and they realized Fran was on to them. They gave up and came out on their own.
They slowly opened the door, probably so as not to scare us.
…
Creak.
The wooden door made a shrill sound as it was pushed from the inside. The figure inside called out to us. “I’m not looking for a fight. How about we talk this over?”
A tall middle-aged woman appeared. Her hair was violet in a short bob and unkempt. Her white skin was covered in scars, a testimony to all the violent battles she had been in.
Her face looked proper but fatigued. Her clothes were dirty, concealing her femininity. Judging by the depth of the wrinkles on her face, she looked like she was around forty.
Her amethyst eyes were filled with caution.
It was a testament to the life she led that she didn’t let her guard down even around a child.
I could tell how strong she was now that we were facing her. She was strong enough that we couldn’t get careless.
She didn’t look like an elite adventurer. She wore a long coat and a leather poncho. Beat-up leather boots were on her feet. Her weapon was hung beneath her coat, probably a sword.
“…”
Fran’s eyes widened in shock when she saw her. I know the woman was strong, but Fran’s surprise seemed excessive. The woman in front of us wasn’t as strong as Winalene, after all.
But the woman’s strength wasn’t the reason behind her bewilderment.
“Auntie…?”
“Huh? Well, I guess I’m about the age to be called that… Wait… That face…”
The woman looked suspiciously at Fran. But surprise soon washed over her face. She stared so hard at Fran that it could’ve bored a hole through her.
“Is that… Is that you, Fran…?” she croaked as she trembled. She knew who Fran was.
Huh?
Were they acquaintances? Was this Fran’s so-called aunt from earlier? Was her old neighbor still living here?
As I was reeling from shock, Fran and the woman slowly approached each other.
They looked at each other’s faces. They probably didn’t realize they had gotten so close.
Then they both realized at the same time that they recognized each other.
“Auntie!”
“Fran!”
They hugged each other.
“Fran…! Oh, Fran, it’s really you!”
“Hm…!”
“You’re alive! You’re still alive…!”
“Hm…”
Large tears streamed down Fran’s face as she buried her face in the woman’s chest.
The woman was much the same, crying while holding Fran in her arms.
“Uhhh…”
“Urgh…”
Five minutes passed as they hugged each other.
Finally calming down, they let each other go and inspected each other.
“Are you an adventurer now, Fran?”
“Hm.”
“What… What happened to you since then? I thought you had…”
“Mom and Dad were killed by monsters—antibodies. I know that now…”
“I knew it…”
The woman hadn’t seen Fran’s parents on the day they died. By the time she came back, the village had been attacked by antibodies, Fran’s parents were gone, and graves had been set up for them.
That was enough to tell her the whole story.
“Hm. And then I got caught by Blue Cats who enslaved me.”
“Blue Cats…! Always those bastards!”
“I was a slave for a while, but I got rescued. And now I’m an adventurer.”
“Rescued? What happened there? Do you mind telling me if it doesn’t hurt too much?” the woman asked kindly.
There was no hint of curiosity in her voice, only compassion. The woman didn’t look like she was living a good life, either. Even so, she was still Fran’s guardian.
Teacher.
I don’t mind. I want to know more about this person, too.
“Hm. I’ll tell you everything.”
“Let’s not stand around outside. Come in.”
And so, Fran got an invitation to the woman’s house.
Judging by the state of the house, she was definitely living there.
“Sorry about the mess… Have a seat.”
“Hm. Okay.”
As the woman said, her house wasn’t exactly clean. She didn’t really bother tidying it up. But it was hard to call it messy, probably because there wasn’t much furniture to begin with.
An old table and a chair so short it had to be handmade. The only other thing in the cold room was a bed.
It looked…cozy enough, but the life lived here would be uncomfortable.
Had she been living here this whole time?
The woman motioned Fran to the chair as she sat on the bed.
“I’d make you some tea, but I don’t have any.”
“Then we’ll have this.”
“Pocket Dimension! Fran, what have you been up to?”
The woman got up in shock as Fran poured them some tea. She still felt the need to protect the little girl. But this little girl turned up with an incredibly rare Skill.
She had a sip of tea to calm herself down before starting.
“Sorry. I just can’t imagine what kind of life you’ve had since that day… Mind telling me?”
“Hm.”
Fran quietly told her everything she had been through.
How her parents were killed by a swarm of antibodies. How Blue Cats infiltrated the village and enslaved her afterward. How several years passed after that.
Fran was forced to do labor somewhere in Goldicia before being shipped to Jillbird. She said she’d never seen the ocean before coming to Dars, because the ship had set sail under cover of night. The slaves had been crammed into the hull of the ship.
As she was en route to another location, she met me.
“You did a great job making it back here from Jillbird… You said the person who saved you is with you now?”
“Hm. He’s a friend and I owe him my life. I’ll introduce you.”
It looked like I was up!
“Teacher.”
Hi!
The woman jolted at the voice of an unknown man.
“Eh?!”
I’m Teacher. Fran’s partner.
“Where is that coming from…?!”
She was bewildered at the voice without a face. She was still bewildered even though Fran said she’d introduce me to her. But Fran calmly took me along with my sheath. It was still difficult to understand her, though.
“Teacher is this sword.”
Hello. I’m Teacher, an Intelligent Weapon.
“An Intelligent Weapon…?”
The woman got up, still not grasping the situation. She watched as I pulled myself out of my sheath and hovered in the air. The look on her face was the picture of surprise. It was a pretty good reaction.
You don’t see this every day, huh?
“O-of course not!”
Trismegistus owned an Intelligent Weapon, but the people of Goldicia didn’t run into him if they could help it.
But she calmed down once she saw the proud look on Fran’s face. She probably thought losing her cool in front of Fran would be shameful.
“Huff… Sorry. You caught me off guard.”
Sorry about scaring you like that.
“I am Black Cat Nadia. Just an ordinary gravekeeper. You can call me Auntie if you like.” As startled as she was, she soon accepted my existence easily. It wasn’t an act, either. She didn’t force herself to be strong just because Fran was watching.
… Pleased to meet you, Nadia.
“Ha ha. You’re quite human for a sword. At least you can read the room.” Nadia grinned. Not calling her Auntie had been the right move. “And Teacher saved you?”
“Hm. He did.”
Fran told her about how we met. We helped each other, really, since I was stuck in the ground.
“And then I went on an adventure with Teacher and got stronger.”
She’s really strong now.
“Yes, I can tell…”
“And Teacher’s not my only friend. Jet.”
“Woof!”
“Whoa! I didn’t even feel him… I-is this your familiar?”
“This is Jet.”
“Woof!”
A miniature Jet came out of Fran’s shadow and barked cutely. He was trying to impress Nadia, since she was strong and important to Fran.
But it didn’t work—Nadia could tell just how strong he was. “So, you got really strong and got a powerful familiar on the way… And a legendary Intelligent Weapon… What kind of adventure did you go on?”
“A great one!”
Yeah, a lot happened.
“Hm! Lots!”
Fran provided an abbreviated version of our adventure, with me filling in a few details.
Looking back on it now, a lot really happened over the course of one year. I thought it would be over in ten minutes, but the conversation went on for over an hour.
And once Fran got really into telling her story, there was no stopping her. She was quite a passionate storyteller.
With someone as familiar as Nadia, Fran actually acted like a child.
“And then I told them, ‘I see right through your plot!’”
“Wow! That’s amazing, Fran.”
“Hm!”
I wasn’t sure she’d ever actually said that. But embellishments were inevitable, I suppose. Nadia was also a good listener, with her exaggerated reactions.
Another thirty minutes passed.
“And that was how Teacher, Jet, and I got to this continent.”
“I see. I’ve heard rumors of Trismegistus’s sword.”
Fran was satisfied, not having had to censor any part of her grand adventure. She drank her cold tea and took a deep breath. In the meantime, I asked Nadia some questions.
Do you know anything about Trismegistus’s Intelligent Weapon?
I thought she would know something about it, having been in Goldicia for so long. But Nadia regrettably shook her head.
“Not much. He’s been using it for thousands of years. Must be something special…”
All she knew was that there was something different about Trismegistus’s sword. I decided we would really have to see him in person, after all.
But Fran was reunited with Nadia. The least we could do was spend more time with her. And something else had also caught my interest.
Fran had been keeping something out of her story so far. It was quite an important something too.
Aren’t you going to talk to her about evolution?
I’m going to. It’s a surprise.
I see.
Hm!
We had been keeping Stealth Evolution activated this whole time to keep as low of a profile as we could. Beastmen could tell when other beastmen had evolved. Did that mean evolved beastmen emitted a certain power?
The antibodies might just sniff that out. That was why we’d kept Stealth Evolution on this entire time, even after meeting Nadia. She should have no idea that Fran had evolved.
Apparently, Fran had kept quiet about it in order to surprise her. I’d never seen her be this childish before. She was really comfortable around Nadia.
Honestly, I was worried this childish prank might give Nadia a heart attack…
“There’s actually one more secret?”
“A secret? Really. Even greater than Teacher being a discarded godsword?”
“It’s about the same level.”
Honestly, I thought my identity would surprise you more.
I thought my secret was quite a big deal, but an evolved Black Cat would definitely have more impact.
You might actually scream in surprise.
“Uh-huh,” said Fran.
“O-oh?” Nadia scrunched up her face slightly. She didn’t look nervous, though. If anything, she looked like she was preparing a proper reaction for Fran. Her face seemed to suggest she thought Fran would be disappointed if her reaction wasn’t dramatic enough.
Sorry, Nadia. I don’t think you need to prep for this…
“Teacher.”
You got it.
I released Stealth Evolution, and Nadia jumped out of her bed.
“…!”
She was completely speechless.
“Aah…!”
She looked like a goldfish gasping for air, staring at Fran with wide eyes.
“… Ah.”
Fran quietly continued, “Black Cats can evolve.”
That was the one thing all Black Cats around the world wanted to hear.
“That’s…impossible!” Nadia shouted, scratching her head. She walked toward Fran so clumsily that I felt bad for her. “You’re…really evolved…”
“Hm.”
“Ha. Ha ha…” Nadia crumbled to her knees. She looked up at Fran and clasped her cheeks with her hands.
And then tears started flowing.
“Aah…”
Her weeping was fitting.
“I guess we’re not completely worthless after all.”
“Hm! Of course.” Fran gave a powerful nod and then hugged Nadia.
She sat in tearful silence for a few minutes, then excitedly got back up.
“Ha ha ha! This is amazing! That was a real shock!”
“Heh heh.”
“So how do we evolve?”
“By killing Fiends.”
That’s way too simplified.
Fran gave an abbreviated version of the Black Cat’s evolution conditions. A quizzical look came upon Nadia’s face.
“So, it’s not something you can do in Goldicia.”
“Hm.”
Fiends were foreign creatures to Nadia, who was born in Goldicia. She had never even seen a goblin.
“Another continent…” Nadia sighed, seeming troubled. It took courage to leave her birthplace to travel distant lands at her age. Even if it was the dream of her race, she still needed to consider it carefully.
“So why couldn’t I detect that you had evolved?”
“That’s Teacher’s job.”
I have a Skill that conceals her evolution.
“I didn’t know such a thing existed. You really are a sword made just for her.”
We actually got this Skill after Fran evolved. Buuut…I would agree that I was made specifically for Fran.
“That’s not all. Teacher also helped me evolve.”
“Is that right?”
“Hm. I only found out the conditions thanks to him.” Fran nodded and a grave look appeared on Nadia’s face. She looked at me intently, then bowed deep.
“Teacher, on behalf of all the Black Cats in the world, thank you.”
No, please. You’re making me feel awkward.
“Ha ha ha. Apologies. But I do thank you. The other Black Cats don’t know who you are, do they? It falls to me to extend our gratitude.”
Fran drank her tea, satisfied that her surprise had worked. Meanwhile, I continued asking Nadia things I was curious about.
What were Fran’s parents doing in Castell? It would’ve been better for them to operate out of Nocta or the harbors.
Castell, an unregistered village living in constant fear of antibody attacks, didn’t seem like a good place to raise a family. Why did they choose to stay here?
“Well… They initially came to Goldicia to train. And like you said, they first took up jobs in Nocta.”
So why move to Castell?
“They wanted to avoid slave hunters.”
“Slave hunters.” Fran’s eyes narrowed.
“Yeah. The Blue Cats have a strong hatred for the Black Cats, and Goldicia is where all the banished Blue Cats of the world flock to.”
Illegal slavers suffering under the Beast King’s reforms fled to Goldicia, a continent which happily took in criminals. Black Cats became a prime target for these slave hunters, especially since the Blue Cats had a racial vendetta against them.
“Simply being a Black Cat is dangerous. I dyed my hair so I couldn’t be identified as a Black Cat at first glance. My eyes have always been this color, though.”
You dye your hair?
“Yes. It was originally the same as Fran’s.”
A Blue Cat would be able to tell Nadia was a Black Cat up close, but not from afar. She wanted to reduce the risk of racial identification as much as possible.
“Such dyes are quite common here, since former criminals want to cut ties with their past.”
“I thought that was your real hair color.”
“You’ve only seen me like this, I guess.”
“Hm.”
Nadia had been dyeing her hair for the past ten years, ever since she settled in Castell.
Did Fran and her parents dye their hair?
“Mom and Dad had black hair.”
“Well, the hair dyes can be pricey.”
Not ludicrously so, but enough to make ordinary people think twice about buying them.
Still, for a warrior like Nadia to have to go to such lengths… Slave hunting must have been rampant. Fran’s parents must have gone through a lot, too. But one question remained.
Then why didn’t they just leave the continent? Wouldn’t that be the best way to get away from the Blue Cats? They weren’t born here, so they should’ve been able to get out of Goldicia.
“I don’t know. There’s always travel expenses, but those two were quite stubborn.”
Stubborn?
“The Blue Cats are the archenemies of Black Cats. They must have been frustrated about having to run away from them all the time.”
“…I see.”
Fran nodded as she listened to Nadia. She must have understood how her parents had felt.
“Better to die than run away from Blue Cats,” Fran said under her breath. The Blue Cats had been the cause of the problem.
“I don’t think Kenan was that stubborn about it…though they still refused to run.”
Fran’s parents didn’t leave Goldicia because they didn’t want to be defeated by the Blue Cats. They made it all the way to Castell and lived a quiet life until they fell during a season of antibodies. They had been living here for three years at the time.
“Tell me your story, Auntie.”
“There’s not much to tell. Not compared to you.” Nadia was quiet for a while before she started talking. “…I was in Nocta when the antibodies destroyed the village.”
Though Nadia based herself in Castell, she would sometimes go to Nocta to make money. She thought about returning home when she heard antibody numbers were on the rise, but her long-term protection quest prevented her. She couldn’t turn it down, either, since it had been given to her by influential people in Nocta. And since Nocta was surrounded by antibodies after the contract was finished, making the journey home was impossible.
The Blue Cats didn’t give you any trouble while you were here?
“Somehow. I dyed my hair and stuck with my party the whole time. I was a B Rank at the time, and quite famous. I was a difficult target for the Blue Cats.”
Nadia dyed her hair so the Blue Cats wouldn’t catch wind of Black Cats living in Castell. She didn’t want to give the other villagers trouble. But in a big city like Nocta, being known as a Black Cat wasn’t as much of a problem.
“I took part in defending Nocta, but a lot of time had passed before I could finally leave…”
By the time she came back to Castell, the village had already been destroyed.
“The only survivors were me, an idiot who didn’t make it back in time, and a cunning peddler.”
“Peddler?”
“He goes around the unregistered villages to do business. He would carry letters from the villagers while transporting goods for the guild.”
Nadia got the details from this peddler. The village had been destroyed for over a month, and there were no survivors.
“I went about acting like I was Castell’s protector… And I wasn’t here when they needed me most,” Nadia said, laughing cynically at herself. “I’ve been a gravekeeper ever since.”
Gravekeeper? So you take care of the graves here?
“Yes. I won’t let the antibodies ravage this village again…ever.”
There was nothing optimistic about Nadia’s statement, no looking to the future. She was locked in the past by guilt and regret.
She noticed Fran’s worried gaze and tried to play it off with a smile.
“…Sorry. I was prattling there. Anyway, this peddler is still doing business in Nocta. You should go see him if you get the chance. I’m sure he’d love to see you.”
“He would? Was he friends with Mom and Dad?”
“Not quite…but he regretted not being able to save you.”
The peddler—Mursani—had been at the village right before it was destroyed. He was transporting potions to Castell, since it was antibody season. He managed to escape Castell after Fran’s parents gave him a letter, their guild cards—and their baby.
The letter was to be sent to an old friend on another continent. They gave him their guild cards because they were ready to die. If they somehow managed to survive the season, they could just take them back at the guild. This was adventurers’ version of a last will and testament.
And, of course, they asked him to ensure their daughter’s survival.
Fran had been assigned to Mursani. But he couldn’t make it back in time to save her. The antibodies invaded faster than expected, and Fran wasn’t in the house where she was supposed to be hiding.
Weighing his own life against Fran’s, Mursani chose his own.
“Don’t resent him. He’s not a fighter, and he risks his life every time he transports goods to other villages…”
“Hm. I know. It couldn’t be helped.”
I thought Mursani’s actions were perfectly reasonable. He was a peddler with minimum combat experience. There was no way he could cut through a horde of antibodies to save Fran.
Still, peddlers in Goldicia probably knew how to handle themselves in a fight better than others.
Having escaped, Mursani took the guild cards and letter to the guild. He would meet Nadia later.
A letter…
“Do you think it’s for Amanda?”
Probably.
“Amanda? I think Kenan and Framere wrote to her regularly.”
She’s the one who raised Fran’s parents. She was also the one who set up their graves.
“So that’s where those graves came from! They just appeared one day. I’ve always wondered who made them, since Mursani said it wasn’t him.”
Amanda had visited Goldicia immediately after receiving the letter, but somehow missed Nadia.
That’s right. She also said to collect their belongings from their graves…
“Hm. That’s why I’m here.”
“I see. I’ll help, then. I’m the gravekeeper, after all.”
Nadia didn’t shrink from digging up the graves. There were a lot of corpses without graves in this world. The people here knew that the souls of the departed would immediately make their way to the gods, making them less squeamish than people on Earth.
Let’s get to it.
“Hm!”
Fran headed to the graveyard with Nadia. She quietly looked at her parents’ tombstones.
“…I’ll start digging.”
Yeah. Be careful.
“Hm.”
I wouldn’t help her here. Fran used earth magic to start digging up the ground.
The process was slow; she didn’t want to damage whatever her parents had left.
We finally hit something one meter down.
“A leather cloak…”
It’s of pretty good make. It probably belongs to Amanda.
“Hm.”
In the ground was a bundled-up cloak made of waterproof material. It was pristine, showing little to no sign of degradation. The material this was made from must have been impressive.
Fran slowly unfurled the cloak and found a wooden board inside. It was the size of a postcard and the thickness of a chopping board. She washed it carefully, so as not to damage it. It was covered with something like paint.
A black…something was drawn on the board. I couldn’t tell from a glance what it was, since it was partially broken. But Fran knew instantly. She took the board into her hands and caressed it lovingly.
What’s that?
“It’s a decoration dad made. We hung it on our door. We made it together.”
It was something like a nameplate. Fran’s father had carved it, and Fran and her mother painted it. It was a depiction of a family of three Black Cats.
A memento. Good thing it’s still around.
“Hm.”
Is there anything else inside?
“Let’s see… This!”
This time, Fran held up something with a reddish-brown color. I thought it was a small wooden board, but it had a metallic shine upon closer inspection.
Are these their guild cards?
“That’s…”
“D-Rank adventurer cards. One for Kenan and one for Framere…”
“I knew it!”
Nadia had been looking for their guild cards. But all her efforts had come up short.
Someone else had claimed the cards the peddler handed to the guild. The identity of this individual had been kept confidential, since it was someone influential within the guild.
That was Amanda.
“Hm.”
“You said she’s an A-Rank adventurer?”
“Yeah.”
An A Rank like Amanda would have all the trust she needed. She could easily claim Kenan and Framere’s guild cards, and the guild wouldn’t tell anyone that she had done so.
D Ranks. That’s pretty good.
“Hm.”
It took a lot of effort for Black Cats to get to D Rank on their own. Fran’s parents were also only in their twenties. They’d raised their child while continuing on their quest. Their efforts had only just been beginning to pay off.
“Mom, Dad… Watch over me.” Fran pressed the guild cards to her chest.
Is it okay for her to take these? Do we have to give them back to the guild?
“It’s all right. A lot of families keep the guild cards of their relatives as mementos.”
That settles that.
“Which reminds me—hey!”
“Hm?!”
“Grr!”
We sensed something entering the village. Most likely antibodies. They probably hadn’t noticed us yet and only investigated because they spotted some buildings.
“Wait here, Fran. I have to take out the trash.”
“I’m going too!”
“Woof!”
“There aren’t many of them. I’ll be fine.”
“Antibodies are enemies. I want to fight to protect these graves.”
“… All right. But you have to do as I say.”
“Okay.”
“Woof!”
Nadia sighed and relented. She knew that Fran was more than able to take care of herself.
We left the graveyard and headed to the village entrance, where five antibodies were walking around. It looked like they were following Fran’s trail. We had gotten careless.
“Time for me to do my job. Just stay here and watch.”
“You don’t need a weapon?”
“Not for antibodies of that level.”
Nadia dashed toward them.
So fast!
Hm.
Nadia’s movement was faster than expected, and she remained hidden the whole time. She didn’t make a single sound while cutting through the grass, something even Fran was incapable of doing.
While we watched in shock, Nadia killed the antibodies. Like she said earlier, she didn’t need a weapon. She dispatched the antibodies by breaking their heads…with her fist.
One second, one kill. The battle was over before the antibodies knew what was happening. I thought she was some kind of martial artist, but she apparently used her weapon against stronger enemies. She must have had a lot of abilities up her sleeve.
Nadia returned as quietly as she’d gone. Fran greeted her with excitement.
“Auntie, that was amazing!”
“Heh. I know.”
“How did you run without making a sound?”
“That was a Skill called Stealth Action. If you level it up, you can go through grassy thickets just as quiet as you please.”
“I see.”
“Well then—urgh.” Nadia suddenly groaned and clutched her left arm.
“Auntie, are you okay?! Did you get hurt?”
“No, I’m fine… These are just the…side effects.”
Violent pain shot through her from time to time. This pain was probably what caused her to drop her cloaking earlier.
“Do you want me to heal you?”
“No need. This isn’t something healing magic can fix.”
“Oh…”
Fran looked down in disappointment. But I was suspicious about Nadia’s condition.
Can I ask you a question?
“…What is it?” Nadia looked at me with resignation. She knew what was coming. She wasn’t hostile… But I still had to ask.
When you did that just now… I sensed the presence of an antibody from you. Who are you, really?
Though briefly, she had emitted an antibody aura. It was no longer there, but I couldn’t let it slide.
“Teacher?”
“Looks like you found me out.”
“Auntie?” Fran looked concerned, passing her gaze between me and Nadia.
Nadia put her left hand into her pocket.
“… I didn’t want you to find out about this,” she sighed, voicing her regret.
I could tell that she was gripping the sword hidden within her clothes.
She drew it. A green and silver blade and guard with a black hilt. The colors of an antibody.
It radiated a great presence.
But Nadia didn’t start attacking us.
She wasn’t hostile. She drew the sword completely forth and showed us.
That’s…
“Grrr!”
“Hrm…”
But Fran and Jet also put up their guard.
The sword was emitting a powerful antibody aura. It was like a terrible antibody was present before us.
“This is a special sword. The more antibodies it kills, the stronger it gets.”
The aura was nearly overwhelming. I thought the aura had come from Nadia, but was it just coming from her sword?
No. It wasn’t just the sword. The aura was all over Nadia too.
Do you mind if I Identify you?
“So, you have Identify? Go ahead. You can inspect me and the sword as you please.”
If you’ll excuse me—
First, the sword.
Hrm…
I could only see its name. That meant it was stronger than me. I used the same method I did when I Identified Sophilia, looking deep into the sword. It hurt a lot, but I got through…
Hurk…
Name: Gold Eater Sword Overgrowth
Attack: 4417 MP: 10631 Durability: 6697
Mana Conductivity S
Skill: Transform, Sword Mastery Up, Self-Repair, Abyss Killer, User Status Up (Large), User Regeneration Up (Large), Mana Concealment, Mana Regeneration Up (Large), Mana Drain, Mana Control
Gold Eater Overgrowth… It’s so strong!
What was this thing?! It had three times the attack power I did! I had a leg up in mana conductivity, but that was about it. It rivaled an unleashed godsword.
For all the Skills I had over it, there was one that I didn’t have.
Abyss Killer. It absorbed the powers of defeated antibodies, enhancing both the sword and its user’s capabilities.
It did a lot of damage to antibodies and had increased defense against them. It also healed you every time you attacked an antibody. The ultimate Skill for anti-antibody fighting. Going by the name, it was probably made to defeat the Abyss Eater.
But it was still powerful. Definitely godsword class.
What about Nadia? Unlike Overgrowth, I didn’t have much trouble Identifying her. Probably because she was allowing me to.
Name: Nadia
Age: 41
Race: Black Cat. Identity Unknown.
Class: Power Swordsman
Status: Erosion
Level: 52/99
Life: 641, Magic: 301, Strength: 689, Agility: 431
Skills: Intimidate 4, Stealth 9, Stealth Action 6, Wind Magic 6, Sword Arts 10, Sword Mastery 10, Advanced Sword Arts 3, Advanced Sword Mastery 5, Punch Arts 2, Punch Mastery 4, Danger Sense 7, Brute Strength 6, Brute Force 10, Regeneration 6, Blink 3, Hush 8, Everyday Magic 6, Cleaning 2, Elemental Blade 3, Throw 2, Rush 4, Fire Magic 3, Physical Barrier 4, Cooking 4, Spirit Control, Intuition, Pain Reduction, Sleepless, Mana Manipulation, Ambidextrous
Unique Skill: Gold Eater
Class Skill: Enhanced Strength
Title: Surpasser of Human Limits, Avenger, Sleepless Warrior, Might of a Thousand
Equipment: Gold Eater Sword Overgrowth, Sea Dragon Hide Breastplate, Enchanted Alloy Gauntlets, Cloak of Silence, Earrings of Enhanced Hearing, Ring of Protection
So strong! She was a strength-focused fighter, but her stealth and magic values were abnormally high. This was probably a result of being born and raised in Goldicia. Looking at her stats, she was at the level of an A Rank.
But the things that bothered me most weren’t her abilities, but her race and status.
Why is there Identity Unknown next to Black Cat? And this Erosion status…
“Those are the side effects of Overgrowth. In exchange for becoming stronger with every antibody that is cut down, the user’s body slowly turns into an antibody.”
What?! That sounds dangerous.
“I’m not doing great, that’s for sure. Look at this.”
Nadia revealed the left arm she had been hiding under her cloak. Fran and I could only gasp when we saw it.
That’s…
“Auntie, your hand!”
“This is the price of constantly using Overgrowth.”
The arm looked like it was covered with black cloth, or some kind of armor plated with silver and green shells. But no. This was part of Nadia’s body.
Black, silver, green. The colors of an antibody.
Th-that’s what happens when it absorbs antibody energy?
“Yep.”
Judging by your pain earlier, being turned into an antibody isn’t all that it does, is it?
“You’re sharp. There’s a slight pain on top of the side effects. This thing is supposed to go up against godswords. Of course there’s going to be side effects.”
“Against godswords?”
Did a godsmith make it?
“Yeah. I’ll tell you everything I know. Let’s go back to the house.”
“Hm.”
We headed to Nadia’s house with her in the lead.
Gugyurrooo!
“Huh? What was that sound? Another antibody…?”
Nadia was immediately on alert after hearing the off-putting sound. It sounded like the roar of an animal.
Sorry, Nadia…there was no reason to panic.
“I’m hungry.”
That was Fran’s stomach.
“Ha ha ha! That’s a mean-sounding belly!”
First order of business would be to eat.
Looks like it’s time for something special.
Looking at Fran’s face, it was very clear what she wanted. It was the thing she usually ate.
“Curry!”
“Woof woof!”
“Curry? I’ve never heard of that.”
“It’s the ultimate food. It’ll knock your socks off!”
“Well now I’m looking forward to it. I’m very picky about my food, though.”
“Just the way I like it.”
Even though she said that, Nadia would probably love anything Fran gave her.
…Not that the curry would taste bad.
“This is curry? The smell is decent, but…”
Nadia looked doubtful as she inspected the brown liquid on top of white grain. It probably didn’t look tasty. But she knew that it wasn’t inedible since Fran was hungrily stuffing her face with it. She slowly took a spoonful to her mouth.
“This is…delicious!”
“Heh heh. Curry is the best.”
“Ha ha ha. You’re not wrong there. It really is great.”
“Teacher is the ultimate chef.”
It’s all Skill, though.
“I still can’t believe you made such a great dish. I didn’t think a sword would have me beat at cooking… I used to be a housewife, you know.”
You’re married?!
“Murgh?!”
It was news to Fran, too. Her eyes widened as her cheeks were stuffed with curry.
“Ha ha. That was over twenty years ago.”
And your husband…
“Killed by antibodies. We never had children, so I went on to be an adventurer.” Nadia shrugged, but she didn’t look lonely. She’d probably already found closure.
Still, she wasn’t completely without loneliness. Fran sensed the same thing.
“Auntie…”
“Now now—oh. What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Ha ha ha. You’re getting touchy-feely on me.”
Fran leaned in for a hug and Nadia started petting her. The seasoned warrior immediately reacted by lifting her plate of curry, not letting any of it drip to the floor. Fran was burying her face in Nadia’s chest, and that was probably going to leave a curry stain.
Well, Nadia seemed to be cheered up by it.
I gave Nadia a second portion of curry as we continued to talk about Overgrowth.
Tell us more about Overgrowth.
“It’s the same as you. Gold Eater Overgrowth is a discarded godsword.”
“A discarded godsword!”
I knew it was strong, but it was discarded?!
“It was made by the godsmith Sechs.”
“Never heard of him.”
The name was foreign to us, but godsmiths did most of their work in private. Most of them were hermits, having little interaction with the outside world compared to Aristea.
Lumina had shown us a list of godsmiths, but it was incomplete. Sechs didn’t come up when we were with Aristea, either… It looked like there were more of them than we thought.
But that wasn’t the only reason Sechs’s name remained in obscurity.
“Sechs is a godsmith who failed to create a godsword.”
Huh? What do you mean?
“Exactly what I said. The swords he made were too specialized to become godswords. All he ever made were discarded godswords. An unfortunate godsmith.”
I understood. No wonder he was an unknown. None of the godswords the tragic godsmith made were ever acknowledged as a godswords by the gods.
But although they lacked the designation of godsword, it didn’t mean his weapons were weak. If anything, some of his work surpassed the other godswords.
Overgrowth was one such case. A powerful anti-antibody weapon with an equally deadly side effect for its user.
“This sword is how I got so strong as an unevolved Black Cat. Not that I know if I can be considered one anymore.”
And that’s why your race has Identity Unknown on it…
“It’s because my body is becoming an antibody. I didn’t think it would affect my race and level cap.”
Nadia had gone beyond the Black Cat level cap of 45 because of her antibody body. The cap was still at 45 four years ago when the erosion was less pronounced.
Her Gold Eater Skill looked suspicious, but I wasn’t sure if taking it with Skill Taker was enough to restore her old body. The change was most likely related to Overgrowth, and there was a good chance it would soon come back.
Was there any way of stopping Nadia from becoming an antibody? I really wanted to save her for Fran’s sake…
After dinner, Nadia asked us if we would stay the night. This was probably her usual bedtime. Resources like oil and crystals were rare in distant lands, so most people went to bed early. But Nadia was in a class of her own.
“You’ll be staying the night, won’t you?”
“Can we?”
“Of course! It’s a small bed, but the two of us can just about fit.”
The single bed would have no problem accommodating Fran’s small body.
“It’s got my scent all over it, but it should be better than camping outside.”
“Hm.”
We had an outdoor bed in Pocket Dimension, but Fran didn’t take it out. I didn’t bring it up either. Instead, I used cleaning magic on the bed and watched as Fran crawled inside it.
She usually fell asleep as soon as she hit the mattress, but tonight was different.
“Auntie.”
“What is it?”
“Tell me about Goldicia.”
“You’re so willing to learn, Fran. What would you like to know?”
“Anything’s fine.”
“Hmm, let me think.”
Fran didn’t have anything in particular she wanted to learn. She just wanted to hear Nadia’s voice.
Children usually asked for a bedtime story but leave it to Fran to ask for information about the continent to fall asleep.
“In the western harbor—”
“Hm.”
“Nocta has—”
“Hm.”
Nadia offered a lot of useful information, but I doubted if Fran caught it all. She nodded off to sleep, responding to her auntie to show she was paying attention.
An hour passed. Fran was fast asleep, unable to stay awake any longer. She looked peaceful.
Nadia watched Fran sleep as she made her torso a pillow.
Nadia, you can go to bed. Me and Jet will keep watch.
“Yeah? I will in a little bit,” Nadia said, never taking her eyes off Fran. She had the look of a mother as she watched Fran sleep.
***
The next morning…
I put out an all-you-can-eat breakfast of bacon, eggs, and white bread. Curry was probably too heavy for Nadia first thing in the morning. Fran and the others piled the bacon on high this fine morning.
I thought one portion would’ve been enough but Fran, Jet, and even Nadia asked for seconds. Turns out that Nadia was a big eater who would happily have tea cakes along with steak.
Curry probably would’ve been fine.
After a big, meaty morning, Fran asked Nadia some questions.
“What are you going to do now, Auntie?”
“By now you don’t mean today, do you?”
“Hm.” Fran looked expectantly at Nadia. Then, Fran quietly turned to me.
Teacher, is it okay if—
Nadia comes with us?
Hm. No good?
I’m all for it.
Another guardian would make things better for Fran. Having an actual female figure in her life would be huge.
But Nadia shook her head, sadness now clearly on her face.
“I’m staying here.”
“…You have to leave Goldicia if you want to evolve.”
“You’re right. But I can’t.”
Because of your gravekeeping?
I could tell that Nadia had strong attachments to Castell. It bordered on obsession. But that wasn’t the only reason she couldn’t go.
“I can’t go into towns because of this thing.”
Nadia shrugged as she showed Fran her mutated arm.
Do you get mistaken for an antibody?
“Towns are equipped with antibody detecting devices as well as barriers which prevent them from going in. I trigger those devices, so I can’t go.”
“Even if you told them your circumstances?”
Surely some clarification was all Nadia needed…
“Yeah. Several hundred years ago a shapeshifting antibody infiltrated a city, taking the form of a human. That’s why they won’t let you in if they even suspect you of being an antibody.”
Nadia would always be suspected as a spy…
But I thought you worked in Nocta before?
“The erosion only got bad lately.”
The more antibodies the godsword killed, the stronger you became, but you also became more of an antibody yourself. Nadia’s erosion had gotten drastically worse.
I understood why. She regretted not being able to protect Castell and wanted power at all costs. She continued hunting down antibodies, which eventually led to her current state.
I also remembered another important detail.
They said that the antibodies can’t cross the barrier set up by the gods…
“You finally put it together, huh? That’s right. The owner of Overgrowth cannot go through the barrier.”
No way…
“Have you tried? Is it actually impossible?”
“I haven’t, but… This sword…it’s been on this continent for thousands of years. And its passage is ensured by the Silver Woman.”
Silver Woman?
“She’s been alive for thousands of years?”
“It’s an urban legend in Goldicia.”
A woman of silver was said to wander Goldicia, seeking an owner for the cursed sword. She would give the sword to one she found worthy and then disappear.
The Silver Woman would appear again when the user died to collect the sword before wandering again to find its next victim.
It was a ghost story told in the pubs of the continent. Turns out, the legends were true.
“The Silver Woman is actually a special golem created by Sechs.”
She was tasked with keeping Overgrowth, finding worthy users who could feed it. The sword was so powerful because of all the antibodies it had killed and absorbed throughout its existence.
“The Silver Woman told me a lot about Sechs. She told me a lot about the end of Overgrowth’s other users, too.”
End?
That was ominous. I couldn’t imagine it being a happy ending.
“The owners of Overgrowth die in one of three ways.” Nadia quietly started counting with her fingers. “They are defeated by a powerful antibody, lose control of the antibody energy inside them and are slain by other people, or they self-destruct before they get the chance to lose their minds. That’s it.”
Can’t you just hand the sword back now that you know it’s so dangerous?
“Heh. The condition of being Overgrowth’s owner is a strong desire for vengeance against the antibodies. No one would never let this sword go,” Nadia muttered with a dark smile.
She couldn’t enter towns, and she couldn’t leave the continent. Her body was slowly turning into an antibody, and the sword was even eating away at her mind. Still, her desire for vengeance was so strong that stopping was not an option.
Her fate was sealed the moment she got the sword.
“Owning this sword means you are fated to hunt antibodies in Goldicia until you die.” There was no regret in her voice. She knew exactly what she was getting into on that fateful day.
“…Auntie.”
“Don’t cry. I don’t regret becoming this sword’s user. Not in the slightest. I can only fight thanks to this.” Nadia was comparable to an A Rank while being an unevolved Black Cat because she had been absorbing antibody powers this whole time. “Fran, you need to leave this village immediately.”
“Why?!”
“The antibodies have disappeared from the vicinity.”
What’s wrong with that?
“That means a commander unit has appeared and is gathering antibodies to itself. This is the calm before the storm. In a few days, a great invasion will begin.”
Not to be rude, but you’re the only one left in Castell. Why would the antibodies attack a ghost town?
There was no logical reason for them to do it, but…
“The last commander which tried to attack this place escaped. It will come again if it’s still alive. It’s common behavior among the base builder types.”
A potential base would keep on being targeted no matter how many years it took to conquer.
“Then I’ll—”
“You can’t! Even if you have memories here, this is just a ghost town. Unlike me, you have a future ahead of you. This place is not worth throwing your life away for.”
“I can fight! I’ll protect this village!”
“No.” Nadia’s mind was made up. For the first time, she cast a harsh gaze at Fran.
But Fran met her gaze straight on. The two continued glaring at each other until Nadia’s expression softened.
“Ugh… You’re just as stubborn as they were.”
“Hm.”
“Actually, I have a few jobs I want you to run.”
“Jobs?”
“That’s right. First, can you take this to the Adventurers’ Guild in Nocta?”
“This is… Your guild card?”
“My last will and testament. I want my friends to know that I’m gone. This might be the last chance for me to do so. Please. Do this for me.”
“…”
“I also want you to deliver a letter to an acquaintance of mine in Nocta.”
Nadia pushed her guild card to Fran and lowered her head in supplication. Fran said nothing. She’d been able to reconnect with her parents because of the guild card tradition. She knew that this wasn’t a meaningless errand.
Not to mention, her beloved auntie was practically begging her at this point.
“…Okay. I’ll deliver the letter and come back.”
“And one more thing. Can you post a quest at the Nocta guild? A recruitment quest.”
“To protect Castell?”
“That’s right. We’ll need at least one hundred fighting men. Can you do that for me?”
“Of course!”
“It’s in your hands.” Nadia smiled, a look of relief on her face. “Teacher, take care of her.”
…Of course.
***
Nadia wasn’t expecting Fran to return. She didn’t want Fran to return. Her errands were designed to get Fran as far away from the war zone as possible. She didn’t want her to die for nothing.
But Fran fully intended to save Nadia. She would make it back in time and protect her and Castell. She was determined, but it was beginning to make her panic.
“Jet, faster!”
“A-arf…”
She forced Jet on through the grasslands beyond his capacity. She wouldn’t normally do this. I needed to calm her down.
Fran, he can’t go faster than this! You’ll hurt him! It’s okay, Jet! You can slow down!
“Urf…”
Jet listened to me and dropped his speed back to its regular pace. He looked relieved; he was really on the brink of breaking.
Fran, you can’t force Jet like that!
“I-I’m sorry…”
…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.
“No. It was my fault. I’m sorry, Jet.”
“Woof.”
Jet turned and licked her face, telling her not to worry about it. He could tell how frantic she was. It hadn’t escaped my notice, either.
Fran wanted to return to Castell as soon as possible.
But was it the right thing to do?
This quest was Nadia’s will. She asked me to take care of Fran, asked me to take her as far away as possible from the ghost town.
Failing to save Nadia would hurt Fran, but was that worse than dying? If I were in Nadia’s position, I would do the same thing.
Then Fran turned to me with a determined look.
“Teacher.”
What’s up?
“We’re saving Auntie.”
…You know how she feels, don’t you?
Fran knew that Nadia wanted her to never return.
“Still…I don’t want to have any regrets.”
Reuniting with an old friend and taking back her hometown. She wanted to lose neither of them. Her eyes were filled with determination as she looked at me. The pressure they emitted was almost physical.
Ughhh…
There was no talking her out of anything when she got like this. Going by what Nadia said, she got it from her parents. Stubbornness was a genetic trait.
…Fine.
“Then!”
We’ll do everything we’re supposed to. But we’re not going back to the village without a plan.
“…Hm.”
We have money. We can always recruit strong adventurers in Nocta.
I didn’t know how many would sign up, but we should be able to save Nadia with enough manpower.
If Fran came back, she might be able to talk Nadia into leaving.
It would be against Nadia’s wishes, but I prioritized Fran’s desire to save her more than Nadia’s desire to die.
Cruel as it was, I thought the chances of Fran making it back in time were slim. The worst-case scenario was Fran returning to Castell by herself and then falling with Nadia.
The best-case scenario would be for Castell, Nadia, and Fran to be saved… But I didn’t see a way out for Nadia the way she was so bent on dying. It might be difficult for us to be with her at the time of her death.
But all that depended on whether we could get enough adventurers together.
We arrived in Nocta near sundown thanks to Jet’s hard work.
After passing through the lax security check, Fran headed straight for the Adventurers’ Guild.
The guild was crowded as ever, but a lot of the adventurers recognized Fran when she came in and greeted her warmly.
“Hey, it’s meat girl!”
“It is.”
“They say she beat up some idiot drakes the other day.”
“Wow!”
But Fran didn’t have time to respond to them. She hurried through the crowd and headed for the counter.
“Hey. You got a sec?”
“Of course.”
“I want to issue a quest. Can I do that here?”
“Oh, hang on! The submaster told me to inform him if you were here!”
Selling meat had apparently made her a VIP. The submaster would see her regardless of the size of her business. Good timing. This was quite a big deal.
The receptionist showed us to a waiting room where the submaster was. He got up to greet Fran, which was a great sign of respect. And he knew that Fran still had meat in her inventory, so he probably was buttering her up.
“You said you wanted to issue a quest?”
“Hm. I want to hire some adventurers.”
“Oh? What kind do you need? Scouts? Guides?”
“One hundred fighting adventurers.”
“…One hundred?” The submaster was surprised. The request did come out of nowhere, after all.
“And I want to hand this over to the guild.”
“This is…Nadia’s guild card!”
“You know her?”
“Of course. Any adventurer who’s lived in Nocta long enough would! I thought she died since we haven’t seen her for four years… There are also rumors of her form being taken by antibodies.”
The shapeshifting antibodies apparently needed to kill a person before being able to morph into them. If a fake appeared, Nadia was dead.
Nadia had said that she was no longer able to enter towns because of Overgrowth’s aggravated erosion… Maybe she actually got rejected once. The incident had also reached the submaster’s ears.
“She’s still alive.”
“That’s good news! Where is she now?”
“Castell.”
“That’s where you said you were heading. I hear it’s a ghost town now.”
“Hm. But Nadia’s protecting it because it’s being targeted by antibodies. I want to help her.”
“I see. Thus the need for adventurers.”
“Hm! A hundred strong ones!” Fran nodded enthusiastically but the submaster was furrowing his eyebrows.
Antibody season was about to begin. Would hiring so many adventurers at once be difficult?
“Hmm… I think that would be impossible.” Never mind difficult, he just went straight to impossible. “Not many would take a quest with a high death rate.”
Without prepared defenses, Castell might be a bloodbath. The ghost town also wasn’t located in a strategic location.
The risks were too great and there were no people to defend. It would be hard to get motivated for that.
There were few if any adventurers who would take up the quest. Even if it paid extraordinarily well, it would still be worth less than their lives. If anything, a higher payout would suggest higher levels of danger, driving potential adventurers away.
“…I still want to post the quest.”
“Very well…but don’t expect much from it. I’m sorry.”
“…”
Fran looked down in frustration. This was probably working out just the way Nadia had planned it. She knew that no adventurer would take up the quest.
By setting up an impossible quest, Fran would be forced to remain in Nocta. She really didn’t want Fran to die.
Fran, there’s nothing more we can do here. Let’s deliver the letter.
“Hm…I’ll be back.”
“Give us three days. It takes time for word to get around.”
“Okay.”
The submaster would still post the quest even if he knew it was impossible. It was a good thing we did the guild a favor by selling them all that meat. We let the guild process the quest and left the building.
Fran was dragging her feet, the spirit drained out of her.
I wanted to console her but couldn’t find the words. Besides, I had no right to say anything. I was genuinely hoping that we wouldn’t get any adventurers.
She went on walking for ten minutes until we reached our next destination.
“Ledilla Trade Association. Is this the place?”
No doubt about it.
Fran was looking a little better now. The walk seemed to have settled her nerves.
The Adventurers’ Guild said it would be a big building, and they weren’t exaggerating. This was one of the biggest trade associations in Nocta.
Nadia’s friend was apparently the chairman of this association. She was better connected than I thought.
Thinking about it now, she had been a B-Rank adventurer with long-time experience in Goldicia. It wasn’t strange that she would know an influential person or two. She did say she took on a protection job while in Nocta.
“Hello.”
“Hello there.”
“Welcome to the Ledilla Trade Association.”
I was quite startled at how strong the receptionists were on top of being beautiful. I should have expected nothing less from the people working on the dreaded continent of Goldicia.
“I have a letter for your chairman.”
“May I see it?”
“Hm.”
The receptionist took the letter from Fran’s hand and inspected it. Nadia’s name was written on the envelope, but would that be enough evidence? Nadia said that all we needed to do was give it to the receptionist…
The receptionist left and went to the back after a quick inspection. Things didn’t seem to bode well.
But it looked like our letter passed the test, as the receptionist returned with a smile on her face. She led Fran inside.
“The chairman will see you now. Right this way.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t get any bad vibes from her, so the chairman probably wanted to ask Fran about Nadia directly.
I didn’t know what the letter contained. But Nadia didn’t seem to be the type to give detailed explanations, so I could only take a wild guess.
The room we were led to was modest but not shabby. It had a calm atmosphere with warm overhead lights, a thick ebony table and a classy leather sofa. It was quite luxurious and uniform, especially by Goldician standards. The room wouldn’t look out of place in a noble mansion.
A tall man was sitting in the room. He had black skin and short curly hair—back on Earth, he would have looked African—and was around fifty years old.
“You made it…Fran.”
“…?”
What? Did he know about Fran?
“Ha ha. I suppose you don’t remember. I only visited you a few times, after all.”
“…Oh! Are you the merchant?”
“Yes. It’s been a long time. I am Mursani of the Ledilla Trade Association.”
Mursani was the name of the peddler Nadia mentioned.
And he was now chairman of a trade association? What was the story there?
Before we could ask, Mursani got up and approached Fran. He knelt before her and looked right into her eyes.
“It really is you…” he muttered full of emotion. Tears were welling up in his eyes. “Back then, I…”
The fact that he wasn’t able to save Fran had been eating away at him, just like Nadia said. Guilt was on his face as words were caught in his throat.
“I couldn’t…save you…”
Fran put her hand on Mursani’s shoulder and spoke as she normally did.
“It’s not your fault, mister. There was nothing you could do. No need to apologize.”
“Uhhh…” Mursani covered his face with his hands and wept quietly.
A storm of emotions was in his stifled voice. The man carried on weeping for five minutes.
“That was embarrassing of me.”
Mursani scratched his head in shame after calming down.
“Not at all.”
“Ha ha ha. You’ve become such a thoughtful lady, Fran. Who would’ve guessed?”
Like Nadia before him, Mursani remembered Fran as a rowdy little child. He wasn’t expecting the girl in front of him.
“The letter said you were still alive…but what happened on that day?”
“Hm.”
Fran told him her story in broader strokes compared to when she spoke with Nadia. She was enslaved, put on a ship, and then rescued by a certain someone.
“I see… You’ve been through a lot.”
Mursani looked conflicted. He was angry at the slavers, but Fran might have died if they hadn’t gotten to her when they did. He would need to sort out these feelings later.
“And the person who rescued you?”
“Hm… That’s, uhh…”
“Excuse me. You must have your reasons.”
Fran hesitated to reveal me to him but also hesitated about lying to him. Seeing her tongue-tied was enough for Mursani to give a kind and understanding nod.
This was one of his ways of interacting with shady adventurers who came to this continent. He didn’t press the matter. He was a kind man, and his consideration for Fran came through.
“So, you’re the boss here?”
“Huh? Oh, that’s right. You’ve only seen me as a peddler, haven’t you?”
The Ledilla family had been operating this trade association in Goldicia for generations. They carried on the trade of their first generation by becoming peddlers to the surrounding villages.
Mursani had also spent his time as a peddler as part of his training.
“We specialize in food and necessities, so feel free to give us a call if you need anything.”
“…I want you to help me save Nadia.” Fran begged, bowing her head to Mursani.
“So, she has chosen to remain in Castell.” Mursani knew about Nadia’s circumstances and the complicated feelings she had. He also knew that Nadia would choose to stay in Castell.
“Hm. I need a lot of adventurers to go save her!”
“I see…”
Mursani dropped his gaze and fell into thought. But he soon shook his head apologetically.
“I’m sorry… But I don’t think I can be of much help.”
“Why?”
“I can provide men for a protection job but going against an army of antibodies… Any adventurer who has been on this continent long enough knows the dangers of antibody season. Very few will take up the job.”
“…Oh.”
Mursani was saying the same thing as the submaster. There was a very low chance of getting adventurers together.
“I will make calls to some adventurers, of course… But temper your expectations.”
“All right…”
***
Three days passed. Fran had been more active in her recruitment efforts.
She would visit the guild regularly, get familiar with the adventurers there, and challenge them to sparring matches. She wanted to show them that they could take on the antibodies if they had her on their side.
But it wasn’t bearing fruit. Not a single adventurer wanted to take on the quest.
“I-I’ll think about it…”
“S-sorry. I just can’t do it.”
“…Stop talking to me!”
After a few days, the adventurers considered her persistence a nuisance. It hurt to see them distance themselves from her. I couldn’t blame them, though…
Today, the guild broke the bad news to her.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay…”
Fran’s quest had a grand total of zero applicants. Not a single person wanted it.
She had thought she’d get a few adventurers to come with her, at least. I wasn’t expecting zero, either. Nocta’s adventurers were a lot more pragmatic than we thought.
Nocta was Goldicia’s front line. Very few rookies and weaklings, if any. They weren’t careless enough to take a high-paying quest without considering the risks.
They wouldn’t put their lives on the line for a banquet of meat.
“Lady Fran… What shall we do about the quest? We can keep it posted if you want.”
“…Hrm.”
Fran was conflicted. She wanted to go save Nadia by herself but knew that it would be difficult.
Should she go back to Castell alone or stay here and spend more time recruiting people? The conflict she felt was real.
“…Take the quest down.”
“Are you sure?”
Fran, wait! You’re not thinking of going back to Castell alone!
…If it comes to that, I have to.
No!
Nadia had requested a hundred people precisely to slow Fran down. She knew that no one would sign up.
But that wasn’t all. In the event Fran managed to recruit adventurers, those adventurers would increase her survival rate. They were insurance.
You have no idea what those antibodies are like! You’re going out there to die! You know why Nadia asked you to recruit a hundred people!
“But still!”
Crap. Fran was shouting now.
She could no longer hold back. And I wasn’t helping by pressing the matter. The submaster was clearly stunned. But Fran went on.
“We might not get anyone even if I do wait here! Then I might as well go and save her myself!”
And that was the end of it… Honestly, I was expecting her to say that.
…Fran. Nadia is fighting against an enemy she expects to be kill her. Even if you’re around…
“Sorry. But I’m still going back to Castell.”
The submaster responded to her utterances. He thought she was talking to him.
“Lady Fran… Can I ask you to reconsider?”
“…I’m going to save Nadia.”
Fran had made up her mind. There was nothing I could say to stop her.
The submaster pressed his argument.
“You will be going there to die! A single person can’t go up against an army of antibodies…”
But his words were limp. Fran wasn’t the first person he’d had this conversation with. Deep down, he knew. There was no stopping someone who had decided to sacrifice themselves.
Fran turned around and left the deflated submaster behind. If it came to this, I might have to hold her back by force, even if she ended up hating me—
“She doesn’t need to go alone, you say?”
A third voice cut into our conversation.
I knew someone had entered the guild, but I wasn’t expecting them to come into the office. Was an adventurer finally taking on Fran’s quest?
All eyes were on the guild entrance. A familiar man was standing there.
“Captain of the Third Order of Segilucele Knights. Yagiluel reporting for duty.”
It was the knights we rescued on the way to Nocta.
Yagiluel bowed toward us. Etiquette unseen in an adventurer. He looked like a graceful noble with his blond hair and red eyes, but you could still feel his power as a fighter. His thick silver armor made him look formidable with detailing that accentuated its elegance.
Yagiluel stepped forward without being affected by the atmosphere and bowed again to Fran.
“I would like to take on your quest if that’s all right.”
“Why…?” Fran blinked. Confusion beat out gratitude as she was faced with the sudden appearance of the knight. Of course she was confused. She had put up a listing for adventurers…not knights.
“We are not adventurers, so I hope you don’t mind fighting alongside us.”
“…Can you? You’re knights…”
“And that is why we must. It would bring our kingdom great shame if we did not repay your favor.”
Fran did save their lives… But weren’t they set on sacrificing their friends to serve their kingdom? And it was strange that the captain had brought along some of his men to join this mission…
But a brief explanation cleared up our confusion.
“Actually, our crown prince was among the men that you saved the other day.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He has left for the harbor to return home, though.”
The princes of Segilucele had a duty to serve in Goldicia for a time. It was a coming-of-age ritual, where the royal would conceal their identities to live as a knight. The prince had been in the squadron until recently.
“He has it in him to become a great ruler. We needed to protect him at all costs.”
The young man had the esteem not only of the royalty, but of his knights. Yagiluel had nothing but respect for him. He wasn’t just another king, but their nation’s future.
No wonder he commanded some of his men to be a distraction. His indebtedness to Fran was great.
Was the prince one of the young soldiers who thanked Fran deeply?
He had served his time, but the rest of the knights continued their antibody-hunting mission in Goldicia. Another unit of knights had been tasked to guard him on the way home.
“There are twelve of us now. Hand-picked by myself.”
“Hm! Thank you.”
Fran nodded, eyes moist with tears. Several figures then appeared behind the knights. They were sweating, showing that they had been in a hurry.
“We’ll be taking on that quest too!”
Leading them was a couple we were all too familiar with… The Dimitris School had arrived.
“Colbert! Hilt!”
“Looks like we made it.”
The other students were there with them.
“Huff… Huff…”
And so was Phobos, who looked like he was about to die.
“We ran…for an entire night…”
“Weak. You still need more training.”
“Hurk…”
Apparently, they had spotted Fran’s quest just the other day. They got the go-ahead from Brunnen and ran all the way to Nocta in a single night.
“We’re going with you. It’s about time we fought something tough.”
“Miss. You could just say you wanted to help Fran.”
“N-no! I just can’t have her die before I have my revenge!”
Indirect as ever. But it looked like her relationship with Colbert was getting better. They were a lot friendlier with each other, and Hilt was showing her cute side.
Ugh, normies! At least they were bringing in a ton of firepower. I’d let it slide this time!
“Hm! Of course!”
“Oh, and we’re not the only ones here.”
“What do you mean?”
I could tell there was a mass of people outside the guild. Had they brought someone along with them?
“Come on in!”
“Very well. It’s been a long time, Lady Fran.”
“Hello again.”
Two women stepped in. Chelsea, leader of the drake warriors, and Tzalutta, captain of the Camellian mercenaries.
“Why?”
“I heard there was a high chance of a special unit appearing. It’s time for the drake warriors to shine! I couldn’t bring my whole team with me, but I picked the best of the best.”
“Our reasons are simple enough. We’re in it for the mo-ney!”
“The mercenaries are under my employment.”
Hilt had hired the mercenaries for us. They also came into contact with the drake warriors and brought them along for the ride. The drakes and mercenaries had good relations with Belioth, which was how they got hooked up in the first place. Their friendship deepened after sparring with each other in Nocta.
“Taking less pay for connections to the Dimitris School is well worth it.”
“I haven’t gone up against a strong opponent in a long time! Besides, we have a responsibility to hunt down antibodies!”
“…Thank you.”
This was quite the fighting force. Camellia only had twenty mercenaries with them, but they were all the elites. The ten drake warriors were comparable to Colbert in strength. They were C Ranks at the very least.
We now had around fifty people. A formidable force to be reckoned with, but we still lacked the raw numbers.
Then the door opened, and a large crowd of adventurers flooded the guild. A yellow bear beastman was at their helm, and he brought fifteen adventurers with him.
“Diggins?”
“It’s been a while, Black Lightning Princess!”
Diggins, the B-Rank adventurer of the west harbor, had brought in his squad.
Could it be?
“I saw your quest! Hope you don’t mind us tagging along!”
He had grown fond of Fran after fighting an antibody horde together with her. It must have been that beastman instinct of looking up to someone stronger. I hadn’t expected Diggins to come all the way here, though…
“And you came to Nocta just for that?”
“Of course! I’m not about to leave the Black Lightning Princess hanging! That goes against adventurer code! Isn’t that right, boys?”
“YEAH!”
“Thanks.”
“Ha ha ha! I’m not about to turn tail and run when a war buddy is in need!” He sounded like a brown-noser more than a war buddy, but Diggins was reliable enough.
That made around sixty-five. Not enough… But at this point I wasn’t about to stop Fran, either.
We had enough firepower, so maybe we should just go with it. But then someone else joined the fray.
“…We’re not about to turn tail, either.” The adventurer had a smile on his face despite his serious tone.
“…You’re from the party.”
“It’s Koson, kid.”
B Rank Koson, one of the greatest adventurers in Nocta.
“We ate together and sang together. I’m obliged to join a friend of mine in battle,” Koson said grinning.
“Koson, you—”
“Sorry, submaster. I know how busy it is, but Nadia took care of me when I was a rookie.”
It was still antibody season, and adventurers were supposed to be protecting Nocta. This was no time to be out doing quests in Castell…
But Koson and his men gathered out of duty and obligation and nothing else. That was what made them so happy to join. They had been preparing for a while, fully intending to take on the quest.
“Let’s have a good one, meat girl!”
“We’ll be joining you too!”
“Hm. Let’s get those antibodies.”
“YEAH!”
With fifteen Noctan adventurers, we now came to a total of eighty men. We had a strong crew, but we still needed more numbers…
“Got extra room?”
“Huh?”
Somebody else had entered the guild. I felt her gaze even before we went to the guild… Had she been waiting for the right time?
A familiar-looking girl was at the head of a small squad.
“You’re…?” The submaster tilted his head. He didn’t seem to know who she was. She probably wasn’t an adventurer.
“Call me Sophie.”
Sophilia, the dine-and-dasher, made a gallant entrance. And she brought big fighters along with her. They were clearly under her command.
“I was looking for you and found a ridiculous quest posted under your name. Perfect. I’ll lend you my strength.”
“…Are you sure?”
“I’m repaying your favor,” Sophie said. The man behind her, however, wasn’t as enthusiastic.
“W-wait! Mad—Lady Sophie! I thought you just wanted to offer a word of encouragement.”
“Nope. I’m going with them.”
“You can’t! It’s too dangerous!” The man shouted his complaints, but Sophie remained calm.
“And who are you to say I can’t? I am nobody’s servant.”
“But if…that person catches wind of this, I’ll be the one held responsible!”
“A tool’s feelings do not matter to me.”
“D-don’t be like that! Why must you be so unreasonable…?! Why can’t you just do as…that person says?!”
She must have been a girl of high standing. The man treated Sophie like his superior, but there was someone else even greater than her.
“…Whatever. I wasn’t expecting much from you anyway,” Sophie sighed in disappointment. “You all can leave if you don’t want to join. Or are you going to drag me home with you?”
“…W-we’ll come with you!”
“And that’s an additional ten people. They don’t look like much, but they’re useful enough.”
“…Hm. Glad to have you on board.”
“Good.”
I just hoped we didn’t get dragged into whatever drama Sophie was going through behind the scenes. But the men themselves were pretty strong; they could support the back line.
There were ninety now. Not bad, but we still needed another ten.
With a hundred men on our side, we could actually go and help Nadia with a clear conscience.
Just as I was thinking about it, several dozen people stopped in front of the guild. Was this—
“I knew it would come to this.”
“Mursani!”
“It’s been three days.”
Mursani had arrived with some tough-looking adventurers.
“You remind me a lot of Nadia, Fran. She had a thing which drew people to her. I had a feeling you would gather all these people despite the season…” Mursani said under his breath. He looked sad and troubled but somehow happy at the same time. “These are adventurers under our employ. Take them with you.”
“Hey there. I’m Sehald. B-Rank adventurer.”
The leader of Mursani’s adventurers was a tall man with black skin equipped with a giant lance. Was he related to Mursani? They looked similar. His long hair was done in dreadlocks, but he had a friendly smile as he shook Fran’s hand. He was strong, too. His rank wasn’t fake.
“Mursani offered us quite a lot. We’ll make sure he gets his money’s worth.”
“Please come back alive.”
“Hm. Of course.”
“And Sehald, do look after her during the quest.”
“Of course. We only got ten people with us, but they’re top quality. Rest assured.”
Mursani had recruited adventurers from other towns, since he knew Fran was going to Castell with a small force. He’d hired them mostly just to keep Fran alive.
Ten more people. And with that—
“Over a hundred!” Fran shouted happily.
Before her were a hundred powerful fighters from different backgrounds, races, and beliefs.
Heading the squad was A-Rank adventurer Hilt.
“We’re gonna save you, Auntie!”
That’s right.
Sorry, Nadia. Fran turned out to be more popular than I thought. No stopping us now.
Just let us save you.
Chapter 5: Nadia of Castell
Chapter 5:
Nadia of Castell
THE MIXED SQUAD of a hundred fighters departed Nocta and ran through the plains.
Fran did her best to hold back. Although our team had solid foundations, they would be left in the dust if she were to run at top speed. The only ones that could keep up would be Hilt and a few others.
But even if the squad wasn’t as fast as Fran on her own, it was still faster than expected.
One of the reasons was Sophilia’s…er, Sophie’s area enhancement.
She was like a bard in an RPG, using enchanted music to create different effects. She could do attacks and healing on top of the standard buffs and debuffs.
“Magic Instrument: March of the Ground.”
Before we left, Sophie took out a small harp and started plucking it.
Her music could enchant anyone who heard it. It could lift the spirits, even without any additional effects. She was truly gifted.
But that wasn’t the only thing her playing could do. When Sophie finished her piece, everyone felt power well up within them. Her magic took effect after the song was over. Instead of incantation, she used singing and playing.
“Magic Instrument: Like A Gale.”
Her second song slightly increased agility. With the increase in stamina from the first song, the squad was now in good shape to run.
Most surprising of all was that she managed to buff all one hundred people at the same time and was able to maintain it. Her abilities were in a different league from an area-of-effect support spell.
And despite using all these Skills, Sophie showed no signs of exhaustion. We’d definitely lucked out on her. Fran’s decision to bail her out of her lunch bill turned out to be the right one.
But the girl herself wasn’t too fast on her feet, so she rode Jet along with the other mages. Still, she continued to play. Even if it didn’t enhance the effects of her magic instrument, it certainly prolonged it.
Another reason for the squad’s speed was Fran’s new title.
We were just about to leave Nocta when it happened.
Fran has acquired the title Vanguard Battlemaiden.
A new title? If I remembered correctly, this was the title of the valkyrie we fought in the Beastman Nation. I’d thought it was supposed to be unique to them.
How’d that happen, P.A.?
Fran has fulfilled the Skill and troop requirements to acquire the title.
It was less a problem of race and more of the valkyrie’s Class Skill Battlemaiden. It had only been seen on valkyries, so maybe people thought it was just how the world went.
The title was unexpected but all too welcome.
Vanguard Battlemaiden: Title given to battlemaidens who have fulfilled the requirements.
Effects: Applies the battlemaiden’s stealth and movement Skills to everyone in her squad if it sits at a hundred units or more. Effect is greatly reduced if those units are not under her command.
The increase to the squad’s movement speed was remarkable. Our chances of saving Nadia were much greater now.
Fran and the others were jogging as far as they were concerned. But to regular adventurers watching them, it looked like they were going at full sprint toward Castell.
“We’re moving really fast!”
“We should be able to arrive at our destination much sooner!”
Yagiluel and Chelsea, our adjutants, were very impressed. The speed we were going at was unnatural according to these seasoned unit commanders. But we had them to thank for the speed too.
They recognized Fran’s authority and put themselves under her. The other adventurers also recognized Fran as their leader.
It increased the cohesion of a squad made up of many different factions. And the title only worked because all these different factions recognized Fran as their boss.
Fran was the general. Yagiluel and Chelsea were adjutants. Hilt was the head of the special offense unit. Sophie and Tzalutta were backline support. Diggins and his crew were Fran’s bodyguards. Koson held down his adventurers.
Fran was also in charge of supplies. Mursani had given us a large supply of food and medicine that we’d stowed in our Pocket Dimension. This squad should be able to fight for a whole month if necessary.
We ran into some antibodies along the way and the squad showed off its teamwork.
Fran, Hilt, and Chelsea took to the front lines while the others supported them. The warriors watched Fran’s back while the mages attacked our enemies with long distance spells. Meanwhile, Sophie supported the entire squad with magic instrument and healing.
For a squad of misfits, we worked incredibly well together.
It also gave us a chance to see Tzalutta’s signature Skill in action: Evil One’s Night Story. Its effects were simple enough. It lulled those with Malice to sleep. But its full power was dampened against antibodies since they weren’t true Fiends. Still, slowing them down was a great help.
Sophie’s magic instrument and Tzalutta’s Evil One’s Night Story. Add to that Chelsea and Yagiluel’s squad enhancement Skills. It made the one-hundred-man squad a menacing fighting force.
“We’ll definitely save Nadia with them.”
Sure looks like it.
***
Night had fallen on the day we left Nocta…
The hundred-man squad was camping out. As much as Fran wanted to keep running, she knew it would be difficult for everyone. We wouldn’t be able to fight if we were tired.
It helped that we were also greatly ahead of schedule.
Normally it would take close to four days to reach Castell. Now, it looked like we would arrive by morning of the third.
Fran was in good spirits. Such good spirits that she gave everyone curry.
She’d handed out some sandwiches during the day, but now everyone was getting prepared for a proper dinner. Everyone laid out their sheets and took a break while chowing down on Fran’s curry.
“It’s such a strange aroma.”
“It’s good!”
“So, so, good!”
Curry was popular in Granzell, but it hadn’t reached the lands of Goldicia. Everyone was shocked as they savored the flavor.
I was worried whether the drakes would find it delicious, but they had no problems with it. In fact, the drakes ate the most and loved it more than anyone else. The 190-centimeter race must have had an equally voracious appetite. Each had over five servings with heaping toppings.
The accommodations for the adventurers were also lavish. We bought some beds in Nocta and stored them away. After we provided a roof over everyone’s heads with land magic, they all fell asleep instantly.
Sophie also proved to be incredibly useful here. Among her repertoire were songs which increased the quality of sleep and healing. You could get a full night’s sleep out of a two-to-three-hour nap. It made you wake up feeling refreshed and would surely bring tears of joy to any insomniac.
A strange meal and a soft bed. An environment cleansed with magic and relaxing background music. The adventurers were better rested here than in an inn.
Antibodies popped up to attack us, but they were quickly beaten down by our guards.
After midnight, there was a lull in the antibody spawn rate, and the camp fell quiet. Tzalutta and Fran were talking by the campfire.
“Lady Fran, you said you knew something about the other Goldician Houses.”
“Hm.”
“Is it Wisteria or Magnolia?”
“…Magnolia.”
Telling her the name would be fine. We weren’t about to give up Romeo’s location, though.
Tzalutta started thinking after she heard Fran’s answer.
“What’s wrong?”
“The Wisterias have the most dangerous ability among the Three Houses. It makes Fiends go out of control.”
“That is dangerous.”
Tzalutta knew how dangerous it would be if the Evil One’s Blessings were to get out of control. She looked lost in thought.
“And how is this House Magnolia now? Are they living happily?”
“…I don’t know. But they’re with people I can trust.”
“That’s good.”
Tzalutta gave a relieved smile. She wasn’t happy that one of the Magnolias was happy, just relieved that someone was keeping an eye on them.
House Wisteria… That was a name we should look out for. We should definitely tell Tzalutta if we got word about them.
It was the evening of the second day. Castell was in our sights.
But it was hard to say whether we’d reached here in time. For better or worse, the deserted Castell had been overrun.
“There’s so many…!”
I can’t believe it… There’s more than ten thousand in there.
It was more like a hundred thousand. The surroundings were completely overrun with antibodies.
But there was still hope. Castell was still intact.
The battle took place in the grasslands in front of Castell. Little to no grass or soil could be seen from all the antibodies covering it. One woman was holding them all back.
Nadia is still fighting.
“Hm!”
An impressive amount of mana was coming from Castell’s entrance. Nadia’s mana. She was protecting Castell, fighting against all the antibodies by herself. But things were getting worse.
“This aura. Are the antibodies fighting each other?”
No one could blame Chelsea for saying that. If you didn’t know Nadia’s circumstances, her erosion could easily be mistaken for the presence of another antibody.
“No. That’s Auntie.”
“But… No, wait. That means she has that sword!”
“The user of Overgrowth. That explains the mass of energy coming from her.”
The drakes and mercenaries weren’t seasoned veterans of Goldicia for nothing. They knew things which the average adventurer was in the dark about.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I guess we should charge through the antibodies to save Fran’s family. Let’s show them what the Dimitris School is made of!”
“We’ll go to hell for you, Black Lightning Princess!”
“Let’s show these guys the Noctan adventurers aren’t second rate.”
“Behold the power of the Segilucele Knights!”
“We’ve been living in Goldicia for a while, too.”
“Today is a good day for a concert. Time to put on a show.”
“Can’t disappoint Mursani now.”
Our comrades were more than reliable, and Fran agreed. A smile came to her face.
“…Everyone, lend me your power.”
“Of course. I’ll cut open a path for you with my fists!”
“The draconian warriors are with you. We’ll get you to your family!”
“Thank you.”
Fran nodded to Hilt and Chelsea at her side. She turned to her squad, a hundred men of different races and affiliations.
She looked at them and smiled.
“Let’s go.”
“YEAAAAAH!”
ASIDE: NADIA
FOUR DAYS HAD PASSED since Fran left Castell.
She was flustered when I said I would be staying here, but I managed to convince her to go to Nocta.
Maybe Fran didn’t get it, but Teacher sure did. That sword is all human within. Definitely had the reactions of one during our last interaction.
But I didn’t mind even if she didn’t understand. I just played my hand.
“There’s no way she can get a hundred people in this time of year.”
Fran didn’t understand the circumstances of the continent. Adventurers were highly cautious during antibody season.
And for good reason… There were more antibodies about, and they were much stronger. One wrong move and they were dead. No one would take on an absurd quest to defend a ghost town.
“Well… It’s about time they showed up.”
I could tell that the antibody horde was closing in. They were slow, but that was proof they had a commander unit in charge. The lesser antibodies usually rushed in with no caution.
This presence had stopped in one place.
The antibodies’ basic strategy was the accumulation of power. Once they had a commander unit along with several greater antibodies, they would move in for the kill.
If they were hindered, then they would either swarm their target or avoid them for a time. I should be able to take them on for now. But I could bring the fight to them and start swinging…
This time, I will protect Castell.
“I have a graveyard to keep… I’ll be going now.”
I drew Overgrowth, parted the tall grass, and made my way to the horde.
I’ve spent twenty years with this sword.
I got it on the day my husband died.
We had finally broken through the rookie ranks and were feeling confident in our abilities as adventurers. Our confidence turned into pride, and my husband and I became more reckless.
Our days eventually came to an end. Despair and regret were planted in my soul after that unfortunate encounter with antibodies. I don’t even know if I can beat them now. We failed to defeat them then, and my husband was killed after he made himself a distraction to save me.
He was cut down without ever getting the chance to buy me time. I saw his blood and guts splatter on the ground, a callous end to our pride. All of our experience, training, lives. Did any of it matter? The question never stopped ringing in my head.
A chance encounter saved my life. An elite adventurer had begun fighting near us, and they drew the antibodies’ attention.
I didn’t count myself lucky at the time. For an unknown reason, the antibodies rushed past me. They had been so adamant about killing us before that there was no way they would let me escape. I was expecting a final confrontation that would leave me dying, too.
I chased after them but found that the antibodies had been disintegrated by an S-Rank adventurer. They had killed my husband, and I didn’t even get a chance to avenge his death.
An indescribable storm of emotions fought within me. Anger, sadness, resentment. They all raged on, seemingly without end.
When the storm finally passed, I was left with an unfillable void.
Maybe emptiness would be the best word to describe it. I didn’t care about anything anymore. Not about the future, not about my life. I had nothing left. My beloved husband, my confidence in being an adventurer, hope for vengeance…everything was gone. And just when I drew my sword to take my own life—it appeared.
The silver woman. A pitiful golem doomed to wander the land of Goldicia in search for Overgrowth’s next master.
I had thought it nothing but an urban legend, and then I met it in person…
I looked at the sword the expressionless woman held, and I knew. This sword needed me. And I needed it.
This attachment was one of the conditions of using the sword. Overgrowth and I would spend the rest of my life hunting down antibodies.
I told Fran that you needed to truly hate the antibodies to use Overgrowth…but that wasn’t the only thing necessary. The other condition was despair. A despair which allowed you to keep fighting even if your body turned into an antibody. That was what the silver woman said, anyway.
“Despair…”
Considering a golem had enough sense to see the despair in me, it was a miracle that I would now be dying with a glimmer of hope.
“I’ll have to finish them quick in case Fran makes it back in time.”
That girl would come for me even if she didn’t fulfill my stalling quest. I just needed to wrap things up before she got it here.
I wasn’t about to let the daughter of my friends die.
“I wonder if Tildia would be mad.”
Maybe she would cry. If nothing else, maybe she would be sad.
She was a Black Cat I picked up on a whim. I told myself she would die if she were left alone, and I raised her for a time.
I taught her combat, magic, the basics of being an adventurer. I was a harsh guardian, and I would never tell myself that I was her mother. I just taught her everything she needed to know to survive in Goldicia…
I forced her off the continent two Great Aggressions ago. Told her she was deadweight. I was an awful guardian. I wasn’t powerful enough to fight during antibody season and protect her at the same time. I could’ve just left her in a settlement and gone off to fight antibodies on my own. That’s what normal people would have done.
Instead, I shoved her into an escape vessel using antibody season as my excuse. Unlike me, she didn’t have to be tied down to this godforsaken continent. She had a life to live, friends to make…
Four years ago, she returned to Goldicia a little bit after Castell was destroyed. She had her excuses, but she probably came back because she knew I was here. I chased her away again, told her that she was still deadweight until she made it to C Rank.
Tildia was E Rank at the time. You got prodigies like Fran every now and again…but E Rank at ten years old was still an impressive feat. It would take more than ten years for an unevolved Black Cat to hit C Rank. She wouldn’t make it back in time for the current antibody season.
If I die today, she’ll have nothing left to tie her to Goldicia. She’s better off forgetting me and this damn continent so she can live her own life.
“I’m feeling rowdy today, antibodies. I’m not about to embarrass my daughters by going down without a fight! You won’t kill me easily!”
“Shiiiaaa!”
“Shuooo!”
I cut down the charging swordsmen. Even if they were just lesser antibodies, I was seeing their movements better than usual.
It looked like I was in good form today.
“Eat, Overgrowth. You’ll have a feast today! Fill yourself up with antibodies until I break!”
Overgrowth started glowing, though I knew it didn’t respond to my calls.
It ate antibodies and took their power.
I fought as Overgrowth glowed with a golden light. I fought and fought and kept on fighting.
I cut and cut through antibodies, and when the sun went down, I cut through some more.
I fought to the point that I couldn’t tell whether I was exhausted anymore. I should have been, but my movements were getting better by the moment.
How many had it consumed? A thousand? Ten thousand?
But the waves of antibodies kept on crashing.
“Shuiii!”
“Ruiii!”
“Hah! You’re a little stronger now, but you won’t scratch me with that! Bring out your commander!”
I was lying.
I couldn’t tell how much blood I had lost.
The sword’s drain ability and my own regeneration closed up my wounds, regenerated my blood, my stamina. And I kept forcing myself to fight.
“Huh…? Are you finally coming out?”
An explosive power emerged from the center of the horde. No doubt about it. The commander was coming to greet me with its special forces.
Show your might, Overgrowth! I’ll give you all my flesh! So, give me your powers!
“Gold Eater! Activate!”
Overgrowth’s mana linked and mixed with my own. I felt more united with it and the strength of all the antibodies it ate up surged through me.
“Gaaah!”
Snapping sounds. The erosion in my left arm was getting worse. The cost of power.
But I didn’t mind.
“I won’t let Fran die…!”
Framere…I’ll protect your baby this time.
I caught a glimpse of the blue sky.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky beyond the barrier.
Today might be a good day to die.
***
The place was a war zone.
Antibodies were everywhere. A horde of deadly creatures not afraid of death.
It wasn’t the same as a war with battle-crazed people. They looked like puppets without a will of their own, and their combat lacked the heated desires and ideals of humanity.
All the same, this was a battle where antibodies and humans fought to the death.
“Haaa!”
“Gishaaa!”
“Cheeaaa!”
“Gruooo!”
Fran cut through the antibodies with her slashes while Hilt punched holes right through them. Chelsea, Colbert, and Diggins were also putting in work.
But as many antibodies were defeated, more came to take their place. It looked like there was no end to them. Even area spells proved ineffective as more antibodies filled in the void left by the attack.
The wall of antibodies was pressing in on us. But Fran was still cutting through, moving in slowly but surely.
“I’m opening a path!”
Stay calm, Fran. Nadia’s still doing fine!
At first, Fran had used Air Hop to rescue Nadia from the air. But it didn’t end well. The magic cannon and other projectile types immediately focused fire on her when she jumped. The curtain of projectiles forced her to land after she was seriously injured.
Never mind a hundred or even a thousand… I couldn’t count how many projectiles there were. Things might have gone differently if we went all out, but we would be spent for the rest of the battle.
They even had counterspells mixed in when we tried to avoid the attack with a timespace spell. According to Chelsea, the greater antibodies could use teleport and were likely to attack with the element.
We thought about advancing with Dimension Gate, but it would still be difficult. A gate on the ground would be swarmed by the antibodies immediately, and one in the air would make a prime target for timespace attacks.
Chances of survival of rushing in with Air Hop, Timespace Magic and Dimension Magic without using Unleash Potential and Sword God Form is at 13 percent.
Haste makes waste. We’ll have to go on foot.
…Hm.
We would have to go through tens of thousands of antibodies if we wanted to save Nadia.
This situation would have been impossible if we were alone, but we’d brought along some formidable comrades. I’d seen the Dimitris School and Diggins’s adventurers in action, but they weren’t the only ones here.
“Water Slicer! Raaah!”
The drake warrior Chelsea used water magic and a two-handed curved sword to unleash a flurry of attacks.
Hers was a spellblade style, which leveraged both the drakes’ natural physical prowess and magic. The other drakes fought in a similar way. But it didn’t mean they were bad at defense. They attacked before they were attacked. Even if they were attacked, they would counterattack after the slightest dodge. Most of their wounds recovered through their natural regenerative capacity. They were a race who followed the principle of a strong offense being the best defense.
The ten draconian warriors were putting up similar numbers to Fran and Hilt.
Also, as rude as this might sound, the Segilucele knights were unexpectedly good.
The knights’ stats and levels were comparable to a C Rank, with the exception of Yagiluel…but their defense was beyond my expectations. They fought while protecting themselves and their allies at the same time.
Each knight was an expert with his shield, and they were professionals at fighting in formation. Their aim was to not let their allies get hurt, and they were the epitome of indomitable. They used provocation Skills to draw the enemy’s attention and received blows as they came. Thanks to their efforts, they drew pressure off the front and back lines.
The mercenaries supporting the back line were also hard at work. They had bragged about being the best, but all of them could use multiple magicks. At times they would use support magic and at other times they would fire offensive spells to keep the enemy away. Half of them could also heal, and they worked like an elite squad of mages.
Supporting them were the men who Sophie brought along. As unmotivated as they were, they put up a good fight when the battle heated up.
But Sophie had yet to show her full power. This was on purpose. Her music would probably draw the attention of antibodies because of its sound and mana output.
She locked her music away until we really needed it. But even then, she was still very useful. While riding Jet, she fended away antibodies with her strings and magic.
Jet should be enough to protect her until we absolutely needed her music.
“Seyaaa!”
“Nice moves, Boss!”
“Yeaaah! Stay close to the Boss!”
Even the people who weren’t adventurers started calling Fran the Boss. It made the squad work better together as a result, so that was good. Fran and the others continued killing antibodies with a unity rarely seen in a group that was fighting together for the first time.
The antibodies disintegrated into dust as they were defeated, making it look like a swarm of black fireflies danced around us. They left no smell of blood or steel on the battlefield. The sight was beautiful—but the other antibodies continued to advance.
And numbers weren’t the only thing on the enemy’s side.
“Yiii!”
“Hm!”
“These guys are strong…!”
A new threat appeared thirty minutes into the battle.
Fran and Hilt were blocking their attacks together. They looked quite similar to the knight types we had fought up to now. The only thing that differentiated them were the large black horns coming out of their heads.
But the mana and presence from these blackhorn knights were on a completely different level.
“Haaa! Out of the way!”
“Twin Fist Strike!”
Fran and the others upped their antes to crush the newly spawned knights.
They even felt different as I cut into them. Fran was intent on cutting them in half, but I only managed to enter from their shoulder and stopped in their solar plexus. We could’ve taken it out if we had cut right through its core…
We didn’t go for full commitment attacks since we prioritized longevity. But these things were strong enough to make Fran rethink her strategy. If I had to guess their threat level, it would be about a D Threat.
“I was getting bored of small fry! I’m getting fired up!”
“Hm!”
“Ha ha! Keep fighting, boys! Our bosses still are!”
“Can’t fall back now!”
“Yeaaah!”
But the spirit of the hundred fighters was still intact. They shouted as they repelled the enemy forces, especially once they knew the antibodies were getting stronger. With Fran and Hilt taking care of the blackhorn knights, all they needed to do was take care of the rest.
I quietly checked the antibody card. Defeating a single blackhorn got us six hundred points.
It was close to half of the magic cannon and commander type we last fought. And we weren’t alone like last time. This was a squad battle. Antibody points were divided among everyone who had antibody cards in the perimeter. Otherwise, all the points would be gathered up by the damage dealers.
This antibody granted everyone in the vicinity six hundred points. With their distinctive horns, the blackhorns were probably like unit commanders for the surrounding antibodies…
In a few minutes, more blackhorn knights came flooding in.
“There’s more of them!”
Are we getting to the core of the horde?
The blackhorn knights were swarming us like they were common antibodies. We must have gone through the outer ranks of lesser antibodies and were getting closer to the center.
“They’re strong…but we’re stronger!” Fran said, firing up her allies.
“YEAH!”
I think this was the first time she said something like that since the battle began. She probably didn’t plan on it. Her combat instincts probably whispered to her that this was a critical moment. The squad would need all the motivation they could get.
Her words struck her companions deep in their hearts since she had been carrying the fight this entire time. Their faces looked different now.
“Hilt, team up with me.”
“All right!”
Hilt was shifting into higher gear, too. These two were probably the most fired up out of everyone. No wonder they were the squad’s strongest.
They kept knocking down our enemies even when they were getting stronger. But they were starting to take hits themselves. Fran and Hilt weren’t just going up against the blackhorns, but the long-ranged antibodies that were backing them up.
The adventurers defending them were beginning to feel the pain as well.
In a sense, the real battle was finally beginning.
Teacher, let’s fire some spells!
Okay!
Our safety margins were much smaller from here on out and we had to be careful on how we spent our energy.
Not that I ever thought saving Nadia was going to be easy. The intensity of this battle was about where I expected it to be.
Let’s do it, Fran!
“Hm! Taaah!”
Doryaaa!
We cut and crushed hundreds of blackhorn knights in order to advance.
Fran’s front line formed a half circle to stop the flow of incoming antibodies. The backliners grouped up with us while the knights and adventurers fortified our flanks.
We became a small circle, advancing slowly but surely until the flow of battle shifted.
The blackhorns disappeared, and red-horned knights came out to take their place. All-black swordsmen and archers also started attacking us.
“Gah! They’re tough…!”
And they sent their stronger guys out all at once!
The redhorn knights were strong enough to make the blackhorn knights look like small fry. Fran took a hit, unable to react to their speed.
The surrounding black antibodies were also fast. With their numbers, they made up for any blackhorns we defeated.
This might have been the antibodies’ true fighting force.
And strange things weren’t just happening on the front. Beyond the thousands of antibodies was an increasingly oppressive presence. The commander of the antibodies had started fighting.
Mana clashed against mana. It must have been fighting Nadia.
But the antibody aura surrounding Nadia had gotten much stronger compared to when we left Castell. The erosion was progressing.
Estimated thirteen minutes and twenty-six seconds until Nadia transforms into an antibody.
Teacher, it’s time to get serious!
Yeah.
Fran held me up with a determined look on her face—a look that said she would save Nadia even if it killed her.
“Haaa! Flashing Thunderclap!”
“Garudaaa!”
Fran and the others powered themselves up with no hesitation and charged again into the antibodies. They went after the high-speed redhorn knights and rushed through them at breakneck speed. And they weren’t the only ones.
“Water Dragon Form!”
“Awaken!”
Chelsea, now covered in blue scales, fought wildly. An awakened Diggins slashed through several antibodies at once.
Sophie also made her move. She had been told that she could use her own discretion in the battle, and now was the time.
“Magic Ballad: Trails of a Fast Hero.”
This was no ordinary performance.
Sophie’s beautiful voice carried over the noise of the violent battlefield, echoing throughout. She wasn’t loud, but I could hear her. It was almost as if she was singing directly into my ears. Her voice and instruments produced beautiful music.
“Wow.”
Yeah, I didn’t think she would be this good…
This was Sophie’s full power. Fran’s speed significantly increased; the improvement was unlike the song she used when we were marching. Everyone’s speed was better, in fact. And the song affected our strength and magic resistance as well.
All stats have increased by two hundred. Light magic barrier has been applied.
The buff was good enough for one person, but it was applied to all one hundred of the squad. You could probably win a war if you had Sophie on your side.
But I could tell that Sophie’s mana had greatly reduced. The mana expenditure was nowhere near as great on our departure. Even she would need to spend a great deal of mana to apply such a powerful enhancement. But I was feeling better about the fight now. Her powers were amazing. Who was she?!
“Let’s go and save Auntie!”
Right!
As curious as I was about Sophie’s identity, we had antibodies to kill!
The antibodies started fighting harder as if sensing our enhancements. The core of the antibody swarm was made up of redhorn knights and black antibodies. The redhorn knights were C Threats and the black antibodies somewhere below D Threat. But there were thousands of them, and they could easily annihilate a small country.
But for the antibodies, even these were not their heavy hitters.
“Grrr…!”
“Graaah!”
Growling came from below the earth and a red dragon antibody burst out of it.
This must have been an elite variant of the fanged type, which usually looked like animals. Its body was slender and serpentine, a wingless dragon. It looked like it had all the advantages of a dragon and a cat.
Its emotions were on clear display, which was rare for an antibody. It was mad. Or maybe that was just a show for the sake of mimicking dragons?
Either way, it was powerful. It was three meters in length, not exactly large by the standards of the animal world, but the presence it exuded made it easily recognizable as a dragon.
There weren’t many fanged types in this horde. We only ran into a few of them as we were fighting through the lesser antibodies. It was probably difficult for them to coordinate attacks with the humanoid antibodies because of the density of the horde. Fanged types usually appeared in packs of their own kind.
The surrounding antibodies backed up and took their distance. They circled around us, forcing Fran and the others to fight the red dragons as the rest of the horde attacked the back line.
They gave up their safety in numbers. But the reason they were so confident in doing so was—
“Graaah!”
“These things are faster than the redhorn knights!”
There were only five red dragons in the horde of a hundred thousand strong. They must have been the trump cards.
The red beast jumped so fast that it seemed to disappear, but Fran deflected its attack. The enemy was unscathed, having blocked me with its fangs. It looked like Fran blew the creature away with her strength, but it actually just jumped back to absorb the impact.
Each dragon had different features on them. They were probably differing in power level too. There was also a chance that they fought differently despite looking similar. But they were definitely uniques.
“Fran, leave this one to me!”
“On my honor as a drake, I will turn this creature into dust!”
“I’m getting kind of hype thinking that a bear like me’s about to beat a dragon!”
“Come, knights! Let’s show our guests that we’re not just good for defending!”
“Looks like it’s time to pull out the stops. You go ahead, kid!”
Hilt, Chelsea, Diggins, Yagiluel and Sehald stepped up to the plate to deal with each of the red dragons. They were betting their honor on it.
Meanwhile, Tzalutta and Sophie were pumping up their mana spending.
“Everyone, I’m going to use my full power, so I won’t be able to move for a while. I’m counting on you.”
“Just stick with me. I can’t move around when I’m singing too.”
“Woof!”
“We’re in your care, Wolf.”
Jet and Sophie’s men would have to take care of their zone. Apparently, Sophie and Tzalutta had yet to show their true power.
Did that mean they had more in the tank? I was getting a bit scared.
Just then, Sophie started playing again.
“Magic Ballad: Dirge for a Fallen Hero.”
Sophie’s voice and music covered the war zone. It was a sadder and more sombre melody. My heart clenched after just hearing one note of her voice. It was filled with nostalgia and memories of lost friends. Loneliness and desolation. If I had a few drinks in me, I wouldn’t be able to stop crying.
The song was a funeral dirge, as the title suggested. It called on the memories of fallen heroes down on the squad to strengthen them. That’s what it seemed to do, anyway.
The effects were wild. Her previous song was already amazing, but this went beyond that.
Slowly, the pain in my heart disappeared, replaced with confidence and reassurance. That’s right. Even I felt the effects of this song. It was greatly appreciated.
“My wounds are closing up…!”
That’s not all. Your mana’s slowly coming back.
All abilities up. Regeneration increased. Ability usage enhanced. Mental uplift confirmed.
Our stats were up, our health and mana were regenerating, skills and spells were easier to use, and focusing on the battle was easier. And that was on top of the lingering boosts we still had on us.
But there is a 98 percent chance of side effects after the battle.
Is that bad?
They do not seem life threatening.
Then it was fine. It would be weird if all these enhancements didn’t come at a cost.
“Gyarooo!”
But now wasn’t the time to think about the end of the battle! We still had to go through our enemies to save Nadia!
“Guarooo!”
“Haaa!”
Fran slashed into the red dragon coming for us, but it deflected the attack with its tail. I used telekinesis to hold it down, but it dodged even that. Its detection abilities were astoundingly high.
How about this!
“Gyaaa!”
I turned my decorative strip into a steel thread to attack it from all sides. The mana surrounding the dragon instantly disintegrated it, but all I needed was to distract it for a second.
“Raaah! I’ve got this one, kid!”
Sehald jumped in between Fran and the red dragon. He was using a different spear from the one he had before. This one was turquoise in color and seemed to be Sehald’s secret weapon.
Colbert and the drakes’ adjutant were stronger than him in terms of raw strength. That was where we ranked him from our encounters on our way here. But veteran adventurers were more than the sum of their stats.
They were fighters who had years of experience fighting strong monsters and surviving. And this experience was deadlier than their stat values. Even Fran and I couldn’t let our guards down against such veterans.
Still…I didn’t know whether he could defeat the red dragon.
Hilt and Chelsea were at an advantage. They were going to win soon enough.
But Diggins, Yagiluel and Sehald were having a difficult time. They were getting pummeled. The rest of the squad were also engaged in a fight to the death with the redhorns.
Should we just go ahead to help Nadia? Colbert’s voice was heard as Fran considered the conflict. He shouted while taking on several redhorn knights at the same time.
“Fran! Don’t worry about us! This is our chance to draw the enemy forces away! Go!”
Diggins followed him up. So did Yagiluel.
“Ha ha ha! I can finally go all out! Man, that’s it?! I still wanted to play with you!” yelled Diggins.
“You feel the same way, huh? We won’t need any help here!” shouted Yagiluel.
“I have to show the kid that I’m good for something!”
Sehald was clearly putting up a strong front with his words. But there was nothing grim about it. In fact, they were smiling.
“We’ll be all right!”
“Just go ahead!”
“You guys…”
The red dragons weren’t weak; they were probably the core of the enemy’s forces. If they were here, that meant the enemy forces were thinner around Nadia.
There was also a good chance that Nadia was up against multiple antibodies the same level as the red dragons. Fran knew this, but she wanted to go help her. Still, she hesitated, worried about her comrades.
Hilt shouted in response to Fran’s concerns, “Fran, get going! I thought you had someone you wanted to save!”
“But…!”
“Are you saying we’re going to lose this fight?” Chelsea cast a sharp gaze at her as she fought the black antibodies. She wasn’t just showing consideration for Fran. Her gaze was offended at Fran thinking they were weak.
“You want to save Nadia, don’t you? Isn’t that why we’re here? We want to help you achieve that! Don’t forget your mission!” said Hilt.
“Thanks, Hilt. All right. I’ll leave this one to you!”
“No problem!”
“Get going, princess of the Black Cats!”
“Hm! Jet, protect everyone!”
“Woof!”
Having received the motivation she needed, Fran ran in Nadia’s direction.
“Go get ’em!”
“You better bring her back!”
“We’ve got this covered!”
Countless voices supported her on the way. They added fuel to her fire, speeding her up.
Teacher, I’m not stopping until we get there!
Yeah, just keep your eyes in front, Fran. Leave the surroundings to me!
“Hm! Haaa!”
Even if our allies were dealing with the red dragons, we still had a lot of antibodies to go through. A large mass of redhorn knights were swarming Fran, but she kept going through them, slicing them one at a time. Meanwhile, I widened the opening Fran left behind with telekinesis.
Fran rushed through the narrow path. An aerial view would have seen a bolt of black lightning charging through the horde.
“Move!”
Get out of Fran’s way!
Fran only focused on the antibodies standing in her path and ignored everything else. She slipped through the wall of antibodies, dodging their attacks from all sides with an economy of movement.
She couldn’t avoid all of their attacks, of course. Her forehead was cut, her arm torn, her side gouged. She was gushing blood from all the wounds on her body, leaving a trail of red behind.
I didn’t think we could get through the horde unscathed to begin with. We just needed to avoid critical attacks. A lot of ground was covered by her unbroken momentum.
Fran was reaching her limit. Her breathing was ragged, and her grip on me weakened. But she wasn’t slowing down.
“Aaaah!” she roared, pumping herself up. She was smashing through antibodies instead of slashing them, forcing an opening she could move through.
She was getting more hurt, but I didn’t stop her. We were almost there, and I would make sure Fran got to where Nadia was fighting.
Just a little more! I need help!
All right!
I didn’t know what she needed, but I somehow understood. I felt a similar sensation to when Fran unconsciously wielded me in the final moments of the tournament.
I used wind and flame magic to push her on. The speed made her movements uncontrollable, increasing the number of attacks she took.
I healed her through the wounds that would have been fatal for an ordinary adventurer.
But Fran still had a smile on her face. I knew what she wanted, and I was supporting her perfectly.
We’re almost at Nadia!
Hm!
Fran, gooo!
“Aaaaah!”
She did a horizontal slash with me, blowing away antibodies to create a gap.
We finally saw the duel to the death that was taking place.
It looked like two antibodies fighting each other. A crimson knight with twisted horns against a swordsman with a giant sword.
The other antibodies surrounded them as if not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. The circle they formed made it look like a colosseum. Within the ring was a killing floor.
The commander unit stood at the center, its features quite similar to a knight. Atop its head were twisted horns, a third larger than a regular knight, and they were pointed toward the sky.
Surrounding them were black knights which looked to be the commander’s guards.
They were up against a mutant half-antibody with feminine features. But this was no antibody.
“Auntieee!”
“Fran…?”
The erosion from Gold Eater Sword Overgrowth had taken over half of Nadia’s body.
Her gaze directed toward us for an instant.
What came out of her mouth wasn’t joy but anger.
“What are you doing here?!”
Nadia didn’t want us to be here. But it wasn’t born out of resentment. She had sent Fran away specifically to protect her.
“I’m here to save you!” Fran shouted back at her, not bothered by her rejection and looking right at her.
They both had something to say to each other. They didn’t agree precisely…but they loved each other.
As much as I wanted us to be on the same page, there was no time to talk this out.
“Yiii!”
“This thing’s annoying!”
Calm down, Fran! It’s strong!
“Urgh…”
Fran started hitting the antibodies surrounding the commander to push them back. But these enemies weren’t so weak that we could defeat them without focusing on them.
One of them blocked me with its armored hand and thrust its claws at Fran.
They were slower than the red dragons, but they might have been deadlier at melee range.
Its skills were on a similar level to Colbert. It took Fran’s attacks head on and, judging by the way it moved, its stats were far higher than Colbert’s. It was hard to make a comparison, but these jet-black knights were probably weaker than the red dragons.
But it was definitely stronger than the blackhorns and redhorns.
I’ll stop its movement!
“Hm!”
I transmogrified my decorative strip into threads and attacked. Its claws ripped through them, but I managed to punch through by sheer mass. In less than five seconds I managed to wrap it in my threads, blocking off its escape. Fran then took it out by slicing it in half with an all-out attack.
Though it looked like a clear victory, it took a lot of my and Fran’s mana. But we would have been in real trouble if I hadn’t taken it out quickly.
There were five more of these clawed knights. And there was still the boss who was emitting a strange energy. Nadia was also releasing an even greater amount of energy as she fended it off.
Fran rushed to Nadia’s side without even looking at the clawed knight she’d just defeated.
“Get away, Auntie!”
“Giriii?”
Caught off guard by Fran’s ferocity, the clawed knights were forced to disperse.
Nadia’s mutation was very bad now that we could see her up close.
“Fran…”
Her voice was still hers. But the left half of her face had been covered in a black-and-green shell, and her eye had a green glow to it. The same went for her body. The left half was enlarged and hardened, bursting from beneath her tattered robes.
The mana she gave off was no longer human and was closer to being an antibody.
She was no longer a human with antibody powers. She now looked like an antibody with human features.
There were no wounds on her body, which was impossible given the intensity of the fight. Her regeneration must have allowed her to power through everything.
Gold Eater Sword Overgrowth had also gone through a change. Its basic features were the same, but its blade was gigantic and sported more antibody colors.
Nadia’s transformation must have sped up due to Overgrowth’s, well, growth.
But the erosion had yet to make its way inside.
“Why…are you here?”
“I got a team together to save you!”
“Teacher!” Nadia glared at me, angry that I didn’t stop Fran.
Sorry. But she did get a hundred people together. You can’t expect me to stop her.
“…This is insane. I was hoping to finish this before you got back…” Nadia lamented as she glared at the antibodies. She probably wasn’t expecting Fran to return so quickly.
This isn’t the time to complain! We have to get out of here!
It was probably impossible to revert Nadia’s body, but anyone could tell that she was in a dangerous state. We needed to leave before her heart became that of an antibody.
But Nadia shook her head.
“Impossible!”
I’ll just teleport us out!
Dimension Gate would likely be enough to get us out of danger.
“These things will hunt you down once they’ve made you their prey! There’s nowhere to run!”
No way…
The antibodies would hunt their prey to the end if they didn’t find anything else more appetizing. And the special units were particularly obsessed with their prey. We were also still within the Abyss Eater itself. It observed everything that happened within the barrier.
They would chase us to the cities if we escaped and Nadia wouldn’t even be able to enter. With no way of leaving the continent, Nadia had nowhere to run.
“You either kill or be killed once a special unit has its eyes on you. It still has its eyes on me, so—”
“So, we just need to kill it.” Fran cut her off before Nadia could finish saying, So you should all just leave.
Fran didn’t want to let her finish that sentence.
“You’re crazy! This is a combat specialized unit even among the special units! I’ve never seen a stronger antibody in my life!”
This was Nadia’s first encounter with the antibody in all her years of fighting with Overgrowth. This did not bode well.
But Fran smiled. “Don’t worry. You have me, Teacher, and you. We can win this.”
Fran made it clear that she wasn’t about to escape by herself.
She softly clasped Nadia’s remaining hand. But all she got was a wry smile.
“So hardheaded… Just like Framere. Fine…”
“Then?”
“Yeah, I’ll give you an earful after we beat these bastards!”
“Hm!”
Fran and Nadia nodded at each other.
They then charged right at the antibody, utilizing the opportunity to take down the boss’s guard.
“Taaah!”
“Draaah!”
Just as the antibodies started preparing themselves, Fran and Nadia switched positions to pick off their prey.
They were shockingly in tune for never having fought together before.
But the clawed knights weren’t small fry. They immediately adjusted to the mixup, raising their shields to block the incoming attack.
But this is what we came to do!
We saw this coming. We just needed to divert their attention for a second.
I wrapped my steel threads around the clawed knights. But not with a bundle of rope.
I went much, much thinner.
So thin that it was hard to see, hard to even detect. They were so thin that they looked to be easily broken… But they never were and dug into the antibodies’ legs.
I transmitted my mana to reinforce them. They weren’t going to be cut that easily. And strong wasn’t all they were…
“Giii?”
“Gyaga?”
It worked!
The thin threads dug into the antibodies legs and cut deep. The hardness of my threads surpassed orihalcon.
A human would feel like the threads dug through their flesh and into their bones…not that antibodies had bones. I couldn’t lop them off entirely, but I succeeded in restricting their movement.
It took a lot of effort to produce these threads compared to my usual quality, but my hard work paid off.
“Haaa!”
“Eat this!”
The threads knocked the clawed knights off balance, and Fran and Nadia went in for the kill.
I sensed a strange unity as I watched them fight. It was as if Fran and Nadia were the same person.
Their fighting stance was strangely similar. Was it because they were both Black Cats? And yet they had different weapon sizes and weights; they were even of different heights. How could they be so alike?
It wasn’t like they had the same fighting style. Fran never formally learned swordsmanship, and the same went for Nadia. Then again, maybe Fran’s parents had her take lessons from Nadia since they lived in the same village. If that was the case, their basics would be the same.
“Ruooo!”
“Gaah!”
“Nadia!”
Nadia’s body was thrown away right after they took down two clawed knights. The boss—Twistedhorn—had taken her out. It was gigantic compared to the knights, but it somehow still managed to sneak up on us.
She managed to block the main attack with Overgrowth, but the clawed knights moved in for the follow-up. She would soon be cornered if this kept up.
But Fran didn’t panic or move in to help Nadia.
“Teacher!”
Right!
This was our chance now that Nadia had their attention. Nadia had been surviving this situation even before we came so she wasn’t about to go down that easy.
Now’s our chance to take down the guards!
“Hm!”
Twistedhorn’s display of strength underscored why it was a combat-specialized unit. Its swordsmanship was on the same level as Sword King Mastery, and it was just as fast as Fran and Nadia. Its strength and stamina were also top notch.
We would need to take out the surrounding antibodies if we wanted to take this thing down. In the end, this was the shortcut to victory.
Is Nadia’s face looking more like an antibody…?
Six minutes and forty-three seconds until Nadia transforms.
We were taking risks to finish this battle as fast as possible.
Can you get bigger, Teacher? I’ll take them all out with that.
I see. Got it. I’ll set it up so finish them off!
“Hm!”
I immediately knew what Fran was planning and transmitted mana into my decorative strip again.
It twitched like it was alive and stretched into the sky.
It split several meters in the sky and plunged back down to the earth. Hundreds of threads fell like it was raining on a sunny day.
My targets were the antibodies aside from Twistedhorn. But the antibodies protected themselves with their claws and barriers. The threads weren’t that powerful and weren’t being individually controlled.
It couldn’t be helped. In any case, this attack wasn’t meant to take out the antibodies.
Good job, Teacher.
Ready when you are, Fran!
“Hm! Haaa!”
Fran nodded. She dropped me to her hip, charged for a moment, and swung.
In that moment, I grew myself to gigantic proportions, fifteen meters in length.
Ship-slayer form, something we used against pirates in the past…except that I was longer now, and Fran could handle me better. Her speed was on a different level.
Fran struggled to wield me at ten meters back then, but she expertly handled me now. Her slash was the same speed as her regular slashes.
Still bound by the threads, the antibodies couldn’t leap upwards. They could duck her attack, but then the threads would get them.
The only way out was to dig into the ground, and they had no time to do that.
“Giii!”
“Giooo!”
The slash took out the antibody in front of her plus one other. The other one tried to force its way up to avoid me. It knew that the threads wouldn’t be lethal.
But that was the wrong answer! I immediately activated the spell I had prepared. A pillar of white lightning fell and engulfed the tangled-up antibody.
The focused energy of Kanna Kamuy gouged a hole out of the ground and shook the earth.
A focused Kanna Kamuy could go through any amount of magic resistance.
Just as planned, it took out all the antibodies who were in range of the ship-slayer.
“Now we just have the boss left.”
Yeah! Let’s get it together with Nadia!
“Gruooo!”
Twistedhorn turned its sights on us, identifying Fran as a threat for defeating its clawed knights. It adapted its movement, taking her into account in defending itself.
But it still knew how dangerous Nadia was and didn’t focus its attention on us completely.
Twistedhorn still had other antibodies around it. The black swordsmen and archers still surrounded us. Even without the clawed knights, they still made for a good backup.
We can’t have them swarm us. Let’s get rid of it while we can!
“Hm!”
Fran lowered herself to the ground and charged. She leaned in, her body inches away from the soil to go after its legs.
Twistedhorn lowered its sword to meet Fran…but it failed.
Nadia hopped and came down on it with a slice.
The timing was perfect. They were perfectly in sync without a single exchange of words.
Although they had been apart for four years, they were still connected.
Fran was attacking from the ground while Nadia came from above. How would it react to this situation? Would its gigantic body allow it to defend itself somehow?
“Gogooo!”
Twistedhorn’s mana suddenly increased in intensity, blowing Fran and Nadia away.
“Urgh!”
“Gah!”
They managed to block the incoming damage with their weapons in time. But they were still shocked as they were skidding away.
Twistedhorn didn’t do anything special. It swiped away Nadia’s attack with its sword and then turned to deflect Fran with an upward swing.
But its speed was out of this world.
Fran still had Flashing Thunderclap on top of Sophie’s song. Nadia was just as fast as she was. And yet Twistedhorn still managed to blow both of them three meters away in an instant.
We were barely able to notice its speed.
It has instant acceleration on top of teleportation!
The greater antibodies were said to be able to utilize timespace magic. Physical enhancement and time acceleration. Twistedhorn was already fast enough as it was, but it still had more speed to spare.
“Gooo…”
It didn’t follow up with an attack.
It glared hatefully at Nadia and Fran with its glowing green eyes.
“Hrm.”
“Looks like it still has more in the tank.”
And it did. Twistedhorn looked at Fran and Nadia like they were inferiors.
The surrounding antibodies kept still because they knew its commander would win.
Although they seemed like robots, they had a distinct animalistic side to them. The greater antibodies like the red dragon seemed to be capable of thought.
“…This is the last time you’re looking down on us.”
“Hm! We’ll wipe that grin off your face!”
Fran made the first move, utilizing a strategy effective on giant enemies. She would use her speed to confuse her opponent, then settle the matter in one fell swoop.
She used Air Hop and Flashing Thunderclap to move unpredictably around Twistedhorn.
Surprisingly, Nadia started using the same style. But speed wasn’t the only thing she had. She made hard corners which seemed to ignore the law of inertia. Probably an effect of Gold Eater or Overgrowth.
But Twistedhorn was a much tougher enemy than I thought. It wasn’t looking down on us; it just didn’t think we were a big enough threat.
The two used their blinding speed to create an opening by pincering Twistedhorn from the front and back.
It would force the antibody to protect itself at which they could break its posture and finish it off.
That was the plan…but something shocking happened the very next moment.
“Gooo!”
“Hm!”
Nadia and Fran’s eyes widened at the same time. Twistedhorn used Air Hop to avoid their attack completely, without even defending itself.
It now started attacking them with the same speed they had.
Even if it lacked top speed, it could still make tight corners. And even if it wasn’t quite as fast as Fran and Nadia, it could keep up with them.
This thing had enough mobility to outdo us at our own game!
The three circled and clashed in the air, each strike like claps of thunder. This game of tag felt like it was never going to end.
If the adventurers were watching us, they wouldn’t be able to make out what was going on. All they could register was something violent happening in midair.
No clean hits were made. Small wounds quickly healed.
But the more time passed, the more Fran and Nadia would be exhausted. And antibodies never got tired. This was a bad position.
Fran knew this and decided to use her trump card.
Come on, Teacher!
All right!
Fran shouted. She squeezed my handle, frustrated that she couldn’t win on her own. But she knew she had to win this fight now.
“Sword God Form!”
The bluish white divine element engulfed her, and she suddenly stopped.
From hyper acceleration to a dead stop. We were shocked that we could override the laws of physics. You would have to develop superb body awareness and proper use of mana thrusters to achieve the same effect…
But these effects—and better swordsmanship—was what made the Skill surpass Sword King.
And Fran stood still even as Twistedhorn came to attack her.
It looked like she was swaying, calmly swinging her sword left to right.
Compared to Nadia, who was maneuvering the battlefield at breakneck speed, this was slow. So slow that she didn’t look like she was moving at all.
But the attack missed Fran. The slowness only enhanced the mystery of why we didn’t get hit. But there was no wasted movement when we were under the guidance of the sword god.
We avoided Twistedhorn’s flurry of attacks with the least amount of movement. We read the enemy and used that slow movement to land our own attack.
I was there every time Twistedhorn teleported, throwing it off and scrambling its pattern.
But our enemy wasn’t ordinary. It kept healing from all the heavy blows we dealt. Even the powerful divine element didn’t prove lethal for Twistedhorn.
But if it wasn’t lethal, it was still more effective than our regular attacks. Its recovery was slower now. Noticing this, Nadia shouted.
“Fran! Handle it for a bit!”
Knowing Fran could handle Twistedhorn by herself, Nadia took a big jump backward. Fran silently stepped forward as if switching places with her. This time, it was a fast acceleration from a dead stop.
A more intense duel broke out as I clashed with Twistedhorn’s greatsword.
It was two against one and yet we were even. Twistedhorn was a challenge even for Fran in Sword God Form. No wonder it was a melee specialist.
More wounds appeared on Fran’s body, and blood flowed.
But Fran gritted her teeth and fought to give time for Nadia, who was charging up mana behind us.
Unlike our earlier bouts of Sword God Form, Fran was still in control. She probably felt the pain too. But the Sword God was putting her body through the wringer because he knew it was the lesson she needed.
Her small frame started cracking. Bones, muscles, and flesh were screaming. Fran’s exhaustion was reaching dangerous territory.
And Twistedhorn was powerful enough to still hold its ground!
…This is!
My decorative strip started moving at mach speed, transforming into countless steel threads. The Sword God was finally working on me now.
The threads frayed from my strip looked more like steel wires. They were on the thicker side and pointed like arrowheads.
At the same time, my field of vision expanded. The Sword God was using my Heavensight to see everything around me.
I saw through the high-speed movement of Twistedhorn and predicted its next move. The calculation was made at such a high speed that I felt like a computer.
The dull pain ran through me again. And chills. I had received the enhancements from Sophie’s song, but there were limits to that. But the Sword God didn’t give up on me. It felt like he was pushing me on, telling me that I needed to get over this to protect my beloved partner.
Bring it on!
I can see it…everything…fast, sharp, detailed…
Transmogrify control dropping. Concentrate on Heavensight, Transmogrify, Multi Mind, and Mana Sense.
Thanks, P.A… Ughh…
I fought through the pain and gradually caught up with Twistedhorn’s movement. Finally, I understood everything
I see it!
The steel threads struck to entangle Twistedhorn’s arm. It was still strong enough to break through the threads, but as it was slowing down, more threads came down on it until it was eventually bound.
“Raaah!”
The Sword God didn’t let the opportunity slide.
Fran struck, taking off one of its legs.
We did it…!
But Fran and I were at our limit. We were so exhausted that we didn’t even want to do another attack.
We wouldn’t be able to move after the battle ended. There were still tens of thousands of antibodies around us. We couldn’t escape if we wanted to.
But our concerns were chased away by Nadia’s voice.
“Good job! Now get out of the way!”
I turned around and saw a fountain of golden mana. Nadia was holding a now gigantic Overgrowth.
Something like a scream escaped Fran’s lips.
“Auntie!”
The shock shook her out of the Sword God’s control.
Nadia’s body had completely turned into an antibody. She looked something like a knight type, the only identifying feature left was her right eye.
The intensity of mana coming out of her rivaled that of Urslars when he went berserk. This was a dangerous enhancement.
“I have to take this thing out now!” Nadia answered, repressing her regret.
She charged toward Twistedhorn. She was so fast that you’d miss her if you weren’t paying attention. But the antibody was prepared. This thing still had tremendous reflexes!
“Giooo!”
“Draaah!”
Twistedhorn’s greatsword clashed head on with Overgrowth.
But the antibody was the one that got blown away. The leg we chopped off had already healed, but not fast enough for it to gain even footing.
“Gigoo?!”
“Gotcha!”
Nadia directed her second attack to the now-exposed left arm of Twistedhorn. Overgrowth’s Abyss Killer seemed to slow down its regenerative power. For the first time since this battle started, we had the advantage.
“Oraaa!”
“Gooo!”
Nadia was now clearly surpassing A Rank. She had one foot in S Rank territory, but the cost of it was too high.
The erosion… Could she come back from that even if we won? She could still lose her mind too, and if that happened…
Nadia, don’t be reckless!
“If not now, then when?!”
I knew I couldn’t talk her out of it! If she hadn’t been so determined she would’ve left this village long ago.
P.A.! How’s Nadia doing?
Fifty-two seconds until she is completely eroded.
I knew it was getting faster!
Nadia will likely go berserk once completely eroded and attack everything in sight.
We had to end this battle before the erosion was complete. That was the minimum requirement of saving Nadia. As much as we wanted to help, it was hard to step into the fight when we couldn’t move a muscle ourselves. Even if we did, our attack wouldn’t be powerful enough…
In fact, we might end up getting in Nadia’s way. But Nadia was putting her life on the line for Fran. It was time for me to do the same.
I’ll enhance divine element…!
I activated Divine Manipulation and focused. It felt like something was removed inside me. The white light surrounding my blade brightened while a black wave burst out at the same time. The blinding light and blackness mixed together.
I immediately knew how dangerous this was.
This was intense Malice wrapped up in divine energy. And this…thing was inside me.
But why? Was the power of the sealed fragment of the Evil One in me spilling out? Unlike last time, I couldn’t hear the Evil One’s menacing whispers.
P-P.A.! What’s going on?
Unknown.
Oh, come on!
If P.A. didn’t know…
I would have to make this up as I went!
Haaaa!
I knew how much power I had in me now that the divine and Malice were blended together. It was going to take a lot out of me, but it would do even more damage to Twistedhorn. I just needed to make use of it now!
Fran!
“…”
Fran’s eyes widened as she saw me covered in divine energy. Even she couldn’t ignore the power surging through me.
But her body reacted to the shock and started moving again. She was no longer in Sword God Form, but instinct was propelling her on. She was already leaping into action by the time I called on her.
Teacher!
Fran ran toward Twistedhorn while gripping my decorative strap. That was enough to let me know what Fran wanted to do.
The strip twisted and grew, its end turning into a sword with a wolf emblem and gold guard. The beautiful blade had a blue decorative strip running along its blade.
That’s right. Another me connected by the decorative strap.
Blue mana. Fran and I synchronized, drawing out the power of Sword and Flesh, uniting our mana and wills.
Fran crossed her arms in front and leapt while she held the dual blades over her shoulders. She exploded off the ground and got between Nadia and Twistedhorn. She was so fast that it seemed like teleportation to me.
Obviously, we were running all the buffs we had to their limits. Wind and flame magic would be needed to accelerate even further.
But things were different this time because Fran had my mana and Malice to boost herself. Something only possible without breaking herself because we were in Sword and Flesh.
Twistedhorn reacted to Fran’s unperceivable speed.
Its greatsword switched targets from Nadia to her. Even though it was our enemy, its speed was still impressive to behold.
But Fran brought down her left sword to meet the greatsword.
I struck the greatsword head on. Normally, Twistedhorn would overpower Fran and fling her away. But Fran shifted her wrist to deflect the energy of its blow.
It was almost as if she was still riding on the techniques of Sword God Form. The enhancements from my intense divine energy and Malice allowed her to cut off its left hand. Only its right hand remained.
But before Fran could follow up with her right hand, static fizzed around Twistedhorn’s body. The sign of teleportation. It wanted to get some distance.
This was bad, considering it had taken everything out of us to get this close. What should we do…?!
Suddenly, Fran roared.
“Gaah!”
Fran disrupted the teleportation incantation with her Malice-ridden voice. This was the same type of ability Sierra used with the sword Theraclede. Fran was a genius for being able to adopt the technique in these circumstances.
The static around Twistedhorn disappeared—and off went its head as Fran followed up with her right hand.
But this wasn’t the end.
Fran grabbed the hilt of the sword with her left hand as it flew before her eyes. The sword in her left hand had been thrown away after it had been blocked, but she yanked on the strip of her right sword to bring it back. She seemed to have thrown it away on purpose and quickly readied herself once it was back in her hand.
Fran turned to the headless antibody and brought her left sword down on it.
There wasn’t much force in the attack, but with my divine energy enhancement, it was enough.
Twistedhorn’s right arm was chopped off and flew away together with its greatsword. Fran backed off, not even bothering to look at the limb.
Nadia stepped in now, barely missing her.
Their eyes met as they crossed paths, and they exchanged a smile. Even with her face turned mostly into an antibody, I could still tell she was smiling.
I was touched and somewhat jealous of their connection.
One thing for sure. If it wasn’t for that connection, this fight would’ve been much harder.
“Draaah!”
The antibody continued to regenerate despite having lost its head and arms. But it was now struck by a flash of gold light.
Twistedhorn’s superb defenses were penetrated as the blade easily passed from its left shoulder through to its right side. I thought getting its head chopped off would’ve done heavy damage, but that was not the case for this specimen.
Now it was finally losing strength. Abyss Killer had finished it off.
The antibody went out with no explosions or screams, just quietly crumbling into dust. A pitiful end for an A-Threat antibody.
Meanwhile, Nadia was heavily injured.
She was severely exhausted after putting her heart and soul into the previous attack. But she wasn’t recovering despite absorbing antibody energy. Was she out of reserves? The kill had looked like overkill to me, so maybe she would’ve been better off conserving some energy…
Although I guess I’m not one to talk.
“Urk…”
Ugh…
Sword God Form, Divine Manipulation, Transmogrification. We were feeling the recoil of overusing all those Skills.
Fran’s life and mana were in the double digits. Her regeneration was going slow, too. The signature cost of heavy usage of Sword God Form.
My mana and durability were running low, and my blade could only regenerate so fast in this condition.
But we still had to make it out of here alive. I doused Fran with potions and shouted at her.
The antibodies are coming!
“Auntie…! Let’s get out of here…”
Fran crawled toward the collapsed Nadia. Nadia was trying to stand up and took Fran’s hand. Her hand was no longer human. It was black, hard, and cold. An antibody’s hand. But the warmth of Fran’s wrapped around it.
Hurry!
I used the last of my mana to open a Dimension Gate to our allies.
A black wall of antibodies was advancing toward us. This was bad! We had to get out of here!
As I panicked, Nadia spoke to Fran with her same gentle voice despite having lost her remaining eye to the erosion.
“Fran…”
“Auntie.”
“Sorry… You have to survive.”
“Aun—”
The next moment, the scenery changed.
“—tie!”
Nadia had pushed Fran through the Dimension Gate.
“Huh? Fran?” Hilt was stunned. Fran didn’t respond. She was frozen, her hand still held out.
The gate had already been destroyed by the antibodies.
Nobody was on the other side of Fran’s hand.
“Why…” Fran croaked. The last thing I saw was Nadia’s smile being engulfed in an antibody avalanche.
Fran was on her knees, unresponsive.
“Ah…”
She couldn’t make a sound. But she soon realized what had happened.
“Uaaaaah!” Fran let out a heartrending scream.
Chapter 6: Rescuing Nadia
Chapter 6:
Rescuing Nadia
“UWAAAAAAH!” FRAN SCREAMED, holding her head in her hands. She dug into her skin, drawing blood. Though she would usually heal through it, the effects of Sword God Form slowed down her regeneration.
Blood streamed from her head down to her cheeks, making it look like she was crying blood. Her screaming was filled with self-blame and resentment against the antibodies. Negative energy came out of Fran’s throat.
“Fran! Fran!”
“Aaaaa—”
“Everyone cover her!”
“Right!”
Fran was unresponsive despite Hilt shaking her shoulders. That was all she needed to know to understand what had happened.
With a pained face, Hilt stood in front of Fran to protect her and glared at the incoming antibodies.
Now I was finally able to survey the surroundings.
The red dragons were gone without any casualties on our side. Good. But everyone was beat up pretty bad.
Yagiluel, Diggins, and Sehald took a lot of punishment in particular. Their equipment was half broken, a testament to the hard battle which had taken place. Although their wounds were healed, they still hadn’t recovered from the blood loss and sheer exhaustion.
But the three of them were much stronger than I thought for being able to win by themselves.
“Protecting is a knight’s duty!”
“We won’t let you get hurt, Black Lightning Princess!”
“Protecting you’s part of the job, kid.”
“I-I’ll help too!”
Beat up as they were, Yagiluel and the others, even Phobos, circled around Fran, firing themselves up to defend her.
The sentiment alone made me feel really grateful.
But Fran was in no capacity to accept their kindness.
“Aaah! Waaaah!” Her screaming continued as she clawed through her hair.
But the antibodies weren’t going to wait for her to recover. If anything, they pressed their advantage.
Fran’s appearance meant the defeat of the commander unit—that meant the loss of the antibodies’ order. They were now wild animals acting on appetite.
“Get away from her! Swirling Shockwave!”
“I’ll show you the spirit of the drakes!”
Hilt and the others blew away the antibodies around us. But they weren’t the only ones putting their backs into the fight.
“That attack is too soft!”
“Thanks! Get wrecked, antibody scum!”
“Ha ha! You’re done for!”
Unknown knights and adventurers worked together and fought desperately for us. They were a little awkward at the beginning of the campaign but had forged a bond once they faced death together.
Knights were on defense, mages broke antibody ranks, warriors finished them off. Knight, adventurer, and soldier worked together to defeat the antibodies.
They weren’t as strong as Hilt or Chelsea. They weren’t even the main fighting force of our squad. But the squad would collapse without them. They were holding us together because each one of them was giving it their all.
Everyone was necessary. There were no side actors here, only main actors.
“Protect the kid!”
“Follow the captain!”
“We’ll buy time until the Black Lightning Princess gets back up!”
They were all so kind, which only reinforced the fact that we needed to leave as soon as possible.
Should I carry Fran and start flying? Then again, I was worn out myself…
“… Divine Song: Regret of the Brave.”
Just as I was thinking of an escape plan, Sophie started playing her harp on Jet’s back. This was a more intense song than the ones before.
The amount of mana put into it far surpassed the levels of a grand spell.
Mana sparked every time she plucked a string, increasing the mana around her. The blue light around her was so divine that she looked out of place on a battlefield.
Ten seconds passed, and I started to feel weird.
My mana was coming back. But not only that. My durability too.
“…Sophie.”
“Can you talk now?”
Her music had the ability to calm the mind. Fran abruptly stopped crying and looked at her with puffy eyes.
“Did you heal me?”
“I reverted your soul to the way it should be. You just got healed along the way.”
It sounded like a status recovery ability, but far stronger considering it healed the after-effects of divine element. Now we could get out of here.
Fra—whoa!
“!”
Just as we were about to escape, there was an explosion of mana in the distance.
It was violent. Animalistic.
That mana was…
“Auntie?”
Fran turned to the direction the energy was coming from. Another burst of mana exploded. The wavelength was unmistakable. It was Nadia turning into an antibody.
“Auntie, she’s…”
Yeah. She’s alive.
“She’s fighting!”
“Woof!”
The light in Fran’s eyes returned. Nadia was alive and fighting. That meant we had a chance to save her, she thought. But even if she was alive, her mind—
“Sophie, can you use your song to heal Auntie’s body?”
Oh, of course!
Sophie said she’d reverted Fran’s soul to the way it was supposed to be. Would that work on the erosion caused by Overgrowth? Fran gave her a brief rundown and Sophie gave it some thought.
“…I haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t know until I try. But it is possible.”
Strength fully returned to Fran’s face.
Teacher.
Wait, I know how you feel, but…
I wanted to go back for Nadia too. But even if we were healed, we were definitely still exhausted. Our allies were also at their limits. Should the squad retreat for now? We could just go by ourselves.
…? Is the ground shaking?
I was currently stuck in the dirt. My blade felt vibrations, steady stomps through the earth.
The vibrations were getting harder. Was something coming this way? I tried to search for their presence but no response. Was that even possible?
But I soon saw the source of the vibrations.
A thousand-man army on the march appeared near Castell. It was like they’d teleported in. Those vibrations must have been the stomp of their feet. They hadn’t teleported, and I guessed that they were using some kind of device to conceal themselves.
They weren’t antibodies. No, they were people we knew. One thousand dwarves appeared from a hill a hundred meters away.
“Fu ha ha! Snow Rabbits! March!”
Queen Orfevre, carrying a stupidly large halberd, let out a rumbling voice audible throughout the battlefield. She looked at us and continued, “Dwarven warriors! It’s business as usual! We’ll march our usual march, fight our usual fight, and destroy the enemies as usual!”
“Yes.”
The dwarves didn’t shout, but the sheer weight of their voices shook the air.
They raised their weapons together; a polearm with an axe on one side and a hammer on another. Everyone used the same weapon and wore the same armor. And boy, did they look reliable.
Orfevre looked satisfied at her soldiers and quietly said, “Courageous Advance! Come with me!”
“Yes.”
The dwarves started marching, but all I heard was one loud stomp.
It was the sound of one thousand dwarves marching in perfect time.
They readied their weapons with the same unity. Orfevre carried on without looking back at her army.
The dwarven army marched in lockstep behind Orfevre in perfect rhythm. The queen was at the head with five hundred dwarves to her left and right. It was a very simple formation.
But this was the perfect formation for the dwarves.
Thud, thud, thud!
The dwarves stomped on the ground following their queen. They were in no hurry as they surely and steadily approached the enemy. There were no battle cries to hype themselves up or overcome fear. Their coordinated stomps echoed across the plains.
But they were so quiet that it made you question whether they were up to it. The dwarven soldiers didn’t look like they were ready to take on the antibodies, and nothing changed up to the point they clashed with the antibodies.
“Hngh!”
“Hngh!”
“Hngh!”
Short grunts. They didn’t make any noises to amp themselves up, but they were still highly effective. One blow, one kill. In fact, one blow took out several antibodies and they held the line without a reduction in speed.
The antibody army seemed like an illusion. The dwarven wall blocked their advance and pushed them back. The dwarves kept pushing on, trading places regularly to keep up their pace.
Although they still got hit, the lesser antibodies did no damage to them. Even the black antibodies in the mix couldn’t stop the dwarves.
Of course they couldn’t. The dwarves had the best armor in the world and they were enhanced by their queen.
Fran and I probably needed to put our backs to it if we didn’t want our blows to glance.
The dwarves quietly went about their work like a group of farmers cutting down wheat.
There was nothing fancy about it; they just kept swinging their weapons as they advanced. Even the powerful Queen Orfevre did the same menial work as her men. But the difference in power and coordination was clear for all to see.
A perfectly coordinated march with the strength to keep advancing. No wonder the dwarves were considered the best in the world.
The antibodies considered the sudden appearance of the dwarves a threat. Perhaps they thought of the dwarves as a tasty treat because of the boost in mana they got from Courageous Advance.
Half of the antibodies surrounding us turned their attention to the new target.
“Fu ha ha ha! Fran! I have shown you my Skill, as promised!”
This was the best backup we could ask for.
“We’ll join up with the dwarves! Everyone gather around me!” Hilt shouted, prompting the hundred-man squad to action. When we were out helping Nadia, everyone had looked to Hilt as their leader.
“Are you ready, Fran?”
“Hm.”
Even if we were mostly healed up, we couldn’t save Nadia by ourselves. We needed the dwarves’ help. Though there were less antibodies around us now, we were still surrounded by enemies. Hilt wanted to fortify our flanks with able bodies and break through the antibody ranks in one swoop.
“You okay, Sophie?”
“Somehow…”
The song she sang to heal had taken a lot more out of her than I’d expected. She was having a hard time steadying herself on top of Jet. But everyone was worn out at this point.
“Colbert!” Hilt shouted.
“Ugh!”
I turned to see Colbert get cut by a swordsman, spraying blood everywhere. Hilt managed to step in to save him, but everybody was losing focus from the exhaustion. A similar scene started playing out all around us.
Hilt looked around and her expression shifted. It was a look of determination.
“I’ll open a path for us.”
Hilt was exhausted. The mana around her was weakening, but she was going to step forward for the sake of her comrades.
“Haaaa! Garudaaaa!”
Her body accelerated as her outstretched fist blew through the antibodies.
It wasn’t as effective as it usually was. Her control was off, cutting her strength in half. But Hilt kept on fighting, breaking through antibodies as she pressed on. Her fist was bloody from smashing antibody shells, and she didn’t have that much mana left herself. Even so, she still opened a path for us.
Why was she fighting so hard? She didn’t have as much riding on this fight as Fran did. She didn’t know Nadia and she had no connection with Castell. And yet Hilt was willing to put her life on the line for this fight.
“I won’t let anyone die!” she said under her breath. Fran probably didn’t hear it. It was so soft that I barely heard it.
“It’ll hurt Fran…if anyone dies! I don’t want that girl to cry anymore!”
She was fighting for Fran… I knew where she was coming from. Fran would probably do the same for her.
They weren’t exactly friends. They fought each other to the death and now fought together—war buddy would be the best term for their relationship. They were comrades who would die for their war buddies with a smile. A strange bond which I couldn’t quite understand.
But the antibody waves kept coming as if mocking her. As she tired, the hundred-man squad slowed down to a crawl.
This doesn’t look good. If I were to spend my mana here…
No. Three percent chance of casualties if the situation continues.
What? Three percent? How? That seemed like a very low figure considering the situation we were in.
But just as I was about to ask P.A. for details, a white light wrapped around us, warm like a hot bath. This sensation was familiar. It was the light of recovery magic.
An area-of-effect healing spell? Who did that?
I looked around and spotted another army, just as much a surprise as the dwarven army.
I didn’t even detect them before they showed up!
They healed us, so they’re on our side, right?
Unlike the dwarves, I had never seen these people before. Leading them was a woman with sickly pale skin and mountain goat horns. She looked like a mage.
“Fire!” the woman ordered.
The newcomers fired off countless spells. The rain of magic fell on the swarm of antibodies, blowing them to bits on impact.
P.A., you saw them coming?
Yes.
How? They didn’t show up on my radar at all.
I’ve experienced the same kind of Skill in the past. That is how I sensed something was wrong.
You mean they’re using the same Skill the dwarves used to approach us?
No. I think the dwarves used some kind of manatek. The lead magus used Total Presence Concealment which is probably applied to the rest of her men.
Total Presence Concealment. That’s…
The Skill which belongs to Jean du Vix.
Was Jean in there with the magi? I didn’t sense his presence, though…
In any case, they were definitely on our side. We were able to convene with the dwarves thanks to their support.
“Your Majesty! Thank you for your assistance!”
“Fu ha ha! I needed to repay Fran somehow! Think nothing of it!” Orfevre laughed as the dwarves welcomed the hundred-man squad into their fray.
They had passed a glance at us earlier when they were covering us, giving us smiles, thumbs-ups, and fist pumps. It was very reassuring.
We weren’t just up against ordinary antibodies. There were black antibodies thrown in the mix, fearsome creatures which made quick work of regular soldiers.
But they weren’t much stronger than regular antibodies for the dwarves. They casually took them out and continued their advance. The dwarves were so strong that I ended up wondering if the black antibodies were ordinary antibodies.
Watching Orfevre lead her dwarven army in the battle against antibodies was awe-inspiring.
She didn’t defend herself, tanking all the hits the enemy dealt with her tough body and armor and killing them with a single hit. She even did the same against the black and red knights which had made us sweat.
Not a single antibody passed through the dwarven wall. The surroundings of the hundred-man squad became a blank space.
For the first time in a while, Fran and the others could relax. They kept their guard up, but the security allowed them to see a glimmer of hope.
The dwarven army was just that reliable.
And it wasn’t just the dwarven army that came to our assistance. The magi had joined casting healing and support spells for the dwarves. Buffing a race already known for its power was like giving a club to an ogre.
We finally had enough slack to turn our attention to the magi formation. At first, I thought they were only half of the dwarven forces, but they were even less than that. Most of the magi forces were made up of their undead thrall.
Two hundred undead protected the magi, and they were all strong specimens.
I searched for Jean’s presence but couldn’t find him. Was he concealing himself? As I was doing so, P.A. whispered in my ear.
Someone is approaching.
Huh?
Where? I couldn’t feel it, but P.A. wouldn’t lie. I focused on using my detection skills to look for the one P.A. warned me about.
Someone was approaching us. I sensed the vibration of their footsteps in the ground. Fran noticed the same presence. She turned around and widened her eyes. Someone was standing behind her.
It was the woman who stood at the head of the magi army.
She wasn’t hostile, but she definitely concealed her presence when she was approaching us. Fran put her guard up and glared at the woman, but she shrugged like she meant no ill will.
“Oh? Did you find me out?”
“…Who are you?”
“Aha ha ha! My name is Jane! Jane du Vix! She who stares at the abyss and ruler of the underworld!”
Even without hearing her surname we could tell she was related to Jean! Was she his little sister?
I tried Identifying her, but it bounced off. It wasn’t that she was necessarily stronger than me; something was disrupting it. Probably an Identity Protection type Skill or item.
“Aha ha ha! You Identified me just now, didn’t you! Useless, useless, useless! I have on my person a powerful Identity Protection item! Even Garrus’s Godsight is useless against it! But it is not saying much since that boy doesn’t know how to use Godsight properly!”
That boy Garrus? I’d thought she was Jean’s little sister, but she could be his big sister. The magi had long lifespans, so I couldn’t judge her age by appearance alone.
“…Who are you?”
“Huh? I thought I just introduced myself.”
“You told me your name. Jane. But I wasn’t asking for your name. Are you related to Jean?”
“Ah! Yes, yes, of course. It’s been a while since my name wasn’t instantly recognized. Excuse me.”
Was she famous enough where she came from that the mere mention of her name would tell you everything you needed to know?
“Oh! No wonder people were confused when I started introducing myself on this continent… Is this why? I thought my name had ceased to strike fear in the hearts of men!”
Her penchant for not listening and overall eccentricity meant she was surely blood-related to Jean. They even looked kind of similar—160 centimeters in height with pale white skin. Messy hair. Mountain goat horns. Even the red eyes.
But this woman had softer eyes and an oddly friendly face.
Maybe it was just me, but she had something of a loli voice. She’d be a ringer if she were to voice-act a grade-schooler. She was the exact opposite of the dignified Orfevre.
The skull motifs adorning her robe were also reminiscent of Jean. But that robe had a huge window over in her chest, and she wore a tight-fitting dress under it.
“Right, but I’m supposed to be talking to you right now! I am Jane. Jean du Vix is one of my sons!”
“Son?”
Seriously? This was his mom? I knew they were related but wow!
“You heard me! I believe he’s my ninth.”
“Eight, Jane.”
“Was he?”
“Hm?!”
Whoa!
What a shock. Jane’s skull pendant suddenly started talking! And here I thought it was just a silver accessory… Was it an undead? I didn’t feel any presence coming from it, though…
“Surprised? This is an undeadified item! I bet you couldn’t feel its presence because of its counterfeit and concealment powers.”
The necklace had Conceal Presence and Identity Protection applied on top of each other. The effect was probably amplified with the user’s Skills applied on top of that.
“I am Tot du Vix, her supervisor.”
“Du Vix?”
“Tot is my great-grandfather. He turned himself into an undead and serves our country to this day.”
“Indeed. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“…You’re someone important?”
“Aha ha ha! The du Vixes are rulers of the magi!”
“Meaning?”
“You ask many questions, child. That means she is the queen of the magus kingdom. Magus Queen.”
“Indeed!”
The magus queen let out a smug harrumph. This was the magus queen? Wait, if she was Jean’s mother…that meant she was older than him. Her attitude, vibe and looks were that of a teen, though…
“Uh-huh.”
“P-perhaps you are too reserved.”
“Calm and collected! I like that attitude!”
Fran was only calm because she didn’t know the majesty of royalty! I was properly shocked! She was an actual queen? Hang on, did that mean Jean was a prince?
Jane laughed after declaring her interest in Fran. Fran now asked Tot a question.
“Are you using the same Skill as Jean? I couldn’t sense your presence.”
“Yes and no. Jane imitated part of Jean’s power and applied it to the army. That’s a long story made short.”
“Hm?”
“Just think of it as Jane borrowing Jean’s Skill to use on the squad.”
“I see.” Fran was satisfied with the answer but that was very impressive.
Apparently, Jane had the ability to copy a Skill and apply it over a large area. It sounded like more than just an imitation. It sounded like it surpassed the original. But Fran was interested in a different point.
“Jean’s a prince?”
“Yes! Because I went through the pain of birthing him! Not that it hurt, because I had Pain Disruption on! He just popped right out!”
“If I may interrupt—not all magi are like these two. Jane and Jean are different. We magi are just like everybody else.”
“Aww.”
Why was Fran disappointed? I was relieved at hearing that!
“Jane is young for a queen, so it’s going to take at least a hundred years for Jean to be king.”
“How old are you, Jane?”
“A lady never tells!”
“Two hundred and five.”
“Damn it, Tot!”
“Everyone in the kingdom knows it. Especially since you threw an extravagant festival for your two hundredth birthday.”
“I know, but still!”
Two hundred-plus years old with her looks. I guessed that was to be expected out of a long-lived race.
“Can Jean become a king being eighth in line?”
“Your position in the lineage does not matter in becoming the magus king.”
“You must prove your worth in order to become king! That’s all! I was the sixth daughter of the previous king!”
Fran wondered about Jean’s chances of taking the throne, but if Jane did it, then technically so could he. I didn’t know what went into the election, though.
“Compatibility with this sword is the most important factor!”
Jane took the dagger hanging from her neck. I could tell how powerful she was as she showed it to us.
The blade was one-sided and shaped like a snake’s fang. The tip was reddish purple with a black guard. Its pommel had chains on it, allowing it to be hung from one’s neck.
Made of an unknown metal, the dagger had intricate carvings of plants, animals and skeletons on it.
“This blade is one of the relics of the magus king. One cannot become king without its approval.”
Apparently, the dagger had the ability to choose its user—but that wasn’t all…
Jane held the dagger in front of her and started chanting. It was a catalyst for magic, much like a staff.
“Uoooo!”
She cast nether magic, which powered up her undead thrall for a limited time. The undead protecting the magi army were all under her control.
The undead army’s presence became more pronounced and started fighting as fiercely as the dwarves. They were truly fierce.
Perhaps a little too fierce. Even the weakest ones were at least D Threats. Two hundred of them at this level made for a formidable force on the battlefield.
“Just like that. This dagger can enhance nether magic, making the magus king a force to be reckoned with.”
“There are some requirements to become magus king, of course. A direct bloodline to the first magus king and the ability to use nether magic. But the greatest requirement is the approval of this blade.”
The abnormal enhancement was an effect of the blade. No wonder it was reserved for the king and his descendants.
“Are you Fran the Black Lightning Princess?”
“Hm.”
“My son told me about you! He said you are a remarkable adventurer in the making!”
No wonder she was friendly; Jean had been singing her praises. That explained Jane’s goodwill. In the making, Jean said… Well, he sure knew his stuff!
“He said you would make for excellent undead material! I agree!”
That waswhat he meant by in the making?!
As wacky as the conversation with Jane was proving to be, it lightened Fran up a bit. A hint of a smile was returning to her face. I was grateful for that, especially since she helped us out of a sticky situation to begin with.
And even though we were having this conversation, Fran and Jane kept moving forward.
The dwarven and magus alliance was making progress clearing out antibodies along the way.
The dwarves had the front line. Behind them were Fran and her squad while the magi defended the flanks.
We had so much firepower that the hundred-man squad could focus on recovering.
“Excuse me. Do you mind if I cut into your conversation?”
“Not at all. Ahh, you look strong, as well! You’d make a great undead!”
“Th-thank you? My name is Hiltoria. I just wanted to thank you for your assistance.”
Wow, Jane. You even managed to fluster Hiltoria!
“Think nothing of it. Lady Orfevre invited me. Besides, when else could I meet the Black Lightning Princess herself!”
“Even so, you still saved us.”
“So proper! I like you!”
They hit it off immediately. Jane took a liking to Hilt, and Hilt didn’t mind her idiosyncrasies. The conversation went on.
“Really? You’re Dimitris’s successor! You’re so polite for someone related to that old man! You might be just as strong too!”
“I have a long way to go.”
“In the making, but such strength! Splendid!”
She was looking at Hilt as undead material again! But the casual conversation soon ended, and they moved on to more serious matters. Hilt felt bad about merely observing the fight around them. She wanted to help, and she wasn’t alone. Most of the squad felt the same way.
But the dwarf and magus alliance was very strong—so much so that they didn’t really need help. If anything, trying to help would’ve gotten in their way.
“Take this time to rest up. We’ll need your help once the antibodies get stronger.”
“…Very well.”
A few minutes passed. Jane said she would call on us if the situation got hairy, but that never came to pass. The strategy was probably purposeful to give the hundred-man squad a chance to catch their breath.
The dwarves were an iron wall, and the magi’s support was impeccable.
The antibodies were also getting weaker. They were still fighting the antibody form of Nadia on the other end, so most of them focused on her.
Some powerful antibodies showed up, but they weren’t as strong as Twistedhorn. If Twistedhorn was the general, these were like the lieutenants or commanding officers.
But they were no match for Orfevre and Jane and were defeated in short order.
We carried on our march.
Teacher, we’re almost there.
Yeah.
Nadia’s energy raged in the air.
We were now close enough to know that she had gone berserk.
Her presence was like a wild animal, beating away the antibody swarm nonstop. Hundreds of antibodies swarmed her only to be immediately destroyed.
The closer we got, the louder Nadia’s roars became.
“Uoooo!”
Everything around her was considered hostile, a dogpile of power and violence. She had lost her mind, directing her bloodlust at everything in her path.
“What do you think, Sophie?”
“Hmm. We might have to get closer so she can hear the song.”
The song she used to heal us had a fairly small area of effect. She would have to give Nadia a private recital.
“You’ll cover me, right?”
“Of course. We’ll take you to where Nadia is.”
“Woof!”
“Counting on you.”
“Are you sure?”
Sophie casually nodded. I knew she felt indebted to Fran for lunch, but she was putting a great deal of trust in her. Even Fran was startled.
“I can tell that you’re not one to abandon your comrades. Am I wrong?”
“No. I’ll never leave you.”
“Which is why I’m counting on you.”
“Hm!”
We had Sophie’s help, but it was still no guarantee that we could save Nadia.
Jane and Orfevre had to be told not to kill Nadia before Sophie’s song could heal her.
“… Jane.”
“What is it? You look quite troubled.”
“I’m going to the front lines too.”
“Suuure you are… You know the kind of condition you’re in, yes?”
“Hm.”
Fran was beaten up, and we would need to convince them that we were fit to fight. Or so I thought.
“Very well! We’ll back you up! You can have the front lines to yourself if you want!”
“Are you sure?”
Fran reacted the same way she did with Sophie earlier. Jane’s answer was so unexpected that it threw her off.
“A warrior of your caliber is forcing herself to fight despite being on the brink of death. Well, you must have your reasons, mustn’t you? Our job as superior fighters is to help you get there!”
“You can tell us about your reasons if you wish. But even battered as you are now, you are still powerful.”
Be it Jane or Jean, the magi seemed to be a bunch of good folk, despite their appearance…even if the magus queen and her silver skeleton were the picture of villainy.
“I’m going to save Nadia.”
Fran told Jane about her intentions to restore Nadia to her human self. This was the true mission, not to battle antibodies. She also told her about Nadia’s situation.
“Orfevre and Nadia are going to run into each other.”
“Well, that’s dangerous. Nadia is the powerful antibody running amok ahead, right?”
“Hm.”
“I’ve heard rumors of the existence of this sword which consumes antibodies.”
“And that girl has the musical ability to reverse the sword’s effects. I see, I see.”
Jane cast a glance at Sophie, scanning her with blood-red eyes. Sophie looked nervous as she was inspected, but Jean let out a shrill laugh.
“Aha ha ha! There is so much wonderful material in this squad! I can feel the excellent power in you!”
Jane had also taken a liking to Sophie. As she said, the hundred-man squad was made up of elites. Any one of them could make a powerful undead.
“We have Magic Song users in our kingdom but none of this caliber. Do you think you can revert Nadia to her former self?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Sophie can do it!”
“As our soldiers hold off the enemy the beautiful maiden will play a song to release the Valkyrie from her chains! Aah, yes! It sounds like I’m living in an epic! I am so fortunate to be here today!”
Jane was getting excited. Even with her ulterior motives, it was heartening to know we had her support.
“We would first need to see Lady Orfevre! I’ll make the arrangements! Ha ha ha!”
“I’m going with you.”
“Very well! Come if you wish!”
Jane was going to lead the negotiations, and it would be better if she did. Orfevre wouldn’t ignore what she had to say.
But was it even possible to hold a conversation with her right now? She was out on the front lines knocking out antibodies. We got lost in easy conversation thanks to Jane’s personality, but there was still a war going on around us.
Yet somehow, Jane walked all the way to Orfevre and none of the antibodies even took notice of us.
“Did you put Conceal Presence on me too?”
“Yes! Better this way, isn’t it?”
“Hm.”
She made it sound easy, but how on earth did she do it? When did she do it?! I didn’t notice it at all…
“Now a moment please, Lady Orfevre! Do you have a moment?”
“Huh? Lady Jane! What is it?”
“I have a proposition?”
“Oh? Let’s hear it.”
Wow. She was casually talking and killing antibodies at the same time. Jane’s support probably made things easier. These two really were monsters. And they must still have had something stronger up their sleeves, since they weren’t fighting at full force yet.
“You want me to hold down the antibody who is currently slaughtering the other antibodies ahead?”
“Yes! That’s right! I’ll help, of course.”
“That will prove difficult!”
A sensible answer. Nadia’s current strength far surpassed that of any greater antibody. It took everything we had to kill Twistedhorn but to hold down such a powerful antibody without killing it? Everyone involved would have to risk their lives.
Considering Orfevre’s position, she might not readily accept.
“All right! I’ll hold that antibody off! Take the opportunity to approach when I do so!”
Immediate! That was so fast!
“…So you’ll help us?”
“Indeed! You are risking your life for the sake of your loved one! An excellent reason! Isn’t that right, men?”
“Yeah!”
“There you have it! I’ll get on her like I’m riding the Leviathan!”
The analogy only made me worry, but the dwarves looked genuinely motivated.
Orfevre wasn’t the only one getting hyped up in the dwarven army.
“Listen up! I shall lead the charge! The rest of you take care of the flanks! Do a good job and I might open up the elven wine after the battle! After all, we’re helping the one who gifted it to us!”
“Ooooh!”
The dwarves let out what sounded like an angry roar. Ahh, the power of alcohol! No wonder the dwarves were so motivated!
“Fran! Prepare yourself!”
“We’ll keep Nadia locked in place for you!”
And so Orfevre and the others advanced on Nadia.
“Men! To arms!”
“Ooooh!”
“Everyone, focus fire!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Dwarven weapons and a rain of magus spells slaughtered the antibodies in front of us.
Now, there was an open space between us and Nadia where there once was a wall of antibodies.
Any antibodies still approaching were gunned down by the magi’s spells. They were too slow to dodge.
“Come! I’ll keep her occupied until your magic song is ready! I’ll stake my life on it!”
“Follow me. We’re going to be right behind Lady Orfevre.”
“Hm! Come on, Sophie.”
“All right! Take care of me, Jet.”
“Woof, woof!”
The dwarves let out a battle cry following Orfevre. They changed formation to one called the arrowhead. Advancing in a wedge, the dwarves wiped out antibodies to clear a path for us.
The dwarves were short and stout. Their legs, even when enhanced by Courageous Advance, weren’t exactly fast.
But things were different now. They were united in their efforts, and the path to Nadia was cleared in no time. They could really run if they put their hearts to it! They were like bullets, blunt but fast.
Nadia turned her hostility to the new arrivals. She knew that they were a force to be reckoned with.
“Ooooo!”
“She’s lost her mind so much that she has no trace of humanity left! An excellent foe! Come! I, the dwarven queen, shall be your opponent!”
“Ugaaa!”
“Uraaah!” Orfevre’s giant halberd clashed head on with Nadia’s greatsword. Their weapons bounced off each other following a loud clang.
They kept a steady hand on their weapons, but the recoil forced them both a good distance away.
They were an even match with each other. Orfevre was benefitting from the effects of Courageous Advance.
“Uoooo!”
“Raaah!”
Orfevre and Nadia struck at each other with similar postures. Their weapons were brought down from a height as if they were chopping firewood, resulting in another explosive clash.
A heated battle commenced. Neither side relented, weapons clashing with each other head on. They knew if they let up the pressure their opponent would capitalize on it, though it probably got personal at some point.
No one approached the battle zone—they let the two exchange blows.
A perimeter was set up by the dwarves and magi to keep the antibodies away from Nadia.
The duel looked as if it would last forever. That was until a sudden change occured.
“Hunh?”
The toughness of the halberd was on par with a godsword.
Cracks began to show in both Overgrowth and the halberd after all those clashes. Both weapons broke on the next contact.
That halberd was something else. As rotten as Nadia’s sword was, it was still a discarded godsword. And Overgrowth was much stronger after absorbing antibodies for all those years. It surpassed me in straight damage. Yet the halberd only broke after multiple blows with the powerful blade.
“Noooo! Not the masterpiece of the dwarven kingdom!”
This was not the time to be crying over broken weapons!
I thought the weapons were an even match for each other, but a winner had been clearly decided. Overgrowth had regenerated the cracks Orfevre’s halberd caused. That was one advantage of discarded godswords!
…N-not that I was rooting for Overgrowth or anything. I was just saying…
“Ugaaa!”
“Nuaaaah!”
Orfevre somehow defended herself without the business end of her halberd, but Nadia’s attack now broke it completely. The only thing she had left in her hands was the handle.
But Nadia roared and swung Overgrowth again. Orfevre wasn’t blocking this one.
Or so I thought until the queen grinned.
“I kept my promise.”
She had kept Nadia’s attention long enough for the magic song to be completed.
Sophie started playing as Nadia was about to strike with her greatsword.
Her light engulfed Orfevre, Fran, and Nadia.
“Ugaaa…”
“Yes! Good job, Sophie!” Fran shouted joyfully when she saw Nadia stop.
Humanity was slowly returning to her face. Her skin returned, starting with her left eye. Sophie’s playing was having a clear effect.
Nadia’s lips trembled as the light of reason returned to her eyes.
“Urgh… This is…”
“Auntie!”
“Bark, bark!”
“Fra… Gaaah!”
“Auntie? Auntie!”
“Guga…”
Fran, get away!
“GAAAAAAH!”
Nadia’s sanity didn’t stay for long, and she soon returned to her antibody self. The erosion took over her face again.
“Why?!”
Overgrowth has put her under erosion again, overwriting Sophie’s magic song.
So that’s it!
Nadia was healed. But Overgrowth’s erosion was greater than we thought.
Can we still save her?
We would need to destroy Overgrowth for that to happen.
Which means I’m up.
Teacher…
Overgrowth would be difficult to destroy with its impressive repair ability.
But it still had weaknesses. It was a discarded godsword, just like me. That meant I could cannibalize it! That should stop it from fixing itself.
Yes. There is an 87 percent chance of Cannibalize working if it is damaged past a certain point.
That means I’ll have to whale on it myself.
I’ll do my best.
Of course! Looks like I’ll have to force myself again… But we’re saving Nadia!
“Hm!”
Fran called out to Sophie in concern as she prepared herself. “Sophie, can you play that again?”
“Do you still have a plan?” Sophie asked reluctantly. The song didn’t affect her personally. She looked worn out with bags under her eyes. But if we wanted to save Nadia, her powers were going to be necessary.
“Hm. Nadia turned into an antibody because of that sword. I’m going to destroy it first.”
“I knew something was up with that thing. Can you do it?”
“Yeah!”
“…All right. But I’m exhausted and can only play one more song.”
“That’s enough.” Then Fran called out to Orfevre. “I need your help again.”
“I heard you… Can you really destroy that sword?”
“Hm! Just watch. So—”
“Say no more. I was just getting warmed up. Isn’t that right, men?!”
“Oooh!”
The dwarves roared as the antibody Nadia turned to us again.
“Gaaah!”
Though she had regained her sanity less than a minute ago, her eyes only held the madness of a monster.
“Come, warriors!”
“We’ll take care of the surrounding antibodies!”
Another battle ensued. Orfevre took out a new halberd and clashed with Nadia again as her dwarves supported her.
Another open space was created around Nadia and Orfevre. Dwarves and undead formed a wall as magic kept the antibodies at bay.
“Aha ha ha! What a lavish banquet! Tot, reveal yourself!”
“If I must.”
Jane took off the silver skull pendant and threw it in front of her.
The pendant started glowing with a cold, bluish black light. Then, as the light dissipated, the pendant was gone. In its place was a young magus in silver armor wielding a jet-black spear.
This was no ordinary man—he radiated powerful waves of ghostly mana. He was undead.
“I haven’t had a body in a long time.”
The voice sounded familiar as he moved his fingers.
“Tot?”
“It is I. I reside in a fabricated body created of nether magic modeled after my younger self. I look quite handsome, don’t I?”
And he did. It must have run in the family, because he looked a lot like Jean.
“Make it quick, Tot. You can’t maintain this form for long. Leave the other antibodies to me.”
“Very well. Not a bad time to use our trump cards. I shall assist the dwarven queen.”
“Better you than me. Summoning heroic spirits is a major pain, but I can always resummon you in a few days if you get sent back.”
“Very well. Heh heh. I haven’t done the danse macabre in a long time! I’ll enjoy every second of it! Tot du Vix enters the fray!” Tot shouted and accelerated toward Nadia, ending with a powerful lunge. His spear pierced her defenses, going deep into her chest.
The impact forced her gigantic body back.
He had immense power combined with our level of speed. His spearmanship was in the higher Advanced Spear Mastery at the very least. Add to that the fact that he was undead…
There was no way he was below a B Threat. He was the magus queen’s trump card as well as her support pendant.
“Fua ha ha! Are you Jane’s heroic spirit?”
“I am Tot and I’m here to help!”
“Very good!”
Orfevre and Tot teamed up to fight Nadia. Orfevre had earlier fought Nadia to a standstill, but things were much more advantageous now that she had Tot fighting alongside her.
Her new halberd wasn’t as good as her original, but there were no problems as of yet.
The three fought at extreme speeds, but that didn’t mean Fran and I were slacking.
Well, Fran?
Hm… I’m fine. I can do this. What about you?
Ready when you are.
We were still far from perfect even with Sophie’s healing. No room to do anything reckless. We stood still, collecting power for one blow to end the whole fight.
There was no way of defeating Overgrowth otherwise.
“Huff…”
Fran breathed quietly, holding me in an iai stance at her hip. She leaned forward, ready to pop.
She looked like the surface of a calm sea. So calm that no one would think she was about to deal a finishing blow. But inside, she was about to explode, and her powers were going wild.
The same went for me. I quietly used all my Skills to increase my strength. Divine Manipulation to wrap myself in divine element. Malice Command to draw Malice from inside myself.
I realized that the Malice came from the fragment of the Evil One locked inside of me. I knew that from the first time I used it.
Draw out the Malice. Convert it to power. I could do that now.
Immense power surged through me as divine energy and Malice mingled together. But it wasn’t enough. I knew I didn’t have enough to defeat the super-evolved Overgrowth. I needed more.
Teacher?
…I’m okay. Let’s go.
Hm!
If putting my entire being into it wasn’t enough, I would just have to put in more. I was ready.
Fran spotted an opening Orfevre made for her and didn’t waste it. Her feet exploded and jumped right into the destruction.
“Haaa! Flashing Thunderclap!” Fran shouted.
I shouted too. Unleash Potential!
And just as I did…
…Something inside me snapped. A lid. The lid of the seal. It was open now. I knew it. I could feel it.
There was pure black energy, distinct from the surge granted by Unleash Potential. A fountain of Malice gushed forth, far surpassing the Malice I drew by myself.
Time slowed down until the world was just me and it.
I had been here before. The same sensation I felt when I absorbed Fanatix in the capital. Back when the seal on the fragment had weakened.
Devour!
And here came the voices. It was definitely the fragment of the Evil One talking. The fragment was thought to be sealed deep within me, which was where the voice welled from now.
Devour!
I couldn’t decide if the voice was male or female…probably neither.
But it was sticky and passionate, like it was whispering sweet nothings into my ear. And yet the deep and heavy voice also represented a rejection of everything.
Anyone else hearing the voice would’ve had their mind taken over. But I was an Earthling and immune to it.
And no one else could hear the voice of the fragment, as long as it was locked up inside of me.
Devour—
Yeah, yeah. Shut up.
Devo—
I heard you the first time.
De—
I said shut up, dammit!
…
Good. Was that so hard? Jeez.
Stop wasting my time and making this harder than it has to be!
The fragment remembered that it failed to control me the last time the seal weakened. I imagined it returning to the depths of my soul while sulking.
The Malice felt much weaker now. Was it because the fragment went away? Having the thing that was trying to eat you go away was usually good…but I needed all the Malice I could get at the moment.
Wait, hang on. Come back over here for a minute.
?
I tried draining the Malice from the Evil One’s fragment.
Oh?
!
That did it. I pulled just the Malice from the fragment by using Malice Command. It put up less of a fight than I imagined. Malice Command might have been a stronger Skill than I thought. Or maybe the Malice from the fragment had been under my command all along.
Whatever, I just needed the extra strength.
Time returned to normal as my blade was covered with a mass of pure Malice.
“Taaaah!”
Fran wasn’t using Sword God Form. She couldn’t.
But we weren’t necessarily weaker because of it.
Controlling divine energy. Teacher, if you would kindly control the Malice.
No problem!
Analysis complete. Structural weakness in Overgrowth spotted. Fran, strike here.
Hm!
P.A. was also stronger thanks to Unleash Potential. Just what I wanted to see! She gave us orders and spoke more fluently.
Speed was of the essence. I focused my attention on the Malice now that I didn’t have to worry about managing divine energy. My control was also increased by Unleash Potential.
Though we didn’t have the power of the Sword God, we would try to surpass him. It was just one hit, after all.
We could do that.
P.A., are you okay? I don’t want you to break again like the first time we used Unleash Potential.
I am fine. I am currently using 76 percent of my resources.
Can you help me transmogrify? Just don’t kill yourself.
Yes, of course.
P.A. and I were still connected. She read my mind and knew what I wanted to do.
My decorative strip morphed into a dagger—like the dual blade mode Fran used earlier. This time, I kept it barebones. The dagger had low attack power and no durability. P.A. didn’t have the resources to make a better one.
But this was going to be instrumental in destroying Overgrowth.
“Raaaah!”
Fran closed in as Orfevre, Tot, and Nadia were still locked in a heated battle. I threw the dagger at Overgrowth. It was blocked.
The dagger immediately broke, but—
Fran and Jet seized the moment.
“Groaaaar!”
“Gah!”
Nadia was stunned only for a moment and Jet lunged to bite her leg from the shadows, not wasting the opportunity. Worldcutter Fang, so named by Amanda, tore Nadia’s antibody leg right off.
Do it, Fran!
“Raaaah! Skycutter!”
Nadia was stuck in place, leaving Fran free to deliver a full-force strike at Overgrowth.
The vertical slash left a trail of light which only I could see because of Unleash Potential. I didn’t think Orfevre and the others caught it. It was a slash with extreme speed. The Sword God’s guidance remained, refining the attack.
Our attack broke Overgrowth’s blade, cleanly splitting it in half.
Overgrowth’s durability had taken a considerable hit since Orfevre’s Courageous Advance had some divine energy to it. The area where it made contact with Orfevre’s halberd had grown especially brittle, just like P.A. calculated.
One precise strike was all it took to destroy it.
Such…power!
Cannibalize was definitely working!
Gaaaah!
Teacher!
I’m…fine!
Adjusting power flow. Focus on staying conscious, Teacher.
Right…
This was the second godsword class weapon I’d eaten, after all! I’d blacked out last time, but that wouldn’t happen again!
Never mind that…I needed to stop Unleash Potential! P.A. was going to burn out again!
Urgh…you saved me again… Thanks, P.A.
Thank you. I am glad to be of assistance. May the blessings of the God of Wisdom be with you.
Ahhh! Even if I wanted to say goodbye, I didn’t have the energy to say it…!
A terrifying influx of power flowed into me. But I was all right. I was able to stay stable, thanks to P.A. managing the power flow.
Meanwhile, Overgrowth was rapidly losing power after it was broken in half. The sword was running cold, where before it would burn you at a touch. Its blade remained inert, showing no signs of regeneration.
Overgrowth was destroyed.
We won. But it wasn’t over. Now came the critical moment.
“Sophie…!” Fran shouted from the ground, no longer able to move from the recoil of her Skills.
“I’ve got this!”
“Hm.”
Sophie began plucking her harp.
Its sound was beautiful, no matter how many times I listened to it. I didn’t think I would ever get bored of this healing song.
Nadia had stopped moving because Overgrowth was broken.
“Gaah… Aaah…”
She stood in place, her antibody body trembling. She looked like a mindless beast who was crying after hearing the music of a goddess.
Nadia was filled with mana-infused music. It washed over her, poured through her. She remained still, bathed in light without a trace of hostility or malice.
Orfevre and Tot quietly watched the recital, still on guard.
Our spot was quiet, though the battle continued to rage around us. It was almost like we were protected by an invisible wall.
Tinkle…
Sophie’s slender fingers stopped playing, letting the final chord ring in the air.
The light dissipated. And out of it came Nadia—back in human form.
Fran got up and ran to catch her, but she fell down again. No strength remained for her to stay on her feet. Still, she reached out her hand and crawled toward Nadia.
“Auntie…!”
It’s okay, Fran. She’s alive and breathing.
Erosion and Gold Eater were gone from her Skill list. The effects of Overgrowth had been erased.
“Woof!” Jet barked after sniffing Nadia to make sure she was all right.
“Oh… Thank goodness…” Fran wept, her face still in the dirt. Her tears contained relief, gratitude, and joy. She sniffled. But with her face on the ground…
“Is she really back to normal?”
“Amazing! Sophie’s playing, Fran’s attack—both of you did a splendid job!”
Orfevre and Jane approached to check Nadia’s pulse and status.
“That just leaves the rest of the antibodies!”
“Tot, the undead army is under your command. I’ll protect Fran and Nadia!”
“Delightful. I needed to stretch my legs, anyway. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a body.”
“Let’s get to it, undead hero!”
“Indubitably, Dwarven Queen!”
Orfevre and Tot leapt into the antibody horde with smiles on their faces.
Tot was an undead who never tired, and Orfevre had a seemingly bottomless reserve of energy. The other dwarves followed suit, mopping up the numerous antibodies. They had everything covered.
“Now, we should get going.”
“Sorry, but I can’t get up. Jet.”
“Woof!”
Jet approached as Fran wiped the mud from her face. Jane helped her onto his back.
“Hang on. I think it’s better if Wolfie guards us. He looks really strong, anyway. I’ll just carry you guys around.”
Jane took a crystal out of her pocket and threw it on the ground.
“Summon Greater Skeleton!”
“Clack clack clack!”
The skeletons were pretty strong, considering how easily she summoned them. D Threats at least. I expected no less from the magus queen and Jean’s mother. She was a master of necromancy.
Arf?
Do as Jane says. I feel a lot better if you’re on active defense, too.
Woof!
The skeletons scooped Fran and Nadia into their arms while the rest of them scattered to defend the perimeter.
The magi were still protecting us even as we were in the heart of the horde. Their defense was even a little excessive.
“Our tale comes to a comedic conclusion! Not that I would’ve allowed it to end otherwise!”
Jane was taking every precaution. This was a life-or-death battle, after all. I was actually grateful for the use of excessive force.
I guess I have time to see how our stats are doing.
I first checked up on Fran and Jet.
They had both gained a level, obviously. Fran was level 67 and Jet was 68.
Only one level gained after all those antibodies… But it couldn’t be helped.
Level 60 was considered the territory of A Ranks and above. It took decades to get here ordinarily.
Leveling up in half a day was an accomplishment. I was shocked that we’d leveled up so quick after reaching the continent.
And how about me…
I first checked my crystal count.
Figures…
It was 28. Might as well be 0. I was impressed I still had any left, really.
But this was to be expected. I knew I would take a lot of damage going in. So it goes. I wasn’t sad, I promise!
…Ugh.
And now it was time to cheer myself up to look at what I got out of the whole exchange.
Wait, seriously?
Though nothing compared to when I absorbed Fanatix, my abilities had gotten a surprising boost. I now had 150 attack, putting my attack power in the 1500s. This alone made me happy, but there was more. I also now had 3000 MP, putting that stat over 20,000. I think my durability had increased by 1000, too; its total was now 16,560. I highly valued any increase in MP that I could get.
My attack didn’t increase after cannibalizing Fanatix, but I’d gotten around 5300 MP and 3300 durability in exchange. This time, it was +150 to attack, +3000 to MP, +1000 to durability. Fanatix might still have a leg up.
After all, Fanatix used to be a godsword, even if he ended up discarded, whereas Overgrowth was a discarded godsword from the very beginning. They were in different leagues.
I’d also gained a Skill…a Unique one! It was called Composite Destroyer, a Skill which destroyed monsters made of unnatural compositions. The description wasn’t very clear, but that was par for the course for uniques.
It would probably be effective against the Abyss Eater, considering its relationship to Overgrowth. My guess was that it increased my effectiveness against chimera type enemies.
Guess we’ll have to try it to find out.
Not now, though. Fran was in no condition to fight, and I couldn’t move.
All I could do was watch as the dwarves and magi drove the antibodies to the ground.
Members of the hundred-man squad who were healed up enough to fight now joined the fray. Everyone was in high spirits since the end of the battle was near. The queens got the most excited, though.
“Charge! Destroy the antibodies!”
“Annihilate them until there’s nothing left!”
They were in incredibly high spirits despite being on the front lines of the encounter with Nadia.
No wonder they were considered members of the Seven Sages. The king of the magi was also a member, if I recalled correctly…and that would be Jane.
Of course she was strong. Every one of the Seven Sages we had met so far had been incredibly powerful.
Winalene the high elf. Orfevre the dwarven queen. Jane the magus queen.
And then there were the three godsword users as well as the king of the insectoids, a race known for its violence in battle.
I’d thought they were a token organization formed by political powers to oppose S-Rank adventurers… Turns out they were the real deal.
“Fua ha ha! Weak! Come at me and die, antibodies!”
“Aha ha ha! Garbage! You’re not even worth turning into undead! I shall consume you instead!”
Their idiosyncrasies were just as real as the S Ranks, too.
***
A few hours passed.
“Nothing like a drink after a good battle!”
“Lady Orfevre, I think it’s too soon to start drinking. The last enemy was slain less than a minute ago.”
“Oh, this drink is like water to us. Surely your throat must feel parched after all that exercise?”
“I’d take you up on that if it weren’t firewater.”
The antibodies were completely destroyed after a long battle.
The dwarves were exhausted, even with their impressive stamina. They sat on the ground, taking glugs out of their canteens. I would’ve thought they were drinking water if Jane hadn’t mentioned anything…
The magi were also on their haunches. Drained of mana and stamina, the elite mages could no longer stand. The hundred-man squad was in a similar condition. Maybe worse. They had fought to their limits, took a short break and then went out to fight some more.
Beat up and worn out were the best words to describe their current state.
Fran had joined the fight after recovering halfway through the battle. She couldn’t sit still while her allies were risking their lives.
Silence ruled over the grassland which had been occupied by over a hundred thousand antibodies. They left no remains, so the battle felt like it was a dream.
The lack of blood and bodies also made the air somewhat refreshing.
Nadia was still in a skeleton’s arms. Fran looked at her sadly.
“She’s not waking up.”
“She fought long and hard. It’s to be expected.”
“Hm…”
“Anyway, we have to get her somewhere safe. Any suggestions?”
“I believe Nocta is the closest city from where we are. That’s where we heard about this whole thing.”
“True.”
Orfevre found out about the quest immediately after the hundred-man squad had left Nocta. She immediately embarked without further preparation.
“Lady Orfevre dragged me into this, you know. But it looked fun…so I agreed.”
“I knew we would need your area support, Lady Jane. I am grateful.”
“Don’t mention it. I wasn’t about to miss meeting one of my son’s acquaintances.”
“Fua ha ha, of course!”
“Aha ha ha! Why else would I have come with you?”
Orfevre and Jane appeared to be on good terms with each other. Working for these two seemed like a nightmare, considering how casually they went on killing sprees. But they saved us in the end. Now Tot remained silent where he would usually insert a quip of his own. In fact, I wasn’t feeling any power left from the silver skull.
“Is Tot okay?” Fran looked at the pendant, concerned about the undead she was grateful for.
“He’s been sent back after spending his power.”
“Summon Heroic Spirit is a powerful ability. Its only weakness is that it lasts for a very short time.”
“Can’t be helped.”
“Summon Heroic Spirit?”
“It is one of the ultimate abilities of necromancy.”
The spell allowed the summoning of a hero from the past by using a high-level nether spell. Tot was able to extend his time in the pendant because only his mind resided in it. His time ran out after being summoned into a body. It would take a while for his powers to recover.
“Let’s head to Nocta.”
“Indeed.”
No one was about to disagree with the two queens, mostly because no one wanted to hang around here anymore.
But we asked them to wait a moment. We wanted to check in on Castell and the graveyard Nadia was protecting. Fran got on Jet’s back and headed there.
“… Looks like everything’s in one piece.”
Yeah. The graves and flowers are still here.
“Hm.”
Nadia had risked her life to protect this place. The graveyard was untouched since the last time we saw it. The flowers we left danced softly as the wind blew.
Tinkle…
“Sophie?”
Sophie quietly played a song. She was on Jet’s back next to Fran.
The sad yet beautiful melody descended on the grave like a crushed heart. I knew it was a requiem even without words. Fran listened to it with tears in her eyes and a smile on her lips.
“…”
“…”
Fran looked to the sky, rubbing the corners of her eyes as if she was enduring something.
Twinkle… Twangle.
“…”
“…”
A cloudless sky dyed crimson.
The same sky Fran saw when she first reunited with Nadia in Castell.
Epilogue
Epilogue
“I SEE IT! IT’S NOCTA!”
Fran awoke at the cry of someone from the hundred-man squad.
She looked ahead, still in the arms of a skeleton.
High walls protecting the city. Just the way we left it. Nocta’s fortifications were reassuring.
Looks like we made it.
Hm. Thanks to everyone.
Fran was mostly recovered. She gave the skeleton carrying Nadia a pat on the thigh bone, a sign of gratitude for carrying her so far.
“Thanks. You helped me protect Nadia.”
“Clack clack.”
The dwarves made quick work of any antibodies we ran across along the way. I loved having them around.
But we noticed someone missing when we entered Nocta.
Sophie’s gone.
Huh?
Fran looked around, startled. Sophie and her guards had disappeared. But she hadn’t left unannounced. Jane approached Fran.
“If you’re looking for Sophie, she already left.”
“Where?”
“Who knows? But it doesn’t look like she’s based in Nocta. She left a message for you.”
“A message?”
“‘Now we’re even.’”
“Sophie…”
If you think about it, the only thing Fran did for her was pay for lunch.
But she buffed our allies and healed us. She also reverted Nadia out of her antibody state. Impressive wasn’t the half of it. Without her, it was difficult to imagine this whole thing would end in anything but a tragedy.
She was the MVP of Nadia’s rescue operation.
And to have such a powerful ally because we bought her lunch… What a bargain.
“I didn’t stop her since she seemed like she didn’t want to make a scene.”
“…I didn’t get to thank her.”
She had repaid our favor a million times over, and Fran felt the same way. She really didn’t have to partake in the battle the way she did.
I’ll thank her the next time I see her.
For sure.
Sophie was gone, but it looked like it was time to say goodbye to Orfevre and the others, as well.
The dwarves and magi were tasked to defend Nocta until antibody season was over. They had a quota to hit, but it was fulfilled after defending Castell. They had no reason to go on further expeditions.
“We shall protect Nadia along with Nocta! No matter what!”
“It’s only a happy ending if we succeed in protecting her!”
“Hm. Thanks.”
I wanted to stay with Nadia until she woke up. That was what Fran wanted, too…
But Fran had other reasons for wanting to leave.
We approached the unregistered town called Cendia on our way back to Nocta.
It was doubtful they could accommodate so many people. Not to mention rumors of it being a hideout for illegal slavers. We decided not to stop by for the time being.
Obviously, Fran wasn’t about to let anyone continue illegal slaving.
And Jane said that Goldicia saw an uptick in the illegal slave trade every time antibody season came around. Probably injured adventurers and orphans.
Fran looked like an angry Donadrond when she heard about children being captured and sold into slavery.
Teacher…!
We can’t beat them if you’re not fully healed.
Hm. Okay.
She wasn’t okay. She hadn’t been this passionate about something in a while. Her eyes were the furthest thing away from friendly as they talked about it. Blue Cats and illegal slavers had made Cendia a den of iniquity.
Fran wasn’t about to ignore it. It was our next stop after Castell.
I won’t let you do anything reckless.
Hm.
At least she was responsive.
In the end, we decided to leave for Cendia once Nadia was in trustworthy hands.
Fran said she wouldn’t make a scene while gathering information… But I doubted that she would stay quiet once she set foot in a town swarming with illegal slavers. It was a cause for concern.
“Anyway, let’s head to the Adventurers’ Guild. We have much to report.”
“That we do.”
The hundred-man squad, Orfevre, and Jane headed to the Adventurers’ Guild. The rest of the dwarves left for the base they had set up in Nocta.
Immediate clamor welcomed us when we arrived at the guild. Fran went to the counter to report the quest as finished, unbothered by the ruckus.
The guildmaster immediately came out to see her. She wanted to know how this story ended.
“Mission accomplished, I see. Very impressive.”
“…Hm.”
“We will proceed to reward everyone involved.”
The completed quest was processed with the guildmaster and submaster standing by. There wasn’t much money to go around with the hundred-man squad and mercenaries, but we got a ton of antibody points to make up for it.
The battle granted us three million points, the most out of all the defenders of Castell. Orfevre was second place with one million points. The difference must have been thanks to Twistedhorn.
A night at Nocta’s finest hotel suite with three meals cost a thousand points. That was three thousand days of living the high life.
“Fran! You’re back!”
“Mursani.”
“Thank goodness…!”
Mursani blew through the doors of the guild.
He held Fran with tears in his eyes. He was quiet at first, but his emotions got the better of him and he started sobbing loudly.
No one said anything, though everyone watched. They didn’t want to ruin this heartwarming moment. Or maybe they just didn’t know what to do with a middle-aged man bawling his eyes out.
A hero broke the silence.
“Never seen you so worked up, boss.”
“S-Sehald… Oh. Excuse me. That was embarrassing,” Mursani sniffled, but he finally remembered where he was and let Fran go. Fran didn’t mind it, though.
“Excellent work, Sehald.”
“Ha ha ha. The kid’s a talented adventurer. I was just there for the ride. The dwarven queen and her army did most of the heavy lifting.”
Sehald laughed wryly. The rest of the adventurers felt the same way, as did the drakes, mercenaries, and knights. If it weren’t for Orfevre, they might not have been here right now. She had come to the rescue just as they ran out of gas. But that was why they were reluctant to celebrate.
“You weren’t useless!” Fran objected to their pessimism. “None of you were useless. We would’ve failed if any one of you let up. You’re the best comrades I could’ve asked for.”
“Kid…”
“And I wouldn’t have reached Nadia in time if it weren’t for you. I wouldn’t have been able to save her.”
That was true. The red dragons would’ve stopped us without their support, and we wouldn’t have been strong enough to fight Twistedhorn.
Fran spoke earnestly to everyone, not just Sehald. “Thank you. Thank you for helping me.”
Fran bowed her head deeply. Many were startled by it, but she chased the dark clouds away. Fran’s heartfelt gratitude drove away self-doubt.
“We were glad to be part of this squad, too.”
“Same here.”
“Me too!”
The commanders weren’t the only ones who felt this way. Their men responded in kind, the joy returning to their voices. They were truly kind people.
Fran was glad we didn’t let anyone die.
So was I.
Extra Chapter: Fran’s New Hairstyle
